January Prayer Time
by
Lynn Hare
Prayer Team Coordinator
Jesus, we welcome You into our goal-setting for the New Year. Fill our calendars with practical goals to reach more readers with You and Your Word. We invite Your wisdom and goals for our blog posts, novels, books, articles, poetry, devotionals, videos, interviews, podcasts, graphics, upcoming speaking engagements, and for successfully monetizing our writing. We invite You in to strategize our sales and marketing processes.
Father God, direct our steps as we build relationships with our readers and those in our critique groups. Thanks for Your wisdom as we select writing conferences to attend this year. Where can we best network with others? How can we encourage agents, editors, publishers, and mentors? In our spheres of influence, whom can we build up with a well-placed word (and maybe even some chocolate!)?
This year, we purpose to improve our craft. How can we improve our voice, fluency, word choice, openings, rises and falls, and conclusions? What resources will take us to the next level of excellence in our writing? Who can mentor us? Whom can we mentor? What will make our writing shine and stand out from others? We invite You into the creative process and the editing that shapes our work.
And down the road, remind us to modify each writing goal as needed. When life gives us unusual plot twists that stretch and grow us, show us how to write about the upside of life’s surprises.
Member News
Karen Barnett, of Albany, and Christina Suzann Nelson, of Corvallis, were honored with the Best Seller Award (Karen) and the New Book Award (Christina) by Willamette Valley Christian Supply in Corvallis at an event on December 14th. OCW was one of the partners in this event and was represented by Sue Miholer, of Keizer.
Kathy Sheldon Davis, of Junction City, has four devotionals in the winter edition of Pathways from Warner Press.
Miralee Ferrell, of White Salmon, Washington, reports that a movie based on her book Runaway Romance will be airing on UP TV on Sunday, January 7, 2018, at 7 p.m. Eastern time (4 p.m. Pacific). The book is available in print and as an e-book. Here’s her request: “It’s important the viewership is high for this first one so they for sure do the second and third that are to come after. The book itself has a stronger faith message and an additional story thread you won’t see in the movie. Also, my book and the movie were both reviewed by the Dove Foundation and marked as family friendly.”
Cecelia Granger, of Powell Butte, won third place for nonfiction in the 2017 Harvest Writing Contest sponsored annually by the Central Oregon Writers Guild. The title of her story is “A Shot of Mercy” and will be included in the upcoming 2017 Winners Collection, which will be released later this month in softcover and on Kindle.
Lynn Hare, of Portland, has a devotional in The Secret Place this month called “Formula-Free.” Her devotionals “True Heroes Never Fade,” “God Sees and Hears,” “Watering Our Godly Gifts,” and “Repentance Brings Refreshing” appear January 14–17 in Pathways: Moments with God.
Nick Harrison, of Eugene, reports that Harvest House just released his latest book, One-Minute Prayers® for Husbands, in their One-Minute Prayers® series. Nick’s first book in this series was One-Minute Prayers® for Dads. His third will be released later this year: One-Minute Prayers® for Those with Cancer.
Anika Klanderud, of Dundee, and Jan Sheerin, of Bend, have articles in the December issue of The Christian Journal.
Patricia Lee, of Springfield, was the guest in this week’s American Christian Fiction Writers Featured Author Interview, hosted by Lisa Bartelt. She offers a behind-the-scenes look at her latest release, including the real-life experiences that helped shape the story. Enjoy the full interview here:
https://www.fictionfinder.com/author_interview/read/interview_with_patricia_lee
Susan Maas, of Gresham, and Jane Reid, of Tigard, each has a devotional in the current issue of The Upper Room.
Cathy Stewart, of Madras, wrote a Christmas play for the children at the church she attends. “It was great to see the kids perform it for their parents, giving the gospel to those who might not hear it another way.”
Beth Vice, of Tillamook, is the author of My First Bible Memory Book that just came out on Amazon, in case you’re interested in a copy for your children or grandchildren. It contains 31 Bible verses with an explanation of what each means. It’s illustrated with pictures of six adorable children (who happen to be her grandchildren) being themselves. While the kids look at the pictures, an adult can introduce them to basic truths of the faith and read as much or as little of the explanations as is age-appropriate. Cost is $15.99 plus shipping. See https://www.amazon.com/My-First-Bible-Memory-Book/dp/1981141669/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1513380247&sr=8-2&keywords=Beth+Vice
