Tag Archives: God

Am I a Real Person? I’m not sure.

Hmm, am I a real person?

Hmmm.__Wait_a_minute_00000

*Please wait while I hum the Jeopardy theme song in my head for 30 seconds while flying around the room on my unicorn*

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The answer is . . . no.

I am a robot: eat, sleep, write, eat, sleep, write, eat, sleep, write.

Okay, SERIOUS MODE: On.

Hello, I’m Jamie Ayres, and the truth is, I wish I were a robot. I’m more real than I care to admit. If real means being a frustrated, insecure, hot mess. Yeah, the past month has been crazy.

If I was a robot, I could accept or refuse thoughts from bullies without getting upset. I could wire my brain and abilities any way I wanted. I could program myself to be happy no matter whom or what surrounded me each day.

But that’s not the mark of a real person. And as my second novel, 18 Truths, was being released and attacks were coming from all sides, I recognized God was showing me my own personal truth in the midst of it. He allows bad days to happen to make us aware of how much we need help.

My definition of a real person is one who tells the truth, means what they say but doesn’t say it mean, and has a good heart. From that perspective, I rather like the label of being a “real” person, even as I listen to the voices of my characters whispering in the dark corners of my mind.

Alien PKO_0003410That doesn’t mean I’m not opposed to the Little Blue Lady abducting me

*puts on foil hat and chants, “Take me to your leader.”

Together, we will rule the Earth!!! 

Be careful what

you wish for!

Want to know more about Jamie Ayres? Hop on over to her website (Quick, before the Little Blue Lady does)

Check out Jamie’s book HERE. The paperback is on sale. Wahoo!

You can also feed your ereader, cause they need a little love, too.

(Tissues sold separately)

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Why do we put up Christmas wreaths on our doors?

Don’t ya just hate it when your kid asks you a question and you think, umm, because we do, that’s why.

I never remember questioning anything when I grew up. We just did certain things at Christmas. I looked forward to it. But I never really asked “why”.

Did you as a lot of questions, or is this just a quirk of the new generation?

Anyway, this is the reason behind hanging a Christmas Wreath on a door, courtesy of our pastor. (I’ll paraphrase)

A Christmas wreath, in essence, is an advent wreath without the candles. it is a circle–without beginning or end, compromised of evergreen branches.  It symbolizes God’s everlasting love for us, and our hope in everlasting life with Jesus.

Wow. Pretty cool, huh?

So next time you see a wreath on a door, take a moment to remember the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Merry Christmas

Sacrificing Virgins? What ever happened to Christmas Cheer?

Wanna see a review?  Make Believe is being reviewed on Jeanz Book Read N Review today. Please hop over and check it out — then let me know in the comments below if I should look at it or not 🙂

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Today I am hosting the lovely and talented Terri Rochenski, Author of “Sacrificial Oath” from the Make Believe Anthology.  Awesomeness.

Here is the “Back Cover Blurb” for Terri’s story:

Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski
An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place.

With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

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So, Miss Terri… we both looked at the very same picture, and I came up with Last Winter Red, and you came up with Sacrificial Oath.  What gives?

https://i0.wp.com/www.jtaylorpublishing.com/photos/authors/11.jpgThe first thing I thought was how much the landscape (minus the tower) looks like one of the fields below the house I grew up in. Raised on a farm in central PA, there’s lots of corn – and snow. When I was a kid, anyway. 🙂

  1. Ummm… Okay…. So, they sacrifice virgins in the Pennsylvania farmland?  Remind me to steer away from there next time I’m passing through!

 Bwaaaahaaaaawhaaa!  I actually had a story simmering in my mind already concerning a virginal sacrifice and when I saw the picture prompt most of the story fell into place. My mother is my go-to for brainstorming & she shared with me a story from the Bible where a man promised God a sacrifice in return for victory in war. Poor guy got the short end of the stick. I merged the two thoughts together and came up with Sacrificial Oath.!

Oh!  Thank goodness!  For a minute I thought the mild manner farm chic thing was just a disguise!  So, What’s next for you?

My short story, Beginning of Forever, released on Dec 4th with Still Moments Publishing‘s Christmas Magic anthology. It’s an historical romance inspired by my sister-in-law’s life. More info can be found on my website’s media page found HERE.
I have even bigger & better news, but my lips are sealed for 5 more days – PR day.  😉 Be sure to swing by my blog on the 17th!!

OOOOoooo Terri’s holding out on us!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Terri.  Be sure to check out “Sacrificial Oath” in the Make Believe Anthology Available now.  Yay!

How about you?

Sacrifice any virgins lately? (Did I actually ask that?) 

Strike that!!!!!  Where did the inspiration come from for your last work? (Whew!  So much better a topic)

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Make BelieveFor The Love Of Christmas CoverWhy all the hullabaloo? Well, it’s to promote my two new releases “Make Believe” and “For the Love of Christmas”

That’s why!

And don’t forget to click on “Enter to Win” for a chance to win your choice of the two titles! Yay!

Oh, I almost forgot… A few random commentors along the tour path will win their choice of anthologies, too. So be sure to hop on over and say “Hi”

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Hop on over and send me some love!

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Visit my Anthology buddies!  They are celebrating too!

Jenny Keller Ford

J.A. Belfield

Kelly Said

Lynda R. Young

Terri Rochenski

JenniFer_EatonF

An Amazing Feeling. Published.

An Amazing Feeling

If you hadn’t noticed, I’m excited.  I am a born writer.  It is a talent God gave me, but I suppressed for twenty years.  Always in the back of my head, though… I knew giving up writing was a mistake.

When I decided to take up writing again in 2010, my focus was to be published.  In January of 2012, I decided that it was going to be this year.  I was going to do it.

I threw everything I had into that goal… and here I am!

And believe it or not, it only gets better.  A little over a year ago I did a beta read for a woman who has since become one of my best friends.  We’ve been on a roller coaster ride together, both striving toward that elusive publication credit at the end of the rainbow.

I am so excited to say that Jenny Keller Ford’s Amulet of Ormisez – The work that had me questioning my own submission, will also be included in J. Taylor Publishing’s Make Believe Anthology, due out just before Christmas of this year.

It’s fantastic to be published, but it’s even better to be published alongside your friend.  Instead of one of us being excited, but at the same time consoling the other, we were both able to celebrate together.

What an amazing feeling.

I’m going to Hell. (A character Study)

As an author, I like to study people who are very different from me.  I try to figure them out… what makes them tick… why do they do the things they do?  Why do they think like they do?

I started pondering this last week when I wrote the last lines of my “Book Banning” article, and asked you guys not to bash any of the groups (probably religious groups) for not liking the books on the list.  I was thinking over why it was so important to me to make sure that no one singled out a religion.

Several years ago, I found out that I’m going to Hell.  Someone who is unfortunately bound to me by marriage informed me of this.  Kind of makes things awkward during Thanksgiving dinner.

Hmmm… Didn’t the Pilgrims come to America to avoid religious persecution?

Let’s think about that…

Until I met this guy, I was the most religious person I knew.  My friends and co-workers knew this.  They always apologized when they cursed in front of me (jokingly) and many asked me to pray for them if they were in need.  No problem for me.  I’m happy to do it.  God and I are pretty tight.

But now, apparently, I am going to Hell—so, I asked this guy “why”.  What do you believe in that I don’t?  Through discussion, I found out that we both believe EXACTLY the same thing.  So, why am I going to Hell?

Because I do not worship in the same church he does.  And apparently, everyone but his church is going to Hell.

I hope Hell is a pretty big place.

Unfortunately for me, this snowballed.  I moved.  Now I find myself in an environment where almost EVERYONE around me believes this, and they openly condemn my religion.  Holy cow!  Talk about the “Don’t know don’t tell” policy.  I’ve learned to live with this, though.  Rather than “coming out” and putting my head on a block for being “that religion” I just keep my mouth shut.   (Yeah, sounds meek, but it’s just not something I want to deal with.  It’s personal.  Politics and religion – keep it to yourself.)

What really bought this to my boiling point, was a recent dinner I had with a bunch friends.  Out of the blue, they started bashing my religion.  It was mild, and none of them said I was going to Hell, but it shocked me.

These people didn’t even think to ask if anyone was of that religion before they started bashing.

Now, I could have answered all their questions, and set them straight.  In retrospect, I probably should have— but in an eight-on-one situation, self-preservation instinct took over.  I kept my mouth shut, and just “observed”.

From a character study perspective, I try to understand how people like this can think of themselves as so much better than anyone else.  How can they quote scripture, while going against scripture at the same time?  I’d love to really get inside one of these people’s heads just to “understand.”

Any one of them would make a great character in a novel.  Talk about adding tension!  The problem is without completely understanding how these people are wired, I am not sure I could do them justice without making them seem like….  Ummmm…  Well…  let’s just say without letting my personal opinion of their outlook slipping in.

Creating a monomaniacal villain is easy.  They are a little tainted in the head.  That’s accepted.  But these people are “normal”, but really contradictory.

How do I create a character that thinks they are humble, preaches how humble they are, but actually has the worst case of a superiority complex I can think of?  Hmmmm.  Tough one.

I wonder though…. I hope I’m not the one with the superiority complex because I don’t think everyone in the world is going to Hell.

Since I am in the minority now, maybe I need to do a character study on myself?  Maybe I can ask the Little Blue lady from Mars to help me.

Thor: A review from a Writer’s Perspective

I just watched the movie “Thor” with my husband and son.  My son was so excited.  We checked the “Mommy” reviews, and I decided it would be okay for my oldest son to watch (The younger ones probably could have watched it too.  It was no worse than cartoon violence in most cases, and no cursing, which I appreciate as a Mom.)

Anyway… I wasn’t expecting much.  I really don’t know the story of Thor all that well, and I was just bracing myself for another really bad re-done super hero movie.  Wow, was I in for a pleasant surprise.

Lately, after struggling with plot holes in my novel, I am reading novels and watching movies with a very critical eye.  I knew this was going to lead into the “Avengers” so I figured that it would be open-ended.  I also knew it was a re-telling.

Would they do a good job?  Would they leave it open-ended?  Would it have a concrete beginning, middle and end that left me satisfied that the story was over?  If they do, will I be screaming for more?

Yes, Yes, Yes, and definitely Yes. (Can I buy my tickets NOW?)

Now, if you are a Thor fan, you might have hated this movie.  Like I
said, I don’t know the original story… but looking at this as a stand-alone
story, I think it was great.  Throw this Old God into our world with no power, and have him interact with “normal people”.  Genius.    I have to admit I spit my drink laughing a few times.  There is one character, the Poly-Sci Major, who had me in stitches—and it was all very real… not forced humor… just natural and honest comments that you could relate too.  Great, simple dialog… That is what made it funny.

So, My lesson learned from Thor?  You can write a novel that’s the start of a series that has a CONCRETE ENDING, but that also has enough “open
holes” to suck you into the next installment in the series.  The story is over, but it is “just open enough” that it can start up again in the drop of a hat (or a rainbow bridge, in this case.)

I’ve figured out what is wrong in my novel, now.  And it took me all
but a few hours to fix.  Yes, there are sub-plots that intertwine and draw the story forward into the next book, but I hadn’t made clear the ONE POINT that was the major driver, that DOES CONCLUDE in the first novel.  It did conclude in my head all along, but now, after a little revamping, it does for the reader to.  I just had to elaborate on one point that I did not make clear .

Thanks, Thor, for swinging your hammer and hitting me in the head.
Sometimes you learn things from the most unlikely places.