The Walk by Richard Paul Evans

The Walk by Richard Paul Evans, published by Simon & Schuster, copyright 2010 is a beautiful hardbound book of 289 pages and 37 chapters, along with a prologue and epilogue. It's the first novel in a series, and I guarantee you don't want to miss it. I started reading The Walk Monday and completed it on Wednesday evening. I didn't want to put it down. The novel is spun in first person and hooked me. I cried. I felt. I identified. And, I was touched. A nature lover myself, I enjoyed the descriptions of woods and mountains the main character, Alan, travels through on his walkabout to Key West, Florida. The book is vivid with descriptions and offers a well-told story of true love, loss, pain, and heartache.

Alan goes from having everything a man could want, expensive cars, luxury home, beautiful furniture, his own successful business, and a beautiful love-of-his-life wife, McKale to a widower and a jobless, homeless wanderer in a short period of time. When he loses his beloved, Alan doesn't want to live and feels there's nothing left, but she made him promise to live. His heart is stabbed with grief and guilt because she asked him to call in sick and stay home with her the day of her accident, but he had an important business deal he couldn't miss. She'd planned a surprise weekend and promised he'd never forget it. Instead, he got a shocking surprise he'd never forget, and he learned the dearest lesson in life--people are more important than things. Without his best friend and wife to share them, material objects mean nothing.

Heartsick, Alan strikes out to walk to Key West, Florida, and encounters people along his journey of life. He discovers that none of those expensive "things" he worked so hard to earn mean anything without McKale. They'd been young and in a hurry to possess it all. She'd wanted children, but he'd talked her into waiting until they were secure. Another twinge of guilt pricks his heart. Now, she's gone, and he'll never father the children she wanted.

This is an inspirational, spiritual story with an out-of-body experience a wise old woman shares with Alan at a bed and breakfast. He crosses the path of a lady in distress and helps her, but turns down the ride she offers. He faces a gang, and on the brink of death, realizes he wants to live. Will the lady in distress turn out to be an angel? This novel illustrates how suddenly life can change, in the blink of an eye, by careless choices and decisions. It teaches not to rely on the assumption of tomorrow; there may not be one.

I felt as though I walked the journey with Alan, in his shoes. If I hadn't had to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I'd have completed this book in one day. I hated to put it aside to leave for work in the morning, and I grabbed it to complete it when I returned home. It will touch your heart and grip your soul. Get your copy from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. Visit the author on Facebook and follow his fan page to keep abreast of this series. Personally, I can't wait for the next one. This novel has hit the New York Times bestseller list for three weeks in a row! I give it 5 stars. I cried with Alan through his journey of betrayal and loss, enjoyed woods and mountains with him, and found renewed hope through his walk. He is the author of The Christmas Box and all 14 of his novels have made the bestseller list!

Mighty Inspiration: Love Letters From God by Barbara Bernard Miller

Mighty Inspiration: Love Letters From God by Barbara Bernard Miller, a beautiful, hardcover book, is a powerful 15 chapters and 115 pages published by Eloquent Books of New York, copyright 2009. I could actually feel God's presence as I read this amazing book, written as though God is speaking to you, and He is through the words He instructed Barbara to write.

Chapter 3 on Gifts is an encouraging, thought-provoking one. The first lesson is to choose your gifts correctly--for the good of mankind, see God in everything you do, and send Him your cares and worries, so He will send you peace and joy.

Barbara writes with such intensity that you become lost in the words and feel God's presence. At least, I did as I read. Chapter 4 on Joy reveals how all things, even tragic and sad events, provide an opportunity to become closer to God. She never uses the word God in the book and uses only capitalized pronouns like He I, or Me, so I substitute God or Jesus as I read. The book explains why God doesn't prevent all things from happening, because if He did so, He'd take away CHOICE. Choice provides growth and development. This chapter says that learning is lifelong and knowledge is the cornerstone for development. As the book says, "Teach as you learn, and you will be doubly blessed. Seek Me."

Chapter 5 is about passion and reminds me of my passions of reading, writing, and teaching. It says, "Your passion for your gifts will give them power and sustain them in your life." It goes on to explain how we've been given passion for some things and not for others, so our gifts will grow, develop, and be used. According to this chapter, the mind is for imagination and reasoning, and the heart is for passion and belief. Ideas sprout in the mind, but they must be planted in the heart and can only blossom there. God gave us so much power when He gave us the power of CHOICE, but many times we do not realize how powerful choice can be. We do not have the power to change others, but we have the freedom of choice to change ourselves by changing how we think, act, and react. We need our quiet time for reflection. I know this personally, and I value those quiet moments with God and time to pause and reflect. "I weave My messages into the hearts and minds of those who will reach out to Me. They pass the message along throughout the world in those momentary touches with other lives." In this way, we all have the power to make a true difference in the world.

As I read about God's message being woven into minds and hearts, I was reminded of using a weaving loom as a young girl and how carefully I had to weave the brightly-colored yarn to make a product, to make a difference, to make something that would benefit and withstand. As a farmer tills the soil and adds fertilizer to make the ground fertile, we must till our minds and fertilize them with God's Word. Only then, will we experience real, true peace and joy. Only then, can we truly make a real difference.

Won't you let this powerful book speak to you, so you can feel God's love and mercy? It's available at online bookstores, such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, and it has the power between the covers to make a difference in your life, which can ripple through other lives and make a true difference in our world. Check out the reviews. I feel blessed for having read this riveting book, and I pray it will bless many others as it has me. It is also available at www.mightyinspiration.com. Barbara is on Facebook, so you can connect with her there.

About the Author:

Barbara Bernard Miller is a writer and Human Resource Manager for a large corporation. She lives with her two children in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is her first book, and her personal wish for blessings to all who read it and take its message to heart.

Things Left Unspoken by Eva Marie Everson

Eva Marie Everson served as my writing mentor for three years when I was a student in the Christian Writers Guild. She mentored me through both the Apprentice and the Journeyman levels of the courses. I am proud to call her my writing mentor, and I can truly say I learned much from her as well as from my American Christian Fiction Writer (ACFW) critique group members, Karen O'Connor, also a writing instructor, and Tracy Ruckman, an edtior. I also took a dialogue course with Eva through Tracy's company. I feel God placed all these people in my life to help me on my writing journey, and I am eternally grateful to each and every single one of them. Cynthia Hickey was a most active ACFW critique partner. And, I don't want to forget Janet Eckles, a dear friend, who though blind, still critiques for friends and has more insight than many sighted people. I hope you enjoy the review, but more importantly, I hope you enjoy THINGS LEFT UNSPOKEN and watch for Eva Marie Everson's upcoming Cedar Key series of three novels. There is an entry about Cedar Key, if you scroll down. Also, there's a detailed review of a newly released novel by Michael J. Sullivan, Necessary Heartbreak, and you don't want to miss that one either!

Things Left Unspoken
Author: Eva Marie Everson
Reviewer: Barbara J. Robinson
http://barbarajrobinson.blogspot.com/
Five Stars
To Purchase: Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble (See reviews there also)

Things Left Unspoken by Eva Marie Everson is three hundred and eighty-one pages of pure Southern delight. The novel allows the reader to adventure through life, romance, true love, wisdom gained with age and life experiences, dealing with life’s curve balls, conflicts of love and life, heartaches that make us stronger, and God’s fingerprints on our lives to make us the people He wants us to become. If you enjoy Southern fiction, you’ll love this novel. I devoured it in a couple of days.

Jo Lynn Hunter and her Aunt Stella make it women’s fiction. Jo Lynn deals with current marriage problems and feels she’s not at home in the life her husband has chosen for them. Something is missing and leaves her feeling empty inside. At life’s crossroads, she takes on a project to rebuild an old Southern family home and finds herself restored in the process. Family secrets reveal their ugly challenges and place Jo Lynn in extreme danger. She rises to the challenge and refuses to be chased from her project of love.

Aunt Stella illustrates true love and the wisdom of ripe old age. Valentine, her teenage love, grows into a wise elderly man, who declares if the foundation is strong, anything can be rebuilt. Jo Lynn learns the secrets of the past and the treasures for a happy future, even as she learns some things are best left unspoken.

How Does Your Writing Flow?

I long to write with a perfect view and sweet peace and quite in an unrushed space of time, so I can get my thoughts and feelings down on paper and later refine them. I notice POV shifts as I read now, so I realize I’ve made progress as a writer. God gave me a season of growth, and I used it to learn.

With the spring renewal, I feel ready to burst forth and rise on the writing scene, like a new green shoot sprouts from the cold, barren earth. Lord willing, my writing time has come. Lord willing, I’ll soon be able to tie together the three great passions of my life, reading, writing, and teaching.

Once so motivated, I put my thoughts and feelings in storage, on hold, for quite some time, but I feel it’s time I unlock them and let them do the work God intended. He gave me these three passions and heart’s desires for a reason, and I want to glorify Him with them. I pray for God’s guidance and direction and for Him to show me how to burst forth on the writing scene in the right way to glorify Him in all His glory and lead others to come to know, believe in, and trust Him as I do. God, please show me how to reach and touch the hearts and minds of readers.

Lord, I long for days of writing that will make a true difference. Lord, please lift me as a person, a human being, a writer, and a reader, so I may glorify You through my work and all I do. In Jesus’s name, I pray. AMEN.

How do I write? With Jesus as my sweet companion. I must have time for deep thought and silence for reflection, for I hear him whisper to me in the quietness of an early morning. I’m a morning person and do my best writing in the wee hours. I need to be isolated with nothing but God as my companion and sweet peace and quiet when I write fiction. I can write timed writings in any place and any time, but for deep thought processing, I need my quiet time. However, I'm not spinning my wheels, or rather spinning my blue pen when I time write, because I always find some nuggets of gold to pull out and refine. In fact, some of my best writing has come from quick writes, when I'm focusing on getting my thoughts and ideas down on paper and just letting the writing flow and come what may. This is a technique I learned from author Natalie Goldberg.

My writing space is an L-shaped oak desk with a large picture window overlooking a large back yard with a canal and trees. Sometimes my feathered friends pay me a visit. I can watch squirrels play and listen to the sweetest natural music in the world, the prettiest choir, birds singing their happy tunes. In spring, it sounds like they’re singing, “Easter, Easter, Easter.” Perhaps, they know Jesus has risen, and they’re celebrating.

How do I write–with sweet peace of mind in Jesus, at least for quality writing. How do you write? Describe your writing space and what works best for you.

True Hidden Treasures--Finally Completed

I've completed my novel True Hidden Treasures and have an idea for a generational family saga, a series of three. I plan to begin work on a new novel and come back to this one after receiving some additonal feedback. This is not a first draft. I've had the first ten pages professionally critiqued by Christian Writers Guild, and I've had bits and pieces discussed with my writing mentor, Eva Marie Everson, during lessons with the Christian Writers Guild. I've also had Tracy Ruckman edit the first ten or twelve chapters. Perhaps beginning a new novel will provide me with layers for this one when I let it rest and return to it later. Happy writing :)

Thank you, God, for inspiring me to write.

Lord, I long for days of writing that will make a true difference. Lord, please lift me as a person, a human being, a writer, and a reader, so I may glorify You through my work and all I do.

Cedar Key, FL

I get off work March 26, 2010, and my husband, Scott, drives us to Cedar Key, Florida, where he rents a cottage at Pirate's Cove for the weekend. He surpised me by phoning and making reversations. I brought along a good read for the trip, Mike J. Sullivan's Necessary Heartbreak, newly released. The review is below this entry. It is the book you see me holding in the picture, and a yellow highlighter is my marker. We stop at Mickey D's on the way, and I try the Mac-rib. Delicious. On the ride, I tell him about my writing mentor, Eva Marie Everson, and how she's writing a series of novels set in Cedar Key.

Our blue cottage greets us with a sliding-glass door view of the bay, beautiful at high tide. An orange tabby cat with a stub tail welcomes us and proves to be a friendly kitty, but Sunflower, my cocker spaniel, scares it until they finally make friends. Sunflower enjoys the sliding-door view like her mother, and she keeps an eye out for the cat who visits the back deck.

Saturday morning, I sip French Vanilla Dunkin Donut coffee and feast on donuts, as I watch a flock of birds fly over from my window-to-the-world glass doors. A small deck juts out from the patio doors and a table invites one to sit and enjoy the view, but I like the swing and the green, green grass underfoot. The wooden frame swing faces the bay. Sweet peace and quiet. Beautiful. A gentle breeze blows the leaves of bushes lining the bank. A large tree overhangs the deck offering shade when it's green, but it sleeps a long winter's nap, and bare arms and stark, skinny fingers loom over the deck. The sun rises in an orange glow as a V of birds fly across the bay. Then, a long line of birds follow and others join in and break the V-formation. The tide's out, and Sunflower enjoys watching the outside view, as she keeps her eyes out for the orange tabby cat pictured on the Internet.

I long to write with a perfect view and sweet peace and quite in an unrushed space of time, so I can get my thoughts and feelings down on paper and later refine them. I notice POV shifts as I read now, so I realize I've made progress as a writer. God gave me a season of growth, and I used it to learn.

With the spring renewal, I feel ready to burst forth and rise on the writing scene, like a new green shoot sprouts from the cold, barren earth. Lord willing, my writing time has come. Lord willing, I'll soon be able to tie together the three great passions of my life, reading, writing, and teaching.

Once so motivated, I put my thoughts and feelings in storage, on hold, for quite some time, but I feel it's time I unlock them and let them do the work God intended. He gave me these three passions and heart's desires for a reason, and I want to glorify Him with them. I pray for God's guidance and direction and for Him to show me how to burst forth on the writing scene in the right way to glorify Him in all His glory and lead others to come to know, believe in, and trust Him as I do. God, please show me how to reach and touch the hearts and minds of readers.

Lord, I long for days of writing that will make a true difference. Lord, please lift me as a person, a human being, a writer, and a reader, so I may glorify You through my work and all I do. In Jesus's name, I pray. AMEN.
Written March 27, 2010, as I watch the outside world and sip coffee.

After coffee and donuts, my husband and I go to the pier, and he fishes while I enjoy the pelicans and Michael J. Sullivan's new release, Necessary Heartbreak. Read the detailed review below. I've had many compliments on it. I began reading it as we drove to Cedar Key Friday evening and completed it as we drove home on Sunday.

Hubby catches fish left and right, and we fish on the pier until 8:00 P.M. The pelicans wait for fish, but don't want catfish. They seem to know when he catches one and keep their distance. But, when he hooks the other fish, they swarm and become beggars. I watch him toss a small fish into one's large beak, and the pelican swallows it whole.

My writing mentor, Eva Marie Everson, is writing a series of three novels set in Cedar Key, and I can't wait to read them. Cedar Key became writing bait for her, and I hope you're hooked on her writing as I am. Visit her at http://evamarieeverson.blogspot.com.