Surprise Book Review

I was thrilled when I popped into Sheila's blog and found a review about my book. I met her at the LDStory Maker's conference and she mentioned a possibility of her doing a podcast interview with me. I hope we can work something out with that soon. I'll keep you posted.

I wanted to share her blog and review with you.

Sheila's Review of A Future for Tomorrow.

It meant a great deal to me to read her words. I appreciate her and your support.

Thank you again Shelia your review really touched me!

Today, I Live.

In honor of this week's book give away I wanted to take one of the questions asked toward the end of the book Today, I Live. (By the way congrats to Rachelle who won the drawing)

The last page of Karen Eddington's book says "Pass it on" I love the encouragement she gives to try to keep her message of self acceptance and peace moving forward and expanding.
So this is one way i am passing it on.

She has many wonderful statements to ponder as well as questions. That it way it was hard for me to decide which one to feature today. Which is exactly the reason why I recommend getting this book (I linked you to amazon to buy it if you click her title in the first sentence)

The question I decided to post is under her Worth and Purpose page,
"How are the people and things around me impacting how I feel about myself?"

I remember years ago being told that my believes about myself were based too heavily on what other's thought of me. It was explained by using the example of a mirror. I reflected what others felt or what I thought they felt about me and internalized it as truth.

I catch myself doing it somewhat still today. I'm sure most of us do to a certain degree. If we receive praise and admiration throughout the day I'm sure we all hold our heads a little higher. However, if we had a rough day and a few people had judgmental comments or gestures toward us we can't help but feel down. Or can we?

If you are absolutely firm in your self concept and the worth you know you have, there is nothing anyone can do or say to change your mind. Reflect instead the love and worth the Savior and Heavenly Father have for us. We have infinite value that our mortal minds can't even conceive of. Even as I type I feel the spirit testifying this truth to me. I know without a doubt our worth as daughters of God is intensely great.
I had a challenge a little while ago for you to pray for a week straight to feel and know of your worth I want to extend that again as something you continually seek.

In addition to that, this weeks official challenge is to notice how your mood and feelings of value change depending on your external factors and other's believes of you. Challenge those feelings with what you know to be true.

FREE BOOK GIVE AWAY!

Free give away of Today, I Live... A Gift of Peace for Girls at any Age. (If you don't win and want to buy the book click on the title above and it will take you to the book's page on amazon.com)
I absolutely LOVE this book!!! It is different than anything I've ever seen because it is a picture book with bright illustrations, but filled with deep wisdom and uplifting messages. I have joined the author, Karen Eddington, in the effort to spread the message of the importance of self esteem. She has invited me to join her for a couple stake girls camp presentations, which I am looking forward to in June.

I am so excited about this book I plan on carrying her information cards to all my book signings or public speaking events. It is a great book for young teens to great grandmothers.

Karen has generously offered to give one book away for a price on my blog.

To enter: Leave a comment naming three of your best traits. (Physical, spiritual, or mental, anything you want.) IF you are not comfortable leaving your list for people to see then just tell me that you named them to yourself or wrote them down at home. Thanks! If you don't have a blog I can link to from your comment leave your e-mail please so I can contact you if you are the winner.

Contest Ends on Friday at midnight. Saturday morning I will do a random drawing.

Extra Chance to Win. Advertise my give away on your blog. Leave another comment saying you did so and your name will be entered twice in the drawing.

Thank you and good luck!!

One Lovely Blog Award

My delightful friend Lori Nawyn from Hearts and Hands selected my blog to win the "One Lovely Blog Award." This is my first blog award so I can't wait to display it on my side bar!

I am honored. Thank you, Lori.

In keeping with the rules, I've been asked to pass on the love and bestow the award to 15 of my favorite blogs. (In no particular order)

Tristi Pinkston LDS Author

I've mentioned Trisit several times on this blog so most of you know she has four published books, a member of LDS StoryMakers, and is a great lady!

Cauliflower Retreat by Karen Eddington.

The Cauliflower Retreat is a non-profit organization that promotes worth and purpose to women! You can learn more at cauliflowerretreat.org!

4Nuts in a Nutshell by Catherine Lang.

She is a high school and college friend who has done great thing with her blog. In a blink of an eye she nearly has 100 followers. That speaks volumes for her blogging talent. Way to go Cat!

Wizard's Hangout by Vicki Wizniuk.

She is a fellow Close to My Heart consultant and I admire her talent and willingness to share her ideas with her blog friends.

A Writer's Ramblings by Karen Hoover.

Karen is a dear friend of mine and a gifted writer. Her manuscripts have won several awards and hopefully we will see one in print soon! Her time is near I can feel it!

Our Many Mumblings by Kelly Hill.

Kelly has a hilariously honest way of blogging her life. Kelly is a strong woman who is comfortable sharing her personal trials and success. I'm proud to call her neighbor and friend.

LobbyMe by Ryan Fransen.

This is the only male blogger I have chosen to award this honor to. I don't know how thrilled he will be knowing his reward is called "lovely blog award" but his blog one of my favorites to read. Ryan is my cousin and a former congressional staffer and campaign manager. His blog helps me feel like I have the "inside track" when it comes to politics.

CraziBeautiful Women

I'm cheating a little on this one because it is a website but it wants to be a blog.

Queen of the Clan by Danyelle Ferguson

Danyelle did a book review for my book and I was privileged to met her in person at the LDS StoryMaker's conference. She has a wonderful blog and does great things for Autism.

The Mar Farr by Mari Farr

Mari is on of the most talent photographers I've EVER seen! She has a great blog about being a mom, photographer, and music teacher. We were neighbors until her recent move, but I still consider her one of my closest friends.

Candace Salima

I'm again linking a website that feels like a blog. I admire Candace for her writing, political stance, and public speaking. Check her out.

Why Not? Because I Said So! by Sheila.

I met Sheila at the LDS StoryMaker's convention and found her to be a delightful lady. She also does podcast interviews on LDS Women's Book Review

Congrats everyone!

Self-Esteem Building Exercise

I found a great site with self-esteem building exercises on it. It is called selfesteem2go.com

Here is some information from that site:

Self-esteem building exercises start with learning to care for yourself; physically, mentally and emotionally. I know, the advice “Love yourself” sounds like such a cliché, but studies have proven that people who feel good about themselves are happier, healthier and have better self-esteem.

The first step you can take towards building your self-esteem is to take care of your body. Eat healthy foods that give you energy and make you strong. Exercise every day, if only for twenty minutes. Take your time with personal hygiene; stay an extra minute in the shower to enjoy the hot water relaxing your muscles, and set aside time for nail and tooth care. --By Zoltan Roth site owner.

There is much more on this site, but I would like to focus on this aspect this week. The challenge is to take better care of your physical body this week. By caring for your body it is showing that you love yourself and your body.

If you don't feel that you do have love for your body maybe pampering it will help you appreciate it and be the first step in learning to accept and love it.

I remember hearing that part of the test of this life is to see how we take care of our body, "our temple." That has stuck with me and I want to show my Father in Heaven that I can take care of the body he gave me. The body that is mandatory for me fulfill my eternal purpose.

Give your body the extra attention this week and feel free to leave a comment about your experience.

(I've been behind on posting my weekly self-esteem assignments lately so if you are new to the site check out older post for more great ways to help you find your divine worth.)

Publishing Secrets

I've noticed since I have a book out I have been asked a lot about the publishing process. I've even read manuscripts and been asked many technical questions as well.

I love helping anyone with questions so feel free to keep asking. If I don't know I have a few friends and resources I can use to hopefully give you the answer you need.

However, ever person I talk to I end up recommending this book to them. It is called LDS STORYMAKERS Publishing Secrets. I want to link it from my site so you can buy your own copy from amazon.

(click on book to order)

It's great for a few reasons, one is that it is written by several authors who have great experience in the topic. So you hear several opinions and scenarios instead of just one persons.

It is great specifically if you are trying to get published in the LDS market, but it does talk about all different types of publishing.

I felt a little overwhelmed when I first started reading it from cover to cover then I decided to just read a chapter at a time, along my own publishing process. I used it as an instruction manual of sorts as I approached each step.

I was thrilled to find they also have a book called "Writing Secrets" It is equally wonderful and another one I recommend!

Book Giveaway!

The blog "4 Nuts in a Nutshell" is hosting a book giveaway tomorrow, of my book A Future for Tomorrow.

I'm not for sure what this will entail quite yet, but the author of this blog is creative and you will get lots of laughs and insight from reading her posts. Check it out and maybe you will be the one who wins the free book! Did I mention I will sign it personally?

While you're there become a follower, you won't regret it!

Good luck!

Trisit Pinkston's New Release Agent in Old Lace

I wanted to do a shout out for my friend Tristi. She has a new book coming out that I'm super excited about and she is doing a fun contest to go along with her promotion.

(To Pre-order this book click on book's cover image above.)

You can link over to her blog to participate. This is what the contest is about and a copy of what she has on her blog:

A Very Tristi Contest!
To celebrate the release of my new book, "Agent in Old Lace," I'm holding the coolest contest I've ever held! Because the book is a mystery novel, I'm sending you on a scavenger hunt all over the Internet. There are three sets of clues on sixteen websites.

First, you must find them all. Then, you must arrange them into groups (they are labeled 1, 2, and 3 - that part's not so mysterious). Then you must decide what they are referring to. Remember the game "Clue," where you discovered that the culprit was Miss Scarlet, in the library, with the rope? You, too, must figure out who did it, where, and with what.

After you have obtained these clues, send me your answer at tristi AT tristipinkston.com with "contest" in the subject line. All correct answers will be entered into a drawing.

And what does the lucky winner receive for all their hard work? A pretty cool prize!

This package contains a popcorn bowl, three flavors of popcorn, a $25.00 gift card to Blockbuster, and a copy of "Agent in Old Lace."

Are you all set to go? Are you rarin' to get ready?

Here are your clues. Each of the bloggers listed below can be found in the sidebar of my blog, either under the "If I'm Not Home, You Can Find Me Here" heading, or the "Or You Might Find Me Here" heading. You may need to do a little clicking and scrolling, but hey, to the victor go the spoils ... or, to the victor goes the cool prize.

"Who" Clues:

1. This blogger raises chickens and wrote "Lemon Tart."

2. This blogger runs marathons and wrote "Parenting the Ephraim's Child."3. This blogger is a political activist and wrote "Out of the Shadows ... Into the Light."4. This blogger makes pottery and wrote "False Pretenses."5. This blogger was raised in a drug store and wrote "The Forgotten Warrior."

"Where" Clues:1.

This blogger was born overseas and wrote "Reasonable Doubt."

2. This blogger used to live in England and wrote "Please, No Zits."

3. This blogger wrote a darling picture book about Down Syndrome and is the author of "Heaven Scent."

4. This blogger is a former publisher and is the assistant manager at Provident Book.

5. This blogger feels like toast and wrote "The Santa Letters."

"With What" Clues:

1. This blogger founded ANWA and wrote "Trail of Storms."

2. This blogger is a seminary teacher and wrote "Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers."

3. This blogger is addicted to peanut butter cups and wrote "Shadow of the Crown."

4. This blogger is a Whitney Award winner and wrote "Counting Stars."

5. This blogger is a nurse and wrote "Sharing Through Song."

6. This blogger is the Utah Best in State Award winner for Fiction, 2007, and wrote "Tower of Strength."

Okay! You've been given your directions. Visit the designated blogs and look for your clues. Your clues will be marked with this symbol:

(THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO GO TO TRISTI'S BLOG TO SEE THE PICTURE OF THE SYMBOL)

You may need all the clues in that category to pinpoint the information you need. You have until May 30th at midnight send me an e-mail with your guess as to who, where, and with what. You can piece it all together by using the Internet as your guide. A hint ... on the "what," the first two clues tell you what brand, the second two clues tell you what kind, and the last clues tell you what item.

Good luck!!