Bali

You know what I love about Asia? So many places to see! Here is one place we went to recently...Bali. Bali is a little island off the east coast of Java, in Indonesia. Kris and I enjoyed a few days of vacation there while the kids went to camp.

We even got a free upgrade to a pool-entry hotel room !
















We enjoyed the beach... (sorry for the huge pictures lopping over into all my stuff on the right side of the screen).



And some strange sights on the beach...if you look closely you can see a bride and groom posing for a photo shoot, a camel watching (because what screams "TROPICAL ISLAND!" more than a camel strolling along the beach?), and in the tree on the left is yet another lady posing for a separate photo shoot. Seriously? We really just wanted to sit under an umbrella and read a good book. To each his own I guess.



We also watched in fascination as the force of incoming waves crashed into these rocks and sent water soaring into the air...



ok, it was more dramatic in real-life.

In addition to the beach, we enjoyed quaint restaurants, like this one on the edge of a rice paddy...




And what's a trip in Asia without monkeys, right? We went to the Sacred Monkey Forest of Ubud. I'm not a monkey fan, but these bazillion monkeys weren't near as obnoxious as the ones from Java that haunt my memories. Plus we found this really cool old Indiana-Jones-looking stone bridge. (See monkey on the railing in front of us and just to the right...or maybe don't see it. It's a gray bridge with a gray monkey on it, I get that it would be hard for you to see it.)




How's this for a sunrise to wake up to? I never tire of the Lord's artwork in the sky...

Thanks for the memories, Bali!

WINNERS!

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed Side by Side so far! I'm happy to announce the five winners of copies of the book were chosen.

Congratulations to:

Jen Colson
Erin Riley
Rachel B
Charlotte Perotti
Stephanie Chauncey


Winners, please email your mailing addresses to info@litfusegroup.com, or keep an eye out for an email from Litfuse ( don't forget to check your spam folder just in case!)

Happy reading!

Who Won?

Anyone wondering who won the five free copies of SIDE BY SIDE? Me too! I hope to find out by tomorrow. I will let you know as soon as I know.

In Case You Missed It

Here are a few BLOG TOUR bits in case you missed it:

The SIDE BY SIDE giveaway is almost over, but you can still sign up HERE. The winners will be announced here on May 12.

CLICK HERE to listen to my playlist on Spotify. The five songs included are related to SIDE BY SIDE. I like Leali and Salib Fuadi because they are Sudanese and I love the very Sudanese Arabic sound. Takes me back to Khartoum! Halleluia is in Arabic but not Sudanese so the accent is different. The liturgical sound reminds me of the more traditional churches in the Middle East. I chose the final medley for the song "He Knows My Name" because it reminds me that God knows and loves the Halimahs of the world.

You can see pictures of my writing area where I did a lot of editing for SIDE BY SIDE RIGHT HERE.

Sunday Refreshments is a blog of devotions written by various authors. You can see mine by CLICKING HERE.

And here is a blog post for "The Books Authors Read" HERE.

And don't forget to check out the pictures on PINTEREST. It's like my virtual photo album that goes with the story.

See you on May 12!

A Thousand Words

I love to write.

But I think the saying is true:

A picture is worth a thousand words

It would take me at least that many to capture what some artists and photographers can capture in a picture.

Last weekend I purchased some amazing photos from a talented photographer and I can hardly wait to have them printed and framed.

The hardest part about the purchase was picking which ones I wanted the most. You can check out more photos by this photographer on his Facebook Page Josh Wells Photography.

Isn't it amazing how the Lord gives each of us characteristics and talents that are unique and are obviously from Him? They aren't always what we thought they would be but if we take the time to ask Him, the Lord will show us how to use our gifts for His Glory.

I Figured It Out! (sort of)

So, I figure out some stuff about a Blog Tour! And it's not even over yet, that's how skilled I am :)

I got some links for you...

• You can enter to win a FREE copy of Side by Side! Even if you already have one, you might as well get a free one so you can give it as a gift to a reading buddy :) To do that, you can CLICK HERE.
• Here is "The story behind the story" about the novel. You know, why I wrote it and that sort of stuff. If you are interested in that you can CLICK HERE.
• If you want to check out the blogs on the BLOG TOUR you might find some interesting bloggers to follow. To do that, you can CLICK HERE and then click on the "Reviews" bar under the book info and the bloggers will drop down. You can see their blogs and the posts about SIDE BY SIDE by clicking on their links. More will appear over the coming days, so keep checking!
• Also, you can check out my garden and writing space at Novel Garden. Just CLICK HERE. I am the featured author at the moment, but you can still see my pictures after the feature by CLICKING HERE.
• And finally, here's a cool graphic with a quote from the book. You can see this and more fun stuff about SIDE BY SIDE on Pinterest by CLICKING HERE.

BLOG TOUR!

What's a blog tour?

...

No, it's not a question I'm answering here. I'm asking YOU!

Seriously, what's a blog tour? I am SO walking through this whole publishing thing blindly. Wow.

My answer is: a Blog Tour is something I'm doing from TODAY through MAY 10. Perhaps on May 11 I will post an answer and tell you what a blog tour is. Until then, I'm stumbling and Googling my way through.

For starters though, and you better hurry up and get your name in on this one...you can WIN a free copy of SIDE BY SIDE! As my husband says when I'm trying to find a good deal on something, "Cheap is good, but free is better". That's why I found myself crocheting a rug out of old bed sheets. Yes, really. I don't have time to go into that right now because I'm on blog tour. Remind me to post about it later.

Anyway, ENTER NOW!!! CLICK RIGHT HERE.

If you are a Kindle or Nook kinda person, no worries, you can buy an ebook version. You'll get a head start on the folks who are waiting to see if they win :)

Winners will be announced on May 11.