by jphilo | Oct 16, 2014 | Uncategorized
- For our anniversary in July, the Man of Steel and I ate at The Flying Mango. Last week, my editor and other friends at Discovery House Publishers took me to lunch at The Electric Cheetah. What restaurants do you know with names that sound like rock bands?
- It’s really fun to say “I went to lunch with my editor.”
- Going to lunch with editors is heady stuff. But coming home to bathrooms in need of cleaning brings an author down to earth pretty quickly.
Have you eaten at a restaurant with a rock band-sounding name?
by jphilo | Aug 18, 2014 | Book Updates
The November 1, 2014 release date for The Caregiver’s Notebook is getting closer by the day. I’m getting so excited about introducing you to this new baby which has been gestating for almost a year. Today you get the publishing industry’s equivalent of an ultrasound image of a yet-to-be-born-baby. It’s a prepublication interview that ran on the More To Life (MTL) blog not too long ago. If you’re excited about the arrival of this sweet thing, you’re invited to leave a comment in the box below!
How would you describe your writing in general to someone who hasn’t read any of your books?
My books provide spiritual encouragement and practical resources for caregivers.
What inspired you to write The Caregiver’s Notebook: An Organizational Tool and Support to Help You Care for Others?
I flirted with the idea off and on after receiving feedback from readers about the Different Dream books I’d written for parents of kids with special needs. Then, the Discovery House Publishers (DHP) editor of the second book emailed. She said several of her colleagues were caring for elderly parents or ill spouses. They’d been talking about how helpful it would be to have a spiritually-oriented notebook to organize vital information they could take to appointments and leave with others who sometimes cared for their loved ones. The idea intrigued her. So she emailed to ask if I would consider writing a proposal for such a notebook. I jumped at the chance!
How would you describe this book to someone in a 30 second blurb?
The Caregiver’s Notebook is a portable planner/organizer for those caring for children with special needs, adults with disabilities, and aging parents. It can also be used by healthy adults to organize their medical, insurance, and legal information. It’s small enough to take to appointments and detailed enough to passed between all the caregivers working with a loved one. The notebook also offers devotional excerpts, prayer guides, and a Bible reading plan to meet the spiritual needs of caregivers.
The rest of this interview can be found at MLTMagazine.com.
by jphilo | Jul 7, 2014 | Book Updates
Today’s post is one of those cases where the picture’s worth a thousand words. The picture above comes from the Discovery House 2014 Fall Trade Catalog, which was in our mailbox on July 3. It’s arrival started our Independence Day weekend…and the promotional chatter about my latest book with a bang!
I won’t rehash what’s in the The Caregiver’s Notebook. You can read that for yourself in the not quite thousand words that accompany the picture above. If you like what you read and think others will too, pass the information along to your favorite local book store.
As the copy says, the notebook comes out until November, just in time to be the perfect gift for caregivers. It’s also a good gift for the 50+ crowd and those who wants to gather medical and legal materials in one place, so they and their loved ones can easily access it in case it’s needed.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must engage in some serious celebrating.
Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Happy Dance!
by jphilo | Mar 24, 2014 | Book Updates
Though I usually try to avoid cross pollination between DifferentDream,com, my blog for parents of kids with special needs, and this blog, today’s post is an exception. Because I can’t wait until there’s a day open in the DifferentDream schedule to show off the cover of The Caregiver’s Notebook.
Several months ago, the editor at Discovery House Publishers emailed an image of the cover, and I loved it. But it had to stay under wraps until the copyright was secured. That happened last week, when the editor gave the okay to take it to school for show and tell share it via social media.
So here I am, showing off the cover for the world to see. And telling everyone that this three year caregiver’s planner and organizer is slated for release by Discovery House in November of 2014 and will retail for $24.99. It’s flexible design means it can be used by those caring for aging loved ones, children and adults with special needs, and those caring for anyone with medical conditions, too.
More details will be forthcoming in the months before the release date. But for now, would you play along and leave a comment about how sweet the new baby is? This mama is mighty proud!
by jphilo | Apr 30, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. The dog ate the list. On wait, we don’t have a dog.
9. Hiram’s home today trimming the hedge and the noise is distracting.
8. I’m too busy doing a happy dance because the basic outline for my mystery novel is done.
7. My schedule is off because of visiting Mom on Monday instead of Tuesday this week.
6. Much of yesterday was spent in a futile search for navy shoes to go with a new navy and white dress. Who knew navy was out, out, out this year? No wonder the dress was on clearance.
5. Being over 50, I plead the 50th in all memory failure situations.
4. I figured out how to unfreeze my iPod all by myself, but then spent too much time patting myself on the back for doing it.
3. I’m guest hosting a special needs parenting discussion at Moms Together today. Come join us if you like.
2. Now that spring has arrived, I’m too busy admiring the daffodils, tulips, bleeding hearts, magnolias, budding trees, and green grass to think about top ten lists.
1. I’m black and blue from pinching myself about a new contract with Discovery House Publishers, this time for a Caregiver Notebook for those caring for kids with special needs and adults with health conditions.
