Announcing New Book Release!

Christian Author and freelance writer Barbara Hemming will release her new book, Bible Miracles: 32 Daily Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today's Woman.

"Women lead such hectic lives," Hemming said recently. "I wanted to encourage and inspire women in their daily activities and in their walk with the Lord. What better inspiration than the miracles from the Bible?"

This book is not an ebook. Rather, it is an expanded version of an ebook that is no longer available. It is a beautiful paperback book that women will want to read again and again and to give as a gift to others. I hope the book is an encouragement to all who read it, including men who have women in their lives.

In addition to warm devotions based on the miracles in the Bible, the book also contains journal prompts to encourage women to seek the Lord and record what the Holy Spirit is speaking to their hearts.

For details on pre-ordering signed copies, e-mail the Author at hemmisur@yahoo.com.

Generation Z is Waiting!

Move on over, Boomers. Outta the way, Generation X and Generation Y. Generation Z is waiting to take over--and they are in a hurry!

Over the weekend, I got a chance to spend some up-close time with one representative of this new generation, born between 1990 and 2009. From what I saw, I have two words to describe them: Smart and Proactive. Though we were meeting for the first time, I thought I'd have to spend some time putting this young child at ease. Not so. She immediately took a no-nonsense approach to the task at hand.

And what was the task at hand? To interview me in connection with the publication of my new book, Bible Miracles: 32 Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today's Woman. She came armed with her questions already written down. I found her interview to be thoughtful and probing. She asked many questions, including, "What is a freelance writer?" "What did you study in school to become an author?" "How can I prepare to become an author?"

And to think--she's only 9 years old!

I can hear your snorts and snickers all the way over here. You're probably thinking right about now that I'm such a pathetic writer that I had to settle for a 9-year old to interview me. Well, depending on how successful my book promotion is, you may be right. But here's the real reason for the interview. She's the niece of an acquaintance and is spending some time in this area for the summer. The auntie is tutoring her so she retains her skills over the summer (I admire that). She wanted her to meet an author in person, instead of just reading about them in her textbook.

Ta Da! That's where I fit in.

I have to say it was an honor and a joy for me to be able to touch the life of this young child even in such a minor way. I don't know if she will remember my name 20 years from now. But there's one thing I hope she does remember: that I took time out for her. I hope she remembers that. And I hope she turns around and tries to give an outstretched hand to those of the next generations coming behind her.

Intentionally taking the time to reach those that follow on after us....Those are good words no matter who we are.

Final Book Format Poll Results

Finally, the informal book format poll results are in.

The poll closed sometime ago, so it's too late now to try to enter it. When the poll was active, I asked you what book format you preferred for reading books. I blogged about it here as follows:

"What's all the buzz about the different formats for books? What's the best format to offer to book readers? As a writer, I need to know the answer, whether in the future I'll be providing copy for ink on paper, electronic readers, or computer screens, etc. It probably won't affect the content but it may determine how I decide to present the information and how you will receive it. So, I went searching for the answer and asked the question on a few of my networking sites, including this blog."

Results

The results for this informal poll are in. Here they are:

1. Traditional books
10 votes 66.6%
2. Ebooks (for electronic readers i.e., Kindle and the like)
3 votes 20.0%3.
3. Online (reading from the computer screen)
1 vote 6.6%
4. Audiobooks
1 vote 6.6%
5. PDF books
0 votes 0%
6. I don't read books
0 votes 0%

Numbers were rounded off.

Comments
Are you surprised? I thought more people would vote for ebooks. But what was even more interesting were the comments as to why readers voted the way they did.

--Most favored traditional books because of the "comfort factor" (ability to get comfortable with the book), for underlining, and making notes in the margins. They said they liked the covers, as well as the look and feel of paper books.

--Some said ebooks were more economical than traditional books, others said not so.

--Several said audio books were hard to focus on--their minds kept wandering.

--Others did not enjoy reading online and said PDF's cost more than books because they had to be printed out.

Most acknowledged that ebooks are the future but thought they would only get an electronic reader when they felt absolutely compelled to do so.

These poll results tell me that for the time being, a traditional paper book is preferred by the vast majority of my readers.

Many thanks to those who took part in this informal poll. It's been a lot of fun for me and an eye opener as well. I hope it has been for you also.

Happy Holiday and Stay Safe!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July holiday. In my area, we are under water restrictions because of a broken pipe. No outside water use. Limited indoor water use. Bummer. But this is a day to celebrate the wonderful country God has given us to live in (despite its shortcomings and flaws). We can all send up a prayer of thanksgiving.

Blessings to all and be safe...