It’s My Blog-a-versary!!!

Woo-hoo! I can’t believe its been one year since I decided that my thoughts and opinions were worthy of needing a public outlet. The time has flown by. My only regret is that I didn’t start blogging sooner. I’m extremely grateful for all of my delightful followers (yes, I’m talking about YOU). I’ve ‘met’ so many wonderful people in the blogging community and I’m looking forward to meeting many more over the next year.

Being that this is a milestone, I took the time to really think about the direction I want this blog to take. I’ve enjoyed posting about writing tips and publishing, as well as books and authors. I’ve been overwhelmed at the positive feedback for my poetry and fiction. I’ll continue to post on those subjects, but if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that it’s gotten a lot more personal over the last couple of months. I’ve been experimenting with blogging in the style of its original intention, which is as a sort of public diary. Hence, my Confessions of Faith category was born. Over the next year, you can expect lots more of my personal shenanigans. I look forward to letting y’all all up in my business. Close family, friends and random co-workers, you’ve been warned!

I was blessed to officially become a published author this year! Please wait a second while I literally pat myself on the back…ok, I’m done. I’m so proud of my contributions to the BEST ANTHOLOGY EVER! I’m also looking forward to dropping my first solo project this December. Yeah, I kind of like to randomly speak in the rhetoric of an independent music producer. If you’ve read this post, then you totally understand. Anyway, my book, When the Real Thing Comes Along is my debut novel, and since a writer is only as good as their last published book, I’ve got to get started on novel number two asap.

All that means for you is that a) you’ve got an awesome book to look forward to reading and b) I plan to pretty much limit my posts this year to once per week. There’s only so much time in a day and a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Thank you for devoting a few minutes of your time each week to reading my random thoughts and mostly unsolicited advice. I hope you’ve found some inspiration and encouragement here along the way.

XOXO,

Faith

BTW, what do you think of my new theme? What would you like to read more about here? Holla at your girl!

This is what I’m singing all day in celebration of one full year of blogging. Giving myself a round of applause!!!

Bravo-Ledisi

 

Photo credit: ADoseofShipBoy / Foter / CC BY

 

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Book Review: “What Nora Knew” by Linda Yellin

Title: What Nora Knew

Author: Linda Yellin

Genre: Literature/Fiction (Adult)/Women’s Fiction

Book Description:

Molly is a thirty-nine-year-old divorced writer living in New York City who wants her own column, a Wikipedia entry, and to never end up in her family’s Long Island upholstery business. For the past four years Molly’s been on staff at Eye Spy, covering all the wacky assignments. She’s snuck vibrators through security scanners, speed-dated undercover, danced with Rockettes, and posed nude for a Soho art studio.

Fearless in everything except love, Molly is now dating a forty-four-year-old chiropractor. He’s comfortable, but safe. When Molly is assigned to write a piece about New York City romance “in the style of Nora Ephron,” she flunks out big time. Clearly she can’t recognize romance. And in her own life, she can’t recognize the one man who can go one-on-one with her, the one man who gets her. Mainly because he’s a well-known player.

But, with help from Nora Ephron’s movies, Molly learns to open her heart, suppress her cynicism, and find her very own fairytale ending. Linda Yellin’s WHAT NORA KNEW will captivate readers with its charm and humor.

My Review:

I have to start off by sheepishly admitting that I had no idea who Nora Ephron was. Not. A. Single. Clue. Amazingly enough, I (the self-proclaimed google queen) didn’t google her prior to reading this book. *GASP* I figured that if the author did her job right, I wouldn’t need to research Nora Ephron to ‘get’ this book. I figured correctly. There were many, many references to Epron’s movies. Thankfully, I’ve seen ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and ‘You’ve Got Mail’. I just had no idea who the genius behind them was. Yellin expertly captures Nora Ephron’s signature style of witty understated comedy while developing a quirky romance.

What Nora Knew reads exactly like a Nora Ephron movie. The story is predictable, but that’s part of its charm. Everyone knows that in romantic comedies the two love interests eventually end up together. It’s the way and the how they accomplish their union that keeps us watching. The same is true of What Nora Knew. Reading this book was like curling up on the couch to watch a classic romantic movie. It was comforting and funny and sentimental. I finished it with warm fuzzy feelings and a wistful smile.

You can get your copy of What Nora Knew via Amazon here. 

What’s your favorite romantic comedy movie? Why do you love it?

I was provided an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review, which I have freely given.

Confessions of Faith: Transformation

Transformation:

a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance.

Lately I’ve been feeling the gentle, yet persistent, urge to transform. Not just any transformation, but an overall metamorphosis into the woman I am destined to be. This may sound all flowery and poetic, but the reality is a brutal confrontation with who I am now, in all my imperfections. Change is scary, especially when the change means challenging yourself and revamping habits that have become ingrained in your psyche.  Whenever I’m off-balance there are two things I depend on: God and words. They both comfort me, calm me and push me towards knowledge.

This past Sunday I curled up on the couch to watch an episode of  “Super Soul Sunday”. For the next hour I sat entranced as Oprah and Elizabeth Gilbert (author of the critically acclaimed Eat, Pray, Love) got all up in my business without ever having laid eyes on me. They spoke of destiny, fear, the loud racket of self-doubt and criticism, the quiet voice of grace. They spoke of women daring to chase their dreams. They spoke of transformation.

It is my pleasure to share with you the words of truth I absorbed that day. I hope they speak to you the way they spoke to me.

“People don’t usually change until the status quo is scarier than the transformation.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”~Anais Nin

“He who would be what he ought to be must stop being what he is.”~ Meister Eckhart

“Every day do something. You’re either going away from it or towards it,  whatever your destiny is.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

“The path to success requires you to commit. It is a process.” ~Devon Franklin

“The hero’s journey: face the battle, lose the fear.”~Elizabeth Gilbert

Today I encourage you to take a step towards your destiny, whatever it is, however small the step may be. Consider the dreams of your youth. Remember the plans you made on languid days when you took time to see animals in the clouds of the sky. Remember the wishes you made on the first star of an ordinary night. Remember them and pursue them with the resources available to you now. It’s never too late to change course and aim towards your destiny. It’s never too late to renew your mind and listen to the still small voice within. Pay attention to it. It will take you places you’ve only dreamed of.

XoXo,

Faith

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ~ Roman’s 12 :2 (NIV)

Photo credit: AlicePopkorn / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

You Are Loved!

Hey y’all, I normally don’t post anything on Sundays, but I really wanted to share this video with you guys! It’s a powerful message of affirmation for women. I hope it speaks to your soul. Be blessed!

 

XoXo,

Faith

 

All Up in My E-Reader (September Edition)

It’s that time again. I’m allowing full disclosure of the books I’ve downloaded to my Kindle in the last 30 days. Right now you can get a touch screen Kindle of your own for $79. That’s a great deal! This month’s e-reader edition is all about mega deals. Three out of the four books I downloaded were free! Don’t sleep on author promotions. Signing up for your favorite author’s newsletters and/or stalking or,…-er following them on Facebook definitely pays off. I hope you see something that sparks your interest! Click on the pic or title for deets.

Title: Deep Fried Trouble (Eugenia Patterson Series Book 1)

Author: Tyora Moody

Genre: Mystery, Thriller &  Suspense /Christian Fiction

Book Description: 

Widowed and officially retired, EUGEENA PATTERSON throws herself into organizing the neighborhood association. This presents a great opportunity to re-connect with old friends and get to know new neighbors like recently widowed Amos Jones, that is until Eugeena stumbles upon her estranged neighbor’s dead body. Eugeena’s daughter is fingered as a prime suspect, but where is she?

Determined to find her missing daughter, Eugeena and Amos sort through a list of neighbors with shady or unknown backgrounds. The more she searches, the more Eugeena becomes unsure about this neighborhood association idea. Someone closer than Eugeena thinks, wants to keep it that way.

 

Book Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Genre: Contemporary/Love & Romance

Book Description:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

 

Title: A Long & Winding Road: A Cargiver’s Tale of Life, Love, and Chaos

Author: Linda Brendle

Genre: Memoir

Book Description: 

“Sometimes, reality really bites. Alzheimer’s has wrapped Mom’s brain into knots; vascular dementia has attacked dad, and instead of carefree retirees, we have become caregivers. Regardless, dreams die hard, and we somehow stumbled into the purchase of a forty-foot motor home. That’s when all four of us set out on this seven-week trek across sixteen U.S. states. Now, Dad stopped up the toilet again; Mom wet her last pair of clean jeans, and David just announced he was hungry. My head is beginning to pound, and I know this isn’t going to be the easygoing retirement we imagined for ourselves.”

Linda Brendle takes you on a roller-coaster ride of emotional and spiritual challenges that many families are facing right now. Co-dependency, mental breakdowns, and finding love after divorce are just a few of the issues weaved into this journey of caregiving.

 

Book Title: Paint Me Gone

Author: Molly Greene

Genre: Mystery/Women Sleuths

Book Description:

Private Investigator Genevieve Delacourt is hired to find a missing sibling, but it proves to be a convoluted task. The search is complicated by two things: the woman was thought to have committed suicide over twenty years before, and she was the only suspect in a stranger’s murder before she disappeared.

Gen’s client, Sophie Keene, revives the case when an unsigned painting that depicts her sister in unmistakable detail finds its way into Sophie’s hands. The painting holds the key to the missing woman’s story, and as Gen unravels the mystery, the threads of her own complicated romantic life fray out of control.

In need of help, Gen turns to old friend and one-time romantic interest SFPD Detective Mackenzie Hackett and his insider access to the cold case file, and is forced to fully confront her feelings for the man after their unresolved past.

 I haven’t gotten a chance to read any of these yet. My TBR list is crazy long. If you decide to check any of these books out, let me know in the comments below!