Bell Bridge Books

Time to Pick Up the Shovel

by Lora Lee

The beginning of a New Year usually has everyone scrambling to make resolutions. Me? I set goals. This year will be a challenging one for me – the first year of living alone after sixty-one years married to my beloved late husband.

So how does one start over at my age, you ask? I don’t have the answer but when I find it, I’ll be happy to share. In the meantime, I’ll put one foot in front of the other, take a step forward and pray I don’t fall, ‘cause who’s gonna pick me up?

Recently, a dear friend gave me some thought-worthy advice. She told me, “When Life dumps a pile of garbage at your door, God provides a shovel.” So my goal for 2016 is to pick up that shovel and dig for Book Two of the Joyful Noise Mysteries. I have lots more stories to tell. Time to pick up the shovel.

In Bringing in the Thieves, Book One of the Joyful Noise Mysteries, protagonist Frankie Lou has returned to Ruby Springs, Texas, to start a new life. Growing up as the often rebellious preacher’s kid (PK), she’s made more than her share of mistakes. Now the divorced single mom must work hard to polish her tarnished halo and redeem her reputation in her hometown. Her first attempt to earn the respect of the community is to organize a choral group of misfit teens. Finding a body in the church baptistery marks Frankie Lou as a “person of interest” by the local police. That sure doesn’t shine her halo, bless her heart.

Lora Lee enjoys life in rural West Michigan near her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who make her heart smile every day.

Visit  http://lora-lee.com/ for more information about her Joyful Noise Mysteries series

Pick up BRINGING IN THE THIEVES for just $1.99 through January 15th!

3,500 Posts

by Melissa Ford

This summer will mark 10 years of writing my blog, Stirrup Queens. I publish a post at least 5 times per week, though I write more posts than I publish. What this means is that for the last 10 years, I’ve sat down in front of my computer almost every single day and written down a record of a thought or event, polished it, and hit publish.

I write on my birthday and holidays and weekends. I write when I’m sick and when I’m in a terrible mood and when I only have 15 minutes before school pickup. Blog posts are the warm up for my regular 6 hour book writing day.

They’re not always good. I don’t always enjoy it.

But I like having 3,500 posts. They are 3,500 pieces of evidence that I showed up, even when I didn’t feel like it, even when I didn’t know what I was going to say when I turned on the computer.

They’re proof that showing up matters. That showing up is how work gets done. That showing up moves things forward. If I didn’t show up, I wouldn’t have 3,500 posts. I might only have 2,000 posts. Or 1,000 posts. Or be writing about how I’m hitting my 500th post, and isn’t that a terrific milestone?

And yes, it would be. But 3,500 is better, no? 3,500 over almost 10 years means that I have written every day. Slow and steady, bit by bit. Always showing up, and then continuing on to write six books, too.

That is the number one piece of advice I can give to new writers. Show up. Even when there are holidays, even when you’re sick, even when you’re in a terrible mood. Sit down with your book or your blog and put words on the screen. It’s okay if it isn’t what you feel like doing in the moment. Do it anyway.

Because maybe all of that work will mean that something good happens, like having your book chosen by Amazon to be one of their December deals.

Pick up APART AT THE SEAMS for just $1.99 through December!