Weekly Drawing ~ Jackson

It's Fun Friday at The Borrowed Book!

To enter:

Leave the time it took you to complete the puzzles in the comments section as well as your email address for notifying you if you've won. Winners will be drawn from ALL of the times, so the person with the fastest time may not be the actual winner, but by leaving your time, you double your chances.

Want another entry? Tweet your puzzle time and mention The Borrowed Book, get another entry. RETWEET our Tweet, get two entries!

Post your puzzle time on BB's Facebook wall and...you guessed it...get another entry!

Post it on your OWN Facebook wall and you could get as many as FIVE entries.

It's all a way to spread the word about the great giveaways on BB. So c'mon! Help us spread the word, and have a little fun at the same time. Enter all weekend long! Winners will be announced Sunday night at midnight.

This week's puzzle feature is brought to you by Laura Jackson and her newest release, Worth the Wait.

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An Interview with Author Laura Jackson

On Tuesday this week, Laura Jackson shared her thoughts with us on the subject of waiting - something we're all too familiar with! Today she's agreed to talk about a variety of things.

1) Thanks for waiting around to speak with us again! So tell me, now that you're reveling in the release of your first book: what do you love about being a writer, and what do you like the least?

     I love sharing great stories. I love imagining characters, putting them through hell, and seeing what comes out. I hate editing. Well, I like it the first few times, but about that fifth or sixth time, I hate the book and the characters. (Sorry if that’s too blunt.)

2) Are you a plotter, a pantser, or a combination?

     I’m a pantser. For my first novel, which released February 4, 2014, I had the idea of Ellie. I knew where she started and where I wanted her to end. So, I opened up Word and started typing. It took off from there. I do make notes as I write or jot down a few big events that need to happen, but that’s usually while I write, not before.

3) Do you write full time, or do you work it in alongside a full-time job?

     I’m the librarian at an elementary school during the day. It’s a great job for several reasons. First, I get the best vacations ever, which gives me good chunks of time to write. Second, I’m surrounded by books all day, which is inspiring and often a little daunting as I read amazing books and automatically compare mine to them. Third, I work with great kids who love reading. I get to read books and color, cut, and glue activities all day, which is exhausting but energizing.

4) How do you get your best ideas?

     By just living. Meeting people, seeing what people go through. It’s amazing the stories that are around us.

5) What do you do to get past writer’s block?

    I check Facebook….and usually get distracted for a few hours.

   Sometimes I let it sit. Since I don’t plot, I often have to take a few days to just think about what should happen next.

   Sometimes I ramble write until I get to a breakthrough. Then, I delete the rambling.

6) What’s your favorite method for keeping a story’s middle from sagging?

      Expose a lie. Have the character face a fear. I’m only on my second story, so I’m still learning. ☺

7) Do you like to listen to music when you write?

       Sometimes, I do listen to music while I write. I try different genres. For example, I started a book where one of the characters plays the piano, so I’m trying to listen to some piano pieces to get in his mind. My only experience with the piano was when I took it freshman year of college. The professor told me she’d give me an A because I tried really hard but that I should not take Piano 2.

 Most of the time, I listen to sports radio while I write. Go Rockets! Go Texans!

8) Writing is a sedentary occupation. What do you do for exercise?

       My back is stiff while I type this. I walk a lot at work, but I also do BodyPump twice a week and

cardio twice a week. Well, that’s the goal. I enjoy working out, especially after sitting to type all day.

Thanks, Laura, for stopping in for a chat.

Readers, you can connect with Laura at Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, or her blog. And don't forget to stop by The Borrowed Book tomorrow, when you can enter to win a free copy of her debut novel, Worth the Wait! 

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Did You Know? ~ The First Ball Point Pen

John J. Loud

After last week’s article about homemade ink, I thought I’d follow up with some investigative work into the invention of the ball point pen. Surprisingly, the very first ball point pen was patented on October 30, 1888, by John J. Loud. His patent application suggested that his pen invention was useful “for marking on rough surfaces --  such as wood, coarse wrapping paper, and other articles – where an ordinary [fountain] pen could not be used.” Mr. Loud didn’t pursue his invention and made very few of his pens. His patent expired, and the ball point pen wasn’t mass produced until 57 years later, on October 29, 1945, when they went on sale in New York City.

Loud's Patent Application Drawing

What makes this story more interesting is the discrepancy in biographies about John H. Loud. Most of the websites I found had information to the effect that very little is known about Mr. Loud except that he may have been a leather tanner or a shoemaker. However, one website was much more complete and stated that he was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard University. He became a lawyer and later on because an assistant to his father at the Union National Bank. That’s a lot different than leather tanner or shoemaker.

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Waiting by Author Laura Jackson

Waiting is hard. And being a writer means waiting a lot.

Waiting for answers from agents.

If you get an agent, waiting for them to submit to publishers.

If you don’t get an agent, waiting to hear from small publishers.

Waiting for the publisher’s offer.

Waiting for edits. Second edits. Third edits. Fourth edits. 

Waiting for the cover reveal.

Waiting for reviews from beta readers.

Waiting for readers’ responses.

Even if you’re not a writer, you’ll spend a great deal of your life waiting.

On red lights.

On summer to get here.

On the customer ahead of you in the drive thru line to pull up.

On the phone to ring.

For a promotion.

For a husband.

For a child.

For a loved one’s salvation.

So, what do you do during your waiting?

Cry.

Scream.

Get angry.

Get depressed.

Give up.

Trust God and His plan.

It’s the hardest thing to do when you’re waiting, but it’s the only thing that gives complete peace. 

In Worth the Wait, Ellie Lansing has a picture-perfect life with a close-knit family and the perfect boyfriend. But her world is suddenly knocked off center when her drool-worthy boyfriend cheats, and her always-has-it-together mother is diagnosed with cancer. Ellie doesn't get it. She always does the right thing - doesn't God owe her a happy life? Through her heartache, Ellie learns that sometimes what seems like the end is really just the beginning and that what God has for us is always worth the wait.

And isn’t that true for all of us? When we submit to Him and His plan, our life is a little less about waiting for SOMETHING to happen and a little more about enjoying the SOMEONE who created our life.

Wait on Him. He’s always worth the wait. 

Laura Jackson loves books---reading and writing them. A life-longe reader, Laura studied English in college and taught 7th grade language arts before earning her Master's degree and becoming a school librarian. Now, she spends her days sharing great books with kids and her evenings writing books about teenage girls discovering God and His plan for their lives.

Return Friday for a chance to win a copy of Laura's book!

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Historical Romance Book Spotlight ~ Forget Me Not

I recently released my second novel (the prequel to Bleeding Heart) for Kindle, and the blog tour started a couple of days ago, so I thought I'd share about the book with you all today!

About the Book

Prequel to Bleeding Heart

Old hurts, new betrayals, and a love that survives them all...

Summer 1885

A startling revelation sends Elizabeth Lawson escaping into a stormy night - and tosses her into the arms of a young mountain man with secrets of his own. When he offers to take her to the Nevada mining town where her long-lost brother lives, she accepts. Suspicions and uncertainties are pushed aside as she struggles to forge a future for herself by meeting her past.

David has been hiding from his painful memories for years. The solitude and wildness of the Rocky Mountains are challenge and comfort enough for him - until Elizabeth's arrival. Fueled by anger and a sense of obligation, he strives to take control of his new situation...only to find control slipping from his grasp with each new emotion Elizabeth evokes in him.

When their journey leads them on unexpected paths, can two lonely hearts find the strength to remember the good amid the heartbreak?

Inspirational Historical Romance

About the Author


Amber Stokes has a Bachelor of Science degree in English and a passion for the written word - from blogging to writing poetry, short stories, and novels. After her brief time at college in Oregon, she is now back home among the redwoods of Northern California, living life one day at a time and pursuing her passion via freelance editing and self-publishing. Forget Me Not is the prequel to her debut novel Bleeding Heart.
  
You can connect with Amber on her personal blog (Seasons of Humility), Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Shelfari, and LinkedIn.

Want More?

• Forget Me Not is now available in Kindle format! A paperback version is in the works and should hopefully be available by the end of the month.


• Bleeding Heart (the sequel) is on sale this week for $.99! The e-book sale ends Friday, February 7th. You can also purchase the paperback for $8.99 on Amazon.


• You can keep up-to-date on all the news for "The Heart's Spring" on the series blog, and you can find extras for Forget Me Not (including links to interviews, reviews, and a "soundtrack) at www.forgetmenotnovel.blogspot.com.


• Forget Me Not is currently on tour in the blogosphere! You can find the schedule, tour-wide giveaway, and more HERE, or by clicking the button below.

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Winners!!

Good morning, BB fans! Thanks to everyone who participated in our "puzzling" Friday giveaway! Keep all those facebook and Twitter notifications, coming!

This week's winner is: 

Cindy W (countrybear52 AT yahoo DOT com) - The Heartbeat of the Novel by James Callan.

Congratulations, Cindy! Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book.

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Max'ism...everything I've learned about God by watching my daschund

Max’ism: Stand Watch

Matthew 24:36-44 

Max is a great comfort to me. As the wife of a shift-worker, I like having him around on the nights when my husband is gone. His sharp little ears are attentive to every sound, and I know I can rest assured with him standing watch. He warns me whenever a car pulls into the drive. His angry bark alerts us whenever a stranger approaches the door. He’s even started letting us know when the cows have escaped the pasture and are invading our yard.

His vigilance impressed me one day, when his low growl woke me from a sound sleep. I sat up in bed, listening. Nothing, and yet, Max persisted, so I rose to look. Outside, a full moon illuminated the landscape. Our shed stood out in stark relief against the night sky, and beyond it, deep in the woods, flames shot high into the air. I ran out onto the porch, clad only in my robe and slippers. Music and voices drifted to us from the bayou. Now and then, a gunshot pierced the darkness. I hurried inside and dialed the local sheriff’s office. Later, I learned a large group of people had been having a party by the water. One of them brought gun shells, and they took turns throwing them into the fire.

Why, I wondered, had God woken me from a deep slumber to witness such an event? And then I caught sight of Max seated at my heels. He stared up at me, eyes earnest, questioning. Watchful.

Do I watch with the same fervor as Max showed for the coming of the Lord as He commanded? Am I as ready, even in the dead of night, as Max was on this night?

I am learning to be.

 

Matthew 24:36-44

³⁶ “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,^[a] but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴² Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour^[b] your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

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