I’ve taken a break from writing my novels so far this year. It’s been months since I tried to pull up the brain power to plot and pace a full-length novel. Writing bit by bit the way I do, I wonder always how I get away with it. To think to myself, can I really do this? Have I lost more of the brain cells~ like Poirot’s gray matter~ until the ability is gone? This is a confidence question- and when you really lose confidence it’s like sustaining an injury making it harder to play Tennis or Football.

So tonight I’m beginning a new one. I have the idea of the novel scoped out, the names of some of the characters, a few fun facts to go on with. Here’s hoping this new story takes root in me, that the adventure begins and carries me off so that I forget that I’m not actually smart enough to do any of this. I love reaching the end and looking back and wondering how did that happen?

Oh and by the way, my working title so far is Teddy Bear in Space!

Over a year ago a friend on Facebook put up a promo and invited her friends to check out the Northwest Tea Festival in Seattle.

http://www.nwteafestival.com/content/nw-tea-festival-2015-recap

How perfect! I thought. The only trouble was that the Festival was the next day. So I scrambled last minute, trying to find a companion on the same day as I’d decided to attend. I found two. One was Bekah, and we loved going around Seattle Center. The other was a pleasant surprise, my good friend Takako! We tasted many little cups of tea before Takako had to get going, but we made a pact- she and I.

Let’s write our next book about TEA! I said. We have to put tea in our story~ marvelous!

And so, the next November when I settled down to NaNoWriMo that year, I wrote Mini-Droids and Tea.

Now my story has it’s first review on amazon and goodreads!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1934291686?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Books

Done by a wonderful reviewer and writer; Rachel Barnard.

So you see what happens when you drink TEA.

Here’s this nifty picture I found of a lady wearing a star dress. The room behind her is kind of ratty looking. The floor boards are warped. The bed is limp and soiled. One thinks that this girl has nothing but brown rags and work shoes but was given this star dress, the nice white evening slippers and the jewelry box. One wonders, what is she going to do with these assets? Will she go out to an evening ball and make connections? Or better, will she try to find love?

The gifts that God gives are like that. They glitter and shine in the mundane silt of our lives. He’s given me so very much. A good husband. Dear friends. Home. Six beautiful children whom I love and did love, so much. And it all wraps around to this: my grandsons and my little grandbaby Astraea, the star that glitters on her mother’s lap. Soon there will be another grandbaby that comes as well!

The question is, like this girl in the picture above, what will I do with the gifts I’ve  been given?

Grace is a powerful thing. It’s where God holds us. We fail and we fall but He holds on. It’s where He says: “as far as the east is from the west,” and “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,” (Psalm 103:12; Jude 24:24) That’s what it means to be a Christian. That’s what being saved is. We learn, oh, so slowly. We’re ardent to follow God until we get selfish. We focus on things that don’t matter. By ourselves we are wretched. Without Him to hold us we’d wither away. He’s the One who says, “Never will I leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) He loves us with fierce passion, even more than we love ourselves. So should we sin all the more so that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1) No. But should we fear all the ways in which we fall short because we might not remain saved or because that proves somehow that we weren’t saved to begin with? Not this either. Focusing on this steals our joy. I admit it. I’m a failed flaw of a Christian. I’m not sure what He sees in me. I’m WAAAY out of Jesus’ league. But I do love Him, and I am grateful. He’s answered so much in my life. He’s forgiven me a kathousand times. He’s taught me and held me and waited. And when I gave into weakness and quit trying, His grace extended like a rope that wouldn’t break. “Hold me,” I pray often. “Forgive me,” is sometimes all I can think to pray. And He stays. I reach out and find Him, my best and dearest friend. That’s what grace is. Thank you, God, that’s it’s far more powerful than my weakest actions, inactions, and sins. I love You, too.

It’s ready! I got the proof and all is well, so I’ve put out my next self-published book. As will be my habit now, for the foreseeable future, I intend to gift this book to whoever would like to read it. So, if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you one! Or I can gift it to you on Kindle. Here’s the links!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1544006659/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488685613&sr=1-1&keywords=mini-droids+and+tea