Matthew 11:28-30, The Message "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me... Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace."
Stanice Anderson Stanice is a dynamic author and speaker on addiction and recovery, not to mention a preacher in the first degree. Her blog and books reverberate with power. She updates a few times a month.
Robin Lee Hatcher Robin shares about faith, fiction, politics, Bible study and all sorts of cool stuff. This was one of the first blogs I ever read.
Claudia Mair Burney A great author and great friend. Known throughout the blogosphere for her moving posts. Author of MURDER, MAYHEM AND A FINE MAN (Navpress, July 2006)
Bonnie Bruno With beautiful photos and poetic prose, children's author Bonnie Bruno shows God's grace with every post.
Lisa Samson Lisa is one of my favorite writers...and people. On her blog and in her books, she asks questions that don't always have answers. And she's funny. She updates all the time.
Angela Benson Christy finalist and author of THE AMEN SISTERS
Xenia Ruiz Blog of author Xenia Ruiz, author of CHOOSE ME
Faithchick Blog of several authors of Christian chick lit. Faith, fiction and fun!
Hey everybody! I need your help! My publisher is working on the cover for SONGS OF DELIVERANCE, the sequel to RHYTHMS OF GRACE. They want to know what Zeely looks like. Of course, I have my own idea, but the great thing about books is that you get to use your imagination to see what the characters look like.
So that's my question: What does Zeely Wilkins from RHYTHMS OF GRACE look like to you? Send me a headshot (from anywhere) or sketch by attachment to [email protected] like yesterday! If I choose your Zeely picture to send to my publisher, your name will be used in SONGS OF DELIVERANCE! So come on now, send those photos. I'm going to send all my pictures to my publisher Monday, November 24 @ 9:00 AM EST.
Holler!
PS. RHYTHMS OF GRACE earned "Favorite" status from the Rawsistaz reviewers. That's pretty cool...
MG: If my life were a
movie, I’d be played by:Queen Latifah LOL
Camy: Julia Ling/Anna
Wu from the TV series Chuck. She’s sassy, she’s funny,
and she doesn’t care what other people think.
MG:True! I LOVE Chuck! I haven't been able to watch much TV lately. I'm looking forward to Heroes coming back. I gave up on a lot of shoes. Have you ever watched Psych? It's hilarious.
If I could rewrite any
book, I would rewrite:
Camy: Message In a
Bottle by Nicholas Sparks. What an awful ending!
MG: Castaway, the movie with Tom Hanks. At the end I was like WHAT WAS IN THAT BOX!!!
If I were an ice cream
sundae, I’d be: A caramel sundae...with nuts (I don't like them so much but I'm a little nutty). No whipped cream. No fluff here. LOL
Camy: Strawberry
parfait. I like the color red (the brighter the better), I’m a
little tart, and sometimes I have the seriousness of whipped cream.
MG:Now, for you guys, here's your question: If you had to be one of the Brady Bunch, which one would you be? I think I'm more of a Jan...
MG: Thanks for coming Camy! Everyone check out Camy's blog and her new book, Single Sashimi. I love the series.
Camy
Tang writes
romance with a kick of wasabi. She used to be a
biologist, but now she is a staff worker for her church youth group
and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story
Sensei fiction critique service. On
her blog, she gives away Christian novels every
Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs
(namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own...),
the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind.
Visit her website at http://www.camytang.com/
for a huge website contest going on right now, giving away ten boxes
of books and 30 copies of her latest release, SINGLE SASHIMI.
Sorry if you called in for the show on Sunday. (I did too! I guess they forgot me. LOL) Anyway, here's an interview with Urban Christian Fiction. Sharon Oliver and Maurice Gray are also featured. Check it out!
Topic: Can Your Realtionship Survive When Your Mate Doesn't Have A Relationship With God?
Some topic, huh? God has a lot to say about it and I'm sure you do to. Call in and give your thoughts and then meet me back at SistahFaith and we'll have a quick Sistah Sunday. See you there!
After getting totally dogged in my only PW review, I'd pretty much given up on them ever giving me any love. Well, today, they surprised me and gave me a little (there's some criticism too, but that's cool...)
Here's the review:
Rhythms of GraceMarilynn Griffith. Revell, $13.99 paper (432p) ISBN 978-0-8007-3278-3
It’s
1984, and four young lives intersect in Testimony, Ohio, with one of
the four, Diana, becoming the victim of rape. After introducing her
major characters and a central issue, Griffith (Shades of Style series)
jumps ahead to 2005, when Diana, now going by her middle name Grace,
returns to her hometown, and her troubled past, to teach at a charter
school for challenging teens the system is about to give up on. The
book is all about relationships: their changes, their remarkable
endurance, their power to nurture. Grace and minister’s daughter Zeely
are close friends; Grace and her teaching colleague Brian become
quickly entangled in a halting but inevitable romance; lawyer Ron, who
was like Brian’s brother when the two were young, is engaged to Mindy
but has been carrying the torch for Zeely. Interracial romance allows
Griffith to engage racism as a force affecting her characters; the town
of Testimony also got its name from the $500 exacted before a black
fleeing slavery would be allowed to settle in the area. The book is
thickly plotted, perhaps too thickly—some connections between
characters and events strain credibility. Nor is everything resolved,
since there’s a sequel in the offing. Griffith’s dialogue is engaging
and her major characters deeply memorable; she deserves a wide
audience. (Sept.)
There's also a great in depth article about the growing African American Christian Market and my pubisher, Revell's part in it. I don't know what's going on, but I like it!
Okay, so I never really do these, but I'm going to go for it and jump in. I was tagged by Angela Benson.
Here’s how it works:
I list three categories of books.
5 MUST Read Books.
5 Books on Your Nightstand.
5 Look For These Soon.
Keeping with the theme, I tag 5 bloggers. They should put these same
lists on their blog but SUBTRACT one book from each list and ADD one of
their own. Then they should tag at least 5 more bloggers.
If you're tagged, please stop by and leave a comment. Keep your picks to 2007-2009.
My additions are in BOLD.
5 MUST Read Books:
Up Pops the Devil by Angela Benson (just finised it! It's the bomb!)
Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee
Yellow Moon by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Conception by Kalisha Buckhanon
Rhythms of Grace by Marilynn Griffith
5 Books on the Nightstand:
The Exorsistah by Claudia Mair Burney
Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
From Harvey River by Lorna Goodison
My Soul Cries Out by Sherri Lewis
Murder Mayhem & a Fine Man, Claudia Mair Burney
5 Look For These Soon:
The Someday List by Stacy Hawkins Adams
Nailed by Jennifer Lauren
The Hood Life: A Bentley Manor Tale by Meesha Mink and De’nesha Diamond
Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney
Rainbow’s End, GiGi Gunn
And thanks to Angela Benson for the second heads up on Rhythms of Grace being in Upscale Magazine! I had no idea until I walked into Thirsty Souls Books on Saturday for my booksigning and the owner, Barbara Huggins, handed it to me. Pretty cool!
Though the thought of how much writing I could get done during four days on a bus is tempting, every time I lug it along, I don't use it like I think I will. A notebook is the ultimate laptop as long as I can keep up with it. Plus, after an intense year of writing, I'm actually going to try to interact with some people (okay, so they're writers too, but still...). Just listening on that bus will be a writer's conference in itself.
So...
"Just get on the bus, gus. Don't need to discuss much. Just drop off the key, Lee and set your self free!"
(Note: We'll see if I flip out at the last minute and pack it. :X)
Anyway, that song came to mind because it was on the Greatest hits of 70's album that I tried to shove into my giant parka and sneak to school (Yes, it was an LP not a CD. I'm showing my age). It was a giant square where my chest should have been and my mother just gave me the long blink that meant girl-don't-even-try-it. I was destroyed. The theme song for Baretta was on there and everything. Somebody in the class redeemed it all by bringing Simon and Garfunkel. My teacher did the funky chicken or at least that's what it looked like. I'll never forget it.
Some days are like that, a stitch from the cloth of all we are, captured for no apparent reason in a scent of grandma's talcum or a strain of a silly song. I'm hoping that though I don't really know anyone I'll be with for the next few days, that I'll come home with a few silk memories anyway.
Before I go though, I'd like to announce the winners to the second round of giveaways (if you haven't sent me your snail mail from the first round, I'll get you when I return next week).
The winners are
Missy Tippens and
Jessica!
Could both of you send me your snail mail addresses so I can send you out a book? As for the rest of you, I would LOVE to see everyone in Indiana and Illinois turn out for the Soul Expressions Tour. I'm leaving my laptop, but I plan on taking lots of pictures (nobody who knows me laugh at that! I will, I tell you!) and podcasting from the bus. So...stay tuned for Rhythms of Grace unplugged. See below for the tour schedule and you guessed it...a little video to make you chuckle.
Father God,
Thank you for our past, the gift of the present and the promise of the future. Give us the courage and love to reach out both hands, now matter how scarred or trembling, and grab hold of what today has to offer. Bless us all with traveling mercies as we go back and forth and may we be blessed with good and godly friends and be a blessing to others. Bring us together according to Your spirit and timing.
In Jesus' name, Amen
:::grace:::
marilynn
PS. I redid my home page at marilynngriffith.com. Let me know what you think...
Thursday, August 7th
10:00am--Lawrence, IN 10735 Pendleton Pike/ Lawrence, IN 46236
2:00 pm-- Fishers, IN 8300 E. 96th Street/ Fishers, IN 46038
4:45pm-- Indianapolis, IN 3221 West 86th Street/ Indianapolis,IN 46268
# Soul Expressions Author Tour in Fort Wayne > Soul Expressions Author Tour August 8, 2008 7502 Southtown Crossing Blvd Fort Wayne, IN 46816
# Soul Expressions Author Tour in South Bend > Soul Expressions Author Tour August 8, 2008 3701 Portage Road South Bend, IN 46628
# Soul Expressions Author Tour in Hammond > Soul Expressions Author Tour August 8, 2008 1828 165th Street Hammond, IN 46320
# Soul Expressions Author Tour in Chicago > Soul Expressions Author Tour August 9, 2008
Saturday, August 9th
10:00am -- Country Club Hills, IL 4005 West 167th Street/ Country Club Hills, IL 60478
2:30pm-- Evergreen Park, IL 2500 W. 95th Street/ Evergreen Park, IL 60805
Sunday, August 10th
11:00am-- Crestwood, IL 4700 W. 135th Street/ Crestwood, IL 60445
3:00pm-- Lansing, IL 16771 Torrence Avenue/ Lansing, IL 60438
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24, NIV)
Drrrrooooopppppp! Did you hear that! It's the sound of Rhythms of Grace dropping into the atmosphere! LOL I feel like the Pointer Sisters from back in the day (I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. I know, I know...) You get the idea.
My kids are making sure I don't get my head too far in the air by keeping me busy. I just got my books (WOOHOO!) so I'll be going out in a few to send Josie the copy that she won over at Angela's writing rituals series. And of course, you know I have to give some books away today since it's the official drop day. To enter, leave a comment telling us what your favorite Bible verse is and why. I'll select the winners randomly before midnight tomorrow, August 2, 2008.
Now that Baby Girl has the stitches out of her foot, I'm going to do the audio excerpt I owe y'all. Thanks to everyone so far who's bought the book. Please pray for me as I go on this tour that I will be able to speak the word of God in boldness and love and not sit gaping with my mouth open like I've never been anywhere! LOL If you have a prayer request that you want my family and I to pray for, please leave that in the comments too. Though I am totally hyped about this book release, my word for the year is still prayer and I need it more than ever. And today, I'm going to get my praize on too because as Fred Hammond would say, "This is...the day!"
Lord,
Thank you for today. Thank You for your faithfulness, for continuing to play the rhythms of your grace for us even when we are too tired, too broke, too hurt to hear it. Thank you for bringing us through when all we wanted to do was go around. No matter what man says or sees, we put our hands together, lift our hands and declare that this is a day of blessing, victory, deliverance and healing. In Jesus' name, Amen.
RHYTHMS OF GRACE Revell Books August 2008 0800732782 $12.99 US
ABOUT THE BOOK
Grace
Okoye was a promising young dancer when her career was cut short by a
brutal assault that left her scarred for life. Twenty years later, when
her past gets in the way of her happiness, she heeds the invitation of
her dance instructor and returns home to help hurting children and
rediscover the rhythms of grace. What she doesn't expect is to meet a
man who already seems to know her beat. But for all they share in
common, the biggest thing in Grace's life is noticeably absent in
his--faith. She's finally found the love of her life, but can she
choose between him and God?
Real, raw emotion and the promise of redemption run through this soulful new book from Marilynn Griffith. Though being published in 2008, this is the first novel Marilynn ever completed and early readers think it's her best work to date.
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