Peace in Expectations with Angie Dickens
Just Commonly welcome authors to drop by and share with us their take on a book that embodies a predetermined Word of the Month! For the full year of 2017, every Monday at 7:00 AM EST, a new post by a new author will be live!
ABOUT THE OUTLAW'S SECOND CHANCE by Angie
Thank you, Angie! Expectations "to be" rather than "to do" indeed. Thank you for sharing! I'm looking forward to your stories!
Title: My Heart Belongs in Castle Gate, Utah: Leanna's Choice
Collection: My Heart Belongs
Author: Angie Dickens
Authors, I still have a few spots left throughout 2017. Please contact me via the "Contact Me" form or message me on Facebook if you would like to sign up. Thank you!
“If I am so focused on my expectation to be like everyone else, then I am missing out on the chance to be who God wants me to be. ”
– Angie Dicken
– Angie Dicken
"Peace is something I’ve only found when I stop striving and look up. Instead of being my unique self as a mother and an author, I strive toward the expectations of what that looks like for everyone else. My peace is sucked away by my constant effort to maintain what I think I should do, or who I should look like, or what I should work for. I struggle to maintain expectations and run a praise-worthy race just like that other mom over there, the other author over there.
Expectations are peace-killers, aren’t they? If I am so focused on my expectation to be like everyone else, then I am missing out on the chance to be who God wants me to be. And when I turn my back on God’s plan for my life, I’ll never find peace along that wayward path.
In my debut novel, The Outlaw’s Second Chance, my characters strive to maintain the expectations they’ve put upon themselves. Their efforts are so focused on living life in the boundaries they’ve constructed, that they struggle with finding peace in it. Here’s an excerpt:
“If he could stick around and encourage Aubrey to step out of the shadows of her mother, perhaps she’d find peace. Cort drew in a deep breath, realizing that the rest of his days were in another’s shadow—his brother’s.”
Expectations are impossible to rest in. They always push us to “do” instead of to “be”. Whether we are measuring ourselves against another person, another dream, or a culturally acceptable way, peace will be non-existent. Only when those expectations shatter, can we step away from our plans and into God’s. Just like my story's hero and heroine journey together from expectation to peace, I've found that if I cast off my own expectation, then I can ultimately rest in who God created me to be. "
Expectations are peace-killers, aren’t they? If I am so focused on my expectation to be like everyone else, then I am missing out on the chance to be who God wants me to be. And when I turn my back on God’s plan for my life, I’ll never find peace along that wayward path.
In my debut novel, The Outlaw’s Second Chance, my characters strive to maintain the expectations they’ve put upon themselves. Their efforts are so focused on living life in the boundaries they’ve constructed, that they struggle with finding peace in it. Here’s an excerpt:
“If he could stick around and encourage Aubrey to step out of the shadows of her mother, perhaps she’d find peace. Cort drew in a deep breath, realizing that the rest of his days were in another’s shadow—his brother’s.”
Expectations are impossible to rest in. They always push us to “do” instead of to “be”. Whether we are measuring ourselves against another person, another dream, or a culturally acceptable way, peace will be non-existent. Only when those expectations shatter, can we step away from our plans and into God’s. Just like my story's hero and heroine journey together from expectation to peace, I've found that if I cast off my own expectation, then I can ultimately rest in who God created me to be. "
Angie Dicken credits her love of story to reading British literature during life as a military kid in Cambridgeshire, England. Now living in the U.S., she's an ACFW member, a blog contributor to the Writer's Alley, a baseball mom, and a self-proclaimed foodie. Two of her historical romance novels comprise her Fall 2017 debut: The Outlaw’s Second Chance, in September, and My Heart Belongs in Castle Gate, Utah, in November. She also writes historical and contemporary fiction. You can connect with her on social media and learn about upcoming releases at www.angiedicken.com.
ABOUT THE OUTLAW'S SECOND CHANCE by Angie
Renegade on the run
When Cort Stanton and Aubrey Huxley try to claim the same land in the Oklahoma Land Run, Cort offers a deal—one that could help him keep his freedom. After taking the blame for his brother’s crime, Cort needs to lie low, so he gives Aubrey the land for her horse ranch…if she’ll hire him. Now he just has to avoid growing too close to the gorgeous seamstress, who can never know his secret.
Aubrey refuses to depend on any man, even one as handsome and kind as Cort. Yet, as they work together to make her dream a reality, it’s impossible to imagine life on the prairie without him. And though Aubrey knows Cort has secrets that stand between them, she can’t help but wish she could stake a claim on his heart.
When Cort Stanton and Aubrey Huxley try to claim the same land in the Oklahoma Land Run, Cort offers a deal—one that could help him keep his freedom. After taking the blame for his brother’s crime, Cort needs to lie low, so he gives Aubrey the land for her horse ranch…if she’ll hire him. Now he just has to avoid growing too close to the gorgeous seamstress, who can never know his secret.
Aubrey refuses to depend on any man, even one as handsome and kind as Cort. Yet, as they work together to make her dream a reality, it’s impossible to imagine life on the prairie without him. And though Aubrey knows Cort has secrets that stand between them, she can’t help but wish she could stake a claim on his heart.
TO PURCHASE A COPY OR ADD IT ON GOODREADS
Thank you, Angie! Expectations "to be" rather than "to do" indeed. Thank you for sharing! I'm looking forward to your stories!
ABOUT My Heart Belongs in Castle Gate, Utah: Leanna's Choice by Angie
Title: My Heart Belongs in Castle Gate, Utah: Leanna's Choice Collection: My Heart Belongs
Publisher: Revell
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Journey now to Castle Gate, Utah of 1910 where...
Forbidden Love Tries to Survive Old World Expectations
Schoolteacher Leanna McKee plans on leaving the coal mining town of Castle Gate, Utah, and never looking back. Good riddance to coal dust, rugged men, and the fatal mine that took her husband’s life.
Until the widow meets a widower who awakens her heart...and she finds herself inexplicably falling for miner Alex Pappas which stirs up a whole heap of trouble.
Alex’s Greek parents have arranged a more traditional match for him. When the schoolteacher’s association with the Greek family begins to anger the American miners, they threaten Alex and his family. Leanna has received an offer to teach elsewhere and feels she has no choice but to leave Castle Rock. . .though she will be leaving her heart behind.
Forbidden Love Tries to Survive Old World Expectations
Schoolteacher Leanna McKee plans on leaving the coal mining town of Castle Gate, Utah, and never looking back. Good riddance to coal dust, rugged men, and the fatal mine that took her husband’s life.
Until the widow meets a widower who awakens her heart...and she finds herself inexplicably falling for miner Alex Pappas which stirs up a whole heap of trouble.
Alex’s Greek parents have arranged a more traditional match for him. When the schoolteacher’s association with the Greek family begins to anger the American miners, they threaten Alex and his family. Leanna has received an offer to teach elsewhere and feels she has no choice but to leave Castle Rock. . .though she will be leaving her heart behind.
TO PURCHASE A COPY OR ADD IT ON GOODREADS
Don't miss the rest of the Word of the Month series, every Monday. Click on the image below to take you to posts already published.
Authors, I still have a few spots left throughout 2017. Please contact me via the "Contact Me" form or message me on Facebook if you would like to sign up. Thank you!
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