Favorite Kiss!

Okay, did you get to see this show that aired earlier this week?  The Greatest Movies of Our Time
I have to admit that I'm a movie nut. Really. I can't get enough of great films, they're like my writing muses for some reason. I guess it's because they are so inspiring. You may not agree with the films and actors, etc. that were picked but the talent is incredible. If I weren't a writer I'd love to have been a film maker.

Gone With The Wind was voted best film of all time. No big surprise there. IF you had to pick your personal best film of all time and it can't be GWTW because it's already been picked :) what would you put at the top of the list?

The best line that was picked? "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

What I want to know from you is what is a line or a couple lines that you like in a book of fiction that you are reading now? And tell us who the author is too. Let's stay away from last lines so we don't spoil anyone's reading experience. Here's mine from Janet Evanovich's, Wicked Appetite: "Do you know what an unmentionable is?" 

What's your favorite movie kiss?  My pick is The Notebook.  A kiss in the rain is the most romantic thing ever, in my not so humble opinion.  It’s perpetual bliss as Faith Hill would say. :)

And remember that near kiss in Pride and Prejudice when Darcy had come after Elizabeth from the church in the rain?
You can see which kissses won here:   Best Kiss
Can you think of another one that you would choose?


I'm on deadline gang so I'm going to leave this post up until next Sunday. Lot's of fun to be had here so jump in and give us all your feed back.  I'll respond to comments off and on through the week. Have fun! And if you're interested I still have this post up over At The Write Charisma
Regency/Mad-Doctoring/Romance/and Medicine Have an awesome week!

The Power of Story/Inkwell Inspiration's Niki Turner/My Blog Pick of the Week

Who can resist this picture over at Inkwell Inspirations? Not me! I'm a sucker for bagpipes, and guys in kilts.  I really enjoyed Niki's post this week and if you haven't seen it go there right now and read it. Here's the link: The Power of Story

I will be blogging today over at Just The Write Charisma on the topic of The Regency, Mad-Doctoring, Romance, and Medicine. Come visit.

Also, don't forget to go to this section of my website http://jilliankent.com/books.html where you can read the first chapter of my novel, Secrets of the Heart, that will debut on May 3rd. I'm so excited. I hope you'll love this story so much you'll want to tell your friends about it. Have an awesome weekend.

My buddy Niki Turner writes romantic fiction, Christian non-fiction, blog posts, articles in the local newspaper, grocery lists, and Facebook status updates. Her first completed manuscript won second place in the 2009 Touched By Love contest for contemporary category romance.


Colorado natives, Niki and her husband of 20+ years have four children (three at home) and are soon-to-be grandparents. In 1998 they planted a church in rural northwestern Colorado. Currently, they share their home with three teenage boys, two black Lab mutts, and Niki’s absurdly spoiled Westie, Archie.

Niki can be found at In Truer Ink, her personal blog and website, here at Inkwell Inspirations, and at The Pastor’s Wife Speaks.

Faith Not Fear

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.


I’ve wrestled with different types of fear my entire life. My parents separated when I was six. I had nightmares until I was in college related to the fear that many kids believe, and that’s that they are somehow responsible for the break up of their parents. Not true, yet many kids feel or have felt this way.

I was very sick and hospitalized when I was in second grade. In 1963 children were on wards and in beds next to each other, (at least it was my experience). The children on either side of me died. I became afraid of death. My brother died when he was 27 years old and I was 29. I became even more afraid of death.

I experienced a lot of other reasons to fear in my lifetime: car accidents, my own children’s illnesses, the death of friends, the death of other family members. The list goes on and on. I’m 56 now and I’m not afraid most of the time. Do I occasionally let my fears slip in? Yes. I’m not able to banish my fears completely, but I finally figured out that no matter how hard I try, in my human strength, I cannot keep bad things at bay. I don’t have control. God does. All I can do is the best I can do, trust God for the rest, and remember the mustard seed.

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 NIV

So have faith, not fear. Peace, not fear. Trust, not fear. Hope, not fear.

In my counseling Bible, The Bible for Hope, NKJV, the introduction to Numbers talks about fear. The first paragraph states, “Fear can immobilize. Fearful people often do not think straight and run off in the wrong direction to escape the source of their fear. The world can be quite scary, and at times, Christians will become afraid. On those occasions, they can either run away from God, thinking that he cannot handle their fears, or they can run to God for protection.”

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.(King James Version)2 Timothy 1:7


I have a book coming out soon and that's exciting and scary and incredible. This is one of the most awesome seasons in my life and though I could allow my fears to run wild I've decided to let my faith run wild instead.



The next time you think about letting your fears run wild I encourge you to let your faith run wild. Wild and free faith like these horses even if that faith is as small as a mustard seed.

Questions: The last time you faced a fear, large or small, what did you do? OR When you face fear today how does it effect you and how do you combat it? AND/OR What's your favorite quote or scripture about fear?

HAVE A FEARLESS WEEK!

DOWNTON ABBEY

If you love period drama's you must see Masterpiece Theatre's Downton Abbey It's wonderful and I don't know how I missed hearing about this till just recently. I bought the DVD for Season One and my hubby and I finished watching it this Saturday. I can't wait to see more but my understanding is that Seaon Two will not be released until the winter of 2012. Downton Abbey To Return I don't know how I'll wait that long but I guess there's not option. So if you're looking for some inspiration this is it.

Everyone's been talking about it. Missed Downton Abbey? Jane Austen World Blog

Theater Talkback Missing Maggie Smith/

What Can We Expect In The Season Finale

Creator Julian Fellowes


I never even looked at this much before I went and bought the first season on DVD. Neither should you. Just buy it. You'll want to watch it over and over again.

Have you seen it? Did you like it?

Grammar Divas at Seekerville/My Friday Blog Pick of the Week

If you ever wanted really good examples and instruction on the subject of Show Don't Tell just click on the link below and have fun!



Show Don’t Tell: Skin in the Game...Seekerville Welcomes the Grammar Divas!

Revision Time

Are you a nervous nail-biter when it comes to revisions? Don't be. Let's think positive about this potential issue that could reduce us to ruining our manicures.

I'm about to embark on revisions prior to turning in my second manuscript (tentatively named Chameleon) to my editor on April 5th. I'd really like to do my very best on this so that there is not so much to face when the macro-edit comes back to me. Chameleon is my second book in the Ravensmoore Chronicle series that will release in January of next year if all goes according to plan.

First, I'm one of those writers that could revise for a VERY long time. I don't like to call myself a perfectionist because I don't think I'm anywhere close to being perfect in my revisions, but I do want to improve each time I turn in a book. So here's my plan.

1. Print out the entire novel.

          I could never begin to revise by sitting in front of my computer.  I have to have that hard copy to   read through, make notes, and get a feel of the overall pacing of the book.  I want to see if the chapters need to be lengthened or shortened.

     2.   Read the entire book.
    
          I try to do a quick read through to get a feel for the flow of the story. I'll mark up the manuscript as I go along and catch errors, but this first read through isn't so much of looking for errors as getting my first real complete feel of the book.

     3.  Read the book again/Ask Questions.

          This time I'm reading for errors. I'll also start rounding off the ends of chapters and doing my best to be certain those chapter hooks are strong enough to make the reader keep reading. And I'm going to try something different at this phase in the process because I liked the questions. Jordan Dane over at the Killzone did the crit on this one page Dead Girl Vistits TKZ. It Could Happen Be warned, this one page was too graphic and ghory for me. If you don't want to read it just skip to the questions Jordan leaves for the writer to answer.

     4.  Completion of the style guide.

          Honestly, I never knew what a style guide was until I got back my first substantive edit on my first book.  My publisher supplied a list of preferences for use of words, punctuation, etc. They also wanted me to make a list of what characters show up in the novel in order of appearance. A brief description of each chapter and other important issues. A timeline was one of those. So I'll be looking closely at this and completing it to the best of my ability this time. Live and learn.

     5.     Set the book aside.

            This is hard for me to do running this close to deadline. But I will set it aside for at least two days. I'd rather it be a week. I need that break to get some perspective.

     6.     Feedback

            Now I'll look at the feedback from my critique partners to make any last and necessary changes.

When I'm through all these steps I'll turn it into my editor and see what comes back. Hopefully, it won't be another rigorous revision. But even if it is, then I dive right into it.

I hope this helps you a little bit. Remember that I'm still learning as I go along and I sure don't have all the answers. This is working for me now, but I sure would love to be a faster writer so I'd have more time to revise. Lucky for me, I've got a wonderful publishing house, Charisma House. They really do know how to support a writer.

My favorite book on revisions is James Scott Bell's, Revision and Self-Editing. So tell me about your revision process and your favorite book on revisions.