Telling Stories

 I sat and told myself a story,

until the stories became all I saw.

Then you came and sat beside me,

and you became my story.

Reality once trickled away into pages to hide.

Now reality dances in the air around me. 

Digital Book Giveaway

It's almost Christmas! And I've realized that, while I have the whole first chapter of my novel available to read for free (here's the link), I have nothing like that for my non-fiction book. I don't necessarily want to put up a big sample because it's quite short; however, I would like to do something to give it to more readers.

So all through the rest of December 2019, send me an email mentioning this post to deanna [dot] skaggs at gmail (you get the idea, just remove the spaces and brackets and put a period in between my first and last names) and I'll send you a free digital copy of my latest book, Silence and Boldness: Finding Freedom through Trust. No strings; I just wanted to have the chance to share it with a few more readers this winter. And don't worry, I don't have a newsletter or anything, so you won't suddenly start getting bombarded with emails.

If you'd still like to get a hard copy of either of my books, they're at 40% off at this link. 

Merry Christmas!

Print Copies & Digitals Arrive

The reality of a writer's life: formatting your manuscript for the digital edition while making dinner, getting the email that the first step of the approval process for that edition is underway while on lunch at work, coming home from work to a package containing the new batch of printed copies of your latest book, blogging about your book while making dinner after work. Yeah, life goes on--you just have to fit the writing in between it all. The food, too, always fit in the food.

I got my proof copy of my latest book, Silence and Boldness, in the mail a couple weeks ago. But that was kind of just to make sure it looked alright; the big batch of them is where the excitement begins.

Even though I didn't really write this particular book to try and turn out profit (my plan is to mainly give it away) (not, of course, to imply that I wouldn't like to turn a profit, just that that isn't my goal with this one), it's still fun to set out several copies of a book with your name on it and just enjoy the moment. I give you a glimpse at my desk, too, for the fun of it.

For all you ebook readers out there, the digital edition is now available from Lulu. It will be on all the other major ebook sites later, but you can get it there right now (the digital is $2.99). And paperback and hardcover copies of both my books are still currently 30% off, if you're interested.

My New Book: Silence and Boldness

I had something I needed to do, something I needed to say. I worried that it wasn't significant enough to bother about. I worried that it wasn't enough to make a book out of. I worried that I didn't even know how to go about editing something like this.

But ultimately I knew that what was most important was simply getting it out. It is my second book, which is not my second novel (the novel remains a work in progress) as I thought it would be. Yet here it is. Ready for it?

From the back cover: 

In this fallen world, sometimes darkness is all we can see. But there is more. The light of our Creator and the beauty of his Creation are enough to tear us out of our chaos. Here is the story of stepping forward and allowing God to give strength and hope. Centering all thoughts on him brings the great freedom we crave. Seeing his love provides context for all that life brings. Here is the story of how I found both silence and boldness, each with their place in my life.


It will be available at all the major online retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon in a few weeks (and I should be getting the digital edition out soon, too), but you can already get a copy from this link. To celebrate the release, it's at 30% off right now (hardcover and paperback copies of my novel, Black Tree, are 30% off right now, too, if you'd like to get both).

And even though this is a different type of book, still it's exciting to now have two in print books of mine:

I'm Sorry

I'm sorry for what I did when I couldn't breathe.

I'm sorry for what I said when I couldn't see.

Did I let the chaos out?

Now you see why I need to contain the chaos.

The stars only shine by burning, but we only love their shine because we forget that they're burning.

I'm sorry I let you see me burn.

I burn best in silence, where you can't see me.

The Water

The water has changed. Perhaps.

I don't have a fear of water. But I don't like aquariums, that sort of thing. Even the fish tank sections in pet stores can be a little uncomfortable to be around. So it took me a little while to make it over to Odysea Aquarium.

There were likely a variety of factors involved (one being that their tanks are newer and cleaner than some and also better lit and smaller than some), but the tanks didn't much bother me. A little . . . but then it faded. I worried before getting to certain sections that I thought would be bad . . . and then wondered why I'd been worried.

I think I've mentioned that water is an element in my next book. So I'd thought that if I ever went to the aquarium, I might even want to bring a notebook to get some material. But there was nothing for me to write down.

Which, in fact, is quite fitting. Like most symbols, water has two sides: the good and the bad. Water is life and water is death. Like how red, for instance, is both love and hate. It's that flip from one to the other that I'm trying to explore in this book. Maybe that's why I haven't been working on it lately: I needed to flip myself before the theme could.

Roses Walking

There are roses walking across the earth,
Their blood is dripping red.

Petals scatter,
Thorns fall.

Brambles take hold,
Tearing and trembling.

Roots rip the ground,
Seedlings spring up.

Roses rise up in beauty,
and then shrivel.

The dried rose petals are the most exquisite of all.