November Desktop Freebie

Hey guys!

I was searching one of my favorite freebie sites and came across this one.
Girl Talk
She had this cool Desktop Freebie for november. Click on her name to go to the site.
This is what I did with mine. Me and my childhood friend National Bestselling Author Alethea Pascascio.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Enjoy the weather while it lasts. I think the time falls back an hour. Hooray! We get an extra hours sleep.

The Writing Life

I'm pleased with my progress on my WIP FROM THIS MOMENT.
Ivy and Jonathan's story is flowing so well. I can't type fast enough. Oh what a blessing. I've given myself until Thanksgiving to have the manuscript completed. Right now I'm on chapter 10.

Every morning I get up and write for an hour and a half. The past two weekends I've had the opportunity to write for several hours. I'm going to try to get as much writing in as I can in the morning because I'll be busy with several events my mother is coordinating.

Keep praying and I'll keep writing.

Mountain Experiences

I know you've heard me say it before about how very deeply the emails I receive concerning my books touch my heart. Words can not express the way those emails make me feel. It brings me up when I'm down about my writing.

See, the road to publishing was interesting to me. I only finished the first manuscript to prove my friend Jacquie wrong. Turns out I was the one that was wrong and got a two book contract in the process.

Then after my first book was published the editor left. After that things started to change and by the time my second book came out, I started to wonder if this was what God really wanted for me to do.

We have to all look at ourselves and our abilities. When rejection hits, I think doubt creeps in and plunges our self-esteem into the deep. But that's when we have to dig in deep into our faith and keep moving forward.

If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you have say to the mountain (MOUNTAIN GET OUT OF MY WAY). I believe we all have mountain experiences, some larger than others. I believe writing is a mountain for me.

Rejection is a part of life, but sometimes I feel that I don't want to subject myself to rejection that's not really necessary. Meaning, why should I keep on trying to write when I can't find a publisher. I should because I have all these stories in my belly and from the response from the readers they believe I have something to say as well. Almost every week I have someone who joins my newsletter mailing list. I haven't sent out a newsletter in forever, because I don't have anything to tell them. They are so sweet in dropping me an email asking how I'm doing and when is Ivy Hart's story going to be released. (LOL)


To everything there is a season, a time and purpose.... Yes, Lord, I do believe that is true. When is the time? I guess that's where faith steps in yet again. You've got to trust God.

I want my readers to experience the joy of Ivy, Lili and Violet Hart finally finding love. I want them to meet Victoria and James, Shante and Richard, Regina and Miles, Desiree and Xavier and all the others.

I am going to work hard to keep pushing through even when I feel defeated. PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens and while I'm praying I'm going to be writing. Pray for me will you?

Creating Your Own Christmas Card

Well, the holidays are fast approaching. I need to get started designing this years' card. I want to share with you some of my Christmas Card designs from last year. These are 4x6 cards printed on professional Kodak Photo paper. I created them in photoshop CS.

Soon there will be more sites offering freebie digi scrap holiday card downloads and I'll try to post them here. But in the meantime check out Shutterfly's free downloads from 2007. Happy Scrapping

Shutterfly

Friday Ramblings

I hope everyone had a productive week. I'm starting to get used to blogging. I'm having a lot of fun and I appreciate those of you who stop by.


Anyway....

It's funny how fast your children grow. It seems like yesterday that I had my oldest and now next month he will be 20. A sophmore in college and his own man.

My baby boy is 15 now and I am so proud of how much he's grown. He used to get beat up all the time. It was sickening, so I decided to put him in karate. He had some struggles when he first started because it take serious discipline. I love his instructors because they are good God-fearing people. Marvin Clark Karate Academy nurture and assist their students in the knowledge of Sho Ryn Ru Karate as well as the word of God. Now, my son is a first degree black belt.

Here are a few pics from my son Brandon's karate demonstration team.





Here is Brandon and Kendrick praying before it's their turn when we went to Kentucky in June for a tournament. Kendrick is a third degree black belt.




Next week, I'm going to post some more digital scrapbooking resources. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Remember to show some love to your people.

Digital Scrapbooking

I love creating things on my computer. One day I stumbled upon a digital scrapbooking site. To say that I was hooked is an understatement. I've been creating all kinds of things from some of the templates and free graphics shared on these sites. I would like to share with you some of my designs as well as share links to some of my favorite scrapbooking and graphic sites.

Here are some of my designs I created for my son's graduation party. I put these in picture frames and used them as a table centerpiece.






These are some of the sites I visit:

Scrapping Ikeagoddess She's the freebie guru. She finds the most beautiful scrapbooking templates and graphics.
Pay It Forward Pay It Forward Photography


Misty Cato Designs
Lindsay Jane Designs
Paper and Ink
Jen Caputo
Digital Scrapbooking Freebies
Faith Sisters

I'll post some others later in the week.

What a Hectic Weekend

This weekend seemed like I was in a cyclone. I had several projects that I needed to finish, plus a wedding that I had to assist my mother with.

First, on Friday I had to attend my bosses grandmother's funeral. I will have to say I've never met her, but from all the things people said about her, she was an awesome woman of God. I hope that I will have touched or helped somebody all this way. I will know that my living will not be in vain.

Anyway, Friday evening I had to get a funeral program approved for a member of my church, then go to the church and print them along with being there for a wedding rehearsal that my mom and I were coordinating on Sunday afternoon.

Everything was going fine until I ran out of ink and had to stop until I could get some more. I couldn't believe that we had run out. Satuday, I picked up the ink and went home to complete some thank cards and bookmarks for another project I was working on.

Sunday morning, I dropped my son off at my mother's so he could go to church with her. He sings in the choir and she's their director while I went to look for some frames for the candy buffet table we were having for the reception.

Ended up going to several places and found what I wanted. When I got back in my car, it wouldn't start. ....I didn't panic. I know that I'm growing, cause I used to freak out at the littlest things. I called my sister and told her to come and get me. I finally got back to the church finished the programs and helped my mom with the wedding. It was beautiful. My mom took me to where my car was and I tried to start it and thank God it did. I took it home and this morning I went and got a new battery.

Wow, what a weekend. I hope you had a great one.

Using Your Gifts

Have you ever thought about what makes you special. I don't mean you being better than the other person, but why God created you in the first place.

Do you love to sew, cook, dance, sing or even draw? Maybe you need to think about your gift. That thing the Lord gave you to use to not only help others, but to glorify him.

Several years ago my mentor/friend/sister Jacquelin Thomas pushed me to see some things she said the Lord told her about me. At first, I wanted to deny it and did. Told her she was crazy and why would God tell her and not me. LOL Funny, huh

I really thought about the things she was saying to me. She is such a loving person and is always concerned about me and my well being.

I prayed about it and began to start to put my efforts into the things she suggested.

In the process I lost my job and couldn't find another one to save my life. I didn't know what to do and she kept saying use your gift. The outcome was Sean D. Young Romance Author/Web/Graphic Designer.

I am so comfortable now with my gifts and I use them to edify the body and glorify God.

What is your gift and are you using it?

The Power of Books

The email that I continue to get regarding both my books TOTAL BLISS and WITH THIS RING is amazing. I get all kinds of reader email telling me stories about their own personal quest to find their prince charming.

I really get alot of email about Rose Hart the heroine of WITH THIS RING. Some of the emails bring tears to my eyes. I can't believe how much Rose's personality, physical appearance mirrors many of my readers.

I hadn't realized how much the words we authors write touch the lives of others. I guess that's part of the ministry of a writer. To tell the story that is so vivid that the reader relates.

How awesome is that. Can you think of a book that reminds you of a situation in your life or a person. Tell me your thoughts.

Healing

October used to be kindof a hard month for me. You see my father passed away in October. What a painful time in my life. My father never had been sick and suddenly he had problems with his heart. I found out later that it wasn't sudden, it had been a progression from the smoking he had done all those years. Anyway, it seemed like he was here then he wasn't.

The leaves start to change in October and on the Monday after we'd buried him, I walked outside onto my mother's porch and looked at the trees and realized that the world seemed so different. I felt different. I finally came to the conclusion that it was because my father was no longer here. I mean, he wasn't just on vacation or at work, he was never coming back. How sad that made me.

He has missed so much. He never got the chance to see my sisters boys and barely knew mine. There were many more celebrations like my first book launch and signing, he wasn't there. It seemed like he should have been, but that's the way it is.

As the years went by, I've learned to trust God and know that death is a part of life and that our relationships are gifts from God. We will miss the relationship we had with the person, but the memories that were created will last as long as you can remember them. That brings a smile to my face. I still miss my daddy, but I'm better in dealing with his absence.

October is also my sisters birth month. She even had her first child in October, so we have two birthdays in our immediate family to celebrate in this month. Happy Birthday, Shirlonda and Jaeden.

Romance Books

I just finished reading Bette Ford's CAN'T SAY NO, (Thanks Michele)
I must say I haven't read a romance in a while since I've been so busy with my own stuff and life getting in the way. Anyway, I loved this story. Bette Ford is a gifted writer anyway, but she really put her foot in this one. LOL

She is such a great storyteller and the this story was so vivid, I could see each scene as it unfolded. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Great Job Bette!

If you haven't read CAN'T SAY NO, you've got to do yourself a favor and go and get it.

Sean