Please Help Baby Cliff!

Today my post is not about me or my book, it's about Baby Cliff. This sweet little boy is the nephew of my cover design artist (and sister-in-law), Julie Thompson. Precious Cliff is nine-months-old and was born with a very rare syndrome; so rare there is only one other case exactly like it recorded. He suffers from a variant of Alagille Syndrome, which affected the growth of his organs. His kidneys and liver do not work properly, but they have responded well to medication. It is his pulmonary arteries that have everyone very concerned. His arteries haven't grown since he was born. Just trying to drink from a bottle was so exhausting to him, because of the exertion put on his heart, that they had to fit him with a tube that goes into his nose, down his esophagus and into his tummy to supply his food without him having to nurse from a bottle. However, even that is causing congestion and they hope to be able to fit him with a tube that goes directly into his stomach.

I am writing to ask all of you for your help. Baby Cliff's parents are in dire need of help with the medical costs that are accruing for Cliff's care. Many have expressed their desire to help in this regard, so Julie and her sister TeriDel (Cliff's mother) have compiled a cookbook with some of their families' favorite recipes. This is not just a spiral bound book with type-written recipes---they went all out! It is a beautiful cookbook with brief, insightful descriptions and beautiful pictures of the food they prepared themselves and photographed. The cover itself is a work of art. They worked incredibly hard to have something to be able to raise money to help this sweet baby get the medical attention he needs.

I'm asking you to visit their blog at www.babycliffnotes.blogspot.com to learn more about Cliff and perhaps purchase a cookbook to benefit him. (If you prefer, you can just donate to his cause on the blog site as well.) All funds go to help with his medical care.

Please give just a few moments to see how you can help Cliff, and feel free to pass this message and Cliff's blog address along to others you think may be interested in helping. My heartfelt thanks to you for your time.

The Proverbial "Resolution"

I know myself, and resolutions don't usually work out for me. But this year feels different. I want it to be different. So, my resolution is...diligence. I know exactly what I should be doing with my life, but sometimes I get sloppy, lazy, apathetic. What I need is a healthy dose of diligence. I want to do better, be better, so why not start with the good things in my life that I let sit by the wayside sometimes. It's time to pick up the good, no...great things in life that I have put off for far too long, dust them off and Just. Do. Them! From exercise, to spending more time with my children, to communing with God a little more each day, it's time to be diligent. Just a little more each day is my plan, but the results will be big!

Have a great year, everyone. I look forward to sharing on this blog in new ways, and I hope to hear from you in return. 

Happy Birthday Lilliah

Alright, today isn’t really Lilliah’s birthday.  The character’s birthday is in October, (although today is the wedding anniversary of our friends Debbie and Gary after whom Lilliah’s parents are named), but today is really the day Lilliah’s story gets shared with the larger public.  The book has been available on the Create Space e-Store and on Amazon for about a week, but today Jennifer is doing a local book signing and selling copies to friends and family in the area who were supportive enough to pre-order copies sight unseen.

The book went on sale online on December 8th, and it was December 8th four years ago that Jennifer wrote the first words.  It has been a long journey from that day.  There have been lots of Saturday writing days and late night edits.  Some highs and plenty of lows.  After each rejection or critical comment, Jennifer was sure she was done.  But in the process, I learned something fantastic about my wife…She doesn’t give up.  She felt like pursuing this book was the right thing to do, so she kept with it. 

After the tears were dried, she would get back to work and make the story better.  It was amazing how well she took the criticism.  Some people would quit, and some would blind themselves to it, but Jennifer was driven to make this story the very best that it could be.  She painstakingly researched, cut scenes, rewrote, changed phrases, and became obsessive about commas.  She read her own work and others’ too so she could know the best way to say what she wanted to say.  So after four years of downs and ups, here is Lilliah; but really, here is Jennifer.  Jen, I love you.  I’m proud of you.  Thanks for letting me come along for the ride, and thanks for letting me guest blog without knowing what I would say. 

We hope that the readers of The Scent of a Soul enjoy the story.  Have a very Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a fantastic New Year.

Travis

Great Things Come To Those Who Wait....

After much ado, I want to stand on my two-story roof and with a mic strapped to a bullhorn shout out to everyone, "The Scent of a Soul is ready!" A resounding thanks to all of you who have been so diligent in asking and checking in with me and this blog and other avenues waiting for the release of my book. As cliched as it sounds, I cannot express how thrilled I am to finally be able to share The Scent of a Soul. Thank you for your patience! 

The cover is perfect due to much toil and work on my sister-in-law's part. She is a fantastic cover designer and did an outstanding job working through all the kinks. I am so excited for you all to see the final product! We are working to get the Kindle version up and running, but with Christmas here and four of my children having their birthdays around the holidays, it might take a while. Bear with me, and the moment it is ready, you will know. However, for those of you who still love to hold a book in your hands, as they say, "Go and get it!" :-) You have all been so great. Thank you!

You can read a review of my story here on Clean Romance Reviews. 

The Waiting Game!

Why is it when you want something to happen, it usually takes its own sweet time? I hate to start with a complaint, so let me follow that one with a resounding thank you to all of you who viewed the book trailer for The Scent of a Soul, and entered the giveaway. Congratulations to Theresa for her win!

I have been waiting on bated breathe for the day I can share The Scent of a Soul with you all. My intial intent had been to release on October 15th, then we set the date for Halloween. But alas, the company I am publishing through, can't seem to get the cover right. It is constantly too dark, no matter how much we tweak and lighten it. It breaks my heart to think that all of you might never get to experience the cover the way my cover designer Julie and I have intended. It is truly outstanding, and my fear is, you will never know how much.   

Enough of setting an actual date, I'm shooting for a month now. My big hope is now to have the book ready sometime in the vicinity of November. So keeping you all posted is at the top of my priority list. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Cara Crabtree, a blogging friend, for sweetly hosting an interview for me. Please check out her blog and the interview here. 

The next time we talk, I hope to have good news. (If I get desperate, I will just start posting my book a chapter at a time.) :-) 

THE SCENT OF A SOUL Book Trailer

I am thrilled to be able to share The Scent of Soul book trailer with everyone! Be sure to enter the Giveaway through the Rafflecopter below for the chance to win an ARC (advanced reader copy) of The Scent of a Soul. I would like to express my special thanks to Emma Daley for her exceptional help and expertise in the making of this book trailer. Nicely done, Emma! You can checkout her blog here. Thanks for viewing. Enjoy!


  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Trailer Soon to Come...

Sometimes life has a way of dictating what it wants us to do. Right now, for me, life is dictating. I had hoped to have The Scent of Soul ready for the public by mid-October. I am now crossing my fingers that it will debut by the end of October/beginning of November. My ARC showed up with the cover way too dark, forcing us to find a solution. Unfortunately, the simple solution isn't always the way it works out. Also, my husband and I, and our five children, are in the throes of the grand adventure of moving. Ugh! For all of you who have moved (that encompasses a vast majority of you, I'm sure), you understand my groan. And, to add insult to injury, my husband decided to get sick. I know, so sweet of him. Love you, honey.

However, I did want to let you all know that the book trailer for The Scent of a Soul is just about complete and ready for viewers. My sweet friend and author of the Propheticus series, Emma Daley, has kindly taken on the project, and has done a wonderful job. I am very excited for you all to see it! (I promise to have more information on the book trailer in the very near future.)

To end with, though, I would like to share a quote that has touched me. Recently, I went to see the movie, The Words. I enjoyed the movie very much, but before I went, I looked it up on the site pluggedinonline.com for a review. The reviewer, Paul Asay, said something that has stuck with me, even weeks later. He said: "For artists and writers and others who long to create something boundless and lasting, they sometimes feel compelled to sublimate everything--wife, kids, lives--to that art. But The Words tells us there's a beauty and nobility in a life lived simply and sincerely, even if the one who lives it never set the world afire."

I could not have said it better. Until later...