Photo Challenge "At the Beach"

I just found the I ♥Faces Photo Challenge and I'm a total sucker for this stuff.


This week the theme is: At the Beach.

BlogHop '09

I will be in Chicago today, but not for Blogher. I'll be there for Relief and The Midnight Diner.

So, like last year--I'm joining in the Blogher Wannabes. (I really, really, had every opportunity to go. I chose to skip this because I have a writer's conference with an author I have a literary crush on in September and sometimes we have to make hard choices. Or just choices.)

So while my good friend Toni enjoys the company of the wonderful women attending Blogher...I'll be with Robin again and BlogHop. Which is a good thing. Last year I made some fantastic friends, right Amber??

We've just moved so my blog is a little neglected. That won't be the case for long, though. If you're here for the first time...these are my favorite categories: Visual Prayers and Wordless Wednesday. Tackle It Tuesdays are up there with my favorites. And soon, very soon, I might post content with real words.

And don't forget to leave a comment so I can come visit your blog!!

CFBA Featured Book

Through the Fire by Shawn Grady

I have been with the CFBA from the first featured book and I haven't read many of them at all because, while I think there's an audience for Christian fiction, frankly, most of the stories sucked and they weren't well done. (I'm hard to please, I've said it before, I'll say it again.) So I've stuck to the pre-written posts and just put books on my blog I thought my readers might enjoy.

However...Through the Fire is very well written. It's not all surface, white-picket-fence stuff. There was an underlying theme--and it was good. The author didn't spell out what it was, he let the story tell it's story which indicates a maturity level that gives credit to his readers.

Two things made me read the book. First, the personal correspondence from Shawn. He made an effort. That is huge. Second was the fact he was named "Most Promising New Writer" at Mt. Hermon. When I got the book, I wanted to know who his editor was. Dave Long. I knew at that point, after the alignment of those ingredients that I'd probably finish the book. I knew for sure I'd finish the book when I couldn't stop reading and I was five chapters in. Usually, I get to the third (if I'm lucky) and that's that. Through the Fire was different, though.

The characters were real--which to me is the first thing a story needs to have. None of them seemed cardboard, stereotypical, or out of place. And I didn't roll my eyes once. Not once!

The story was fantastic. It certainly wasn't contrived. I wasn't ever sure of anything and that's a good thing. I shouldn't be able to guess who the culprit is. The tension was great. The internal tension, external tension to the main character's situation, and physical tension with "the girl."

And there were tequila drinking scenes. Wow!

There were a few scenes that didn't forward the story, but considering the fast pace of this book, a break here and there was not annoying.


The use of scripture--really, I loved it. I loved that it wasn't just stuck in there because it had to be. It was part of the story. It is the story.

I have to admit, I thought I'd read this and not be able to give it a good review. There was very little I didn't like. Good job, Shawn!






If you would like to read the first chapter of Through the Fire, go here.

CFBA Featured Book

Phil is reading Pirate Hunter right now. He's a little less than halfway through so he doesn't really have an opinion yet, but he's still reading...so that says something. Morrisey has delivered in the past, Phil's read everything of his so far. So hopefully this one will measure up.



Pirate Hunter by Tom Morrisey




If you would like to read the first chapter of Pirate Hunter, go here.

I'm Editor-in-Chief!!

Did you hear the good news?

You can watch it here (1:04 of 2:00 minutes) or I can just tell you...

I am now Editor-in-Chief of The Midnight Diner!!

If you're interested in submitting, read Relief Fiction Editor, Chris Fisher's, series: What Happens in This Story, I Know What Happens, but Who Really Cares, and Is This the Best I Can Do? If you're going to be lazy and read just one, then let it be the last one.

After you read Chris' superb advice--Follow the guidelines:

Third Edition of The Midnight Diner Submissions are Open!

The Midnight Diner is a hardboiled genre anthology with a Christian slant. No ABA restrictions on God, no CBA restrictions on reality. Didactic preachy works are dismissed unceremoniously; we're looking for high quality works that are uncompromising in craft, content, and quality.

Submissions for the third edition of The Midnight Diner are now open at the Relief Writer's Network. Here's what we're looking for; please read carefully. Submissions that are completely out of gamut will be subject to ridicule and immediate rejection.

1. Unpublished Short Fiction up to 10,000 words. Simultaneous submissions okay, but you need to pull your submission ASAP if it gets accepted elsewhere.

2. Submissions are only accepted via the Online Submission System at the Relief Writers Network. www.reliefjournal.com Absolutely NO email or snail mail read or even remotely considered unless your name is Stephen King and you wrote The Stand. Anne Rice, Neil Gaiman, and F. Paul Wilson are also exceptions. Everybody else, get with the program. There's a big button at the top of this website that says Submit Your Writing. If you email me asking where the link is, expect severe sarcasm.

3. Categories for Submisisons are:
Category Examples (for clarification only)

Horror - Stephen King, Anne Rice, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub

UFO/Aliens - X-Files, Fringe, Coast To Coast AM

Conspiracy Millennium - X-Files, Fringe, Coast To Coast AM

Hardboiled - Detective/Crime Raymond Chandler, Janet Evanovich, F. Paul Wilson

That One That Happens in Diner - All categories - just has to happen in a diner

Jesus Vs. Cthulhu - No posers. If you're submitting in this category, you had better be familiar with Lovecraft or Derleth's work, and the piece should reflect it.

Paranormal/Archetypal Exploration Neil Gaiman, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton

Weird Western- Cowboys and Indians meet something weird

Weird War - In honor of all our soldiers in all branches of the armed forces

Monster Stories - Dracula, Frankenstein, Godzilla, Buffy - yes, you can submit your
Christian vampire story here

Adventure - Indiana Jones, Dan Brown

Shatner On A Plane - Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery

Note: Combinations of Genres are encouraged. For example, a hardboiled detective investigating a paranormal crime, or a monster story that has a Twilight Zone twist. You may and probably should select multiple categories when submitting your work.

4. Compensation: Three Editor's Choice awards will be selected. Prize money for Editor's Choice is a hundred bucks. All categories are eligible. Everybody else gets their names up on Amazon, a contributor's copy, bragging rights, and the possibility of being on the Diner staff for the next edition. Approximately 21 stories will be selected for publication.

5. No hardcore sci-fi. I don't want to read stories that I have to learn a new vocabulary or solar system for. I don't want to read about what happened after the fourth war for Alpha Centuari, Beta Centauri, or any other Centauri. Besides, you can't fit a starship into a Diner. Other places are more suited for these genres, i.e. the incredible site at raygunrevivial.com for Sci-fi helmed by Diner-approved editor Johne Cook.

6. No sword-and-sorcery fantasy. Do you know what happens when you let ogres and trolls in Diners? You will be billed for any messes they make.

7. Know what we've published in the last edition. The Diner is available on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and of course on the Relief store.

8. Spiritual warfare is allowed, but should have an original twist. Absolutely no shining swords - you can poke somebody's eye with one of those in a diner, and we don't have the insurance for that sort of thing.

9. The Diner is not for children, or the faint of heart. Jesus dressed up as Thor, a whore who moonlights as an exorcist, a bouncer at a strip club, and more offbeat characters were regulars in the first edition of the Diner. This is not Guideposts or your Sunday School quarterly. Pansy sanitized work will be unceremoniously dismissed. Do not send me work where gangbangers say things like, "Golly gee, Beav, what ever are we going to do with this swell crack?"

10. Submissions will tentatively close December 1, 2009. Do not send queries. Submit your work.

11. Release Date for the third edition of Coach's Midnight Diner is April 2010. The Third Edition will be available in print, soft cover and perfect bound in a 7"ishx10"ish trim size at Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and several other venues. It will also be available in Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader format.

Sit down, order some coffee, and let's see what you've got. Give me your best shot.

Your Midnight Waitress,
Michelle Pendergrass
Editor-In-Chief | Coach's Midnight Diner