A week ago our nation once again became victim of internal hurt and hate. I watched with horror as the story unfolded. I felt profound sadness at some of the hateful comments I heard or read. They might as well have been real salt in open wounds. I also watched with great pride and joy as the stories of those who stepped in harm's way just to help others unfolded. Folks, that is what our nation is about.

We do have a history that has moments of which we can be proud and others not so much. Yet, in the tragedy last week we saw our fellow humans reaching out and helping each other. And, for that I am very proud. A few years ago I snapped this photo of a sunrise in our back field. As I watched darkness become dawn, I said this prayer : Dear Lord, Don't ever let me doubt in the darkness of life the things I know to be true in the light. And when the darkness pulls me always help me remember that Your Light holding me is far greater than any darkness trying to pull me. Amen.

So, I added the caption to the photo when I posted it on Facebook.
In these difficult times I pray we never forget the True Light holding us is always greater than anything we face.

In response to all of the hatred, anger, venom, and evil being blasted all over the media, I say this:

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father, brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me let this be the moment now.
With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow,
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

I learned a long time ago that in India my name means 'moonlike.' I pray that as the moon has no light of its only but what it reflects from the son, I want to have no light on my own but what reflects from the Son.

Several years ago a friend of my sister's introduced her to writings by Henri Nouwen. Thankfully, she then introduced them to me. Henri Nouwen was a Catholic priest. After teaching at several theological institutes and universities in the Netherlands and the United States, he spent much of his later life working with people with mental and physical disabilities at L'Arche Daybreak Community in Canada. His writings are deep, healing, thought- and prayer-provoking, and timeless. This prayer excerpt is taken from the advent compilation of his writings.

"Lord, give me patience so that I may truly see obstacles as doors, the not-quite-rights of life as foundation, suffering and indifference as eventual gateways to good works, to diligent service, and to my inheritance of salvation. Make the challenges on my spiritual journey into opportunities to say "yes" to your love. Amen"

Have a blessed day everyone.

The UPS truck made a delivery today that I was told would arrive on May 26. Imagine my surprise and joy when I opened the box of books! I laughed. I cried. And I am still floating! Go ahead and get yourself a copy!!!!
http://amzn.to/2qRe9FI

Don't forget to get your Kindle version! It is available in ebook format for $3.99. Look for the print version coming soon!

It happened, our book, Coming Home, A Tiny House Collection is live on Kindle!!! The print version will be available soon. Take advantage of the introductory price $3.99 for the Kindle ebook. It is also available on Kindle Select!
Coming Home - A Tiny House Collections - Kindle edition by Ane Mulligan, Linda W. Yezak, Pamela S. Meyers, Yvonne Anderson, Ki

On November 1, 2016 I began a completely new writing project. This morning, I sent the complete manuscript to Ane Mulligan, who is compiling all seven of our novellas into one manuscript. She will then send it to the person formatting our book into an e-book collection and also the print edition. This means it took me six months to write a book from scratch and get it ready for publication!

I'll be honest, when we started tossing this idea around last summer, I was not confident it would happen. Yet, I sit here today telling you, it's happening! Honestly, conversations about pricing and advertising and marketing are foreign-frightening-amazing for me! And on top of all of that, we have already agreed to doing another collection in the spring of 2018 which will mean another novella from scratch for me! 

I still have five complete novels to put in my publishing plans. Wow. 

This is a wild journey. Thanks for joining me! Keep watch, I will very soon be posting the release date of our book "Coming Home" and the link to order your e-book or print book!

Come back and visit me here, often! I look forward to hearing from you!

What you see below is the front and the back of the bookmarks that arrived in the mail over the weekend!

I am forever in His grip, Chandra Lynn Smith

Between Winter and Spring

March 10, 2017 and here in south central Pennsylvania it is snowing. More peculiar than that is the fact that yesterday we had a clear blue sky, brilliant sunshine and a high of sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit. I went to bed last night with a window partially open listening to the peepers at the pond and woke to the flutter of falling snow. Within less than eighteen hours the temperature dropped thirty degrees and the ground is covered with snow.

Have you ever heard of the 'onion snow?' Around here, it is not really considered Spring until after the onion grass starts growing. Why? Because there is almost always one last snow sometime in April after the onion grass grows. It's aptly named, Onion Snow. I like to tell people we have five seasons in Pennsylvania: spring, summer, fall, winter, and mud. Welcome to the mud season around here.

The thing is, if I wanted to put yesterday and today into a novel, I might be discouraged. I've been told many times over fiction must be both possible and believable. Around here, we expect the changeable weather, presence of five not four seasons, the humidity of our summers and extreme cold or crazy mild of winter, and forecasters who are frequently clueless. But, for those not from around here, these weather patterns are hard to believe.

Are you reading a book right now with some rather unbelievable situations? Before you toss the book, remember reality is often hard to fathom. After all, I just walked outside and took photos of my forsythia blooming in the snow!

Things the Reader Never Sees

You're in your favorite chair, in a cone of light from the only lamp on in the house. The rest of your family went to bed hours ago, but you were too lost in the world of story to go to bed. It's the last fifty pages and you absolutely positively cannot sleep until you read 'the end.' What readers don't know is the battle that happened long before they ever bought the book. Those last fifty pages you stayed up way too late reading may have caused the author many hours of lost sleep.

In May of this year I will finally become more than a writer. I enter the realms of the published! This is an exciting time for me. I have written't 'the end' on many manuscripts. It is certainly my prayer you will one day have the chance to read them each. But this manuscript came with a deadline and more of a plan than any I have written.

In August, 2016 I accepted a challenge to only write with God. By that I mean, I pray before I write and seek to only write when and what I am sure He would have me write. Shortly after accepting the challenge I was offered the chance to write a novella for what we call The Tiny House Collection. The idea, seven novellas in one book. The thing the books have in common is the main character must live in a tiny house. I jumped at the opportunity. I had no idea the task would be so huge and never expected the number of days my prayer "what am I writing with You God today?" would be "not writing today."

But I digress. Back to the last fifty pages. What most readers do not know is how we authors get to those last pages. This week I have not typed much, but my brain has been busy. There's a blizzard. And a bad guy. And a lady with her dog in danger. And a hero stuck at work because of the blizzard. And there's no power, no landlines or cell phone service. And it's late at night. And faith is a thin thread right now for them. And, somehow I have to get them back to the coffee shop by the lake.

 I sit at my desk and ponder. I walk outside and wish there was snow on the ground so I could experiment with movement. I close my eyes and envision every movement, every interaction, every sound, smell, sight, to be sure they are believable and accurate. What an exciting adventure I am on as I write my characters' adventures. And, if I have done my job well, sometime in the middle of May you may lose sleep late one night because you have to help them get through the blizzard too. Maybe you will share your reader's journey with me over a cup of coffee.

Chandra Lynn Smith
2016 Genesis Semi-Finalist, Romantic Suspense
2015 Genesis Winner, Novella
2014 Genesis Semi-Finalist, Novella
2013 Genesis Semi-Finalist, Contemporary

. . .Take a chapter break that lasts until you finish the book! . . .

Look for "Coming Home; A Tiny House Collection" in May 2017.