Journal Jots – Blog

“If you love me, keep my commands.”

— John 14:15

The cutest thing happened a few days ago. You see, I sent out my summer newsletter this week, which is ALWAYS a major pain for my artist husband who designs it because he says I am worse than any client he has, which given my SUPER anal personality, is no great surprise, right? In fact, I did a Seeker blog talking about this once appropriately entitled “Stupid In Love” (http://seekerville.blogspot.com/2011/02/stupid-in-love-bookcritique-giveaway.html) because when I asked my husband why he puts up with my high-maintenance personality, this was his response: “I don’t know,” he says, giving me a quick kiss on the lips. “I guess I’m just stupid in love.” To quote just a paragraph from that Seeker blog I wrote, here’s a glimpse at what the newsletter process looks like in our household:

“Wow, babe, it’s absolutely perfect!” I say, excitement bubbling in my voice. “Uh, except for a few tiny things … Would you mind tilting those pictures a little bit more? Oh, and the excerpt from A Heart Revealed needs to be indented, and yeah, all book titles italicized. Not sure I’m crazy about that font—can we change it? And those dingbats gotta go—maybe little squiggles instead? Ooops … forgot some pictures of my reader friends, and for the love of Photoshop—my double chin in that picture just has to go!”

YIKES … talk about dingbats!! And that was only the first go-round. However, you will be happy to know that my husband is currently in therapy.

Like Marcy and Patrick O’Connor, whose marriage I modeled after my husband’s and mine (only I am WAY more high-maintenance than Marcy!), God has blessed Keith and me with a really wonderful marriage. Of course, let me emphasize here that it did NOT get there overnight, but entailed YEARS of prayer and obedience to God to make it the incredible blessing it is today. Anyway, after Keith finished my newsletter, I was so grateful that I threw my arms around him and kissed him and what happened next was nothing short of magical. All at once, I heard this incredibly beautiful music. Not bells ringing, exactly, but the most serene and lovely harp music I’d ever heard. Now I know Keith and I have one of the best marriages I’ve ever seen, but this was the very first time I ever heard music when I kissed him, and I just figured we had crossed some beautiful threshold of true romance where even our kisses were heavenly. “Oh my goodness,” I cry, pulling back to stare at him wide-eyed, “did you hear that? What a kiss!” He laughed and reached for his phone, turning off the timer for the sprinkler outside, for which his chosen ring tone was harp music. “Gosh, babe,” I say, feeling just a wee bit disappointed, “and here I thought we were making beautiful music together!”

But the truth is when you really love someone, you give of yourself for them and it IS beautiful music! I can’t speak for anybody else, but I know why it’s that way for me. Keith sacrifices and gives of himself to me over and over because he loves me. I sacrifice and give myself to him over and over because I love him. For instance, even though I am the type of person who is habitually five to ten minutes late, I make being on time for Keith a top priority because I know how important it is to him. So I try REALLY hard to sacrifice my bad habit to make him happy because it’s one of the many ways I can show him I love him.

When I was in my twenties and a brand-new Christian, I was so gaga over God that I would literally tear up whenever I thought of Him and His goodness to me. Yes, I’m a pretty emotional gal, but anyone who has given their heart to Christ feels that incredible rush of love and gratitude for God at some point in their life when they realize just how much He loves them. So it was a TOTAL shock to me when I got into my mid-forties and menopause reared it’s ugly head. Suddenly, despite emotions running amuck, I no longer had this wellspring of deep loving feelings for God.

“God! How can this be?” I remember asking Him with no little frustration. “I’m in the time of my life when my emotions are at their highest peak, wreaking havoc and spilling over at the drop of the hat, and yet I feel nothing for You!” I was heartsick because if ever there was a time that I needed to “feel” God’s strength, His support, it was during menopause. So I cried and I begged and I pleaded for Him to give me feelings of love for Him like I once had before because I didn’t feel like I loved Him anymore. And you know what? The God Who is the Lover of our Souls taught me one of the most important lessons I have ever learned as a Christian. It’s the sum and total of our Scripture above: “If you love me, keep my commands.”

“Julie,” He said to me, as clearly as if it were an audible voice. “Do you obey me?” “Yes, God,” I remember saying with tears in my eyes, “I really do try to obey You, You know that.” “Then you love Me,” He said to my spirit.

I gotta tell you right now that if ever fireworks went off in my brain and neon signs were flashing and tears filling my eyes at the revelation of my soul, THIS was the moment! Because what I saw in my brain was the simple equation for love as far as God is concerned. He does not measure our love for Him by our feelings nor our tears nor our elogquent words or prayers. Pure and simple, there is only one way true way to show God we love Him, and this is the equation that flashed in my brain that fateful day.

LOVE = OBEDIENCE.

OBEDIENCE = BLESSINGS

As a super emotional woman, this concept from the throne of God changed my life that day. No, I don’t have to “feel” love for God to show Him I love Him. I simply have to OBEY him, and to His heart, that translates into love. Which in turn, releases His love to us in endless blessings.

Case in point. One time I remember stubbing my bare toe on the steel leg of the bed, and since I have incredibly sensitive feet, it hurt like the devil. With a cry of pain, I grabbed my toe and fell down, curse words rising to my tongue, ready to spew. It was during a time of my life when I was radically obedient to God or tried to be, so instead of curse words, I forced other words out of my mouth, screaming, “Praise God, praise God, praise God …” over and over as loud as I could and before I was through, I was laughing on the bed with tears in my eyes. Why? Because obedience to God releases blessings in our lives. It helps us to be so “stupid in love” with our Savior that everything we face, even something as stupid as stubbing a toe, can become an expression of love to Him by our obedience. And the domino effect is then an outpouring of joy and blessing from the God who said in John 10:10:

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

And so, I wish you and yours life “to the full” and may you be “stupid in love” with the God Who is even more so over each and every one of us.

Before I sign off, I want to congratulate the following winners of my RSS feed signup contest and the MaryLu Tyndall free download contest. Please note that I am well aware that the RSS feed is not working but am hoping to get it fixed soon and will have another signup contest next month. So for now, congrats to the following winners. I will be in touch!

WINNERS OF RSS FEED (wins choice of top CBA book):

Joy Tamsin David

Angi Griffis

Danyelle Hunnicutt

Victoria Keen

Michelle Tuller

WINNER OF MARYLU TYNDALL DOWNLOAD (wins signed copy of MaryLu’s 3^rd book in the series):

Megan

Hugs,

Julie

P.S. I’m giving away a signed copy of A Heart Revealed (with sneak-peek excerpts!) on my Seeker blog this Wednesday, August 10^th, which is entitled “EDIT” Doesn’t Have To Be a Four-Letter Word!” Hope to see you there — here’s the link:

Then please check my website calendar at http://www.julielessman.com/julies-calendar/ because I have a number of blog giveaways coming up. In the past I have given away at least 50 signed books in blog giveaways before the release of my next one, but due to time constraints, I will only be doing ten blog interview/giveaways this year, so don’t miss out, okay?

Hugs and happy weekend!

Julie

You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

— Bo Diddley

Horse feathers! As much as I respectfully disagree with Mr. Diddley, I just have to say the man knows “diddley” squat about publishing! Not only can you judge a book by its cover, but according to a statistic quoted in Publisher’s Weekly, 12% of people who buy books do so because of the cover. Now 12% may not sound like a lot, but when you figure that 3.13 billion books are sold every year, that’s a LOT of pulp, people!!

First impressions are important, whether valid or not, and the first glimpse of a cover is a first impression to a potential reader. Which is why my covers are so very important to me and why my prayer partners and I have prayed about every single one well in advance.

So while I was cleaning out my files a few weeks ago, I came across the portfolio shot of the model who posed for Collin McGuire on the cover of A Passion Most Pure, and I thought it might be fun for you to hear some of the background on each of my covers because as high maintenance as I can be, each book cover has been a real trip.

Because A Passion Most Pure was my debut model, I had no idea what to expect with the cover process NOR any common sense to know that I was a newbie who needed to keep her mouth shut. Fortunately for me, the artist I work with at my publishing company is one of the sweetest human beings on the planet, and she was kind enough (and patient enough) to work with me to get a cover I would happy with. As an author, initially I send my publisher my character descriptions and personality traits, along with pics of movie stars or models I think they resemble. My publisher actually does two different shoots—the first of the female model, then later another shoot with the male model, which they strip into the first pics for the final cover. So unfortunately for the model who played Faith O’Connor, she never got to meet the male model who played Collin McGuire, which in my opinion is a real shame, as you can see from the portfolio shot of the model who played Collin. Hubba hubba!

Initially, the artist sent me pix of Faith with her hair long and a pretty, lacy top that was a bit off-shoulder and showed a lot of her back and neck. “Oh, no,” said to my artist, “Faith’s hair looks like a prairie romance, and this is 1916 Boston we’re talking about here, so can we put her hair up?” Yes, we could and did, much to my relief. “Can you make the hair a little redder and the eyes a little greener?” I asked. No problem. Then they gave Faith a high-neck dress, which I thought worked a lot better—more chaste and proper for a modest young Bostonian. And FYI, in the pics with Faith, keep in mind they used some guy on the set to stand in for Collin for placement purposes only. So far, so good, right?

And then the tears began. The artist sent me a pic of Collin with a namby-pamby, almost weak smile and I started to cry, telling my husband he looked like a wimp. “Do you have any other shots from the shoot?” I asked the artist. “Only one other,” she said, “but Collin looks mad in it, and nobody thought it would work.” “Can I see it?” I asked, hope springing in my chest. And the rest is history. I took one look at the smoldering, moody face of Collin McGuire, the man who was angry because he couldn’t have the woman he wanted, and I knew we’d struck pay dirt.

On book 2, A Passion Redeemed, it was a real wild ride!! I showed you the pic of the cover model for my hero a while back, and I am repeating it here for comparison. You can imagine my shock when I received the first cover in which he had slicked-down hair and looked like an English dandy. More waterworks, of course, and I begged my artist to “play” with the cover for me, giving stubborn hero more of an iron jaw and an angrier look in the eyes (all my heroes tend to be angry for some reason … maybe because they have to deal with me!). “The hair has got to go,” I said, so I searched on the Internet for 30 minutes for just the right head of hair—blond rumpled curls instead of slicked down, and my artist agreed the changes worked. Did I mention before what a saint my publisher artist is??? Here is a before and after to show you what we did.

Suddenly I zeroed in on Charity and noticed that the very buxom, drop-dead gorgeous vixen named Charity O’Connor was not as buxom as I’d hoped and even less than her sister, Faith, who was supposedly unendowed. So, as a final change to the cover, my artist graciously endowed Charity with a bit more charm as you can clearly see in the before and after.

I had given my poor artist so much grief on the first two books, that I made up my mind that I would take the cover for A Passion Denied any way they gave it to me, no complaints. And so, despite my utter shock at the model who looked NOTHING like the Lizzie in my mind, I kept my mouth shut and prayed. And guess what? Right before the cover was finalized, my publisher intervened on her own and said this first model didn’t fit the character image, so she ordered a second shoot and VOILA — L izzie was born, and I never had to say a word!

So no one can te ll me covers aren’t important, because they are, and I cannot thank my publisher enough for working with me like they do and bending over backwards to address my concerns. I have since found out that most authors do not have the luxury of so much input on their covers, and so I am doubly grateful.

Because  you may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but you sure in the heck can judge a CDQ by her reaction to it, and let me tell you—it ain’t pretty.

A HEART REVEALED is out in 17 DAYS!!!! If you would like a chance to win a signed copy, please come see  me at “Come Meet Ausjenny” blog at  http://ausjenny.blogspot.com/2011/07/getting-to-know-you-thursdays-with_28.html

where I have an interview up and will be giving away a signed copy of winner’s choice of any of my books.

Then please check my website calendar at http://www.julielessman.com/julies-calendar/

Because I have a number of blog giveaways coming up. In the past I have given away at least 50 signed books in blog giveaways before the release of my next one, but due to time constraints, I will only be doing ten blog interview/giveaways this year, so don’t miss out, okay?

Have a great weekend, and next week I’ll announce the winners of my RSS feed and MaryLu Tyndall free download contest that ends July 31^st. For details, simply scroll down to the end of my Friday, July 22 Journal Jot and may the best women win!

Hugs,

Julie

It is sad to grow old, but nice to ripen.

—Brigette Bardot

Boy, oh boy—ol’ Brigette said a mouthful, didn’t she? I don’t know about you, but this gal will take “ripe” over “old” any day of the week, keeping me forever indebted to those mainstays in my life—things like Loreal or Max Factor … or an artist husband adept at Photoshop! Because let’s face it—as women, we want to present the best image possible, both inside and out. And since I am always working real hard on the inside (or I should say, God is!), I thought it was high time I started working on the outside as well.

Which means I owe every single one of my readers out there a great, BIG apology. Why? Because when I first got published three years ago, I had one—count ‘em, one! —professional photo taken for use on my website, for the back of my book, for blog interviews, for posters, for book signings, you name it. One. Now I don’t know about you, but I got REAL sick and tired of seeing that same old picture, and you know which one I’m talking about. No, it wasn’t a bad picture, that’s true, and yes, it actually made me feel pretty at the time. But sweet tea in the morning, I gotta tell you that I was sorely tempted to burn that black, short-sleeve tank I wore, and TRUST ME … I’ve never worn it again!

So, in honor of my new series coming out in April 2013, The Cousins McClare (because I always have to have a reason to spend money!) and because my husband basically threatened me (“Come on, Julie, part with a buck and get some decent shots!”), I decided to bite the bullet and go for broke … literally.

Actually, I’m joking about the “broke” part because this photographer is not only incredibly reasonable, but downright miraculous in what she can do with a 60-year-old CDQ who has just enough vanity to keep from going  gray. Her name is Lisa Nordmann of Nordmann Photography, and for the first time in pictures, I actually feel like I don’t bay at the moon. I mean, seriously. Even my husband is looking at me through new eyes, so that alone is worth every single penny I spent. So if you live anywhere near St. Louis, you’re gonna want to look Lisa up because the woman can make a silk purse like nobody’s business … 🙂

Since my Journal Jots blog is the perfect place to share my new look, I wanted to give you the first peek at the new me. I hope you like it as much as I do because let’s face it—the clock’s a-tickin’ and I ain’t ever gonna to look like this again!  Or at least that’s what I told my publisher when they didn’t put my pic on the back of my first series. I mean, really—why not take advantage and slap that sucker on before the heavy-duty wrinkles arrive, right??

But before I unveil the pics, I want to remind you about MaryLu Tyndall’s HUGE promotion where Barbour Publishing is offering a free e-book of MaryLu’s Surrender the Heart. It will be available on Kindle until July 31^st, so you do NOT want to miss this one. It’s wonderful and so is book 2, Surrender the Night, which I actually endorsed. MaryLu is hands-down one of my FAVORITE writers with an edge to her romance, which makes her one of those must-read authors for me and hopefully for you! Here’s the link to download MaryLu’s FREE BOOK, so go for it!!!   http://t.co/UW4mSHP.

AND … as a bonus … for anybody who DOES download MaryLu’s book and lets me know by contacting me via e-mail, through this website or on Facebook, I will enter you in a contest where three winners will receive a signed copy of MaryLu’s latest, Surrender the Dawn!

THEN DON’T FORGET MY CONTEST!!! I will select three winners to receive a brand-new, top CBA book of their choosing from my very large personal library. If you are interested, all you have to do is click on the “Subscribe to My Journal Jots Blog” link at the top of this page or on the calendar page and then let me know via e-mail, through my website or via Facebook. It’s that easy!

FINALLY … BLOG GIVEAWAY THIS WEEK!! Come see me this week on AusJenny’s blog (July 28 to August 4) where I will be giving away a signed copy of ANY of my books, including my upcoming release, A Heart Revealed. You can find the link for this blog giveaway as well as others on my calendar page at http://www.julielessman.com/julies-calendar/.

Anyway, thanks for sharing the fun and magic of new pics with me, and may your own weekend be just as magical and truly “picture perfect.”

Hugs,

Julie