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?