Author, Camy Tang, known for her romance novels with a “kick of wasabe,” is hosting an incredible giveaway for writers! If you still don’t have an iPod (like me), this is not a contest to forget! For every referral, you get three more entries in the giveaway, so DO mention my name and “nursewriter02″ when you sign up and help a gal out.
According to Camy:
1st place winner will receive a copy of my book when it comes out (September 2007), a basket of books by other Christian authors, and one of the brand new 8 GB iPod Nanos. (The winner can also elect to receive a 4 GB colored Nano instead of the 8 GB Nano, which is only available in black.)
2nd place winner will receive a copy of my book when it comes out, books by other Christian authors, and one of the new, extra-small 1 GB iPod Shuffles
3rd place winner will receive a copy of my book when it comes out and one of the new, extra-small 1GB iPod Shuffles
20 Honorable Mentions will receive a copy of my book when it comes out.
You read that right! 23 winners in all!
Now, go here for contest rules and form.
“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.” ~ Jonathan Edwards
Hope you have a warm, safe, and blessed New Year. There’s some beautiful flute music in the sidebar for you. If you’d like to read about this writer’s view on resolutions, then skip over to Windows to My Soul.
“Integrity is the cornerstone of credibility. Bloggers who adopt this code of principles and these standards of practice not only practice ethical publishing, but convey to their readers that they can be trusted.” ~ CyberJournalist.net
This Code of Ethics is taken from CyberJournalist.net. Most it goes without saying, but it’s always good to review, and might help someone new to blogging in general.
A BLOGGERS’ CODE OF ETHICS
Be Honest and Fair
Bloggers should be honest and fair in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. Bloggers should:
• Never plagiarize.
• Identify and link to sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources’ reliability.
• Make certain that Weblog entries, quotations, headlines, photos and all other content do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
• Never distort the content of photos without disclosing what has been changed. Image enhancement is only acceptable for for technical clarity. Label montages and photo illustrations.
• Never publish information they know is inaccurate — and if publishing questionable information, make it clear it’s in doubt.
• Distinguish between advocacy, commentary and factual information. Even advocacy writing and commentary should not misrepresent fact or context.
• Distinguish factual information and commentary from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
Minimize Harm
Ethical bloggers treat sources and subjects as human beings deserving of respect. Bloggers should:
• Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by Weblog content. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
• Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
• Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of information is not a license for arrogance.
• Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.
• Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity. Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects, victims of sex crimes and criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.
Be Accountable
Bloggers should:
• Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
• Explain each Weblog’s mission and invite dialogue with the public over its content and the bloggers’ conduct.
• Disclose conflicts of interest, affiliations, activities and personal agendas.
• Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence content. When exceptions are made, disclose them fully to readers.
• Be wary of sources offering information for favors. When accepting such information, disclose the favors.
• Expose unethical practices of other bloggers.
• Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.
Resources:
Society of Professional Journalists
CyberJournalist.net
* Randy Ingermanson says there’s only three things every aspiring writer needs to get published: content, craft, and contacts.
* Tricia Goyer shares 10 Things I Wish I Had Known by Linda Ford.
* Michael S. Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers tells us why most bestsellers’ lists are inaccurate.
* Need to create a quick bibliography? Check out Ottobib.com.
* Author Camy Tang is giving away an 8 GB iPod Nano and a huge basket of books!
* At Charis Connection, 16 authors reveal their most frequently used vehicles for research.
* J. Mark Bertrand makes a case for listening to critics, even when you don’t like what they’re saying.
* Jeanne Damoff beautifully defines the Master’s Artist.
* Mary DeMuth, at RelevantBlog shares why fame is one of her biggest fears.
* In Genre Redux, Mike Duran at Decompose suggests three reasons why the term Christian Fiction does a disservice to the Christian artist.
* The Dabbling Mum discusses how writers can dramatically increase their yearly income by specializing in niche markets.
Chazown: (pronounced khaw-ZONE) from the Hebrew, meaning a dream, revelation, or vision.
Have you given serious forethought to 2007? I don’t mean resolutions. I’m convinced that none of us can really change ourselves. After all, real change comes from the inside out - a heart change. And that involves turning myself over to the Holy Spirit day by day to allow for these quiet grace-workings. Ah, but let’s save that post for another time. Today, we’re looking at vision for our lives - individual, God-given purpose for 2007. None of us want to drift through another year.
Mary Yerkes shares in Defining Your Purpose, Establishing Your Goals for 2007 , critical questions from Craig Groeschel’s book, Chazown:
“If money were no object, what would you do with the rest of your life? How would you invest your core values and passions, your key gifts and abilities, and your significant life experiences to make a lasting difference in this world?”
That ought to get our wheels turning for now. Let’s seriously pray for direction for our lives as writers and artists. His plan for each of us is unique.
What will God accomplish through YOU in 2007?
“Everyone wants to end up somewhere – few people end up somewhere on purpose.”
Resources:
Life Development Plan
Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life
“This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent us His only Son to be with us at all times and in all places.” ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen
“It is to God to whom and with whom we travel, and while he is the End of our journey, he is also at every stopping place.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot
“Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angels gave the sign.”
~ Christina Rossetti
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ~ Isaiah 9:6
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ~ Isaiah 9:6
Merry Christmas, my writerly friends. Make yourself a Peppermint Mocha and check out Jim Watkins’ site for his Twelve Sites of Christmas . I especially appreciated his post on Longfellow:
“Henry Wadsworth Longfellow didn’t feel in much of a holiday mood either when he heard the bells on Christmas Eve during the Civil War. His wife had been killed in a house fire in 1861 and his son had been critically wounded in the War in December 1863. The famous poet is believed to have penned the following words in 1864:”
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said,
‘For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.’
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.’
Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
“Longfellow’s hope was in the One who originally wished, “Peace on earth, goodwill to all people on whom His favor rests.”
May the Lord bless you with His peace this Christmas, and all through the New Year!
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
First Corinthians 13
Christmas Version
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I’m just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals and arranging
a beautifully adorned table at mealtime:
I’m just another cook.
If I work at a soup kitchen,
carol in the nursing home,
and give all that I have to charity;
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir’s cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love does not envy another’s home
that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love does not yell at the kids to get out of the way,
but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love does not give only to those who are able
to give in return; but rejoices in giving
to those who cannot.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break,
pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust,
but giving the gift of love will endure.
~ Author Unknown
(taken from The Homeschool Minute from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine )
“The author who benefits you is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been struggling for utterance in you.” ~Oswald Chambers
I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. Jeanne Damoff, with her beautiful, heart-searching prose, causes all kinds of emotions to surface in me. Just read:
It was 1996. My fifteen-year-old son, Jacob, sank beneath the murky water of Caddo Lake. A dozen or so of his friends talked and laughed nearby on the shore. Half that many adult chaperones were also present, including two Texas State Game Wardens. It’s almost unbelievable that none of them saw–as though their eyes had been veiled in that moment. But One did see. And waited. When the group finally missed Jacob and couldn’t find him, then God spoke to one man there.
“Look in the water.”
The man didn’t question, he dove. Blindly. In fourteen-feet-deep, nasty water, groping along the bottom until he felt a body. Jacob’s body.
And the questions began. Why didn’t God speak sooner? Emmanuel. God is with us. He could have prevented Jacob’s accident and all the anguish it ushered into our family’s life. Hadn’t He stepped in and rescued Luke? Why not Jacob?
Jeanne’s response should shake us. It’s powerful.
“God is with us. But that doesn’t mean we should expect constant happiness or an easy life. The water doesn’t always turn to wine. Sometimes it turns to blood.”
Read the rest of Jeanne Damoff’s gripping story at The Master’s Artist: Emmanuel . Let her show you the truth that struggles for utterance in me.
Emmanuel. God with us. He is real.
