Sign Up to Help Promote V. Joy Palmer's debut novel, Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations!

Guys! So excited! This is the influencer sign up form!!! I'm looking for some more reviewers and influencers, so if you are interested, I'd love to have your help!

Once you fill out this form, you are volunteering to be an influencer. What does an influencer do? Well, that depends on the agreement between author and the influencing individual. Here's what I'm asking my influencers to do:

1. You will receive an e-book copy of Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations. Please read Izze and Miles' story and  post a honest review on at least one retailer website - especially Amazon. If you have a blog, that is good, too. It doesn't have to be big and flowery. Simple and short is good, too. If you are looking for suggestions, this is a good example: "Super Awesome!" ;)

In the event you don't like the story, that's okay. We will still be friends. :)  However, please post a review anyways. No review at all is worse than an honest, negative review, especially on Amazon. However, please try to note some positive points in your review.

2. Please try to commit to sharing at least one of my book promo posts on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter on your profile pages once a week for six weeks. Simply share one of the posts from one of my profiles onto yours.

3. Talk the ears off of everyone around you about Izze and Miles. :)

That's all! Pretty simple! If you still want to help, and the ears of those around you remain intact, you are welcome to (but not required to) request a copy for your local library, recommend it for your next book club read, or lend it to a friend.

*IMPORTANT* Unfortunately, everyone may not be able to participate. There is only a limited number of spots available. I wish everyone could participate, but influencers will be selected on a first come basis. If you are not able to participate as an influencer, I hope that you will still buy the book and tell your friends. Also, influencer copies will be primarily e-books. I'm so sorry if that prohibits anyone from participating.

Thank you so much for your help, guys! You are all supremely awesome. I'm sending you hugs, and I will eat pans of brownies in your honor!

Thanks to Google, you can sign up here! You'll see the same instructions on the form.

Thank you! God bless you guys!!!

V. Joy Palmer

P.S. Book cover and description below! ;)




Isabel Izze Vez, bridal consultant extraordinaire, has been helping brides find their perfect wedding gowns for years. All the happy endings are starting to grate on her. How many wedding dresses does Izze have to help other brides find before she actually gets to wear one herself? After experiencing a failed romance several years earlier, Izze begins barraging God: When will it be her turn?

When James Miles Clayton walks into her life, a fragile relationship is formed, but will their rocky start and a misunderstanding at work destroy everything? More importantly, will Izze let go of her shattered dreams, and trust God for a beautiful future?


I Refuse to Accept This!

"This is your fault."

Some people mumbled it. Others said it with their dark, angry eyes. One man had marched up to him, and jabbed a finger into his chest.

His fault.

Were they right? He didn't want to believe it, but could it be true? Was this death laid squarely at his feet?"

"NO!" A voice spoke to him. The Lord. Paul took a deep breath to regain his composure. He would not let the lies of the devil distract him.

Ignoring his instinct to panic, Paul knelt over the young man. Then a calm washed over him like a cooling mist on a hot day. His spirit leapt within him.

Eutychus was alive.

Based on Acts 20:7-12

"On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, 'Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.' And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted." Acts 20:7-12

So I love how casual Paul is here. I think of The Princess Bride when I read this... He's just like, "Guys, he's not dead. See? Help him get up so we can finish talking."

I know that if I was in this situation, I would have been blaming myself for Eutychus' death. "Oh, no," I'd moan and sob. "It's all my fault!" You don't see Paul take that attitude, and I would be willing to bet that some of the people - people who had just been praising him - were now throwing fiery darts at him. They were probably shouting, whispering, and criticizing him, saying, "This is your fault. He's dead because of you, because you kept droning on and on instead of letting us go home and sleep!"

But Paul didn't let those fiery darts take him down. Not the ones from the people, and not the ones from his own insecurities and doubt. He continued in God's ministry. He did not take responsibility for this lie. It was not his to bear.

I think all of us can relate to this. I know that I can. It's something that's been on my heart. People, even other Christians - will throw darts and jabs from the devil at you. Don't let them take you down. They aren't your responsibility to bear. Jesus took those lies. Your responsibility is to continue in God's will.

Repeat after me, "I REFUSE to accept this lie!"

V. Joy Palmer

Word Thirst

His eyes drifted shut.

He blinked furiously. Must. Stay. Awake.

Dull light flickered from the lamps in a lazy dance that lulled him deeper and deeper into a trance-like state. It was after midnight, and Paul continued to talk and talk and talk. He desperately wanted to hear what Paul was preaching. He wanted to know God.

An ache formed in his hip and back from trying to balance on the windowsil.

His eyes slide shut again. Maybe if he kept his eyes shut for a few minutes, that stinging feeling from trying to hold them open would go away. Then he would be able to focus.

Just a few more minutes...

Based on Acts 20:7-9

"On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead." Acts 20:7-9

Paul was a talker. And let's be honest. He was gabbing away here, and while he was droning on and on, people were getting tired. It was past midnight. They were exhausted, and the dim lighting from lamps wasn't helping.

But they stayed.

And a young man named Eutychus was so devoted to hearing this message, that he didn't leave even though he was dead tired - excuse the pun.

Is our thirst for God so strong that we wouldn't, couldn't leave even though we could be watching TV, hanging out with friends, checking things off our to-do list, or sleeping? (As a mom of a baby on a sleep strike, I don't underestimate the severe, deperate need for sleep.) Does our thirst for God outweigh all other things?

I know that I want my thirst for the Word of God to be stronger than anything else in this life. I, we should want to be like all those people - Eutychus included - who stayed.

V. Joy Palmer

"The Secret Place"

Isaiah 55:2-3

"Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good.

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Incline your ear, and come to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you --

The sure mercies of David.

Psalm 91:1-2

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust."

Psalm 63:1-2

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You;

My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You

In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Psalm 46:10

Be still and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nation's,

I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalm 34:8

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Psalm 27:8

When You said, "Seek My face,"

My heart said to You,

"Your face, Lord, I will seek."

These are just a few verses that remind me that it is His heart that we as His people need to spend time in His presence. We need to draw close! We must meet with Him in the secret place of His presence!  It is in this place that He speaks! It is in this place that we encounter Him and realize that it is His desire is to share His heart with His people! In case your not convinced ... read the book of Isaiah and highlight every time He says the words, "Listen to me." (For example 46:12, 48:1, 12, 16, 49:1, 51:1,4,7) 

Still not convinced that it is crucial to the life of a believer? There is always, always, always the example of Jesus to consider ... "So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed." Luke 5:16

"Call Her Blessed"

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom and I were talking a couple days ago. I asked her what she wanted for mother's day, and she said she didn't want anything. I pressed her, and she jokingly said a bag of dirt for her flower gardens.

Nothing says "I love you, Mom," like a bag of dirt.

Yeah, right.

But that's a mom for you. They love to bless their children, help them, make life easier for them, and they will love any bizarre gift that comes from the heart.

Because you gave it to them.

I haven't been a mom for very long, but from the moment I knew I was pregnant with my baby girl, there isn't anything I wouldn't have done for her. I would give my life for her, almost did. Since becoming a mom, I have a new appreciation for all that my mother and all the motherly women in my life have done for me. I'm so thankful that they continue to be there for me.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, stepmoms, mother-in-laws, aunts, birth moms, adoptive moms, and "second" moms out there. You guys are amazing.

"Her children rise up and call her blessed...." Proverbs 31:28a

V. Joy Palmer

We Can't Understand

"O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it." Psalm 139:1-6

I just have a thought today, guys.

We don't understand the magnitude of God's love for us.

More than that. We can't understand the magnitude of God's love for us.

The first five verses in Psalm 139 talks about how well God knows you. When you sit and when you stand. When you go to the grocery store. God knows all your little habits, and how you like your coffee in the afternoon. He knows your thoughts, and what you're going to say before you say it. He knows where you're going in life, and He has awesome plans to help you. His hand is guiding you. He wants to do all this, to know all this. Because He ardently loves you.

And then verse six says this:

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it." Psalm 139:6

We don't understand God's love. God tries to convey it in the Bible. He tries to help us understand, but our broken hearts, our limited understanding, and our doubt gets in the way.

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

You have no idea how much God loves you. You don't understand it. I certainly don't understand it! But it's true. He does love you, me, us. So next time you forget, when you feel unloved and unworthy, say this to yourself:

"I have no idea how much God loves me... But He loves me!"

V. Joy Palmer

"We Are Asking!"

Joel 2:23-29

Be glad then, you children of Zion, 

And rejoice in the Lord your God;

For He has given you the former rain faithfully,

And He will cause the rain to come down for you--

The former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,

And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

So I will restore to you the years that the 

swarming locust has eaten,

The crawling locust, The consuming locust, 

And the chewing locust,

My great army which I sent among you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

And praise the name of the Lord your God,

Who has dealt wondrously with you;

And My people shall never be put to shame.

Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

And that I am the Lord your God and there is no other.

My people shall never be put to shame.

"And it shall come to pass afterward

That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and Your daughters shall prophesy,

Your old men shall dream dreams,

Your young men shall see visions;

And also on My menservants and on My maidservants 

I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

Zechariah 10:1

Ask the Lord for rain, 

In the time of the latter rain.

The Lord will make flashing clouds; 

He will give them showers of rain,

Grass in the field for everyone.

Lord, with our hearts set on You, we as Your people cry out, "Holy Spirit, come!  Bring the former and latter rain together. O Lord, send Your rain!"