Congratulations to our Speedbo participants! April is here.
We Have Winners
Giveaway rules can be found here. Please drop us a line to claim your giveaway at seekers@seekerville.net. All prizes not claimed in 8 weeks go back into the prize vault. We wish we could contact all our winners individually, but we'd rather write books! And P.S. - if we forget to send your prize DO let us know after 8 weeks per our rules.
Have you checked to see if you were a Speedbo winner this month? Winners are listed under the Speedbo tab. Those giveaways will be mailed out asap!
Week 5 Speedbo Incentives winners: Naomi Shores wins a $25 Amazon gift card. Megs Minutes wins a copy of Writing With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict. Beth Erin Schwarzlose wins a surprise package of books.
Pam Hillman was your hostess Monday with her post, "Are you an Isolationist?" Ruth Ann Dell is the winner of a ecopy of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.
a copy of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. Specify paperback or ebook. - See more at: http://seekerville.blogspot.com/#sthash.1wJd8obw.dpuf
Tuesday Jennifer Slattery talked about 3 Keys to a Winning Mindset. The winner of a copy of Jennifer's book Breaking Free is Shannon Taylor Vannatter.
Wednesday Winnie Griggs shared one approach to plotting, using what she calls the 7 Cs method. Gabrielle Meyers is the winner of her choice of any book from Winnie's back list.
Tina Radcliffe was your hostess on the last day of Speedbo with her post, "The Last Stretch: Why Writers are Like Runners." Lisa Thurston is the winner of a craft book of choice (list of choices on the post). Laurie Wood and Kelly Bridgewater are the bumper sticker winners. And Pat Jeanne is the winner of a Seeker Book of choice as available on Amazon.
Monday: Mary Connealy is here today and this is your opportunity to share what happened during your Speedbo. How'd you do March 1-31? What did you learn and what would you do differently. EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT (and maybe some who don't) will win a prize on Monday.
Tuesday: Join us today for the April Contest Update. Find out who our April Diva/Divo is! As always, the prize vault is open.
Wednesday: Tina Radcliffe brings you, "The Other Dreaded R: Revisions," with a little help from her friends. We have a revision letter worthy giveaway as well.
Thursday: Today, Seekerville welcomes back, Love Inspired author Jill Kemerer with some post-Speedbo assistance. Stop by for "All About Fiction Proposals." Jill also has a copy of her newest release, Her Small-Town Romance for one commenter.
Friday: Best of the Archives: "Getting There From Here: 5 Ways to Jump-start That Opening Chapter," with Glynna Kaye. Comments are closed each Friday so we can achieve our reading and writing goals.
Seeker Sightings
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| Spirit of Christ in the Empowerment of Women |
L to R. Marilyn Baxter, Myra Johnson, Janet Dean, Missy Tippens, Lindi Peterson, Patti Jo Moore, Sandra Leesmith, Debby Giusti and Cate Nolan.
From Villager Marilyn Baxter, "Our pastor always does a few slides to accompany his sermon, and today’s sermon was about how the first witnesses to the resurrection were women. One of the slides he used was taken at RWA in Atlanta in 2013 and has me and a group from Seekerville. I had just moderated their workshop. Pastor Hurst knows I write romance and specifically used this photo to show the empowerment of women." (The entire sermon is available here.)
Glynna Kaye's Claiming the Single Mom's Heart, featured in Cover VS Cover on Facebook. Leave a comment on FB here.
Ebook Special from Tyndale House. Pam Hillman's Claiming Mariah is on sale during the month of April. Grab a copy for your Kindle or Nook today! :)
Thanks to everyone who sent links!
The April Calendar is up! Check out our upcoming guests!
Harlequin & A+E Networks Form Partnership (GalleyCat)
With Romance Novels Booming, Beefcake Sells, but It Doesn’t Pay (NYT)
Announcing the Harlequin Heartwarming Blitz! (SYTYCW) ***YES!!
The Pros and Cons of Using a Facebook Profile But Not an Official Page (Jane Friedman)
R.U.E - Resist the Urge to Explain (Terry Odell)
Lee Child Podcast on Creating Momentum (Write Here, Write Now)
20 Book Lover’s Spaces That Will Make You Want to Read (Houzz)
Proactive Marketing and Promotion (DiAnn Mills)
The Power of Free: How to Sell More E-Books (PW Online)
Protect Yourself Against Being Hacked, 8 Tips to Stay Safe Online (The Write Conversation)
Publishing Exhaustion (Writer Unboxed)
5 Tips to Sustain You in the Query Trenches (Writers in the Storm)
JK Rowling posts letters of rejection on Twitter to help budding authors (Guardian)
That's it! Have a great reading and writing weekend!
I was at that thing with all the Seekers in the picture. WHERE AM I!!!???
ReplyDeleteThis is like photos of my CHILDREN I'm also never in THEM. Of course that's because I'm TAKING those pictures.
This is a mystery.
That was from RWA where you guys did the workshop and passed out leis.
ReplyDeleteOne word for you. Ginkgo.
As for everyone else, have a wonderful writing and reading Saturday.
I personally am recuperating from Speedbo.
good post.
ReplyDeleteShortybear, you are a bear of few words. I can respect that. Pass the honey.
ReplyDeleteQuiet bears are my favorite, Shorty.
ReplyDeleteTina! WE SURVIVED SPEEDBO!!!!!
Singin' an Hallelujah chorus, and happy with the end result!!!!!
AND I AM IN LOVE WITH THAT PIC AND THAT PATTI JO'S PASTOR USED IT!!!!! I LOVE HIM!!!!
Because he's so spot on. When so many big, strong, burly man ran away, those women followed Christ to the cross. They watched, they prayed, they wept openly. And when his body needed tending in the tomb, it was a group of women who took the task, after he'd washed a lot of feet to show a life lived in humility.
I love the example of those women, I love their tenacity and courage. I've heard some say that because they were women in those times, they could do this. They were unseen, unimportant, unworthy. A man would draw notice.... and so much stay away.
Oh, piffle.
They did it because they believed and soaked up the courage and love to do these things like a sponge in the waters of faith.
This picture and that pastor's sage reminder will have me smiling all day. We're way past the time when women should need empowerment... honestly, they should just claim it!
COFFEE!!! COFFEE IS HERE!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Seekerville. I've got my cup of hot tea and one load of clothes in the washer.
ReplyDeleteI'm ready to get this day started.
Thanks for another great WE, and congrats to all the winners. Also, thanks for another great month of #Speedbo!
Great weekend edition. So many links for us to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteYou're a lifesaver, Ruthy. COFFEE!!!! (Make sure to say that in the voice of the Cookie Monster). I'm sacked out on the sofa, recuperating from SPEEDBO with Tina, and enjoying the sight of green weeds...uh, grass...outside my window. I'm singing the Hallelujah chorus and happy dancing inside. I crossed the finish line and turned my novella in on time!!! Whoo-hoo!! I should walk outside my door and see if my dogwood is blooming. I think spring sprung while I was writing. Thanks for another great WE, Tina!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good slate of bloggers and encouragement for April!
ReplyDeleteSee you Monday!
Kathy Bailey
WOW! Another awesome weekend edition, TINA! I'm going to have to come back later as this is another BIG writing day for me. Trying to get as much done on this current WIP as I can before edits for the LAST book land in my inbox any day now!
ReplyDeleteThanks for featuring my cover vs cover! If you scroll down on the love inspired facebook page you can find it, click on the covers, and leave a comment if you'd like. (facebook.com/LoveInspiredBooks)
Congrats to all the winners! And congrats to all who survived Speedbo!!! Catch your breath and then apply what you learned last month to THIS month!
Looking forward to next week. I'm off to a Bayou Writers Group meeting this morning and all this month I'm blogging the A to Z Challenge.
ReplyDeleteReceived a HUGE box of wonderful books from Sandra. Makes me want to go undercover to read! Thanks, Ladies!
Tina, thanks for the Weekend Edition. Love that Marilyn Baxter's pastor used the Seeker workshop photo in his sermon focusing on the empowerment of women. Jesus certainly empowered women while he was on earth, which gave them the courage to minister to Him.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all our winners! Especially to all those who met their Speedbo goals!
Next week looks like a great lineup.
Off to vote for Glynna's cover!
Janet
BARBARA, I'm applauding your success at meeting your novella deadline while recuperating from surgery. You're an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteJanet
Happy post-Speedbo Saturday, Seekervillagers!!! It's a gloomy day here in my neck of the woods. The only bright spot is the blooming dogwood outside my window. And--RATS!!!--what's with the blast of winter on its way next week??? My new hammock is languishing in the closet!
ReplyDeleteBARBARA, congrats on finishing your novella! Yes, definitely go check on your dogwood! Things change so quickly this time of year. I'm already bemoaning the fading wisteria that is so prevalent around here. Seems the flowers are gone before I've even had a chance to enjoy them.
As usual, it's chore day at my house. Must get cracking!
Marilyn, that's so cool about your pastor using our photo! I look forward to reading more. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat links this weekend! I can't wait to read them all! Thanks, Tina.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, congrats on getting the novella turned in!! :)
ReplyDeleteI spoke too soon! The sun just broke through in a glorious blue sky!
ReplyDeleteHowever, it STILL won't get warm enough for afternoon hammock time (at least by my definition of "warm").
Pass the coffee and a sharpened pencil. Diving in to work on taxes... :(
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all who met their Speedbo goals, and for those who chunked rocks at the process. Even if we didn't meet ALL our goals, we moved forward. That's HUGE! :)
The sun is shining but it will be chilly compared to the last month. I was able to do some editing and enter a contest just a couple hours before the deadline. Now today back to my writing. I hoping to go to church tomorrow for the first time since February.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to all the winners. Have a great weekend everyone!
Great WE as always, Miss T !! :)
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS to ALL the winners!! And a BIG THANK YOU to SEEKERVILLE for again sponsoring SPEEDBO and encouraging all of us who participated. This year's Speedbo has shown me what I *can* do if I push myself hard enough. :)
Awww...Love that photo from RWA 2013 in ATLANTA!! (my home!) That was the one and only RWA Conference I've ever attended and it was AMAZING!! (due in large part to the wonderful, precious Seekers welcoming me and helping me feel at ease). :)
Everyone have a wonderful weekend!! It's a GORGEOUS day in my Georgia neighborhood so even though I have a sinus headache (YUK) I am smiling!!
I do think I need some of RUTHY'S COFFEE, though - - since coffee is the best cure for a headache!
Hugs, Patti Jo
p.s. MARY CONNEALY, you were in ATLANTA in that photo!! :)
ReplyDeleteMy Kindle just arrived. Thank you so much. I ordered Pam's book Claiming Mariah which I have been wanting to read.
ReplyDeleteMy great niece and nephew ages 3 and 5 are visiting for the weekend at my brother's upstairs. I love the sound of little footsteps from above. I am trying not to infringe on their time with their grandparents but how I love their little hugs for Aunt Wilani.
I was able to get some writing in this morning and hopefully more this evening. It is kind of fun because I named characters in the story after the kids so to be writing using their names while they are upstairs is kind of fun.
That was in Atlanta in 2013. I remember because that's when I sold. :-) I moderated that workshop and y'all invited me to join you afterwards to celebrate a successful workshop. When that slide popped up on the wall last Sunday, I literally gasped. There I was. In the pastor's sermon about empowering women. I believe too many people think empowered women are ruthless and mean. Not so. You ladies are shining examples of how you can be empowered and good Christians who follow the Lord's commandment of "Love thy neighbor." You have a wonderful "neighborhood" here at Seekerville. Sorry I've been absent but I had a big project going on and it was revealed on Thursday. I'm part of the launch group of Roxanne St. Claire's Barefoot Bay Kindle World. (shameless plug) It's been crazy but a terrific experience and I'm so grateful for the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteYay!! Another Weekend Edition. Congrats to all the winners. It was really fun to read all the good news.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats to all the Speedbo folks. You are all winners. You wrote and that is a wonderful thing.
Marilyn What a surprise to see that photo. It brought back so many fun memories. What a nice thing your Pastor did for you. smile
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it.
Are you going to RWA in San Diego? I will be there.
PattiJo That conference is the one where I met you face to face. It was such a sweet pleasure. Not to mention sweet because of the honey bear. smile
ReplyDeleteI WAS THERE, TINA!
ReplyDeleteGingko is NOT the issue here.
I was there. I just was NOT there.
Wait this sounds like a one sentence pitch for a book.
A bad book, granted.
What a great Speedbo month! Congrats to all the winners - whether it's a physical prize or the joy of looking all the words you wrote over the month. March was such a bear of a month with all the snow and bad weather across the nation - great time to work on books. Now that it's April, go out and enjoy the sunshine before digging into edits and revisions.
ReplyDeleteGingko? I'll try to remember to buy some, LOL!
Patti Jo that's where you gave me the Honey Bear! I still have it in my kitchen window. And think of you often when I look at it.
ReplyDeleteIt was very (pun alert) SWEET!
Congrats to all the Speedbo survivors! You all ROCK!!!
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, thanks for sharing the pic. That was such a happy time and great conference. Congrats on your new release with Roxanne's kindle line!!!
As Patti Jo mentioned, GA is bright and sunny, although there's a bit of chill in the air. This has been a gorgeous spring with all the trees in bloom...and the blossoms are lasting a long time.
I'm working on taxes. Not fun. I'd rather be writing!!!
Hugs to all.
Fun to read all the updates. Congratulations to those who participated in Speedbo.
ReplyDeleteBecky
I still can't believe it's April already! Had snow here in the mountains this week. Not really enough to make up for the precipitation shortfall we hit February thru most of March, just enough to make roads slick. And oh, those "lovely" 55 mph wind gusts! In other parts of the country, they think those are gale force. We just call it "breezy."
ReplyDeleteDue to work deadlines I wasn't able to stay on target with my word count during Speedbo, but in the past week I've logged in a fresh 20K. Or I will have as soon as I get in ONE MORE 1,000 in after lunch. Hopefully I won't lose my momentum! (Yes, it's just past 12:30 p.m. here in Arizona. The day is still young!)
It sure was a great month...and boy did it fly by! A big thanks to Seekerville for all of the hard work you put into Speedbo. Congratulations to all of the winner.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tina, as always, a great WE...thank you!
I will be in San Diego!!! So I'll see those of you who will be too.
ReplyDeleteTaxes. Ugh. Mine are already done thanks to my sister-the-CPA. I have to do quarterly estimated payments so I paid mine yesterday to get it over with. Sis is retiring after this tax season though so I'm going to have to find someone local to do them next year. Another Ugh.
And yeah... how did it get to be April already??? But April is nice. It has my birthday and then my younger son's two days later. And because this is a "magic" birthday year, I started on Medicare yesterday. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday so I'll get to use it then.
I posted the link to here on our church's Facebook page and folks are delighted with the mention. Thank you from us to you.
Ruthy, I just saw the Mighty Finn books were out. I bought the first 3. I read the first one and love it. I will post reviews shortly. I love seeing the pictures of the Mighty Finn on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations everyone! You bless my socks off, Seekerville! Thank you for being your wonderful selves.
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend everyone. It is hard to believe it's April. I need to get to those pesky taxes, too.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend, everyone! Hope you've survived Speedbo and are now feeling empowered for even more writing. I'm taking the weekend off and catching up on some early spring gardening while the sun is shining.
ReplyDeleteGreat WE, thanks! Will come back later to check out the links. :)
All this talk of weather... My husband and I went for a walk today and ended up getting hailed on. Our baby girl was snug in her stroller with the covering all pulled up... dry, safe, happy... slept through the whole thing. We live in upstate NY like you, Ruthy. Who knows, we might be neighbors ;-).
ReplyDeleteI've been working on that first chapter to be critiqued... (Oh the choices of how to begin) ...and also reading--er--doing homework. Tina, thought I ought to read one of yours first since you're going to be reading mine. Just finished "Stranded with the Rancher" today and really enjoyed it. You should know, after reading your first chapter, I decided to change my approach to my own first chapter. Thanks for the help :-)
Anyway, happy weekend and happy writing to all!
Wilani!!! Thank you so much for ordering one of my books! Hope you enjoy it. :)
ReplyDeleteTINA!!!!YOU DID IT!!! Another awesome WE!!! And another super dooper SPEEDBO! Thanks! Love the calendar, but I didn't see us pencilled in for lunch anywhere there.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAHHH!!! I just won something!!! I'm still happy about that. I've never won anything before you see. And today was a day I really needed something happy to happen. Plus, the book I won was one I haven't heard of before and it deals with a topic I struggle with in my writings: conflict. Boy, do I struggle with conflict. I create fun characters, but I just hate to throw them under a bus (purely figurative) with conflicts! Lol. But without conflicts, my stories don't have much plot...just a few really good scenes. I really feel like winning that book was a God wink - perfect thing/time. AHHAHAHHH!!!! Thank you Seekerville gals!
CatMom - Yay!!! You *can* do it. You *can* write and share your stories. :) Speedbo helped me get back to writing and believing that again too. I'm happy to hear you found the same encouragement. Go girl!! =)
ReplyDeleteHmm...A to Z Challenge. I haven't heard of that before - I shall make a note to google it. :)
Ginkgo...I feel there is a story behind that! Lol.
Happy Saturday Everybody! =)
Blessings!
WILANI!!!!! Oh, thank you! We're having so much fun with those sweet little stories! We're going to add three more over the next two months (after I get my edits done) and they're a wonderful treat for me because I love weaving little kid stories.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!!!
Barbara Scott, I am so proud of you! Happy dancing and shouting cheers of joy!!!!
ReplyDeletePam, those are wise words. Even if folks didn't meet their goals, they surged forward, and that forward thrust is a wonderful thing! Imagine being a 5K/month author and all of a sudden you've done 25K in ONE MONTH. A five-fold increase, how wonderful is that???
ReplyDeleteToddlers learn to walk, stumble, fall, pick themselves up, and walk again... and once they start running, there's no stopping them!
Writing is like that, once you create a flow, it's like a river ride... The occasional rapids, but generally a nice, steady, go-with-the-flow kind of ride. And that's such an improvement for most of us!!!
Marilyn, Happy Birthday Month!!!! :) Those magic birthdays, and learning curves! Go get 'em, tiger! And every time I see that picture, I just GRIN!!!! And love that pastor for using it, so party-bonus excellent!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm chiming in a little late, but I wanted to thank everyone for the encouragement during Speedbo. I got my prize in the mail yesterday. It's a sign that says, "Warning, novelist at work. Visitors may be written into the story". :-) So cute!
ReplyDeleteHave a productive spring!
Yvonne,
aka Renee McBride
I'm chiming in a little late, but I wanted to thank everyone for the encouragement during Speedbo. I got my prize in the mail yesterday. It's a sign that says, "Warning, novelist at work. Visitors may be written into the story". :-) So cute!
ReplyDeleteHave a productive spring!
Yvonne,
aka Renee McBride
Congratulations to all Speedbo writers/survivors! Woohoo! And congrats to all winners!
ReplyDeleteTina, awesome WE yet again. Love all those links and I'll have to finish going through them this week. It's always interesting!
Thanks for posting about the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat! Registration opens on Monday! Yay! See you all there!
Congratulations to all the winners! And those who finished SPEEDBO!
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful Sunday! Love this spring. Sunshine but with a little coolness. Perfect for the beginning of April. Have a delightful day!
ReplyDeletePrayers and love to all!!!
Renee, so glad you got your prize. The Seekerville elves are working hard to get all prizes mailed out this week. or emailed as the case may be.
ReplyDeleteAlways glad to have people let us know in the comments they received them. That's why we love Villagers. They are so appreciative.
Lara, thanks for the kind words.
ReplyDeleteA few things. There are quite a few posts on beginnings. Not to mention one I did.
Here. GOTCHA
And gee, I just revised my entire first chapter of the book I turned in because DUH, it had too much backstory. Sometimes I regress to my old ways. Must constantly stay on top of this stuff.
Wow, I checked your local. (sorry about that hail). You are on the east side of NY State. Ruthy is on Lake Ontario and I am from the Lake Erie side of the state.
Should be locale with an e. More coffee input needed.
ReplyDeleteAnother wonderful WE, Tina. Thanks for all those links, especially encouraged by the one to rejections received by Rowlings. Loved the photo that Marilyn's pastor put up during worship service. Congratulations to those in Speedbo to the very end. Your successes have prompted me to at least make an attempt to finish a WIP I put aside last year. Tina, I get you about too much backstory in the first chapter. Congrats to all the winners. Thank you for my win of a Seeker book. Love coming over to Seekers.
ReplyDeleteTina, Thanks for the link. I'll be checking that out as I decide how to formulate my first chapter ... And it is kind of encouraging to know that the pros struggle sometimes too ;-).
ReplyDeleteAHHHHHH ... I MADE IT!! Just walked in the door an hour ago from being out of town for TEN DAYS -- YIKES!! VERY fun, but not too fun catching up. But SOOOO fun to read WE and browse all those fab links!
ReplyDeleteSUPER CONGRATS to our winners, and as far as I'm concerned, everyone who Speed-boed was a winner because this was the BEST SPEEDBO EVER!! At least for me since I got 32,000 words written on my 20,000-word novella. Mmmm ... something wrong there ...
BARBARA SCOTT SAID: "I crossed the finish line and turned my novella in on time!!!
WHOO-HOO, Barbara, a definite answer to our prayers, girl, so YAY!!
PATTI JO -- hope the sinus headache is gone, my friend. Sounds like a night for peach cobbler -- the cure-all for me! ;)
WILANI and ALL -- Claiming Mariah is my favorite of all Pammy's books, so you are going to LOVE IT!!
AUDRA SAID: "Gingko? I'll try to remember to buy some, LOL!"
LOL, AUDS ... I hear you, girlfriend ... but I may not remember I heard you ... ;)
LARA, NO!!! Hailed on??? No bruises, I hope! :|
MEGS ... sooooo thrilled to hear Speedbo got you back on track with writing again!! You go, girl!
Hugs!!
Julie