Northland Camp and A.C.E.

As many of you know, I've spent the last two summers working at Northland Bible Camp, and this summer I'll also be helping out for a few weeks.
  This past week and a half, I've been volunteering at Northland with an AWESOME group for the A.C.E. regional convention which I also competed in as a high-schooler. Which is why I'm late with this weeks post, because I've been out of town, and haven't had the greatest wifi connections.

 Over these two summers at Northland, I've seen God do things I would have never imagined possible.
I'll be honest, camp is hard. But I would NEVER trade the experiences I've had. For every dark night, there was a glorious sunrise. For every storm, there was a rainbow. And the darker the struggle, the more amazing the victory felt. I was able to watch God use our team of staff to lead people to Christ. I've had to leave my comfort zone, but it's ALWAYS been worth it.

Everyone should spend at least one summer working at a Bible camp. Now, I know that many of you are unable to commit for a summer of camp, and that's okay. I don't ever want to encourage you to be somewhere where God doesn't want you. If God doesn't want you at Northland, then I don't want you there either. But what I do want, is for you to pray for Northland. Pray that God will continue to bless the work there. Pray about becoming a summer staffer. There are always needs for maintenance help, kitchen help, counselors, housekeeping help, and many other areas. If you don't have plans for the summer, consider helping Northland. There will be tough days, days you feel like quitting, but you won't regret it. When you step out in faith, you'll see God doing things that you never imagined, and Northland is an AMAZING place to see God work.

Not only are the facilities amazing, the team is great to work with. Yes, the staff is human, and we make mistakes, there's going to be times when you get irritated, but God doesn't give us challenges without a reason. When you embrace the challenges, God can use them to change you to be more like Jesus.

Not only have these past two summers been the hardest and BEST summers of my life, I've grown closer to God because of them. I've gotten to do MANY cool things I'd never done before . . . like be in a dunk tank, belay, zipline, counsel, and dozens more fun things!

So, if you don't have plans this summer, pray about Northland. I'd love to see you there this summer!!!!!

  I know you've seen a lot of pictures from Northland in the past, but I just want to re-share a few.

We have AWESOME teams at Northland!!!!

 But the best part, is that we're really all part of one team. We're all there to glorify God, and every week at the testimony campfire, we can sit back and be amazed at what God has done through us, and at times, in spite of us.

And of course, there's always lots of fun work!

Wacky Wednesday is awesome, because not only is it fun, it's a neat way to get the 'non-participating' campers to relax around us, and be more open to listening to God's Word.

And the memories will last forever!

Come see me at Northland Camp!!!!!

2019 TRF Re-cap

So, the Thief River Falls Home Sport and Family Show finished up and I had a lot of fun! Thank you to everyone who stopped by! 

In one of the small towns between TRF and home, there's this airplane. It used to belong to the aviation department of a local college, but now, it's sitting, abandoned, and mostly gutted. So, we stopped to explore.

The wings have been cut off, but you can still climb them for a picture!

But it's scary sitting there when you're flying!

It was a slight challenge to maneuver over a pile of seats covered in bird and mouse evidence, but it was totally worth it to get into the tail of the plane!

THANK YOU, Jess, for the adventure!!!!! (even though I'm still awkwardly holding that pen.)

And we drove by this lonely soldier and thought we'd better give him some company! Yes, that's fresh snow. April blizzards freeze your gizzards as they say . . . or is it April showers bring snow plowers? Who knows, but it makes driving exciting! :) 

Next show? May 10-11 at the South Dakota Homeschool Convention! 

In Thief River Falls This Weekend!

  Saturday, April 13th from 10am - 6pm and Sunday, April 14th from 11am-5pm, I'll be at the Thief River Falls Home Sport and Family Show with a vendor booth! If you're in the area, stop by and say hello! I'd love to see you!

Last year, I was located in the Huck Olson Arena, and will be there again this year. If you haven't gotten my newest release, The Fudged Up Murder, now would be a great time to stop by and get it! 

Five Questions to Ask About Every Critique

Critique. Criticism. Insults. Ridicule. Sometimes, when people give feedback, on a writing project, it’s hard to determine what exactly they mean by it. And not knowing, hurts. If someone is just insulting parts of a story to discourage your writing, should you ignore them?

   If you’re serious about being a writer, how do you know when to listen to people’s feedback, and when to ignore it? Surprisingly, the motive behind the feedback, doesn’t really matter. The key to when accepting critique is right, and when it’s wrong, has nothing to do with whether the person offering the feedback is being supportive or ridiculing.

    First off, after getting feedback from someone, whether family, friend, editor, beta-reader or other, let it sit. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten feedback on a story, and gotten frustrated. I couldn’t think logically through the feedback, because my writing had just been torn apart, and I wasn’t able to see the feedback objectively enough to know if it was worth changing things or not. However, after letting the critique sit for a few days, there are a few simple questions to ask yourself to help determine if changes should be made based off of critique given, or if it’s merely the critique-giver’s personal opinion.

    One – If I change this, will it improve the story? A few years ago, when I was writing the rough draft for Never Without Hope, my mom suggested that I add a therapy dog. I balked at the idea. A dog? Really? It’s not like I hate dogs or anything, I like them . . . when they’re outside. The idea of putting one in my book, inside the hospital, just didn’t sit well with me. But, since I knew my mom was honestly trying to make my story better, I decided to add a dog. Turns out, Champ became a real hit! Even I fell in love with the St. Bernard. Had I not listened to Mom’s advice, I’d have missed out on a great asset to the mystery in the sequel. In that instance, listening to advice made my writing better.

    Two – Will changing this make my book more reader-friendly? While writing Gunshots at Graveyard Bend, someone pointed out a relationship ‘issue’. I wanted to ignore them because I knew what I’d meant by the scene, but knowing that a reader could imagine the wrong thing, I decided to change it. In the long run, I ended up adding another character to ‘lighten the scene up’, and the added character ended up making the whole thing more enjoyable, as well as more reader-friendly. With the added character, it also erased the possibility of the reader getting the wrong idea.

   Three – How important is this? If someone suggests that you change something and it really doesn’t make a difference one way or the other, then it’s alright to follow your personal preference. For example, someone told me to change the color of the boy’s home exterior in Graveyard Bend. The color of the paint on the building made absolutely no difference to the story. Since it didn’t make much difference, I changed it, but either way, it wasn’t something to stress over.

   Four – Will changing this take away from the story? Last winter, when I was getting ready to publish The Fudged Up Murder, it was brought to my attention, that the two old-lady sisters needed to talk different . . . that no one would understand them because people don’t talk like that unless they’re from Minnesota. I ignored the advice because, that was the point! The two elderly sisters were from small town Minnesota, and their vocabulary helped establish their identity. Changing it would have changed the ‘feel’ of the story.

    Five – Will changing this, change my goal? If an editor or beta-reader want you to change something that affects the whole theme/story goal of your book, you might not want to change it. Critiques are often offered by people who wish they could write a book but haven’t, and sometimes, they give you ideas that are things they wish they could write. It’s fine to incorporate those ideas into your story, but remember, it’s your story. You don’t have to write everyone else’s books for them. Keep your goal in mind, and don’t rely on your editors so much that you allow them to change the whole theme you were going for.

    So, when someone gives you feedback that hurts, let it sit, and then look at it with questions in mind. Don’t let the motive behind the feedback affect whether or not you accept it. Sometimes, people will give you feedback for the wrong reasons, but it’s okay. Regardless of the motives behind the feedback, we writers can always use feedback. We don’t improve when people pat us on the back and say we’re doing great. It’s when people offer critique that we can improve. So, embrace it. Don’t let the critique steal your passion, instead, let it drive your passion, and improve your writing.