Tea, anyone?

Tomorrow is the annual First Assembly of God Ladies Tea - Victorian this year. I figured I would post something on tea drinking. This information comes from various internet sites. Here goes.

It is believed that Chinese herbal tea was discovered by Emperor Shen Nung of China in 2737 BC.  Well although the custom of drinking tea dates back to the 3rd millennium BC in China, it was not until the mid 17th Century that the first tea appeared in England. Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in year 1840. During the 1880's upper class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o'clock.
Accordingly, as tea drinking blossomed in England, so too did it in the English colonies (i.e. Jamaica, India, the entire Caribbean, etc.)

A little superstition with your tea, perhaps? To stir tea in the pot is to stir up strife. Bubbles in your cup show that kisses are coming, but if you put in milk before the sugar . . . you risk losing your sweetheart. If a girl allows a man to pour out a second cup of tea for her she will succumb to his designs. (I have been unable to discover whether it works the other way around.) And of course there is the advance information given by a floating tea-leaf that a stranger is coming, the number of taps with one hand it takes to shake it off the back of the other hand showing how many days there are to wait. People who make tea with water which is not boiling must expect a lot of strangers.


By the way, if you are in the Florida City area you can still make the party tomorrow,2-4pm at the Goldcoaster clubhouse. Please call 305-992-0225 for directions or pick-up.

Talking About Perspective

Last weekend my husband and I had the extraordinary good fortune to connect with friends some of whom we had not seen in over thirty years! After the initial shock and awe abated we were made to see with startling clarity what God has accomplished over the years.

We met pastors who came to Christ under our ministry when we traveled the Island of Jamaica as evangelists. We talked with one lady who reminded my husband of a message he preached that changed her life - which he has long forgotten. The memories rolled on about Youth camps, Days of Fellowship, the whims and idiosyncrasies of old ministers now retired, and most of all the joy of being together again. In spite of distance we have managed to remain friends in Christ, something no amount of years can alter or tarnish.

We saw ourselves and remembered who who we are in Christ and rejoiced that the gifts and calling of God cannot be altered or negated.

If you are bombarded and doubting who you are, take a step back into a different environment. Connect with that part which is unmistakably you and use that as your compass. Do not let present negative circumstances define who you are. After all, one battle won or lost, is not the sum total of a war.

Laughter: the best possible medicine

Hi Folks! I just picked up a copy of my first book from the work pile (doing a second edition) and out fell this poem. Absolutely one of my favs. A little laugh is a lot of good medicine so LOL!

HOW TO BATHE A CAT (Google by same title)
===================
1. Thoroughly clean toilet.
2. Lift both lids and add shampoo.
3. Find and soothe cat as you carry him to bathroom.
4. In one swift move, place cat in toilet, close both lids and
stand on top, so cat cannot escape.
5. The cat will self agitate and produce ample suds.
(Ignore ruckus from inside toilet, cat is enjoying this)
6. Flush toilet 3 or 4 times. This provides power rinse, which
is quite effective.
7. Have someone open outside door, stand as far from toilet as
possible and quickly lift both lids.
8. Clean cat will rocket out of the toilet and outdoors,
where he will air dry.
Sincerely,
The Dog
PS. I happen to love cats - no matter what the poem suggests!

So much for working tonight - sleep well all.

Talk to God; He really listens - and answers.

Every faith practice some form of prayer for self and others. Why do you suppose this is such a universal fact? We are made to connect with the Creator and to hunger for the presence of the divine. Prayer then is not just talking or putting out a list of I wants, rather it is fellowship, spending time with, listening as God speaks to our spirit ...

Christians pray to Jesus and believe He is the only one who can answer prayer. This is by no means an abstract concept. Many individuals can provide evidence of supernatural intervention through prayer in the Name of Jesus. But why take my word for it? Try it and see what happens.

Many of my fellow Christ-followers know a number of people are depending on us to pray for them this week. Please, do not disappoint them. Let us take the time to be true intercessors. Set a time and a place for prayer. At First Assembly Florida City we meet on Monday nights 6pm at the church. You may come and pray with us and then continue at your convenience throughout the week. We see the world a whole lot better from out knees.

For further reading Google STEPP - Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer or read my book Nursing a Calling to Care chapter 9, available at www.Snowfallpress.com

Talk About Hosting An Online Book Launch

Iphone, ipad, eMail, eBooks, ePub, eCommerce, LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype and Yelp —are but a few of the myriad communication options open to today’s readers and writers. Whether we go kicking and screaming or we joyfully seek the embrace of new technology, one glaring fact remains: there will be absolutely no going back to the way things were.

Take book signings for example. Not very long ago writers made the rounds to bookstores, either physically or via snail mail, in hopes of scoring a good day to be in-store meeting and greeting customers and with studied nonchalance, sell copies of their latest book. Not any more.  In-store unexpectedly fast tracked to “Online “and virtual book launches are becoming commonplace among writers, seasoned and new. After an incredible live launch in Hyderabad, India of my latest book Nursing: A Calling to Care, I decided to hop on the Online bandwagon and try the “virtual” launch trip.

I read multiple articles on the do’s, don’ts and absolutes of a social media launch, combined a number of these elements and set the grand date. Here is what I found. A party takes planning – online or off. One cannot login to Facebook (FB) and go at it, hoping people will catch on. There has to be a definite plan.

For me that meant:

a.       Time of the event, Theme, Topic

b.      Venue i.e. what networks I planned to post the party

c.       Guests, gab (conversation), gifts and possibly games

d.      Food, fotos (photos) fun stuff

1.       The party Venue boils down to all the social media you wish to engage and can successfully manage throughout the entire party. By this I mean if you do not have a suite that effectively links and disseminates each post to all your accounts, you will need to do the copy-login-paste-repeat sequence to all your accounts so all of your guests will be “in the same room” as the party progresses. I do not have an online suite (yet) so I was busier than a one-eyed cat with two mouse holes! (I did Chat, Three separate FB accounts, LinkedIn, Twitter and email).

2.       Set a time and create a timeline. My party would run from 12 noon Friday until whenever at night (which turned out to be around 11:00pm) and pick up again Saturday morning at 9:00am until 9:00pm. First, I had to create an online timeline. Google became my very best friend! For the entire planning process I simply typed in what I wanted to do and marveled as related sites popped up. Invariably there would be one with exactly what I wanted.

3.       Choose a theme. Most authors who have hosted online launches agree a theme is essential. Better yet, select a theme that harmonizes with the subject of your book. This provides general conversation as people logon in much the same way as there would be if guests were walking into a room, a restaurant, a park or any other venue. I did not think most of my audience would care to dress up as nurses. And I really was not “feeling” the whole beach or other frequently used themes so I made an executive decision and chose food. Middle of the road vegetarian worked really well i.e. not too complicated but not necessarily every day.  On Thursday my “guests” were given a menu, a shopping list and a hint that free gifts were tied to uploading pictures of their food creations. They also had my solemn pledge to post pictures of my meals.

4.       Topic seems like an odd thing to mention since one would assume, the book being launched would take center stage. Well, yes and no. Talking about your book the entire launch can quickly become boring to your audience. General interest topics, letting your audience open a topic (simply by expanding on what they have posted, asking for other opinions, or posing leading questions) broadens discussion and will have a wider draw over several hours.

5.       Guest and gab. Have an interesting special guest lined up to act as your relief pitcher. He or she will inject new life, introduce a new a topic, promote YOU as a writer and of course, talk about the new book. Chances are there will be budding writers at your party. Make sure there are opportunities to talk about their interests, their projects, and have solid nuts-and-bolts information for this very teachable time.

6.       Gifts and possibly games. If you were hosting an actual party, chances are there would be party favors. Depending on the scope of your entertainment there might even be door prizes. A virtual party can and should have gifts – it can have favors and numerous events can be created for prizes depending on your budget. I linked gifts to guests’ participation. Therefore, my guests who uploaded recipes, immediately received prizes. Prizes were also awarded to new writers, a new FB friend who suddenly joined the conversation, and so on. Once again, a virtual party does not seek to reinvent the wheel where gifts are concerned. Copies of your book, new CD or DVD, gift certificate or good quality novelty items, will all work quite well.

7.       Food, fotos (photos) fun stuff. As one famous fast food chain declares “Gotta eat.” Food makes a great theme around which to rally guests. For the Nursing: A Calling to Care launch, I chose a middle of the road vegetarian menu. Nothing too radical or too expensive and in some cases as simple as mix everything together in a bowl and bake or serve. Additionally, I provided websites for each dish so guests could chose which recipe they preferred. I uploaded everything I made which of course made for more conversation.

After the party comes the clean-up. Since it’s virtual you may not have a lot of clean-up to do but certainly, adequate wrap up time should be built in. I started my end of party countdown around ninety minutes before the party ended. That gave guests time to post their last minute comments, gave me time to respond on all the sites and really cemented the feeling of walking people to the door and saying, “until next time.” I realized I was neither being fanciful or overly sentimental as there were comments of wanting an invitation to the next party, and time well spent, enjoying the time together and such. On Sunday the comments continued in person and by telephone.

Okay, I know someone is thinking, what about book sales? If we bear in mind the average sale for an in-store book signing can be as low as five books and meeting maybe less than a hundred people, my online launch was a phenomenal success. Yes I received a big order but I also garnered two new followers on Twitter both of whom had a following of over 20, 000 – yeah for free advertising. I personally talked to 22 individuals, in addition to those who were posting on the site over the two days. On Sunday I received an even better sense of how many people were being “wallflowers” at the party. Yes they were there, “liked” my status, “liked” the pictures posted but never interacted with other guests. Better yet, I am firmly convinced this party will be going on for a long time. If you were among those who attended, thank you. Please feel free to let’s talk about it on my FB pages, or Tweet @laurenemy, LinkedIn, or of course, right here on my blog.

Write strong.

Talking About Articles

We are in the last 1hr and 40 mins of the online launch of Nursing: A Calling to Care. Celebrated writing coach, author and humanitarian Elaine Wright Colvin weighed in with these comments that I hope someone will find helpful.
"BECOME A GREAT STORYTELLER (like Lauren): An anecdote is a little story, usually one paragraph, that illuminates a point you are trying to make in your article. Readers love anecdotes, because even when reading nonfiction they like the storyteller's touch, the presence of characters and even dialogue. Editors love anecdotes because readers love them. Anecdotes improve any article; many editors say they want at least three anecdotes in every article."

Party Menu Items

As promised, here is the shopping list if you plan to follow the party menu: Albacore tuna, olive oil, calamata olives, soy milk, plain yogurt, wheat thins (or your favorite crackers), salad greens, nuts/toppers, fruits and veggies, salmon fresh or canned wild caught and lots of input from you. Until tomorrow then ...Stella Myuriel, will you post that breakfast rice dish you made for us? tell us the ingredients and upload a picture if you can. Hope you and Amo Melody will also join the party.