Hi, everyone! I have a special guest this week. I'd like to introduce you to Amie Woleslagle, a friend, and author who is releasing her poetry book "FIFTEEN" in late October. Welcome, Amie! A: Hello, Carolyn! Thank you so much for inviting me on your blog. C: How about you tell us a little bit about yourself to get us started? A: I'm a teenage writer, dreamer, artist, and musician, who blogs about mental health, creates videos on the writing craft, and I write novels and poems about finding Christ's light even in the darkest night. C: Is this your first time indie publishing or have you done it before? A: Technically, I have indie published before, but this is the first serious project I'm Indie publishing. C: So what was your inspiration for this book? What inspired you to write this? A: I didn't really have any inspiration. These are poems I've written over the past year as I processed what the Lord was teaching me, along with my emotions at the time. I definitely never thought I would publish any of my poetry, except for a few here and there on my blog. C: What are some of the themes that appear throughout these poems? A: A few of the themes are true friendships, embracing joy, self acceptance, and living your faith while struggling with mental illness. C: What do these topics mean to you? A: They mean so much. Over the past two years, the Lord has taught me so much about true friendships, what it means to embrace joy even when you feel joyless, self acceptance, and living out my faith as I struggle with my mental health. C: What is the message you want readers to take away when they've finished this book? A: I hope they take away two things. There is hope, even when you feel hopeless, even when you've searched high and low, and hope still appears to be missing in action. And secondly, the Lord is faithful. He will not continue to turn a blind eye to your pain or a deaf ear to your cries. Well, thank you so much for joining me on my blog today, Amie! And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! Drum roll, please! ;) Isn't the cover gorgeous? *Cue the heart eyes* I am pleased to announce that "FIFTEEN" will be available as an e-book AND in paperback for those who love physical books. If you are interested, I'll put the pre-order links below. And did I mention that Amie is giving away a little bundle of goodies when you pre-order the paperback version? You should definitely check that out! :)
Paperback Link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/848898366/fifteen-a-compilation-of-poems-preorder?ref=shop_home_active_1 E-book Link: https://www.amazon.com/Fifteen-compilation-poems-Amie-Woleslagle-ebook/dp/B08GP5ZC9D/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=fifteen+amie+woleslagle&qid=1598891714&sr=8-1 And for those of you who pre-order, here's the link to the goodies! Note: you have to have a copy of your receipt on hand in order to get the goodies. Fill out the form below. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSenLfX2Nfb3veRryRdQRydtoSbFcu4kol_EeJvU9tPoXC6Oow/viewform?usp=sf_link So more ABOUT the book. See below! :D You're not alone. You're not the only person who struggles with mental health issues, not the only person with demons floating in your mind. Amie Woleslagle wrote Fifteen because she deals with them as well. Not to fix your pain, but to reach out and hold your hand. To remind you that you are not alone, to ask you to stay and make the world a better place. Because the world will never be the same without you and your unique take on life. Fifteen is a book of poems crafted from one teenager dealing with mental health issues to another teenager in the same place. It walks through the battle of pretending to be okay, of having people you thought were trustworthy shatter your heart, and the battle of not giving in when your brain has given up. Fifteen covers true friendships, embracing joy, self acceptance, and living your faith while struggling with mental illness, all the while showing that, in the end, flowers will bloom in the ashes of your pain. Till next week, Carolyn P.S. Amie has a blog, too! Go check it out! :) http://amiewoleslagle.com
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Do you like poetry?
I have to admit, I didn't care much for it up until recently when I branched out and started reading a book of scriptures and poems. "Showers of Blessings" by Helen Steiner Rice is really good and I am so excited to be able to announce another book to add to your TBR pile. ;) My friend Amie Anne is indie publishing a book of poems entitled, "FIFTEEN" coming out in October and I am so excited to be a part of the excitement as she reveals the cover for it next Tuesday! Lord willing, she'll be my special guest on the blog next week! So be watching out for that post. By then, we'll have some pictures of the beautiful cover to show you! :) And now for my end-of-the-month writing update: I just wrapped up chapter fourteen of my current work-in-progress and the word count currently sits at 36,480 words. If I hit my word goal tomorrow, I'll be halfway through! Yay! This book has been so much fun to write so far and an interesting one to say the least. I've learned a lot about skin grafting, CPR, and other medical procedures (since my protagonist is a nurse!) And her special friend is a helicopter pilot/ mechanic in the Coast Guard. That makes for interesting scenes and tense drama! ;) Premise for "Their Hope" An unexpected friendship, a broken heart, and a storm all threaten to inundate a nurse. Can she find an Anchor to steady her heart and help her keep the course? "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities [weaknesses], that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
This verse jumped out at me in the last couple of weeks. I was excited about it first off because it would fit really well into the current story I'm working on. My protagonist (main character) loves helping others and doesn't enjoy being the one others have to take care of. She hates weakness because she thinks it showcases fear and makes her feel vulnerable. I'm sure some of you can relate to this. Weakness feels like something bad to us because it reveals our flaws and fears and maybe even our weak spots. But I've learned something. . .weakness isn't bad. Look at the verses above again. Our weaknesses don't have to showcase our fears. In fact, they're opportunities for Christ's strength and power to rest on us. We can't rely on our own pitiful strength. We can rest in His. I love the last phrase of verse ten: "for when I am weak, then am I strong." So really, when every bit of our physical strength is drained, Christ's strength takes over. And with His strength working in us, that is when we're really strong. Have a great rest of your week! Recently, I got to thinking about things I've learned to do from books and learned from books. I already posted a habit I developed while reading on Instagram a week or two ago, and now I'd like to share it on this blog with you as well as things in history I learned from books (aka fun books! Not history books. Lol!) My writing habit. As I mentioned earlier, I developed a good habit from a book I read, pictured here below. I'll give an excerpt from the scene while you try to guess what the habit is. ;) *"The Judgment" by Beverly Lewis* (from pg 250-251) As he walked back toward the house through the ankle-deep snow, a siren rang out in the distance, then another. He cringed inwardly, just as he had the day the ambulance wailed down Salem Road, coming for the bishop's son. Too late. "Lord, help whoever is in need," he whispered, his breath crystallizing before his eyes. ~~~(end)~~~ Can you guess what it is? ;) After reading this book, I started praying, whenever I heard ambulance sirens, for the victims of whatever the accident had turned out to be. Praying that they would come to know the Lord through this traumatic event in their life. As it turns out in the book, the person Sol prayed for was actually related to him, involved in an accident. So it never hurts to pray for those involved in real life as well. So far that's really the only habit I've developed from reading so far. Moving on, I'm going to explain a little bit about something I learned when I was reading at a much younger age. This series for girls was SO very good but also very dramatic and a little heartbreaking at the time I read it. I made it through the first three books fairly quick without any bumps. Then came book four, (pictured above) and the horrific scene that I still can remember to this day. It involved a fire, started by men "in white robes," in front of a certain character's family's home, that led to a heartbreaking loss close to home for the main character. They mentioned the "KKK" and "Ku Klux Klan" as being the ones who started the fire. So it was a little scary for me when I got older to learn that they weren't a fictional group. They're real! :O
I hope you had fun learning about the different things I've picked up and gained knowledge from while reading! Now tell me, what are some bookish habits you picked up? And what historical groups or events did you learn in the pages of a fiction book? I'd love to hear about them! :) Till next time, Carolyn "Now there are diversities [differences] of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." 1 Corinthians 12:4,6.
I read this passage earlier in the week and a few observations caught my attention. I'd like to share them with you for your encouragement. First off, I noticed the mention of gifts. We all have unique talents or gifts, and even if more than one of us has the same gift (like teaching) they each have a different way of expressing it, including their own unique touch. Some common gifts are: teaching, photography, writing, singing, writing music, playing instruments and the list goes on. These gifts, though they are all different, have something in common. Do you know what the commonality is, the thing that links these unique gifts together? It's all about their message. We write because we have a message to share with readers, we play instruments to bring out the message through song, and we take pictures that tell a story. Isn't it incredible how God uses our gifts to help us impart His message to others? Then I noticed the mention of differences. Just because we're different doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. It's what makes us unique. There is only one YOU. And only YOU can bring that certain message to others through the talent that fits your one-of-a-kind personality. Think of our bodies. On the outside, we're one solid person. A look inside tells us a different story. We have lungs, a heart, a pancreas, kidneys. All these different parts of the body work together for one, common purpose: to keep us alive. We all have different abilities and at the same time, we're one solid unit (or body) if we're working together to fulfill our ultimate purpose: spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So go out, armed with the Gospel message, and write, sing, take photos, or do whatever it is you need to do in order to reach the world with your unique message. Have a blessed weekend, friends! |
AuthorHi! I'm Carolyn, a writer seeking to glorify God with my words. Archives
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