Book Giveaway:Rhonda is offering a great opportunity for two lucky winners. One randomly chosen winner will win ESPRESSO YOUR FAITH and a second randomly chosen winner will win HOW MANY LIGHTBULBS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A PERSON. The winners will be announced here on Friday, February 14th, between 5-6 PM EST. Please leave your contact information within your comment. Thanks!
This is Part 1 of 4 part series on How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Change A Person that Rhonda has shared on YouTube. It's full of warmth and smiles. Check it out!
Questions
for Rhonda Rhea and Kaley Rhea
Rhonda, if you were to
describe yourself to a stranger curious about your writing and speaking, what
would you say?
I would probably say
that this kind of insanity is not contagious so DON’T BE AFRAID. Sometimes a
bit of crazy is a good way to open the door to chat about topics that really
count.
Rhonda, how did you
venture into your career as a beloved writer, radio personality, and now TV
star?
Beloved? Star? I love
the way you ask questions. Thanks for that. I actually started writing
articles, then humor columns (and I still enjoy doing both of those), then
books. I’m so excited about my 10th nonfiction book, just releasing
now. It’s a book for pastors’ wives titled, Join
the Insanity—Crazy-Fun Life in the Pastors’ Wives Club. I happen to be a
pastor’s wife and this book is a heart-to-heart to refresh and encourage fellow
ministers’ wives. I’m also so very excited about the first two fiction works
co-authored with Kaley. The first is releasing this year. We’ve had a blast
working on them. Anyway, after the first few books, more radio and TV doors began
to open. It’s great to have so many different ways to connect with people on
topics I’m passionate about.
Kaley, you’ve
co-authored two novels with your mom and both you and your sister, Allie, work
with your mom hosting a TV show, “That’s My Mom.” How did this family
partnership come about? You make it look easy, but is such collaboration easy?
We make it look easy,
huh? Nice. It’s probably because the three of us are all consummate
professionals. … Oh, wow. Go easy on the disbelieving stares. Okay, so we’re
rarely professional, but that’s probably a pretty huge part of why we work well
together. We’ve had a couple decades to get to know one another—our strengths
and weaknesses; so I think that kind of frees us up creatively. For the most
part, each of us gets to work on portions of whatever our current project is
for which we are best suited. Also, I think that—especially with the TV
show—the whole opportunity was one we couldn’t have orchestrated if we’d tried.
So totally a God thing. It makes it a little harder to have a bad attitude or
an ego trip when the very thing you’re working on is a glaring reminder itself
that, Hey. It’s not about you. Silly
goose. Also it helps that we like each other and if we weren’t doing this, we’d still be hanging out. Probably God realized He’d better give
us something productive to do because we clearly should not be left to our own
devices.
Kaley, tell us about GET
A GRIP and CLING TO REALITY, your soon-to-be released novels.
Stoked! Do people still say stoked? Yeah, I’m gonna
go with that. I am so stoked about these two books. They’re in a series
tentatively titled Invisible Hands.
It follows brothers Micah and Sammy (aged seventeen and thirteen respectively)
who lost their parents ten years before the story begins. When a startling and potentially
dangerous ability begins to present itself in Sam, the boys are thrust from
their already unstable lives into a world of chaos. There’s peril and stuff.
Mortal danger, etc. But it’s mostly about these characters—about people and
family and trust and whether or not God is even really there much less someone
to be counted on. It’s been a blast writing these guys. The target audience is
probably young adults, but really, this series is for anyone who’s into
fiction.
Rhonda, why “hilarity
and hope in Christ”?
The hilarity is a direct
result of the aforementioned crazy. That part is actually a tool that helps us
get to the heart message, that heart message being the genuine hope found only in
Christ. Hope in Christ makes all the difference in life. It’s the difference between
living in joy or defeat, bearing fruit in life or never accomplishing anything
of eternal value, understanding what life is about or missing it altogether.
Jesus IS that heart message.
Kaley, your mom’s forte
is humor. What about you and your sister? Do you counterbalance or add to the
humor and what do you all offer readers and viewers?
Well, we think we’re hilarious. Ha, I’ve gotta
say, Allie cracks me up on a daily basis, and she is so crazy creative. If you
get a chance to watch That’s My Mom,
should you find yourself laughing audibly, I would lay odds that it was either
something she said or some segment that she came up with. All in all, I think
we all play off each other pretty well. As far as what Allie and I offer to
readers and viewers, I think it’s cool that we’re all at different stages of
life. Like my mom, obviously is…hm. As a writer, I should probably be able to
come up with a better term than older,
but… More mature? Um…ripened? That’s terrible. She’s been a Christian the
longest out of the three of us. That’s all I’m saying. And she’s got all this
godly wisdom, and she’s an excellent example of a wife and a mom. There’s just
a ton there, and I love it. Then there’s Allie who has a giant heart for
missions, been all over the world, and is a newlywed. And then there’s me,
living the single life. All of us face and have faced different challenges, and
I think that’s equal parts fun and valuable. I can hardly be in the same room
as these two without learning something.
So, Rhonda, how many
lightbulbs does it take to change a person and what does one do—short of
dashing off to Wal-Mart to buy more—if they run out of the power to change a
bulb?
If I were a good
marketer I’d tell you that to find the answer to that question, you have to
read the book. But since marketing is not always my best thing, I’ll just tell
you. It requires zero lightbulbs. But it does require full surrender to THE
Light. And as we surrender to Jesus, the Light of the world, any—absolutely
any—change is possible.
If you would like to revisit with Rhonda on her first guest appearance on Everyone's Story, visit here.
Rhonda and Kaley's Ah-hahs To Tweet:
Mother & daughter
writing duo, Rhonda & Kaley Faith Rhea, shares how to collaborate with
family members. (Tweet This)
Rhonda & Kaley Faith
Rhea: adding “hilarity and hope in Christ” (Tweet
This)
Everyone has a story: meet Rhonda & Kaley Faith Rhea. What’s the firm ground they stand on? (Tweet This)
Authors's Bio:
Get a Grip and Cling to Reality are the first two novels co-authored by mother/daughter writing team, Rhonda Rhea and Kaley Faith Rhea. Along with fellow-family-member, Allie Rhea McMullin, they co-host a weekly TV show for Christian Television Network called, “That’s My Mom.” Rhonda Rhea is also a nationally-known speaker, a humor columnist and the author of 10 nonfiction books, including Join the Insanity and Espresso Your Faith. Rhonda is a pastor’s wife and mother of five grown children. She and Kaley both live in the St. Louis area.
Places to connect with Rhonda and Kaley:
Website for Rhonda
Website for Kaley
Rhonda's Twitter
Kaley's Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon
