Here are just a few virtues that God promises to bless:

1. If we listen, God blesses us with eternal life. (Deuteronomy 30:20)
2. If we act with courage, God blesses us with His presence. (Deuteronomy 31:23)
3. If we choose joy, God blesses us with His strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
4. If we fear God, God blesses us with happiness and knowledge. (Psalm 112:1, Proverbs 1:7)
5. If we show kindness, God blesses us with respect. (Proverbs 11:16)
6. If we live in love, God blesses us with prosperity. (Proverbs 21:21)
7. If we control our tongue, God blesses us with long life. (Proverbs 13:3)
8. If we dress with modesty, God blesses us with beauty. (1 Peter 3:5)
9. If we are creative, God blesses us with new ideas. (Psalm 40:3)
10. If we don’t give up, God blesses us with His bounty. ( Hebrews 10:36)

And that’s just for starters! A brimming bounty of 52 Biblical virtues are fully explored—one day at a time, week by week—in God’s Great Blessings. The new devotional releases Oct. 1.
Why is this devotional for you?  For now? Because it’s time you got blessed. And by God Himself.

“The big surprise for me in writing this devotional,”  says author Patricia Raybon,  “was learning just how much God wants to bless us. God longs to shower us with His blessings. But the path is His virtues—the ways He loves most. This devotional teaches exactly what they are.”

Richly bound in a beautiful leather-like cover, in a spring-fresh green color, the devotional feels good, looks good—and will teach you well.

Let award-winning author Patricia Raybon help you discover the enriching secrets of a bold Christian life as you learn the 52 biblical virtues that bless God, bless His world—and in return, greatly bless you!

Follow the virtual book tour from October 3- November 7, 2011 at http://bit.ly/PatriciaRaybonVirtualBookTour.

For Immediate Release

New leadership book author honors female mentors during Women’s History Month

Some think leaders are born; others believe they are made. But whether born or made each group could benefit from Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success, a systematic leadership development book by seasoned leader Dawn McCoy.

McCoy, founder of Flourish Leadership Group, is a former Sacramento School Board member, nonprofit executive and political adviser. She devised Leadership Building Blocks from her elected, hired, appointed and volunteer positions that gave her a framework for leadership success. This book tells you “how to get in, survive, and manage leadership experiences,” said McCoy. “These are real life lessons I learned.” Many of these lessons McCoy learned from her female mentors and will honor them on her “Celebrating Women in Leadership” blog tour in March.

From knowing when to speak up, who to talk to and how to navigate conflict, Leadership Building Blocks takes the reader from the board room to the streets with leadership insights no matter what the position. With more than 20 years of experience, McCoy crafted seven strategies, or building blocks, to guide veteran and aspiring leaders, including commitment to legacy—cultivating skills within the coming generations. As a school board member, McCoy was able to excel because of commitment to legacy.

“Without a perspective about turning a corner and leaving behind a road map, we are doomed to perpetuate mistakes,” McCoy said. “Every leader has an obligation to help those behind them to reach back and lend a hand. This should be done in our schools, communities, faith-based organizations, and government agencies.”

Instead of just theory, Leadership Building Blocks gives real-life examples; provides self assessment surveys and fill-in the blank worksheets; and includes pictorial images throughout the pages that prompt readers to pay attention to key concepts. This hands-on guide is practical.

This book “addresses often overlooked leadership attributes, including the practice of personal and professional etiquette, polishing public speaking and communication skills, and giving back through commitment to mentoring,” said Martha Farmer, founding director of Leadership America and Leadership Texas. ”These simple, yet so very important characteristics of quality leaders receive little or not mention among the vast body of leadership literature.”

For more information or to interview McCoy or have her write an article celebrating her leadership mentors, contact Tyora Moody at blogtours [at] tywebbin.com.

Visit the blog tour schedule at http://bit.ly/LeadershipBuildingBlocks.

Christian novel attacks physical and spiritual heart issues

When two people marry with unresolved issues and unexpressed expectations that drive them deep in escapism, what you have is marriage mayhem on the magnitude that only God can solve. This may sound like the latest plot in a daytime drama, but this is the makings of Secrets and Lies, the debut novel of Christian fiction writer Rhonda McKnight.

In the book, Jonah Morgan is a driven pediatric cardiologist who works long hours to make sure his family doesn’t lack money like his birth family did when he was 10 and in great financial need. His frequent absence from home has his children longing for his presence and has drawn a wedge between him and his wife, Faith, making her lose faith and wondering if the marriage is worth saving. Jonah is also dealing with unforgiveness. With marital woes and an unthinkable accusation from one of Jonah’s co-workers, Secrets and Lies keeps readers on edge, wondering what the next move of each character might be.

Though fiction, Secrets and Lies has real people with real “heart” issues that affect them physically and spiritually. Because of this dual aspect of health, McKnight is promoting her book in connection with February’s “Healthy Heart Month” to get people to focus on physical heart conditions as well as spiritual ones. A reader on her blog tour will receive a kit from the American Heart Association (AHA), which includes a bag and cookbook. McKnight is also donating 10 percent of her profits to the AHA.

Originally titled Issues of the Heart, McKnight says she hopes Secrets and Lies gets people discussing “what little steps can we take to be more (physically) fit.” And “if anyone is struggling with unforgiveness, I hope they would pause and reflect and perhaps think about the next step” to get beyond unforgiveness. “There is a connection between the issues of overeating and alcoholism in people who have unresolved emotional issues,” McKnight said.

She believes that Secrets and Lies “exemplifies the power of faith and hope in overcoming personal pain and the power of forgiveness to set us free. “Forgiven is a decision,” McKnight said. “But once we make the decision to forgive, then we move on, then we heal. When we don’t, we just make ourselves unhealthy.”

About the author: Rhonda McKnight is the owner of Legacy Editing, a free-lance editing service for fiction writers and Urban Christian Fiction Today, a popular Internet site that highlights African-American Christian fiction. She’s a member of Faith Based Fiction Writers of Atlanta. When she’s not editing projects, teaching workshops about writing or penning her next novel, she spends time with her family. Originally from a small, coastal town in New Jersey, she’s called Atlanta, Georgia home for twelve years.

To interview McKnight or for more information, contact Tyora Moody at blogtours@tywebbin.com. Visit the blog tour schedule at http://bit.ly/HealthyHeartBlogTour.

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For Immediate Release January 18, 2010

Contact: Tyora Moody
Tywebbin Creations Blog Tours
blogtours@tywebbin.com

Novel examines faith and friendship amidst personal struggles

Winter is the perfect time to cuddle in a chair and read a page-turning novel. For those who like the interplay of intimate friends and the intrigue of dark secrets, Beautiful Ugly is the book for you. Written by multi-award winning author Shelia E. Lipsey, Beautiful Ugly looks at how three friends support each other through insecurities like obesity, loneliness and physical impairment. Though the three are close, one friend struggles with anxiety from withholding her dark secrets. They rely on their friendship and faith to help them see their inner beauty and reach their greatest desires.

Go into the world of Layla Hobbs, who has a beautiful singing voice but her obesity and low self-esteem make life and love difficult; Envy Wilson, who is Layla’s constant support but has her own private issues; and Kacie Mayweather, who has cerebral palsy and five baby daddies and not a man to call her own. Lipsey says about the book: “It’s relatable because it deals with everyday issues with how we look at ourselves and how others perceive us.” As far as her audience, Lipsey said: “I want people to learn to love themselves instead of looking at themselves in the mirror with contempt.” She believes Beautiful Ugly will help readers see beauty through the ugliness.

Beautiful Ugly is Lipsey’s fourth book, for which she won the Black Pearls Magazine 2009 Top Shelf Award. She also won 2009 Shades of Romance Readers’ Choice Awards for My Son’s Wife in the following categories: Author of the Year, Christian Fiction Book of the Year, Christian Romance of the Year, Best Book Cover of the Year and Best Fiction Book of the Year. She also received accolades for her novels Into Each Life and Sinsatiable.

Lipsey is the proud mother of two sons and the grandmother of three boys. She is president of UCHisGloryBookClub.net, founder of the non-profit organization Living Your Dreams Now, and the Memphis African American Writers.

For an interview and more information, contact Tyora Moody at blogtours@tywebbin.com.

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