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Forever Is A Mighty Long Time – Part 1

Beloved, whether we are of the same blood, friends through circumstance, acquaintances by chance, or complete strangers, I ask you to please read and seriously consider these few simple, but absolute truths.

Truth: As Prince once sang, “Forever is a mighty long time.”

Compared to Eternity, life in this world is but a drop of water falling into a vast ocean.
Immeasurable.
And with ripples.

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. (Isaiah 40:15)

Truth:  Just as one day you were born into this world, one day you will surely die out of this world and enter into Eternity.

Truth: There are only two destinations inside Eternity. One you want; one you don’t.
Trust me on this.

Truth: Many people are fairly sure they’ll go to heaven. Others think they will. Some hope they’ll wind up there, while way too many are only wishful. And then there are those who doubt, or know for certain they won’t … and the ones who just don’t care.

Truth: The number of those who are SURE, who believe with a faith that can’t be shaken that their eternal destination is heaven is small.

Truth: Some don’t believe in Eternity. They think life happens … and then you die. End of story. Whether you believe it or not, Eternity is real. And it awaits each of us.

Truth: There’s a funny meme making the rounds on social media right now, and I don’t mean in the funny ha-ha way either. It’s an uncomfortable truth that we tend to laugh off to ease our disquiet and worry.

“The fact that there is a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven
says a lot about expected traffic numbers.”

The Bible tells us: Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction (hell and damnation), and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life (with the Lord Jesus Christ), and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Truth: God gave all mankind something that sets us apart from all other created things. He gave us choice.

Truth:  Where we spend Eternity is determined by our choice in this world. Hoping won’t get you to heaven. Wishing won’t. And ignoring it in hopes it will go away …

“When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.”
(William James quote)

Question? Are you willing to forego your God-given right to make a choice regarding where you spend Eternity? Because Satan is most eager to cast your proxy vote for you.

Abruptions

Funny how certain things stay with you.

My grandson recently brought home a test he’d taken in school, one where they had to use spelling words in sentences. His mom noticed several smiley faces drawn on the paper by his teacher, and how one sentence in particular had garnered two smiley faces.

“I hope Hawaii won’t have any more abruptions.”

We laughed, teased about the cuteness of his answer, wondered how he knew about Hawaii’s volcanos, and even considered whether he’d coined a new word. It kind of made sense to us.

Definitions are Innocuous things, but sometimes they can be quite troubling. I mean, you know the meaning of the words you use, right? Or at least what you want it to mean.

Have you ever noticed how a song, a melody, a face, an insult or a compliment rattle around in your mind forever? For me it was abruptions, enough so I found myself searching Dictionary.com. By definition, abrupt means sudden or unexpected, while erupt means to break out of a pent-up state, usually in a sudden and violent manner.

As I pondered these meanings, it wasn’t difficult to see how a child might confuse the two words. That’s when I realized the Lord has sent many abruptions into my life over the years, and almost always when I’d grown complacent. (Complacent means pleased, especially with your own merits, advantages, situation, etc., and most often without awareness of some danger or defect; self-satisfied.)

Yikes! Convicted.

It’s time to rouse from my comfort zone. Again. At least this time, the Lord sent me a gentle abruption.

James 1:22 (ESV) says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

The Imperfect Tie Between Characters, Themes, and Titles

(Blog written for the September-October 2018 CelebrateLit Blog Tour)

The Imperfect Tie Between Characters, Themes, and Titles

I love reading across all genres. If it’s well- written, I’m an easy catch. What I don’t like is when fictional characters are portrayed as model-worthy with perfect looks, perfect physiques, and perfect personalities. Yuk! I’ve never met a perfect person.

To quote Mark Twain, “The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible.”

I want characters with the same flaws as you and me—judgmental, short-tempered, guilt-ridden, egotistical, defiant, withdrawn, too-skinny, compassionate, couch potatoes, foolish, silly, serious, low self-esteem, arrogant, hurt, guilty, deceiving, generous… in other words, real people. These are character traits I relate to, and they come alive on the pages, giving hope that we can also learn from our mistakes and grow into something better.

The characters in the Imperfect Series let themselves and others down. They struggle with life issues, make poor decisions, grieve over mistakes, and then pick themselves up and go on.

In Imperfect Wings, guilt and low self esteem plague TJ, while her male counterpart, Garrett, struggles with anger issues. In Imperfect Trust, yeah, trust was a problem for both Lucy and Wade. With Imperfect Bonds, Cassidy fights for her sister’s forgiveness as she deals with feelings of inadequacy … both of which carry over into her relationship with Derek. In Imperfect Lies—yep, another obvious theme. Lies from the past come back to haunt Mallory and James.

Get The Imperfect Series on Amazon

In the final book of the series, Imperfect Promises, the main male character, Jonas, is by a nature a control freak. He suffers from guilt over a perceived failure when at his deepest core he is a protector and perfectionist. Shea, the female protagonist, rose from the ashes of a devastating childhood to forge a new life for herself. Both discover that promises made to themselves and to others can’t always be kept. Despite best intentions, life sometimes gets in the way.

Launch Week Activities

 

 

Read Elizabeth Noyes interview ith Theresa Nash

 

 

 

Imperfect Promises on the Fussy Librarian Newsletter

 

 

 

 

 

Interview on Lena Nelson Dooley’s blog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imperfect Promises makes Andrea Bailey’s Recommended Reads List

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interview with Colleen Story

 

 

On Suspense with Marji Laine Clubhine and Elizabeth Noyes

Along Came a Writer – Down Publisning Laine

I had a blast with Marji Laine Clubhine on her blog/talk/radio show, Down Publishing Laine, August 1st. Not only did we talk about my latest book, Imperfect Lies, we spent a great deal of time talking about writing in general and the genre of suspense in particular.

If you’re an aspiring writer or an already established writer, I think you’ll find this interview to be interesting, enlightening, and thought-provoking. You can listen to it here:

Publishing Laine: On Suspense with Guest Elizabeth Noyes

IMPERFECT BONDS – A 2016 Grace Awards Winner!

Grace Awards 2016 Winners ~ in Faith Based Fiction

Category: Action-Adventure/Western/Historic Epic Fiction: exploits, quest, expansive 

Grace Awards – All 2016 Category Winners

 

IMPERFECT BONDS by Elizabeth Noyes
(Write Integrity Press)

Judges’ Review:

This novel  struck us as having well-formed, even complicated characters. They could be moody, funny, full of snap and wit, and sometimes just confused, like most people. The set up was immediate, and the sense of danger quickly drew us into the story. There were plenty of twists that kept us entertained and easily turning the pages. Likewise, good rising and falling action kept the plot moving forward, and the romance was smoldering without actually going anywhere beyond a kiss. The book was written from a clean and Christian world view without becoming preachy, and we liked that the main characters were on both spiritual and personal journeys. The theme of fighting human trafficking and the hunt for the bad guys made for an engaging, modern day western read.

Available on Amazon.com

The Ups and Downs of a Writer’s Life

When one emoji just doesn’t cut it!

I wanted to write a Facebook post to share my news, but FB limits you to just one of their “feeling” emojis, I needed a whole mess of smiley/frowny faces to convey  my emotions today, so I made my own:

Why all these contradictory feelings? Because Book 4 of The Imperfect Series – IMPERFECT LIES –  has been sent to the publisher! Because I’m relieved, thrilled, excited, worried, and depressed. Because instead of basking in the present, I’m worrying about what’s next.

Now, begins what I call the Cycle of Endless Emotional Extremes.

Relief is the first emotion an author feels after writing, “The End.”  It floods in and overwhelms. There’s nothing like having a weight lifted from your shoulders … unless it’s the feeling of accomplishment. Satisfaction is a rich pleasure. None of it lasts, though. It’s only a respite. There’s always the dreaded, what’s next? So human.

Mental fatigue is a very real thing. It’s debilitating and draining, every bit as much as physical fatigue. Sometimes authors are their own worst enemies with how we push ourselves. Remember that old saying, “I’m so tired I can’t think straight?” It’s true.

Euphoria waits for your brain to recover, and it’s a glorious feeling.  You ride the wave, let it take you all the way to the crest – happiness, joy, feeling so blessed and grateful. And then you crash.

Worry arrives. Guilt. “Did I miss a typo? Leave something out? Is it good enough? Did I do my best?” And the worst, “What if my readers don’t like it?”

Yikes! Self esteem takes a nose dive. Guilt. Inadequacy. Second guessing. Of them all, I hate  self doubt the most. Only authors and those closest to them understand the impact of this cycle.

The vast majority of books written are not autobiographies, but I’m here to testify that every writer invests a huge chunk of their inner self in the pages they pen. We put ourselves out there; expose our beliefs, hopes, thoughts, fears, likes, dislikes, and vulnerabilities. We bare our souls to perfect strangers. Normal people don’t do that when they walk in the world.

My point is, be gentle with us.  Be kind. Even if you “don’t like my book.” <smiling here>

Imperfect Lies made me delve deeper inside myself than I wanted. It made me think about things that are uncomfortable, about what I *hoped* I would do in a difficult situation vs. what I probably would do. How can anyone know with any degree of certainty what they would or wouldn’t do in a terrible, unforeseen, heretofore unknown situation?

Imperfect Lies made me think about a current school of thought that promotes role-play in response to an active shooter scenario – a practiced “what to do” response in the event an armed terrorist decided to shoot up the theater you’re in. The idea being that if your mind and body already know what to do before the incident, your decision-making process won’t get in the way when an instant response may mean the difference between life, injury, or even death. In other words, decisions take time –  time you may not have.

I can’t help but wonder, if we dwelled more on ALL of life’s ‘what would I do‘ scenarios and made our decisions beforehand, would we make better choices when confronted with those difficult and unexpected situations?

The title of this series is Imperfect for a reason. I wanted to provide an entertaining read with characters who reflect the way real people act and think and talk, who face real situations that challenge preconceived ideas of right and wrong; who look at the truth of who they are. And, of course, I want you to enjoy this journey that has brought me so many laughs and smiles and tears and heartache!

 

Happy reading!

 

 

Seasons

A great deal of prose has been written about the four seasons, but I recently experienced my own epiphany. It came to me while touring the north Georgia mountains by bus, a day trip I took with the Senior Adults of our church on the last day of October. The sole purpose—to revel in the changing colors of the glorious fall foliage. (Oh, and buy apples.)

I’ll admit my expectations weren’t high given the long drought this year and the unseasonably warm temperatures. It’s not Vermont or Maine, after all. Despite my reservations, I set out with every intention of enjoying our time together.

The day dawned with a crispness that encouraged a light jacket, and a brightness that made me squint behind dark sunglasses. A few puffy, white clouds paraded across a sky of Robin’s Egg blue. And then we reached the foothills.

Stunning! Magnificent! Spectacular! Words are not sufficient to describe the beauty set before us, and this only a tiny sample of God’s artistic genius. We traveled along winding roads and hairpin turns, up inclines that made the bus’s engine growl, and slow descents into pastoral valleys where each turn brought new marvels. The colors boggled my imagination. Hunter Green, Fiery Orange, Blazing Red, and all those delicate, in-between shades that beg for exotic names like crimson, ocher, cerise, chartreuse, terra cotta, burnt sienna, primrose, vermillion. And when the sun set them ablaze like a hint of God’s Shekinah glory.

“Ooh” and “Ahh” became the watchwords of the day. At one point, I feared for the safety of my fellow passengers as everyone clambered from side-to-side, eager to snap yet another remarkable picture, all while the bus driver wound his way through the twisty curves.
Somewhere in the middle of all this grandeur, a profound thought took root in my mind. Autumn is the season when life wanes and death draws near … and here we sat celebrating the life and death of a dying thing.

Mankind is also a dying thing, but instead of joy we experience sadness and loss when a loved one leaves this world ahead of us. Grief, you see, is for the living.

Christians mourn the same as everyone, but with one difference: We rejoice over a fellow believer’s homegoing. We celebrate their life because of the promise and hope of our faith. For Christian’s, winter is not the end but a new beginning, a new spring, a new life. Eternity realized.

The Christmas holiday falls at the end of the year, in the dead of winter, but we remember it for God’s gift to us. He sent His only Son as a baby, a boy child who would save a dark world. Jesus is the reason for our hope. He is the promise of Christmas.