Friday with Friends--guestblogger, Angie Breidenbach

Today everyone is in for a treat with this inspiring post by Angie Breidenbach. I know Angie from ACFW where we sang in the choir together and she served 2009-2011 as our publicity officer. Angie wears many hats on her pretty head as you can tell from her list of websites below. I hope you will check them out and her books which have been a blessing to many. Today's post is from her book Gems of Wisdom, which releases next week. This excerpt begins with a foreword from ACFW's president, Margaret Daley.

Foreword

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning;

and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.

—Proverbs 1:5



When I read this proverb, I immediately thought of Angie Breidenbach’s Gems of Wisdom. This book is filled with good advice and information to help people overcome obstacles they face in their life.

When I read Gems of Wisdom, I particularly loved the positive advice with the emphasis on setting goals, journaling, and taking small steps toward changing your life. She covers all the positive attitudes we need to counter the negative ones that we can be bombarded with day in and out. This can be done through education and knowledge, both of which lead to wisdom.

Living can be hard, filled with many trials and tribulations, but Gems of Wisdom gives you concrete ways to get a handle on those problems, so you can live your life to the fullest. I cried when reading this, but mostly I walked away with tools to use to solve issues I had been wrestling with. I was able to fight those pirates that wanted to rob me of peace.

Reading Gems of Wisdom will enrich your life. You will find a treasure trove of gems that will equip you to make sound decisions. There is no place for negativity. Embrace life and savor the words to come.


—Margaret Daley




Excerpt from Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life



Chapter 1

What’s Fair?

Gemstone: Tanzanite

Pirate: Injustice

Then I will purify them and put them to the test, just as gold and silver are purified and tested. They will pray in my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "You are my people," and they will reply, "You, LORD, are our God!" Zechariah 13:9, CEV



Heat treatment can turn ordinary gemstones into extraordinary jewels. Tanzanite, straight from the ground, is tinged brown. Dirt colored, plain old brown. It’s easy to take for granted as a valueless rock. But heat that rock and watch the fire flare from the dazzle. A kind of can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it rich purple-blue dazzle.



Tanzanite is most often cut into facets, adding more dimensions to the jewel. The intensity comes from the high temperature that purifies the color. Color that makes you want to take a second look, draw in a little closer, and see it from every angle to absorb the beauty.

Record your answers to questions in the following sections in Chapter 1 of the Companion Guide.



Ponder Point

How skewed is your fairness meter?
As a Christian, it seems as if I live in an open-air zoo. Passersby stop and stare. They watch my every move with fascination like a monkey in an exhibit. Sometimes the people on the other side of an invisible wall mock, taunt, and tease. Sometimes they throw words at me to get a reaction so they can tell their friends about the exciting visit to the zoo. But when a fellow monkey wants to fight over little things . . .

Safe in my little monkey enclosure, I don’t need protection from my own kind. I don’t expect to fight over the branch where I rest or the proper way to peel my banana. After all, we’re compatible creatures, right?

When someone trustworthy attacks, it feels like a hairy arm swipes at my fruit and bare teeth screech an unbearable noise demanding to be in command. Other monkeys watch the commotion as my attacker bites and claws and leaves open sores to scar forever. She wasn’t even hungry. She had a pile of bananas under her own branch.

I want to run and hide from the unnecessary malice. I plead for respite from my Zookeeper. I want to go to a safe enclosure away from the mean monkey. The Zookeeper holds me, binds my wounds, and gives me back my banana. But he doesn’t take the bad monkey out. Instead, he approaches the offender with love. I watch, huddled with pouting, tearful eyes.

The Zookeeper opens his arms to the nasty, selfish monkey. She leaps into them, grasping and clinging, and drops a little bundle in the process. The tiny body is no longer breathing. He picks up and cradles the little lost one. Zookeeper pulls the mean monkey deeper into his embrace.

I needed holding.

“She attacked out of confusion and fear.” He looks over to me. “Her heart is sick.” It wasn’t evident by the way she looked on the outside and the skill she used to keep the hurt hidden. “Oh, my gentle soul,” he says. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Come.”

We are both sick and in need of our Zookeeper’s care.



Pique Points

Do people hide things they don’t know how to deal with?
Is being fair really the issue?
How skewed is my fairness meter?



About the book:
In Gems of Wisdom: For A Treasure-Filled Life you'll embark on a treasure hunt for God's unique gems of wisdom. Be empowered, learn to influence through your own life lessons, and preserve important relationships. Gems of Wisdom invites the reader on a treasure hunt to find important life concepts represented by the beautiful stones God created. Excellent for Bible study and book clubs as well as individual study.


Amazon Sales link: http://www.amazon.com/Gems-Wisdom-Treasure-Filled-Angela-Breidenbach/dp/1936438046/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

About the author:
Angela Breidenbach is Mrs. Montana International 2009, a multi-award winning inspirational speaker and the author of the Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life from Journey Press, the Creative Cooking Series including the new release of Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance and the new Kindle release, Creative Cooking for Colitis. Other works by Angela include compilation books and devotionals from Guidepost, Group, and articles in magazines, ezines, and newspapers. She connects missions to her work with Hope’s Promise Orphan Ministries and the Jadyn Fred Foundation. Angela also teaches online classes and coaches one-on-one in courageous confidence, personal growth, and powerful living. She’s certified in mentor/peer counseling as a Stephen Minister and life coach. Angela serves as an assisting minister for her congregation in Missoula, MT. She volunteered as the American Christian Fiction Writer's publicity officer for two years. Not only did she walk the hard line of deciding to donate her mom's brain for the study of schizophrenia, but she’s also on the brain donation list at the Brain Bank-Harvard McLean Hospital. Angela is married with a combined family of six grown children and two grand children. Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life releases May 2011 from Journey Press, a Sheaf House imprint.



Interested in having Angela speak? Contact Christian Speaker Services 800.871.9012 x40250

Interact with or learn more about Angela Breidenbach:

http://www.angelabreidenbach.com/

http://www.mygemofwisdom.comhttp//www.MyGemofWisdom.com

http://www.Youtube.com/AngieBreidenbach


http:///http://www.godusesbrokenvessels.com/

http://www.thefaithgirls.com%20on%20wednesdays%20each%20week/




Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog, Rose!
Angie

And thank you for visiting, Angie. I hope you will come back again and share more of your Gems of Wisdom!

Monday Musings--Rise up and Dance Your Shoes Off!

As a little after-Easter boost, I'd like to invite you to go to YouTube and type in "Dance your shoes off." There you will find a worship dance 2000 members of SBC of Houston put on to the song "Rise Up." It has gotten over half a million views so far. I heard the pastor interviewed on Fox News on Easter morning, and he said the reason it's called "Dance Your Shoes Off" is that each dancer wore new tennis shoes then stepped out of them at the end so the final shot is of a field of tennis shoes. These were all to be donated to mission groups.

The music makes you want to get up and dance with the crowd. I hope more churches will participate in similar events next Easter. There are several other videos in a similar vein. Another one I liked was the "Resurrection Sunday Dance, Budapest, Hungary" with over a million views. What a way to spend Easter Sunday--looking forward to the day we will rise up to meet our Lord in the air.

Fridays with Friends--Guestblog by Lynn Diener

I am happy to post this very helpful article about characterization. Great insights, Lynn!

5 Tips for More Believable Characters

By D.L. Diener

Are your characters a little flat? Are they as interchangeable as sweet potatoes and yams? Are you stuck for new ways to add depth? Well, do I have good news for you. I’ve gleaned some tips from my own life that will help you to flesh out your boney characters in just a few bites.

(FYI- these are excellent procrastination tools, should you find yourself in need of some. “What are you doing, honey?” “Oh, just working on my characterization.”)

1. Read your Bible. Not for your own spiritual enrichment (actually yes, do that, too), but read it as material for your manuscript.

I learned this one with my current work-in-progress. I knew what topic I wanted to cover. I knew the setting, what genre I wanted it to be, and who some of the main characters were. But what I lacked was a grander scope. What was my main character’s motivation and what was going to both sustain her and propel her towards the finish?

I decided to meditate on the verse that had inspired the story every day that summer. Within a week, I was blown away. Suddenly, it wasn’t just the one verse that jumped out at me, but the whole chapter and pieces of the chapters around it. I finally knew how the story would play out. What my main character’s central angst was and what she craved and how she felt about God.

Since then, I always consult the Bible on any major writing project, as a resource.

2. Do you know what your main character’s Love Language is?

With much appreciation to Dr. Chapman and how he’s helped my family communicate, I’d like to suggest something a little strange.

In the last two novels I’ve read, I found myself thinking, “well, that’s because her love language is words or quality time, and his is acts of service or touch- of course they’re feeling misunderstood.” I’m analyzing characters in ways I’d only done with real humans before. Then I started wondering about my own characters.

Try this out for yourself. If Love Languages doesn’t appeal to you, try the Myers-Briggs test, or those silly Facebook quizzes (which Disney princess are you?). But answer them as your character. It’ll give you a much better idea of how your character will respond to things and how they’ll interact with the other characters in your book.

3. People Watching. I know you’ve heard this one before, so I’d like to expand it to People Interactions. You know conversations?

It’s time to be brave, break out of that introverted, shy writer thing, and do what your Momma didn’t tell you to do—go talk to strangers.

Perhaps you need a prop. I generally have my twin daughters with me and they provide me with many unexpected conversations.

But don’t just have the conversations to have a conversation. Notice their mannerisms, what they share or won’t share. What drew them to you or you to them? Are they there with another person? Family? Friend? Alien from the planet Tooba? You won’t get a full history (not generally) but you can imagine-in the details. Is this person you’ve met someone that your character would interact with? Would your character be the approached or the approach-ee?

4. Borrow from life.

This is your reminder to stop and smell the roses. Or watch how your three-year-old sits at the top of the stairs clutching her oversized Pooh Bear during a thunderstorm. Her damp curls sticking to her plump, tear-streaked cheeks. Does she suddenly become relieved of her fear, maybe even giggle, when you plop her on your lap to comfort her? Or is she truly upset and frightened by the storm?

We can imagine a lot of things as writers, but sometimes there is no faking what happens in real life. If you’re intentional about paying close attention- you’ll know when something is plausible in a story.

5. Read. Read. Read.

You’re not going to know what comes off as three-dimensional to a reader, unless you’ve read it. Analyze while you’re reading. What was it that made that moment so believable?

Do you remember your own first pangs of labor? Is that why that childbirth scene made you rub a hand across your belly? Do you remember the names that girl on the bus used to call you? Is that why that bullying scene made you queasy?

Start filing away those moments when you read. Highlight it in the book or scribble it on a piece of paper. Then when your character is running a few quarts low, you’ll have something to fill her up with.

These are just quick tips. It’s not meant to be exhaustive. There are loads of books that explain characterization far better than I can. Personally, I love the psychology behind characters, and even what that reveals about its author. But then, I minored in psychology. I’m hoping even if this hasn’t answered all your questions about creating full characters, that it has at least been enough to stir those creative juices again.

For further study on characterization, here are two of my favorite books on the subject:

Breathing Life Into Your Characters by Rachel Ballon

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction) by Nancy Kress

Thanks so much, Lynn. My favorite book on character writing is Getting into Character by Brandilyn Collins. And my favorite of Lynn's tips is #1. I always have a Bible verse about the theme of the story, but have never thought about meditating on it each day to see what God teaches me about my character that I can share with my readers. Great idea!

How about you, dear reader, Do you have a favorite book on characterization to recommend? Which of Lynn's tips do you like the best, or do you have one to add? Anyone with a US address who comments and leaves their contact info will be entered into this month's book giveaway contest drawing on May 1st.

And I encourage everyone to check out Lynn's very helpful and funny blog at www.dldiener.com

Monday Musings

I emailed the following story to a friend this morning and thought it might give some of you a laugh, too, so decided to share! (Although I don't think our preacher's wife thought it was very funny at the time!)

Dottie said they had spring cleaning scheduled for later on this month at her church. That reminded me of a funny incident that occurred during spring cleaning at our former church. One year I found this old stained squeeze bottle like you use when you give perms and had no idea how it got in the church kitchen, so threw it out in the trash. Then that Sunday morning the preacher's wife had to pour all the communion cups by hand! LOL I used to fill the communion cups at my home church as a teenager, but we had a store-bought plastic bottle with a little black tube coming out to make it dripless, so I had no idea she used a permanent solution squeeze bottle!

Do you have any amusing stories to share this week? Anyone else remember filling communion cups? Does your church still hold a spring cleaning day?

Friday with Friends guestblog by Marlene Bagnull
My scheduled guestblogger did not respond in time, so instead today I am pleased to share with you (with her permission) a snippet from Marlene Bagnull's wonderful Bible study written especially for Christian writers--Write His Answer.
The title of her book comes from Habakkuk 2:2 "And the Lord said to me, 'Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others.'" In the preface to the book Marlene tells why the printed word is so important to her. As a teenager she struggled to read a KJV of the Bible. Then she discovered and read Biblical fiction classics such as The Silver Chalice, Ben-Hur and The Robe which finally led her to The Day Christ Died by Jim Bishop. This book caused her to fall on her knees and commit her life to Christ. She now says she wouldn't have believed it if God had told her then that she would be writing books that spurred others on in their Christian walk. Here are her challenging words from the end of the preface: "I believe God is calling us to write his answer. It's time to boldly step out in faith and to write the words that need to be written--powerful words, winsome words, anointed words that will come only by allowing him to speak to our hearts."

In closing this introduction to Marlene's wonderful book, I'd like to share a little of what Lee Roddy says in the foreword: "This devotional book for writers (published or unpublished) is designed to inspire and give encouragement for those difficult times that all writers face. It's a work planned to help you fulfill your call and see the fruits of your labors. Please join Marlene as she leads you through her unique devotionals for writers: for this book can change your life."

I second his suggestion. Please bless your writing by ordering this book online or from Marlene at www.writehisanswer.com and click on Bible studies.

All quotations taken from Write His Answer – A Bible Study for Christian Writers by Marlene Bagnull. Copyright 1990, 1999. Used by permission.

Monday Musings Spring is...green grass, green leaves, green buds on trees...yellow daffodils, yellow forsythia, yellow tulips...warm sun, warm air, warm hearts...birds flying, birds chirping, birds building nests...rain clouds, rain storms, a rainbow...springtime, spring breezes, hope springs eternal! Anyone else care to rhapsodize about spring in your part of the world?

Guest Blog by Thomas Smith I am happy to offer some helpful insights on finding your writing voice from author Thomas Smith. He and his publisher have also offered to give away a copy of his book Something Stirs to one of our readers who leaves a comment on this blogpost, so post away. I will draw the winner for this book as well as my regularly scheduled book drawing on May 1st, so by leaving a post here (with contact info) you are entered in two book drawings!

Finding Your Voice by Thomas Smith

When I first started writing, I read a lot of Charles L. Grant, Stephen King, Joe R. Lansdale, and Robert McCammon. I thought I wanted to be a horror writer. I had a file full of ideas about vampires, werewolves, haunted houses, malformed creatures created by a combination of man’s vanity and recombinant DNA, zombies, ghouls, and a smattering of ghosts for good measure. Armed with those ideas and the Berlin Philharmonic playing Stravinsky's Firebird Suite: Infernal Dance in the background, I was off and running.

Consequently, my first attempts at writing fiction sounded a lot like cheap Charles L. Grant, Stephen King, Joe R. Lansdale, and Robert McCammon knock-offs. The writing wasn’t necessarily bad (OK, my first three novels stunk like dead fish), but it also wasn’t me. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it doesn’t help much when you’re trying to blaze your own trail.
To find your own voice.
OK, Now What?
I realized that, though I was being rejected, editors were writing short notes on the rejection letters. They were writing things like, I really like the description, but … or You are a really strong storyteller, but … and the ever popular I really like this story, but...

So what’s a fellow to do?
I kept writing. I kept producing fiction that sounded like someone else. In the mean time I started going to various writers conferences and joined a writers group. The conferences exposed me to professional writers who were willing to share their knowledge with those of us who were just starting out, and the writers group was one of those where everyone was required to bring something they were working on regularly for the rest of the group to evaluate.

That’s when I learned the secret.
What’s The Secret, Mister Tom?

The two things that I learned are pretty basic, but they also get straight to the heart of finding your own voice. The first thing is the actual idea of the writer’s voice. What exactly is it?

A writer’s voice is the way the words move and flow. It is the way all the composite parts of our writing fit together as a whole. It is the thing that makes each person’s writing unique. Often you can identify a writer’s work by the way the words look and sound on the page. It is style plus a hard to define “something else” that sets them apart. Something you develop without being aware you are doing it. For example, read passages from your favorite authors. Notice what makes each one different from the next – the thing that lets you know it is their work. That’s their voice.

The next element of finding your own voice comes from practice. Find the feelings of the words. Words evoke responses, feelings and emotions. Some words are powerful (thunder, commanding, explode, terror, grandeur). Some words are peaceful (tranquil, flowing, sigh, velvet, sunset).

And it is through constant repetition – writing on a regular basis – that you get a feeling for the language. And as you write, rewrite, revise, and write some more, your own voice will emerge.

My novel, Something Stirs, releases this spring. You can read an excerpt on my web site: www.thomassmithonline.com (and yes … it is Christian horror)

Follow me on Facebook (http://profile.to/thomassmithwriting) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/tsmithwriting).

Book contest and book review of The Sheriff's Sweetheart by Laurie Kingery
I just finished this book today, so decided to use it for this month's book drawing (winner to be announced on May 1st). As usual, the rules are to leave an email addy where you can be reached for a US mailing address. Also last month's winners are not eligible this month so as to give more people a chance.

This was a delightful book with a well-plotted out story. People/events that appeared early in the story were brought back in at just the right time to play their part in the drama. I fell in love with both the hero and the heroine. Sam Bishop realizes he needs a change of scenery and lifestyle. He finds both, with the added bonus of love, in Simpson Creek, Texas. Prissy Gilmore lives up to her name as the feisty daughter of the local mayor.

This is the third book in the Brides of Simpson Creek series, but you don't have to read the others before this book as I hadn't, but still found myself caught up in the lives of the town's characters. And I hope it will be a continuing series with more of the Spinsters' Club Society women finding their perfect mate. This book is just being released, so you should be able to find it on the shelves of your local bookstore. For the first two books in the series, you will need to check used bookstores or http://www.eharlequin.com/ You'll be glad you did!

Monday Musings on why I am late with my book drawings! The winners are...Heather Sunseri for Angel Sister and Donna Winters for the copy of Long Time Coming

Please send me your snail mail addys, ladies so we can get your books out to you ASAP. I usually post the winners on the first of each month, but am three days late this time. I did schedule a blog to post on April 1st before I left for a trip, but I couldn't choose the winners until I returned home as I didn't want to draw numbers until the end of the month as per the guidelines. Now for the reason for my late posting.

Once a year I try to take a retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani guest house in Trappist, KY. It is a two hour drive each way, but a world apart from my normal everyday life. As several signs around the buildings and grounds read "Silence is spoken here." Although you are allowed to speak in the lobby, on the grounds, and in one of the dining halls, all the rest of the places you are asked to remain silent to not disturb the other retreatants.

A friend accompanied me, so besides our times of silence and reflection, we enjoyed eating several meals in the "speaking" dining room and taking walks on the grounds each day and talking. She is a writer, too, so we even did a little brainstorming in the car and on our walks! But most of my waking hours were spent in reading my Bible and other devotional type books and in prayer. And writing pages and pages in my prayer journal about many of the things the Lord was teaching me there. I also took a prayer journal from two years ago and re-read some of the chronicles of my spiritual journey. Time well spent! This picture of my friend and me in front of one of my favorite signs says it all--God alone! Our lives should be lived for God alone, and much of my time last week was spent with God alone!

Please check back later this week for the book review for this month's contest.

Book Review of The Deepest Waters by Dan Walsh The Deepest Waters is a very moving book of historical fiction based on a real event--the sinking of a steamship in the Atlantic Ocean. Dan Walsh describes it this way in the Author's Notes: " 'Inspired by a true story'...means a true story inspired the work of fiction, but the book likely contains more fiction than fact." He then gives us readers a list of events in the book that really happened and tells how some could have happened the way he wrote it. The book takes us from a dreamy courtship and marriage in San Francisco to a nightmarish call to abandon ship leading to the separation of most of the men from the women and children. The author is very adept at telling us the story from various points of view, giving each scene an intimate feel like you are privy to that character's thoughts and feelings in person. We ride their roller coaster journey of heights of happiness to lows of fear and despair. The book also chronicles the spiritual journey of several characters learning to trust and lean on God even when they can't feel Him. Dan Walsh, a former pastor, handles this very realistically, too. I highly recommend this book, and if you haven't read his first two novels, The Unfinished Gift and The Homecoming, then I recommend you also purchase copies of them. Those first two novels are a series, so I suggest you read them in order, but The Deepest Waters is a stand-alone book, so hurry to your brick or online bookstore and purchase it and the other two. You'll be glad to make the acquaintance of this author and his very true-to-life characters. After reading them, you'll be like me waiting for his newest book scheduled to be out this fall!

Friday with Friends Ava Pennington: guest post Early in my Christian life, I heard a sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer. When my pastor reached “Hallowed be Your name,” he took a detour into another sermon series on the names of God. Not long after that, I completed Kay Arthur’s study, Lord I Want to Know You. I was reminded that to truly trust God we must know who He is, and that He revealed Himself through His names. These experiences instilled in me a lifelong love for the names of God, as well as a desire to share what He was teaching me as I continued my own studies. That’s why I wrote One Year Alone with God: 366 Devotions on the Names of God. And I’m thrilled to say Kay Arthur has endorsed it! Like any study of God’s Word, there is a danger of intellectualizing what we learn, focusing on accumulating academic facts. However, it’s not enough to fill our heads with information if we don’t apply what we’re learning. To ensure this devotional would be more than a textbook on the names of God, I examined each of 122 names and attributes of God three ways: who God is, who we are in relation to who He is, and how this changes our earthly relationships. The names of God tell us who He is. They reveal His nature and His ways using descriptions we can relate to and understand. The more we learn about who God is, the more we learn about ourselves – who we are in relation to the One who created us and redeemed us. Finally, we learn the priority God places on relationships, and the characteristics that will nurture those relationships in ways that honor Him. Learning about the names and attributes of God has especially impacted by own faith and relationship with Him three ways: It changed the way I relate to God. Faith in God is not blind faith – we can confidently rely on who God is by what He has revealed about Himself in His Word. Each name and attribute tells me not just who He is but how He works. He is unchanging, which means the God of the Bible is the same today. While we cannot fully understand who He is this side of heaven, His names and attributes give us glimpses into His divine nature. It changed the way I pray. I’m not praying to some impersonal force out there in the universe, I am praying to our very personal God. Whatever the subject of my prayer – whether worship, thanksgiving, interceding for others, or asking for myself – there is a name or attribute God has revealed which helps me address Him in that area. It changed the way I share and teach about Christ. Learning the names and attributes of God gives me the confidence to share Christ on an individual & personal level. God is not some ancient or outdated theological idea. Everything about who He is and how He works is relevant to us today. Knowing His names and attributes gives me the specific words to describe who He is to others. It also helps me when others speak of who they think God is – because then I have a starting point to say, let’s look at who God says He is! It’s difficult to trust someone we don’t know. The more we know about who God is and how He works, the easier it is for us to trust Him. If you and I want to get to know God intimately, doesn’t it make sense to learn what He says about Himself? Bio: Ava Pennington is the author of One Year Alone with God: 366 Devotions on the Names of God (Revell Books). She is also co-author of Do You Love Me More? and Will I See You Today?, the first two books in the children’s picture book series Faith Basics for Kids (Standard Publishing). Connect with Ava: Website: www.Avawrites.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/AvaPennington.AuthorPage Twitter: http://twitter.com/AvaPennington Find Ava’s books at: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=ava+pennington&x=0&y=0 Barnes & Noble: http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=ava+pennington&page=index&prod=univ&choice=allproducts&query=ava+pennington&flag=False&pos=-1&box=ava+pennington&r=1&box=ava%20pennington&pos=-1&ugrp=2 Christian Book Distributors: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find/1196791048?Ntt=ava+pennington&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1&search