Beth G. Marshall

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A few of my favorite things- (podcast edition)

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To kick off 2024, I’m thrilled to share a few of my favorite podcasts with you. Hope you’ll give them a listen!!

  • The Writing Room. World-class hosts, authors, and humans, Bob Goff and Kimberly Stuart have helped hundreds of writers “push their words from the crazy-dream stage to holding books with actual bar codes. After a bunch of years in publishing and a bunch of books launched, Bob and Kim have found that, like most things, writing works best when tackled with good friends. The Writing Room is a place where authors talk shop, stoke their curiosity, and get the nudge we all need to finish our work.”
  • The Molden Cast. Host, Jessye Wilden is a dear friend, a speaker, best-selling author, gifted storyteller, wife, mom of five, and all round Superhuman at “helping others hold onto goodness when life hurts most.”
    You’re gonna love “The Molden Cast,”  hearing from Jessye and her terrific line up of dynamic guests (including her beloved husband Ryan and all five kids!)… all coming to you from magnificent Mt. Shasta, California. 
  • That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs.  Annie is a New York Times Best-selling author, speaker, and podcast host, based in Nashville, Tennessee.   She is a huge fan of confetti poppers, boiled peanuts, soccer, and the Georgia Bulldogs!  In her That Sounds Fun podcast, Annie shares her “favorite friends, stories, and interviews—if it sounds fun, you’ll know about it!”

That’s it for today, but if you get a moment- please stop by the Beth Marshall Author FaceBook page and share some of your favorite things for 2024!!
Happiest New Year to you and all those you love!

…and that’s a good thing

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Have you ever met someone who, in spite of mountainous challenges- seems to find goodness in life? That was my sister, Sarah.

Sarah never had a drivers license, a cell phone, or home of her own… but she somehow had an extraordinary ability to embrace the blessings all around her. Sarah’s life took a drastic turn at age 13, with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, along with a few other psychiatric challenges. Through the decades, though, Sarah would find joy in the simplest things. In her words… “and that’s a good thing.”

I love how she celebrated warm sunshine on her face, cheese on her grits, floating on a raft in Lake Burton, velcro shoes, and beanie weenies.

Sarah’s mind would go places the rest of us could only imagine. She apparently had top security clearance with the CIA, and her most recent roommate was a Secret Service Agent. (certainly both very good things). One month ago today- at 5:30pm, Sarah breathed her first glorious breath in Heaven.

Celebrating the Good Stuff Last week, a few close family members gathered to remember her life and celebrate her graduation to Heaven. We will always miss Sarah’s kind heart, quirky sense of humor, and wildly entertaining imagination. We’re also thankful that all the hard parts of Sarah’s story are gone forever. Here’s a short video I made a couple days after her graduation.

I’m pretty sure Sarah would want us all to know that Heaven is for real, and that it’s cooler than anything we could ever imagine.

…and that’s a really good thing.

Thank you, friends and family for your kindness and prayers.

Shine on, sweet Sarah.

If you’re struggling after loss, this podcast might help. It was a real joy sitting down with my friend, and Nothing is Wasted founder, Davey Blackburn. We covered a lot of practical grief-relief tips, and laughed a lot, too. Hope you’ll listen in.

Uncrushed Grief- now live on YouVersion!

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So this was cool.

In the early stages of writing the book proposal for Uncrushed– there was a tough question about how you plan to get this message (rediscovering a life you love again… even after crushing loss) out into the world. For writers with a billion social media followers- not too daunting. For me, on the other hand- I needed to think a little bit out of the box.

One idea that came to mind was creating a devotional to go along with Uncrushed.

I wrote the plan and courageously submitted it to my one of my favorite all time apps- YouVersion (the Bible App)- through my very favorite publisher, End Game Press.

Well, this week two really cool things happened:

  1. The Uncrushed Grief 7-day devotional plan went live on YouVersion- and is now available all around the world!! [Be sure to tell your friends in Tokyo and Nairobi and The Gold Coast of Australia!]
  2. And, today the audio edition- that I recorded, in my signature NC accent- went live, too!

So… for anyone who’s feeling stuck or crushed by loss right now, this easy-to-follow devotional was written (& recorded) with You in mind!

#loveandloss, #griefresources, #bereavement, #mourningintodancing

What a Wonderful World

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Whenever you set out to write a book- an important first step is clearly defining who the audience is. When I started dreaming about Uncrushed, I assumed it would be primarily to help people navigate the loss of a dear loved one. That was and still is a big part of the reason for this book.

But, something unexpected happened as feedback came in from the Launch Team (35-40 amazing super heroes who read through the book before release day).

The comment that surprised me most came from a dear friend who has, thankfully, never lost a super close person~ but the stories in Uncrushed spoke clearly to her about her fun-loving mom and dad.

Here’s a bit of the story:

“…as I was reading the first few chapters while on a plane, the tears started flowing. As I was reading I was thinking about how I wanted to honor my loved ones NOW.

I came up with a plan- why not honor my parents NOW while they are alive to hear all the special memories I have with them, all the gratitude I have towards their sacrifices as we grew up. So, my sisters and niece and nephews are planning to present my parents with a video and book this Christmas with photos, memories, and heartfelt thanks for what they’ve done for our family and what they mean to us.”

HOW COOL IS THAT IDEA?!!

Her heartfelt words have lit a sweet fire in my soul to:

  • never miss an opportunity to tell your closest people what they mean to you
  • say what you need to say, today, and
  • hug your people a little longer.

It’s always the perfect day to write the letter, make the call, or visit the people you love most.

Soooooo…. to my closest and favorite humans- I’m so thankful for every one of you- more than you’ll ever know. Thank you for being patient and kind through the writing of this book. I Love You Crazy and Fun People!

love, Lali (Mom/ aka Beth)

Gratitude

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Today, I just want to say a giant Thank You to every beautiful person who has encouraged me along this two year journey from dreaming about~ to launching Uncrushed! As you may have heard, this book baby launched out into the wild on Tuesday, September 26th… and the outpouring of kindness since then has been overwhelming.

To everyone who was an early reader, wrote an endorsement, shared the book with your friends (in real life or on social media,) pre-ordered 1,5,10, or even 20! copies, or wrote an Amazon review~ your generosity means the world.

Thanks to how you’ve shared this book– there was a brief moment, shortly after launch day when Uncrushed reached #18 on the top 100 best sellers in one Amazon category… and for another split second, there was a #1 New Release banner posted in another grief-relief category! These #s seem to change by the minute- but somehow you guys are cracking the algorithm codes~ and helping Uncrushed reach farther than we could have imagined.

Some of the most amazing feedback has been how Uncrushed has inspired you to tell your closest people how much you love them. That alone is worth every single moment of the last two years creating this book.

So, to my beloved best boyfriend/husband, Paul, every one of our kids, in-law kids, and next-generation super heroes (grandkids)- You Guys Mean the World to Me (aka Lali). I Love You to The Moon and Back!

Uncrushed was designed to help you “re-discover a life you love, even after crushing loss.” If you know someone who might need a little encouragement after a tough loss- here’s a terrific Christianbook.com link that’s offering $4 off per book right now.

Additionally, for the first 50 people who leave an Amazon review… if you’d like a signed book plate to go in the front of your book- please email me your address ([email protected]) and we’ll send it your way this week. In advance- Thank You!

I wish I could send every one of you on an all-inclusive Caribbean vacation… but for now please accept my heartfelt Gratitude for helping launch Uncrushed. You guys are the best.

Colossal Curveballs

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Remember that time you planned a trip to Alaska… because you heard the Northern Lights might be visible?

But, after an almost comical series of travel complications crushed your plans, you decided to pivot, fly back home, and start over?

Then, you realized God knew exactly what you needed all along. [A few days to refresh, rest, read ridiculously fun books, and breathe (only 1.5 hours from home)].

Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to be right where you’re supposed to be.

So even if you don’t get to see the Northern Lights this week… where do you go when your soul is weary? The beach? Mountains? Camping? Somewhere else? Please share your happy place/ and a photo if you have one- please share it with us on my Author Facebook page.

In other news– the Uncrushed book launch team is starting soon (the first 3 weeks of September) … and we’d be delighted if you’d like to join us! Our first two members- one in Kenya, and one in the UK signed up today!! Crazy, right?!!

Please email [email protected] if you’d like to know more.

Here’s a link to pre-order the book; and gigantic thanks to everyone who’s already pre-ordered! Pre-ordering is the best way to tell booksellers to take a new book seriously… and to be sure it reaches lots of people and places. 🙂

Happy end of Summer, everybody!

#uncrushedbook, #griefbooks, #griefandloss, #encouragement