Hoarders Stay Home

The reality is that there is no food, no paper products, and there are only a few people wearing masks. It is hard to remain strong in times like these, especially if you still have a face-to-face job. I can teach from home, but I still must go to the school for people who need extra help. I am not going to lie; it scares me a little.

There are four of us in my household; so far. Two of us have jobs. My boys are desperately trying to finish college, and with everything now online, the curriculum is more difficult than before. I don't want them to work. I want them to finish school because we all know that things are going to become more difficult quickly. We have to feed everyone, try to keep the panic to a minimum and remind ourselves of our daily blessings. Although spending time with our family has been such a huge blessing to me, I worry that when we do run out of supplies, we won’t have many options. So, what do we do?

Let us encourage those around us to have faith. There are no atheists in fox holes, someone once told me, and I believe we are all sitting in a fox hole right now. Be the light in our dark times. Remind people that they don’t need a garage full of toilet paper because God will provide. He always does. Sing in times of discouragement, and make sure that the people around you are really doing okay. Sometimes, the strong ones on the outside are actually the ones holding it together for everyone else. Let us lead guide and direct those with little faith, and remember that God is in control.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge to Him, and He will direct your path.

The Pandemic Panic

While I am walking through the grocery store with a mask secured around my face and tears filling my eyes, the reality of the empty shelves fills my soul with trepidation. Suddenly, things that used to be important to me mean almost nothing as the world reevaluates truth versus denial. Losing an extra five pounds, worrying about the well-earned lines on my face, the makeup that I wear that is probably too expensive for me to afford, and the cream in my hair that isn’t working anymore are all things that I used to manage with way too much significance. Now, with half the world under some kind of quarantine, two of my boys, my husband and I are “trapped” inside our house until we need to venture out to look for toilet paper, which doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Playing board games is a new normal for us, and we play them almost every night, having fun, laughing, and of course one of my sons is taking videos of me going crazy over a Friends’ trivia question that I should have known the answer to without a thought.

As I drive up to Costco and see all the people standing outside, not practicing social distancing, by the way, the reality of our situation suddenly resonates within me. This could get a lot worse before it gets better if we all don’t take social distancing seriously. My family appears to be the only people with masks on our faces, and although masks may be hard to find right now, anything over the face would probably be helpful. I see on my social media that some of my former students are out on road trips instead of staying home. All we need to do is look at the statistics in other countries to know how serious this situation is.  

In closing, I would like to suggest that we make good use of the opportunity we now have with our families while we are cooped up together. Watch movies, pop some popcorn, play games together, and slow down. Reacquaint yourself with your family, find out how everyone is feeling, and try not to get involved in risky behavior that could put you and everyone around you in danger. So, look for the good, look for the joy, and trust that spending a little extra time with family may be something to take advantage of while you are asked to stay at home as much as possible.  

Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The Easter's Lilly Series Book Tour

           Recently, I was contacted by Silver Dagger Book Tours asking me if I was interested in touring my whole series. I have never been asked that before, so I was intrigued. After the Fall, the final book of the Easter's Lilly Series, has recently been released. Please feel free to visit the tour at any time. Here is the link of the first stop:
https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/easters-lilly-series-book-tour-and-giveaway#comments

Silver Dagger Book Tours has been extremely easy to work with, and so far, I have been very pleased. I will let you know how it went after the tour is complete.

Here is the schedule.

Easter’s Lilly Series Book Tour Schedule!

May 1

kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours

The Book Dragon

May 2

Romance Novel Giveaways

Midnight Book Reader

May 3

Lock That Door

Bedazzled By Books

May 4

nanasbookreviews

May 5

Readeropolis – GUEST POST

May 6

A Pinch of Bookdust

Educated Book Freak

May 7

A Mama's Corner of the World

b for bookreview – GUEST POST

May 8

2 chicks and a book

Craving Lovely Books

May 9

Always Love Me Some Books Blog

Reviews and Promos by Nyx

May 10

Tome Tender

Books all things paranormal and romance

May 11

Books a Plenty Book Reviews

May 12

books are love

May 13

Bookish Reviews

Books, Authors, Blogs

May 14

Breanna Hayse Romance

Luv Saving Money

May 15

Book Review Virginia Lee

@jypsylynn

May 16

Maiden of the Pages– GUEST POST

Rita's Reading Room

May 17

From Head To Tale

Scrupulous Dreams

May 18

Inside the Insanity – GUEST POST

May 19

Dragon's Den

May 20

Girl with Pen

Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'

May 21

Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read

Sapphyria's Book Reviews

May 22

Book-Lover

Bookarella

May 23

Viviana MacKade – GUEST POST

Paranormal Palace of Pleasures

May 24

Maggie Blackbird – GUEST POST

Paranormal Romance Trance

May 25

Sylv.net

May 27

T's Stuff

Triquetra Reviews

May 28

eBook Addicts

Tracie’s World of Books

May 29

Twisted Book Ramblings

Yearwood La Novela

May 30

Teatime and Books

Better Read Than Undead

May 31

The Magic Of Wor(l)ds – GUEST POST

June 1

Gina's Library – REVIEW ALL

Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author

 I hope to see you all there!

How to Tell Your Story

There are so many options these days on how to tell your story. The newest form of first-person writing is writing in the present tense. At first, I found it difficult to identify with, yet after I got used to it, I think I actually enjoy it now. The present tense has a tendency to put the reader directly into the action without looking back. I have quite a few books under my belt, and they are all written in the past tense. If you read novels by such quality authors as Stephen King, Nora Roberts, or JK Rowling, you will see that they all write in the past tense, and that is where most of us get our cue. I have to wonder who started the present tense writing in the first place.

I remember when my novel, Ivy Vines, Visions was still in the “on the shelf” phase. An agent asked me to rewrite it in the present tense. I couldn’t imagine the work doing something like that might entail and the inconsistencies that might arise from trying to change the point of view throughout the entire novel. Although that agent is no longer working in our exciting industry, I see now why she proposed such an idea. It is becoming more popular among independent authors, and she thought it might behoove me to jump on board. I have two novels in the making as we speak, and although both of them are in the first-person, only one is in the present tense.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the challenges of how to tell your story. What tense do you prefer and why? Personally, it gives me great pleasure to read books from all different points of view. If we all wrote in the same manner, reading wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.