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Books
Verse Mapping
Speaking
Connect
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About
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Verse Mapping
Speaking
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By Kristy Cambron | March 30, 2019

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🦁📚👉 The votes are in, Dickensons! We heard you—our next read in #whatthedickensbookclub is: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE by C.S. Lewis
This is one of my favorite books ever, and Aslan—one of the BEST characters in all of literature. I fell smitten with this story in 5th grade (ages before I ever knew I’d be called to write myself) and have loved it ever since. SO excited our book club readers chose it!
Join author sisters @sarahladdauthor @katherinereay and moi as we read (or re-read, Ha Ha!) and gather to discuss the 1st week of January. 🦁📚CARE TO JOIN? < Link in bio > It’s fun and free! Head over to Facebook for What the Dickens Book Club group. Send us a request and you’re in!
Happy holiday reading!!
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#bookclubofinstagram #narnia #childrensliterature #cslewis #cslewisbooks #chroniclesofnarnia #aslan #favoritechildrensbook #bookclub2020 #thelionthewitchandthewardrobe #thisisnarnia #saraheladd #katherinereay #kristycambron #wtdbookclub

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🎄✉️✍️ I was thumbing through stacks of vintage letters in a book shop earlier this year, and came across this Christmas letter issued to a customer from the old Montgomery Ward Co., Chicago.... over 90 years ago. .
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It’s a random piece of history, yes. But look at the date—Dec. 1929! .
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I couldn’t help but think of what had happened in late October of that year and how lives had been changed by it. The thread of our nation’s economy has begun to unravel at the point this letter was mailed—was this the last Christmas this gentleman had for a while? Did he still have a job to pay for his purchases? Did he have a family to provide for and this letter proves his hard work to do that at Christmas?
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History nerd that I am... I can’t say how just yet (it’s a secret!) but I was so smitten with this letter that I bought it, and I’m incorporating it into the story of my next novel. Montgomery Ward opened in 1872 and finally closed its brick-and-mortar doors in 2000 (though it reopened as an online retailer some years later), which made this piece of history all the more fascinating to hold in my hands!
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Diving into writing projects today, remembering this letter, and how our lives are so threaded with yesterdays that we have to acknowledge them to fully understand today, and have hope for tomorrow. .
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🎄 And P.S. — The Christmas seal on the envelope is what captured me! How gorgeous. SOLD!
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Merry Christmas, Christmas shoppers— May your every endeavor end with an outcome that says it’s paid in full! 😉
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#montgomeryward #pieceofhistory #amwriting #historicalfiction #1929 #livinghistory #historynerd #historynerds #vintageletter #historicalfictionwriter #historyrocks #authorsofinstagram #author #authorlife #research #montgomerywardchristmas #newnovelontheway

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🎄🎁📚👉 What are your favorite type of gifts? Mine: stories. .
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“Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.” —Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
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🎁 When money got tight a few years back, we scaled Christmas buying back with it. We tried out the “gifts template” for our kids: something to wear, something you need, something you read. (Santa got the glory with the fun “wants” category. Sneaky guy! 🎅)
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Walking through a season of buckling down for a few years taught us what we did want instead of what we didn’t—and that was to not have gift-giving be the focus of our holidays. We shifted. Big time. To gifts *of* time to celebrate Jesus together. And they’re my favorite type of gifts by far.
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It’s one of the reasons why I so love books. 📚And Christmas movies. 🎄🎥 And board games. ♟ And those experience gifts—taking those you love somewhere WITH you. ✈️ Then gifts are magically transported from something that gets stacked, worn, broken, lost or given away to the things of absolute beauty in this life: shared stories become memories. And memories become US.
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We’ll never forget our trips to Disney. 🐭 Or researching crumbling castles across Ireland. ☘️ Or spending time at the Ringling Bros. circus world in Sarasota, FL 🎪... All memories our family now cherishes. And along those same lines, it’s sharing a storybook with our kids on a cozy December evening (by the light of the Christmas tree!) that I’ll always remember now as they continue to grow. .
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Wherever our gifts take us—whatever translates to memories of our past holidays of red + green—praying stories are a beautiful part of that. (And now, to finish the Christmas shopping. Even if it’s scaled back, still has to get done!) 🧣😉🎄
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#bookstagram #booksandbooks #redandgreen #redandgreenchristmas #redandgreenbookstack #bookstack #christmasbookstack #booksharks #christmasbookclub #favoritegifts #christmasshop #happybirthdayJesus #redeeminglove #thecaseforchrist #iamrahab #aprairiedevotional #achristmascarol

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🚙👩🏼‍💻☕️👉 This ONE MOMENT left me in tears... If I could tell you anything today, I’d say hit the reset button on your life when you need to; God will meet you there. .
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Our family hit reset this fall. And I said out of that decision for another big life change, I’m taking one day each week for my #ExploreDay with God. I’m hitting the road with Him. A different coffee shop. Or sleepy small town. Or park. Or experience—within comfortable driving distance—as I pen my next novel.
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🚙 EXPLORE DAY STOP #1: small town coffee shop corner
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☕️ DRINK: Peppermint Mocha Latte
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👩🏼‍💻 MOMENT: I haven’t heard the sound of live guitar strumming in over 6 years. Not since my dad passed. And friends—Dad strumming the guitar was the soundtrack of my entire youth. Specifically: Blackbird by The Beatles. I sat in the corner of that coffee shop today. Writing. Reading Dad’s Bible. Listening. Only customer in the back. Reliving moments that had long ago been lost when his guitar fell silent. .
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I had a random thought: “If this musician plays Blackbird, I’m going to LOSE IT. But I’ll know it was for me—a gift from my Dads.” .
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Next notes? Out of every song ever written?! The tune memorized by my heart... Blackbird. .
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I buried my face in my hands and sobbed. (Embarrassing. But I couldn’t help it.) Happy tears of memories I thought gone for good. I walked up and spoke to the musician after the song. I said, I know I was a mess from crying. But I thanked him and gave him all the cash I had on me. (It wasn’t much and certainly not enough for the blessing.) And then I walked away, completely and utterly shocked, but completely and utterly known. .
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Friends, God sees YOU. He sees His kid. Sitting in a corner of your world. Thinking you’re overlooked. Forgotten. Maybe lost on your story road. But you are never, NEVER lost to Him. .
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You are seen. And your Father will go to extraordinary lengths to show you this. Hit reset. Get an Explore Day on the calendar and GO...with... Him. No regrets, dear hearts. Just go. 🚙❤️
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#authorsofinstagram #authorlife #JESUSchasers #gowithGod

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🎪🎩🎄📖👉 What’s your favorite circus book? Grab you butter-toffee popcorn and pull up a hay bale by the center ring—here’s a few to add to your stocking this Christmas:
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🎩 THE NIGHT CIRCUS by @erinmorgenstern — It’s still in my TBR. (Sheesh. I know.) The last year was so busy I didn’t have reading time. But that’s going to change in 2020 and I am finally picking up the magic read. (I’ve heard so many say it’s an incredible, life-changing read and you only get to read it for the first time once—make it a good, slow experience. ❤️) So I plan to. .
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🎪 THE RINGMASTER’S WIFE by moi! — I was just yesterday telling a bookish friend at the coffee shop {who LOVES circus books} that he and his wife need to go see the circus—visit the @theringling and John and Mable Ringling’s #cadzan mansion in Sarasota, FL. (The circus is alive there! Our family will never forget the research visits we made to write about Mable Ringling’s incredible life in the golden years—the Jazz Age—of the Ringling Bros. circus!)
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🦁 THE LADY AND THE LIONHEART by @joannebischof — Friends, this is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read! And as an award-winning book from author Joanne Bischof, you know there’s a masterpiece behind the cover. If you haven’t discovered Joanne’s work yet, holiday reading is the perfect time.
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🎄 CHRISTMAS AT THE CIRCUS by Joanne Bischof — This 🌟sparkling🌟 new novella continues the story of Ella and Charlie from the novel, with two of our favorite things: circus + Christmas! And it’s available now. (Lucky us!)
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While I’m polishing off the popcorn in this pic and turning Joanne’s new novella pages on my Kindle, all you gift-givers might like to snap up some bookish gifts:
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🎁 Inspired by #TheNightCircus, find book scarves, writing gloves, and tees at: @storiarts & @outofprint. (Highly recommend the book🧣 from Storiarts — beautiful and unique!) .
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🎁 You can also find literary swag inspired by classic reads at @obviousstate —their prints, book totes, and so much more —are truly one of a kind. .
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Happy holiday, circus adventures! 🎪❤️
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#circusbooks #circuslife #joannebischof #erinmorgenstern #kristycambron #ringlingbroscircus

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🎄🧣 📚 Fa-la-la-la-la, la RED + GREEN! Which is your festive favorite? .
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This writer-gal is signing off early to enter the land of mid-week family dinner, tree trimming, and @hallmarkchannel movie watching.... Ah Christmas, I see ya. I see your red + green + remembrance + Jesus’ birthday + we are grabbing hold of blessings this year with two white-knuckled hands and refusing to let go! .
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I don’t want to miss a thing. (Might even pick up one of these gorgeous books and give a read by the glow of the Christmas tree. B.L.I.S.S.) Happy mid-week, y’all! ❤️🎄🧣
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. #happyholidayreading #christmasreading #redbooks #greenbooks #redandgreen #booksareart #redandgreenbooks #booksofig #booksofinstagram #booksandbooks #flatlayforever #flatlaychristmas #happywednesdayguys #elizabethcamden #saraheladd #susanmeissner #littlewomen #littlewomenbook #autumnmiles #laurenkdenton #holidayreads

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☕️📚🎄👉 I’m convinced there are few things better than writing (or reading!) by the glow of Christmas lights first thing on a December morning. .
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<Dreamy sigh> C’est bon! I’ll be happily lost in Paris, 1939 for a while. (That’s code for new novel in the works.) Hope you’re enjoying the holiday glow in your corner of the world today! 😉
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#authorsofinstagram #authorlife #amreading #janeausten #prideandprejudice #austenbookstack #janeite #janeiteforever #ilovemyjob #amwriting #historicalfiction #bookstack #booksharks #booksharkhollydays #booknerd #christmaswriting

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📖☃️❄️☕️ “The dreams of childhood—its airy fables, its graceful, peaceful, humane, impossible adornments of the world beyond; so good to be believed in once, so good to be remembered when outgrown.” —Charles Dickens .
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❄️ #QOTD: What’s your favorite classic quote? .
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I have many, but I found this Dickens quote printed on a Christmas cookie flavored tea box once many years ago. I cut it out and kept that quote in my desk now for years. It’s a good memory indeed, and deserves the closest I have on this frosty morning: gingerbread coffee + cinnamon + a vintage classic read. .
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If you’re headed out and about this December day, Booknerdigans... stay encouraged and stay warm! ☃️❄️📖☕️ .
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#achristmascarol #booksofig #christmasbooksofinstagram #tuesdaymorning #bookstagram #booksta #christmasbook #christmastray #gingerbreadcoffee #happyholidayreading #booknerd #booknerdigans #booknerdsofig

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❤️📸 What’s that view you could never forget? I snapped this photo from the top of the Empire State Building, summer 2013—and had no idea then that everything was about to change. .
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I found this buried within my first ever Tweets this past weekend. Within a few months of this photo, my dad would be gone. I was in the last days of my 15-year corporate career. My debut novel would release within months. And even with this view—where I could literally see miles in every direction—I still had no idea what my next step with Jesus would be. .
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I ❤️ Mondays. They’re a leveler. They come around each week on the hinges of the new. Offering a fresh view. Expectancy. Opportunity. And infinite potential for what could be if we look away from the vast view of all the “somethings” we build up on our own, and instead, fix our eyes on step-by-step walking our story road with Jesus. .
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Our footfalls in tandem with Him.
Our will surrendered.
Our future marked.
Our dream-chasing not dreams at all, but actually our innermost clawing to be realized—and it could!—if we’re brave. .
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I so did NOT feel brave at the time, but I’ll never forget this view. It’s my #DayOne, so to speak. Though the journey was unexpected and the view changed by the second, I’m comforted that our God never, ever does. ❤️
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P.S. I think of our #NYC business trip often @anneelsbeth! You made it a magical time (as our unofficial Times Square tour guide!) and I remain grateful you were with me to share this view. Much ❤️! .
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#mondaymorning #mondaymotivation #JESUSchasers #throwback2013 #throwbackmemories📷❤️ #NYC #iloveNYC #empirestatebuilding #authorsofinstagram #authorlife #lookingbacktolookforward

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🎄📖❤️👉 It may be a working weekend for this writer-gal, but there’s a magical thing called ✨BREAKS✨! .
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Taking Hallmark-Christmas-movie-and-peppermint-cookie-and-cocoa breaks wherever necessary. Hope you’re doing the same this Sunday, friends! .
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#weekendtimeisfamilytime #christmascookies #christmascookiesfordays #hallmarkmovies #hallmarkchristmasmovies #snackbreak #christmasbooks #triedandtruerecipes #sugarcookiesofinstagram #christmascookiesofinstagram #decemberisthebest #redbooks #christmascookies2019

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