Guest Post by Andrea Renee Cox

I'm excited to have a guest author on the blog today! It's been far too long. Meet Andrea, one of my fellow Novelists in November anthology authors, as she shares about her story, "Melting-Pot Thanksgiving."

 

 11 Things I Love About Melting-Pot Thanksgiving

Novelists in November features stories by eleven different authors. My story is “Melting-Pot Thanksgiving” (MPT), which features an imperfect daughter tasked with creating the perfect Thanksgiving while balancing a tight writing deadline and helping her two foster kids deal with difficult life events.

These eleven elements are ones I especially love about MPT.

 

#1 The leading lady is a writer.

 

Writing about writers is something nearly every writer ends up doing at some point. I especially enjoyed writing Sarah Jones as a writer because I could easily slip in a few of my own quirks, such as shoving up my sweater sleeves so they don’t feel in the way and obsessively saving my work because of lost pages in the past.

 

#2 Teen and preteen angst is featured.

 

DJ is fourteen and full of spunk, but he also struggles to hold on to his troubled past while staking a claim on a more peaceful future.

Eun-Ji (pronounced Un-Jee) is twelve and struggling to cope while her beloved halmae (pronounced hal-may, Korean for “grandmother”) is in the hospital.

It was a fun challenge to write the situations and complex emotions for these two characters.

 

#3 Food is key to the plot.

 

The entire story revolves around preparations for Thanksgiving, so featuring food was a must. There were traditional foods like sweet potato casserole and pies, but I also tossed in some cultural foods such as mandu (pronounced man-doo, South Korean dumplings) and seafood gumbo. There might even be strawberry cake at one point.

 

#4 Diversity is spotlighted in a fresh way.

 

Sarah was a single foster mom to Delonte Smith Jr. and Kim Eun-Ji. I loved this family because it embraced a variety of cultures in the same household. No one felt pushed out or different, and everyone felt welcome. It was such a lovely thing to embrace the tapestry that God creates in making each individual person unique and special in their own right.

 

#5 Walking confidently in one’s dreams doesn’t mean other people have to understand.

 

Sarah always dreamed of being a foster mom and a writer. Her dreams are coming true despite her mother not understanding why Sarah chased these dreams in the first place. The cool thing is, we don’t need other people’s approval to pursue the dreams God installs in our hearts. We just need to trust and obey Him and see what He does with those incredible dreams.

 

#6 Adult siblings sometimes don’t get along well… and sometimes do!

 

Brian and Sarah were a blast to write. Their relationship was complex because sometimes they were at odds and sometimes they worked well together. I especially loved writing the scene when Brian came over to check up on Sarah’s progress toward the Thanksgiving meal. That scene held all kinds of spunk and bluster. Definitely a favorite!

 

#7 Mother-daughter relationships are highlighted.

 

There were three different mother-daughter relationships in this story.

1)      Sarah and Felicity (most often called Mama) had a dysfunctional relationship. They struggled to see eye to eye on things, yet they loved and needed one another.

2)      Sarah and foster daughter Eun-Ji had a budding relationship. They haven’t been together long (the length is never specified, but Eun-Ji is an emergency foster care placement for Sarah), but they’re building up solid ground between them.

3)      Eun-Ji and her halmae Min (pronounced Meen) are really granddaughter and grandmother, but Halmae Min is Eun-Ji’s only living relative and legal guardian (Sarah is also a temporary legal guardian via the foster care system). Eun-Ji admires and honors her grandmother, and Min cherishes and tries to look out for her granddaughter’s future.

 

#8 Best friends are the best supporters.

 

Sarah’s best friend, Kayla Prescott, came through for her at a couple different points in the story. Their friendship might have taken a back seat to the main plot, but it was one of those things that if it weren’t there, the story would feel incomplete.

 

#9 These besties owned a duplex together.

 

The duplex was a great hub for the action in this story. We only technically got to see Sarah’s half of it, but it was neat that the two ladies co-owned this duplex so they’d have each other very close by when either was in need of support or a chat.

 

#10 Sports are vaguely mentioned.

 

I’m a big sports fan, so any time I can sneak in a nod to that, I likely will capitalize on it. The mentions are subtle in this book. Brian is a coach (and teacher), following in the steps of his father, who is retired. That’s about all we learn about the sports angle this time around, but I’m looking forward to exploring it a bit more whenever I write Brian’s story (yes, there are more stories eventually coming in the MPT universe!).

 

#11 DJ’s mom doesn’t have page time, but she still makes an impact on the story.

 

DJ’s mom, who never gave me her name, is in prison for the duration of MPT. Still, she felt present as DJ longed to show her his grades in school and had a pretty significant phone conversation with her near the end of the story. That moment will always make me weep, it’s so emotionally impactful for him.

 

Which aspect of MPT intrigues you the most?
Are you a fan of best-friends relationships in stories? Why or why not?

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

 

 

About the Book

 

Novelists in November

a Wild Blue Wonder Press anthology

 

Novelists in November is a Christian short story collection featuring eleven emotional tales of authors finding their calling in Christ and pursuing hope, joy, and inspiration. This anthology contains touching stories from contemporary and historical fiction authors with a mix of romance, women’s fiction, and mystery!

 

Andrea Renee Cox: “Melting-Pot Thanksgiving”

Bethany Willcock: “And As She Talked”

Hannah E. Gridley: “Reasons to Be Thankful”

Katja H. Labonté: “Act in the Living Present”

Faith D. Cox: “My Heart Still Sings”

Kellyn Roth: “Tollemache House”

Katie Zeliger: “Finding Beauty in the Suffering”

Shira J. Rodriguez: “The Lost History of Lavender Lockbourne”

Heather Flynn: “Pages of Grace”

Avrie Swan: “The Sound of Healing”

Kelsey Bryant: “Between Moor and Mountain”

 

About Melting-Pot Thanksgiving

 

Melting-Pot Thanksgiving by Andrea Renee Cox

Can she create the Imperfect Perfect Thanksgiving?

Sarah Jones has many responsibilities on her plate, but Thanksgiving wasn’t supposed to be one of them. When asked to host the holiday, she can’t push aside the task, even if it means dealing with her mother’s interference. As Sarah juggles meal preparations, a tight writing deadline, and guiding her two foster children through difficult life events, she must also find the courage to buck high expectations and family traditions. 

Will the trials of strained communication, disappointment, heartache, and altered plans strengthen Sarah’s God-given novelist dreams? Will this imperfect yet dutiful daughter find a way to craft the perfect Thanksgiving dinner?

 

Book Links

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7KX58NB

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/novelists-in-november-a-wild-blue-wonder-press-anthology-by-kellyn-roth-and-katie-zeliger

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215022493-novelists-in-november

Hardcover App: https://hardcover.app/books/novelists-in-november

Wild Blue Wonder Press Shop: https://wildbluewonderpress.com/product/novelists-in-november/

 

About Andrea Renee Cox

 

Texan author Andrea Renee Cox is a born-again child of God who enjoys writing stories that inspire, copyediting fiction manuscripts, tutoring middle school students, and going on road trips with her family. Whether she’s working on historical, contemporary, women’s fiction, romance, or romantic tragedy, she uses her skills in research and writing techniques—as well as guidance from God—to produce the best story of her ability every time. Her books may be found on her website, and readers are welcome to follow her blog and subscribe to her newsletter for the latest updates in her journey. 

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/andreareneecox
Blog: https://andreareneecox.com/blog/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/andrea-renee-cox
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/andreacox
Hardcover: https://hardcover.app/@andreareneecox
Newsletter: https://andreareneecox.com/newsletter/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/andreareneecoxauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/screenwriter87
Website: https://andreareneecox.com

Guest Post: Interview with Relghim Film Makers

Enjoy what Hannah Bergeron, from the Relghim team, has to say about this exciting upcoming movie!

I would like to share with you a little bit of the film Relghim (Rel-Hime), which is currently in the process of being made.

Relghim, an action war drama that has a heart-punching story. With a feud between the Oghean and Haan (hane) clans, a family must fight against the odds for peace and restoration. With forgiveness being the message of the film, you will see how Dale, an Oghean, and the Wense family work together for good.  With much hurt and pain in their hearts, they strive to work harder than anyone to meet their goal.

I am the Behind the Scenes Director for this film; basically, my job is to film and photograph anything that is behind the scenes and create quality content, to show you what it is like to be on set! What is Relghim to me? Relghim is that eye-opening, heart-changing experience I feel everyone should see.  The message in this film speaks volumes, and really makes you question what you might have in your own personal heart that may need some tweaking.  Since being on set, working behind the scenes, and watching this whole thing develop and come to life, I have been more encouraged than I have been in a long time. I am genuinely very thankful for our Director, Grae Maer, and Producer, Lawrence Miller, for helping all of us cast and crew members to see the bigger picture in life!

I had interviewed both our Director and Producer and asked them some questions on why this film is so important to them, etc. One of the questions I had asked is, Why did you choose the name Relghim? The director's response was: “The name ‘RELGHIM' was created by my brother, Lawrence Miller [Producer of RELGHIM], and I.  Originally, we wanted to have a name that came from the meaning of restoration and forgiveness. We had called our film ‘The Forgiveness Project' at first. One night, my brother [Lawrence Miller] and I were working late, and I came into his office and I said, ‘You know, I think we should try to find another name for our film, instead of “The Forgiveness Project."' And after a lot of thought, we decided to use something from the language that is partly spoken in the film. (The language is called Tadar, which is made up for the film.) And that's how we came up with the name!"

I had also asked what had inspired them to make this film; here are their responses:

Grae: “What inspired me to make this film, I would say is about three-fold. The first, and biggest, inspiration I had for this film is that I feel very deeply for a community sense.  I also feel very deeply for culture. I have had so much happen in my own life that I wanted to share something personal with people.  I wanted them to not have to experience what I have experienced. The biggest inspiration or reason why I wanted to write a film was to touch some real topics on real things, things that we face every day. And to give people an opportunity to kind of, maybe, ask some questions."

Lawrence: “Film making has always been a passion of mine. I was originally inspired by my older sister actually, who dove into the world of film making. There is something about taking an emotion, a thought, a story, and putting it onto the big screen and to watch it. I work in production, and seeing all of the hard hours come to pass, just to see the final result of all of our work, is always something that made me stand in awe of the power of God.  To bring something together and the team effort that brought it is there.  Originally when I was looking to produce a film, I started with something short. I began talking with my brother and we somehow ended up like, ‘Yes, let's actually do a feature.' And from there I think the rest is history."

Another question: Is there something in the story you can relate to?

Lawrence: “Yes. Bitterness is a rotten thing, and as the scripture says, ‘Bitterness rots the bones.' [Pro. 14:30]  For a long time, actually, many years, I was very bitter towards someone. Little did I
know how it was coming into my life and affecting me so negatively. I have often seen the ‘tentacles,' you can say, of it.  This message that we're bringing is the power of unforgiveness.  I can relate to the story in that way, because I know the power of unforgiveness. I know that it reaches deep into our lives, and into the lives of our friends, family, culture, and nation if left unchecked.  I also know the power of restoration. I know that it is a very good thing, and I just want to let the world know about these two things. Yes, we have great unforgiveness, we can be very bitter towards someone. But! We can be restored in our relationship towards them, we can forgive them and move on.  Everything won't be the same as it was, but we have an understanding, and a great one at that. We can use those life lessons to improve upon our past situations. So yeah, the one thing I can relate to mightily in this film is the power of unforgiveness. Don't let it sit and rot. Don't be bitter. It rots the bones, and restoration is a beautiful thing."

So with that said, please join us by bringing this film to life! How can you help? There are two very important jobs.

The first: you can donate to our fundraising Kickstarter page and get some fun and exciting pledge items, like an original Oghean or Haan sash, custom mug, and more!

Secondly, you can spread the word by emailing your family and friends, or you can share our social media links on your own!

We are so excited to make a good quality film that teaches family unity, forgiveness and faith. Come join us and spread the word!

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Relghimthemovie/ [1]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/relghimthemovie [2]

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/relghimthemovie/ [3]

Website: https://www.relghimthemovie.com [4]

Contact: relghimthemovie@gmail.com

We have YouTube videos you can watch!

Our Behind the Scenes Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEGxiOawVcQ [5]

Our Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCwizmeMLf0vMW5rJbOXJnw [6]

Guest Post: Hope Pennington!

Today I'm happy to welcome Hope Pennington to my blog! She’s written a meaningful, fun, poignant post that I’m excited to share. Enjoy and be encouraged!



When You Can't Get Out Of Bed...

Morning dawns. Sun dances on my skin from the window and once again...I don't want to get up.

Static in my mind.

I have no plans for my life.

Gee. Life stinks sometimes.

Some people, some mornings get up, stretch like a Disney princess and dance through chores and their job like a Disney princess.

More often I feel like the villain. I don't save the world. My job isn't important. I'm not a hero, I'm not a princess. Why should I even bother getting up?

There's a sunrise outside.

Don't worry that you're in your pajamas. You walk outside. Feel the wet grass on your toes. Bring your bible. Read a psalms. Climb a fence. Look at clouds.

Stop waiting for something big. Your life. Your moment. Right now. Just looking at that sky. Is something big and amazing. Don't waist it worrying. Leave the worrying to God and laugh that happy laugh or if you can't - smile. Enjoy that sunrise. God painted it for you.

And dance. Dance like it's the last day of your life. Don't worry what people think. People get it wrong anyway. It's just you and God and the sky. And God loves in you.

Enjoy

Yourself

You're the hero of your story. And you rock.

Then go inside. Wear stuff. Who cares what. You kill it kid. So your room's a reck. So you flunked math. So your mom had to tell you for the millionth time to take out the trash. Take it out with pride and kick off your shoes. I need every single one of my adventures to know they're a hero today and live the adventure of having fun here and now.

Today

Kiss your mom.

Hug your dad.

Do your thing and #noworryaloud

Today is your day to #ROCK






Hope Pennington is a nerdy scifi and fantasy author who loves to encourage people to believe that they're the epic hero of their own life story. If she's not writing she can be found vlogging, making comic books or hanging out with random people who like the same TV shows as her.

Here’s how to connect with her:
Blog - The Epic Place, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube.

The Wonderful World of Sorting

Today I'm featuring our first guest post ever on Kelsey's Notebook! Please warmly welcome (with comments and Google+s!) Rachel H., a lovely young lady I'm pleased to call friend both in person and online.  She has an enviable job ... read on to find out what it is!

I feel a silence. Or maybe I could call it “apprehensive stillness.” No matter the name, it continually teases my ears with faint whispers and receding echoes as I swipe my badge to clock in, stride across the empty hallway, and bound up the yellow stairwell to Level S1. A familiar scent of coffee and fresh popcorn wafts through the air, and when I open the door to S1, the comforting clang of books-on-metal reaches my ears. It’s the only noticeable sound around me. Black carts line the hallway—a few loaded with books or DVDs and ready to shelve, but most empty and waiting to be filled. Through the sorting room’s open door, I can see today’s conveyor person quickly skim through a book before placing it on a metal grey shelf. For ten or fifteen minutes, this semi-silent atmosphere pervades, and I savor it. Books and dust, metal and coffee, the occasional high-pitched beep—all these sounds and scents embrace me as I mentally prepare for the day ahead. This is my world. This is my home away from home…and as the clock strikes nine, I shift into action. My friends, welcome to the Fayetteville Public Library.

My official occupation is Library Page II. My job includes shelving all library materials, such as books and DVDs; assisting patrons in finding those materials; shelf-reading (or, making sure books are shelved in the right order); and helping the conveyor person and librarians with miscellaneous tasks. From time to time, I can also function as “the conveyor person,” which I’ll talk about later. In a nutshell, Pages are the groundhogs of the library, but we’re absolutely essential—especially in a two-story library that processes thousands of materials a day.

Although we work in almost every part of the library, the sorting room is our home base. Its walls are lined with shelves from top to bottom, and the conveyor belt, surrounded by 3½-foot-tall bins, juts out into the middle of the room. Like many other libraries, we have an automated conveyor belt system that carries materials from book-drops (one inside and one outside the library) down into our sorting room, where they’re electronically checked in using RFID technology. The conveyor then sorts each item into a separate bin—either adult fiction, adult non-fiction, children’s, adult audio-visual, children’s audio-visual, teen and misc., overflow, holds, and rejects. Holds are items that patrons reserve to check out for themselves, while rejects are mostly items with dysfunctional RFID tags, items that belong to another library, or personal items.

After the items have been sorted and loaded onto carts, it’s my job to re-shelve them in the library. Shelving is pretty simple. I look at the item’s spine label, which tells me where it belongs. For example, adult fiction books only have the last name of the author on it, while adult non-fiction has a Dewey Decimal number above the first three letters of the author’s last name. All children’s books have a “J” on the top of the label. Anyhow, shelving itself isn’t the interesting part. The interesting part is something I call “the paging experience.”

The paging experience includes a number of things: tired feet, aching back, squeaky carts, the slowest elevator on Planet Earth, creepy patron questions, homeless male stalkers, unattended pet dogs, forgotten children, stolen DVDs, tipped carts, crammed bookshelves, sticky picture books, and so much more.

First things first: I believe that all pages should be offered premium chiropractic insurance. We’re always standing, bending, and going up and down the stairs, and sometimes it seems that every book goes on either the top or bottom shelves. (Just for the record, my arms, my toes, and my head have all been hit by falling books.) Even in comfortable shoes, feet still get weary . . . Moreover, carts can get heavy. Heavy enough for skinny girls like me to look silly trying to wrangle them across carpeted areas.

But to continue, I have gotten over the squeaky cart thing. If I pick a rebellious cart that gets to whining, I just laugh it off and keep on truckin’. Everyone just feels sorry for me anyway.
However, I am both proud and embarrassed to state that I have tipped 2 carts in my life (if you don’t count the oversized art books that fell off my cart right in front of the reference desk). The first time wasn’t bad, but the second happened as I exited the elevator, creating a massive book pile right in front of the elevator door. That. Was. Mortifying.

As for those “creepy patron questions, homeless male stalkers, unattended pet dogs, forgotten children, stolen DVDs,” they occur alot more than you’d expect. We actually call the police at least once every two months. Don’t get the wrong idea about our area, though. Talk to any page from a good-sized public library, and you’ll hear the exact same thing. It’s all a part of the experience.

On the flip side, when assigned a conveyor shift, my job is to make sure materials come in smoothly on the conveyor (i.e., not on top of each other), monitor the conveyor belt for book jams, deal with rejected items, unload bins as they fill up, load materials onto carts for shelving, and answer the telephone. It takes good management skills to keep track of everything, but depending on the season, conveyor shifts can be hectically busy or mind-numbingly slow. Summers filled with children’s reading programs can run me like a madman, as each mommy dumps 50 picture books down the book-drop and teenagers return 20 DVDs at one time. On the other hand, winters can see the sorting room empty and the conveyor person twiddling their thumbs for four hours straight. What’s more, because of our library policy about machinery, conveyor people aren’t allowed to leave the sorting room unless another trained page can watch the conveyor. So during those winters, running the conveyor is like babysitting a rock.

Now, despite my attempt at humorous complaining, I absolutely adore my job. I’ve been a page for over three years now and, for the time being, I can’t see myself doing anything else. When shelving, I get to hang among the books, keep up-to-date on the latest bestsellers, and inconspicuously people-watch. And nothing can beat the radiant smiles from a little third-grader who I helped to find a book about feeding pet rabbits. I also love my conveyor shifts. I get complete control over the sorting room radio, and if there’s a jam on the conveyor belt, then I get to use the walk-talkie!! If things are slow, then I can sit down (what a luxury!) and lose myself in a book.

For me, going to work is almost like coming home. Even when I’m shoving the heaviest cart or politely feuding with a confused patron, I feel like the library is where I belong, where I’m supposed to be. When I clock out after a long shift, I’m tired but satisfied because I’ve worked, not only with my hands and my feet, but with my heart. And, honestly, it’s a really good feeling.

Rachel H.: “I am a confirmed physics nerd, avid dancer, obsessive Anglophile, buoyant optimist, and very slow driver. I live snugly in the present, appreciate the lessons of the past, and await the future with smiles. Life is so very beautiful..."
Blog:  http://cherriesandtrees.blogspot.com/