“See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

— Isaiah 43:19

 

Happy New Year, My Friends!

I hope you had a BLESSED holiday season and wish you even MORE BLESSINGS in the year ahead!

Are you guys as excited as I am?? I have this giddiness in my soul, an anticipation for good things in 2017. Spiritual things that will create a ripple effect through our lives in every single way. And all I can I say is …

BRING. IT. ON!!

Because I’m rarin’ to go!   But … first things first!

 

Evie Update!

Oh my goodness, our little miracle is growing by leaps and bounds, and we couldn’t be happier! Again, thank you SO much for your love and prayers during a difficult time that God turned around for our good!

And MORE good news for Juju and Papa is that my son and daughter-in-law and three grands are moving from Spokane to Omaha, which is only a five-hour drive for my hubby and me, so we are OVER THE MOON!! Now we can see the little critters whenever we want instead of limited cross-country flights each year, so PRAISE GOD!!

 

Writing Update!

And because of a contract glitch in my Western series, I’m laying that aside for now to tackle book 3 in my Isle of Hope series, Unchanging Love, which as many of you know is Cat & Chase’s story. Your prayers are greatly appreciated for God’s anointing, creativity, wisdom, and productivity. Here’s the blurb:

 A bold and independent woman

challenges the ideals—and the morals—

of a pastor who loves her

no matter what.

 

And the Scripture theme for this book will be either:

Who is a God like Thee, Who pardons iniquity

And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?

He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love

— Micah 7:18

OR

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness. 

— Lamentations 3:22-23

Which … brings me to a question. Originally I wanted the title of this book to be Unchanging Love, but I’m starting to waver, leaning toward His Steadfast Love instead, so what do you think? Which of these titles below do you like the best? I normally don’t open comments up, but this week I am in order to get your opinion, so let me know in a comment below, okay?

Unchanging Love

 Love Unchanging

His Steadfast Love 

 

Revision Update!

Soooo … guess what I did over the holidays? I wrote three additional chapters for my A Glimmer of Hope novella! Why? Well, I kind of just slapped A Glimmer of Hope together last year as a means of promoting my Isle of Hope series, which is what a lot of authors do. I wasn’t completely satisfied with it, but just figured it was because it was a novella, and I like my books a lot deeper.

But since it’s been e-pubbed, I’ve gotten a number of lower-star reviews primarily because they felt I didn’t give them the background they wanted on Tess’s and Ben’s marriages. So I decided to remedy that.

The new version will go up on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo this month — and it will still be free — so when it does, I will let you know. However, if you already downloaded AGOH, Amazon will not let you download it again. As a result, I am offering my very special Journal Jot readers a revised Kindle version when I have it done. Just wait for me to announce its release in an upcoming Journal Jot, and then let me know if you want the updated version via email, either through the CONTACT JULIE tab of this website, e-mail, or Facebook message.

 

❤️Valentine Surprise!❤️

Oh. My. Goodness!! I am sooooooo excited to announce that I will be the featured author in the February issue of Splickety Magazine!! Splickety Magazine is a totally cool flash-fiction magazine and guess what? They asked ME to write an alternate ending for a favorite classic of mine in … are you ready for this? … a mere 1,000 words! I know, I know, it’s hard to believe that this door-stopper author who writes 500+ page books could actually writing anything in 1,000 words, but I DID IT!!

And y’all probably already know which classic I picked! Yep, you guessed it — I rewrote the ending for Gone With the Wind, and WOW, did I have a blast! I’m sure Margaret was turning over in her grave, but I had SO much fun giving my favorite book a new twist, so I hope you get a chance to read it. Because of contract restrictions, I won’t be able to post it here on my blog for six months, so you’ll either have to buy the magazine or wait till I get around to posting it here down the road. Either way, it’s a really fun read, I think, or at least it was for me!

The issue releases February 1st, so here’s the link to check out the magazine and sign up for their cool blog:

SPLICKETY MAGAZINE

Well, that’s all the news I have right now, but keep your eyes peeled for future Journal Jots for cool updates in the future! And be sure to scroll down for some fun pix of my family.

I wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and holy 2017!

Hugs,

Julie

 

This is the pic from my son’s Christmas card — isn’t it cool?

 

Here’s Amy with some friends! We spent a wonderful week with Amy and Nate,

but didn’t take many pix since I had a blood-red eye from cataract surgery! Scared

poor Amy so much, she couldn’t look at me for four days! 😉

 

Finally, had a GREAT time getting together with most of my living siblings. I am #12 of

13 children, but two of brothers and one of my sisters weren’t there. 🙁