God Wants Me to Write about Him

"Faith in God" by Christine Graves via Canva Pro

 

Okay, I know how weird that sounds, but it's true. I've had it on my heart for quite some time now that God wants me to do a blog about Him. I've tried to chalk it up to my overactive imagination, but I'm pretty sure it's really Him pushing me.

Here's the thing. I was raised a Protestant. I've been part of the Baptist faith, the Pentecostal faith, the Methodist faith, and even the Koinania faith (it's a non-denominational faith). I was raised to put all my faith in God and trust that whatever happened was God's will. I wasn't always happy with the outcome and God knows that. 

However, even with all the Christianity I've been a part of, I'm NOT a religious person. I believe in God, with my whole heart, but I think the term "organized religion" is a load of crap. God knows this too. I can't say He's happy about it, but He knows how I feel. I believe in God, not all the crap that comes with that term.

So, I've decided to listen to Him and start posting more about Him and how He works in my life. No, this isn't going to become a blog completely dedicated to God (sorry Lord), but I will be doing more posts about Him and His work in the world. I think we all could use a little help from God in the world today.

I'll be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I'll be writing about just yet, but I'm sure He'll tell me what he wants me to say. Anyway, I hope He does. I've got a few ideas. One of my very first stints as an online writer was a little blog called Finding the Father. I was pretty proud of it and I spent a lot of time bringing it to life. However, it was through a site called Webseed.com and they went belly-up and took my little blog with them. I was bummed.

I realize that most people don't want to have Christianity shoved down their throats, and I get that. I'm one of them. But I'm not looking to make this into that kind of place. I want the focus to be on God and His word. Not all the other BS that humans have woven into the mix. 

I hope you'll stop by in the coming weeks and see where I go with this. I promise I'll still have other things here, but I want to bring God into this and give Him a place to be heard. I just hope I can do Him justice. 

Until next time,
Miss Chris

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Christine Graves has been writing online for nearly 30 years. She has written everything from fiction and poetry to reviews and ad campaigns. She runs two blogs, Graves Publications and Collected Keepsakes. She currently writes for a platform called Medium.com and runs several publications through them. 

Christine is also an avid collector of vintage anything and an arts-and-crafts kinda gal. She is a sucker for a garage/yard sale, secondhand stores, and auctions. Because of this, she's opened her first real online shop called Prairied Treasures. 

I Published My First Amazon Short Read

 

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Well, I finally did it. I published my first book of fiction on Amazon. It's not the first book I've published here, just the first book of fiction. It's a strange feeling knowing I've finally done something I've dreamed of doing for years.

The book is called Investigating the Beyond--Celeste Bordeaux. It's the first book in a series, and it's a short read, only about 5,000 words. It's listed in the 30-minute read section. In the first 24-hours, my book made it to the top 100 in the 30-minute read/teen and young adult category. I was over the moon.

Of course, that didn't last long. But I'm okay with that. It just means I've got to finish Book 2. I'm about halfway through at the moment and am hoping to have it finished this weekend. Once the first draft is finished, I'll let it sit and simmer for a couple of days. Then I'll go back and re-read it. I'll fix a few things, make sure it's as close to perfect as possible, then send it off to my editor. Yes, I have an editor and she is amazing.

I also have a designer to do my book covers. I love her work. Some of her book covers just drop my jaw to the floor. If it wasn't for these two women, I'd probably never have had the nerve to hit the publish button. 

I've wanted to be a published writer for as long as I can remember. I've had a couple of stories published in print, a few poems, and have been publishing online since the early 2000s. But this is different. Yes, it's still online but I can honestly say I did it. I've written a story, had it polished and packaged by professionals, and put it up for sale. That's amazing.

Here's the kicker, I actually made a little money. No, not a lot...less than a dollar...but I made a little money. For me, that's a win. It was never about the money. If it was about the money, I'd have given up a long time ago. It's not for the chance to be famous. I'm okay living in the shadows. It's simply one of those dreams that never seemed to go away. 

I'm in my late 50s and I've finally seen my dream come true. And I'm not done yet. I have a few more writing dreams to work on and now I have the drive to do so. I'm not the best writer in the world. Not by a long shot. But I love what I do. If someone out there loves it too, awesome. If not, oh well, on to the next.

Remember, you're never to old to dream. Embrace your dreams. It's what makes you, you. 

Until next time,
Miss Chris

Starting My Online Store Through Bonanza

Well, I did it. I've officially opened my own online store. I'm not going to lie, I'm not sure what I'm doing. I do, however, think I've chosen the right place to get started. I've opened my shop on a platform called Bonanza.com.

I first found Bonanza about 8 years ago, but didn't really set up a shop until 2020. Even though I had set up a shop, I never did anything with it. In truth, I chickened out. I had myself convinced I couldn't do it, so I didn't. I want to prove myself wrong.

I have a shop set up on Etsy, but to date, I've never made a single sale. Granted, I don't have much over there, but I've had a few digital items listed for almost a year now. Honestly, I haven't done much in the way of networking or marketing. And yes, I know that a crucial element to success. I'm just not sure how to go about promoting my shops other than what I'm doing right now. Post it on one of my blogs that get literally NO traffic.

Anyway, about the shop. I call it Prairied Treasures. This name came to me a long time ago. In the early 2000's, I was thinking of setting up a shop on Ebay and the name just came to me. I live on prairieland and most of what I'd planned to sell were handmade items and vintage pieces I'd collected throughout the years. And just when I was about to go all in, life went sideways and it never happened.

Fast forward ten years and I was finally able to get back to the idea of setting up my own shop. The problem was that things had gotten way more technical since I'd last played with the idea. I had to learn how to do things all over again. 

Of course, my first stop was at Etsy. I set up my shop and began the learning process of how to make it work. I'm still learning, but I've managed to figure out that it costs money to list the items, as well as costing money when you make a sale. It's not a lot of money, but still...

Etsy charges a 20-cent fee for each listing and will automatically renew those listings every 4 months. Depending on your inventory list, that could get a little pricey, especially if you're not selling much. 

Also, Etsy limits what you can sell on their platform. According to their What Can I Sell page, they allow handmade items and vintage items that are at least 20 years old. And though that means you could potentially sell anything made before 2000, you still have to be very careful.

Finally, there is a lot of competition on Etsy. I mean, A LOT!!! It's hard being a little fish in such a huge pond. I make a lot of handmade paper items, as well as make a lot of Junk Journal embellishments. There are hundreds of other shops on Etsy that sell the exact same thing. 

So, why Bonanza? There's NO LISTING FEES. Bonanza does charge a one-time shop set-up fee of $14.99, then charge 25-cents per transaction plus a Final Offer Fee (3.5% minimum-30% maximum depending on choice of advertising package)

They are a little more lenient on what you can and can't sell on their site, but you should still look through their prohibited items list just to make sure. Most items on the list are common sense. No guns, drugs, get-rich-quick schemes...that kind of thing. 

I don't have a lot on my new shop yet, but I am working on it. I've got several Christmas brooches I'm planning on listing, as well as a lot of junk journal embellishments and ephemera kits I'm working on. I think this is going to be the best place to work my magic. 

Now, I just need to figure out how to do some proper marketing and I might have a shot. I guess we'll see. Stay tuned.

Until next time,
Miss Chris