GREAT Preaching!

      I'm sorry for being a little behind with this post, but I've been gone the last few days and didn't get home till around one o'clock this morning. I was at a church conference in Fargo, ND and was REALLY blessed by all the great preaching.
        There was a lot of areas that God 'stepped on my toes' so to speak, and I was really encouraged and challenged. I can't cover everything in this post, so I may end up doing another post about one of the messages later, but for now, I'll just talk about two of the messages I heard.

         One, was about prayer, and it really got to me. You've probably heard it said, 'we can't change people, we can only pray for them.' That's true, but how often do we live that? How often do we quit trying to figure out how to 'fix' someone and actually get on our knees and lift them up to God? I know my prayer life isn't perfect, but I want it to improve. I can't help but wonder how many people wouldn't be making the decisions they're making if someone was fervently praying for them.

During one of the sessions they split the guys and girls up and Mrs. Larry Brown spoke to us ladies. She covered a lot of things, but the biggest thing that got to me what she said about our attitudes. I've always known that my attitude affects the people around me, but I needed the reminder of how much of a difference I can make. It's easy when we have a headache or something to give ourselves the 'right' to be crabby, when really, we should always let the JOY of the Lord be our strength.

The Adventure of a Lifetime!!!!

 As of last week, I have a publisher!!!!!

     Depending on what you know about the publishing industry, you probably are either really excited for me, or you're not sure what the big deal is. I mean haven't I already been published? The answer is yes, I've been self-published, but no, I've never been traditionally published.

     This is a huge adventure in my writing life, and a miracle from God. Thank you to everyone who's been praying for me as I was going through the writing and submitting the manuscript process. I want to ask that you continue to pray for me while I work with my publisher. Specifically, I would like you to pray for two things. 1. That I'll grow through this experience and become more like Jesus through it all. 2. That I'll be a blessing to my publisher and the whole team there at the publishing house.

      As some of you know, I submitted my manuscript, Never Leave Me, to a few publishing houses back when I first completed that book. In return, I got some nice rejection letters to start my collection. Since then, I've pretty much been content with self-publishing. However, when I started writing Mission of a Lifetime, I felt like God wanted me to do something more with this one. I decided to submit it to some publishers, but I honestly didn't expect to get anything besides rejection letters. God moves in mysterious ways and He is the one who worked in this situation and allowed my manuscript to be accepted by Ambassador International Publishing House!

   Thank you again to all who prayed for me! Please continue to pray for me as God leads me on an adventure of a lifetime.

Here I am signing my contract!!!!

Until next time, this is Priscilla J. Krahn reminding you to stay thankful in EVERYTHING and for EVERYTHING!!!!!

You Know You're a Writer When...

  So here's a random list of 'you know you're a writer when' quotes that I've collected over the years... Some of them aren't true for everyone, but I hope they give you a good laugh. :)

     You Know You're a Writer When...

           1. You turn to your sister in a store with a gasp and say... "That man who just walked past... he looks exactly like my villian!"

           

           2. When you have at least twelve notebooks full of nothing but ideas and plot bunnies...

           3. When you know what a plot bunny is.:)

           4. When you drive your family crazy with a word count on every page.

           5. When you make up personalities and histories for people you see at the grocery store.

           6. When you flinch after hearing someone use an unnecessary adverb, but then relax because you realize it is just dialogue and therefore acceptable.

           7. When your Christmas/Birthday list consists of notebooks, pens, bookshelves, pencils, and sticky notes.

           8. When people ask you why you're acting weird and you just smile and say, "I'm acting out a scene in my next story."

           9. When you wake up in the middle of the night and have to get up to write down your latest story idea before you forget it.

          10. When you have dreams in which you're the hero.

          11. When you research weird, off-the-wall stuff. (Like how far can you go with a collapsed lung.)

          12. When you talk about your characters as if they were real people.

          13. When your mom tells you to write a paper on the French Revolution and you hand in an eleven page story from a fashion-obsessed-French-girl's point of view who manages to explain  the politics with her ever-changing wardrobe.

          14. When you get excited about someone editing your book and returning it covered in red ink.

          15. When you walk by someone's porch and think... 'That would be a good place for a fight...'

          16. When you spend more time pouring over baby name books, than most parents ever do.

          17. You're to busy writing to stop for supper.

          18. When you want to break a window with a specific flashlight, just to see if it would work in your next book.

          19. When you threaten to put annoying people in your next book as the villain.

          20. When you read the above sentences and nod your head saying "Yep...yep...yep."

Mission of a Lifetime Update!

 So people have been asking me how Mission of a Lifetime is coming along and, honestly, the answer varies from day to day. At this point, I've completed the majority of my editing, and am basically ready to publish. If I wanted, I could probably self-publish next week.

     "Then WHY isn't the book out yet?!?!?!?!"

    Now that's a little bit more complicated. You see, a few weeks ago, I submitted my manuscript to a book novel contest and I won't get the results back from that contest for at least another month. I'm going to wait to publish until AFTER I've heard back from that contest. The reason? Because if by some crazy chance I were to place in that competition, I would get some editing help from the people in charge of the competition and to me that would be a huge help! Although my chances of placing in this competition are small, I would appreciate prayer that the Lord's will would be done and that I would learn through this experience.
    
    The second reason I'm not self-publishing yet, is because I've sent off my manuscript to a few select publishers. Now the chances of me actually getting published are smaller than the chances of me winning the contest, but I would like to get my rejection letters back before I self-publish.

     I guess in closing, I'll leave you with another excerpt from Mission of a Lifetime.

   

. . .After checking in with the secretary he paced the waiting room. When he felt sure that an hour had gone by he glanced at the receptionist’s desk. “Is he ready yet?” Willie adjusted his tie with a trembling hand and studied the secretary.

Miss Fran didn’t even look up from her computer screen. “The answer hasn’t changed. No.” Her fingers clacked away in rhythm but it wasn’t having a calming effect on Willie.

He ran a sweaty hand over his hair. The cowlick on the front of his black hair wouldn’t stay down, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Pacing the small waiting room he clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Would you sit down?” Miss Fran asked gesturing towards a chair by the window. “You won’t hurry him by pacing.”

 Willie strolled towards the lone chair and sat down. Running his hands over his knees he took a deep breath. He glanced over his shoulder and his stomach flipped. He stood to his feet and walked across the room. These high buildings sure didn’t have the kind of view he liked. In fact, nothing in the city had the view he liked.

Miss Fran’s chair creaked as she leaned back and drummed the tips of her fingers together. “What is your business with Mr. Adams? He doesn’t want to see you any more than you want to see him. What’s it been? Two years since you were here last?”

 Willie frowned. “I’ll discuss my business with him personally if you don’t mind.”

“I’m just glad I’m not in your shoes. He’s having a bad day,” Miss Fran continued.

“What a surprise,” Willie muttered.

The phone beeped and Miss Fran picked it up. “Yes, Mr. Adams?”

There was a pause then Miss Fran nodded. “I’ll tell him.” Miss Fran set the phone down and turned back to Willie. “He’ll see you now, but he said to warn you, he’s not giving out charity.”

Willie took a deep breath and entered the office.

Mr. Adams sat behind his oak desk with a stone like expression. “Have a seat.”

Willie sat down and cracked his knuckles.

Mr. Adams wrinkled his nose. “You better have a good reason for taking my time like this.”

Willie frowned. “It’s about my parents.”

Mr. Adams face showed no sympathy. “I was very sorry to hear about your parents but if you’re anything like them, you aren’t here to get my sympathy. What’s the bottom line?”

Willie felt the heat rising in his cheeks. Am I crazy? He wondered. Shaking his head Willie leaned forward. It was in God’s hands, what did he have to worry about?

“I want an airplane.”

Mr. Adams leaned back with wide eyes. “And you want me to give you a good deal on one?”

“No, Sir.” Willie paused. Wiping his sweaty hands on his pant legs he took a deep breath. “I want you to give me an airplane. I would probably only need it for a few weeks, but it would be a rough few weeks for the plane.”

Mr. Adams coughed a bit. “Are you feeling alright? Do you have any idea how much that would cost?”

“Yes, Sir, that’s why I’m asking you. I know you can afford it, and I know if Dad were here, he would have asked you.”

“William, you’re crazy. This is not a charity organization. You’re probably not even responsible enough to own a plane. How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-one years old, and I have a pilot’s license.” Willie straightened his shoulders. “You know I’m good with engines.”

Mr. Adams lowered his eyebrows. “You’re planning on going after them aren’t you?” He leaned forward. “Do you have any idea what kind of a risk you would be taking? Your parents don’t want you risking your life like that. Besides, I’m sure they’re long dead.”

“I would rather die in the attempt to save them, than stay here, perfectly safe, and not knowing what happened to them. As soon as you give me a plane, I’m going to go find them.”. . .