Category Archives: Author

Guest Blog: Pam Funke

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MY JOURNEY by Pam Funke

One day while I was standing in the local Wal-Mart looking at the books on the shelves there, it occurred to me that there just was not enough Christian Fiction books out on the market. I was disappointed with the books that were available for the public to read, especially those on the market for our youth. The books that lined the shelves are not feeding their minds or souls with positive things. Now mind you there are some very good non-Christian novels out there that instill a positive message, but unfortunately there are many out there that are not. There has to be something in a good book that not only feeds the mind with positive values and teaches the reader how to improve their life and give them some hope. If not, then what’s the point? A good book should have a lesson in it that someone can learn something valuable from it and not just an escape away from their problems in the real world ~ because when the story is over the real world is still there and so are their problems. They should be able to come out of that story with something positive that they can use to help them in the real world. From that very moment I decided that I would try to fill that very void and hence The Apocalypse series was born.

Operation Dark Angel: The Rise of Nicolaitanes, which is the first book in the series, began my journey into authorhood. When I first sat down to write this novel, I honestly wasn’t sure what it was going to entail. I sat there for a few moments wondering how to begin the story. I put my pen down and sat there for a moment pondering what to do. As I sat there with my eyes closed it suddenly came to me. I started to see the events of my novel unfold before me in my mind. It was as though I were watching a movie on the television set. It seemed kind of odd to be writing in this manner, but I wrote down everything that I saw and heard in my mind. Although I was able to picture my story, I still had to do some research into various things. For example, I had to find out about different cultures and religions so that I could incorporate them into my story properly. I also had to read extensive news articles from around the world to figure out which ones I could use to enhance the storyline. A year later, I had a completed manuscript and sat down to read it from cover to cover. It turned out to be a really good story worthy of being read by others. I must admit that I was nervous about getting it published, but I figured what harm could it do? The audience would either love it or hate it. Receiving my very first physical copy of the book was a wonderful feeling. To see that others are enjoying the book as well and leaving reviews on Amazon, B&N and Goodreads is great. I love to read what others think about what I wrote.

Well it is now a year later and I am happy to say that my fourth book, Sodom: A Nation On Its Knees, will be published later this month.

As a new author, my advice to all of you out there who have the desire to write or are newly published authors as well; write to your heart’s content. Don’t give up your dream and even if one door or more is closed in your face be patient for there will be one door that will remain open for you. Write for not only your enjoyment, but for the enjoyment of others. Stay encouraged and happy writing.

frontThrough the Eyes of a Child book blurb: God created the heavens and the earth. He created all of the plants, animals and birds of the air. He created man. When God was finished He looked at all that He had created and saw that it was good. Come see the world through the curious eyes of a child.

Links:

Amazon (this is a global link) http://myBook.to/EyesOfAChild


Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/1ag2EKb

Author Website http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00949V7KK

Author Blog http://authorpamfunke.blogspot.com/

Book Blog http://godcreateditall.blogspot.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Pam-Funke/400956839999492

Twitter https://twitter.com/4HorsemenSeries

Book Giveaway https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/79049-through-the-eyes-of-a-child

A Writer’s Life: Carpal Tunnel

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Since the beginning of January I been busy writing, editing, revising and writing again. It has been crazy. This is great as the creativity has been flowing and work has been done. But with all of that a shoe is bound to drop.

I have had surgery on my left arm a number of years ago, and it helped for a year maybe two. It was for my carpal tunnel syndrome. I been able to combat it from coming back full steam by being careful and applying ointments and heat when needed.

However NaNoWriMo always kills it, always. And now this month has reared its ugly head. My left arm has been hurting all month-long. I have taken a day or two in a row off from actively being online and writing. The minute it slightly feels better I am off and running.

This past week I took three days off and it helped a lot but it did not heal. I dread going to the doctor for this but may not have choice.

Many people have said try the Dragon for PC program. One where you speak into a microphone and it transcribes why you say into words. I have this program and have tried to train it so many times. It will write a few words and then pause. My husband and son tried it once they saw my frustration. They had no problem training it. I tried again to no avail. My husband thinks it is due to my accent and my ability to speak at the speed of light. The machine will pause as if it is saying, What the … is she saying?”

I will give it another shot, perhaps if I slow down a bit it will work for me. It sure beats having another surgery.

My newsletter

IMG_0175Recently I blogged about newsletters. How I wanted to get on board with this way of spreading my brand. The sites I visited all wanted me to share my personal home address with the world. I wasn’t feeling that. Thanks to my lovely editor, Nancy, she directed me to Mad Mimi, a free site where all that was required was town and state.

So I went about setting up my first issue. It was a little time-consuming for I wanted it just right. I’m not sure how many emails I got from myself as I tested various versions. It took some time but after a few hours I got the pictures, links and story laid out that looked pleasing to my eye. I was nervous as heck and excited to get it ready in time to announce to the world which I did promptly on my social media outlets

Here is the link to the first issue.

https://madmimi.com/mimio/b1a564/preview

The link to subscribe, if interested, is here:http://mad.ly/signups/98152/join

I was fortunate enough to get a nice small crowd of people interested in reading more of what I had to say. Hopefully I won’t disappoint. Being an author means more than just writing. It involves editing, revising, editing again and then either self publish or find a traditional publisher. But it doesn’t end there. After comes the marketing and promotion which one has to do regardless how your book is released to the world.

It’s a marathon not a sprint. I need to invest in water.