When God Leaves You In the Dark. Devotion by Dianne J Wilson

Some days I pop out of bed with a sparkle in my eye, excited about everything that God is doing in my life. I can see the purpose behind every chance meeting, strange happening, even the bad stuff makes sense. These are seasons of clear vision.

I wish I could say that this is always the case. Some days, I only just manage to peel myself out from under the duvet, the bad things gang up on me (really, Cat, you choose today to start using the carpet behind the couch as your toilet?) and I can't see the purpose in anything. On those days, I feel like God picked everyone to play on His team but me. Sometimes those days can carry on for weeks. Months. Years.

How do you make sense of being left in the dark like that? Well, here's a picture for you. Sometimes a mother hen tucks her little chicks under her wing. They are safe from predators, close to her heart, and though they cannot see where she's headed, it doesn't matter because they will be going with her. They can't see, but she can.

Sounds great, right? Not so much from the chick's perspective. He was just discovering how great worms taste and how well his little stick-legs work and now here his is, in Mom's armpit, sweaty feathers getting up his nose when he tries to breathe. Not exactly the high point of his chick-life.

And yet...

   He is close to her heart.

   He is safe from predators.

   Even though he doesn't know where he's going, momma hen does.

    He is held close enough to go with her no matter which way she turns.

If you're in a season of breathing in feathers in the dark, take heart! God has you close enough that you'll move with him whichever way he goes. Don't fight it, cuddle close. Tune in to his heartbeat. Allow him to take you with as he moves.  Trust him. It will be worth it!

Proverbs 3:6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is writing a three book YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Harbourlight. Affinity (book 1), releases on the 8th of June 2018.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Surviving a Series - Desperate Measures

Port Aster Secrets was the first series I've written that has the same hero and heroine throughout and carries on significant story lines from one book to the next. It was a lot of fun to write, when...

it wasn't a nightmare!

You see, halfway through the series, while writing a completely unrelated book for Love Inspired Suspense, I discovered that it's kind of fun to let your characters take over your story and surprise you each day with what happens next. So...

I decided to let Kate Adams and Tom Parker and the many bad guys throughout their stories weigh in on the story lines in Blind Trust.

It made for a great book. At least most of the letters I received from readers said they liked it even better than the first.

Of course, I had to ignore the subtle "I want to choke book 3 out of you now" mime I envisioned between the lines of the inevitable final salutation: "Just finished book 1 and 2. When and where can I find book 3? Please, don't tell me I have to wait until June!"

But I digress...where was I? Oh, yes, letting characters have their way.

Not always smart.

By the time I got a few chapters into writing Desperate Measures, I realized I'd been completely blind to trust my characters.

They'd opened up so many twists and turns in Blind Trust, that I wound up with more plot for book 3 than I had available word count.

So...I had no choice.

I had to resort to desperate measures.

(Yes, my book titles pretty much mirror how the writing progressed <wink>)

I'm sure you're familiar with the tried-and-true rule for mystery writers: if you're stuck, kill somebody.

So I did. Yup, I killed the heroine.

It was incredibly satisfying to turn off her voice in my head. And wow, the pundits are right. Killing someone off really works!

Now, don't start balking about how on earth could I kill off my heroine.

Readers had to see it coming. After all, Blind Trust ended with:

                               She was next.

Now, of course, I write mysteries, so things are never what they seem. That's the whole point of the series.

Twenty years ago, as the heroine's father was being shoved into a police car, he told her: "Remember I love you, Kate. I will always love you."

How many times do you need to remind yourself of that truth about your heavenly Father?

No matter how things look. No matter what it seems to you is going on...

 He Loves You. 

Yes, my heroine wasn't too happy with me messing around with her life.

But, as they say, all's well that ends well. And whew, I'm glad all of you finally get to read the ending!

The really great news is that if you haven't tried the series, you can download book 1, Deadly Devotion, for FREE from all the major online retailers. And if you get hooked, as I hope you will (hee, hee, hee, it is my secret plan after all) the Ebook prices of the remaining books are super low right now, especially on Amazon

Your Turn: Do you like to read series as each book releases? Or do you prefer to wait until they are all available?

Sandra Orchard is the award-winning author of the Port Aster Secrets mystery series, set in the picturesque surroundings of Niagara, Canada, which she and her husband call home. She also has numerous Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense titles, including a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award winner and an RT Book Reviews Top Pick. 

Learn more about Sandra’s books and check out the special bonus features, such as deleted scenes and location pics, at www.sandraorchard.com.

Connect at: http://www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard

Kate won’t be safe until all of Port Aster’s secrets are revealed

Researcher Kate Adams has finally pinpointed the supposed “miracle plant” that tore her family apart years ago. She’s certain that discovering its secrets is her only hope of solving the mystery surrounding her father’s disappearance. She’s willing to risk anything to find the truth, including her relationship with Detective Tom Parker. But with so many people in pursuit of the plant, going it alone might be a fatal mistake.


(5 Ws Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net) 

How Do You Spell Procrastination?

Sandra Orchard here. I’ve never thought of myself as a procrastinator until I became a contracted writer with deadlines and got stuck in the middle of a story that...

I had to finish. 

If you’re in the same boat, here are proven ways to do it right.

P  –  Plan your day in minute detail to give you lots of items to cross off your to-do list.

R  –  Reread what you wrote the day before.

O  –  Optimize your work area for maximum productivity. Translation: tidy your desk.

C  –  Critique a friend’s latest scene, because after all, it might help you see how you got off track in your own story.

R  -  Revise everything you’ve written so far. 

A  -  Ask 2 or 3 or 5 or 10 friends what they think should happen next. 

S  -   Storyboard. It’s amazing the holes you discover in your story when you lay it all out on a big, bare wall. And even if you don’t, you can pass copious amounts of time, cutting out pretty colors of paper or jotting notes on multi-colored post-it notes.

T  -  Take a walk. If nothing else, you’ll get some much-needed exercise and rest your eyes from staring at a blank screen. 

I  -  Internet – a guaranteed time-sucker that will make you feel productive at the same time. After all, you’ll be doing “research”, “marketing”, “networking”, and I’m sure you can think of a bunch more writing-related reasons to hang out there. 

N  -  Nap. When you push too hard to be creative, the right side of your brain, muse or whatever you want to call it, shuts down. Coax it to come out to play by shutting down the analytical/critical side of your brain. 

A  -  Annoy telemarketers. C’mon, they always seem to call right when you’re in the middle of madly typing out a great idea, right? So it’s only fair that when you have no ideas you keep them talking and talking and talking until an idea shows up. 

T  -  Take a shower. Ideas always come in the shower.

I  -  Invest in a new How To Write Blah, Blah, Blah book. It doesn’t matter that you’ve already written and published half a dozen books. You’re bound to learn something. And if you’re learning something, you won’t be feeling guilty about not writing…right?

O  -  Outline. And for the seat-of-the-pantsers here who get hives just reading the word, use chalk and outline the dead fly bodies on your window sill. If you’re a suspense writer, it’s bound to kick start an idea. 

If there are no dead fly bodies on your window sill, then you’ve obviously been procrastinating your writing by cleaning the house. But cleaning the house can hardly be classified as doing something writing-related and therefore justified as a valid mode of procrastination. But hey, if you’d like to come over to my house and procrastinate a little more, I have dust bunnies the size of Harvey.  

N  -  Nourish the mind, body and soul. Dark chocolate and praise music work well.

I hope I’ve helped make your procrastinating time more enjoyable. If you’d like to procrastinate some more, check out Blind Trust, the newest book in my Port Aster Secrets series, which also happens to be on sale for a real steal at all E-retailers for one more week! 

Here’s what Booklist had to say about Blind Trust in their May issue:

Blind Trust finds Kate Adams still reeling from her friend’s murder as she attempts to get her life back in order. However, what begins as a seemingly small-time counterfeit operation soon spirals into something much bigger, with Kate at the center. Detective Tom Parker has his eye on Kate, and not because she’s a suspect. His feelings for her continue to grow, as does his desire to protect her, but Kate’s determination to get to the truth on her own means that Tom is often getting her out of trouble, rather than keeping her from it. When the action shifts from mere counterfeiting to poisoning, theft, and decades-old secrets, Kate insists on researching her way to the facts. Orchard infuses romance with suspense and keeps the excitement coming page after page. Readers will love the ever-deepening mystery as Kate extends her investigation and finds herself and her long-dead father tangled up in an international corporate conspiracy.

Sandra Orchard is a multi-award-winning Canadian author of inspirational romanticsuspense/mysteries with Love Inspired Suspense and Revell. An active member in ACFW, The Word Guild, and RWA, she enjoys helping writers hone their skills. To find out more about her novels, and to read interesting bonus features, please visit www.sandraorchard.com or connect at www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard 

Your Turn: What's your favorite way to procrastinate?

 

Deadline Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

On Making Money & More

Have you ever seen a counterfeit bill? Do you think you could tell the difference? 

In a few weeks, Blind Trust, the second book in my Port Aster Secrets mystery series releases, and it opens with the heroine caught passing counterfeit bills. Bills she received from her dear sweet neighbor lady to buy groceries—a woman who couldn’t possibly be printing counterfeit money in her basement. Could she?! 

See end of post for chance to win

This is the first of several mysteries in the story, and one I had a lot of fun researching. Once I managed to convince my local banker that I wasn’t contemplating anything illegal, she was happy to sit down with me and demonstrate all the things they look for to discern counterfeit money from the real thing.

The story is set in Canada, where, like in New Zealand and Australia, our bills are now all plastic and much more difficult to counterfeit then the old paper bills. 

However, at the time I was writing the novel, the new five and ten-dollar bills hadn’t released yet, so I decided that those would be what my bad guy counterfeited, since even now many paper twenties, tens and fives are still in circulation. 

former paper currency

My American editor, unaware of the marked differences between Canadian and American bills was skeptical that anyone would risk counterfeiting such small denominations. 

However, my neighbor had received fake five-dollar bills in the Ladies Missionary Circle offering at her church on two separate occasions (an event I include in the story), so I knew it wasn’t too far-fetched. 

But for fun when the security guard presents my Detective hero with the evidence and the detective raises his eyebrow to the heroine, she responds:

“You can’t think that I . . . ?” At the amused twinkle in his eyes, she let out a humph. “What kind of moron counterfeits ten-dollar bills? If I wanted to defraud someone, I’d at least go for twenties. More likely fifties or hundreds!”

The amusement in Tom’s bright blue eyes intensified, but he held his mouth in a firm line. “You’re not helping your case,” he murmured.

She rolled her eyes. He knew she was joking. Then again—she slanted a glance at the guard—maybe this guy didn’t.

In the US, the most common type of small-time counterfeiting operation is a cut and paste job in which someone cuts the corners off a twenty and pastes them onto four 1-dollar bills, for example, then tries to palm off each as a twenty, usually to buy a two-dollar item so that they’ll receive their change in real money. But this won’t work with Canadian bills as each denomination is a distinctly different color and the numbers aren't in the corners.

However, modern copiers and printers do an astounding job of replicating paper money that will pass undetected to those who aren’t paying close attention. For example, the last time our paper fives got a new look, an enterprising teenager printed a bunch of fakes and palmed them off to unsuspecting classmates, who’d never seen the crisp new bills and so were easily duped. 

But…I’ve been told that newer color copiers and printers are designed to lock up if they’re used to print money. As tempting as it was, I didn’t dare test it on my own printer! 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Not to mention I’d spent a lot of time studying the Criminal Code of Canada while writing the book, and learned that it’s a criminal offence to: make, publish, print, execute, issue, distribute or circulate, including by electronic or computer-assisted means, anything in the likeness of a current bank-note.

Now, if you have authentic looking play money for your kids, no worries, there are exceptions for bills that are less than ¾ of the size of the real thing or that are printed on only one side or printed in black and white. 

Whew! Wouldn’t want those little kiddies carted off to jail while playing store!

All bank  note images in this blog were sourced from the Bank of Canada image gallery. And here's a rundown of how to tell if the newest plastic bill you receive is a genuine article:

Your Turn: What's the money like in your country? Have you ever seen a counterfeit bill?

 

If you’d like a chance to win a copy of Blind Trust (open internationally), hop over to this blog to enter.

 

Sandra Orchard is a multi-award-winning Canadian author of inspirational romanticsuspense/mysteries with Love Inspired Suspense and Revell. An active member in American Christian Fiction Writers, The Word Guild, and Romance Writers of America, she enjoys helping writers hone their skills. To find out more about her novels, and to read interesting bonus features, please visit www.sandraorchard.com or connect at www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard