 I am so excited to be gearing up for my second ever public book signing. The people at Family Christian in Holland have been incredible to work with. This event is the result of an inquiry I made about stocking my book on their shelves. The request was met with great excitement about the possibilities both for book sales and a signing event. Because the genre of my books is well suited to both young readers, as well as male readers, they suggested hosting the event this coming weekend to line up with both graduation gift and Father's Day gift buying. It was also mentioned that there are other West Michigan stores, if the book does well here in Holland.
There are a myriad of thoughts that accompany a book signing event, at least for me. What if I don't have enough copies? (I know, wishful thinking.) What if no one shows up? What do I write? Then there's the dreaded, what if I spell someone's name wrong? And on, and on, and on... Most of all, I am just looking forward to meeting some of the awesome readers who've supported my writing and our mission of compassion. Which by the way, Family Christian is also a non-profit dedicated to supporting compassion ministries with their sales. I know many of you, my faithful blog readers, are not from the area. So I probably won't see you there. But I would very much appreciate your thoughts and prayers on Saturday. As always, it is my desire that these stories would draw people closer to God, while at the same time providing much needed clean water for those around the globe. 'Til next time!
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 It's been awhile since our last update on the primary purpose of Hearts of Compassion. Our mission is to provide clean edifying stories in order to raise funds to provide clean water to those around the world without.
In the past few months, since the release of Restoration's Journey, book two in the Unseen Dominion series, we've been able to provide clean water for a year to a couple dozen more families. Imagine that mother in Ethiopia who spent hours every week carrying unsanitary water to her family, or a preteen daughter in Sierra Leone put at risk daily of assault because she had to fetch water by herself, or that young boy in Mexico who could have died from diarrhea due to waterborne parasites. Every person who receives clean water as a result of our stories is given a blessing beyond measure. The need is great and the task is daunting. We need your help. Here are some ways you can help:
 There is so much work happening behind the scenes these days. As an Indie Author/Pub, the learning never ceases--honing writing skills, reading, rewriting, rereading, type editing, graphic arts, formatting print and ebook editions, promotion, planning, okay you get the picture. Perhaps one of the hardest lessons for me has been that of asking for help.
This go around, as you know if you read my last blog post, I determined to go the route of creating an Advanced Review version of my latest book and asking you, my faithful supporters, if you would be willing to be the pioneer readers of this newest story in the Unseen Dominion series. Your response was overwhelming. Many of you have agreed to be advanced readers/reviewers. I've often pondered why it is so difficult to build a readership as a new author. With the availability of inexpensive ebooks, giveaways, and Kindle countdown deals, it is certainly not a financial issue--at least not primarily. No, the decision to take the leap and gamble on reading an unknown author is a risk of something much more valuable than a few bucks. It is a commitment to give of your most valuable and non-renewable resource--your time! Therefore, I am greatly honored that so many have given of this valuable resource to read my stories. Then I started hearing from those of you who are reading Restoration's Journey. I am truly humbled at the encouraging and insightful feedback I have already received. And yes, my humility and gratefulness are increased in knowing that dozens of no-brainer mistakes will never be seen by the masses. As I've said before, we are all together on this journey to help those with the greatest needs. Each and every one of you who have committed your time to read, review, encourage, rate, and spread the word, have given your time to provide life-giving water to "the least of these." Thank you! More exciting news coming next week. Stay tuned...  As a writer, one of my favorite things to do is to visit new places. I love to observe new worlds and people, to imagine their roles as characters or settings for scenes and stories. Recently I travelled to Las Vegas for a few days. You hear so much excitement surrounding the adventures of visiting Vegas, and much of it is true. There is incredible architecture, fun (and even free) shows, like the fountains of Bellagio or the volcano of The Mirage, magic and music, food and drink, dance, and casinos galore. I had the opportunity to attend a magic show by Mat Franco, season nine winner of America’s Got Talent. Fun, family-friendly entertainment. At one point, he discussed that seeing the “how” of magic removes the awe, and how sleight-of-hand magic relies on misdirection to “hide” reality.
But, the magicians haven’t cornered the market on misdirection in Vegas. It’s a recognized fact that the casinos use several techniques to keep you unaware and gambling. Bright glitzy lighting, a lack of clocks and outside windows, increased oxygen levels (for me offset by the inclusion of the blue haze of cigarette smoke), and free drinks served by attractive young ladies while you gamble. These all serve to slow the passage of time, and create a party-like atmosphere where you feel like it’s fun to give away your hard earned cash. But, I’m a people watcher, remember. Over the course of my stay, out of the thousands of people that I saw at slots, roulette wheels, and the tables, I would dare say I saw less than a dozen who truly appeared to be having fun. And even that I suspect was short lived. However, for me the truest deceptions, the masters of misdirection, lay outside the casinos. Bright flashy screens advertised exciting shows and entertainment high in the skies, while people trampled on hundreds of advertisement cards, bearing images of young women with less secrets than Victoria. At each turn these cards were thrust at passersby, who were obliviously distracted by the glitz of the strip, in hopes to lure them to establishments predicated on the exploitation of those photographed. Even as I found my way to the big attractions, the fountains or volcanoes, heartbreak hid itself in plain sight. People dressed in costumes, or very little costume as was often the case, fought for our attention. Their goal? To be seen, to capture the attention of the hundreds of people flowing by. That someone might stop to drop some coin in a tin can, or to take a photo with them “earning” a couple bucks. But it’s a party, right? Wait for a while. Watch his expressions. Study her non-verbals. You’ll soon see that it’s all just misdirection. Sleight of hand, or eyes, or body, anything to keep you from seeing the reality. There was one instance where I truly saw through the misdirection. I saw the reality, and it still breaks my heart. A young woman—dressed in her, um, shall we generously say, underwear—danced at, no, on a street-side bar. I watched her face as a middle-aged man approached her with a camera. She smiled, posed, and the camera flashed. As he walked away, her expression flashed true, if only for a moment. Insecurity, shame, disgust, so many emotions in a heartbeat of time. But, the one that struck me more than any was hurt. Deep emotional pain. Not the kind that came from his obliviousness to her as a person or that he didn’t even offer her the dignity of paying her for his slap-worthy intrusion. No, I fear she was all too used to that. Rather, the pain of one whose disgust isn’t with the hundreds of passersby who feel at liberty to take her photo, but with herself for letting them. Her smile was the greatest misdirection I saw in Vegas. But, I watch people. My prayer is to see them as God sees them. And, I know His heart is broken for that young woman, because mine was. 'Till next time.  What could be more exciting than crunching through the edit of Restoration's Journey, Book Two of the Unseen Dominion series? Only an update on our mission to provide clean water to those around the world with the most need.
It's been a quite a while since I gave an update here on our compassion efforts. If you are new to Hearts Of Compassion Publishing, all proceeds from book sales go to compassion based ministries. Specifically, Unseen Dominion proceeds go to Living Water International. LWI's ministry is about meeting the practical need for clean drinking water, while sharing the good news of the love of Christ. Many of you know that I took a five or so month break from writing fiction, earlier this year. During this break, I focused on a freelance project, creating a six-week discipleship curriculum for Engedi Church here in Holland, Michigan. This was a great opportunity, and I look forward to what God can do with this curriculum. So, how are we doing in our mission to provide clean water to those in need? Combining funds from my freelance writing with the proceeds from sales of In The Image of Man, Book One of the Unseen Dominion series, we have been able to donate the funds necessary to provide clean drinking water for 135 families for a year. This equates to 54% of a clean water well in a desperate community. The work has just begun, and we need your help. Here are some ways you can help:
Thank you for helping! 'Till next time.  Our mission is to publish uplifting Christian novels in an effort to raise funds to help those around the world in need. I am pleased to announce that so far this year ten more families have much needed clean water. This brings the total for our first twelve months to roughly three-dozen families. That means clean water to drink, better hygiene, improved health, less time spent carrying contaminated water, safety, and even more time for education, for the children of these homes. Our goal for the Unseen Dominion series is to raise enough funds to pay for at least one community water-well. As you can see from the graphic, we still have a long way to go. I am optimistic that we will be able to accomplish this goal. Not because of our efforts, but because of you. Your involvement in this effort is what makes this goal a possibility. You are helping to fulfill Jesus' call to provide a "cup of cold water" to those who need it most. If you've been following my blog long enough, you've heard me talk about the challenges of getting momentum as an indie publisher and relatively unknown name in the publishing world. As we prepare to have Restoration's Journey, book two of the series, ready for release this fall, we need your help more than ever. Through the next several months we will make a push to raise awareness of our mission and of our first book, In The Image of Man. Here are some ways we can definitely use your help:
Thank you for helping!
'Till next time.  It's time to celebrate. Perhaps the next best thing to a book hitting the shelves is typing the final words of the first draft of the story. That's exactly what I did this weekend.
For roughly eight months, I've been writing the sequel to my first release, In The Image of Man. If you've read the first book, this one follows young Ima Fredericks as she flees CeSiR Tech. Initially, I set out to continue the story of Chris, Sarah, and all your favorites from Book One. Ima's flight was going to be the prologue. Well, the characters had different plans. In fact, Book Two, entitled Restoration's Journey, covers the week of time between when Ima exited the first story to where the first story ends. Have no fear, all the characters will be back in Book Three. I think. :) I am excited for you to have the opportunity to meet and fall in love with this twelve year old girl. The bad news? This is only the first draft. While this first draft is not nearly as rough as my first draft of Image, there are still multiple stages of editing remaining before Journey is ready for primetime. Unlike Image, which may have seemed to just show up one day on the electronic shelves, I promise there will be more notice and promotion of Journey. In fact, for readers of In The Image of Man who have written reviews and are interested in being a part of the process, we will be providing ARCs (Advance Reading Copy). This process helps to build excitement and anticipation, as well as getting the much influential reviews into the pipeline early in the book's release. Critical feedback from such readers will also be essential in keeping our editing costs in control, allowing us to help as many people in need as possible. So, in the next few months, expect to see the unveiling of the cover art, more writing excerpts from the editing process, a preview excerpt, and more information on ARCs. 'Till next time!  As 2014 winds down, I thought it would be good to post a reminder to all our readers what a difference you have made this year. This is our first year at Hearts of Compassion Publishing. When I started the company, there were many unknowns as to the viability of such an endeavor. Our mission is to use the sale of God-honoring books and stories to fulfill the call in Matthew 25:40 to provide clean water, food, clothing, and care to those in need.
In our first year, nine months actually, we have been able to publish our first book, In The Image of Man, and raise enough royalties to provide clean drinking water to over one-hundred people, or over twenty-five families, around the world who were in desperate need of clean water. This means less disease, water-born illness, and violence. As well as, more time in school instead of carrying water, greater security, and the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus in the process. I don't know what God has in store for the coming year(s). Please join me in praying this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that thousands of people can be helped through this simple ministry concept. The first draft of the second book in the Unseen Dominion series is rounding into shape. It is my hope and prayer that as one writer friend told me, "the best contributor to sales of a book is the next book." I am working hard to have the sequel to In The Image out the first half of 2015. Thank you again for your support and encouragement. Please continue to help me spread the word. Your recommendations, Amazon reviews and ratings, tweets, and Goodreads reviews and ratings all help in growing awareness, both of the book but more importantly of its mission. 'Till next year!  It has been a sincere joy sharing the Christmas season with you, my faithful blog readers. I hope you have enjoyed reading the special Angelic Christmas series as much as I've enjoyed writing them. This seven part series provided a great way for me to introduce you to some of the angels of the Unseen Dominion series. If you only caught some of the short-stories, I'd suggest going back and reading all seven.
As is the case with any fiction centered on biblical topics, it is always important to remember that not everything in the story is factual. I did my best to be faithful to the content of scripture while offering a fresh way of considering the events so critical to God's story, which He chose to reveal to us in the Bible. Now, as we move toward the start of a new year, I need to get back to the work of writing Book Two of Unseen Dominion. Release of this book is planned for sometime in 2015 and I am excited with how the story is coming together. If you haven't read Book One of Unseen Dominion, In The Image of Man, what are you waiting for? Pick up the book or ebook today on Amazon. And don't forget, all proceeds from this book are going to provide clean drinking water to those around the world that currently do not have access. 'Till next time!  I am excited to report that we have been able to donate the necessary funds to provide clean drinking water to twenty-two families for a year, thanks to your purchase and promotion of the book In The Image of Man. As we've said often times, all proceeds from purchases of this book are being donated to Living Water International.
This is perhaps the most critical time and need for these donations since we started this endeavor. The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has greatly increased the need for clean water. In addition to clean water, this outbreak mandates serious attention to education, supplies, and treatment. Providing for these needs without spreading the disease among those who are helping also requires clean water. "The fight against Ebola demands safe water and the promotion of strong hygiene and sanitation. Government leaders in both Sierra Leone and Liberia know Living Water International as a strong water, sanitation and hygiene partner in their countries. They have asked us to support the effort to combat this virus." - Living Water International If you are passionate about helping Living Water International fight this serious outbreak, you can head directly to their website and donate. In addition, if you help us spread the good word about the thought provoking book In The Image of Man, all proceeds will go to helping fight this epidemic. While one book won't do much, if we can get this book to take off, the potential to help can grow exponentially. We can't do this without you! Working together to meet the needs of "the least of these." Thanks until next time. |
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