Showing posts with label Guest Posts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Posts. Show all posts

Lit Alfame Blog Tour // Interview

Today marks the last day of the Lit Aflame blog tour (kind of the last, anyway - there's a surprise post up tomorrow).  And today I threw a few questions at Julia, which she was kind enough to answer...
What made you decide to start blogging?
For a long time I’ve wanted to blog, because I wanted somewhere to share my thoughts, rant about books, and overall make a difference.  But it took me finding the community of Christian bloggers to finally push me over the edge and get me started!  (Yes, I honestly had no idea there were such blogs as
the ones floating around this community until a bit earlier in the year).  PLUS I was getting serious about writing, and wanted to begin gathering my empire for whenever I release my books. So yeah….  Since then it’s grown into so much more though.
Where did the name come from?
Aha, the name….”Lit Aflame”, yesss, that is a interesting subject.  Seeing I was suppose to change it once I started my official blog, and as you can see, my official blog’s name just happens to be “Lit Aflame” still.
I began with other name’s I liked much better, but all of them were already taken!  People I tell you, this was a horrible crises, at least for someone as impatient as I.  Because, guyz, I had to actually spend time THINKING about it.  *cue gasps* yes I know, it’s horrible.  But I had to, and you know what that got me? 
Blogger’s Blog-domain-block, yep, bloggers, you don't want to meet this guy. EVER.  Anyway, I pounded my brain about for awhile, coming back with nothing but frustration, I gave it to God and asked Him to show me the right name.
And I sang a little song and all my problems magically disappeared.
Um no, and you people who believed that can go sit in a corner and feel sorry for yourself, you should know that sort of thing only happens to Disney Princesses and I happen, despite my perfectness for the job, to not be one (note: that would be the worse job in all the history of worse jobs for me... I don’t even like Disney princesses).
No, it took me a few days of ponderings, but at last it came to me, “Lit Aflame”,  because hadn’t my “life” prayer pretty much been for God to make me a flame - a burning light in this dark world?  And didn’t I want to actually live a meaningful life and do something for Christ?
So yes, Lit Aflame became the name.  Because I want to live my life “lit aflame for Christ” and shine brightly for Him.
So yes it must be admitted, I did it with the thought that this was just a temporary title, I thought it sounded weird and stuff….so I was going to do something “better” when making my official blog, but, really, the name fits rather well.  Plus it sorta grew on me.
How did your family and friends react to your "I'm going to blog!" announcement?
HAH.  Y’know I’m sorta a hermit who lives in a hole and never comes out.  Which means when I first made the blog I didn’t really, exactly tell anyone.  At least it wasn’t really talked about or anything until I made my official blog, and you know that includes purchasing a domain and everything.  I’m not the announcy type, but that info still got around, and it earned me some gasps about the amount of money I was spending.  Yeah, mainly wide eyes and incredulous looks.  Heh.  And as for “outside” family and friends…. Um, they have no idea...and I don’t exactly have any friends. Well, I mean, my siblings are my friends. so…….
What's been the hardest thing about blogging that you've encountered so far?
Getting subscribers?  XD.  But really, I don’t know. . . other than that I’ve been really enjoying it, maybe the amount of time it takes?  Like, each post seems to consume SO much time.  It’s like some weirdly likeable monster that eats time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.




Oooh!  I just had the GREATEST thought for an answer!  The ABOUT ME page, I am being completely serious here, that thing has cause me more woe and heartache than anything else.  It’s ridiculous.
Have you found anything super easy that you thought would be more of a challenge?
Huh, I’m not sure. . . .  I don’t know about it being “super easy” but coming up with content to post twice a week isn’t as hard as I had thought, I mean it can get a bit hard, but it’s actually not too bad.
Where do you see yourself with blogging a year from now?
Ahhhhhh, my dream would be 1,000 + subscribers and a monetized site.  But I think we all know that has a chance of being highly unlikely.  So basically, a year from now, I hope to have at least 200 subscribers with a few certain things released for purchase (right now these things be secret….sshhhhhhh).
Maybe I’m aiming too high, as it is I want 50 subscribers by the end of 2018, but at least I’m aiming for something.  I mean, I can’t get anywhere if I don’t at least try.
Meet the Interviewee: Julia S.

Julia is a 15 year old born again Christian who believes if the Bible says it it’s true, and a Bookworm who knows that words have the power to change the world.   She juggles her small business, writing, and college while living on a farm in Texas with her parents, seven siblings and a ton of animals.
Her goal in all that she does is to bring glory to God and to live a life lit aflame for Christ.  She hopes to encourage others to do the same.

Blog: Lit Aflame
Instagram: @litaflame

Celebrate the Launch of my Blog with me!



Hiya!  This week we’ve been celebrating the launch of Lit Aflame, my new blog.  There’s even a giveaway!  So don’t miss out!  Today is the LAST day for the GIVEAWAY, so HURRY!

Click below for the giveaway - LAST DAY to enter:


Check out the other blog stops around the blogosphere!  You don’t want to miss out on these posts! :


Sunday:

Monday:

Tuesday:

[Guest Post] 3 Things You can learn from God's Smuggler [Saver of Memories]

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday:
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Guest Post // 3 Things God's Smuggler Taught Me


Today I have a special post by Julia from Lit Aflame!  Her blog has finally gone live, and in celebration, this week is full of exciting posts (and a giveaway). 
(Also, her name is similar to mine, so isn't that super cool??  Now everyone can go about getting us confused...)
3 Things God’s Smuggler Taught Me


It is not by chance that I am giving away a book called “God’s Smuggler”, this book is AMAZING.  It is quite frankly, the most inspirational book that I have read and obviously my favorite.  It has so many good lessons and reminders and Brother Andrew’s life was just, WOW.  So today, I thought I’d share with you 3 things that God’s Smuggler has taught me (and can teach you).
1. God is still doing the impossible
Well, yeah, I mean of course, I knew this, it’s just…..reading this book made it more “real” y’know?  I just remember the first time God did a miracle for Andrew, it just, does it sound weird to say that it took my breath away?  God’s amazing, y’all better know that. So whenever you hear someone say, or you yourself think that “God doesn’t do the impossible anymore” think again!  God is still alive, God is still right here with us, He is still working.  And He is still GOD.  He still does the impossible today! And don’t you let anyone convince you otherwise.
2. God will take care of His own
Oh yes, we always saaay that we know that God will take care of us and all that, but you and I both know that there are some times when we doubt, or even forget His promised care.  Sometimes we let ourselves fall beneath the swathing fear and we lose sight of God’s hands.  When we take our eyes off our Savior and look to the enemy it is easy to forget and despair - but the Bible says “fear NOT”!  We have the ALMIGHTY GOD on our side, fighting for us.  We needn’t fear the storm nor the enemy any more.  We can lift our chins and straighten our shoulders, what do we have to fear?  He who is in us is greater than they that be in the world!  And really, as the Bible says, if God be for us, who can be against us?
3. It really is all about HIS love
Sad to say, sometimes we hear about God’s love so much, that it grows dull and loses it’s effect. But you know, WITHOUT His love for us, Jesus wouldn’t have ever died for us, without HIS love for us you and I would be doomed to hell.
But we’re not, because HE LOVED us.  Sometimes you can lose sight of the WOW in that, especially when it’s common knowledge as you grow up.  There is one quote in particular from this book that I shall never forget:
I LOVE that up there, and he’s right.  We need to be more fluent in the agape “language”, agape is the highest form of love - it’s the love Jesus has for us - the agape love is the type of love that kept Him on the cross.  It’s the highest, most unconditional love out there.  And it’s the sort of love we as Christians need to be showing to everyone around us, no matter who they may be.  So that through us and the love we show, the lost may see Jesus.
Meet the Author:
Julia is a 15 year old born again Christian who believes if the Bible says it it’s true, and a Bookworm who knows that words have the power to change the world.   She juggles her small business, writing, and college while living on a farm in Texas with her parents, seven siblings and a ton of animals.
Her goal in all that she does is to bring glory to God and to live a life lit aflame for Christ.  She hopes to encourage others to do the same.
We’re celebrating the launch of my new blog!
I am on a quest.  Or that is, I was.
That's right, I was on a quest, though it wasn’t the dragon slaying sort (I prefer to ride them). But it was a very important quest nonetheless!
My poor young self of a few months ago started a free blog, to make sure I wanted to actually do this blogging thing. Turns out, I LOVE blogging, so then the time came to pull out the matches, scoop the Ice-cream, and get serious about blogging!
Why am I bothering you about this? Don't you have much better things to do than have your precious time wasted by me? Uh, well, yeah, literally anything would probably be more worth your time than reading this -- but let’s be honest here, you would much rather waste your time listening to me talk than do anything productive, right? (no? Just me?)  ANYWAY the thing is I AM BUILDING AN EMPIRE!
*cough* I mean, I'm launching my "official" blog.
Obviously.
And I have just come back from my quest of gathering a group of wonderful bloggers to help make the launch special (one of which you are reading this at now).
Again, why am I bothering you?
Because celebration! I mean come on!  You can’t launch anything without having a party, right?  So here at Lit Aflame we are having a week long celebration and if I do say so myself, it’s purty awesome.  Because, guys, there’s a giveaway!  I LOVE giveaways!  Nearly as much as I love Ice cream.  The only sad thing is… I can’t enter my own giveaway, the good thing?  YOU can!


Plus a post every day this whole week!


Here’s this week’s schedule and blog stops:


Sunday:


Monday:


Tuesday:
Wednesday


Thursday


Friday


Saturday:


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First Drafting, Part 10: Research

So today I have something new and exciting - my first guest post!

Because today's topic is on research, and I am not a historical fiction writer, I reached out to Mrs. Carol Baldwin for help on this subject.  She has been an encouragement to me, as when I first started getting serious about my writing, I read her book, Teaching the Story.  It helped me realize that I needed to do some prep work before actually sitting down and writing.  She is currently writing an historical fiction novel set in the 1950's, and you can learn more about it here: Half-Truths.  (Personally, I think it sounds super cool!)



"It’s a good idea to cast a wide net when you’re researching historical fiction. You want to immerse yourself in the time and place so that when it comes time to write, your characters will speak, act, dress, eat, play…you know, just about everything…authentically. Although the internet is fantastic for finding material, don’t rely on it alone. Read books about your time period as well as books your characters might have read.

As you are researching, make sure you have a good system of keeping track of your sources. Whether it’s a Word document, Scrivener, or notebooks with dividers (yes, I have a friend who still does it that way), you want to be able to track down your sources easily. Saving images in Pinterest (with the websites where you found them) works well for visuals. Here’s a link to my Pinterest boards so you can see what I have saved.

Inevitably, you’re going to itch to start writing and when you do, you’ll find you STILL don’t know the type of pasta your Italian peasant ate in 1828 or the color of her dress or what kind of feather was in her suitor’s hat (did Italian men even wear hats with feathers in the 19th century?). Don’t stop to fill this in. Leave words such as WHAT COLOR or MATERIAL OF DRESS or TYPE OF HAT in the manuscript. I read an article recently in which the writer recommended inserting something like “TK" so she could search the entire document for those letters and fill in the necessary details later.

The reason you want to wait to search out these important details is that there’s a good chance that in your final draft, that scene will have changed so dramatically that you don’t even need that information (turns out her suitor was a prince and he only wore crowns on his head…you know, that sort of thing). Or the scene isn’t even in your final draft.

I can’t tell you how many times I wish I’d had this advice before I started writing Half-Truths!

Like Julian has said, get the story out. Leave holes if you need to. You'll fill them in later."



Carol Baldwin blogs at carolbaldwinblog.blogspot.com where she loves reviewing and giving away books. Follow her on Facebook, her author page, or Twitter. 
 



Just a quick farewell...but I (Julian) will return on Wednesday for the first part of the new Shared-WIP Tag!

Does anyone else write historical fiction?  Have you had any problems with research?  Any tricks for getting through a first draft with HF?  Comment below, and please check out Mrs. Baldwin's blog!  She's awesome.  :D
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