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News from the International Christian Retail Show 2011

ATLANTA--This year I took the plunge and attended my first International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), which took place in Atlanta right after the annual conference for the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. If you're not famliar with ICRS, this is where publishers exhibit their new releases, and booksellers come to buy them for their stores. It was an exciting time, and I was privileged to do two book signings and three interviews for the new release of Faith Deployed... Again. Just as much fun was getting to know some wonderful fellow authors. I roomed with Janet Thompson, who is an expert on mentoring, and has published several books for women including the new release: Dear God, Why Can't I Have a Baby? Janet was so much fun and such an encouragement to me. She even helped me figure out part of my novel's main character's backstory while we were brainstorming one day! [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"906", "attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-176 ", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"225", "title":"100_3230", "alt":""}}]] Janet Thompson and Jocelyn Green I also was thrilled to meet Penny and Lt. Col. Tony Monetti, who co-authored Called To Serve: Encouragement, Support and Inspiration for Military Families. This is the first book I've seen that is written by both the military member and spouse, speaking to both the military member and spouse. Read my review here. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"907", "attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-177", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"225", "title":"100_3228", "alt":""}}]] Jocelyn Green with Tony and Penny Monetti Of course, while I was in Atlanta, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to look into the local history since my third novel in the Civil War series is set in this fascinating city. I paid a visit to the Atlanta History Center and enjoyed the Civil War exhibits as well as a tour of a plantation-plain house built in the 1840s which survived the near-total destruction of Atlanta in 1864. It was a whirlwind trip, but very fruitful!

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Trip to D.C.-Gettysburg-Pittsburgh a success

[[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"903", "attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-110", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"225", "title":"100_2684", "alt":""}}]] Adams County Historical Society. This building once held wounded soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg. I just returned from a jam-packed trip to Washington, D.C., Gettysburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! From Sept. 29-Oct. 3, I used just about every mode of transportation available to get around- plane, rental car, subway, taxi, and Amtrak train (no boats this time). The trip was a great success. Here are the highlights: 1) Spent my first night with Bettina Dowell at her home outside of Washington, D.C. She has written for FaithDeployed.com and we've spoken on the phone, but this was my first time meeting this kindred spirit, a Navy wife, in person. And bless her heart, she had just had knee surgery the day before, but that didn't stop her from being a great hostess from her recliner! 2) Drove up to Gettysburg, PA, to do research for an upcoming book: Battlefields & Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front. My first stop was to comb through the civilian accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg in the archives of the Adamas County Historical Society, which is housed at Lutheran Seminary on Seminary Ridge. The historians there were so helpful, and my co-author Karen Whiting drove down from her home in Maryland to meet me there and do her own research. I had never met Karen before either, so this was a real treat! (I still haven't yet met my two co-authors Jane Hampton Cook and John Croushorn from my second book, and I've only met two of my 14 contributors from Faith Deployed!) [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"904", "attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-111", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"225", "title":"100_2685", "alt":""}}]] Outside the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitors Center. The next morning I headed over to the National Military Park at the Gettysburg battlefield and did more research in their private reading room. Such a gorgeous day, I wished I could have toured the grounds, but time did not permit. 3) Pittsburgh, PA, was originally my one and only destination for the trip, before I started adding on the side trips. I went to Pittsburgh to receive in person two awards from the Military Writers Society of America: Battlefields & Blessings (Iraq/Afghanistan) won the Gold Medal (spiritual category) and Faith Deployed won the Bronze. I was honored to receive the awards on behalf of all my co-authors and contributors. The theme of conversation at my table, however, seemed to be how young I looked. Someone even told me he thought I was 16, and I must be attending because my dad was receiving an award. I just kept reminding myself of 1 Timothy 4:12: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. I didn't really mind, I just hoped my youthful appearance didn't discredit the serious "grown-up" work that my books represent! [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"905", "attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-112 ", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"225", "title":"100_2707", "alt":""}}]] At the Military Writers Society of America Awards Banquet I did make one contact at my table- a man from USO is going to try to help me get Faith Deployed in the USO airport lobbies in major cities around the world. How incredible would that be! The icing on the cake for this trip was that three of my best friends from college decided to meet me in Pittsburgh for a mini-reunion. It was short but oh so sweet, since one of them had just had her first baby, so we all got to meet the little guy. I'm exhausted, but utterly thrilled with how everything went!

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My Big Promotion

[[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"902", "attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-106", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"225", "title":"100_2546", "alt":""}}]] My kids, Ethan and Elsa, on July Fourth In the course of 24 hours, I lost one of my two major freelance writing/editing clients, and then decided to drop the other one as well. It made sense to drop out entirely, because my husband’s design studio (CutterAgent.com) is really taking off. He had been watching the kids in the morning for two days a week so I could write, but he could really use the extra 10 hours in the studio each week. So while my monthly income is now $0, we expect that Rob’s company will make up for that in the coming months. Still, it’s a big lifestyle change for me. I’ve been writing for these same two clients for the better part of ten years. Losing one and deciding to put an end to the other was a huge deal for me. But I really wasn’t holding life together very well anymore. In a nutshell, I have been pulled in too many different directions at once. I’ve been one stressed-out mama. I have been burning the candle at both ends for quite some time, and not taking care of myself at all. I’ve had no margin, no buffer zone. Now I do. In fact, the more I think about this big change in my life, the more I think, “Hey, I got a promotion!” And I’m serious. I did lose some predictable monthly income, but here’s what I gained instead: The ability to be more focused on the writing that I want to do, not just the writing that brings home the bacon. This means I have a little more time to dedicate to FaithDeployed.com, and to the online magazine of Christian Military Wives, which will launch Sept. 1. All those hours of work are on a volunteer basis, but it’s what I care about. I am blessed to be able to do what I love! Some breathing room in my poor little brain! I have literally been “on deadline” for seven years for one client or another, constantly. Now that I’m not, I have time to think more about managing my home, my family, my own food and finances. Space and time to actually enjoy my kids, and not to always be wondering if I can sneak online and get some work done while they play or watch TV. This is my daughter’s last year before Kindergarten, and I really do not want to let it fly by while chasing deadlines. Now, that won’t be a problem! Here’s how my big change affects my Faith Deployed blog readers/Facebook fans. I’m going to plug in all my blog posts for the week on the Sunday before the week begins. They will automatically go live each morning that I’ve scheduled them to do so. I will still try to get online and post a link on Facebook to the blog post like I’ve been doing for the last 13 months, but some days, I might just be too busy with my kids to get on the computer at the right time (what a switch that will be!). So now you know what’s going on- and if you really don’t want to miss a post, go ahead and subscribe to the blog feed. (The link is up in the right hand corner of www.faithdeployed.com.)

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