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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

18 Thoughts and What's Up Wednesday

Yay! The amazing Jamie Ayres 's final book of her My So-Called Afterlife trilogy is coming out soon, and to celebrate, she's sponsoring a blog hop.   18 THOUGHTS is the title (after 18 THINGS and 18 TRUTHS) and what could be more fitting than listing thoughts that inspire our lives?



For those who follow me regularly, you probably can guess that most of my life inspiring quotes and thoughts originate from the Bible -
Psalm 23 - The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (love this one since I was a kid.)
Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the Good of those who love Him...
of course, the ever good Gospel in a nutshell - John 3:16

and there are so, so many more ('cause life bends in so many ways).

BUT the 'thought' I think of most (and I believe I have mentioned it on here at one point) is something my father told me right before I packed my bags and headed off to Europe to start a new life.


There are dreamers,
There are doers,
And then, there are the rarest and most precious of all,
dreamers that do.





Onward bound!
Here's Jamie's book. I've read the first two in the series and can't wait to get my hands on this one! Plus, I love Olga's name. Seriously, who can't love an Olga Worontzoff!


Olga Gay Worontzoff left the Underworld anxious to return to normal, but fate had other plans.
Now she’s caught in a world that’s a mix of familiar and supernatural, torn between past and present. All sorts of bizarre events has her senior year of high school becoming increasingly odd with every passing hour. Things like the new hottie at school reading her thoughts but nobody else’s and her best friend waking up from his coma acting like a completely different person. Now she must confront what she will—or won’t—do to save the lost soul her childhood friend has become and stare down her own perceived inadequacies to face a couple of tenacious demons, figurative and literal.
Everything she thought she knew about reality will require suspension of her disbelief as she walks the line between fear and faith, love and loyalty.
In the end, she’ll realize “normal” in the conventional sense of the word is the one thing she could never achieve.

And here's Jaime!!!

Jamie Ayres writes young adult paranormal love stories by night and teaches young adults as a Language Arts middle school teacher by day. When not at home on her laptop or at school, she can often be found at a local book store grabbing random children and reading to them. So far, she has not been arrested for this. Although she spent her youthful summers around Lake Michigan, she now lives in Florida with her prince charming, two children (sometimes three based on how Mr. Ayres is acting), and a basset hound. She really does have grandmothers named Olga and Gay but unlike her heroine, she’s thankfully not named after either one of them. She loves lazy pajama days, the first page of a good book, stupid funny movies, and sharing stories with fantastic people like you. Her books include18 Things and 18 Truths. The last installment of her trilogy, 18 Thoughts, will be available January 27, 2015. Visit her online via Twitter, Facebook, or at www.jamieayres.com.




Today should really be named 'Awesome Jaime Day!' because another awesome Jaime (Jaime Morrow) and the just as amazing Erin L. Funk sponsor another weekly hop to help us writerly/readerly folk keep in touch with each other. 

What I'm Reading. . .
This last week, I blasted my way through the rest of the SECRET CIRCLE series by L.J. Smith. And I've now...finally!. . .started THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater.
What I'm Writing. . .
I got back notes on the next chapters from my CPs, so I'm going to go through those and do some serious MS editing this week. I'm determined. See if my muse feels the same way.
What Works For Me. . .
Knowing someone is waiting to see the MS done, so I have to finish up the edits and get it out the door. Whining and staring at that screen just won't help anymore. 
What Else I've Been Up To. . .
I got hit with another bug this last week, fever and all. It's really time to hit the orange juice or something because Mr. Virus, I've had enough! (Think he'll listen???)
Otherwise, it's been quiet. Nothing out of the ordinary.The still before the storm? Probably.

And what about you? Any quotes that have changed your life? What have you read lately? Getting any serious writing done? How's life treating you? 
In other words, what's up?

24 comments:

  1. Yikes -- hope you're feeling better. No fun to be sick! I'm so glad you're reading THE RAVEN BOYS. I'm so in love with that series, its characters, and Maggie Stiefvater's writing. Brilliance all around. Have a great week, Tonja!

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  2. Hope you feel much better soon! And good luck with this round of edits :)

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  3. Just blogged about a very sick friend and how I feel alone with my thoughts. So your post really gave me comfort. I would love to read Jaime's books - will check that out later today.
    You take care of you... orange juice? Oh why not!!

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  4. Yes, when you know someone is waiting to read, it motivates you.
    I really like your thoughts!

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  5. Katy - That's what people keep saying about The Raven Boys. Makes it so much harder not to grab and read through right now.

    Miss Cole - Thanks!

    Dixie - Thanks. It's always great to hear something like that...I'm heading to your post now.

    Alex - It's like a kick in the backside ;)

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  6. Good luck editing your manuscript! Have a great writing week.


    My What's up Wednesday post.

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  7. Boo Virus!
    I've heard really great things about The Raven Boys.

    Yay editing! The only thing that works for me is being chased by another story that wants to be written.

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  8. Hope you enjoy THE RAVEN BOYS, and good luck with the edits! :)

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  9. Knowing that someone is waiting for your MS? Music to a writer's ears! It's so nice to have that in your corner, isn't it? And LOVE "dreamers that do" SO true! Good luck with all the things this week!

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  10. I hope you love THE RAVEN BOYS. I just love that series. :) I also loved Stiefvater's SCORPIO RACES. I haven't tried the SHIVER trilogy, though. Have a fantastic week and I hope you feel better!

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  11. Awesome Jaime Day...hehehe. :D
    Hope you love THE RAVEN BOYS. I still need to get to my copy of Book 3. Sadly, there are many such books sitting on my TBR shelf waiting to be read. How to pick?!
    Hope you're feeling much, much better this week. And that you get tons of editing done! :D

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  12. I absolutely love that quote...fantastic. Hope you are feeling better soon!

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  13. I was part of a conversation yesterday that went something like this. Friend 1: Please tell me that you will critique my book, but that you can't do it for two weeks, and then you only had a tiny window of time before you'll be too busy again. Like maybe 1 week. Friend 2: ???? Friend 1: That's the only thing I can think of that might jump start my writing.

    I absolutely agree that knowing someone is waiting for your writing is a serious motivator. Have an awesome week!

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  14. OMG, your father is a genius! I love that quotation!

    Re: illness, do you take a multivitamin? Not that this will solve everything, but it can help ward off the sick stuff.

    Good luck with your MS! I know you will make it amazing. This weekend, you will beat on it like . . . I don't know--something that needs beating. Not a person. Like a dirty rug or something. Not that your MS is a dirty rug.

    I think I'll just stop here. :-P

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  15. I have a different bible verse posted in every room of my house. Good stuff in there. :)

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  16. Majanka - Thanks, you too!

    Krystal - Chasing stories sounds like fun :)

    Emma - I can't wait to dig into those pages...on both.

    Alison - Readers, all kinds, are always a special treat.

    kitty - If I love this series, I'm going to have tons more to read...always good

    Jaime - I think TBR lists are one of those things that can never be fully achieved.

    Mere Joyce - my father isn't exactly a man of many words...kind of hard as a rock. So moments when he says things like that are amazing in so many ways.

    Melanie - *haha* That conversation is so true!

    Ilana - *wrinkles nose* Hmmm...dirty rug fits. I'll take it.

    niki - That's not a bad idea. Our doctor's office has tiny phrases through-out the praxis. It makes the visit more enjoyable.

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  17. You posted some of my favorite thoughts . . . especially Rom. 8:28, don't ya just love that KNOW part . . . not think, not hope, but KNOW :-) Thanks for the kind shout out. Coincidentally, you also made me notice that I hadn't updated my tightened blurb on my blog to match the one on Amazon--doh! Someday I'll get my ducks in a row, but don't hold your breath ;-) In the meantime, hope you feel better. A teaspoon of honey and cinnamon each morning and night sure does help me when I'm ill. They have natural healing properties!

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  18. Did I sign up for Jamie's hop? It sounds familiar. I'm getting blog brain clog.

    Love the poem. I will have to write that down and keep it. There are so many good things in the Bible.

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  19. Awww...so sorry you were sick. That is no fun at all. Good thing you have good books to keep you company. :)

    Hope you feel better and have a wonderful week!

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  20. I like the quote from your favorite thought!

    Sorry you weren't feeling good. Hope you feel better soon. And good luck with the editing.

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  21. I love The Raven Boys, excellent book. Hope you feel better soon!

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  22. So far, your "thought" is my favorite. Between dreaming and doing...yeah, often a total abyss. Take care of yourself and rest as much as you can. Good food and chill time are the only ways to cure a flu. Sleep a lot and let the rest of life work itself out. You can work on tackling your dreams after the weekend, at least!

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  23. Hi Tonja! I'm cruising the "celebrate the small things" blog hop. Missed you this week!!

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  24. I haven't been getting any work done lately because a friend lent me this darn video game that I'm addicted to. Well done on your 18 Thoughts post, that's been one of my favourites :)

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