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When Life Feels Like a Taylor Swift Song

Image courtesy of Livy

I am so excited to welcome a very special guest to Lovely Thoughts today - Miss Livy Jarmusch, creator of an online magazine for girls, Crown of Beauty Magazine. She loves singing, writing songs, castles, watching Princess Diaries and anything sparkly.
Livy recently published her first ebook - "When Life Feels Like a Taylor Swift Song, a Girl's Guide to Boys," which offers an alternative view on boys and dating for Christians. The book is mostly targeted towards teens, but I found it a great read and think all singles will enjoy the simple advice and interactive quizzes and suggestions.
So, without further ado, read on to learn more about the ebook writing process, the inspiration behind this e-book and a little about what God has been doing in Livy's life lately.
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What was your motivation and or/ inspiration to write, "When Life Feels Like a Taylor Swift Song"?

Last summer, after spending a weekend babysitting one of my little girl cousins, I started thinking about the world she is growing up in. I thought about all the things that may influence her as she someday enters life in middle school, and high school.

Who will be there to help her navigate through this boy crazy world? Where will she go to get her advice and learn what real, healthy relationships should look like? Teen magazines? Movies, music, and the media? Her options seem bleak. It caused me to shutter, pray, then start writing!

Favorite Bible verse? Or maybe just a lesson that God taught you recently?

Livy Jarmusch

My favorite chapter in the Bible is Ephesians 1. Several years ago our pastor challenged his congregation to read Ephesians 1 every day for a week. He said it would radically change the way you think about yourself. He was right on! My favorite verse is:

"For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight..." (Verse 4, NIV.)

I am amazed by the wonder of the miracle of that truth. I was chosen before the foundations of the earth were laid. Recently, the Lord has shown me that the latter part of this verse is just as awe-invoking. I was chosen to be holy and blameless in His sight. Holy and blameless.

Those used to be two words that I strived for. I would often beat myself up over the fact that I wasn't perfect. I would try so, so hard to be who God wanted me to be...yet always fall short. A few weeks ago God's Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, "Holy and Blameless is your name. It's what I call you in heaven. I don't want you to strive and work so hard in attempts to impress me, because that's who you already are! In Me, Jesus!"
What an astounding realization! God already sees me as pure, blameless, and righteousness. Because of Christ and His all-sin-consuming sacrifice, I am the rightness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). My righteousness if of Him! (Isaiah 54:17.) I can quit trying so hard. The effect of Jesus' place of right standing with God has reached out and covered me with peace and favor in the Father's eyes! The result is quietness and trust forever. (Isaiah 32:17.)

What is one key message you want your readers to take away after finishing your e-book?

One of the stories I share in my e-book is called the, "Nick Jonas Obsession." It's kind of embarrassing to talk about now, but when I was fourteen, I thought Nick was the cutest guy on the planet. For me, it was true love!

In the book, I share about how the Lord showed me that He actually wanted me to Him concerning how I felt about Nick! Jesus wanted me to gush about my crush, and let Him know what was going on in my heart...before I called up a friend. To some of us, that sounds a little awkward. Talk to God about our crushes? Really? We find it hard to believe that God actually cares about the everyday affairs of our hearts.

But, nothing is ever too silly or serious! Just like you would talk with any other close friend, the Lord wants your relationship to be real and genuine.

Its my prayer that every girl who reads this book will walk away with a realization of how loved they are by the King of Kings, and how deeply He desires to be their Champion Dragon Slayer. Every girl is a princess, and quite often we look to guys to fulfill that need to be rescued and loved. But Jesus is aching to be the champion and object of affection in our hearts! He desires a special, one on one friendship with each of His girls individually. God made us because He wants to hang out with us!

What advice would you give to your fifteen year old self?

I would tell her to spend as much time with Jesus in the Word as possible. I would tell her that God has amazing things for your life and if you cling to him, your faithfulness will be rewarded. I wish I could tell her in full confidence that, "Your prince charming is on the way! Your dream dude is amazing and totally worth the wait!" Even though I believe this to be true with all my heart, God hasn't brought my dream guy out from behind the curtains and onto center stage in my life yet...so maybe a few years down the road, I'll be able to send her that memo. ;)

Tell us more about the process of writing an e-book - highlights, challenges or special memories.

Last summer when I started writing, I actually planned out a whole 200 plus page book called, "A Girl's Guide to Being a Girl." I jotted down everything that I wanted my little cousins to know about growing up in this world. The book included boy advice, fashion tips, friendship problem solvers, notes about true beauty, and what a real-life relationship with God looks like.

This spring I spent some time in Nashville, and met a sweet girl who offered to edit my book. I was so excited! She offered such helpful feedback. My Mom also played a huge role in this process. As the editing process continued, we decided to divide the book into smaller more "digestible" sections. "A Girl's Guide to Being a Girl" has now been divided into a library of eight or so books covering different topics, and will be released whenever they're ready (and the readers are ready) to go for more!

I decided to offer my first book, "When Life Feels Like a Taylor Swift Song: A Girl's Guide to Being a Girl" as a gift to anyone who heads over to our magazine.

The entire process took a lot of hard work, but I had a blast making all the details happen, epically illustrating the pages. It was so exciting to find myself doing something that I dreamed about ever since I was a little girl. In Kindergarten I told my teacher that I wanted to be an author and illustrator. God is so good! He made those childhood dreams come true!

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This is why I love the blogging world so much - you meet the most talented, creative, and successful people in the world. But, it is especially makes my heart leap with joy to see these talented people (especially my generation) use their time, skills and efforts to bring glory to our Lord.

BookButtonFinalNow, please head over to Livy's site and download your FREE copy of "When Life Feels Like a Taylor Swift Song." It's really simple to sign up (just enter your e-mail address) and the book comes in instant download to your inbox.

-Yelena

PS. I'm also guest blogging today at Living My Life As I Know It, answering Christy's questions about studying for the LSAT in preparation for the launch of my e-book in a few months.

So, if you're law school bound or just intrigued about the profession, check out my guest post and stay tuned for a few more Q&As on the topic of law school admissions in this new series.