Kristen Ethridge: Books and a Blog

It’s official! Language of Love has a brand-spanking-new, bookshelf-ready title. Jake and Gracie’s story will now be known as “Saving Gracie” when you see it on the shelves in February!

I love the new title and am having a lot of fun revising Jake and Gracie’s story to get it just right. As soon as I’m finished with these revisions, I’m going to start a ‘behind the scenes’ blog mini-series about all the things that have gone on since getting “The Call.” I know it’s something I would have been interested to learn more about as I was working toward publication, and a few folks on Twitter said they’d like to see it too.

So…stay tuned! More to come!

I thought living through a hurricane taught me a lot about whirlwinds. Not even close.

On March 26th, I got the call from RWA that Language of Love was a Golden Heart finalist. I was blown away.

But then, this morning, just over a month later, I got the call from Melissa Endlich, Sr. Editor for Love Inspired telling me she wanted to BUY Language of Love for publication!

As my kiddo would say: Oh. My. Good. Ness.

I am so excited to be joining the family of super-awesome Love Inspired authors. I’ve been reading LIs since they debuted 15 years ago. And I can’t believe I’m going to walk in Wal-Mart (or  Target or B&N or anywhere that will sell this book–believe me, I’m going to be taking a lot of random trips to stores and pinching myself) and see MY book sitting on the shelf!

I will definitely be writing up THE CALL story very soon. I still have to process it all! But I couldn’t wait to post it up here on my blog!

I need to go change some things on the page about my books now!

Hi, everyone!

Today I’m being featured on the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood’s blog, talking about all things Golden Heart and writing. I’m so excited to be hanging out with this sisterhood of Golden Heart finalists!

Aaaaand…not only do you get to listen to me talk about writing, my books and miniature donkeys, but I’m giving away one copy of my awesome friend Vicky Dreiling’s latest release–How to Ravish a Rake. Vicky is a TRIPLE Rita nominee this year and I just love her stuff. Since I don’t have a book of my own to give away, I can’t think of a better book to share with you!

Stop by the blog and say hi! I can’t wait to hear from you.

http://www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com/meet-2012-golden-heart-finalist-kristen-ethridge/

I wanna be a rock star
But, I ain’t got what it takes
The drive and the determination
And the lucky breaks
I wanna be a rock star
But, I ain’t got the face
I wanna be a rock star
But, I ain’t got what it takes

–Third Day, “Rock Star”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGwInxJi_nY

We all want to be something, don’t we?

I remember in college, we’d joke about the girls majoring in the MRS degree. What they wanted came with a diamond ring and a happily ever after.  When my dad goes fishing, he wants to catch the big one–the fish that will make a good meal and a good story. Recently, I watched Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey talk openly about what she wanted–another national championship and an undefeated season to go with it.

Some of those girls got their man. Sometimes my dad gets the fish. And you’d better believe Kim Mulkey got her championship banner.

But what about you? What do you want that seems so close you can’t fail to get it, yet so far that there’s no way you can reach it?

In my life, it’s probably writing. Something I’ve seemingly been working on my whole life. When I was 17, my dad signed me up for a continuing education class at University of Houston–Cinco Ranch on fiction writing. And it was there that I saw I might really could be a writer. I’ve pursued it sometimes less, sometimes more over the years, but I’ve never been able to let go of the imaginary people in my head…or their stories.

But really, I’ve always been on the outside looking in. I mean, I know I could be a writer… if someone would just let me in the club. That “lucky break” mentioned in the song lyrics above. I’ve finished manuscripts, started a few more, joined professional organizations, entered contests, and queried agents and editors until I’ve pretty much run out of people to give the opportunity to tell me no.

But I’ve kept at it. Maybe that’s the “drive and determination” Third Day sings about. I guess they’d know. They’ve sold a few albums and won a few awards in their genre.

And this last month, something changed. First, I got a call that I’d finaled in the Romance Writers of America’s® Golden Heart® contest. The Golden Heart is the Oscars for unpublished romance writers. Literally…I get to buy a fancy dress and everything. (Mine has rhinestones…but I doubt that surprises you.) And then yesterday, I got an email from an editor I greatly admire, saying she’d seen my book in Harlequin’s® So You Think You Can Write® contest and she liked what she’d read so far.

Now, the funny thing is…I entered both of these contests, because as I’ve mentioned earlier, I’d pretty much run out of agents who could say no to this book. So, I threw my hands in the air and threw the manuscript into two contests that could conceivably land Language of Love on an editor’s desk. And if it didn’t, well, that would have to be the end of the road for Language of Love for now. Because although I love this book and I believe in it, I was just plain out of options.

But it’s kind of hit me over the last few days and weeks…when God puts a dream in your heart, He doesn’t allow it to just die there. The Bible says “the thief comes to kill and destroy”–and that’s the opposite of God. He comes to bring life and build up. He just needs some of your drive and determination so he can create those “lucky” breaks (which aren’t really luck at all, but faith.)

I wanna be a bookstar. But I ain’t got what it takes. But this past week, I’ve been reminded again that I’m so thankful I’ve got a God who has never, ever given up on that dream he put in my path so long ago. And while I’ve still got a long ways to go–no awards have been won, no agents have signed me, and no editors have offered me a publishing contract–maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll get to be a bookstar.

What about you? What’s your dream? Have you given up on it? Are you still pursuing it? Do you need to ask God to give you vision and fire for it again?

This morning, I had the opportunity to do a little freelancing for a charity started by a friend. My friend Amy looked at all the socks in her laundry which were missing their mates and combined that with memories of barefoot children from mission trips, and decided to put her time and talents to work making a difference for others. Click on the link and find out more about her charity, The Sock Orphanage.

I love the can-do spirit, don’t you? Someone gets an idea and RUNS with it. I think everyone comes up with great ideas, especially those of us who work in the creative arts. If we didn’t come up with big ideas, we wouldn’t have any material with which to create. But too often, we stop at the first stumbling block we hit. We shelve that idea far too easily.

Instead of just throwing them away, Amy wanted to pair up these mis-matched socks and donate them to people in economically disadvantaged places who had none. But then she hit a stumbling block. She discovered that agencies who work in this area only want new pairs of socks. But instead of quitting and saying her idea wouldn’t work, Amy expanded her vision. She’s now collecting the gently used socks AND new socks. She’s making sock puppets and other toys out of the orphans and sending the new pairs to ministries and shelters all over the community and the world.

My friend Courtney did the same thing. After multiple treatments for an aggressive form of cancer, she saw a need for patients to have something to love on during treatments. Remembering how much her own Humpty Dumpty doll meant to her as a child, Courtney began to make dolls she called “Dundy” and partnered with an organization called Lifeline Chaplaincy to donate them to cancer patients. When customers buy a Dundy of their own (my daughter LOVES hers!) or any of Courtney’s beautiful embroidered products, they help more Dundies to go straight to cancer patients. And now, Courtney’s not just giving Dundy dolls to patients in Houston. Dundy is national! She’s been able to expand her vision. Even a diagnosis of advanced-stage breast cancer at only 29 years old did not deter her from helping others. Instead, it inspired her vision.

It’s almost Easter, a time when we remember God’s expansive vision for us. Sin didn’t stop God from loving us. He expanded His vision to include Jesus Christ and our redemption. You can’t get much bigger than that.

What is God calling you to do today? Maybe it’s something as simple as inviting a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker to hear about God’s giant vision at an Easter service. Make a point to bring someone with you. And listen to that small voice of inspiration. You never know who you can touch by following your dream.

Question for You: Do you work with a charity you love? How do you show love to those in tough situations? Is there someone on your heart who needs to hear the love of God and see your own friendship and support more clearly?

For the next few Writer Wednesdays, I want to talk about marketing yourself as an author. To do that, we’re going to have to begin at the beginning: believing you ARE an author.

I know a lot of writers struggle to define themselves. They’ve got a regular 8-5 job (and in this economy, they may even have part-time work on the side.) They write when they can, minutes and hours sandwiched around breaks, weekends, late nights or early mornings, and in between goals at Junior’s soccer games. So, when someone asks what they do, they are more likely to define themselves by their reality–that 8-5 grind–than by their dream–to be a published author.

But in the world of writing, you have to believe in what you’re doing. You have to set it up front and center. Being an author is about taking action and owning that action. You have to write it. Then edit it. Then submit it in order to find someone to produce it. Then you have to market it. And then you have to do it all over again.

No matter where you are in the cycle, you have to own the fact that you are a writer. No more putting it in the back closet with your hobbies.

Even God and Jesus wrote –and declared their actions. No, it wasn’t a book, but instead, parts of the story of their love and redemption of humanity. They talked about the writing they’d done in the greatest story ever told. They knew the action of writing made an impact. It had value.

In Luke 22:20, Jesus said, ”This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.” He wrote the story of salvation in the ink of His blood. He’s a writer.

In Isaiah 49:15, God describes His never ending love for us in purely authorly terms: “I’d never forget you—never. Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.” He took the action to write down the names of those He loves. He wasn’t shy about telling us he’d done it. He’s the author of our names.

This week, practice saying “I am a writer. I am an author.” When someone asks you what you do, tell them. You have to believe in yourself and the dream God has set in your heart.

Question for you: What keeps you from speaking up about the dreams God has placed in your heart? If you don’t think you qualify to call yourself a “writer” or “author” at this stage in your career, why not? If you do proudly call yourself a “writer” or an “author,” when did you get comfortable with that?