I Got Nothin'

What is it about a empty screen or page that makes the mind just shut down? When I am not trying to write dozens of ideas float around in my head. But as soon as I sit down to write my mind just goes blank.
I may think of something tomorrow for now I am just not able to come up with anything coherent.
Grace and peace CAC

And We're Back....

Okay so I've been gone a good long time and you are thinking "here we go again". Well I can't blame you for that. I really have been lax in writing. I could blame on it on the fact that my computer and XP parted ways and I couldn't type on my tablet. I could, but that would be a lie. The truth is I wasn't writing before my computer started messing up. The truth is I just don't make myself write what is whirling around in my head. I do write a lot in my head. I have lain in bed and composed a plethora of essays on a myriad of subjects. I just don't bother to write any of them down. I have been convicted of late though that this needs to stop. I may not be a great writer but I wouldn't be composing all these things in my head if they were not meant to be shared. God keeps sending little reminders to me about writing my story. Finally He has cracked the thick skull I have and I am seeing that though my story may not be well written it is mine, it is His and I should share. I won't be able to share my story if I don't get into the habit of writing. Also God has done some amazing things in my life and I need to let people know. So starting next post I will tell you some of these things. So, this is where you, reader come in. I need help. I need to know what you want to read about. Is there something I shared with you that you think others would like to hear. Do you have questions about what I believe or think about something? Please, PLEASE give me some feedback to get me started. Also, I really need some accountability. I am pledging to write at least one post 2x a week. I need someone to kick me in the hind end if I don't post for more than 3 days. My goal is by the end of the year to be posting daily. Thank you in advance. May God bless you and keep you. CAC

What? Update? Really? YES finally

Ya well what can I say; you've heard it all before. I am saddened a great deal by the gaps -canyons- between my postings.
You see it is not that I don't have anything to say; it is that I have so much to say I get tired just at the thought of trying to narrow my thoughts and ideas down and make it into a cohesive group of words.
Some of the problem too is my computer; it hates me. It really hates me being online. I switched browsers and that has helped some but not enough. I probably have some sort of junk on my computer that the programs I have to remove junk can't remove.
See a computer for me is like a car is for some people. Said people use the car to move them from point A to point B; know to put gas in it and maybe think of putting oil in or changing it if a light comes on and won't go off But said drivers don't check tire pressure,nor check the battery or bother with radiator fluid and the like. All said people know is that after a while the car just stops working.
I know how to so some tings on my computer; rely on it for certain things. I have a virus protection program and I have a couple of programs that I run to " clean up" my computer. I have no idea, however, what those programs actually do and I have no clue if they are doing a good job or not. What I do know is that it no longer works the way it used to work and that when I want to do something online it seems to think I have all day to sit and wait for pages to load. Even though I have DSL I often wonder if dial up could be any slower.
Back to all the things I have to say...I need to bite the bullet and get things written down before my head explodes; or would that be implode? Oh well, just saying I said all that to say I am going to try to write more and if anyone is still following me; please kick me in the backside once in a awhile OK?
More later, I promise...
Before I go please pray for my mom and my sister Lillie; Lillie has Hep C . She has been unconscious for over a week brought on by high ammonia in her blood. She has pneumonia in both lungs, her kidneys are failing because her liver is dead and the shunts put in her liver have clogged. We waited almost a week for her to be transferred to the hospital that her liver doctor works out of. Her doctor ordered meds to keep her in a coma so she is not suffering, however if her lungs do not clear up, there is little that can done be done for her. To make matters worse my mom can't stay with her as she is hospitalized in a hospital that is 2 hours away and she can't afford lodging there.
Thanks and God bless you!

Windy Monday Ramblings

We had a nice break from the harsh cold for a couple of weeks but today are reminded it is a winter predicted to be very cold. The wind chill is 27 degrees the real temp being just under 10 degrees warmer than that. Much better, I realize than a lot of places but still about 15 degrees below our average for January.
I am sitting here waiting for my hair to dry enough to go outside. (I prefer not to use a blow dryer in the winter if I can help it; as it drys my hair out. I actually prefer to use one sparingly anyway as it is not supposed to be real good for ones' hair at all.) It occurred to me that since I am waiting for my hair to dry I could write a blog post, major revelation no? I don't know I don't write more, it's not like I don't have anything to say. I just can't seem to get up the gumption to actually try to organize what I have to say into something readable.
The mantra A writer writes every day flows through my mind frequently and is a source of self recrimination for me. I actually will correct people who call me a writer because I don't write every day. I accede to being called a poet; though feel that is not really right either; for I cannot recite to you anything I have written; nor can I recite the works of others.
I guess I fear if I have the label then I must accept that I have squandered a beautiful gift; more guilt is not something I need.

Holy Roller Blog Tour

Julie Lyons was working as a crime reporter when she followed a hunch into the South Dallas ghetto. She wasn’t hunting drug dealers, but drug addicts who had been supernaturally healed of their addictions. Was there a church in the most violent part of the city that prayed for addicts and got results?
At The Body of Christ Assembly, a rundown church on an out-of-the-way street, Lyons found the story she was looking for. The minister welcomed criminals, prostitutes, and street people–anyone who needed God. He prayed for the sick, the addicted, and the demon-possessed, and people were supernaturally healed.
Lyons’s story landed on the front page of the Dallas Times Herald. But she got much more than just a great story, she found an unlikely spiritual home. Though the parishioners at The Body of Christ Assembly are black and Pentecostal, and Lyons is white and from a traditional church background, she embraced their spirituality–that of “the Holy Ghost and fire.”
It’s all here in Holy Roller–the stories of people desperate for God’s help. And the actions of a God who doesn’t forget the people who need His power.

Author Bio:
Julie Lyons is an award-winning writer, editor and investigative reporter who for more than 11 years served as editor-in-chief of the Dallas Observer, an alternative weekly newspaper owned by Village Voice Media. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a B.A. in English from Seattle Pacific University. She and her husband, Larry Lyons Jr., live in Dallas with their son.

You can win a copy of this book by posting a comment on this post or you can purchase one here Thank you and happy reading!

Happy Mother’s Day Blog Tour Book 3

Enduring Justiceby Amy Wallace When an FBI agent is pressed into action by a loved one’s childhood secret and a racial killer, he learns the difference between vengeance and justice is the choice to heal. (Publisher promo)

Enduring Justice us a compelling drama that I really wanted to like. The main themes running through the book have the potential to be powerfully emotional yet somehow, the author lets them fall flat.
I was pretty sure I knew Hannah's dark secret and I was right, but I was disappointed in the shallowness this powerful subject matter was dealt with.
The other main character, Micheal's conflicted emotions and bitterness were again rife with potential which was left, for the most part, unrealized.
Instead of seeing people deal with problems with prayer and God's Word; we see people whose issues and problems are all wrapped neatly in a trite happy ending.
Also, the dialogue in this book, especially the internal dialogue of the main characters, does not only not right true, but lends a choppy disjointedness to the tale.
I am not, like some, one to quibble over proper sentence structure and grammar to the point of banality. I don't demand excellent writing in order to enjoy a good story. But I do demand good writing , which in my opinion, this book sorely lacks. I was actually surprised to find this was not the authors first book.
It frustrates me that so many poorly written books get published when I know good writers who want to get published and can't.
As I said earlier, I really wanted to like this book. I hope you will like it more than I did, and if you would like to challenge my opinion, please leave a comment for a chance to read it yourself and let me know what you think.
You can also purchase it here .
Happy reading and get to commenting please!

Christian Writer's Market Guide Blog Tour

Christian Writers’ Market Guide 2009
By Sally Stuart

The Resource Guide to Getting Published

For 24 years running, the Christian Writers’ Market Guide has remained the most comprehensive, complete, essential, and highly-recommended resource for beginning and veteran Christian writers, agents, editors, publishers, publicists, and those teaching writing classes.

This year’s Guide is even handier with a CD-Rom included that features the full text of the book for easy searches of topics, publishers, and markets, as well as 100 pages of exclusive content including indexes and writing resource listings.

This is the resource you need to get noticed—and published.



Completely updated and revised to feature the latest on…

* more than 1,200 markets for the written word
* 416 book publishers (32 new)
* 654 periodicals (52 new)
* 96 literary agents
* 100 new listings in Resources for Writers
* 226 poetry markets
* 316 photography markets
* 25 African-American markets
* and 166 contests (29 new)

Author Bio:

Sally E. Stuart is the author of thirty-six books and has sold more than one thousand articles and columns. Her long-term involvement with the Christian Writers’ Market Guide as well as her marketing columns for the Christian Communicator, Oregon Christian Writers, and The Advanced Christian Writer, make her a sought-after speaker and a leading authority on Christian markets and the business of writing. Stuart is the mother of three and grandmother of eight and lives near Portland, Oregon.
You can purchase this here