Musings from a Writer’s Brain–The Valley of Life—From Promise to Fulfillment by Linda Wood Rondeau

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books, Christian Mystery, Christian romance, devotion, God’s intervention, God’s lessons for us, LInda Wood Rondeau, Musings from a Writer’s Brain, Suspence, Wolf Mountain Legacy

Variations of the same theme:

God doesn’t close a door, but that He opens a window

Failure is God’s opportunity.

When man’s hope is gone, God’s Grace is only beginning.

These sayings all teach us failure and disappointment are not the end, merely God’s redirection.  

Another release and more months of poor results despite dollars and time poured into marketing … wondering if God truly called me to write or is this just my imagination on steroids? Though I remember all these above sayings, I wonder sometimes if they aren’t another form of sour grapes.

Then I recall God’s many interventions, and I feel pricked at how soon I have forgotten them. The twists and turns, bruises and bleeding, I mistake for abandonment are merely speed bumps along the way … lessons God has yet to teach. Perhaps the pain is not from pricks but from pruning … not for success as the world or even Christian publishing interprets but rather for deeper purposes not yet evident.

The works of my hands are not what matters most to God. His quest is not my profession as defined by man. More so, His quest is my heart and my unwavering love.

A valley often stretches between God’s desires for my life and the fulfillment of his promise—in that valley God reveals himself and chases after my whole heart. This valley is called Life, the terrain by which the Lord fulfills his true purpose for me. He permits me to write, but his call is for something greater … fellowship with him.

Abraham looked forward to God’s promise of a son, though the fulfillment seemed as if God had forgotten. As the valley from promise to fulfillment grew wider with each year, the far distant fulfillment stretched his faith. At the right time, after decades of pruning, Isaac was born. Yet, Abraham’s journey did not end. God still had much more to teach him, as well as Isaac and Jacob and all who followed Father Abraham.

Perhaps Abraham’s frustration of delayed answered prayer stemmed from only hearing part of God’s promise, his sights set on the tangible rather than the intangible elements of God’s call, “They will be my people and I will be their God.”

Therein is the valley from promise to fulfilment—the place where God teaches me how much he wants to be my God and how much he desires for me to be his child. “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children” (Revelation 21:7).

WOLF MOUNTAIN LEGACY

by Linda Wood Rondeau

How do you prove you’re not crazy?

What about the 150-year-old ruins atop Wolf Mountain keeps drawing Marci Henderson to the site? Village legend says the beautiful wife of the older railroad tycoon, after setting fire to their mansion, ran away with his accountant. Was there no way to prove Felicity’s innocence? First, Marci must prove she had the right to walk among the sane.  

Dr. Blake Montgomery, a college professor, has come to Collins Bend to work on his book, Adirondack Railroad Development. To aid in his research, Blake hires Marci Henderson, his former student, one he never stopped loving, who is now a widow. When Marci is insistent people are following the two of them, Blake wonders if she is headed for another psychotic episode.

Old emotions surface as the two embark on a suspenseful journey leading them closer to solving the age-old mystery of Wolf Mountain, a journey fraught with suspicion and murder. Along the way, Blake’s faith is challenged, and Marci searches for spiritual truth about the God she had never known.

BUY LINK Also available in print

About the Author:

Linda Wood Rondeau has been fascinated with the beauty, history, and mysteries encompassed in the Adirondack region, the perfect backdrop for Wolf Mountain Legacy. Find out more about the author on her website, www.lindarondeau.com, and signup for her newsletter to stay informed. The author is available to speak to groups, in person or online.

Visit her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MeWe, Bookbub and Pinterest.   

Signup for her newsletter from her website

Musings from a Writer’s Brain—What’s Next by Linda Wood Rondeau

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Bible Study, Christian growth non-fiction, Christian non-fiction, Essay about Writing, LInda Wood Rondeau, Musings from a Writer’s Brain, Who Put the Vinegar in the Salt?

This is the question I ask after each THE END I write on a manuscript. So, I’ve completed my book, edited it a gazillion times, sent it off to my publisher, more edits, galleys, and a note , “Your book is now live.”

Yes, there are a ton of marketing needs. But my creative spirit needs to be refueled with the next big project. So what should I write about now? I find myself facing the great unknown. Since all my contractual requirements are now met, how do I decide on what I should write next?

Do I work on unfinished concepts?

Or does God have something else for me to do?

Should I keep all my eggs in one basket or branch out?

Is now the time to try self-publishing?

Do I want to be a hybrid author?

Certainly, I’m not bored. I am also a freelance editor in addition to editing for my publisher. I’m also a Project Manager and my days are filled.

How do I predict what the market will need in a year and half from now?

Busyness is no excuse to starve the creative spirit.

Our pastor’s recent sermon was aimed at graduates: high school, college, postgraduate, and military. However, his message spoke to me, a woman in my seventies, as I thought on my next writing goal.

He reminded the grads to surrender their future to God. I believe this is true for writers as well.

Be Constantly in Prayer

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7 KJV)

The Lord has promised to hear and answer. Most Christians agree with this. However, when the answer seems slow to come, we will fall back to seeking our own answers which may be contrary to what God has in mind. Seek him diligently, knock on heaven’s door for as long as it takes. Pastor Kevin also said to not be afraid to ask others to pray with you. As writers, our readers and colleagues may have ideas we had not even considered. Then go back and pray some more.

Trust God Completely

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5 – 6 KJV).

Abandoning our preconceived ideas of our next steps may be very difficult. We are anxious to get started. We hear our inner creative voice saying, “Now! Move on your idea or it will go away.” As I hear the words above, I’m reminded God’s idea may be different than mine.

Live Faithfully

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NIV).

Said Pastor Kevin, “He wants you to say ‘yes’ before he will give you your ‘what.’”

God wants us to love him with all our heart, mind, and soul. Living faithfully and staying near to God allows us to align our will with his. He has a plan and wants to guide us in the right direction.

When we pray, trust, and walk with God, he not only leads us in our walk with him, but will center our desires with his. For the writer, this means, he will make clear our next big step in our careers.

WHO PUT THE VINEGAR IN THE SALT

By Linda Wood Rondeau

The world offers much beneficial self-help advice. Shouldn’t the Christian seek to be the best possible version of themselves? Aren’t we supposed to be good people?

Why not look to the world to solve life’s problems?

Because God has called us to be salt.

While there is much good to be found, like vinegar, the world’s best advice falls short of God’s recipe to live a victorious Christian life.

In a down-home, friendly manner, the author provides analogies, inspirational stories, anecdotes, a wealth of Scripture, and optional study guides for both individuals and groups, inviting the believer to discover God’s desires for his salt.

Buy Link

By the author of I Prayed for Patience, God Gave Me Children.

ABOUT LINDA WOOD RONDEAU

A veteran social worker, Linda Wood Rondeau’s varied church experience and professional career affords a unique perspective into the Christian life. When not writing or speaking, she enjoys the occasional round of golf, visiting museums, and taking walks with her best friend in life, her husband of over forty years. The couple resides in Hagerstown, Maryland where both are active in their local church. Readers may learn more about the author, read her blog, or sign up for her newsletter by visiting www.lindarondeau.com.

Connect with Linda on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

Musings from a Writer’s Brain–Marketing with Linda Wood Rondeau

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devotional, essay about book marketing, humor essay, LInda Wood Rondeau, Musings from a Writer's Brain, self help, Who put the Vinegar in the Salt

MARKETING IS NOT LIKE YOUR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY MEAL

by Linda Wood Rondeau

I’m an intuitive type of person. While I’ve always had a sense of doing things in an orderly fashion, I don’t like to think about what I’m doing when. I tend to approach nearly every area of my life with a “shoot from the hip” attitude.  I’ve discovered, much to my chagrin, successful marketing requires much more than an intuitive approach.

When it comes to Holiday meals, my daughter told me, “You make it look so easy.” I’ve always managed to finagle the menu and spend time with the family. Pies and more complicated dishes were prepared ahead. Intuition told me when to start boiling the potatoes, put side dishes in the oven, or start the crockpot.

In the homemaking department, intuition has served me well because this sense has been developed through years of experience. My homemaking skills were honed over time, and I really didn’t have to spend hours “thinking” about how to manage Thanksgiving dinner—not even when I’ve had over twenty guests.

The marketing nightmare however leaves me wanting. I haven’t had the luxury of years of experience because the publishing demands and marketing strategies are too fluid. The fact a turkey takes x amount of time per pound has not changed in forty years. Marketing approaches seem to change with the blink of an eye.

A marketing guru said authors should spend 80 percent of their time writing. To this I say a hearty, “Ha!” Perhaps for someone who has worked in marketing. For the average author, the “to do” list keeps growing and the menu is ever changing. How do we lopsided-brain people balance marketing with writing?

When I attend workshops and seminars, the reality I see is the presentation is mostly provided by marketing experts. Duh! They aren’t writers! They are sellers. With me, my brain spheres are in constant warfare. Writing and marketing duties are constantly clashing for dominance.

I did receive one excellent kernel of advice in a recent workshop. “Don’t camp out in the overwhelmed pit.” I think that’s where I’ve been most of the time. My “to do” list far exceeds my energy and desire. I can’t focus because I feel too overwhelmed. Because I can’t do it all, I do nothing.

For the next several months, I’m going to adapt The Power of Three principle, like a three-course meal … meat, potatoes, and vegetables. Instead of trying to prioritize multiple priorities, I’ll choose three projects each of writing and marketing and vary them for maximum nutrition, simplicity, and interest.

Think I can do it?

About the Author:

By the author of I Prayed for Patience, God Gave Me Children.

A veteran social worker, Linda Wood Rondeau’s varied church experience and professional career affords a unique perspective into the Christian life. When not writing or speaking, she enjoys the occasional round of golf, visiting museums, and taking walks with her best friend in life, her husband of over forty years. The couple resides in Hagerstown, Maryland where both are active in their local church. Readers may learn more about the author, read her blog, or sign up for her newsletter by visiting www.lindarondeau.com.

WHO PUT THE VINEGAR IN THE SALT

by Linda Wood Rondeau

The world offers much beneficial self-help advice. Shouldn’t the Christian seek to be the best possible version of themselves? Aren’t we supposed to be good people?
Why not look to the world to solve life’s problems?
Because God has called us to be salt.
While there is much good to be found, like vinegar, the world’s best advice falls short of God’s recipe to live a victorious Christian life.
In a down-home, friendly manner, the author provides analogies, inspirational stories, anecdotes, a wealth of Scripture, and optional study guides for both individuals and groups, inviting the believer to discover God’s desires for his salt.

Buy Link

Musings from a Writer’s Brain–Confessions of a Multi-genre Writer by Linda Wood Rondeau

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branding, contemporary fiction, essay, humor, Inspirational fiction, LInda Wood Rondeau, Musings from a Writer's Brain, Second Helpings, writing tips

Perhaps it’s just another symptom of my indecisive nature. I’m the kind of person who stands in the grocery aisle for ten minutes trying to decide what kind of pasta to buy.

An agent told me, “You write so far out of the box, you’re in a different room.”

Maybe this is why it took me eleven years before I received my first book contract. I needed to learn not just to be unique, but to be identifiable enough that editors didn’t have to put a coat on to find me.

At every conference I attended, the harpies screeched “Branding! Branding! Branding!” How does an author who writes speculative, paranormal, romance/historical/contemporary women’s fiction brand herself?

As I watched American Idol, I was intrigued by what the judges would repeatedly advise: know who you are as an artist.

Is this branding? I wondered.

I realized some singers can effectively sing across charts. Elvis, for example. Yet, there is an identifiable trait in their delivery.

Understanding this intuitively is a lot different from applying the truth to my writing.

I wanted to be the next Asimov, Tolkien or at the least Gene Roddenberry … George Lucas would be taking the comparison too far. I’d never come close to his genius. But why not write a space trilogy that changed the world?

I dashed back and forth from speculative, science fiction, romance, contemporary, historical and wondering all the time, “What kind of writer am I? What is my brand? Why can’t I settle on something and write only that?”

At every writing conference, I am asked, “What is your genre?”

How can I answer that?

I find in my writing, that I crave variety. I don’t want to write just one kind of story.

When I presented my dilemma, I was told, “Write what you like to read.” That doesn’t define me either. I like to read anything from a prairie romance to a spine-tingling horror book. I love a good story regardless of its trappings.

I was told, I’d never get published until I settled on what I wanted to write and focused solely on that until I “made it.” Then I might stand a chance to veer from that mode.

To determine what kind of writer I should be, I looked to my acting experiences. I pursued Community Theatre for over twenty years while living in Northern New York. I played such diverse roles as a transgender news reporter, an elderly murder-mystery writer, a ghost, a 19^th century estate owner, a yodeling country singer disguised as a German baroness, a detective, a backwoods philosopher, and a country-gospel singing nun as well as sundry other characters.

Biiggest Ain’t the Best

Making God skit at UMC in Norfolk August 2010

Those in our theater group said my strength as an actress was the ability to identify in some way shape or form with these outlandish characters, and making them come to life.

What I learned from acting is the truth that I don’t need to be them in order to understand them.

Is this then my brand? From the bizarre to the ridiculous?

As door after door slammed shut on a speculative writing career, I truly began to examine my brand, as it were. I found the stories I write, whether speculative, historical, or romance invoke a style that has come to be uniquely me: a blending of story-telling that encompasses the human spirit, healing from brokenness, and hope for lives damaged by wrong turns. I tell my stories from a deep point of view, sometimes first-person, and always infuse the inane in the telling.

I get it now. Branding is not the same as genre. It is voice and style and what makes you uniquely you. You cannot be unique if you copy. To quote another writer whose genius far exceeds the imagination of all writers, “This above all, to thine own self be true.”

What is your brand? How is it uniquely you?

 

Check out Linda’s special brand of writing in her book

 

Second Helpings

By Linda Wood Rondeau

 

Today is Jocelyn Johnson’s 45^th birthday. Unhappy with her marriage of 22 years, the parenting talk show host has planned a noonday tryst with her cohost. A phone call from her college daughter, a peek into her teenaged son’s journal, a sick preschooler, a Goth daughter’s identity crisis, a middle-school son’s prank, and her husband’s inflamed suspicions, not only interfere with her hopeful birthday plans but throw her family into more chaos than a circus on steroids.

In desperate need of counsel, Jocelyn invites a Christian to dinner, her guest from her morning talk show segment. However, the evening holds little promise of calm. In the midst of bedlam, a forgotten faith rekindles causing Jocelyn to rethink her life and her marriage.

You will laugh and you will cry from the first page to the last as you journey through the day’s events and Jocelyn’s search for Second Helpings.

 

Buy Link  Ebook : Print book

 

 

About the Author:

A veteran social worker, Linda Wood Rondeau is also a wife, mother, and grandmother. She is no stranger to family bedlam. Her stories of encouragement and hope come from the heart. She resides in Hagerstown, Maryland with her husband of over forty-years. When not writing, the author enjoys the occasional round of golf. She also enjoys theater and is actively involved with her local church. Find more encouraging words in her blog, Snark and Sensibility, found on her website, www.lindarondeau.com. Visit her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Linda Wood Rondeau

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award winning book, book giveaway, Free Book, inspirational ficiton, LInda Wood Rondeau, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, The Other Side of Darkness

Today Wednesday Writers Welcomes Award-winning author LINDA WOOD RONDEAU. Linda will be talking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition which the plagues the characters in her book The Other Side of Darkness.

Linda will do an ebook giveaway (via Amazon) if she gets 10 comments. So let your friends know about this chance to win an award-winning book. Take a peek at the book trailer for The Other Side of Darkness.

 

Take a look at the trailer for The Other Side of Darkness 

Linda is going to talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, since her book The Other Side of Darkness deals with this issue. Here’s what Linda wants her readers to know about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how it plays into the plot of her book.

As a veteran social worker, I chose to write books that encourage readers, hoping to inspire them to climb back up the hill from whence they fell and claim healing. In my view, this is the work of inspirational fiction.

And this is why I wrote The Other Side of Darkness. It was my eighth book but the first to be published, winning the 2012 Selah Award for debut novel.

Too often, even those of great faith, suppress the emotions that trauma evokes, believing we must be strong. As did my heroine, Sam Knowles, an adult survivor of child abuse. Driven to write the wrongs she endured, she sought a career as a prosecutor in the Special Victims Unit.

Obsessed with assuring villain Harlan Stiles received just punishment, Sam spends three years of her life determined to win a murder conviction. Afterward, her boss sends her on a much-needed vacation.

She becomes stranded in a small Adirondack Town called Haven. How was she to know that her hard fought case would unravel, that Stiles would escape? Vowing revenge against Sam he finds her.

Her case is not the only thing that unravels in Sam’s life. As she confronts her obsession, she must confront the trauma of her childhood abuse and the accident that claimed her father’s life.

While a seeming captive in Haven, Sam meets the mysterious artist, Jonathan Gladstone. He, too, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

These three, hero, heroine, and villain each experienced traumatic events that shaped their lives. The choices each makes in coping with the event, shaped the rest of their lives. Faith makes a difference.

The apostle Paul wrote, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” The first step in finding our way to wholeness after a traumatic event is to understand those threads that threaten to unravel the joy God wants us to experience in Him.

The causes of PTSD are not limited to war. As demonstrated in The Other Side of Darkness, there are many causes for PTSD. Natural disaster, an accident or fire, a terrorist attack, victimization as a result of a crime, child abuse or neglect, abandonment by separation or death.

Most individuals will experience one or more traumatic events within their lifetime. While not every traumatic event will result in eventual PTSD, it is believed those who have diminished coping skills due to: a family history of depression or PTSD, a history of abuse, a history of drug addiction, prolonged stress, or lack of social supports are more susceptible. Some PTSD emerges years later due to the unsuccessful attempt of the victim to suppress the event.

Traumatic events take a toll on the mind and body. Suppression and/or denial of these symptoms may serve to cause long-term psychological as well as physiological damage including gastric or heart disorders, panic attacks, feelings of intense anxiety, global aches and pains, and chronic depression.

It is common for sufferers of PTSD to become socially and emotionally isolated, losing interest in pleasurable activities, and submerged in feelings of hopelessness. Other symptoms may include: a sense of guilt, shame or undue self-blame; substance abuse, acting out behaviors, mistrust, reclusiveness, unexplained fatigue or systematic aches and pains, suicidal ideations.

Here are four things you can do to help you deal with PTSD.

1. Think of yourself, not as a victim, but as an overcomer. Realize that you are the sum of your experiences and turn the negative into a positive.
2. Reclaim your sense of power in positive ways such as helping others or volunteering your time and energy.
3. Avoid isolation and reconnect with your community by joining a group hobby or social group. Start slowly.
4. Learn relaxation techniques. Start a journal. Mediate. Seek professional counseling with a minister or psychologist or both.

If you or someone you know is suspected of PTSD, do not hesitate to get help.

 

Thanks, Linda, for the glimpse into PTSD. Now, here’s a glimpse of Linda’s award-winning book The Other Side of Darkness

 

 

The Other Side of Darkness

by Linda Wood Rondeau

 

Haven: a perfect vacation spot filled with mystery and romance except for a killer bent on revenge.

Manhattan prosecutor Samantha Knowles is stranded in a quirky but intriguing Adirondack town. But she must return to NYC to repair the unraveling case against convicted child killer, Harlan Styles.

Teacher Zack Bordeaux fears he is doomed to a life of mediocrity if he remains in Haven but would be willing to stay if it means a life with Sam.

Landscape artist Jonathan Gladstone feels bound to an estate he both loathes and loves, haunted by the deaths of his wife and son until he falls in love with a spirited attorney and rediscovers his artistic passion.

These three, betrayed and betraying, must find their way from the darkness of broken hope to the light found only in Christ, our surest haven.

 

 

Excerpt 

He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed…and He guided them to their desired haven.

Psalm 107:29-30

Spaghetti legs, Daddy called them, spindly appendages that kinked when stressed—like now.

Samantha Knowles leaned against the table for support as Bailiff Don Hunter came to the front of the courtroom. “All rise.” Judge Normandy entered, his limp necessitating a much longer plod from his chamber to the bench. Soon, the wait would end—three years of sleepless nights, endless days of preparation, postponements, and courtroom theatrics by defense attorneys. After three interminable years, Justice would now show its face.

As the judge took his bench, the crowd silenced to await his summation. Sam glanced at the defendant’s table where a calm Harlan Styles sat, a wart on the cheek of humanity, an insulated icicle against the rising heat, tried and convicted—the rest up to Normandy’s guillotine.

She fingered her notes, though she didn’t need to see them—the image of Kiley’s tiny, battered body tattooed on Sam’s brain, a brazen scar, indelibly etched on her heart.

Judge Normandy spewed his rhetoric—penal codes entwined with case facts, cold, distanced from the victim, yet succulent to Sam’s ears. In spite of their dry, unflavored essence, she feasted on his words—each pursuant finding heaped upon the other and topped with the last morsel, “The court can find no other just rendering than life imprisonment.”

Victory should taste better, like syrup over pancakes—not this metallic aftertaste.

A woman’s scream silenced the murmurings, and Sam turned with the rest of the throng toward the source. Kiley’s mother, Brenda Smith, had leaned over the rail and grabbed Styles’s sleeve while Don Hunter ordered her to step back.

Brenda was weak—just like Mama was weak. Brenda Smith deserved the same fate as Styles. Too bad stupidity wasn’t a felony.

The DA stood in the back of the courtroom. Without a word, Abe Hilderman, her boss and second chair, abandoned Sam to shake the DA’s hand. A simple, “Good job, Counselor,” would have been nice, even a slap on the back. Nice, but not necessary. Abe often said that Justice was its own reward.

Emboldened, Sam stepped closer as the deputy handcuffed Styles. He saw her, pulled free, put his shackled hands on the prosecutor’s table and leaned into Sam’s face, his cologne lethal… a designer blend—suede, water, and moss—like Daddy’s. Sam fixed her stare into steel-gray eyes, magnets that drew her headlong toward a spinning saw—Styles’s demeanor, a calloused calm…except for his lips… parched, purple–tinged lips that formed his threat. “Keep your light on, Miss Knowles.”

Her spaghetti legs wobbled. Three years of lamp-lit nights had failed to chase away the recurring dreams—dreams Sam kept secreted from everyone, especially Justine, Sam’s best friend. How, then, did Styles know she kept a light on all night?

Want to read more? Go to Amazon to download Linda’s book.

About the Author:

Winner of the 2012 Selah Award for best first novel The Other Side of Darkness, LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, writes blended contemporary fiction that speaks to the heart and offers hope to those with damaged lives. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida. A Christmas Prayer, (aka A Father’s Prayer) was a finalist for both the 2014 Selah and Carol Awards.
It Really IS a Wonderful Life, inspired by the author’s personal experience, quickly became a Christmas classic. Watch for Fiddler’s Fling and Red Sky Promise, inspirational romances expected to be released later in 2015.

For sci-fi lovers, Rondeau offers a free download of her book, The Fifteenth article, from her website. Feel free to share with friends and family.

Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com, her blog, Salt and Light, or email her at lindarondeau@gmail.com or find her on Facebook, Twitter, PInterest, Google Plus and Goodreads.