NEWS: Seek Shelter Book Release & Interview
Hello, friends!
I’ve been quiet for a while now. (Resting is necessary; you’ve heard me talk about that many times.) 🙂
But… resting doesn’t mean I haven’t been active. Quite the opposite! It means I stepped back and focused on self-care, part of which included writing my latest book, Seek Shelter: Stories to Soothe Your Spirit During Natural Disasters.
2018
This book has an interesting backstory to it. And to tell you all about it is my dear friend and co-author, Kim Wilbanks, who interviewed me about how the book came to be.
Kim is an excellent writer and blogger. She is a wife and a mother of two adult children who have flown the coop and left her with an almost empty nest. Her “baby” is a comical Welsh Corgi named Sir Higgins.
Kim is relatable and has a genuine heart to come alongside others in the empty nest stage of life. I know you’ll enjoy her writing.
So… I’d like for you to do several things:
- Head on over to Kim’s blog and read her interview. Here is the link.
- Comment on her post to enter her giveaway of the book.
- Sign up for her blog!
I appreciate you and we’ll talk again soon.
Big hugs,
Daphne
Thankful for Abundant Life, Clear Skies, and Stable Booths
Happy Monday, friends!
I hope you had a joyous Easter. We had such powerful worship at our morning church service. It moves me to tears to know my God is alive. And because He lives, we can too. And not just live, but live abundantly.
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
This past Saturday, I had the privilege of showcasing my books at “Meet the Author on the Park” in Winter Haven, Florida. This event was sponsored by my friends Sandy Knowles at Three Rivers Press and April Whitt at Grapefruit Press.
I met many people and was able to learn about their lives, their interests, and their troubles. Sandy and April, the organizers of the event, offered authors the opportunity to speak to the audience via a loudspeaker system. (Yikes!) I was up for the challenge and spoke to festival-goers about some tips for writing about difficult topics. I also shared about my latest book, Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls: 31 Days of Journaling God’s Blessings.
I haven’t officially shared with you about this book, which was such an inspiration to me as I wrote it. Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls is a unique thankfulness journal where you literally “jot down” your thanks to God throughout your day.
Here is a snapshot of one of the chapters.
As you can see, I open each of the 31 days with praise to God and then provide you some space to give thanks to God throughout your day. No journaling for 10, 15, 30 minutes or an hour-not that there’s anything wrong with that. 😉 The approach is to jot down your thanks as you go through your day or when you lie down for the night.
I asked people who stopped by my booth what they were thankful for that very morning and these were some of their answers:
- Shoes on my feet
- That I didn’t have to cook Easter dinner
- That it wasn’t raining (The weather called for rain.)
By the end of the festival, I gave thanks to God that my booth didn’t tumble away with the wind. 🙂
During my 10-minute talk, I was honored to talk about the inspiration for my book, which came about during my husband’s job loss last year. Writing Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls was my way of keeping a thankful spirit during our financial troubles, our roller coaster feelings of hope and frustration, and all of the emotional, physical, relational, and even spiritual side-effects of such a loss. God truly can help us through difficult times when we are intentional about giving thanks in all circumstances. It’s not easy; it still isn’t, but we have renewed hope and know God has been our provider during this time.
Remember, friends: God might not change your circumstances, but He can change you when you choose to thank Him.
I was also excited to showcase the Spanish version of the book, hot off the press. 🙂
To order the English or Spanish version of Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls, visit Amazon, CreateSpace, or your preferred online book retailer. You may also purchase a copy here on my Web site, and I will mail you a copy with a message just for you. 🙂
Big hugs. So… What are you thankful for today?
They stood every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They did the same thing every evening. (1 Chronicles 23:30)
Daphne’s Top Inspirational Posts of 2013
Hi, friends!
Thank you for making this another wonderful year! God has been so good.
Similar to last year and 2011, I want to look back to all my posts from 2013 and get a glimpse of what topics resonated with you most.
Based on your comments, likes, tweets, stumbles, pins, and other sharing, I have created a list of top inspirational posts for 2013. I hope you will keep this list as a handy reference whenever you need a little comfort. And I hope you will pass it on to others who might be struggling as well. And… if as you reread the posts and comments, you want to continue the conversation, feel free to do so.
So… here they are. Drumroll, please!
Number 9:
Oh, God! Quick: Fight, Flight, or Freeze?!?!
Number 8:
My Declaration of (In)Dependence
Number 7:
Close the Door and Open your Heart
Number 6:
I Just Want to Hear Your Voice
Number 5:
Do you know someone with a mental illness? Yes, you do.
Number 4:
You Don’t Have to Handle Everything All by Yourself
Number 3:
Number 2:
And Number 1 of Daphne’s Posts of 2013… Drumroll, please!
Once again, I want to thank you for your comments, likes, tweets, stumbles, pins, and sharing. Every time you respond to a post, you affirm this ministry, and I am greatly appreciative.
Please keep me in your prayers as I begin 2014. This past year was another fruitful year:
- My first book, Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls
- The Polk Authors and Illustrators Festival
- 3rd Annual Spring Market and Craft Fair
- Sharing my testimony at local Celebrate Recovery meetings
- Presenting my work at Truth Factory’s Christian Community Theatre production, “Bet on Job”
- Affiliate relationships
- 15 Articles published in various magazines
- Readers from 6 of 7 continents
- 67% returning visitors to the site
I give all glory to God for these and other blessings.
Please enjoy the posts–again. Share them with others.
Bring on 2014!
Big hugs,
Daphne
Come alongside… Which was your favorite post and why?
December 2013 Book Giveaway Winners
Hi, friends!
What a great response to the book giveaway. It’s neat to hear the different things people thank God for; it encourages me to look at things differently. Isn’t God good?
So this is how the winners were chosen: First, I assigned each comment a number and entered the numbers into a random number generator. Five numbers were generated. Then, I cross-referenced the numbers to their names. Each name won a signed copy of Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls, my 31-day thankfulness journal.
And the winners are…
Lori R.
Latasha D.
Larry and Sara G.
Denise M.
Kathy P.
Congratulations to each of you! I will send you a direct message with additional information. I hope you will each benefit from the words written in this book and that you will encourage others to purchase it as well. I would love to hear the unique things you are thankful for, so send me a note every once in a while.
Also, it would be great if you could write a review on Amazon, GoodReads, and other online book retailers once the book is out officially. 🙂
Here is a description of the book, from the back cover–in case you missed it in an earlier post:
It’s no secret: Insects can be annoying. They zip around and get in your face, usually while you’re trying to do something productive or have a conversation. Ketchup? Some people take it; others leave it. Sure, it makes burgers and hot dogs taste better, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a condiment. Late-night phone calls? Chances are you’re not going to like what you hear on the other end of the line.
These three things probably wouldn’t make it on your list of God’s blessings. But they’re on Daphne’s!
In Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls, Daphne Tarango reveals why she now sees these minor, insignificant, and annoying things as God’s blessings. Daphne will help you keep a quick journal of how God smiled on you throughout the day—your very own dragonfly, ketchup, and late-night phone-call moments.
Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls goes beyond general thank-yous to God. Each day begins with a prayer of thanksgiving. You fill in the rest with your specific blessings for that day: Morning, mid-day, evening, and bedtime. There’s even room for jotting down more thank-yous to God on extra pages. (Believe me, you’ll need them.)
Journaling God’s blessings using this 31-day journal can make your good days even brighter. “Hey, God is thinking about me!”
On bad days—maybe even difficult seasons, journaling using Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls can make your heart lighter and your mind clearer. Your situation might not have changed when you lie down at night, but your lips just might curl up on one end as you think, “That wasn’t such a bad day after all.”
To Pre-order the Book
If you would like to pre-order a copy of Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls, you can do so via PayPal. December is a great opportunity to purchase several copies–-one for yourself and others for a mother, wife, sister, daughter, or friend. This is a great resource for children. Men can order too! 😉 It makes a great stocking-stuffer. 🙂
Once the book is out officially, you will be able to purchase via Amazon and other retailers.
Once again, thank you so much for your support of this ministry. God has opened so many doors for me this year, and I can’t wait to see what He has in store in 2014.
Blessings and big hugs,
Daphne
News: Lots going on at DaphneWrites
Hi, friends!
The Lord has blessed this ministry a lot in the past couple months. Here’s what’s been going on:
Events
I had some opportunities to display and sell my books at the 4th Annual Polk Writers and Illustrators Festival here in Lakeland, Florida. I met a lot of great people and was able to share my story with them.
I was so proud to be one of six writers from our very own Lakeland Christian Writers, a chapter of American Christian Writers (ACW). Here are some of them.
With April Whitt, author of the Romeo Riley Series, and member of LCW
With Chris Pylant, co-author of A Touch of Heaven, and member of LCW
Beth Miller, co-author of Under His Wings, and member of LCW
I was also invited to display and sell my book at Truth Factory’s artistic production, “Bet on Job.” (That’s Job like Job in the Bible.) 🙂 Here is some information from Truth Factory’s Facebook page:
Truth Factory is “a platform for local Christian artists to share their unique and inspirational gifts with the greater Lakeland community. We strive to encourage creativity which portrays the principles of Christianity in the tangible form of artistic expression. Artists are invited to showcase their talents and demonstrate the breath of creation reflected in their body of work. We promote artistic freedom for artists to express their love of God, to share His message of hope and to communicate their personal experience of Him with others.
I look forward to participating in other Truth Factory productions, along with other local artists.
Books
I’ve been working on two books. One I’ve already written you about in an earlier post. That one is still a little ways off. Be in prayer for that. The other book is further along and will be published in the next few weeks–just in time for the holidays, although it can be used year-round. Be on the lookout for it. I’ll write more about it as we get closer to publication date. And I’ll be holding some giveaways, so watch for those too. 🙂
Affiliate Merchants
I’ve been trying to work on my writing full-time and treating it as the career I want it to be. I’ve also been in prayer about the best ways to supplement my family’s income with the talent God has given me. After much research, I’ve decided to become an affiliate publisher of several big-name and respected merchants: DaySpring, Family Christian Stores, and Amazon. Please know I am in no way employed by these companies. What it does mean is that you might see links and images throughout my web site that advertise products from these merchants. When you click on a link and make a purchase, I might receive a small commission in return. You can read more about my role as an affiliate publisher on my disclosure page.
If you look on the new Resources tab on my web site, you will see several drop-down menus:
- Disclosure
- Printables
- Books, Movies, and More
- Sales and Specials
I hope you will browse around those pages and see what interests you. Share the resources with your friends and family. I will update the products periodically, so check back often.
Phew! That was a lot.
Please keep me in prayer as I continue doing what God has laid on my heart. I want to encourage others with the comfort He has given me. I want everything I do to point to Him.
I love you all.
Big hugs,
Daphne
By the way, what’s going on with you? Share in the comments. I want to join with you in prayer.
