Monthly Archives: March 2012

25 March, 2012

Sunday School and Song Time

(Those monkeys of mine again, illustrating children with spirit.)

A few years back one of my nearest and dearest and I decided to have a silent takeover of the Sunday School department…we sort of wriggled our way in to being in charge of stuff. It was really sneaky, all we had to do was not say no when people begged for help. ; P

So we happened to have some say when the Sunday School rooms for the new building were being planned, and more importantly we had input when the budget was being spent. I enjoy Home Depot with other people’s money.

Near-and-Dear-Friend and I only really disagreed when it came to technology. She wanted some; I didn’t.

In the end less tight-waddy minds held the day and we got technology.

Now we can pop in a music dvd and have words and graphics jumping around on the wall in front of us during song time. The kids like it.

When Near-and-Dear-Friend, who is also our Children’s Ministry Director now, uses the wheelie-cart-of-technology to lead song time, it is a total blast. She is an engaging and entertaining song leader with a heart for kids (hence a perfect CMD!)

But I maintain that the things that make the song time worthwhile to the kids have nothing to do with the wires and cords and bulbs and monitors and mixers and whatever other crazy stuff is on the wheelie-cart.

The recipe for a meaningful song time is simple:

Hand Motions
Eye Contact
and a Smile.

If you can get the children’s bodies involved in a song it will stick a little deeper into their memory and have a deeper impact on their lives. The memory thing is science. The impact thing is when those praises that are embedded deep in their minds come to them through out their lives, helping them draw closer to Jesus.

If you have a projector and a screen, that is where they will look. Okay. That’s fine. As I said, my friend does an amazing job leading them with it!

If you don’t have a bunch of cartoon craziness on the wall, the eyes of the children are on you. This is where you use eye contact and a smile.

Have you ever stood in front of a group of wiggly little people, caught the eye of one of them while you were singing, and watched their face light up? Priceless.

Giving the children a smile that is just from you to them when they could feel like they are invisible in the crowd, is one of the many ways a Sunday School teacher (or Children’s Church leader, AWANA Leader, School Teacher, you get the picture) can love them with Jesus’ love.

When it comes to love, the little things add up. A word of praise, making eye contact, picking every child once for a special job, these little things tell the kids that we love them so that when we say “Jesus loves you” they know what it means.

I took over song time for my Near-and Dear-Friend. We alternate our song time techniques. Sometimes my husband brings his mandolin and leads the songs. Sometimes we use the wheelie-cart. Usually we just use our voices and our hand motions. But no matter what things we use to jazz up the singing, my buddy teachers and I all use motions, eye contact, and smiles. : )

The KDP Files

Kickin’ it old school today with a post from August ’11 answering a question about SPAM. (And responding a little to the other responses in the thread.)

This post is worth sharing because I think all of us want to know where that line between advertizing, platform building, and being obnoxious is.

—

I know spam is very popular in Hawaii, but I don’t think anyone here has a taste for it.

But spam by anyother name…if you mean posting your book so we will take a look: Sure! We’d love to look.

If you mean posting a link to your book on every thread, no thank you.

If you mean stealing our books putting new covers on them and republishing them, there may be a lynch mob!

And as for the rest of it, lets let what goes on in your bedroom stay there. We’re a pretty family friendly crowd around here.

blessings,

Traci
author of the Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries

http://amzn.to/bifsN1

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Filed under KDP Files, The Business of Writing, things I wrote elsewhere

Tagged as advice, authors forum, SPAM

23 March, 2012

The Best of the Best of the Tweets

(This is a picture of the electric fireplace I got for Christmas. I am using it because I assume you will want to gather round and snuggle up for a nice long read.)

I have the great good fortune to associate with some rad Christian authors on facebook. We help share each others news. It just occurred to me this morning that perhaps I could do more than just tweet and FB these updates…I can also share them here on the blog!

What I have in mind is a regular update (dare I hope weekly?) of the most interesting blogs, freebies, releases, etc. that I have come across via the Grace and Faith Authors.

For today I’ll share them in their original tweet form, but I may mix it up a bit in the future.

Hope there is something here you’ll enjoy!

#Read this great #interview with #christian #author @PrecariousYates ! @graceandfaith4u http://wp.me/p1WR51-8A #YA #GNFA

Official Release Day! A Familiar Shore by Jennifer Fromke. Women’s fiction you can’t put down. http://amzn.to/GHRTBy @kindle_promo #fiction

RT @LoriMooreBooks This author is now also a photographer! Check out my gallery at http://LoriAMoore.imagekind.com/A #abstract #GNFA

@dianabrandmeyer How do you list this on a resume? http://ow.ly/9PYGe #humor #christfic #animals

#Blog Post: Build Your Bookshelf http://wp.me/p1YLJV-2G @StaciStallings #marketing #pubtip #books #kindle #nook #GNFA

Is Hope Tour 2012 coming to your town this summer? You decide! http://ow.ly/9Fh1Z #HopeTour #news #publishing

What is the Native American Christian Church? http://ow.ly/9Lyip #booktrailer #jesustweeters

Enjoy your weekend!

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19 March, 2012

Sunday School

(In an effort to only use pictures that are legally mine to use, I offer you: My Monkeys.)

My friend Angela and I are teaching the kindergarten and first grade Sunday School class at our church these days. Angela is a child psychologist married to a full time Child Evangelism Fellowship Missionary and I’m a mystery writer married to a funeral director…I point that out because I feel awfully blessed to get to work with her.

I love story time in Sunday school, at Vacation Bible School, during Children’s Church, on the bus. You know, wherever. If there are kids who need to be grouped together and entertained, I’m your girl.

Angela, on the other hand, sees beyond the shining eyes and the dimpled cheeks of kids when they are entertained. She sees right into their little hearts and feels their needs. It is so good for me to get to work with her.

We have found ourselves faced with a Sunday School dilemma I like to call, “A Million-Billion LittleBoys.” I tried to count them once but they were all moving. I think million-billion comes close. I know we had 15 kids on our biggest day, and we usually only have about 4 girls, so I think you get the picture. That’s a whole lotta 5 and 6 year old ~~monkeys~~ boys!

This week we realized we need to make a change to prayer time. We go around the circle and share our concerns and bring them before the Lord. Some of the kids have significant struggles at home which they have no control over. We want these children to feel safe to share with us and to know they are loved.

Some of these kids are passionate about only one thing: Wii Mario. We want them to grow up knowing that whatever is most important to their little hearts matters to us and matters to God. So we give thanks to God for Mario and for big brothers and daddies who play Mario with us. And we pray that God will help us get to the next level in Mario.

But, as you can imagine, a million-billion prayers about Mario takes a long time. And a long time praying is a LONG TIME sitting still quietly.

The solution we are going to test next week is splitting the group into two parts so that the total prayer time will be less about sitting still for an hour and more about spending time with God.

I know, it doesn’t sound like a drastic change. I can see that. And yet, despite 22 years of children’s ministry (I started as a helper to my parents in their toddler class when I was 12) I have never tried to divide and conquer a million-billion moving boys.

But we can do it, and it will be great. I just need to remember that “I can do all things through him who gives me strength!”

6 Comments

Filed under Children's Ministry

Tagged as Bible, cute kids, kids, ministry, strategy, Sundsy School

3 March, 2012

Whatever happened to Church Girls?

Last summer I was writing Church Girls and blogging the process. But in the middle of the book I realized the good story line had gone to a minor character. I didn’t know how to save it without a massive rewrite.

Every few months I think, “Aha! I know how to save Church Girls!” I thought that again recently. But I’m halfway through a different WIP right now so it will have to wait.

I opened the document today and saw the opening scene. I like the scene but it is part of a side story that won’t make it in the finished book (if there ever is a finished book.)

You know what that means? It’s perfect for the blog!

So, without further ado, here’s is clips from the cutting room floor, Church Girls Edition.

Two men sat outside the chicken coop drinking lemonade.
“I think it will be safe in the barn,” Herbert said. He leaned on the post behind him and scratched his dusty boot on the back on his coveralls.
“Prolly so.” Dutch agreed.
“And it’s not like we’ll be needing it any time soon.” Herbert emptied his lemonade cup and squinted into the distance. A squirrel clambered up his walnut tree. “Shoulda brought my pellet gun,” he said.
Dutch laughed. “You couldn’t hit a squirrel anymore. You’re blind.”
“That so?” Herbert said. He picked up a small stone and tossed it across the yard, knocking the propeller of his wind-driven yard decoration. It spun around once.
“Guess not,” Dutch said. “You don’t mind keeping this in the barn, then?” he asked again.
“Nah. Like you said. It’ll be years before we’ve got money to build the tower.”
“All right then.” Dutch stood up. “I’d best git. Wanda wants me to help her pack.”
“How long are you gone for?” Herbert asked.
“We’ll be in Bolivia for most of the year.” Dutch said.
“I might join you next time. Them hard hats for Jesus do good work.”
“You do that. I think you’d like it.”
Herbert and Dutch went back in the house and put their cups in the sink. Herbert’s wife Yvonne had been dead for more than six years, but neither of them dared muss her kitchen. It wouldn’t have been right.

2 Comments

Filed under Novel Development, Short Fiction

Tagged as Church Girls

2 March, 2012

Free for Kindle!

Foreclosed is free March 2nd and 3rd! I don’t plan to renew KDP select for all of my books, and I won’t be running another free Foreclosed promotion for quite a while, so now’s the time to nab your copy. : ) Foreclosed For Free

Mitzy Neuhaus is the top selling Realtor in Portland, but even her office is dead in this economy. Foreclosed is the word no homeowner wants to hear and Mitzy is determined to save the incredible mansion on her street from that fate. But with the homeowner desperate to keep Mitzy away from his property and Alonzo, the dangerously hot rival investor trying to snatch it out from under her, Mitzy knows she has to work fast, or the economy won’t be the only thing dead…

Blessings!

Writing Inspy Romance Part 2: How Hot is Too Hot

By Karen Baney

Last week, I talked about inspiring readers as one of the goals of writing Inspy Romance. Today, I’d like to focus on the question of how hot is too hot for the romance in the book.

The answer to this question will change from author to author. While there are some guidelines, such as CBA, etc. to help authors understand what publishers will find acceptable, I think there are some trends in the genre that make it even more difficult for authors to sort out.

I read a ton of inspy romance. In fact, I hardly ever read any secular romance because I want to keep my thought life honoring to God. For me as a reader, when I read an explicitly described sexual scene, I feel its impact on my thought life and my relationship with my husband. This is the biggest reason I avoid secular romance.

Yet, sticking with inspy romance is not necessarily a guarantee that the novel will be free from titillating or graphic scenes.
As an author, I follow a few guidelines of my own that I hope you will find helpful.

1. Pray over your work. I pray over every novel and I ask God how the romance should unfold. I let the Holy Spirit be my guide. Sometimes I tone things down from earlier drafts. Other times, I might spice it up some.

2. Make suggestions instead of painting the scene in detail. In my novel, A Life Restored, there’s an intense scene between a couple. I lead the reader through the scene by hinting or making suggestions of what happens without giving away any graphic details. I let the reader piece together the facts and use their imagination to understand the outcome.

3. Keeping it clean doesn’t mean they can’t kiss. Okay, this one is really more from my heart as a reader than an author. I get extremely annoyed to read an entire novel and not get even so much as a kiss (or only one kiss at the end). But, that’s just my personal preference. Above all else, refer back to #1 above. If you believe that’s the kind of novel God is leading you to write—then write it.

4. Think outside of the box. There are so many different ways that characters can express attraction or love. It can come from their thought life. It can come from touch (a lingering holding of a hand, cradling her cheek in his hand). It can come from serving one another (hand crafting a special gift, making his favorite dessert). All of these little things take the reader through the journey of the romance.

I hope that these suggestions help you look at the romance side of inspy romance in a new light. If you have any guidelines you’d like to share, please leave a comment below.

Karen Baney writes Christian historical and contemporary romance novels. When she’s not busy writing, she enjoys traveling the state of Arizona with her husband, exploring museums and the picturesque landscapes the state has to offer. Her faith plays an important role both in her life and in her writing. Karen and her husband make their home in Gilbert, Arizona, with their two dogs.

For a limited time only, pick up a free copy of A Life Restored (Prescott Pioneers #3) by Karen Baney.

Visit Karen at her website: http://www.karenbaney.com or on Facebook or Twitter. Visit her special blog for authors at http://www.everythingauthor.com.

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Filed under Guest Authors, Novel Development, The Business of Writing