Today’s guest blog post is from a new friend of mine, Deanna Pavlenko, whom I met through an online writing group called Novel Academy. We are in a small group called a “huddle” with three other women within that organization. We group-text everyday, asking how we can help one another and be in prayer for each other. Deanna heads our group and she does a fantastic job. As we’ve texted back and forth, she’s shared that her family is of Ukrainian descent. Last week, she told us the incredible amount of hours her family invests to make traditional Ukrainian and…
Read MoreINTERVIEW WITH MINNESOTA AUTHOR CONNIE LOUNSBURY AND BOOK GIVEAWAY
I feel somewhat like a mosquito at a beach about expressing all that I loved about this book. I know what to do, but I don’t know where to start to persuade you to read A Hobo’s Wish by Minnesota author Connie Lounsbury. I guess I’ll start with its premise: A description of the book on Amazon states, After a tragic mistake during The Great Depression, Dr. Pete Walters becomes penniless, forced to ride the rails along with thousands of other unemployed men and women, surviving by trading labor for food, or asking for handouts. Will he find the trust and the…
Read MoreGIVE A BLESSBACK® CHANGE YOUR LIFE. CHANGE THE WORLD.
Several weeks ago at the Christian Authors Book Fair in Plymouth, Minn., I ran into Michael Ireland, a British journalist I became acquainted with years ago at the Minnesota Christian Writers Guild. We visited briefly. The next day, he sent me, quite unexpectedly, a host of questions about BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life, for me to answer as soon as possible as he wanted to do a story with Assist News Service about my book and why I wrote it. I was thrilled at his interest, but crippled by technology. I was in Hill City, South Dakota, visiting my friend…
Read MoreAN INTERVIEW WITH BRITISH AUTHOR SUE RUSSELL OF KENT COUNTY, UK
In the course of doing research on British novelist Sue Russell, I learned of her having played the piano for a ballet school, scrubbed steps in hospitals, volunteered as a Samaritan for 17 years, and taught English in Indonesia. But what fascinated me most, from a writer’s viewpoint, was discovering Sue knew she wanted to be a writer when she was a young girl. I couldn’t help but smile when I read that by 12 she had a handful of rejection slips. Ahh, to quote another British writer, Jane Austen, the half agonies and half hopes of a writer. Decades later, Sue’s friends put up a challenge.…
Read MoreFrom Trial to Triumph: One Woman’s Response When Cancer Came
As my time grows closer to being with women April 8th through April 10th at The Connect Retreat: The Resilient Survivor put on by Allina Health Buffalo Hospital, I wanted to post something from the point of view of a cancer survivor. Here is the pdf brochure for The Connect Retreat if you are interested in attending this wonderful retreat. I think you will find the following essay one that is both powerful and moving. It is written by Theresa Montgomery*. Theresa wrote this essay to her family and close friends both as a way to process her thoughts as she journeyed through cancer…
Read MoreEnter to win a drawing for a stunning photo of Golden Gate Bridge
The drawing for the Golden Gate image will take place this weekend. ($70.00 US retail.) There’s still time to enter. Simply go to http://www.kristermyrlonn.com/new-blog-1/ and leave a comment (underneath the image of the forest) or a question for Krister regarding my blog post about him here. Don’t be shy! Ask what you want to learn about Krister’s photographing techniques, his created landscapes or something about Norwegian or that you’ve always wanted to know about Norway. Julie
Read MoreLandscape photographer Krister Myrlønn
Krister Myrlønn, a landscape photographer from Bergen, Norway, and I became acquainted through a mutual friend, Madeline Farni. I’ve known Madeline since she was a little girl. She and her three brothers grew up with my sons. Her mom, Ann, and I shared many a summer afternoon on their back porch, watching our kids swim in their backyard swimming pool. On many of those evenings, we’d sit next to one another as we watched our kids play baseball and football. Ann moved in late winter of 2011 and Madeline followed her. And while Ann and I have kept in touch,…
Read More