Thinking Thankful Thoughts

Is it really November 23? As I think back over the last few months, I am thankful and excited to share with you several updates.

1. Awakening Sun is available in both paperback and Kindle formats. If you can’t think what to get the teenager in your life for Christmas, may I suggest it would make a marvelous Christmas gift?
2. I’ve launched a blog called Think True Thoughts designed for teen girls and their friends. Living in today’s world is anything but easy for teens, and I’ve designed this blog community to be a place they can find refreshment, encouragement and motivation for living lives pleasing to Christ. Take a moment to stop by and visit!
3. I will be joining the faculty at the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference (FCWC) next year, presenting a workshop on free and easy technology tools available to help writers present themselves and their platforms with professionalism.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

This time of year leaves many feeling fatigued – as if they are sprinting to the year’s finish line – and sometimes, I feel that way myself. *Gasp* The year can’t be gone! I have so much else I want to do!!

When I feel that way, I have to pause and remember all the good things God’s given me this year – and also the things He’s chosen not to give me. (After all, God’s refusals are His mercies.)

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to enjoy quiet time, refreshment, and good old-fashioned fellowship with friends and family. I’m tempted not to look at the Black Friday ads, because I don’t want to face mobs and mounds of merchandise. I want to curl up at home and catch my breath. 

That’s my challenge to you this Thanksgiving: Take a breather and count your blessings. The year’s finish line is weeks away, and if we’re going to finish well, we can’t be out of breath.

Awakening Sun Dedication: To Devon Curtis

“You’ve got some explaining to do, young lady!”

That was my friend Devon’s text to me when she received Awakening Sun in the mail. I had thought about telling her that I had dedicated my book to her, but no, that would have spoiled the surprise. And Devon is not the easiest person to surprise.

*Cough* As in the LAST time I tried throwing her a surprise birthday party. My surprise was so much of a success that she almost didn’t come. (You will be pleased to know that this year, some friends and I succeeded in surprising her for her birthday.)

There’s actually a three-way dedication in my book, but Devon starts it off. She’s been my friend going on forever. Not just my friend. My “I-will-get-you-out-of-your-comfort-zone” friend. And I love her for it.

A few years ago, Devon convinced me to go to Nicaragua on a mission trip with her. So some of the mission trip episodes mentioned in Awakening Sun MAY or MAY NOT be a case of truth tinted with fiction. (I’ll give you a hint: This may involve glitter.)

In Nicaragua, you eat a lot of rice and beans. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m all for rice but have never been a big bean fan.

The first morning in Nicaragua, Devon scooped a healthy portion of black beans onto my plate.

So I tried them. They were okay… mixed with rice.

Later, she slipped goat cheese onto my plate when I wasn’t looking. I smelled it. And I didn’t try it. I just took her word for it that it was gross.

We’ve dropped 65-feet in a giant swing together, courtesy of the Wilds (Me: Screaming / Devon: Laughing). She introduced me to Downton Abbey. She’s taught me what little I know about nail polish (thanks to the fact I didn’t have a sister and was born a low-maintenance tomboy). “Did you use a top coat, Kristen?” She will ask me, and I will guiltily admit I did not.

So Devon, thank you for challenging me to try new things. Thanks to you, I discovered my love for mission trips. And thanks to you, there are now four shades of Essie nail polish on my bathroom counter.

I would be remiss not to mention the rest of those friends in my dedication, starting with Devon’s parents Tim and Rosario who have truly become like a second family to me.

And then there are the dozens of people I’ve been blessed to meet on mission trips – from Nicaragua to Montana to New York. You know who you are. You have permission to write your name on the dedication page.

Thank you all for enriching my life. In some small way, I hope Awakening Sun will enrich yours.

Awakening Sun - Now Available!

I’m excited to release Awakening Sun, the third and last book in my Wings of the Dawn young adult suspense trilogy.

Teaser

The story opens with a seemingly final sentence for the trilogy's villain Neil DeWitt and a fairly simple case for its heroine Abby Grant to solve. Yet things are not as they seem, and what appears to be a standard clinical drug trial turns into something much more complicated and dangerous.

Theme

Second chances. Are they possible? At what cost? Abby and friends face some of their darkest moments yet. Through them, they realize both the intense risk and reward of giving second chances.

Your Turn

The paperback is now available at Amazon.com. Kindle readers, stay tuned! It will be converted into a Kindle version as well.

Share the news with your friends. Then, make coffee, find a cozy chair, and let me know how long it takes you to finish this last installment.

Enjoy!