Journal Jots – Blog
Welcome to my Journal Jots blog! This is a broad mix of what’s on my mind, allowing me to feel a little bit closer to some of the most important people in my life—YOU! From news on sales, freebies, giveaways, new releases, and excerpts from works in progress … to my thoughts on my walk with God, daily devotionals, or photos of my family, this is where you’ll find the most current glimpse into my books and my life. I invite you to subscribe in the “subscribe” box on the right side of this page to automatically receive an email whenever I post a blog. Till then, God bless and HAPPY READING!
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Eeek … Liberty’s Coming!
Have you Pre-ordered?
WHOOOO-EEEEE … I am sooooooo excited and I hope you are, too, because this series is gonna be a fun one, my friends, guaranteed!
So fun, in fact, that I am plowing through book 1, Love’s Silver Lining at a fast clip, so who knows? I may release it in late spring or early summer instead of the fall!
ALL PRAYERS APPRECIATED for supernatural productivity and creativity. Oh, and anointing … lots and lots of anointing! 😉 THANK YOU!!
🇺🇸 Pre-Order Sale!
You know, you guys are some of my favorite people, and the thought occurred to me that my closest reader friends should get a discount if they pre-order, so let’s do it!
Anybody that pre-orders Liberty before its release date of November 24th, will get a dollar off, making it a steal at $2.99. It goes up to $3.99 on the 24th, so I hope you take advantage.
PRE-ORDER FOR LOVE OF LIBERTY HERE
Uh, I will warn you, however, that I went a little crazy on the kissing scenes, so there are lots of little clips like this one, where Finn and Liberty are butting heads over festival co-chair business:
💜❤️💜
“Mr. McShane, wait!” Libby called after she said her goodbyes to the ladies, hurrying to catch up with Finn. “We are not done here, sir.”
Finn wheeled around in the open doorway of the V&T, hand on the knob and a scowl on his face. “What is it now, Miss O’Shea?” he boomed, loud enough for Miss Delilah and everyone on the street and walkway to hear. “You’ve already taken up most of my lunch hour.”
“I’d like to discuss the park benches some more.” She nodded at several ladies who passed her on the boardwalk as she stopped before Finn.
“Of course you would,” he said in a near growl, charging into the V&T while a wide-eyed Delilah looked on. He paused at the door of his office to glare, hands on his hips. “Let me guess—now you want to add little lacey pillows with hearts and flowers on them.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you mule.” Libby closed the front door behind her with a little too much force, sparing a strained smile in Miss Delilah’s direction before she followed Finn into his office. “I want to discuss how the V&T might benefit from possibly donating a bench or two.”
“For the love of mercy, Miss Bell, the V&T has already given their all to this festival, not to mention the excessive time of its director whose been hounded to death by his co-chair.” He turned his back on her to storm to his desk, grumbling all the way.
“You want hounded?” Libby slammed the door behind her with a rattle of the glass and marched right around his desk. “I’ll show you ‘hounded.’”
“Oh yes, ma’am, please—‘hound’ away,” Finn said in her ear as he butted her to the wall with a low groan, smothering her neck with kisses. “Heaven help me, I’ve missed you, Libby.”
❤️ FB Live: Thurs., 11/16 at Noon CST!
Yep, it’s that time again when I go LIVE on Facebook, only this time anyone who comes by and leaves a question for me not only wins an e-copy of For Love of Liberty, but they will have a character named after them in that very book AND their choice of any of my indie e-books, including Romance-ology 101, so come on by! I will pick the winner this weekend and announce it in my next Journal Jot.
🎉 We Have a Winner!
MEGA Thanks to everybody who came by to watch the video interview I did for Cara Grandle’s Periscope show. I really appreciate your support.
Quite a few of you came by, but unfortunately only one can win, and that winner is:
Cheryl Fouts Herndon
So SUPER CONGRATS to Cheryl — I will be in touch! And THANK YOU to everyone else for entering. If you missed the video and would like to see it, just head on over to Youtube at the following link:
JULIE’S PERISCOPE VIDEO INTERVIEW
📚 1 Novel & 4 Novellas 99 cents each!
Gear up for the holidays with some fun reads for only 99 cents each, so do check them out!
🤗 Hugs & Happy Weekend!
Julie
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
“True liberty is doing the right thing.”
— For Love of Liberty by Julie Lessman
You know, most of the spiritual lessons in my books are things I have learned the hard way … uh, kind of like my characters do because, well, I hate to go through things alone!
But I have NEVER written a book where I actually learned the spiritual lesson ON THE SPOT.
Until my latest novel — For Love of Liberty. And yes, it is a short novel rather than the novella I originally intended it to be because frankly I have trouble writing short stories.
Oh, what a surprise! 😉
So, what’s the lesson I learned? Well, it’s our header quote today, which is taken from the book — “True liberty is doing the right thing.”
And how did I learn it?
Not easily, I can tell you that! You see, last week my husband and I were vandalized. Now, mind you, we live in a gated community, so we always feel fairly safe. Safe, that is, until someone slashed our tires. Unfortunately, we heavily suspect who did it, but we do not have proof. So we bit the bullet, and paid the $600 to rectify the situation.
Only I didn’t count on the barrage of fear and bitterness that came along with it.
Do you have any idea HOW many prayers I have prayed for the person who did this? TONS AND TONS. Because as most of you know, I believe in praying for those who persecute you and praising and thanking God in the midst of trials. So I do it all. Over and over again.
But you know what? I have blood in my veins. Which means I am a human being who, YES, has an Irish temper, and is also a CDQ (caffeinated drama queen). So no matter how much success I had in trying to pray, forgive, and praise God in this situation, somehow the devil always managed to sneak in and trip me up here and there. Like late at night when my body and mind are tired. Or when I was on the treadmill in front of the window — a window that just happens to look straight at the culprit’s house. Or whenever I looked out our kitchen window to the car that was vandalized, wondering if and when the vandal would do it again. Trust me — the devil has been relentless!
Case in point. I prayed nonstop for this vandal when it happened, asking God to bless him and bring him to know Jesus. And I did beautifully all day long. But when my husband and I went to bed that night, we got into a fight because he did not want to tell the police his suspicions of who we thought the vandal might be, and I wanted him to. “We don’t have any proof, Julie,” he said, and I argued that we needed to tell the police every hunch we had — hunches that were not only confirmed by our gut, but by several other people who’d seen things as well.
Yes, Keith and I finally did make up and go to bed, but it was difficult sleeping that night. For Keith because we’d argued, which we seldom do. For me, because I have an imagination like a runaway train, so I envisioned the slasher coming back and hurting more than our tires. Both of us wrestled with fear and anger for a long while that night.
Keith finally fell asleep, and I was reading, although I will admit that it was difficult to concentrate. And then, all at once, in my mind’s ear, I heard the phrase from my book, “true liberty is doing the right thing,” a spiritual theme I had sown into For Love of Liberty. Suddenly in one wild thud of my heart, I realized that true liberty for me was following God’s will in this situation, and not allowing the devil to turn me into an angry, unforgiving person like the person who slashed our tires. Because that’s what satan wants, and I will not give it to him. Fear and bitterness — the devil’s tools — were trying to ruin my life and my husband’s, and we will not let it. Instead we will honor God and pray for a person who desperately needs Jesus.
So I learned in a most personal way that “true liberty IS doing the right thing,” and true liberty is honoring God. I don’t know about you, but this is the mantra of my soul because I want to be free. How ’bout you?
🇺🇸 New Novel — For Love of Liberty!
It’s coming, I promise! I finally finished my prequel novella to my Silver Lining Ranch series, For Love of Liberty, scheduled for release November 24th.
Only there’s one problem.
Uh, it’s no longer a novella, so I hope you guys don’t mind. Nope, it’s a short novel, which is why it took me a bit longer to get it out, but I hope you will think it’s worth it and consider pre-ordering. Here’s the jacket blurb:
A Match Made in Heaven?
Or Someplace a Whole Lot Warmer?
She’s stubborn, educated, and looking
to give women the vote.
He’s bullheaded, successful, and looking
to give her a piece of his mind.
But when things heat up, they just may give each other
a piece of their hearts.
PRE-ORDER FOR LOVE OF LIBERTY HERE
😳 Facebook LIVE — Q&A with a CDQ!
I invite you to join me for another fun Facebook Live THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 at 12:00 NOON CST, when I will be giving away THREE copies of For Love of Liberty.
How can you win? Just show up during the FB Live on my author page and leave a comment OR send me a question you want answered, and if I answer it during the FB Live, you automatically win your choice of any one of my e-books, including For Love of Liberty. So, be sure to put it on your calendar, and hope to see you there!
🎉 Giveaway!
Have you seen the video interview I did for Cara Grandle’s Periscope show? It’s geared to writers, but I think readers would find it interesting, too, so come on by.
And if you DO and leave a comment, you’ll be entered to win a copy of For Love of Liberty, so I hope to see you there!
JULIE’S PERISCOPE VIDEO INTERVIEW
📚 2 Novels/4 Novellas 99 cents each!
Gear up for the holidays with some fun reads for only 99 cents each, so do check them out!
🤗 Hugs!
Julie
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Boy-oh-boy, do I have some great giveaways/news for you!
🎂 A Birthday Party & YOU Get the Gifts!
First of all, please forgive me for failing to mention in my last Journal Jots that OCTOBER is the 10th BLOGAVERSARY for my group author blog, Seekerville!!
So what does that mean for you? Well, it means you have four chances to win one of FOUR $50 AMAZON GIFT CARDS, a KINDLE FIRE WITH ALEXA, and lots and lots of FREE BOOKS, another KINDLE E-READER, CANDY, and other fun gifts.
Add to this some of our best blogs of the year by guests such as Tamera Alexander, Susan May Warren, editors, and agents, and you have a win-win for anyone that comes by.
How? Just come on by Seekerville and leave a comment, and you’re in the draw — it’s THAT easy!! The more comments you leave (one per day is perfect), the more chances you have to win the daily prize, the weekly prize of $50 gift card, and then the monthly grand prize of the Kindle Fire with Alexa. Here’s the link — hope to see you there!
🎉 SEEKERVILLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY LINK! 🎉
👏 We Have Winners!
Whew! I’ve had a lot of giveaways this last month or so, and I have another planned below, so be sure to check it out. In the meantime, SUPER CONGRATS to the winners of the following contests, each of whom will have their choice of any of my indie e-books including my latest, His Steadfast Love, Romance-ology 101, any of my four newly released novellas OR an e-copy of my upcoming novella, For Love of Liberty (see surprise cover real down below for JJ readers only!). If you see your name below, PLEASE contact me through email or my website, okay?
WINNER OF THE “50 SHADES OF PRAY” GIVEAWAY:
Laurie Wood
WINNER OF MY LAST FACEBOOK LIVE GIVEAWAY:
Kelly Reed Brown
WINNER OF THE IND’TALE MAGAZINE COVER VOTE
(which I didn’t win, but am grateful to all who voted!)
Martha Artyomenko
WINNER OF THE “SUITE T BLOG” GIVEAWAY:
Mindy Houng
😳 Facebook Live Tomorrow!
Come join me on my FB Author Page for another FB Live Q&A with a CDQ THURSDAY, OCT. 12, AT 7PM CDT. Laura Frantz was supposed to be my guest, but unfortunately she has come down with a flu bug and raspy throat, so I will be reading a few answers to questions y’all asked Laura last time.
But … I will be sharing one of my favorite TRUE stories, so you’ll want to stop by. AND … if you show up during the actual FB Live, you’ll be in the draw for a signed paperback from Laura and an e-book from me! Hope to see you there!
📔 Cover Reveal for New Novella!
Good news, bad news.
The good news is I will be releasing a brand-new novella called For Love of Liberty in the near future.
The bad news is I am behind schedule on it, so I may or may not get it out in time for Christmas. 🙁
But stay tuned to Journal Jots because that’s where I will announce the release date first, okay? So if you have not subscribed to Journal Jots (which means you receive an email with the blog in it every single time I post), then I highly recommend you do so by entering your email into the SUBSCRIBE box at the top right-hand of this page.
More good news is that I will be giving sneak peeks at the 1st chapter in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled for Journal Jot emails, okay? Meanwhile, here’s the blurb:
A Match Made in Heaven?
Or Someplace a Whole Lot Warmer?
She’s stubborn, educated, and looking to give women the vote.
He’s bullheaded, successful, and looking to give her a piece of his mind.
But when things heat up, they just may give each other
a piece of their hearts.
📹 Video Interview for Writers!
On Tuesday, September 26th, I had the privilege of being interviewed via live video on Cara Grandle’s Periscope show, which is geared to writers. But I have to admit, I had a blast, so I hope the interview is really fun for both writers and readers.
Almost three hundred people showed up, so THANK YOU to those of you who lent their support. Since the live interview, Cara has posted the video on Youtube, so here’s that link if you want to check it out:
JULIE’S PERISCOPE VIDEO INTERVIEW
📚 2 Novels/4 Novellas 99 cents each!
If you haven’t read any of the books below, then NOW’S your chance to get a sweet deal, so do check them out!
🤗 Hugs!
Julie
Meet Julie
