"A Ruby Christmas" - Chapter 5 by Jerusha Agen



Rockefeller Center
New York City

Today's featured author is Jerusha Agen.

Jerusha nearly lost Ruby in New York City, but things turned out well.

Jerusha is the author of This Dance and the newly released This Shadow.

Find Jerusha online at:

SDG Words

and Redeemer Reviews

Read Jerusha's chapter of A Ruby Christmas here:

A Ruby Christmas: chapter 5



View the Altered Photo on Jerusha's site SDG Words.

Compare to the photo her and write down the different: A Ruby Christmas Pinterest Photo Contest


More about today's chapter here:

• Phee Paradise's Delighted Meditations: The Angels Didn't Sing.

• Marji Laine's chapter 5 Devotion on Faith-Driven Fiction.

• Marji Laine's devotional on A Woman Like Me blog: Light.

• Fay Lamb's Inner Source.

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas



A Ruby Christmas

We hope you're enjoying Ruby's story. Please stop back by here tomorrow to meet the next author and for a link to the next chapter.

Please share A Ruby Christmas with your friends and contacts. You can use the Tweetables and share buttons below.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Tweetables:

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas: Read Chapter 5 now! http://ow.ly/rb8LP @DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP Click to Tweet

Just released! Chapter 5: A Ruby Christmas. Check it out now! http://ow.ly/rb8LP @DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP  Click to Tweet

Related article:

Wishing You A Ruby Christmas on the Butts About Writing blog.

"A Ruby Christmas" - Chapter 4 by Ruth O'Neil

Photo courtesy of Ruth O'Neil

Today's featured author is Ruth O'Neil

Today Ruth O'Neil takes Ruby and Yippee to the beautiful mountains of Virginia.


Ruth is the author of Come Eat at My Table.

You can learn more about Ruth and connect with here here:

• Ruth O'Neil's web site

• Ruth's blog, Real  Life is Better Than Fiction

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/RuthONeilAuthor

• Twitter: @writerrutho

Read Ruth's chapters of A Ruby Christmas here:

A Ruby Christmas: chapter 4


View the Altered Photo on Ruth O'Neil's Real Life blog.

Compare to the photo here and write down the difference: A Ruby Christmas Pinterest Photo Contest

More about today's chapter of A Ruby Christmas:

• Fay Lamb's Inner Source blog.

• Marji Laine's Chapter 4 Devotion of Faith-Driven Fiction

• And see Phee Paradise's Delighted Meditations about Ruth's chapter. 

Ruby sent us a note today! 

Hey y'all,

Well, I didn’t think I could get any closer to God than I was when I was living in Texas, but I was wrong. These beautiful mountains of Virginia almost make me feel as if I can touch the heavens. I love the feeling of being able to look down from my vantage points and see what others below me are doing.

I wonder if this is how God feels when he looks at us. He definitely has a higher vantage point than any of us could ever attain. It is in these Blue Ridge Mountains that I have been able to really understand the verse in Isaiah 55:12 that says, “You will go out in joy and be led forth a peace; the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
This is the time of year when the mountains really will rejoice because of the birth of the King, their Creator, Jesus Christ.

I can definitely learn some lessons from these mountains. It almost makes me want to come back year after year to see how the mountains change. Though our God never changes.

Love y'all,
Ruby

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas

Please stop back by here tomorrow to meet Jerusha Agen, the next author, and for a link to the next chapter.

Please share A Ruby Christmas with your friends and contacts. You can use the Tweetables and share buttons below.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Photo courtesy of Ruth O'Neil

Tweetables:

Wishing you A #RubyChristmas: Read chapter 4 now! http://ow.ly/rsmGU  @DianneEButts #PNP Click to Tweet

Introducing the collaborative novel A #RubyChristmas. Check it out now! http://ow.ly/rsmGU  @DianneEButts #WIP Click to Tweet

Related article:

Wishing You A Ruby Christmas on the Butts About Writing blog.

"A Ruby Christmas" - Chapter 3 by Fay Lamb



Photo provided by Fay Lamb

Today's featured author is Fay Lamb.

Fay Lamb takes our girl, Ruby, and her Jack Russell Terrier Yippee Ti Yi Yo, to the Florida sands, sun, and surf of Cocoa Beach!

Fay is the author of several novels and contributed to last year's collaborative novel, A Christmas Tree Treasure Hunt.

Fay loves to meet up with new friends on social networks.

Find Fay Lamb here on:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fay.lamb

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/FayLamb

• Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/faylamb/

Read Fay's chapter of A Ruby Christmas here:

A Ruby Christmas: chapter 3


View the Altered Photo on Fay Lam's Inner Source blog.

Compare to the photo her and write down the different: A Ruby Christmas Pinterest Photo Contest

More about today's chapter of A Ruby Christmas:

• At Jennifer Fromke's blog: Water Wednesday

• Marji Laine's Chapter 3 Devotion on Faith-Driven Fiction.

• And see Phee Paradise's Delighted Meditations about Fay's chapter.

Ruby sent us a note today!

Here's what Ruby had to say:

Well, I really am glad that Ms. Dianne has allowed me to write to y’all today. When she gave me the invite to share about my journeys, which you can read about in A Ruby Christmas, I was just bursting with stories to tell.

Like my trip to Cocoa Beach, Florida. Yeah, Florida in the winter. Lots of people do it. Not Texans, not really. Parts of Texas have the same climate as Florida: hot, horrible and humid. I reckoned I was about to spend some time with some retired couple my daddy knew. After all, Florida is the retirement capital of the world. That’s what they tell me.

 

Boy was I pleasantly surprised when Ms. Gina Swain—I mean Alward, that’s her name now—picked me up at the airport with her new husband. Then my happiness turned to dread as I remembered that terrible Jonathan Swain—her only son. He used to pick on me something fierce when we were little, and I wasn’t too thrilled about seeing him.

 

That is, until I saw him. Boy, howdy, the brat had grown up.

 

In more ways than one.

 

You see, Jonathan taught me something. I watched that cowboy surf on them waves in Cocoa Beach. I never knew two-feet and glassy could provide so many chances for flips and turns. I guess there’s a reason Kelly Slater is so good at what he does.

 

But I’m on a rabbit trail. This isn’t about what Jonathan did while riding the waves, but about the time that he sat on his board out in the middle of the ocean. Sometimes he’d look to heaven. Other times, he kept his head bowed. When it was all said and done, Jonathan told me that the ocean is his thinkin’ and prayin’ place. He said he got in the habit of it while in Texas in the middle of the vast pasture. He never said, but I got to thinking about this myself. When you’re just a small speck in a large place, you realize that God doesn’t see you as a speck. No, sir. God is so close to you that He can count the number of hairs on your head. He can make sense of the feelings inside of you that even you don’t understand.

 

Jonathan taught me that on my journey around this vast globe, no matter where I go, I’m never alone.

 

God is with me.
 

A Ruby Christmas

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas

Please stop back by here tomorrow to meet the next author and for a link to the next chapter.

Please share A Ruby Christmas with your friends and contacts. You can use the Tweetables and share buttons below.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Tweetables:

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas: Read Chapter 3 now! http://ow.ly/rb8d4  @DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP    Tweet this

Just released! Chapter 3: A Ruby Christmas. Check it out now! http://ow.ly/rb8d4  @DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP    Tweet this

Related article:

Wishing You A Ruby Christmas on the Butts About Writing blog.

"A Ruby Christmas" - Chapter 2 by Dianne E. Butts



A Ruby Christmas

Today's featured author is Dianne E. Butts.

 Yep, that's me! My chapter in A Ruby Christmas is the featured chapter today. It's chapter 2, and it takes place in Colorado.

There's a LOT going on here today, so before you take off to read my chapter, let me tell you...

... Besides mine being the featured chapter, I'm also featured on some blogs today. So once you read my chapter, please come back and check out my guest posts for more about how writing A Ruby Christmas affected me. And some surprising ways my life paralleled the characters and the story I wrote, after I wrote it! (Cue the theme from The Twilight Zone.) Links below.

... Then also the publisher is having a contest based on A Ruby Christmas. Scroll down a bit and see that photo of a happy biker just under "What's wrong with this picture"? He's part of this contest. There's a lot of fun going on and some fantastic prizes, so don't miss out! Check into all the details and join the fun to be entered to win a prize basked worth over $400! Details below the happy biker's picture and on www.WriteIntegrity.com.

 ... Finally, there's also a note from Ruby below. She wrote in to let us know how she's doing on her trip, so don't miss what she has to say.

... So here we go. Enjoy!

Read Dianne's chapter of A Ruby Christmas here:

A Ruby Christmas: chapter 2

Today Dianne is a featured Guest on:

• Read my guest blog post on Fay Lamb's blog Inner Source. where I share how my life parallels Ruby's in the loss of a parent. When we started the Ruby project, I had no way of knowing someone else was going to write these parallels into the story!

Dianne's helmet - June 9, 2013

• I'm also the Guest blogger on J. A. Marx's Embattled Spirit. Here you'll read about two unexpected events that I wrote into my chapter more than a month before these events happened.

You'll see how I suddenly connected with a minor character I wrote into my chapter.



Smoke plume of the Waldo Canyon fire
just east of Pike's Peak
from Dianne's back deck June 2012

I also wrote in my Embattled Spirit post about the fires Coloradoans have experienced the recent years. In my chapter you'll meet Biker Bear, who has a hope-filled message for those who have been through the fire.



 

Read more today about me and A Ruby Christmas here:

• Phee Paradise's devotion on Delighted Meditations: The Other Side of Fire.

• Marji Laine's Devotion for A Ruby Christmas Chapter 2 on Faith-Driven Fiction.

• Contributing author Marji Laine's guest post about Christmas on Embattled Spirits.

A note from Ruby:

I heard from Ruby Jo, and she sent you all (or is that "y'all"?) a note. Here it is:


Hi y'all! Ruby here. Listen, I just wanted to say it was so great to visit the beautiful mountains of Colorado. I really had an adventure when I ran into those bikers. Not sure if I want to write that in a letter home to Daddy or if I should just keep that our little secret.

But anyways, I know y'all have had some big forest fires out there in Colorado, and I want you to know my heart goes out to you. The lesson I learned about forest fires I'm sure will stick with me forever. I pray God's best blessing for each of you.

I hope you enjoy my story.

Love you,
Ruby Joy

What's wrong with this picture?

Write Integrity Press is having a contest! Each day on the featured author's web site, there's a picture. Today my chapter is featured on the Write Integrity Press blog, so it's my turn to host the photo of the day.

This photo is part of a contest where YOU can enter to win a prize!  (Details on www.WriteIntegrity.com.)

But here's the scoop: Check out this photo below. Then compare it to A Ruby Christmas Pinterest Photo Contest. Find the difference and write down your answer.

After the ninth chapter posts on December 12th, put all your answers in an e-mail and send them to Write Integrity Press (at MagnificentHope [at] yahoo [dot] com). Then you'll be entered to win a bundle of books worth around $400!

Dianne E. Butts also is the author of:

Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus (PNP 2012)
Prophecies Fulfilled in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus (PNP 2013)
Prophecies Fulfilled in the Life of Jesus (Releasing soon from PNP in 2013)

Grandparenting Through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ (PNP 2012)

For more information on these books, use the tabs at the top.

Connect with Dianne here:

• Like her Author Page on Facebook
• Visit her web sites at www.DianneEButts.com and www.DeliverMeBook.com
• Visit her blog for writers at www.ButtsAboutWriting.blogspot.com
• Follow her on Twitter @DianneEButts,@BAWriting, and @GPObstacle
• Find her also on LinkedIn

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas

Please stop back by here tomorrow to meet the next author and for a link to the next chapter.

Please share A Ruby Christmas with your friends and contacts. You can use the Tweetables and share buttons below.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Tweetables:

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas: Read Chapter 2 now!http://ow.ly/rb7Wi
@DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP  Tweet this

Just released! Chapter 2: A Ruby Christmas. Check it out now! http://ow.ly/rb7Wi @DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP  Tweet this

Related article:

Wishing You A Ruby Christmas on the Butts About Writing blog.

"A Ruby Christmas" - Chapter 1 by J. A. Marx




A Ruby Christmas

 

Today's featured author is J.A. Marx.

J.A. introduces our story, A Ruby Christmas, in Chapter 1, which takes place in Texas. J.A. was the primary brainstorm-er of the story.

Want to know more about J.A.? Here you go:

J.A. is the author of Destiny Defied (WIP 2013).

You can find Destiny Defied on Amazon.

And J.A. blogs at Embattled Spirit.


Please tune in tomorrow when I will be guest posting on J.A.'s Embattled Spirit blog.

Read J.A. Marx's chapter of A Ruby Christmas here:

• A Ruby Christmas: chapter 1

View the Altered Photo on J.A. Marx's blog.

Compare to the photo here and write down the difference: A Ruby Christmas Pinterest Photo Contest



More to read about A Ruby Christmas:

• Guest Post by J.A. Marx on Fay Lamb's Inner Source blog: Christmas Rebel

• Chapter 1 Devotion on Marji Laine's Faith-Driven Fiction

• Phee Paradise's blog: Delighted Meditations

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas

Please stop back by here tomorrow to meet when I will be the featured author. (I can't wait!)

You'll find a link to my chapter. Plus you'll also find links to blogs where I'll be the featured guest tomorrow. I'll be sharing some of my story behind the story A Ruby Christmas. I think you'll be interested in how this story project has affected me in ways I never saw coming, and the ways in which Ruby's story parallels my own life.

 

Please share...

... A Ruby Christmas with your friends and contacts. You can use the Tweetables and share buttons below.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Last year's collaborative novel:

J.A. also took part in the collaborative novel from Christmas 2012 from Write Integrity Press, A Christmas Tree Treasure Hunt.

 

Tweetables:

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas: Read Chapter 1 now! http://ow.ly/rb84C @DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP Click to Tweet

Just released! Chapter 1: A Ruby Christmas. Check it out now! http://ow.ly/rb84C  @DianneEButts #ARubyChristmas #PNP #WIP  Click to Tweet

Related article:

Wishing You A Ruby Christmas on the Butts About Writing blog.



Wishing you "A Ruby Christmas"!

A Ruby Christmas
a collaborative novel

I'm very excited this month to present a series of special posts which will feature the brand new collaborative novella, A Ruby Christmas.

Let me tell you about this special Christmas project

This short novel is a collaborative effort of nine authors, eight of which are authors with one of the sister companies Write Integrity Press or Pix-N-Pens Publishing. The ninth author was added as the result of a contest to find fine new writers. Welcome Phee Paradise!

Each author wrote one chapter of the story, with additional chapters opening and closing the story.

I'm pleased to be a part of this novella with my chapter appearing as chapter 2!

What is our story about?

Read the back cover:

Cowgirl Ruby Joy Buckner has never left the Lone Star State, but at her father’s request, she takes her faithful canine companion and travels the world in search of Nativity pieces. As Ruby collects the pieces, she also collects a few unexpected surprises, including an awareness of the beauty in other cultures, and quite a menagerie of new friends, thanks in part to Yippee Ti Yi Yo who charms everyone they meet.

Ruby’s budding awareness of life outside Texas opens her eyes to a world of whimsy, and the Nativity pieces she collects are unusual. Will her father approve her eclectic collection … and the changes that travel brought to Ruby’s life?

Read Chapters for free

So here's the fun thing: You are going to get to read the first nine chapters for free.

Chapters 1 through 9 will be posted at Write Integrity Press's blog, one each weekday. The first chapter will appear tomorrow, December 2, 2013. A new chapter will be posted each weekday through chapter nine posting December 12th.

Following that, the final chapters will be available in the entire book released exclusively on Kindle on Friday, December 13, 2013.

The Kindle e-book will be available for FREE from Friday December 13 through Monday December 16. Following the free days, the book will be available for $0.99 throughout the rest of December.

Don't have a Kindle? No problem. Your computer can become your Kindle reader with the free download from Amazon.com:

My chapter will be featured...

Are you anxiously awaiting the opportunity to read the chapter I wrote? Well you won't have to wait long. My chapter, the second in the book, will post to the Write Integrity Press blog on Tuesday, December 3.

For more on this project...

If you would like to know more about this collaborative novel, check out the discussion over on my other blog: "Butts About Writing."

How to find the chapters...

Each weekday the next two weeks I'm going to post here not only with a link to the featured chapter, but also introductions to the authors, links to the authors' web sites, blogs, and/or guest blog posts about A Ruby Christmas, and perhaps even an occasional note from Ruby herself!

So visit each day for links to the chapters...and more.

At the end after the ninth chapter posts, you'll find a link here to the free book on Amazon Kindle. (Don't have a Kindle? No problem! You can also read the book on your PC or Mac. I will also give you links for that.)

Wishing you A Ruby Christmas

I hope you enjoy our little story, A Ruby Christmas. And I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season. May the Lord Jesus be always on your mind!

Please share A Ruby Christmas with your friends and contacts. You can use the Tweetables and share buttons below.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Tweetables:

Wishing you A Ruby #Christmas: Learn about this serial #novel on blog! http://ow.ly/rs9p3   @DianneEButts #PNP Click to Tweet

Introducing the collaborative novel A Ruby #Christmas. Check it out now! http://ow.ly/rs9p3   @DianneEButts #WIP Click to Tweet

Related article:

Wishing You A Ruby Christmas on the Butts About Writing blog.

Returning "Home" for an Author Event at the new Brew Unto Others

260 Pages ~ $14.99

Returning "home." Well it's not where we're originally from, but if anyplace feels like home it's Lamar, Colorado. We lived there from 1992 to 2000, we got involved in a church there, and we continue to see friends from Lamar often (not to mention going there often).

But since my last three books came out over the past 15 months, I haven't made an opportunity to take my books to Lamar and do an Author Event. That's about to change.

On Saturday, November 30, 2013, from 8:00 to 1:00, I'm going to be at the new Brew Unto Others coffee house in Lamar, Colorado.

Since it's the beginning of Advent Season (Advent begins December 1), we will be featuring my Christmas book, Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus (2012, PNP, $14.99). This book makes a great family devotional or group study to bless your Christmas season.

But I will also have my other books on hand:

• Deliver Me: Hope, Help, & Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy (Connections, 2011). This book actually started in Lamar, and features several stories from Lamar. In fact, the first of more than 50 true stories in the book is from Lamar. $14.99 This book was named "Book of the Year" (Family / Relationships) by Christian Small Publisher's Association in 2012.
• Dear America: A Letter of Comfort and Hope to a Grieving Nation (2002, Ampelos). My first book, I wrote this shortly after we moved from Lamar, in the days after the events of September 11, 2001. It includes "10 Things I've Learned While Sifting through Grief" and the story of the Bible in five acts. $6.95
• Grandparenting Through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ. Released in August 2012 by Pix-N-Pens Publishing and co-authored with Renee Gray-Wilburn, this practical book features twenty true stories to inspire and give hope to Christian grandparents. $15.99 This book was named "Book of the Year" (Family / Relationships) by Christian Small Publisher's Association in 2013.
• Prophecies Fulfilled in the Death & Resurrection of Jesus (April 2013, PNP) is the second in my "Prophecies Fulfilled" series and makes a great devotional to follows the Christmas book during the Lent Season preceding Easter. $14.99

Please stop by Lamar's new coffee house, enjoy a cup, and visit with me.

Brew Unto Others Coffee Shop

119 S. Main Street

Lamar, Colorado 81052