It's A Book !

I have just given birth—at least it feels like it. After a whole lot longer than nine months, my baby was delivered by Fed EX. The first copy of my memoir arrived this week. Born Three Times—A New Life, A New Liver, A New Love is my life story telling of my struggles and challenges and God’s grace in giving me His gift of second chances. I am excited about sharing it all with you in the hope that you will find it inspirational.  

The writing process took on a life of its own and proved to be a bigger challenge than I first thought. At first I struggled to find a common theme around which to tell my story. As I prayed about what God wanted me to say, it came to me that God had charted my path throughout my life even when I was not looking for His guidance. As I relived and wrote about many painful experiences, I saw them through completely different eyes, and a story of hope and God’s amazing grace began to emerge. It was a liberating experience. 

The publishing process was equally daunting. I learned that traditional publishing houses very seldom choose to invest in memoirs by unknown authors. The self-publishing route was my best option. I investigated several companies and ended up choosing Inspiring Voices–a Division of Guidepost Magazine. They were great to work with as I navigated the difficult tasks of formatting and editing. Choosing the cover was the most challenging. It needed to tell my life story at a glance. Praise the Lord, I found it! I was thrilled to find the picture of a sunrise taken from an airplane that shows the curvature of the earth.

To me, the photo said: After a long night - a new day breaks forth filled with God-given opportunities.  Now for the fun part, sharing my story with all of you and with people I have yet to meet. This late bloomer writer thanks all of you for your encouragement as I have worked through this process.

My first book signing will be Sunday, December 16 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at Towne View Baptist Church, 1115 Shiloh Road, Kennesaw, GA 30144. I would love to see you in person if you live in the area.

Born Three Times is available at www.inspiringvoices.com (go to bookstore and then new releases.) Also on www.amazon.com in soft back and ebook formats (enter my name Frieda S. Dixon in the search box.)  

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Three-Times-Life-Liver/dp/1462403875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353163578&sr=8-1&keywords=frieda+s+dixon

   

Young at Heart

As we age we all have a choice to make. Are we going to act “Old as Dirt” or “Young at Heart?” Granted there are some days when I feel like the former, but the Young at Heart days come around often enough to make up for those bad days. For the past few years, Charles and I have dressed up like Raggedy Ann & Andy for our church’s Fall Family Fun Fair. Since we don’t look like Power Rangers or Super Heroes, fewer and fewer children recognize our costumes. I think their parents enjoy our costumes the most. We enjoy playing games with the kids at the fair and handing our candy. We love living in our active senior adult community, but one of the things I miss is the kids coming around for trick or treat on Halloween. I guess we’ll have to eat all the candy I bought.

I’m reminded of a funny joke that appeared in a recent issue of Reader’s Digest:

“I was feeling pretty creaky after hearing the TV reporter say, "To contact me, go to my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or try me the old-fashioned way—e-mail."

Since you are tech savvy enough to follow my blog, I know that you are a Young at Heart person. Keep up the good work and follow the Biblical admonition from Proverbs 17:22.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength." (New Living Translation-2007)