1. Cheryl, thank you for the opportunity to get to know you. Tell us about yourself; your life, how you started writing and what you feel God has called you to do.

Thank you Jill for having me as a guest on Generational Womanhood. It’s an honor to participate and share what I believe God has given me through the gift of writing.

I’ve been writing stories since I was in grade school. After college, I started my career as a journalist, then a marketer in technology before hearing that still small voice to become a Christian filmmaker. Since I was mid-career when the call came, it’s been an especially interesting journey. However, God has been faithful and I can only marvel at the doors He opens, increasing my faith along the way.

2. What advice do you have for fledgling writers who want to be published? Any other books or projects in the works?

Pray about what you write and keep at it! I know many writers get discouraged and think because they stopped halfway through a story that it was meant to be discarded. There’s no need to always start over. Writers are often surprised how well they like what they’ve written once they set aside their work for a period of time.

I always have many projects in the works. One of the books I plan to release at the end of this year is a historical fiction novel that occurs at the beginning of the 20th century about a young woman who must choose love or destiny. The other is a sequel to Charlotte Marries a Vampire (CMAV) titled Charlotte’s Werewolf Mother. It’s a multi-generational story about mother/daughter relationships. I call it chick lit to howl about because there is a lot of humor when it comes to dealing with family.

3. Did you write the book as a response to the popularity of the Twilight series? Are you concerned that Christians are caught up in the Vampire frenzy or are you simply using the interest in those books as an opportunity to urge Christian women on to greater maturity especially as they pursue marriage?

I wrote CMAV before I knew about Twilight. The vampire was symbolic to the character of a man that a woman would want to avoid in marriage. As I wrote, I learned that my vision was more limited than God’s. The vampire is a great analogy to anything that thrives in darkness, and yes, while I was a fan of the initial Twilight films, I do believe that engaging with the dark side only makes us vulnerable to more darkness.

4. Are you worried that the book might be offensive to Christians because they miss the main message of the book? Or is the vampire theme part of your strategy to get your audience to think about the deeper message?

The answer is yes to both questions. I surveyed audience viewers from my first faith-based film on the vampire subject. The majority of the respondents said used in the context described that it did not have a negative impact. I’ve stayed in prayer about this project for quite some time. In fact, I first wrote it as a screenplay for a proof of concept feature film. After reviewing it, I was convinced that it would never see the light of a page (pun intended). However, after I finished my first film project, I went to my library of work and this surfaced.

Trust me, there have been many “really?” moments. But one thing that I’ve learned is that when God wants to finish a project, He gets it done! I do hope readers see that the vampire represents many things we continually face – especially for women who have a strong desire to find a husband and think they’ll fix any brokenness later. [p.s. I would love to hear feedback from your readers on this question as I’m in pre-production with a film version — maybe it needs a title change?

5. By the way, what is the deeper message of the book (without giving it away, of course!)?

We all have a little (or a lot) of Charlotte in us. She’s competent in so many areas of her life that she believes she holds the power to do it all on her own. I call this book a tongue-in-teeth comedy because we’ve all been there at one time or another when we think we’ll manage it our way vs. His way.

CMAV is not typical of Christian fiction ebooks. It’s meant to be a humorous view on a serious subject. What’s surprised me the most are the readers who have purchased CMAV are also buying dark romance vampire ebooks on Amazon Kindle. Many of these may not know Christ and perhaps CMAV will share through story His desire for all to have a brighter life.

6. Thank you for spending time with us today, Cheryl! May God use you and your talents to reach many people who may not ordinarily read books with a Christian message!

I know, I know, a vampire book is not what you were expecting on this blog, were you? Frankly, neither was I, but when I was contacted by the author asking me to review this e-book, and I learned that it was a book with a Christian message, I was curious. I was surprised (and happy) to learn that, yes, Charlotte Marries a Vampire is worth reading.

Here’s this from the website www.charlottemarriesavampire.com, “Sin takes a bite at love when modern day Southern belle Charlotte Stephens turns 30 and thinks God needs help when it comes to finding her a mate for marriage. Soon Charlotte’s dream marriage becomes a yoke of unequal proportions and a preview to what happens when acting on feelings, not faith”.

Author Cheryl Hammer calls this a “tongue-in-teeth comedy based on 2 Corinthians 6:14.”

Charlotte Marries a Vampire is a quick read with a deep message. The main character of the book (Charlotte) is a Christian woman who is turning thirty and is ready to be married. Fortunately, Charlotte has been seriously dating a solidly Christian man. He’s not terribly exciting or romantic but he is a reliable, kind, Christian man who loves her.

Charlotte, however, grows impatient waiting for him to propose and angrily huffs off to a bar where she flirts with a good looking man and “falls in love”. This suave, handsome charmer says and does all the right things and convinces her to run off and get married (shocking friends and family).

Charlotte’s runaway marriage and honeymoon reads like the romance novel most young girls wish were reality until a few odd twists in the story begin popping up.

Charlotte is told (on their honeymoon) that her new husband has a “sleeping disorder” and must sleep during the day in a special compartment made especially for his “problem.” Her “happily ever after” with a romantic dreamboat quickly results in Charlotte making extreme adjustments and sacrifices for the man whom she has vowed to love for better or worse.

In her rush to tie the knot before she turns 30, Charlotte loses out on a “keeper” of a man and ends up with a conceited and self-centered husband who sucks the life out of her (a mistake I’ve seen happen over and over again with young women who believe that they know better than God).

Author Cheryl Hammer has clothed a deep message in a light and easy-to-read book. As someone who has been alarmed by the number of young women who read romance novels and the vampire genre, I believe this book would be a great way to reach that audience. The book is short, light and humorous and avoids sermonizing the reader.I hope that this “tongue-in-teeth” romance attracts readers who need to hear the message.

My one complaint with the book is that the characters need greater development so that the reader can more deeply relate to them.

Finally, as a mother of young adult daughters, I appreciate the warning found in this book; watch out for men who seem to be the man of your dreams but, in reality, love the darkness, love themselves and will, like vampires, suck you dry.

Visit www.charlotemarriesavampire.com to learn how to get a copy of this e-book for yourself and watch for my interview with the author Cheryl Hammer coming this Friday or Saturday.

On the other hand, help him to see that he doesn’t have to work himself to death for man’s approval or grasp for gain beyond what is a gift from You.Give him the ability to enjoy his success without striving for more. Help him to excel but free him from the pressure to do so.” (from the Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian)

We’ve heard them all; those remarks from strangers and friends alike;

“Are you Catholic? Mormon? Crazy?” (my husband would grin broadly and reply proudly,”No, we are passionate Protestants!)

“You know better than that! God gave us a brain!”

“The world is overpopulated already. How dare you bring another child into this world!”

The remarks came fast and furious, often when I felt most vulnerable; when I was pregnant, a bit tired and overwhelmed.

Finally, the baby would arrive and (often) the very same people who had sneered and scoffed at my pregnant belly were the first to chuckle at the little face staring up at them because, after all, they were face -to- face with a person.

This post at The Thinking Housewife blog sparked a lot of controversy and impelled me to share the story of how God convicted of us sin early in our marriage.

I shared some of our story at The Thinking Housewife.

“Now a child is the very sign and sacrament of personal freedom. He is a fresh free will added to the wills of the world; he is something that his parents have freely chosen to produce and which they freely agree to protect. They can feel that any amusement he gives (which is often considerable) really comes from him and from them and from nobody else.

He has been born without the intervention of any master or lord. He is a creation and a contribution; he is their own creative contribution to creation. He is also a much more beautiful, wonderful, amusing and astonishing thing than any of the stale stories or jingling jazz tunes turned out by the machines.”- GK Chesterton

Children transform the world, change the future and become mighty nations. Oh, how blessed we are when we say, “Yes, Lord, I will accept these little ones as gits from you; embracing them with joy no matter how much I may need to give of my time, my love and my life.”

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
(Psalms 127:3-5 ESV)

Loving children does not come naturally to every woman nor does every woman have a Biblical view of what “love” is! Yes, most women will gladly feed, clothe, and hold their babies. Those babies need them, after all, and there is something deeply satisfying in knowing that we can quiet our baby’s cries into sighs! But, once those physical needs are met, it is a good idea to ask ourselves…(read the rest at Far Above Rubies).

Laundry is a fact of life. Depending on the size of your laundry pile, you could be spending an unnecessary amount of money on detergent to wash clothes.

Several years ago I made the Duggar’s laundry detergent recipe from their website. It is a gel recipe so it looked and felt like the kind of gel soap I buy but I wasn’t terribly impressed by how it cleaned my clothes. It also took that little bit of extra time to make and then I had to pour the whole gloppy mess into an appropriate container…just enough trouble for lazy me to avoid making my own soap!

Recently, because I was giving a talk on frugality and needed a hands-on example to take to class, I did another search for homemade laundry soap and found this recipe. It is so simple yet it gets our clothes cleaner. My husband even noticed the difference.

Frugal Friday tip; always ask yourself the question, “Is there an easier and less expensive way to do this?” and you will probably discover that other people have asked the same question and found the answer! This certainly is true when it comes to saving money on cleaning products.

# 1 Cup Grated Soap (Fels Naptha is an excellent, old fashioned soap that many grocery stores carry in the laundry section). Ivory soap also works.
# 1/2 Cup Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
# 1/2 Cup Borax

Grate the soap (you can use a food processor if you like), mix the soda and Borax together with the soap and pour into a plastic container with a lid.

To wash clothes, use 2 tablespoons per load. The soap does not get sudsy but it does clean your clothes!
This recipe costs pennies per load and is biodegradable.

It may not help you actually conquer the laundry pile but at least you know you’re not spending all your hard-earned money while you’re trying to do it!

Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persever,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
-by Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet is considered by many to be America’s first woman poet. Mrs. Bradstreet was the wife of the governor of Massachusetts and the mother of eight children. She was a Puritan who lived from 1612-1672 and both wrote and published her poems during her lifetime.

picture from www.crafts.kaboose.com

Easy and cute. I think these would be darling with red candy or heart shaped candy. If you happen to have a little box that a ring came in from the jewelry store, you would thrill a little girl with one of these tucked inside!

What you need:

Give the ring with some “sweet” words of love such as,

Happy Valentine’s Day!

“Praying for your husband is not the same as praying for your children…we have authority over our children that is given to us by the Lord. We don’t have authority over our husbands. However, we have been given authority “over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19) and can do great damage to the enemy’s plans when we pray.

Many difficult things that happen in a marriage relationship are actually part of the enemy’s plan set up for its demise. But we can say,
“I will not allow anything to destroy my marriage.”
“I will not stand by and watch my husband be wearied, beaten down, or destroyed.”
“I will not sit idle while an invisible wall goes up between us.”
“I will not allow confusion, miscommunication, wrong attitudes, and bad choices to erode what we are trying to build together.”
“I will not tolerate hurt and unforgiveness leading us to divorce.”

“Lord, Help me to be a good wife. I fully realize that I don’t have what it takes to be one without Your help. Take my selfishness, impatience and irritability and turn them into kindness, long-suffering, and the willingness to bear all things. Take my old emotional habits, mindsets, automatic reactions, rude assumptions, and self-protective stance and make me patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.

Take the hardness of my heart and break down the walls with Your battering ram of revelation. Give me a new heart and work in me Your love, peace and joy (Galatians 5:22, 23). I am not able to rise above who I am at the moment. Only You can transform me. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.” *

*From the Power of A Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian

Please share a short prayer with us as you join us today!