Review is in.

Remnant's first review on Amazon:

By skydreamer

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was not sure if I would like this but hey, free is free! I was pleasantly surprised when I suddenly realized I was 35% through the book. This got me caught up in it right away and I was unable to put it down. When I first started reading it and discovered the main character was like only 13 or 14 I thought for sure I would not like it. But I found myself fascinated. So I read on and watched this girl become an adult. She learned how to survive even though there was no hope. She had faith when there seemed to be no point. This girl knew nothing about life, yet she learned to live. A very touching story! I am going to get my 14 year old daughter to read this. This story is about a young girl learning how to survive, to hope, to have faith in the unknown, to love, and to truly live!

The book is free today.  Last day of the free promotion.  Get it at:  Amazon.com

Books and writing, Writing and running....

Yesterday, when I returned home from seeing Les Miserables (one of my all time favorite books) there was a big box at my front door.  Inside was....

Colleen Wait's books

I looked over the contents for a moment and thought, wow, I wrote those.  It was a very surreal moment.  I may never be #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list or sell millions upon millions of copies, however, as my husband so aptly put it, "Very few people have written even one book. You have accomplished much."   He says the same thing about my running.  

He's right.  I may never win.  I may never be rich and famous, however, I have put myself out there.  I have run the race. I put my heart into words, opened myself up to judgements and criticisms, rankings and place. 

It's odd.  Until now, I have never compared my running to my writing. I'm not the best at what I do, however, I work hard, train hard, do my very best.  Whether or not I win the race or the readers love my writing isn't all that important.  I love what I do.  I love to run and I love to write.  Once, I told someone that I wished there could be a mind-controlled tape recorder so I could do both at the same time.

Another similarity is how I commune with God.  On my runs, long or short, I pray.  It's our time and I covet that time with Him.  Sometimes, it's what motivates me to get out the door.  When I write, I often use the scriptures and I will spend hours reading and studying to get what I think fits the story.  Before I write anything, I pray.  What does God want me to write? Even now, I stop to pray, what do You want me to say? My hope, my prayer, is that someone will be reached for God through my writing.  If I publish 20 books and one person comes to Christ through my writing, then I have done what God has instructed me to do, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.''  Mark 16:15. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says it well:  
²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that you will also read this and be inspired to run to get the prize.

Happy New Year

Be Blessed

Rainy days and Son days.

One of my favorite things to do when my son is on leave is "photography day".  We both love photography, playing with the camera settings and learning new techniques.  Today, it was rainy and windy so he pulls out one of his photography magazines, we flip through the pages of ideas, then we set to finding props and the result is below:

New Book Release

My 9th book, Remnant, is now available on Amazon Kindle.

What is a Picture Worth?

I have often pondered the thought process of the first person who drew a picture. That person probably wanted to convey a thought, document a moment in time, or tell a story.  Pictures were the precursor to the written word with mankind transitioning from cave paintings, to hieroglyphs, to various forms of the alphabet.

Throughout it all, pictures remains. Why?  Well, we still use them for the same reasons.  They often say more than words and often speak it better.  

love and relaxation

Personally, I use photography to document my family. I can watch my children grow up all over again. Pictures capture moments in time with our family so that we can remember them when they are gone.  

a wedding

Trip to Israel

Four generations (minus the 2nd)

Grown up. The two on the right are the same people!

Skype!

My pictures also capture events in our lives such as birthdays, holidays, and my various races.

Happy Birthday!

Half marathon #4

Most commonly, pictures are used every day to promote and sell products.

Coming soon!

Need an editor?

My favorite thing, however, is to take random pictures that either tell a story or bring to life things in the world that we might not otherwise take note of.  

Do you know where your soul will go?

Twig art, 2 inches tall.

Twig art

I'm a little tree frog

Art class project

Running trail

Looking for mischief

Here's a writing challenge.   Take five to seven of the above photographs and turn them into a short story, 500 words or less.  Post it here in the comments section.  (If it does not fit, e-mail me and I'll create a post.)