Thoughtful Thursdays

Once upon a time, I was a New Year's Resolution girl, back in the day when I had nothing but time in which to contemplate this stuff, and diaries to write it in. My first real set was when I was 13--I resolved to finish the novel I was working on, and I did. So along...

I've been having a bit of difficulty getting into my latest work-in-progress. Probably because it's been nine months since I wrote the first three chapters, and rather than day-dreaming about this one during those months, I was hard at work on Jewel of Persia. But...

Do you believe in Santa? I still do. Well, I mean, I don't expect a mountain of presents under my tree from a jolly old elf. But I still believe in the idea of Santa Claus, in the ideal of Santa Claus. I still believe in that magical something that surrounds this most...

When Xoe was a year old, her grandfather came in for Christmas (he lives in South Caroline) and brought his new girlfriend--a super-sweet woman who was very excited to meet Bill's granddaughter. They came armed with gifts. Lots of them. The prettiest? A gorgeous...

I've noticed a trend lately. In action shows/movies, whenever bad guys are chasing the good guys through a public location, they always (and I mean always--I've counted at least three of these scenes in stuff I've watched the last two weeks) duck through some shiny,...

Every now and then, I get tired. I get overwhelmed. I get bogged down with particulars, with comparisons, with frustrations. And that's when the beast rears its ugly head. Insecurity. We all know it, right? It's that voice that whispers in the back of our minds,...

Actually, my hubby and I had this brilliant idea years ago, but we only ever remembered it when it was too late to implement for Christmas. Not so this year! Curious yet? Biting your nails in suspense? Only, I suspect, if you're not on any lists or loops with me--if...

So on Saturday, my first baby turns 5. This feels pretty landmark to me. Five means school (yes, we've been doing that for two months already, but it still felt ahead of the game). Five means a more focused attention span. Five means endless coloring and playing with...

I'm a by-the-books person. Can you tell that about me from blog posts? I mean, I can't help it. I just love books so, so much. 😉 Okay, so I imagine it's more that following rules is ingrained so deeply within me . . . other than a few minor rebellions when the rules...

Is that a random enough title for you? =) Yesterday as Xoe and I were doing our math lesson, Rowyn came in needing help with something. I asked Xoe to finish the exercise she was working on while I followed Rowyn out to see what he needed. I came back in two minutes...

You know one thing I love about the Bible? You can't open it up without finding God's promises and encouragement. You can't read about despair without hope chasing on its heels. As everyone returned from the ACFW conference this week, I was smacked with a few moments...

So, there's an awesome new site debuting in October, and as an official sponsor (well, the Christian Review of Books is), I feel the need to let y'all know about it. Cuz it is cool.Clash of the Titles (www.ClashoftheTitles.com) is a place "Where authors battle and...

I can think of nothing else to talk about yet, so y'all are going to get the story of my last evening.Okay, so let's set the stage. Xoe (she's 4, almost 5 for those of you who don't know), fell asleep on the couch yesterday afternoon. This inevitably means she has...

Last weekend, we had dinner down at my grandparents' farm. It's nestled in a bend of the Potomac River, a little outcropping of West Virginia completely surrounded by Maryland. Mountains rise up all around their couple-hundred-acres of relative flatland, creating a...

I intended to wax philosophical and thoughtful this morning--not that I knew what I was going to be all brilliant about, but I figured I was due for some profound thoughts. 😉 Then I thought maybe I'd mention my friend Kimberly who's coming up this weekend, perhaps...

I just realized that my one-year anniversary of this blog passed at the end of July without me paying a lick of attention. The nerve! Why, I oughta break up with me for such an oversight . . . ;-)Yesterday I realized I'd crested the 300 post mark and thought, "Wow, my...

I remember thinking, sometime between ages 12 and 14, that I could never write a story that took place before Christ. Or which dealt with people after Christ who never heard his message. "I just couldn't do it," I recall thinking. "I'd be wondering about their...

Yesterday, while the rest of the country's newspapers probably had headlines about Russian spies, oil spills, or presidents, the Cumberland Times-News dedicated its front page to prayer. Oh, it might not have known that's what it was doing. But we did.See, the front...

I'm writing a book right now that's way more spiritually charged, spiritually involved than I imagined it would be. There are a lot of beyond-your-vision battles raging, and that means a lot of Roseanna praying before writing--I so don't want to get this stuff...

I'm sitting on my back porch. The clock just flipped to 7 a.m., and the air's still cool and scented with honeysuckle. I'm in exercise gear, though I have no intention of exercising--but my aunt passed along a too-cute tank with built in shelf, and it seemed a good...

This may be rambling, so we'll have to see where I go with it--at the moment, I'm not quite sure. There are times in life when we know absolutely what we have to do. Times when the Lord speaks so clearly, guides so strongly that we have no doubts. We recognize His...

Giveaway here - Deb Raney's Almost ForeverGiveaway of A Stray Drop of Blood - a special Mother's Day contest at Sunnybank Meandering includes my book and many other awesome prizes. Also, there's a really awesome interview and giveaway to correspond with the ACFW book...

Two giveaways - Jennifer Hudson Taylor's Highland Blessings and Ginny Smith's Third Time's a Charm (last day!!).~*~I love history. Have I mentioned that before? And it's not that I just love learning it for its own sake--I mean, that's cool and fun, but I always have...

Giveaway - Last day to enter for Sarah Sundin's A Distant MelodyGiveaway of Stray Drop - at the fabulous Jennifer Taylor's blog~*~First, a funny story. Over the weekend we went to the big St. John's vs. Naval Academy Croquet Tournament . . . yeah, only Johnnies or...

Today's the last day to enter to win Jill Williamson's To Darkness Fled!!~*~So it's been an interesting week. As I've considered what would be a good followup to A Stray Drop of Blood, I got an idea for another Biblical Fiction that would be a new twist on the...

Today's the last day to enter my giveaway of Meander Scar and Carman's giveaway of A Stray Drop of Blood. Still have time on The Character Therapist's of Stray Drop, though!~*~So I've been thinking about characters lately. Probably because all of the new reviews have...

Today's the last day to enter to win Once in a Blue Moon!~*~I never thought I'd sink so low as to write about laundry, but there you have it. I'm writing about laundry. Perhaps this wouldn't be odd for some, but I hate doing laundry. Even more than I hate doing...

Few things--today's the last day to enter the giveaway for Never Far from Home, but you still have a few days to enter the giveaway for Liberty's Promise. Also, for those of you still awaiting a copy of A Stray Drop of Blood, there's a giveaway up today at Michelle...

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for The Big 5-Oh! ~*~ Have you ever paused to take account of your friends? Tried to categorize them? Mentally nudged a particular person from one category to the next? How do you rate them/think of them/judge them? Do you have...

Again, TWO giveaways to remind you of! First is Friday's of Deliver Us from Evil by Robin Caroll (romantic suspense), and then Tuesday's of The Stones by Eleanor Gustafson (Biblical Fiction).And while I'm reminding, don't forget to check out giveaways of A Stray Drop...

First, the announcements. Don't forget my giveaway of Christa's Walking on Broken Glass, and swing over to Sunnybank Meanderings for a really neat giveaway of A Stray Drop of Blood Plus. (The plus includes Companion Guide, bookmark, chamomile, lip balm, and recipe...

Today's the last day to enter the giveaway for A Lady Like Sarah, so hop down and leave a comment!~*~Yesterday morning, I received what every author dreads: a rejection. And this isn't your run-of-the-mill, "Thanks, but after reading the proposal, it's not what we're...

Don't forget that today's the last day to enter the giveaway for Wind of the Spirit! ~*~ It strikes me at least once a week that my world is pretty much wrapped up in the internet. Especially when I get to church and someone says something about talking to strangers...

(Real quick--today's your last day to enter the giveaway for Golden's A Prisoner of Versailles before I draw the winner tonight!) I know, I know. You look at the title to this post and think I'm going to talk about my kids' propensity to lose one of each and every set...

Hello, my name is Roseanna, and I am disorganized.That's right, I confess it. The dishes sometimes sit on the counter for a day or so. The toys lay scattered on the floor. And I flip out every day at four o'clock when I realize that yet again I have to make dinner,...

I will never forget my shock. There I sat, an innocent, in the admissions office at my college. All around me were the usual people that made up my day--the admissions counselors, the office manager, the director and associate director. We were minding our own...

Well, here we are on the last day of 2009. Kinda hard to believe, isn't it? In a lot of ways, it's been a busy year. And in some ways, I feel like I got nothing done.What have I accomplished this year? Well, I've met my goal for books produced (though I didn't set a...