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,

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. I was going to feature another favorite adventure athlete today, but I've been pleasantly reminded this week about the power of movies and the inspiration they offer writers. The topic has popped up multiple times so I've decided to plunge in. My family has been going through a very difficult time with my mother's rapidly failing health. I was chatting friend and author advocate extraordinaire Kelli Standish about how to refuel as an author during difficult periods in our lives.

Every author is unique, but I shared how I find movies to be a fabulous source of inspiration. Kelli and I discussed our favorites and she made some excellent recommendations that I've added to my Netflix Queue. The same topic was discussed on one of my author loops a few days earlier and we too shared our favorite romantic movies and I garnered several to add to my Queue. It seems I'm not the only writer who finds movies inspiring. For me, it's not so much a particular theme or time period, but rather the beauty of a good story well told.

I adore books and read voraciously and while movies could never replace them in my heart, there  is something to be said about the ability to sit down and watch an entire story unfold in a matter of a couple of hours. Even seeing our favorite books played out on the big screen is a ton of fun (when it is done right). I adore watching the various renditions of Jane Austen's classics and Bronte's Jane Eyre (FYI: the most recent version with Micheal Fassbender  is fabulous!).

I also find there is a great connection between movies and books. My stories play out like movies in my mind as I write, and I humbly hope that will transfer to my readers' enjoyment and to their deep connection with my characters. Earlier this week, author Jody Hedlund blogged about this very thing in her post How to Make Your Book Play Out Like a Movie.  A reader contacted Jody saying how the scenes of The Doctor's Lady played out like a movie in her head. I'm not surprised as Jody is a fabulous storyteller and I cannot think of a greater compliment. I humbly hope the same can be said of my stories some day.

I'd like to leave you with a few movies I adore. Hope you'll enjoy them too!

Favorite Adventure Movies:

• National Treasure  and National Treasure: Book of Secrets
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• The Mummy
• Romancing the Stone
• Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
• Fool's Gold
• Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Favorite Inspirational Movies:

• Soul Surfer
• Facing the Giants
• Amazing Grace
• The Ultimate Gift

Favorite Romance Movies:

• The Notebook (tissues required)
• Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version with Colin Firth and the movie with Keira Knightly)
• Sense and Sensibility (movie with Kate Winslet)
• Emma (movie with Gwyneth Paltrow)
• Leap Year
• The Proposal
• North and South (BBC version based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novel with Richard Armitage)
• Jane Eyre (movie with Michael Fassbender)
• A Walk to Remember (tissues required)

May all your adventures be blessed!

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!