With a Joyful Noise Giveaway

Amanda, who writes on her blog called, With a Joyful Noise, took me up on the offer of a free copy of In Paths of Righteousness in exchange for posting her honest review of it. She is also offering a giveaway of my book, so go ahead and enter the drawing! I will be mailing the book directly to the winner, so it will be signed by me.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and check out Amanda's blog: www.withajoyfulnoise.blogspot.com

Author of My Hope // Review and Giveaway

Several weeks ago I was contacted by a young lady offering to post a review of In Paths of Righteousness on her blog in exchange for a free copy of the book. I am so honored by the sweet comments she posted, and the pictures she took are gorgeous! Please check out Abigail's blog and enter her giveaway.

Also, for any of you who have a blog and would be willing to do something like this, I would love to send you a copy of my book in exchange for your honest review. Please use the contact form on the right to let me know if you are interested!

Have a great weekend!

Keri

And the Winner is...

Alicia Ruggieri!!

Congratulations on winning a free copy of my book! I hope you enjoy it :)

I do have something for the rest of you who entered this drawing and would still like to read In Paths of Righteousness. If you contact me by the end of next week you can get your own copy for only $10, shipping included! Please use the "Contact" form to the right in order to do that. Or you can email me at: 4everwrittenonmyheart@gmail.com

Giveaway // The Beginnings of Book #2

Hello! 

Many people have asked me if I am going to write another book, and as some of you know I am in the process of writing one--a sequel to In Paths of Righteousness.  It has yet to be titled, and is only 50 pages long at the moment, but that's 10 pages longer than it was a week ago :) This time of year it is hard for me to sit down and focus on anything if I know there's work that needs to be done, and it seems like the work never ends. But last week I was able to do some writing, which gets me excited for what this next book holds. A sneak peak anybody?

Isaiah Riley stood looking over the sprawling wheat field that stretched out lush and green in front of him. That familiar feeling of pride swelled up in his chest. It was more than satisfying to see the fruit of his labors and know that it would provide food, clothing and shelter for his family. There was no other feeling like it in the world.

            He looked towards the western sky; a dark blue with heavy rain clouds. “Just in time,” he thought, turning towards the house to go in for supper.

***

            It was just beginning to rain about the time David reached home that evening. As he mounted the porch steps to go inside, Clyde sat in front of the door, whining mournfully with an unusually timid look on his face.

            “What’s the matter, boy?” David questioned the animal, patting him gently on the head. “You want to come inside?”

            David opened the door and Clyde went slinking into the cabin with his tail tucked between his legs. The typically ferocious looking wolf curled up on the rug like a little puppy and continued to whimper with his ears perked at attention.

            “What’s the problem with him?” Levi asked, turning away from the table where he was preparing their supper.

            “I don’t know.” David replied. “He doesn’t act like he’s hurt. Must be afraid of the storm.”

            Distant sounds of thunder rumbled through the forest as the rain began falling harder on the roof.

            “This will be good for our garden,” David said as he walked over to a window and looked out at the downpour, “and everybody’s crops too.” He added.

            A blaze of lightening flashed through the sky, followed by a clap of thunder several seconds later.

            “Papa?” David turned from the window. “Do storms like this make you feel really small?”

            The old man chuckled. “A lot of things make me feel small, David. I used to feel alone and unnoticed at the same time though.” Levi assumed a thoughtful expression that David saw often on his wrinkled face. “But now the things that make me feel so small and helpless remind me more of God’s greatness, and I marvel that He would take notice of little me.”

            “Hmm,” David mused, “I never thought about it quite like that before.”

            Levi and David bowed several moments later to thank God for His provisions for them prior to eating their evening meal. Just as David spoke the word, “Amen,” the pitter-patter of rain on the roof changed to the tinkling sound of ice against the window panes.

100 people have liked Stories by Keri Nicole's facebook page, and since that seems like a big number to me, I'm going to do a giveaway of my book. If you do not yet have a copy of In Paths of Righteousness, or if you know someone you would like to give a copy to, please enter the drawing! Either leave a comment below or on the facebook page to have your name put in! The winner will be announced Saturday morning (July 18th).

Also, you are invited to a book signing this week at Cabin Fever Coffee in Defiance, Ohio. I went in there for the first time recently and it's an adorable little coffee shop. The perfect place to read a book and drink a cup of coffee--or hot chocolate if you're like me. :) I will be there on Wednesday, July 15th, from 9am - 11:30am. I would love to see you there! My book is currently available for purchase there as well. 

Don't forget to enter the drawing! And if you get a chance, come on out to my book signing this week!

May Happenings

Now that May is half over, here's a little overview of what all the goings on are:

~Free shipping seems to be a hit, so that's the name of the game for May! The option for free shipping through my website has been extended through the end of the month.

~I had a book signing at Sauder Village this past Saturday, which was a lot of fun! It was good to see all of my former co-workers on an exciting festival day!

~This coming Saturday, I am thrilled to be going to the Fort Wayne Area Home Schools annual resource expo! I'm sure it will bring back memories of all the years that I went out there with mom to help her pick out curriculum, and I'm excited to be going back with her this year to have a booth of my own! Details about the expo can be found at the FWAHS website: www.fwahs.org

~The Bryan Library offered to host a book signing for me this month. It will be held next Thursday, May 21st, from 5-6pm. More info about the book signing can be found on the Williams County Public Library website. 

If you are from the Northwest Ohio area and looking for a copy of my book, here is a list of local businesses where you can find it:

- Ace Hardware
1495 N. Shoop Ave.
Wauseon, OH 43567
www.acehardware.com
www.facebook.com/wauseonace

- All About Health
1244 N. Shoop Ave.
Wauseon, OH 43567
www.essentialoilshoppe.com
www.facebook.com/all.about.health.store

- Candy Cane Christmas Shoppe
22897 US 20 ALT
Archbold, OH 43502
www.candycanechristmas.com
www.facebook.com/candycanechristmasshoppe

- Sauder Village (gift shop)
22611 St. Rt. 2
Archbold, OH 43502
www.saudervillage.org
https://www.facebook.com/saudervillage?ref=nf

- Current Office Solutions
211 W. High Street
Bryan, OH 43506
www.currentofficesolutions.com
www.facebook.com/CurrentOfficeSolutions

Stories by Keri Nicole has almost reached 100 likes on Facebook! Once we hit that number, I'm going to do a giveaway, so if you have not yet liked the page, be sure to do that and then enter to win a free book!

And for those of you who are curious about another book, it is in the works. It's slow in coming, but what little I have written is better than nothing, right?! I'm praying for the time and focus to be able to make some serious progress on it this summer. I don't want this one to take 4 years like the first one did! :) 

All Sorts of Things...

Life has been quite random and exciting lately; not to mention extremely busy, which would explain my lack of writing on the blog. The cold, snowy days have brought all sorts of adventures...mostly good ones, but then there's, well, we'll just say I haven't had a dull moment for quite some time! A dull headache maybe, but it's all good, and definitely keeps life interesting. :) 

I was excited to have my first book signing at the Stryker Library early last week. I sold several books, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of people that came. 

Connie even made cookies for the occasion!

 I was interviewed by the religion editor for the Crescent News yesterday, and he is going to put a story in the paper next week about my book! That phone call was quite a surprise!

Besides working on selling books, I've been having a whole lot of fun with Bible Quiz and a new puppy!

Of course there are always a gazillion things to keep me busy around home, as well as the excitement of learning new things, having new adventures and hanging out with friends--both from near and far. Good times...

Oh, and for my readers, you may be interested to know that I've started playing around with a sequel...and it's going to be a good one! 

My next book signing is scheduled for March 26th at the Wauseon Public Library from 5:30 - 8:00 pm. So for anyone who is from around here, you should come! There's going to be food. ;)

Hope y'all are having an awesome weekend! Oh, and please tell me that I'm not the only praying for spring to come...tomorrow would be good. Don't you think?

~Keri

Giveaway Winner // Special Offer

Congratulations to:

Alicia Ruggieri

You just won a free copy of Lauren K. Lotter's book, Rustlers and the Texas Trail!!

Thank you to each one who participated in this giveaway, as well as Lauren's giveaway of my book, In Paths of Righteousness. You can go to Lauren's blog over at Heritage Literature to find out who the other winner is!

A special something for those of you who didn't win the drawing:

I am offering free shipping on my book for one week (through February 5th). So, if you would like to purchase In Paths of Righteousness, now is the time!! Go to my website to order your  copy with no shipping cost!

Once again, congratulations, Alicia. I hope you enjoy reading Lauren's book!

Homeschooled Authors // Book Giveaway

Homeschooled Authors is a blog that features--guess what--homeschooled authors and their books!!! I am the featured author today, and they are doing a giveaway of my book!! Go check out the Homeschooled Authors Blog and enter their drawing for a chance to win a free copy of In Paths of Righteousness!

Books in Hand // The Announcement of the Year!

It's the news we've all been waiting for!!!

...at least, I hope I'm not the only one who has been anxiously awaiting this day :)

71 boxes of books arrived at my house on Friday, over a week earlier than I expected, which I am quite excited about! In Paths of Righteousness is officially available for sale, and can be found on my website! Also, Stories by Keri Nicole is now on Facebook...so I guess I'm supposed to tell you to "like" me on Facebook, but I hope you liked me even when I wasn't on Facebook ;) And to those of you who know me--I know, I can't believe I actually did it... :D

A HUGE thank you to all those who have supported me in this project. I praise the Lord for each one of you and the encouragement you are. 

Spread the word, I have a lot of books to sell! :)

All Kinds of Excitement

Wow, this week has been crazy in just about every way. Complete with snow, ice, a bitter wind, and temperatures between 10 - 20 degrees some days...I don't know about any of you, but I was not ready for winter to come! At least not yet. 

We started out the week with a lot of corn yet to be harvested, and though the weather conditions aren't what we'd prefer to work in, we didn't have much of a choice. And complaining won't change anything, so why bother, right? So, we bundled up and went out, thankful that the days of cabless tractors ended a long time ago around here! And of course we look forward to coming in and sitting next to the wood stove with a cup of coffee--if you're Dad, that is. I know I'm boring, and Dad gives me a hard time about it, but I'll just stick with my hot chocolate! :) 

In the midst of desperately trying to finish up harvest, my book happened to be in the final stages of editing, with a ton of last minute things that needed to be done there. I sat on the couch with my laptop working on that basically all day Monday and most of Tuesday.

Wednesday I returned to grain cart duty, feeling like a free woman to have the editing behind me and to be back in the tractor seat again. But within a couple of hours, the snow had plugged up the sieves on the combine, so we quit for the day. 

Then on Thursday a couple of guys from the Case dealer brought out a red combine for us to demo. Now that wasn't our idea, it was theirs!! Just so we're clear on that! (Remember, we're John Deere people here!) But hey, if they're just going to let us try it out for a day, why not, right? And wouldn't you know but that machine made one round in the field and broke down... :) To be completely honest and fair though, even though I'm partial to green, I got to drive it for a little while and thought it was pretty nice. { cough } Of course I've been driving the only red tractor on the farm for the last month and a half, so I guess I don't have any room to speak! I was actually very impressed that we could harvest at 4 mph in the Case IH, whereas 2.5 is about the limit in our John Deere. 

But anyways, you all didn't really want to know all of that I'm sure. :) The big excitement of the week is...

#3: My dog had seven puppies on Thursday!

Definitely an answer to prayer...these little guys are going to help me pay for a book! Anyone want to buy a puppy?!

Lady Carliss (anyone else a Knights of Arrethtrae fan?!) and her babies

#2: We're done with harvest!!

Once again, God has blessed us with a safe and bountiful harvest, and we praise Him for it. What a relief to be done!

And now, the news that I've anxiously been waiting to share with you all week! Or all month...or really all year.... 

#1: My book has officially gone to print!!!!

I don't know what more to say than that! Praise the Lord, it's actually going to happen!!

Plenty of excitement for one week, don't you think?

I know harvest is over, but I've still got a few "thoughts from the tractor seat" to share with you. So stick around!  And next month I will have a book for you all to read! :)

Book Cover!

I am sooo very excited to announce that my book, In Paths of Righteousness, has an official cover!! 

Isn't it so perfect?! I got the email right before I went to bed last night...and lets just say I had a really hard time falling asleep. :) The back cover will read something like this:

“It scares me to think what Pa will do when he finds out . . .
but we can’t keep it a secret forever.”

David Riley is a typical, hard-working farm boy of the late 1800s, growing up in a Midwest community where religion was a tradition that none dared to challenge. He and his friend Jill set out to explore the “Old Man’s Path,” to uncover the mystery of an old wives’ tale, and it turns into more of an adventure than they bargained for. When they discover long-held secrets in the town of Detweiler, David is determined to find the truth—regardless of the cost.

As he faces opposition in his search for the truth, David also finds a battle waging within.

He and his friends struggle to be kind to Henry, a cruel bully, and his mother, a widow bitter toward God. But as his hatred for Henry grows, so does the darkness in his own heart. With an emptiness that threatens to consume him, David despairs of ever pleasing God. When all prospects of finding peace appear lost, he meets a strange old recluse, thought to be long dead, who offers him both friendship and hope.

David discovers something in common with the mysterious stranger—but what binds them together threatens to tear his family and community apart. Will he have the courage and determination to stand for what is right? Facing rejection in the greatest decision of his life, David must choose which path to follow: a religious tradition to live by or a faith to die for.

Well, just wanted to share my excitement with y'all. Have an awesome weekend!

Meet the Characters // Jill

Hello!

The second character in my book that I'd like y'all to meet is:

Jilleen ("Jill") Williams

Excerpt from Chapter 5~

 Jill, who hadn’t said a word yet, could hardly contain herself now. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and turned her head away in an attempt to keep from giggling, but her shoulders shook in suppressed laughter.

         David noticed Jill’s struggle and grinned, cocking his head slightly. “Gonna make it?” he asked. A look of amusement spreading across his face.

         Jill forced herself to look at him. “Sorry.” She said, trying so hard not to laugh.

         “Don’t apologize to me!” he paused. “Or were you laughing at me?”

         Jill didn’t answer but just shrugged her shoulders and smiled, despite the fact that she knew she was blushing.

The elegant young Jill is a good friend of David's. She has a fun-loving, bubbly and outgoing sort of personality, and talks in really long sentences when she's nervous. She's very much a peacemaker and doesn't like conflict, though she does have a bit of an independent streak that shines through from time to time. In the first book, Jill gets caught up in an "adventure" with David as they try to uncover the mystery of the Old Man's Path. But when David has a change of heart and dares to stand up against false and deadly teaching, she finds herself caught between wanting to avoid conflict and what she knows is right. 

Jill will become more of a main character in the second book. I have not titled it yet, but God really helped me bring the outline for it together in the last week or so, and I'm excited to see how it will turn out! Look for more info about it in the near future!

Meet the Characters // David

Hello!

I would like to introduce you to some of the people in my book, so over the next few weeks you will be getting acquainted with a couple of the main characters. Today I would like you to meet...

David Joseph Riley

"David had thick brown hair and green eyes that twinkled with his every smile."  

"He was a lively young man of sixteen with a kind heart, a strong character, and a broad smile just like his Pa." 

In Paths of Righteousness follows the life and struggles of this adventuresome farm boy whose delightful personality will be sure to capture your heart. The story finds him growing up in the midst of a culture where the Christian faith had become dead, empty and devoid of hope. He tries so hard to be a good person, but watches with horror as all of his efforts fail and God shows him the depth of sin in his heart. Believing that if he can just obey everything that the Bible commands him to do he will be righteous enough to gain eternal life, David is devastated when he discovers that "There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Romans 3:10). Meanwhile, a local wives tale demands his attention when David sees with his own eyes the mad man who had supposedly died many years before. As he seeks to uncover the mysteries that continually play over in his mind, God works a miracle in David's heart and life. But it doesn't come with out a cost. 

I loved creating the character of David because I was able to express what Christ has done for me and some of the ways that God has worked in my life through the events in David's life and the struggles of his heart. I love his smile, and his sense of humor; and sometimes I can even hear him whistling a cheery tune. 

Welcome // About Written On My Heart

Hello!

Welcome to Written On My Heart! I've started this blog as a way of sharing with you the story that God has given me. I never knew I was a writer until my freshman year of high school. In fact, I was quite certain that I was not, nor ever could be, a writer. Okay, I'd written a few short stories in my earlier grades, but to think that I would ever write something that could be published was like pie in the sky. But, as you will see, God's plans were entirely different than my own and I'm so glad! I am currently in the very beginning stages of having my first book published! Excited can't even begin to describe what I'm feeling right now!! Lord willing it will be in print by early this fall. I would ask for your prayers as I seek God's will in the decisions that need to be made. 

The title of the book is In Paths of Righteousness. It is set in the late 1800's and follows the life of a teenage boy and his search for God. While this story and its characters are purely fictional, my prayer is that you would find David's experience to be much the same as your own--that you found God when you searched for Him with all your heart. Read more about it on the page called "My Books".

Because of Him,
         Keri Nicole