100 Ways to Simplify Your Life by Joyce Meyer

I received a copy of Joyce Meyer's new book "100 Ways to Simplify Your Life" from the people at FIRST Blog Tour. I found myself taking it and reading portions throughout the day. It is the kind of book that has short chapters that are easily digested at a quick sitting. I found that the suggestions are easily applied...maybe not so much easily, but perhaps when the reader is looking for breathing room in their life, the tools are there to be applied. Joyce is known for her common sense approach and this is no different than her teaching. I admire that about her. Some of the chapters are as plain as the nose on your face. You realize that you knew the concept but somehow have not put it to practice. This book is practical as well as necessary! Read it!

Progress Continues on "Elk's Resolve" the Sequel to "Nan's Journey"

I am happy to say that the progress on the sequel to "Nan's Journey" is moving along steadily. At this time the script for the "Elk's Resolve" audio book is completed. Terry and I have made our selections on the voice to deliver the story. Also, the book cover selections have been sent to me and I polled our family and some of our friends about their opinion on them. Tate does such a good job that is it difficult to make the selection. Soon I will post the finished product selection for the book cover of "Elk's Resolve".

"Elk's Resolve" is the continuation of the story begun in "Nan's Journey". The question of "What happened to the baby?" is answered and more issues are addressed. The main thought behind this book is dealing with depression, prejudice and demonic attack. Hopefully, the reader will be encouraged and uplifted after finishing the last page of this book.

I don't want to write for the sake of writing. I want to bring hope and help to people who read my stuff. I have been in prayer for everyone who reads these stories, praying that they will find the help they need through our Lord.

"The Unseen"

” is unpredictable and somewhat disturbing. The genre is not my usual cup of tea but I found it a good read in that after each reading session thoughts of the book and the plot possibilities were much on my mind. The main character developed nicely although one of the main characters who was introduced toward the end was somewhat sketchy. It may have been on purpose, but I felt that I needed a little more for him because he was a foundational character.
We have all met people who are like the main character, Lucas, who is the “loner”. The places he frequents are also familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Subways, elevator shafts, abandoned buildings, underground maintenance structures, and doors reading “authorized personnel only” are the playground of the characters of “The Unseen”. We have all wondered about those places especially since the television show, “Beauty and the Beast”, but this book takes the concept a few steps further into a place we all hope does not exist.
On second thought, I find it disturbing that I too am interested in people and the things they do along with most of America. The reality television shows are proof that I am not alone in this. I would never go to the extremes of the characters in this book, but it is ridiculous that I jump through some hoops to see “The Amazing Race.”
Elaine Littau
Author of “Nan’s Journey” and “Elk’s Resolve”

Reflection of 2008

My best friend from Jr. High and High School sent me a Christmas card with a sweet note jotted in it. She reminded me that 2008 has been a remarkable year for me. I was struck that she wrote about me instead of herself. (I want to know her things too!) The point is: She spent those several words encouraging me. That is so like her!

Sometimes I get bogged down with talking about the book and promoting, selling, and writing, that I forget how awesome it is that it is published. Man alive, IT IS PUBLISHED!!! If you know me, you know that I'm not all that...but God is! You may not believe in miracles, but I want to tell you, This has been a real life miracle!

2008 has been a year of discovering priorities. What is my platform? What am I trying to say? What is important to me? What will I spend my time on? What will I spend my money on?
Answers to these questions coming soon...I will have to chew on them a bit to put the right words to it.

Libraries and Prisons

Libraries and Prisons??? What are you talking about? I just wanted to say that they are my favorite places to give books to. This morning I gave a copy of my audio book to my local library. I have also given away a bunch of hard copies of "Nan's Journey" to school and public libraries and prison libraries.

There is a process for giving to prisons. You have to find someone connected to a ministry or service to a particular prison that is authorized to take a copy in to the library. If you are reading this and have access to this type of ministry, contact me. We will see about getting a copy into the prison or library you have in mind.

Right now I am in the middle of preparing the manuscript for "Elk's Resolve" for the audio process. It is exciting to see the sequel to "Nan's Journey" come along. It has made it through the first stage of the conceptual edits and now I am waiting for the next editing step. I should get some selections to choose from for the book cover soon. It is a fun process. I will keep you updated. Be sure to check in and not miss anything.

Winter

Yesterday we had our first snow up in the Texas Panhandle area. What you need to understand about snow in our neck of the woods (just kidding---It is flat plains and no trees) is that the snow usually does not fall here. It lands against stuff because it blows horizontally. (usually) I have seen a few snowfalls around here when there was no wind, but rarely.

I drove into town the ten miles from where I live inching in at 40 mph. The wind was blowing so hard that visibility was terrible. I would have turned around if I could have seen a driveway to pull out on. After I arrived at the church where I work as a secretary, the wind continued and my pastor/boss suggested that I return home before I was stranded in town. I did a little work and the sun came out a little but the winds continued to howl. I made it home safe and sound and curled up next to my computer and looked over my book stuff.

I read a lot of emails and blogs that I got behind on and even joined Twitter. It looks like fun. Terry called and said that he was on his way home also. I was glad because this bitter weather is dangerous for truckers. I was relieved to see him safe at home. He actually read 128 emails that he got behind on. He has this thing about forwards...He doesn't really like them but he HAS to read them. (He like the extraordinary ones...just not all of them) He prefers to be personally contacted. All he wants is a short little sentence from his friends telling him what they are doing. (Sounds like Twitter doesn't it!!!)

I get so tickled at him because he struggles with the computer...especially my laptop. I have to help him find things that disappear on him or won't move or delete...That's OK because he is great at things I have not idea how to do. (I still consider him my hero after he fixed the drain on my kitchen sink on Monday morning.) I think that is why he lets his emails pile up. He feels dumb when he can't maneuver around like he wants to.

We watched The Biggest Loser and cheered on our pick for a winner the we watched a Hallmark movie and caught up of a DVD that he promised to watch. It was nice and peaceful here at Fort Littau. (That's what the boys' friends used to call our home place.) We caught up on each other. Sometimes we just sorta communicate in snippets because of work schedules and exhaustion. Terry falls asleep in his recliner when he finally gets through the door. We enjoyed talking and laughing while the countryside was plastered with snow.

Today all is calm and all is bright. The snow is not deep and probably won't last very long. It never does in our prairie country. The sky is bright blue/grey without any clouds. I will pick my way to work on a highway with patches of ice. We live in an area of light traffic or no traffic. I am grateful for that in this weather. Terry has been gone on the road for hours already. All is back to normal. I hope you have a great day today. God bless you.

Twitter???

I just joined Twitter! My name there is nansjourney. What do you think of twitter? I don't know much about it.

What Do You Think? Seriously!

For the book "Elk's Resolve" I have the option of having the creative department of Tate Publishing make a book trailer for me or they will make an abridged version of the book on CD. The CD would be 25% shorter than the book.

The reason for the abridgment is so that the cost would be lower than it was for "Nan's Journey". In comparison to book sales, I have sold 35 copies of the audio CDs vs 1107 books. I am torn about what to do.

What do you think? Seriously!

Annual Christmas Letter

Most years I try to have an annual Christmas letter with my Christmas cards. This is one of the years I didn't get around to it. It would have been a great year to have added the epistle of the Littau's, but alas, I didn't do it.

I will name off the things that I might have included in it:

1. I would have voiced gratefulness to Almighty God for His tremendous blessings in our life together. (Terry and I)

2. I would have stated my appreciation and love to my friends and family. They are one of the biggest reasons I can make it through things that come up in my life.

3. I would have written a sentence or two about each son and his family. I am so proud of them. Those grandchildren are the absolute best! (2 boys and 2 girls)

4. I would have to tell about the joy of having a book published and how awesome it is to know that people are reading it. One of my great nieces told her mom that "Nan's Journey" is in the Jr. High library and is on the AR (Accelerated Reading) list for testing!!! She likes to tell the other kids that her auntie wrote it. I am happy that I can make her proud.

5. I would include a recent family photo for all to gasp at our beauty. (not really)

Even though I didn't send a Christmas letter, I try to send notes and emails here and there and express love to those I know. If you are reading this, I appreciate you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Things are Moving Along

A lot of things have happened in the past week. Terry finished the hardwood floor! I will post a detailed account of that, but right now I want to talk about the craft show. It was sooooo fun! I visited with a bunch of very sweet people who came by my booth. They were very encouraging and many of them purchased copies of "Nan's Journey" to give for gifts as well as signing my list for the pre-orders of "Elk's Resolve". I appreciate everybody who stopped by.

also

My editor returned my marked up copy of "Elk's Resolve" for my corrections. I have until Dec 15 to get it back to her. She was very thorough. I think she is just right for this book. The book cover designer will phone me tomorrow and discuss ideas for the cover of "Elk's Resolve". Things are really moving along.

Do you have any cool ideas for the book cover?