Gratitude in My Heart

As most of my readers know I am in the middle of NaNoWriMo. This is my 5th year in this challenge and probably the most challenging of all the ones I’ve done so far. When I did my first NaNo in 2009, I had never written a novel, I didn’t have a blog. I didn’t have a twitter account or a Facebook author page. I didn’t have the slightest idea of what I was doing except for the fact that God was burning things inside of me to write.

Since then I’ve met lots of wonderful people, some authors, and some readers. I’ve had the opportunity to learn so much and at the time I’m writing this post I’ve been blessed with the fact of publishing 4 books. To me that’s amazing and the Glory is all to and for The Lord who has seen me through this journey.

I’m also very grateful for each of you that have joined me in this adventure and I give you my word that the best is yet to come.

Having said all that, I’ve been thinking on how I could thank all my readers for all their support. I’ve decided to place ALL MY BOOKS on sale during the month of November. This will give you the opportunity to get any of them that you have not obtained already or to gift it to someone that you wish had read it.  Here’s the breakdown in the order they were published

October 2011 Growth Lessons (From 2.99) $1.99  Amazon, Nook and Smashwords

clip_image002.pngThis was my first book. This one is my only non-fiction so far. I call it a devotional because you don’t it just includes life lessons that The Lord showed me during my first year of coming back to him and my first year into taking the plunge of writing seriously.  This is what some of the reviews have said

I enjoyed the book and could recommend it wholeheartedly with that one proviso. ”

June 2013 The Road Home (From 4.99) $2.99 Amazon, Nook and Smashwords

clip_image002.pngI have to admit that I have a special attachment to this book.  There are some parts of this book that come from my life experiences, but it was also my first work of fiction and also my first NaNoWriMo project. I learned a lot about myself writing this book. This is what the reviewers have said.

 

November 2012 Season’s Greetings from Amelia (From 2.99) $1.50 Amazon, Nook and Smashwords

clip_image002.jpgThis was a very fun novella to write. I love crime shows and was fascinated with serial killer stories so I wanted to create my own, but with a twist.  This is was reviewers have said.

 

 

 

October 2013 A Brother’s Vow (From $7.99) $3.50 Amazon, Nook and Smashwords

A Brother's Vow (Final)This is the last book I published. This book has a complicated plot. This was the first time I had challenged myself to have a book with these many characters where they all shine on their own. This one too started as a NaNo project. It’s a story that I personally enjoy reading beyond the fact that I wrote it.  This is what the reviewers are saying.

“This is a story about interconnected lives and the consequences of the actions of everybody in the family. It’s not just about one black sheep and his struggle to change. The spiritual lessons you can learn from each member of the Benson family surprise you as you make your way through this complex story and navigate their successes and failures. This isn’t women’s fiction. It’s complex adult fiction with a message for everyone who has promises to keep” Mary Findley

Think about it for just $10 you can get all four 🙂 So now that the holidays are here and you get some down time, stock up on good reading materials or stuff those e-readers that you are giving out as Christmas presents.

As always, Thanks You for your support. Until next time… be blessed.

WF: God of this city

I heard something preached at my church that stuck with me. The words were “ You are the only God that pursues us instead of us being the ones chasing you”

It stuck with me because if you think about things like idolatry where people kill or break things to please their god. It’s usually the people who are chasing the favor of their god. But in this date and age idolatry is more than statues and bizarre rituals. Our gods can be our addictions, our sins, our relationships.

1 John 1:6

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

If you are an addict, you are making the thing that you are addicted to your god and it’s you  who chases that god in search of the feeling of your next satisfaction.

That sin that has you bounded and keeps you going back to it over and over, it could have become your god. It is you who has not made the decision to turn it over. If nothing else remember the words from Paul in Romans 7:18

 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out

Yes, it true you can’t, but God can if you truly surrender and stop worshipping that behavior.

How many times you have compromised your values and the things you know to be right to please the person you are in a relationship with? So has that person become your god.

John 14:23

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

The good news is that God is always waiting for us. He is the God of this city and every city. He’s different. He doesn’t need you. He wants you.

Romans 5:7-9 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him

Join me to day to Praise he who died for us, out of love for us.

Until then be blessed.

 Season’s Greetings From Amelia

clip_image002_thumb.jpg“This book is in a class by itself, you will not be able to put it down! The characters pull you in and you begin to feel their emotions. Excellently written. The title fooled me, the saying goes” never judge a book by the cover “and this is one of those books.” By Duezette

What did I do this summer?

Taking this summer off was a great decision. Some times you just need some time to take a step back and regroup. It is hard to hear the voice of God in the middle of noise. I needed  a change of scenery in order to organize,  a real vacation and some projects.

I was able to de-clutter some old things that I’ve been hanging on for too long. I was allowed to finally have a vacation, the last one I had was in 2006. I read a full book. Yes, writers love to read too, we just don’t have enough time.

I took a vacation from my healthy lifestyle and recovered some of the pounds I had lost, but I’m now back  on  track and decided to lose them with the plan to not find them again.

Finally I was able to get some writing work done. My new novel “A Brother’s Vow” is in the final stages of editing and the cover is being worked on. I started a new project, currently called “Second Chances”, which I was able to write the first five chapters and many more things to come.

It’s good to be back.

So tell me, what has your summer been like?

Still for 0.99 cents Season’s Greetings from Amelia

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“This book is in a class by itself, you will not be able to put it down! The characters pull you in and you begin to feel their emotions. Excellently written. The title fooled me, the saying goes” never judge a book by the cover “and this is one of those books.” By Duezette

CRASH

I decided to watch a movie the other night, something I had not done in a while. After my 9-5 I needed a change of scenery. I was too tired to write. I didn’t want to watch any of my regular programs, so decided to watch one of the movies I had in my playlist that I had on hold.

Let me start by saying that this movie’s description is not accurate. The description stated that it was related to the lives of some people after 911 and that’s why I had placed it on my playlist. Unless I fell asleep at some point, there’s not a single mention of the events of 911 throughout the movie.

The other thing that caught my attention was that the movie’s quality seems like a low budget movie. However after looking at the cast, I don’t think that’s the truth. This movie includes stars like: Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard, Ludacris, Brendan Fraser and those are the ones whose names I could remember.

Aside from the warning to my readers that this is an R rated movie and that it does contain some foul language, the storyline is really good. The movie summarizes the society in which we are living. I can say that it goes beyond racial boundaries,although that’s a heavy topic of the movie. It’s the fact of how our life perceptions and experiences have transformed society into a place of distrust, where we see things beyond reality. A society where our stereotypes limit us from getting to know each other, because we already have formed judgment based on our differences instead of our similarities.

This movie definitely shows us how we are living our lives today without God. It shows the humanity of our prejudices and how in a moment of pressure we can realize the weakness of our flesh, but also how a moment of decision can change our lives. It was quite a good message if you ask me.  Let’s learn to see each other through the eyes of God, instead of the eyes of our flesh.

“ For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” -1 Samuel 16: 7

Until next time, be blessed

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“This book is in a class by itself, you will not be able to put it down! The characters pull you in and you begin to feel their emotions. Excellently written. The title fooled me, the saying goes” never judge a book by the cover “and this is one of those books.” By Duezette

Back to the Future

Do you remember the series of Movies “Back to the future” with Michael J. Fox? Maybe I’m revealing my age here. LOL! For those who have not seen this movie, it was the story of a crazy scientist and a teenager. They had created a time machine. Marty (the name of Michael J. Fox’s character) is the teenager. He’s living an unhappy life at home. He goes back in time to his parent’s senior year of high school, witnesses the time where they met and understands the reason why things came out to be the way they were in the present.

He interferes with the past, but when he comes back to the future realizes that his interference has affected the outcome to the point where he now doesn’t even exist. He now has to go back to the past to fix what he has done, but still had to interfere because he wasn’t able to go back to the exact same moment in the past.

There are many times when we wish we had a time machine. We live in the land of if’s. If I had not done this, I had not said that, I had not met this person, the list can be endless. I admit sometimes I can actually pinpoint the exact moment when my decisions led me through the wrong path and I wish I could take them back.

But recently I have changed that perspective. I’ve learned that even the worst events in my life and the worst decisions I have made has taught me lessons that has made my life better. How is that possible? Well , that’s just a fulfillment of a promise from God.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Are you not wiser, more mature for those life challenges that we’ve had? Let’s stop living in the past and the Land of If’s. Let’s use the present with is all we have.

When you feel like the burden of this day is taking a toll on you, stand on these scriptures:

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

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“This book is in a class by itself, you will not be able to put it down! The characters pull you in and you begin to feel their emotions. Excellently written. The title fooled me, the saying goes” never judge a book by the cover “and this is one of those books.” By Duezette

Surviving 2012

I can’t believe we are at the doors of a new year. 2012 seemed to have lasted forever. This year has been one of a lot of growth for me, and of course with growth comes a lot of growing pains.

This past year brought me a new opportunity to start over again. I have taken my writing to a new level. Last year when I published Growth Lessons , in my head I knew that this was something that I wanted to do. 2012 taught me that this is what I was called to do and every day I’m more motivated to do even more.

CIMG5895I was given a new start in my health, when I went from being a pre-diabetic morbidly obese woman , to losing 40 pounds and gaining my health back. With my new body still in progress I’ve learned to eat differently, live differently, respect my temple in a total new way. (By the way it’s 60lbs, but the first 20 had been coming down here and there since the previous year until I got serious this past May)Went from a size 24 to a 14. So I have had to shop for clothes, what a drag, right? LOL!

On that note, I am finally using my gym membership. I’ve signed up for dozens of them, paid off the contracts and never went. This time I’m actually using it.

I have a new career path. God changed my 9-5 to remind me that my focus is in him and his purpose. In this new path, that is not so new because I’ve walked it before, I know he’s training me for the day when I’m able to fulfill my dream to be fully dedicated to my writing.

I published my first work of fiction, The Road Home (TRH) and my first novella, Season’s Greetings from Amelia (SGFA) in 2012. These two pieces have brought me many joys. I did 3 book signings for TRH and have received remarkable reviews. SGFA sold 5 copies within the first hour of publication.

TheRoadHomeFinalseason (1)

I lost my favorite aunt, Juliana. I lost one of my best friends and one of my spiritual mothers moved over 600 miles away.

My 81 year old mother got an IPad for her birthday/Christmas present, got on Facebook and requested a Twitter account. Yes, I can’t get over that one yet, LOL!

As I posted the other day, I’m working hard on getting my next book out hopefully February or early March. I’m looking forward to the opportunity of a new year, a new beginning.

Happy and blessed 2013!!

WF: O Holy Night

I have a confession to make. I do like Christmas music, but when the radio stations play the same songs over and over it gets to the point where I just shut down the radio. I think that part of the issue is that, most of the modern Christmas music is more related to the presents and the parties. It saddens me that the real reason for the season has been lost in commercialism.

I’ve heard people say that the reason for that is because Jesus was not born on December 25th. I’m aware and it’s very true. As a society we decided that would be the day we would celebrate his birth. Memorial Day is the last month of May and it’s not always the same date, but we have not changed the meaning of the celebration, then why change the meaning of the most important celebration of the year. The celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior. The one who came to save us from evil and from our own selves.

So I decided to share with you my favorite Christmas song. When I hear this song, it just shakes my insides. This song to me has the real meaning of Christmas and transports me to that humble manger where my King was born.

I hope you enjoy it!

WF: Worship Friday

Now before you go I have two more things:

  • Share with us, what is your favorite Christmas song? I would love to hear from you.season (1)
  • Check out Season’s Greetings from Amelia. This great novella brings mystery, suspense and the best stocking stuffer for your favorite e-reader. You can get your copy for just 0.99 cents on Kindle, Smashwords and Nook only during the month of December.

Can being loved truly change someone?

Can being loved truly change someone?

By Naty Matos

In all kind of relationships we ask ourselves if loving someone would make them change their behavior. Some people try to manipulate, shame, and pressure others to make them behave in a certain way. Others try to serve, love, and support in hopes that the acceptance will make them see the error of their ways. But does it work?

I’ve learned through my life journey that nothing is black or white, and this is one of those areas where there’s a lot of gray involved. I believe that feeling loved can help someone be encourage to do better as long the love is corresponded. Love can also provide the necessary support for someone who wants to make changes in their live but doesn’t have the necessary tools. Loving counsel and guidance could be the key to growth and breakthrough.

But there’s the other side, where love is not received. I believe that you can be loved, but if you don’t receive the love it would have no impact or even can create an unhealthy relationship. People who do not desire to change or accept love will not look for those growth opportunities.

I believe that God’s love can change us. It says in John 3:16
”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” But even in this scripture says that in order to have eternal life and receive what God has for us we have to believe in him. His love can change us, if we’re open to receive him.

Will love change Amelia’s heart? Will love be sufficient for Daisy to understand, to forgive, and deal with the revelations she has received? Find out in “Season’s Greetings for Amelia” A great novella and a possible stocking stuffer for the mystery/suspense reader in your family, for just $0.99

season (1)Daisy has the perfect life, beautiful children and a wonderful husband. And Christmas is right around the corner. Tis the season to be jolly… Or is it.
Daisy’s life is flipped upside down by strange letters that are sent to her by her best friend, Amelia. And as her life continues to spiral quickly out of control, she realizes that something BIG is about to happen. Can she put aside her confusion, hurt, and anger in order to solve a mystery that may have a horrific ending????
Can Daisy’s life ever return to normal if she does or doesn’t?