I know some writers can write while listening to music and I applaud them. I wish I could, but I get so into the lyrics that I end up typing them in the midst of my scene. Half the time I don't even realize I've done it until I go back to edit the next day. Needless to say, I've ended up with some pretty funky 'conversations.' But, while I can't write and listen to music at the same time, it doesn't mean that music doesn't impact my writing. For example, "For the Love of the Game" by Pillar was a huge inspiration in forming my Alaskan Courage series about the McKenna family. The McKennas run Last Frontier Adventures,  an adventure outfitting company in the heart of Alaska's rugged wilderness. So while I don't listen to the songs while I"m writing, they certainly form a soundtrack in my mind.

I'll be releasing the soundtrack for Submerged on my FB Page shortly before  its release in May. Hope you'll enjoy listening to it and that you'll be able to visualize the story unfolding along with the music.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite bands and singers--those I find most inspiring.

• Kutless  (New favorite song: "Carry Me To The Cross")

(The girls with Kutless)

•  Disciple (Favorite song: "After The World" )

• Christ Tomlin (Favorite song: "I Will Rise")
• Third Day (Favorite song: "Cry Out To Jesus")
• Jeremy Camp (Favorite song: "Enough")

• Pillar (Favorite song: "Fireproof")

(Hanging with Pillar)

Hope you'll check them out if you haven't already!

Blessings,

Bear Grylls

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Today I'd like to feature another of my favorite adventure athletes, Bear Grylls. Perhaps you've seen him on Man vs. Wild. That's where I first learned of him and thought 'Wow! Here is a guy who takes adventure to the extreme, but knows how to survive and how to truly live--not just for himself but for others."

There are so many things about Bear that I admire:

• He served his country in the British Special Air Service.

• He was one of the youngest people to summit Mount Everest at age 23.

• He pursues his passion for a living (adventurer, explorer, expedition leader)

• He is a Christian with an amazing outlook on life. Here are a couple quotes that exemplify his outlook:

“If you risk nothing you gain nothing”

“The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is so often just simply that little word - extra. And for me, I had always grown up with the belief that if someone succeeds it is because they are brilliant or talented or just better than me… and the more of these words I heard the smaller I always felt! But the truth is often very different… and for me to learn that ordinary me can achieve something extra-ordinary by giving that little bit extra, when everyone else gives up, meant the world to me and I really clung to it…”

• He is a devoted father and husband. He's recently authored a book for his sons called To My Sons: Lessons for the Wild Adventure Called Life which sounds wonderful!

• Last but not certainly not least, Bear is a giver. He participates with many charities and has led  record-breaking expeditions which in turn raised more than $2.5 million for children around the world.

If you haven't seen Bear in action on  Man vs.Wild, I highly recommend checking it out. My family loves watching Bear on his amazing adventures and I hope you will too. Bear is exactly the type of hero I love to bring alive in my novels.

If you love Bear Grylls, check out his wife, Shara — she’s an amazing woman!