My Life In Stitches: Cold Office Knitting

I recently got a promotion from bookseller to the Community Business Development Manager at Barnes & Noble. I loved my old job and I equally love my new one. It allows me to still sell book, but on a different platform.

It also means that I got an office…a very cold office.

I am one of those people who stay cold no matter what season it is. I keep a heavy comforter on my bed all year round, much to the distain of my husband and wear long sleeve shirts all year round. My fingers and toenails are always blue and I dress in layers even when I’m inside. Needless to say, I spent the first day in my new office training shivering.

As I sat, watching training videos, I found it hard to focus. Not because they were boring or that I was cold. I kept daydreaming about all the sweaters I was going to knit to wear in my very cold office.

Some knitters find it hard to knit sweaters in the summer cause it’s so hot. But when you have your own personal winter all year round, it’s not so hard. I actually sat outside in the sun on my breaks from my very cold office and worked on a worsted weight poncho.

So here are my cold office projects I have lined up.

Vodka Lemonade. I loved this project when I first saw it and now seems to be the perfect time for it. I’m almost done it, but I think I’m going to have to reknit the first sleeve cause I don’t like they way it looks. I’ll probably keep this hanging on the back of my door in cause of a freezing emergency.

I Want That Wrap. This is my current mindless knitting project. It is also the first poncho I’ve ever knitting. I love the color and can’t wait to wear it in the fall. It’s also warm!

Pucker. My husband and I made these socks for a KAL for this last year. The goal was make a pair of matching socks. I didn’t like the pair I made but he loved them. Since he got my pair, I promptly bought the yarn to make another pair. I’m not a big sock girl. The cold office has changed that.

I hope to get this all done before it really gets cold. In the meantime, I have a heater.

Repost: Legacy

What does it mean to have a legacy? Whenever people think of having a legacy, they think trust funds and houses. For those of us who don’t have much, trying to determine our legacy can be concerning. We wonder what it is that we will leave behind for our loved ones, other than bills.

Tonight, I took my children to the library. We go often because my youngest child has to read a book a night for his homework. I love taking them to the library and helping them pick out books. It’s fun to watch them select books and see how those books fit their personalities. I often talk with them and ask them why a certain book piqued their interest. It’s major mommy time.

I noticed was that they act and think much like I did at their age. They select books much the way I did. My middle son is the most like me, a ferocious reader. He reads fast and likes to read lots of different subjects. I don’t have to pull teeth to get them to select books. As a matter of fact, I have to limit the number they can check out. They see the library the way I do, a place filled with knowledge and wonder.

By the time we left, it was already after dark. As I drove, I noticed books started popping up in my rear view mirror. My sons were trying to read from streetlights and the headlights of the cars behind us. That’s exactly what I used to do. I would stay up at night and sit in my bedroom window to read by the streetlight behind my house. My daughter wasn't reading at all because, like me, she gets car sick easily. But she jumped in her first book as soon as we arrived home.

As I watched them, I realized I have something to leave as a legacy: a love of books. I know once book love is instilled in a child, it never goes away. Each time I take them to the library, I’m leaving a legacy. Every time I discuss a book with them, I add another brick to my legacy. I would love to leave them money, but I think teaching them to love books is one of the most valuable legacy I can leave them.

How to Support Your Friendly Neighborhood Indie Author

Making the decision to become an indie author hasn’t been an easy one. It has caused me to look at my writing career in a different light, sometimes a terrifying and overwhelming one. Since I committed to being an indie author, I’ve noticed that the learning curve is pretty high, but not impossible to mange. I’ve learned that this is a tough road to walk (although with the changes happening in the publishing industry, it’s getting easier). I’ve also learned that this process is easier with support.

There is an innate sense of loneliness with indie publishing. In essence, you’re breaking away from the norm and deciding to go it alone. Instead of the team of industry professionals making decisions, you have to make all the decisions yourself. It’s daunting, but not impossible. Support becomes a balm to the soul for indie authors.

With the popularity of independent publishing, most of us know at least one person who has self-published. I know many since I’m a graphic designer and have done layout and cover design for years. These indie authors are our friends, pastors, coworkers and family…the people we care about.

It goes without saying that the best way to support your indie author is to buy their book. But your support doesn’t have to stop there. Here are some simple ways you can support an indie author.

1.  Pray for them. I can’t say enough about the value of prayer. Even the simplest prayers can be very effective. It can be great encouragement to know that someone is thinking of you and petitioning the Father for your needs. If you don’t pray, encourage your indie author. Trust me, they’ll need both.
2. Don’t treat them like they’ve grown a third eye and a horn. I must admit that when I first announced that I was going to become an indie author, I got some unexpected critical feedback. It threw me for a loop. Independent publishing is not a cop-out, a way to circumvent the system, a mark of laziness or low-quality writing. Independent publishing is an option that some have chosen to take, plain and simple. I think the stigmatism of independent publishing is quickly fading, but until both traditionally-published authors and indie authors are on the same social standing, don’t treat your indie authors like second class citizens.
3. Write a review. This can be very helpful for indie authors since they don’t have a marketing team to promote their books. A good review helps readers decide whether they want to take a risk on an indie author. But a word of caution: please be honest with your review. If you didn’t like the book, say so. Give reasons why you did or did not like the book. Don’t worry about giving negative review. They can be just as helpful to a prospective reader as a good one. Here’s a previous post about how to right a helpful review.
4. Tell a friend. Word-of-mouth is the best and cheapest marking an indie author can get. If you like a book, recommend it to a friend. They may love it, too.
5. Share resources. An indie author has two choices when it comes to successfully producing and publishing an excellent book. They can either learn to do everything themselves or they can hire someone to do the things they can’t. This is where resources come in. If you know a great copyeditor, graphic designer or marking professional, let your indie author know. I’m sure they would appreciate all the help they can get.

What are some other ways that you use to support your friendly neighborhood indie author?

Who Would You Tell?

Here a scenario: You’ve read a great book. I mean, really, really great one. Stay up all night and have crook in your neck good. Like you chuck all your plans for the day and get behind at work good. Suck you in and won't let go until you get to the end good. Now what do you do? Do you think about how wonderful the book is as you place it on your bookshelf, never to be touched again?

No! If you’re like me, you tell someone as fast as you possibly can.

Great books are like the gospel, it’s too good to keep to yourself. Both need to be shared. You wanna tell someone about it. You want to share that great experience with someone, and most of the time, you know exactly who you want to tell before you even finish the book.

I love passing on good books because it helps build good relationships. One of my passions is for people to have good relationships in their lives. When I recommend a book, it can be a test of how well I know a person. If the person loves the book, that means I know them pretty well. If the person doesn’t love the book, it means that there is an opportunity for me to get to know them better. Find out what kind of books they do like. And if nothing else, it gives me an opportunity to start a dialogue about why they didn’t like the book I recommended. 

In my personal life, my passing on of books depends on the person. If I read any great book, I tell my friend Linda Sothern first. She is a global reader and like many different genres like me. Second, I tell Dyara Henderson, who can inhale a book in a few hours. She has more specific tastes than Linda, but I recommend to her because of the sheer volume of books she reads.

If it deals with historic events, international locations or is Celtic, I’m calling Kim Ross. If it’s a man book, I’m telling my husband, Brian. Chick lit or women’s fiction, Damola Curtis. Non-fiction history and Christian living, Jake Greene. Any book about Christian disciplines, my pastor’s wife, Sharon Jones. Speculative fiction, my little sister, Sherrie Whittington. Great YA, my oldest sister, Wanda.

I have more people I recommend books to, but you get the picture. When I read a great book, I can’t wait to share. What about you? Who would you tell about a great book?

Big Announcement!

Young writer in the making!

I wrote my first “book” at age 6. Although I don’t remember what the book was about, I do remember that I did all the illustrations, cut pieces of paper for the pages and stapled them together. And then I “published” it by sharing it with my sister Michelle and my father.

Humble beginnings, but even then my desire was to share my stories with the world. I wanted to give readers a memorable experience and help them escape the stress of the world on the wings of my words. Even then I understood that my process of writing wasn’t complete until I shared my stories.

As far as my desire to be a storyteller, not much has changed all these years later. I still want to give people a memorable reading experience. I still want to share my stories. Fortunately, now I don’t have to cut up and staple pieces of paper to do so. Even though I’m much older than 6, I feel the little kid excitement of sharing one of my stories with the world.

I am pleased to announce that I will be releasing my first novel, Love Simplified, on August 6, 2012. It will be available on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords and Nook.


The decision and the journey to becoming an indie author has been a sobering experience. I have prayed and contemplated this move for a long time and felt like God gave me the green light to move forward. Am I nervous? Of course. Do I realize how much work goes into this kind of venture? Yes. I’ve been researching for almost a year. Also, I have helped others become independent authors, helping with the layout, pricing and marketing of their books. Am I excited? A big, resounding yes!

What’s next on this journey? Watch this blog for updates. Also, check out my author page on Facebook. As the time draws nearer, I will be featuring interviews, give-aways and some other very cool announcements.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.