Ever notice the amount of dust on some of your walls? Or cobwebs in the corners?
Easy fix: place a dry Swiffer sheet on a Swiffer Sweeper and run it on your walls, turning the sheet over when needed. Do this on the ceilings and in corners where necessary.
Filed under: Organization Tip on November 28th, 2011 | No Comments »
LYNDA LEE SCHAB got her writing start in greeting cards (Blue Mountain Arts, Dayspring) and from there went on to write articles and short stories (Mature Living, Christian Home & School) and in many places online (including www.Examiner.com and www.wow-womenonwriting.com), but her passion has always been fiction.
Mind Over Madi, her debut novel, is near and dear to her heart. Lynda admits she has a lot in common with the character of Madi. Not only are they both addicted to ice cream, chocolate, and computer games, they struggle with the same types of insecurities and continually require a hefty dose of God’s grace.
Lynda works behind the scenes at FaithWriters.com and is a member of ACFW. She is a regular book reviewer for FaithfulReader.com and is the Grand Rapids Christian Fiction Examiner and the National Writing Examiner for Examiner.com. Mind Over Madi received Runner-up in the 2007 FaithWriters Page Turner contest, was a finalist in the 2007 RWA Get your Stiletto in the Door contest, and won second place in the 2008 ACFW Genesis contest, Chick Lit category. Lynda lives with her husband, Rob, and two teenagers in Michigan.
Back cover copy:
Madi McCall admits her husband lacks a little in the romance department, but all in all, he’s been a good husband, a 
good father. Now, though, she suspects Rich is having an affair with Fawn Witchburn, the mother of one of his fourth-grade students. To say Fawn shows off her “assets” more than should be legally allowed in public is an understatement, and Madi’s insecurities kick into high gear. When, in a heated moment, she asks Rich to leave and he complies, Madi is forced to deal with her issues. Issues of love and trust she’s tried so hard to avoid. Issues that trail all the way back to her childhood and make her act like a total moron.
Lynda, congratulation on your first published novel—and for joining us today! Can you tell us how do you feel preparing for writing contests prepared you for this Novelists journey?
I take motivation to write wherever I can get it, and the idea of possibly winning or finaling in a contest, and getting my work in front of editors and agents who judge those contests was excellent motivation for me. And, of course, the feedback—both positive and negative—I received from the judges helped so much. What prepared me the most, though, were the disappointments. I finaled three times and semi-finaled once in the ACFW Genesis contest, but never took first. Always a finalist, never a winner became my motto. LoL. But I believe God was working on my pride and teaching me how to lose gracefully. It also prepared me for all of those manuscript rejections.
Tell us how you handled the call from your agent that Mind Over Madi would be published by Oak Tara Publishing?
When I heard my agent’s voice on the other end of the phone, I’ll admit I suspected. He’d never called personally before, so I knew it had to be something big. But when he said the actual words, I think I lost my voice for a couple of seconds, then let out some sound resembling a squeal. When I hung up, I hugged my husband and cried.
I am so excited for you! So, what’s your biggest challenge in balancing writing time with your other responsibilities?
That there aren’t enough hours in the day. Seriously! One of these days, I hope to take a “spinning class.” No, not the exercise kind. I am in awe of the woman who can keep all of their plates spinning, especially when those plates are loaded with heaps of food. I can manage a couple of plates at a time, but often find myself with a mess at my feet. When so much is going on, unfortunately, my writing plate falls first. But now that I’m published, with two more books contracted in the series, I have no choice but to keep that plate spinning.
Well, never enough time makes me think of a fun question . . . You are alone and stranded on a desert island and can have ONE food product and ONE drink, what would they be?
Easy…ice cream to keep me cool during the day and coffee to warm me up at night.
I must admit I am surprised chocolate didn’t make it in there . . . Tell us how your faith and spiritual life play into the picture and affect your storytelling?
I can’t imagine writing without my faith. Even though I sometimes write stories and articles that aren’t really considered “Christian,” I try to project a Christian worldview. God has opened so many doors for me and has blessed me in ways I never dreamed possible. It’s because of Him that I write and I want my readers to experience Him in some way as they read my work. Most of the time I try to use humor and light-heartedness to touch the reader and leave her with a smile on her face and in her heart.
Your stories have such humor in them, that is true. Lynda, thanks for sharing with us today!
Thank you, Heidi, for the opportunity to talk about my book. I hope it’s a blessing to you!
Filed under: Author Interview on November 26th, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Remember when you started writing and you used exclamation points all over the place? Then one day a wiser writer explained that exclamation points should be used minimally, very minimally. Same thing with a few other symbols, like ellipses, semicolon, colon and emdash. (Note, The Chicago Manual of Sytle is the prevalent reference, but not everyone has an account with them online, you can purchase their latest release from amazon.com.)
Even though you may be right, make sure you don’t overuse these symbols—they stick out to the reader and distract them from the story.
I was reading a novel on my Kindle the other day and there were three ellipses in one scene, and two emdashes. It was enough to distract me to write this blog post!!
Filed under: Writing Tip on November 17th, 2011 | No Comments »
A few weeks ago, Stephen Davey was speaking on a Sunday morning. His words are always insightful, but these words I wrote down. Perhaps because they spoke to me so loudly.
Verbalize your submission to the will of God in prayer and in natural conversation.
Mobilize your agreement to the will of God (do what the Lord wants you to do).
He ended with reminding us that life is a gift from God, what we do with it is our gift back to him.
Filed under: Spiritual Thought on November 13th, 2011 | No Comments »
I am sure you read my post from yesterday on airing out your home. You will read posts about using air fresheners and candles: they don’t work. Nothing can cover that odor. Once the air is moving in your home, the smell will dissipate. Keep those fans moving and windows open! And if you think the odor is permeating your uphostry, use Febreeze.
Now, onto the culprit: the microwave. Heating up coffee or cinnamon or cloves will do nothing but integrate a new odor into the mix. You need to neutralize that smell in the microwave. Use either lemon juice or vinegar. I chose lemon juice since it is a nicer smell to work with. If you have a lemon, cut into fourths and use the pulpy part of the lemonn as a scrub for the inside of the microwave, then dry the dampness with a towel.
Whichever parts of your microwave that you can take apart, do so. Clean them with lemon juice and a scrub brush, rinse, dry, put back together. If it vents to the outside, you’ll have an odor in the cabinets above. Pour lemon juice onto a paper towel and drench the area then dry. Place bowls of lemon juice in the areas that smell (microwave and cabinets above), replace with fresh juice when it begins to smell like burnt popcorn.
Let me know if these tips helped 
Filed under: Food Tips, Organization Tip on October 30th, 2011 | No Comments »
Yikes, If you are reading this, you’ve burned popcorn in the microwave. You need to immediately:
As quick as you can, you need to air that smell out of the house. The longer the odor lingers, the higher chance you have of your upholstry smelling.
Check back tomorrow and I’ll give you tips on cleaning the microwave
Filed under: Food Tips, Organization Tip on October 29th, 2011 | No Comments »
Many are more experienced that I, so here is a quick tip that I used recently when making final editing revisions on a manuscript.
One of the last things to do in editing is to highlight weasel words, passive voice (was/were), general weak verbs, tighten your prose words, and general words that you tend to overuse. But HOW do you do that quick and easy? By finding and highlighting them:-)
For grins, I will search and highlight all WAS words (not case sensitive) to yellow:
Repeat for all other words you want to highlight in your manuscript. Word will replace the letters in a case-sensitive manner.
I took the liberty to use different colors for different types of words: I used yellow for passive voice, blue for weasel words, purple for weak verbs and so on. Then I was able to scan the entire document and replace as needed.
When done editing, hit <control>a then click highlight in the toolbar and select NO COLOR. All the highlighting goes away.
Let me know if this post helped you
Filed under: Writing Tip on October 28th, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Heart, home and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories that feature both comes naturally to her. She has been writing contemporary Christian romance for more than a decade. Her debut novel, Lakeside Reunion, will be released in November by Love Inspired. Her second novel, Lakeside Family, will be released in August 2012 by Love Inspired. Happily married for over twenty years, Lisa and her husband have two young adult sons. When she isn’t writing or caring for children in her in-home childcare business, Lisa enjoys family time, romantic comedies, good books, crafting with friends and feeding her NCIS addiction. Visit her at www.lisajordanbooks.com to learn more about her writing.
Lisa, congratulations on your debut novel, Lakeside Reunion, published with Love Inspired. I just pre-ordered my large print copy from Amazon and am so excited to receive it!
Thank you!! I hope you enjoy it.
Back cover copy: Bed-and-breakfast owner Lindsey Porter prays she won’t run into Stephen Chase when she returns to Shelby Lake. 
Five years ago, the cop jilted her to marry another woman, and Lindsey fled town. But no sooner does she hit city limits than Stephen pulls her over for a broken taillight. Despite the past, he’s still able to stir up Lindsey’s old feelings for him. Now a widower and single dad, Stephen recognizes a second chance when he sees one. And he’ll do anything to make Lindsey trust in God and take a risk for love—again. Read an excerpt of Lakeside Reunion
I made you a cup of tea and hot chocolate for myself, let’s sit in front of the fire and chat!
Can you tell us where you came up with the plot of Lakeside Reunion?
My husband always wanted to be a cop like his dad, but after we got married, I begged him to give up his dream because I was too afraid for his life. I’ve always regretted it since he’s such a huge supporter of mine. The plot evolved from those choices we made.
What do you think My Book Therapy had to do with your debut novel?
Learning how to craft a solid story through MBT is the reason my book sold. When I realized I couldn’t do anything else with my novel, I asked Susie Warren and Rachel Hauck for help. We brainstormed and they helped me straighten my story spine by digging deeper into my characters and constantly asking “why” until we hit upon their core motivations.
I see on your website that you eloped and I’ve never heard that story, tell us all about it!
Hubby and I dated long distance for 18 months. Most of that time was spent 6 hours apart, but then he received orders 16 hours from me. I went 5 months without seeing him and couldn’t take it anymore, so I moved south to be closer to him. We planned to have a church wedding, but trying to schedule it around his schedule was a nightmare. Three weeks after I moved south, we eloped. We’ll celebrate our 22nd anniversary on the 30th of this month.
Happy anniversary! What do you consider the greatest moment of your writing/publishing career?
If you had asked me this before ACFW, I would have said January 7, 2011 when my agent called with the news that I had sold. However, while I was at ACFW, I called Hubby and learned he was in the middle of reading my book. That was the greatest gift to me—his total support of my career.
That is awesome Onto your revisions from Love Inspired. Only 8 small items to change in your first set of revisions. WOW. What advice can you give to aspiring novelists so they have a short list of revisions as well?
Well, that short list is not the norm! I’m making up for it now. 
My advice is to join My Book Therapy to learn how to write a solid story. Get inside your characters’ skin and feel what they’re feeling, see what they’re seeing and pour it onto the page. Writing is actually rewriting so revise until you feel it’s the absolute very best you can do at that point.
What advice can you give to aspiring novelists to produce a sound novel that’ll sell?
Join My Book Therapy, believe in yourself and the talents God has given you, have a teachable spirit, and work hard. Read craft books and solid novels from authors like Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck, Ronie Kendig, Jenny B. Jones, Jim Rubart, Karen Ball, Sibella Giorello…they know their stuff. I learned a lot about craft by reading well-written novels.
Tell us about future books planned.
I just signed the contract for my second novel! Lakeside Family will be released in August 2012 by Love Inspired. It’s the story of Josie Peretti and Nick Brennan— He’s the last man she ever wanted to see, but the only one who could save her daughter’s life.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
I’m holding a scavenger hunt and lakeside photo contest to promote my Lakeside Reunion release. Visit my Lakeside Reunion Contest page for more information.
The token for this blog is a set of knitting needles.
What fun! Lisa, thank you for dropping by today
Filed under: Author Interview on October 27th, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Make sure you start the scene on the run – meaning in the heat of the action. Most times, in your first draft, you will meander into a scene. Make sure to keep the reader on the edge of their seat at the end of the chapter as well as the beginning!
Though you are starting with action, you still need to take one short paragraph to set up your scene. The reader needs to know where the character is and what he/she is doing. Spend those couple of sentences with the key elements the character would notice. This is storyworld, Susan May Warren goes into this in more detail here.
After that first short paragraph that you’ve organically wove into the beginning of your scene, trickle the rest of the facts and color in.
Filed under: Writing Tip on June 24th, 2011 | No Comments »
Preheat oven.
Use a mandoline to cut the potatoes and onions. Put them in separate bowls.
Mix the soup and milk together with a whisk in another bowl.
In a glass baking dish, line with pads of butter. A layer of potatoes then onions then milk mixture, top with salt and pepper. Layer the same way about 3 more times or until you run out of ingredients (add more milk to the soup mixture if you need to).
Line a cookie sheet that is larger than the potato dish with aluminum foil. Cover the potato dish with aluminum foil.
Bake at 350 for 1.5 to 2 hrs. Or 400 for 1 to 1.5 hrs.
When the dish is close to done, take the foil off the potato dish and cook for another 15 minutes to get the top bubbly.
Serve with ham and enjoy!
Filed under: Recipe on June 22nd, 2011 | No Comments »
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