The Best of Seekerville from the Archives and First Five Pages Critique

Stop and Smell the Roses by Pam Hillman

Take a deep breath.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Relax.

Smell the roses….

Ahhhh….

Don’t you feel better now?

While preparing for today’s blog post, my brain started whirring trying to think of an appropriate topic. I was under the gun, which is a usual occurrence for me lately. Changing policies at work, family emergencies, school starting, ACFW business, ACFW conference (Yay!), son’s graduation from basic training (hooahh!), seemed to escalate at once.

And then when I decided on a topic, my fingers started flying, thoughts began to jockey for position in my brain, my eyes darted back and forth across the page, while I made notes about the graphics I wanted to display… Sheesh! I can’t even put together a blog post without feeling like I’m on a roller-coaster.

Enough already!

Stop the presses!

Smell the roses!


Enjoy life!

Honestly, I’m beginning to think writers are the most spastic group of people on earth. Most of my writer friends talk of being so busy, so caught up the busy-ness of writing. They’re juggling promoting the book that just came out, editing the book coming out in six months, writing the book that comes out next year, AND plotting the one after that.

Pile on top of all that the fact that many authors (aspiring and established) have a day job as well, and it’s mind-boggling that we don’t go slightly insane. (I heard that, Ruthy!)

The only people I know who are busier than writers are editors.

So, I’m making a deliberate effort to s.l.o.w. d.o.w.n.

I don’t know exactly how I’m going to accomplish this, but I’m going to. I really am. I will take time to smell the roses, enjoy life, enjoy my family, and enjoy my writing.

I’ll start by…

…organizing my time better.

…not trying to fix everything for everybody.

…giving someone else an opportunity to volunteer.

…spending time with my husband.

…talking to my kids more.

…going out to lunch with my mother.

And I’ll end by …

…making this post SHORT so you can go and do likewise!

Enjoy your day and stop and smell the roses.

This post first appeared in Seekerville August 4, 2009.

Stealing Jake by Pam Hillman

(Tyndale House Publishers)

When Livy O'Brien spies a young boy jostling a man walking along the boardwalk, she recognizes the act for what it is. After all, she used to be known as Light-Fingered Livy. But that was before she put her past behind her and moved to the growing town of Chestnut, Illinois, where she's helping to run an orphanage. Now she'll do almost anything to protect the street kids like herself.

Sheriff's deputy Jake Russell had no idea what he was in for when he ran into Livy—literally—while chasing down a pickpocket. With a rash of robberies and a growing number of street kids in town—as well as a loan on the family farm that needs to be paid off—Jake doesn't have time to pursue a girl. Still, he can't seem to get Livy out of his mind. He wants to get to know her better...but Livy isn't willing to trust any man, especially not a lawman.





Enter Pam's Stealing Jake Kindle Giveaway Contest. Click on the poster above. Giveaway includes A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman and Courting Miss Adelaide by Janet Dean. Who knows what books might jump on the bandwagon between now and September 30th!





Award-winning author Pam Hillman writes inspirational fiction set in the turbulent times of the American West and the Gilded Age. Her debut book, Stealing Jake, won the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis contest and was a finalist in Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart contest. She lives in Mississippi with her husband and family. www.pamhillman.com





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