Take the Plunge | Summer Challenge

 

Excited to share this with you all! As you'll remember, I reviewed the Odyssey Adventure Club app last Saturday and now I'm excited to share about the "Take the Plunge" challenge. If you have kids this is AWESOME for them - and, let's be honest, for you too! Adventures in Odyssey will provide some pretty great resources and it's something you an do with your kids. I love this idea!

So, check out the post below and make sure you look into the "Bonus Challenge" (which ends June 5) at the bottom too.

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From Flickr by Jeff Turner

Summer . . . a time that kids pine for during the school year and parents may anticipate with something akin to dread. Fearing refrains of “I’m bored” or hours spent on the couch playing video games can make moms and dads nervous about the long, hot months stretching before their family. Focus on the Family’s Odyssey Adventure Club offers an answer, encouraging parents and kids to embrace faith and fun with the Take the Plunge Adventures in Odyssey Clubhouse magazine’s Summer Challenge.

 

 

Take the Plunge

The Take the Plunge challenge features:

• Master Mind Monday — commit God’s Word to memory
• Ways to Play Wednesday — spend active time with your family
• Faith Sharing Friday — share God’s love with others

The Take the Plunge challenge helps families memorize at least five verses, engage in five activities together and share their faith with five people before the school doors swing open again. Those who sign up will receive an 11-week plan with suggested verses to memorize, activity ideas (such as visiting a war memorial) and ways to witness (such as passing out popsicles at the park with an invitation to your church), making this challenge the perfect tool for parents who want summer to be a time of spiritual and social stimulation for their kids.

"Research tells us that the more senses we involve when teaching children a principle, the more likely it is to stick,” Plugged In editor and Adventures in Odyssey podcast host Bob Smithouser says. “Bible memorization by itself is great, but it becomes even more powerful when put into action. Know it. Share it. Live it.”

Families who sign up to take part in the challenge at www.whitsend.org/summer will have access to weekly verses to memorize, ideas for family fun and suggestions for service projects that allow a family to share their faith. Additionally, anyone who signs up to participate in the Take the Plunge challenge will receive a free scene from the latest Adventures in Odyssey album, as well as a free story from the book Strange Journey Back.

A Bonus Contest

From June 1–5, tell us in 30 words or less how you are going to take the plunge to deepen your faith this summer for a chance to win a family four-pack of tickets to the theatrical release of Beyond The Mask June 5th weekend and free access to the Odyssey Adventure Club all summer long (June, July, August—total $85 prize value)!

Send your entry to contests@whitsend.org. Two winners will be chosen to win each day June 1-5 and announced on the Adventures in Odyssey Facebook Page.

Entries will be chosen based on creativity and writing skill. Rules are available at whitsend.org.

Shannon Taylor Vannatter {Writer Wednesday} GIVEAWAY

You may remember Shannon from her previous post (you can find that here). I've happily invited her back and am excited to announce that she will be offering a GIVEAWAY of her novel Arkansas Weddings. This giveaway will run until 9pm next Monday evening (when I return from the ACFW conference :D) and I will announce the winner on Tuesday September 17th. To enter, please leave a comment below. I will enter all names of the commenter into a hat (ok, let's be honest, it's going to be a bowl...) and draw a winner! 

A little bit about Shannon...

Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom and pastor’s wife. Her debut novel won the 2011 Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. When not writing, she runs circles in the care and feeding of her husband, their son, and church congregation. Home is a central Arkansas zoo with two charcoal gray cats, a chocolate lab, and three dachshunds in weenie dog heaven. If given the chance to clean house or write, she’d rather write. Her goal is to hire Alice from the Brady Bunch.

How to connect with Shannon...

Website: shannonvannatter.com
Blog: shannonvannatter.com/blog
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/4603969.Shannon_Taylor_Vannatter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannontaylorvannatter
Twitter: @stvauthor
Purchase her book [here]

Author Interview | Shannon Taylor Vannatter

 
You & Writing

If published, what was the hardest thing about publishing?
...Deadlines. It can be stressful when I’m writing a book with a deadline. Midway through when I’m really on a roll with the book, I get edits from my publisher on a different book with a different deadline. I have to stop working and do my edits. Get them turned in on time, then pick up where I left off on the book I was writing. I finally told myself if I want to be a writer—this is it. Deal with it. I don’t stress out as much anymore and remind myself that deadlines are a good thing to have.

The easiest?
...The books are easier to write these days. They seem to just flow out of me. 

Your Writing

...Arkansas Weddings is a 3 in 1 collection of my first three published books. Each story is set in Romance and Rose Bud. Both small towns are real and in west central, Arkansas. The Romance Post Office provides a re-mailing service. People send their Valentine cards and wedding invitations there to be re-mailed with a unique hand-stamped postmark from Romance. Couples also go there to get married at the post office or the Romance Waterfalls. Rose Bud’s claim to fame is the Darden Gifford House. The house was built in the late 1800’s and is on the historical registry. I incorporated the local flavor into all three stories.

Here’s the back cover copy:

Arkansas Weddings: Love’s never easy in three Arkansas romances.

Pastor Grayson loves his wife. The problem is, Sara was killed by a hit-and-run driver two years ago. He knows he needs to move on, but it’s not until florist Adrea Welch arrives at his church that the seeds of healing are planted in his heart.

Laken left home eight years ago and never looked back. Who knew when she applied for the promotion to postmaster that she’d end up in Romance, Arkansas, and much too close to her past—and Hayden Winters?

Shell doesn’t have a good reputation. But no matter what everyone in Rose Bud, Arkansas, thinks of her, she’s back in town with a job to do. Ryler also has reasons for being in Rose Bud, and they don’t include Shell.

But God’s love can soften the hardest heart and overcome the darkest past. These hearts may not know it, but they’re about to change.

Why are you/did you write it?
...The first story—White Roses came from my dad getting my mom and me flowers or a balloon every Valentine’s Day. And I thought if anything happened to either of us, he’d probably continue the tradition and take his gifts to the cemetery. Once I caught the interest of an editor, the publisher wanted to make the book into a series. 

...Book 2 was based on this line from White Roses: Sylvie’s husband, an alcoholic, never stepped foot in church. Their two children, both grown and gone with lives of their own, never came for a visit. Instead of having empathy for the plight of Helen and Wade, since alcoholism controlled Sylvie’s life as well, she took all her heartache and picked apart the lives of others.
...That’s all I had to go on when I decided that one of Sylvie’s children could be female. After I delved into Lauren Kroft’s psyche, I decided she never came home because her mother is a gossip maven and her father is the town drunk. Enter the heroine for White Doves.

...Book 3 came from this line from White Roses: Just two years ago, she’d been the soon-to-be bride blissfully planning her own ceremony. Until three weeks before the big event, when Wade crushed her illusions with his curvy blond floozy, clad only in a towel.
...From the time I wrote that line, I wanted to delve into the floozy. What would make a woman bust up an engagement? Why was she like that? I soon learned Shell Evans had a chip on her shoulder. Raised by a promiscuous mother, Shell learned everything in the school of hard knocks. And it skewed her view of the world. Low self-esteem put her on a constant search for love and she looked for it in all the wrong places just as her mother had. And Shell became the unlikely heroine of White Pearls.

Do you have a favorite character in this work?
...Shell

If so, why?
...I love taking a bad girl character, finding out what made her that way, and redeeming her.

What is one take-away from your book that you hope readers identify with?
...All my books are geared toward one theme: Love doesn’t make the world go round—God does. I don’t think we can have a truly fulfilling love without God in the center of the relationship.

Writing

Where do you find inspiration for your story/characters? Are they based on real life or pure imagination or both?
...I find inspiration for characters everywhere. Real life, headlines, snippets of conversation. When I see someone acting in a unique, strange, or interesting way, I wonder why they act that way. And those ponderings often become a character.

When you write, what is your overall intention with your stories?
...I write in the hopes that a reader struggling with similar issues will gain insight on their situation from my characters. And my constant prayer is that a reader will loan my book to a non-believer and my characters will plant seeds.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors for writing and/or publishing?
...Join a local writing group, attend local conferences. Join American Christian Fiction Writers, take their online classes, and attend as many of their national conferences as you can afford. Also, Seekerville is a great place for writers to learn the craft. One of my critique partners never belonged to a writer’s group or attended a conference. She learned everything from the Seekerville archives and sold the first book she ever wrote.

You

When you get an idea for a novel, what is the first thing that you do?
...I write it down. I have what I call an idea book. It’s a thick, heavy, nicely bound journal. Every idea goes in that book. I go to bed with it on my nightside table and have often awakened in the middle of the night and written my dreams down. I have a book that comes out in April next year that’s based on a dream.
September is Classical Music Month (who knew?). In keeping with that theme, do you have a favorite character from a classical novel?
...Scarlett O’Hara. She’s so selfish and manipulative. But I end up rooting for her anyway.

What is your favorite fall snack food?
...Sunflower seeds. That’s pretty much my year round snack food. Especially when I’m doing edits for my publisher. When I’m editing, I’m not reading the story or getting involved. I’m simply looking for inconsistencies, plot problems, and character issues. It makes me so sleepy and I’ve found that sunflower seeds keep me awake. But, this summer my feet kept swelling. I finally figured out it was the salt intake and laid off them. I might have to find another snack.

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Thank you for joining us on the blog again, Shannon. I loved being able to "get into your head" a little bit about your book Arkansas Weddings! I am right there with you, always intrigued by peoples character and what makes them tick. I will admit right here and now that I'm a people watcher ;)

I love that you have a book coming out based on a dream as well. I have definitely gained inspiration from dreams. Instead of a notebook, I use a handy app called  Evernote, and it already holds 10 ideas I have for future books!!! You need to check it out, writers, if you haven't already. It keeps everything updated on all my devices plus it's so much easier to type something in than turn on the light in the middle of the night ;) But to each her own!

Thanks again - we hope to hear more from you in the future, Shannon.

Don't forget to post a comment for a chance to win a copy of Arkansas Weddings...

Jamie Adams {Writer Wednesday}

Welcome Jamie Adams to Thinking Thoughts!

A little bit about Jamie...

Jamie Adams fell in love with books at an early age. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott opened her imagination and sparked a dream to be a writer. She wrote her first book as a school project in 6th grade.

A graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature as well as a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, The Writing Desk and several critique groups she spends most of her time writing, reading or learning more about the craft near to her heart.

The parents of three very active children, she and her husband live in the Ozarks surrounded by forest and wild life.

How to connect with Jamie...

Website: http://jladams-books.com

Blog: http://inallthywaysacknowledgehim.blogspot.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Roosgal 
Purchase her book: On Amazon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamieLAdamsauthorpage
Twitter: @Roosgal

Author Interview | Jamie Adams

You and Writing
Tell us a little bit about yourself: How did you start writing?
...I began writing historical fiction over ten years ago when I stumbled onto a fan fiction site called The Writing Desk. Fans of The Big Valley, a western television show from the 1960’s, this group of writers and readers played a big part in my growth as a writer. The show was one of my favorite westerns. I was surprised to find other fans that kept the show alive by writing and sharing short stories that were like new episodes. At that time I’d written several short stories but never shared them. The group of readers encouraged me to share my talent and gave me the confidence to seriously pursue my dream of writing.

What has kept you writing?
...My mind is full of stories. I’ve always had very vivid dreams. One night when I was ten I woke up from a dream and said to myself “That was so good it could be a movie.” That’s when I started writing down my dreams.

Do you have a favorite book or work that you’ve written? If so, why?
...I’m working on a story that I’m very excited about. It’s called Emma’s Second Chance. Emma finds out her fiancé is in love with another the night before their wedding and flees from Boston to Idaho. The lawman in Idaho is suspicious of this new stranger in town. It’s like Runaway Bride meets Marshal Dillon. It’s been so much fun to write this story. I’ve had to put it aside to work on some other projects but hope to have it finished this fall.

Your Writing
Tell us a little bit about your book or what you’re working on currently? Why are you/did you write it?

Purchase The Doctor's Daughter on Amazon

...I’m finishing up a story written with two other authors. It should be out by the time your readers read this. Each of our stories revolves around a different sister living in a real town, Mammoth Spring, AR in the 1890s. In Wishes and Whims I have the middle daughter, Cora. Of all the characters I’ve written or am working on, Cora is most like me at that age. She is a daydreamer whose fantasies sometimes distort her view of relationships. My heart goes out to her when she eventually has to face reality and finds it’s not as pretty as the pictures she paints in her mind. Of course there’s a happy ending. Funny thing about dreamers, when their dreams are broken they just latch on to a new one.

Do you have a favorite character in this work? If so, why?
...I’d have to say Cora. All of my characters have some part of me in them, but especially Cora. If I could go back and tell her what I know now, I could save her from a lot of heartache and fretting over the future.
What is one take-away from your book that you hope readers identify with?
...My life verse is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."
...I usually mention this verse in my books, I didn’t quote it in Wishes and Whims but the theme is there. Life can be so confusing, but when we lean on God He’ll get us where we need to be.

Writing
Where do you find inspiration for your story/characters? Are they based on real life or pure imagination or both?
...Real life inspires my characters. I’m a people watcher. To say I’m an introvert is putting it mildly. When most people are socializing I’m more comfortable sitting back and watching. I’m very empathetic. In a crowd of people, I can tell who is happy, who is sad, who wishes they weren’t there… I read people.

When you write, what is your overall intention with your stories?
...I love stories that I can get lost in. It’s my hope to take my readers away from the worries of the world and feel inspired when they return.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors for writing and/or publishing?
...Write what you like to read. When I first decided to write a book I didn’t have a plan and tried putting down words that I thought fit the popular genre of the day. Nothing came to me. I love westerns, and mail order bride stories. When I concentrate on writing the type of book I’d want to read the words come so much easier.

You
How do you like to celebrate the 4th of July?
...With my family. Our little community turns into a tourist town in the summer. They have a big fireworks display over the lake. It gets really crowded with traffic but we know a quite spot that has a great view of the firework show without the hassle.
How are you making the most of your time this summer for writing and relaxing? Do you do anything different in the summer months?
...My children go to school online so we spend a lot of time at home. In the summer we like to get out as much as possible. We live near a river and several lakes so there’s always something to do. I carry my laptop with me everywhere I go. 

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Thank you for joining us here at Thinking Thoughts, Jamie! I find it interesting how many authors I talk to who have vivid dreams as a way to create some of their writing! I know that's happened to me as well. And Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of my favorite passages as well! I always repeat it to myself, especially when I'm tempted to not trust the Lord! Hope your summer is full and blessed with great opportunities and time with your family!

Shannon Taylor Vannatter {Writer Wednesday}

A little bit about Shannon...

Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom and pastor’s wife. Her debut novel won the 2011 Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. When not writing, she runs circles in the care and feeding of her husband, their son, and church congregation. Home is a central Arkansas zoo with two charcoal gray cats, a chocolate lab, and three dachshunds in weenie dog heaven. If given the chance to clean house or write, she’d rather write. Her goal is to hire Alice from the Brady Bunch.
 

How to connect with Shannon...


Website: shannonvannatter.com
Blog: shannonvannatter.com/blog
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/4603969.Shannon_Taylor_Vannatter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannontaylorvannatter
Twitter: @stvauthor
Purchase her book:  http://www.christianbook.com/rodeo-regrets-shannon-vannatter/9780373486663/pd/486662

Author Interview | Shannon Taylor Vannatter

You and Writing

Tell us a little bit about yourself: How did you start writing?
...I went to the library looking for clean romance and couldn’t find any. It hit me that the story I’d had in my head since I was a teenager could be a book. I decided if I couldn’t find any clean romance, I’d write one. But my characters kept talking to God and I realized I couldn’t write a romance without God being in it. So I changed my focus to inspirational romance.

What has kept you writing?
...I can’t stop. During the years of rejection and frustration, I tried. But that’s when the stories in my head really started spinning and wouldn’t leave them alone until I got them in my computer.

Do you have a favorite book or work that you’ve written?
...White Roses

If so, why?
...It was my first published book. I wrote it about the time after sixteen and a half years my husband answered the call to preach. Even though I’d been a Christian since my teens and was very involved in church, I didn’t think I was preacher’s wife material. In White Roses, the heroine dates a widowed pastor and doesn’t think she measures up to his dead wife.

What was the hardest thing about publishing?
...I stopped counting at two hundred rejections. It was very frustrating working so hard for something and not knowing what you’re doing wrong. It took nine and a half years of learning the craft before everything finally clicked in place for me.

The easiest?
...My fifth contracted book. That’s when writing under deadline became easy for me and I finally realized I can do this without pulling my hair out.

Your Writing

Tell us a little bit about your book or what you’re working on currently?
...Rodeo Regrets is the fourth title in my Texas rodeo series. Each book stands alone, but continues where the last one left off. I thought I was finished with the series, but after Harlequin bought Heartsong Presents, my agent contacted the editor there to tell her about me. My agent learned the editor had just read book two in the series and wanted to know if I had anything similar.
...I had one dangling character. She was the rodeo slut who’d hit on every hero I created, got pregnant two books ago, and skipped town. I decided it was time to find out why she was like that and what it would take to change her into a heroine.

Here’s the back cover copy:

NATALIE WENTWORTH'S PAST IS ABOUT TO CATCH UP WITH HER

Natalie once dreamed of finding true love. Then Lane Gray broke her heart. After running wild to fill the emptiness inside her, she heads back to her hometown to heal. But when she sees the cowboy she once loved so much, she finds him hard to resist.

Lane Gray is a changed man. The handsome cowboy wants Natalie's forgiveness-and more. Natalie has made plenty of mistakes in her life, but so has Lane. Could falling for each other again be the worst one yet? Or the path to redemption?

Why are did you write it?
...The heroine, Natalie has lived a promiscuous lifestyle and regrets her past. I’m hoping it will be a cautionary tale to young girls who think everyone’s doing it and it’s no big deal.

Do you have a favorite character in this work?
...Natalie.

If so, why?
...She’s very wounded. I actually began to feel sorry for her. But then, she’s very tough too. She won’t stay down long.

You

How do you like to celebrate the 4th of July?
...We usually do fireworks at our house. This year, my son is eleven. We let him and his friend shoot them off. They had a blast. Literally.

How are you making the most of your time this summer for writing and relaxing?
...I’ve stayed up until 2:00 in the morning and slept until 10:00 to complete book 6 in this series. I try really hard not to work when my son is home and awake. So, I keep odd hours or work on the book when he has a friend over or goes home with a friend. When he’s home, we both love to swim and we have an above ground pool, so we swim a lot.

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Thank you so much for sharing with my readers and I! I love how you said you went looking for something good to read and, when you couldn't find it you decided to write it! I love that :) I'm happy to know that it got a little easier working under a dead line at book 5 for you...I'm looking forward to that day *fingers crossed*. I think that's great that you keep odd hours to get things done! I can only imagine how difficult it is to get writing done when you have a family to take care of. Props to all mothers who write!!!

Well, I'm finally going to be posting some waaaay over-due RE:View posts soon! Be on the lookout, I've read some good books recently!