WHEN A WOMAN FINDS HER VOICE: Overcoming Life’s Hurts & Using Your Story to Make a Difference (Leafwood Publishers , 2013)

Something happens when brokenness stains our spirits. Secret, unresolved, or lingering hurts leak into our everyday lives, filtering into everything we think we know about who we are. We tend to question our value and meaning. We feel unimportant, ‘less-than’ or ‘not good enough.’ And we fall silent.”
Everyone needs to read this book. It’s the real deal!
The stories of brave women stitch this book’s pages together in one tightly bound universal voice of praise. Jo Ann Fore weaves her personal story with the experiences of several women who have overcome the shadows of past hurts. The author shows us many who have found and experienced the freeing grace of God. In this book we find what happens when a wounded person seeks their own healing, finds freedom from their inner pain, and reaches out in love to other women by telling her story to the sisterhood. An excellent read: gripping, painful, energizing, reflective, full of hope–with a message that speaks. I purchased this book for my Book Dinner ladies and for my Bible study ladies. They were blessed and motivated through its message and to the point gut honesty. Something here for everybody.
This is what we need to become “real.” There is so much pretending . . . because we’ve been hurt, and the church isn’t necessarily a “safe” place for hurting, vulnerable, heart-stained people. Jo Ann Fore has lived this–walked this habit of silence. Sharing her own personal story as well as the inspiring stories of others, Jo Ann guides you on a journey that leads to freedom and purpose. The content helps open up the dialogue, the conversation we need to have in our churches and places of spiritual leadership.
“An important book for anyone who wants to mine the past, heal like crazy, and find joy today.”  Mary DeMuth, author of The Wall Around Your Heart.

Writing 101 for Wannabee Authors

For Wannabee Authors and Newbie Writers

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Here I am writing in my tablet on my first visit to the Vina Monastery. This will become the first chapter of my second nonfiction book. You just never know how the journey will play out.

On occasion, I will be posting about my journey as a writer. I will share the tools I am learning and how I am developing my craft. It is an interesting pathway, much different than I imagined initially; one that I am teaching myself with the assistance of online classes.

Online courses are helpful. They  provide a community of skilled people, professionals in their field of expertise (niche), resources, materials, community, breadth of knowledge, and just about everything you can imagine except the kitchen sink. It has been a wildly fascinating endeavor, and I’ve met a lot of wonderful people (who’ve not met me, yet. I am the invisible person who asks a question once in awhile but mainly takes it all in).

I am still operating as a newbie blogger and author. My time is coming when what I write will impact people in a beneficial way. But until then? I persevere. Learning grammar isn’t my favorite nor proofreading, but progress is being made. Hey, I just think that what I am learning might as well help someone else with a hand up.

Good writing and marketing a book are much more complicated than thinking that says all I have to do is write my book some day (and that was big, too!). I write the book, and they’ll be lining up to buy it! Hah! Not so fast, tiger. It is a journey, and a fun one at that! Get on the bus. Let’s move forward. Hopefully, I can encourage you in your writing tasks.

Happy writing,

Norma