I Love "Go To Meeting" - Meyer

It’s hard for me to believe that I am still continuing my technology series of blogs. Hard for me to believe, not because there is a dearth of new technology but because I, Dorene Meyer, am embracing it!

Those of you who know me well, know that I cherish the simple life and have an ongoing love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with technology of any kind.

But I gotta say, I do like (maybe love is too strong of a word) “go to meeting.”

Last evening, I participated in the first ever online “Open Mic” session put on by The Word Guild. All I needed was an inexpensive headset and my old desk-top computer, and I was “in” (or should I say “on”?)

One of the exciting things for me, living as I do in a remote northern community, is my annual trek down to Write! Canada www.writecanada.org . There I can renew acquaintances with authors from all over the country and participate in writing events such as workshops, classes, readings and such. Throughout the year, the connection wanes and a feeling of isolation sets in again, especially as I hear of events happening in Winnipeg, Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver…  But for that one hour last evening, it was almost as if I was at Write! Canada again!

The session began with an introduction by the organizers, Les Lindquist (chair of Christian Info Canada) and Paul Oleniuk (2006 winner in the teen category of “God Uses Ink”). This was followed by readings and Q&A by Sara Davison and by Jayne E. Self, two authors shortlisted for the best mystery book award at the Canadian ChristianWriting Awards. I had known ahead of time that these two authors were going to be reading but was in for a surprise when first Marcia Laycock and then Linda Hall gave a reading and had a Q&A.

What was amazing for me was the way that we could all, for that one hour, be communicating and connecting from such diverse parts of the country. Even though I was way up north, I could connect with Jayne and Sara in the south, Marcia in the west, and Linda in the east. For that one hour, technology shrunk our huge country down to a manageable size!

I think The Word Guild is hoping to have more online sessions connecting writers from coast to coast. And for all of you technophobes out there, trust me on this, if I can do it, you can!  And just to prove how inept I am, I’ll confess something I was planning to keep a secret. I was on a “go to meeting” conference with N.J. Lindquist earlier that day. The meeting started okay when I responded to the link she sent me, but for some unfathomable reason, I couldn’t get my microphone or speaker to work, and we finally resorted to conversing over the phone. I was surprised because I had experienced no problems the last time we connected. Well, last evening, I discovered my mistake. In the tangle of wires I have on my desk, I have TWO little green connecting thingamabobs that I plug into my computer: one is for my infrequently used set of speakers and one is for my new set of headphones.  Yeah, you guessed it: I had the wrong little green thingamajig plugged in. Sigh… They really do look the same.

And soon - just thirteen more days! – the real Write! Canada will begin – hope to see you all there!

Dorene Meyer

Award-winning Author of:

Jasmine,  

Lewis, 

Joshua.

I Love Kindle - Meyer

Yesterday, I took another small brave leap into the technological morass which has inundated our culture and forever changed “life as we know it.” (Drum roll, please…)
I downloaded Kindle to my PC.

Though perhaps not such an earthshaking event to some of you, to this northern girl who would love nothing better than a cabin in the bush, heated by wood, and lit by a coal oil lamp… well, you get the picture.

It’s only been around ten years since my husband wrestled pen and paper out of my hands (metaphorically speaking) and insisted that I try writing my books and articles with a computer, storing the information on 3.5 floppy disks. And then came the huge step of “getting on the Internet” which my very patient middle son taught me how to do. I developed a website in 2005, which I still have and another one a couple of years later.

In 2008, I began blogging – on this site! It was difficult for me to do a lot more on the Internet because we only had a low-speed dial-up connection. Then we broke down and got a satellite dish (ugh!) affixed to the side of our house and I was able to Tweet on Twitter post on Facebook and sometimes even watch a youtube video (on the days when our connection is good).

But I am an author and I LOVE books – real books with pages that you can feel. I have books that are over a hundred years old – and I just love the fact that I know this book is still just exactly how it was written – no revisions. You get a real feel for how people thought back then when you read a historical novel that is truly historical!

And don’t we all stare at computer screens too much in our workday without also doing this in our leisure time?

So why did I finally stroll over to the “dark side” and embrace this newest (for me) technological advance? Two reasons really: it’s cheap and it’s convenient. I can get an EBook for a fraction of the price and have it downloaded in seconds to my computer. Living 850+ km from the nearest bookstore, I would normally wait until I made a trip down south to wander through either McNally Robinson  or Aqua books or Hull's Family bookstore . Instead, I can just go on Amazon and download Barbara Ann Derksen’s mystery: Presumed Dead and even write a review on it!   

Did I mention that I was able to download Kindle FREE to my computer?

It’s so easy, even a recovering technophobe like me can do it!

Dorene Meyer

Award-winning Author of EBooks: 

The Little Ones, Jasmine, Lewis and Joshua

God Hates - Meyer

If you were asked to list the seven things that God hates, what (or who) would you place on that list? Would it include smoking, drinking, drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, fornication or adultery? For many people, these more obvious outward actions would top the list. Some people even convince others that they can lose their salvation if they engage in one of these activities.

But the truth is not quite so simplistic and not quite so comfortable for those of us who feel we are pleasing God – attending church, putting money in the offering plate, praying, singing hymns, fellowshipping…

The key to understanding is to realize that, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b NIV

The seven things that God hates are listed in Proverbs 6:16-19:
"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

So topping the list is “haughty eyes” – looking down on others whom we feel are less than us in some way – not as close to God perhaps?

As a fiction author, I look through the eyes of my characters, voice their thoughts, and speak their words. As a contemporary author, I try to honestly and accurately portray the attitudes of contemporary people. In my newly released book, Joshua, the antagonist is Joshua’s brother, Bryan, who is homosexual.

A few days before the book launch of Joshua, I had the privilege of reading the work of another contemporary fiction author, Jodi Picoult. In her book, Sing You Home, this author also tries to honestly and accurately portray the attitudes of contemporary people. She does this remarkably well, despite her personally stated goal of supporting gay rights in the writing of this book.

In Joshua, I also write with a certain bias. I also want to communicate something to my readers. I want them to know that God loves each and everyone of us so much that He sent His most beloved Son, Jesus, to die for us so that if we believe in Him, we will have eternal life. That’s it. That’s all. It doesn’t matter who we are: “haughty eyes” “homosexual” “a person who stirs up conflict” “a drinker” “a covetous person” (think two car garage or fifty pounds overweight). God loves every single one of us. The fact that he hates our sins only accentuates the fact that he loves us. Jesus said that He came to earth to bring us life – life to the full! (in the King James Version of John 10:10, it says “abundant life.”) He wants us to begin that abundant, full life now, and then continue it on through eternity.

Trust Jesus today. Believe in God’s love for you. Walk into His open arms. He’s waiting for you.

Dorene

http://www.dorenemeyer.com/

Writing as M. D. Meyer, author of Joshua, published by Word Alive Press, available across Canada and on Amazon and as an e-book.

Riding the Wave - Meyer

I don’t surf but I do have a great imagination! My heart soars as I watch people ride the crest of the wave and then glide safely into shore.

The writing life is not always like that – but sometimes it is!

I recently won the best romance novel award at the Canadian Christian Writing Awards on June 15th in Toronto, Ontario for my book, Jasmine.

There have been other encouraging things happening lately, too. I had a very large order of books to the Northwest Territories to use in schools there; an organization in Ontario placed an order for books they intend to use as required reading for their staff; and I’ve had some wonderful comments lately from reviewers and readers.

These are moments when I ride the wave. I have, for most of my life, been quite shy and reserved, and I spend my days writing books that feature difficult topics. I sometimes forget that Jesus said that He had come to the world so that we might have “abundant life.” In the book of Psalms, chapter 98, verse 4, it says, “Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth; praise him with songs and shouts of joy!” I sometimes forget that it’s okay to be “jumping up and down” happy.
I wrote a poem a while ago (I think it was back in 2005 maybe around the time that I won my first book award for Colin’s Choice).

A Victor’s Song

I have felt recently
That success is near
Just around the corner, just a breath away

I should be happy
Seeing the mountaintop in view
The reward of a long and difficult climb

But instead of elation, I know fear
Instead of joy, I feel a dragging hesitation
Making me want to turn and run back to where I began

Success, that illusive foe
Repels me with its unknown qualities
Failure, like a worn-out coat, wraps around me like a shroud

Inches from the goal, I turn back
Afraid that someone such as I
Could never, should never, win so grand a prize

But through the mists
Comes a Voice I know so well
Dear child, don’t you know, you’re already a hero to Me

You’ve nothing to prove
It won’t matter if you win or lose
My love for you is the same. It will never, ever change.

Run into success!
Don’t be afraid of failure
Rest in My love, child… You’re already a hero to Me.


Still today, I need to remind myself to “run into success” and to run into joy. There’s another Bible verse that I love. In Luke 12:32, it says, “Fear not little flock; for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The kingdom is all the good things he has for us: peace, love, joy, hope, abundant life… So much to be “jumping up and down” happy about! So much to shout for joy about!

Hope all of you are having a wonderful summer so far.
May the Lord bless you with His extravagant love and His exuberant joy!

Dorene Meyer
http://www.dorenemeyer.com/

Author of Lewis, Jasmine, The Little Ones and Deep Waters
Now in book stores across Canada
Distributed by Word Alive Press http://www.wordalivepress.ca/.
Available online and as ebook on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/ (key in title of book and publisher: Word Alive Press).
Coming soon – Joshua will be launched October 21 at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg, MB.