Honest New Thoughts | New Novel News + WINNER

I'm cheating today and talking about...me! Hope that's ok ;)

New year. New city. New thoughts. New book. New focus.

There is a lot of "new" going on in my life. I can't say that I love all of the harder "new" things, but I can say that I like the "new" me. No, I haven't gone and really changed that much, but I have seen how God has been working in me. It's like I just want to throw wide my arms and say, "Okay. Here we go!"

[Mentally, I just did that. ]

Yeah, that's me up there ^ My friend Steffani took this photo of me on our "photoventure" during my time in Northern California for Christmas.

That (um, me...) is how this blog started. I thought...hey, what if I started a blog about my thoughts? At the time, I probably didn't take into consideration how I would get people to read these thoughts. Or why they'd want to. I just thought, if I think it...they will come.

And they did, and they have, but I know that's not because of me.

To be totally honest, I sometimes wonder why anyone would want to read what I think about things. And yet, I'm humbled to remember that having this burden to write--this overpowering, burning desire in my heart that demands to come out through my fingertips and onto a blank page--isn't something I just "decided" to do. Yes, I made a decision to pursue writing, but it started much earlier than when this blog began. But that's another story for another day.

This post is about newness.

I want to rededicate (in a sense) this blog. I want to commit to you readers, as I mentioned in this post about New Years, a sense of comfort and of feeling at home here on the blog. I want to do this better than I have in years past because I want to be purposeful about it. We read these verses in church this morning:

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
2 Peter 1:5-7 (emphasis mine)

There's a lot going on in these three verses but two things immediately stuck out: "applying all diligence" and "perseverance". I want my life to be characterized by these things (and may others of course).

But these two things hit me in my writers heart. How do you become a good writer? First and foremost you write. But then you also learn, spend time with other writers, and go through the hard process of critique. It's all formulated to make you grow. Like your walk with the Lord, you'll have hard times but they are meant to refine you.

You readers out there may say that doesn't apply to you, but it does in the sense that you are the audience. You get the chance to see the fruit of a writers labor and, without you, there wouldn't be a reason to write. (Well, in the sense that we writers wouldn't have anyone to write for aside from ourselves - which, in some cases is enough).

To get to my long-winded point...I want to let you know I care for you all, reader and writer alike.



You'll continue to see these things from me:

• Ways to connect with new (and familiar) authors through interviews and guest posts
• Lots of giveaways (digital and paper back books as well as other fun stuff)
• Guest posts about writing, life with God, and the readers perspective
• Posts from me about writing - hey, if I'm learning, I'm sharing! 
• Honest (and sometimes corny) posts from me about my own struggles as a writer, reader, and Jesus follower

What do you think? Are you on board? I'm excited! I see God renewing my energy weekly--if not daily--to provide you with interesting posts. And yes, I will try and keep them shorter than this ;)

I love you all and invite you to connect with me: facebook page, instagram (@eahendryx) , twitter (@eacreativephoto), pinterest, goodreads

Do you blog? If so, why did you start? Do you focus on a certain topic or just write what comes to you?

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                   WINNER!!!

I bet you're all wondering...sitting restlessly on the edge of your seats, possibly biting your nails crying out "Who won???" Wait no longer:

Rebecca Maney

Congratulations Rebecca! If you're reading this wondering what I'm talking about, check out New Novel News with Christy Barritt from last week. If you entered and didn't win...so sorry about that! But keep stopping by - there will be many more books given away in the future :D