It’s been a productive year, and I wish to thank the kind individuals who’ve helped make it so. If you struggle in a writing career or other endeavor, my thoughts and prayers are with you.
A special “Thank you” goes to all of you who follow this blog as well as those who’ve read posts, liked, commented on, or shared them.
May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah. May you and your families and friends enjoy safety and prosperity now and into the New Year.
See you in 2015!
Cynthia
A special guest author is with us today! Alexis Goring is one of the most upbeat, spiritual individuals I know. How appropriate that she visit us at Christmastime! And this is the perfect season to read Alexis’ short story collection, Hope in My Heart, which contains special messages of hope.
In “Love Unexpected,” a car crash brings commitment-wary Sebastian and career woman Chandra together and shows that sometimes love shows up unexpectedly.
In “The Best Gift,” Christina desires to lose ten pounds, Jordan wishes her mom would stop trying to marry her off, and Joshua hopes to be reunited with his ex-girlfriend.
In “Peace and Love,” a starving artist, a divorce attorney, and a woman who was adopted conduct desperate searches to fulfill their desires for the Christmas season.
I’ll turn the blog over to Alexis now. I believe she will inspire you! 
God as the Giver of Good Gifts: Elle’s story at Christmastime
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” ~ James 1:17 (New International Version)
Christmastime is my favorite feature of December, if not all year! I look forward to this holiday with great anticipation of good food, delicious desserts, quality time with family, thoughtful Christmas cards from friends and of course free gifts!
God is the Giver of good and perfect gifts just as it says in the Bible (James 1:17). He knows what is best for us and He’s always working life situations out for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Such is the case with the characters in my first book, Hope in My Heart: A Collection of Heartwarming Stories. It’s an inspirational romance novella composed of three stories and in every story, all of my main characters are hoping for a dream of their heart to come true.
Today, for the purposes of this holiday devotional, we’re going to focus on the third story titled “Peace and Love” which features a character named Elle Brighton. She’s driven down to Washington, D.C. from Michigan because she is in search of a full-time job with benefits and a steady salary. Elle has several interviews in the D.C. area and she’s hoping that one of those interviews will end with a job offer.
Elle’s story is set at Christmastime. She arrives in D.C. early in December and after her final interview, she plans on driving to Virginia to spend Christmas Day with her Aunt Charlotte and cousins. Elle’s hoping that she’ll have good news to bring to the table when she arrives at her Aunt’s home and that good news of course, would be that Elle got a steady job that pays her what she’s worth.
Job hunting for Elle is not an easy task. She meets delays, misses deadlines and experiences disappointment. But through it all, God is behind the scenes working out her situation for the better. Now I cannot tell you more without giving away the story’s ending. But I can tell you that though Elle’s story is fictional, the struggle is real. If you are unemployed or not making enough money to make ends meet, this devotional is for you.
I want to encourage you who are job hunting like Elle with these words: Always remember that 1) God is good (2) God loves you and (3) Keep praying to God, presenting your requests and concerns to Him and He will work things out for your good.
My grandma always says that “God may not come (through for you) when you want Him too but He’s always on time.” The older and more experienced in life I become, the more I find that old-fashioned statement to be true and relevant to modern day life.
Recently, God answered a prayer request I’d presented to Him for the past five months. It was a frustrating problem that simply would not be fixed until when I least expected, God came through for me in a mighty way. He answered all of my prayer requests concerning this situation and made a way out of no way. I am grateful for God’s perfect timing!
So as Christmas Day approaches, I pray that God will give you good and perfect gifts you’ve been asking for according to His will. And if you don’t get that gift exactly on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, keep your faith in God and know that it is on the way. It may not look like you expect it to or arrive at the time you want it to but remember, God is always on time!
Know that when God gives you gifts, not only will it be good and perfect but it will be just what you need and arrive exactly when you need it most. May God’s peace, love and blessings shower upon your lives this Christmastime and forever.
Alexis
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Thank you, Alexis. What a timely message, especially for those looking for a job and in need of encouragement.
Readers, here’s a little more about Alexis, how you can reach her, and where to find her book.
Author bio:
Alexis A. Goring holds a degree in print journalism from Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland. Writing is her passion. She hopes that her stories will touch hearts, bring smiles to faces, and inspire minds to seek God whose love for humanity is unfailing.
Social media connections:
Official website, http://www.alexisagoring.com/
Official Author page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexisAGoring
Twitter handle, @pennedbyalex
Purchase links:
Amazon.com, http://amzn.to/1it3pxT
BarnesandNoble.com, http://bit.ly/1mGHW95
Books-A-Million.com, http://bit.ly/1kLQviX
Christianbook.com, http://bit.ly/1heBcjV
Crossbooks.com, http://bit.ly/1it47eJ
Lifeway.com, http://lfwy.co/1kLQStR
Yesterday, I was thrilled to be hosted on Express Yourself Teen Radio out of California. It is described as the #1 top-rated YA radio program in the world and is a part of the Voice America Kids Network.
I blogged about how I prepared for the recording in a recent post, 6 Tips for a Successful Radio Interview via Skype.
Express Yourself Teen Radio reaches teens all over the globe! My teen hosts, Henna Hundal and Asia Gonzales, were impressive and loads of fun.
The program’s topic was the Importance of Learning Life Skills. We talked about how Bird Face and its main character, Wendy, help demonstrate that and how writers encounter the need for specific life skills. Henna provides an excellent introduction of the topic and then the interview begins.
Take a listen and let me know what you think! Episode: Importance of Life Skills
Here we are near the end of another year, and I must confess to Father Time that I sometimes become confused about how to tell T:I:M:E in my fiction. So I decided to look up the rules in the Chicago Manual of Style—again–and post examples on this blog that I can easily reference , if not remember.
If a character must catch a train, plane, or other mode of public transportation, give the exact time in numerals. For example, Bob waited in the rain for the 8:15 a.m. bus. (Use lower case “a” and “m” with periods.)
If I had to mention the time a court convenes or adjourns, I would do the same, although I didn’t see a rule expressing that specifically. The judge declared that court would convene again at 9:00 a.m. I’ve often heard it stated that way on TV and in movies.
Spell out numbers when stating an unscheduled time in narrative or dialogue. Writers have options for how to do so.
Wendy arrived at school at eight fifteen. (No hyphens, unless the number has a hyphen, such as eight forty-five.) We assume the time is morning because my character Wendy is fourteen years old. Otherwise, Wendy arrived at school at eight fifteen in the morning, or, in the evening.
In my 1920s historical manuscript, The Other Side of Freedom, I imagine at least some of the characters might use the more formal arrived at a quarter past eight. Eight thirty would be half past eight. If it were eight forty-five, that would be a quarter of nine.
It is correct to use o’clock with whole hours spelled out, such as nine o’clock. For example, He had a nine o’clock class (or meeting) that morning. But I think we can use our discretion in Class starts at nine o’clock or Class starts at 9:00 a.m., because in this case the time is a standard set for each day, much like the time set for a particular public transportation vehicle.
For any given instance requiring the mention of time, I will try to be consistent among similar instances.
Do you have many occasions to mention time in your fiction, and how do you handle the style? How about military time?
Bird Face Wendy 