Final Date for Book Orders!

I realized when I posted about placing a book order that I never did place a 'end date'.... My mistake, so I figured I'd better hop in here and fix it. :-)

I will be placing the order by Monday evening. So, if you would still like to buy a copy (or more) please let me know. Also let me know if you would like it signed and who it should be signed to.

You can find all the details on this previous page.

Thank you!! :-)

Updates and Prayer Requests

I've decided it would be a good idea to pop over here and do a quick update post, as well as post some prayer requests. I'm a very strong believer in prayer, and I think that sometimes it's difficult to ask for prayer because it's like asking for help- something we particularly fond of doing (me included). Updates first, however. :-) 

1. Sales on Amazon have been wonderful. I've reached a total of 8 sales since the end of April and this month so far. Praising the Lord for that! Please continue to pass the word around. 

2.  Equipment for my recording has come in. I'm extremely excited to begin working on my Audio Dramatization of my children's stories. (prayer request for this below)

3.  It's been great to see some reviews up on Amazon about my book... If you have a review, please post it there, or email it to me and I shall put it on my blog. I'd greatly appreciate it. 

Prayer Requests:

1.  Prayers that the Lord will continue to use my book for His glory. Whether it be by selling more copies, or simply having me obey His command of publishing it and giving it all to Him.

2.  I would ask for prayers for this upcoming project. It's going to be a long haul to get it all done, but I'm also extremely excited. Having done audio dramas before with some friends, I sort of have the hang of it. However, it will still be a HUGE learning process. I'm sure there will be tons of ups and downs. Please pray that I get it done quickly. I definitely want to have it done by the end of this year. I still have to write up the scripts (which should be too hard, seeing as the stories are already finished). I'm thinking of possibly adding more stories so that the CD length will be longer and more worthwhile. I'm also needing volunteers to help out with the voices. Prayers that God will send those that I need.

3.  I would also ask for prayer on whether or not I should continue with my second book. I did have major plans to keep writing more in the series, but I'm feeling a 'halt'... From God? I don't know yet. Satan can do all sorts of things to get us off track, and if he is simply trying to prevent me from writing, then I need to continue on. However, if it is of the Lord, then I want to listen. Prayers, please, that God will make HIS will clear to me. 

Thank you so much for your continued support!!! You have no idea how much it means to me. 

God bless!!

Putting in a Book Order!

Hello everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful week so far. :-) Mine has been filled with painting walls (which I hope to post about because it also has something to do with my book writing), scheming for my next book, and working on scripts for my audio dramatization of my stories. Life is good! :-)

I have decided to go ahead and place another book order, but would love to order some books for you as well! So, if you (or someone else you know!) is interested in purchasing their own copy of "On Grandpa's Knee", please let me know!

I'm still offering the special discount of $10.00 plus free shipping on your first book! If you order more than one, I just ask that you tack on $1.00 per every book after that to help with the shipping costs. If you are interested, you can Email Me to let me know how many books you would like to order.

Thank you so much and I look forward to hearing from you!

*End date for ordering is this coming Monday Evening (27th of May). Please let me know by then....

Success at the CAPE Home school Convention

Hello everyone! I thought I had better drop in and do an update. First of all, thank you so much to everyone who prayed that my book would get here in time. Praise the Lord, it actually arrived several weeks before convention. So happy about that. :-) The Lord just continues to amaze me as He orchestrates everything with  this book publishing process (from the very beginning all the way to getting my book out to different retailers.)

Just last week I was blessed to be part of the exhibitors at the New Mexico Home School convention. My friend, Alicia, and I shared a table. We cleverly called it, "Homeschool Authors"... actually, I think she is the one that came up with that title.. :-) In any case, it was quite brilliant and made for some neat conversations with homeschooling parents.

Alicia was selling her book, "To Birmingham Castle". If you haven't seen the interview I did with Alicia, you can check it out here. The book that she published was written very well and had tons of historical facts and adventure. She researched for about 5 years before publishing so that she made sure she was as accurate as possible. It definitely paid off! Alicia was able to sell out on the second day, which was fantastic! We were all pretty excited- yes, I say 'all' because we had several visitors and helpers who came frequently to our table.... but, hey, who could resist the free chocolate we were passing out?

We forgot to start out our first day 'right'. We had both said that we wanted to pray together for the Lord to bless our sales and let us just shine for Him. So, we forgot to that the first day. The second and third, however, we were able to have some time before we opened to seek the Lord. It is quite amazing how it can make your day go so much better when you start out right! :-) Not that we were too surprised or anything, but it was still nice to see and feel that change.

The Lord blessed me as well and I was able to sell out- at the last minute! I remember thinking, as the people in charge began calling through the vendor hall for vendors to start shutting down, "Well, Lord, thank you for letting me sell most of my books..." then it occurred to me that we hadn't officially closed and He could still sell my last three books.... and sure enough, He did. It was quite exciting. :-)

Needless to say, Alicia and I had a wonderful time at convention. We hope to do it again next year and we'll see how the Lord grows it.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the convention. They were taken by my friends Rachelle and Kelsey. Enjoy!

(The candy that was in that jar was the 'convention saver'... espresso candy! Literally kept us going... and all the mom loved it, too.... hmm..)

 (The pictures below were taken by Kelsey- Thank you for letting me use them!)

(This is a book that we were honored to also have at our table. The illustrator, Debbie, did an amazing job. It is simply Psalm 1 put to pictures to help children memorize their scripture. I thought it was fantastic! She has done the artwork for the Curious George show as well.)

Well, that is all I have! I will be returning soon with some other update posts. Also, you can now find links to purchase my book on the sidebar.

First Book is in the Works!

Well, technically speaking, its been in the works for a while now. However, it is just finally getting to the 'I'm only a few clicks away from getting it published'. I'm extremely excited and can't wait to share it with you all soon!

God has been so good and has blessed me tremendously throughout this entire process. He has given me such a wonderful family who has helped me by doing chores, getting dinner, washing dishes, and everything else in between to make sure that I had time to do this. My parents have been such wonderful support, my siblings have been such a great encouragement to me. I've had a young man doing my cover for me. He's been wonderful, too, and has dealt with all my picky comments.

There are so many things that the Lord has worked out for me to get this done. I feel so truly blessed. I am now just trusting that He will allow the publishers to get my book done quickly and efficiently as the convention is just around the corner! Prayers that He will just keep opening doors would be so appreciated it.

Thank you to all that have given their support and encouragement throughout all of this. It has been such a blessing and so wonderful. I don't know what I would do with all of the family and friends that have been there for me on this with prayers and everything else! I even received emails from friends every now and then asking how things were going and letting me know that they were praying and hoping everything was going well.

So, I wanted to give a huge thanks for all of that, but I also thought I would share a bit of a sneak peak of how the book is looking so far. I'm just sharing a clip of the inside and a few illustrations. Please remember that these are copyrighted.

A corde meo honoráre Deum!
Sarah Elizabeth

Author Interview: Alicia A. Willis

I'm very excited to share this interview with you all today. Alicia has been a dear friend of mine for quite some time. I was so happy for her when she released her first title, To Birmingham Castle, the first book in a series of three. It is an amazing book with tons of accurate history and a vivid story line. I really enjoyed reading Alicia's answers in the interview and I hope you do too.

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

Hi! My name is Alicia Willis, and I am an avid historian, writer, published author, church pianist, and musician. Other than that, I am a huge coffee/chocolate fan and I am a born-again Christian.

Give us a hobby and a random fact about yourself:

One favorite hobby is crocheting. My random fact is probably that I have been told by all of my book agents that I have a British accent and my mannerism is totally British. (Strange, considering I was born/raised and also currently live in New Mexico.)

When did you first begin to write?

I first started writing when I was about 10. When I first started, it was such a passion that bouts of writer’s block would make me feel guilty and even depressed. :-) I didn't get serious about wanting to be a published author until I was about 13-14, however.

What inspires you to write?

The lack of truly historical novels about the Middle Ages has been one huge inspiration. Another is the lack of modernly-written family-friendly reading material.

When do you do most of your writing?

Hmmm. Whenever I have time? Whether it be 2:00 PM or 2:00 AM? :-)

We know that you have completed one book so far and you have another in the making, is that correct?

Yes! To Birmingham Castle was published in May of 2012 by CrossBooks.  In Search of Adventure, the second book in the same series (The Comrades of Honor Series), is currently a finalist in a contest by my publisher (praise God!). Lord willing, if all goes well, full-blown publication should start in April/May. I am also the author of a Kindle novella, God of Her Fathers.

How many do you plan to have in your series?

Lord willing, The Comrades of Honor Series will have three titles.

You are also currently working on a novella, I believe, set in the old west?

Yes! Just published to Kindle, God of Her Fathers is a western tale, depicting the struggles of a young woman left widowed on the bleak Kansas plains. The story line includes a handsome stranger, merciless desperadoes, and Ellen’s heartwarming struggle to follow her Lord’s leading.

Where do you get ideas for your characters?

Hah! Well, sometimes I observe people. Tyler Nichols, the handsome stranger of God of Her Fathers, was based off of a close friend. Other characters (such as Brandon de Walheign of To  Birmingham Castle) were fun combinations of masculinity, courage, and sarcasm. J

Do you have a certain ‘method to your madness’ to the  structuring of your books or do you usually just ‘wing it’?

Sometimes I wing it; other times, I structure it. It depends on the form of publication I will be using and whether or not I see a need for rigidness. My current writing project, the last book in my series, is being rigidly structured and outlined!

Is having a book published like a dream come true for you?

Yes!!! It was one of my number one dreams and the Lord made it come to pass!

You will be selling your book at the CAPE convention this year; are you excited about that?

Yes, I am, particularly as I will be in the company of a very dear friend. J

Do you have any helpful tips or recommendations for future writers?

Don’t ever give up! And, don’t be afraid to tear your book apart in your search for true talent and the ability to write well. Revision is painful, but you cannot obtain true growth without it. J

Anything else you’d like to share?

Thanks for having me, Sarah! I look forward to working with you at the CAPE Homeschool Convention and am eagerly anticipating the release of your titles!

Thank you for the lovely interview, Alicia! I can't wait to see more of your titles coming out and I look forward to getting a chance to read that new novella! You can purchase Alicia's book at the following link. Also be sure to go and visit her website and blog and subscribe!  Alicia is also willing to answer any questions you might have that I didn't cover. So feel free to drop them in the comment box below. :-)

Alicia's Blog

Alicia on Goodreads

Website

To Birmingham Castle

God of Her Fathers: A Novella

If you're an author and would like to be interviewed, please contact me for further details.

They Have Arrived!

I was so excited when I received a package during the middle of last week. This box contained only a few items, but they made me rather excited....

Business cards!!! I ordered some business cards from VistaPrint.com (a very reasonable place to get all sorts of printing needs done.) and they finally arrived. I was rather excited, as you might guess. I think they turned out really well and I am very pleased with them. Here are a few pictures I took. (yes, I was that excited).

Don't they look cool? I also got a nice case to carry them in, and some return address labels for if/when I need to mail out books or whatever. :-) I'm rather excited to start using them. ;-) 

Ad Deum esse Gloria!