Giving Thanks

Today, I'm thankful for many things. I'm thankful for my God who loved me so much He sacrificed His son for me. I'm thankful for Jesus Christ who left paradise to come and walk this earth in order to give up His life for mine and provide me a release from the power of sin and death. I'm thankful that through the Word of God and the guidance of His Holy Spirit, I am never alone. And I'm thankful that God loved this world so much He made these wonders available to all who are willing to kneel before Him. "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved" (Romans 10:9,10).



I'm thankful for family, friends, and blessings galore.



And today, I'm thankful for all of you who take the time to read my books, to write letters of encouragement and make my job so fulfilling.


Wishing all of you a wonderful, worshipful thanksgiving!

2009 Operation First Novel Finalists Announced!

The Christian Writers Guild has chosen it's four finalists for their annual Operation First Novel Contest, something very close to my heart as winner of their 2007 installment for Fireflies in December.

The finalists are:

Jon Wakefield for Fatal Reality
Mark Sylvester for Coming Up Short
Deb Harper for Misstep
Sara Richardson for New Every Morning

Congratulations to each one! They have put in a ton of time and effort to be where they are, and I wish them all the best with their writing careers.

Reputable contests such as this one are fantastic ways for writers to get inside that narrow crack in the publishing door. Have a work-in-progress you're toying with? Maybe next years' First Novel contest would be a great goal for you.

Who knows? You could be listed here in 2010!