Mark Gilroy

Bringing Books to Life!

Should I Buy a Handgun or Not?

Should I buy a handgun? Philosophically, I believe in our Second Amendment right to bear arms. Personally, however, I am not sure I am comfortable with a handgun in the house. I don’t think the two perspectives are mutually exclusive though! For me, as the author of murder mysteries, it is both a serious and tongue-in-cheek question.

I don’t have any great confidence that a handgun will save the lives of my family and me. But I suspect that I will make a purchase, take a class, go to the range once or twice a year, and lock whatever handgun I purchase up!

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Christmas Teaches the Joy of Gratitude

Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both.

Phillips Brooks

Gratitude changes everything - for the better.

Gratitude changes everything – for the better.

There is a simple attitude that determines in our own minds whether we are rich or poor, blessed or cursed, and fundamentally positive or negative about life. To make that enormous of a difference, that attitude must be incredibly powerful. And it is. That attitude is gratitude.

One person gets a job and is thrilled to be a contributing member of a team—and to be paid for it to boot. Another person gets the same job with the same company and with the same pay and benefits and feels cheated. One person literally has a great job and the other has an equally crummy job. Why? The difference is an attitude of gratitude.

One teen looks under the Christmas tree, finds a simple and thoughtful gift from her mom, and knows she is loved; all that another teen can think about as he tears the glossy wrapping paper from the box is the new smartphone model he didn’t get. She had a great Christmas morning and got absolutely everything she wanted; he had a lousy Christmas and didn’t get anything good. Again the only difference was gratitude.

After a long pregnancy that generated more questions than congratulations; that nearly led to a marriage ending before it started; that included a painful and arduous journey; that culminated in her son being born in conditions fit for animals but not for humans, how did Mary respond? Luke tells us that she “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (2:19). In Bethlehem, among the animals, she found joy. She could have complained that God was doing nothing good for her, that her husband was a lousy provider, that the innkeeper should be put in prison for denying her a bed in the house, but instead she declared the “great things” God had done (Luke 1:49).

This central Christmas story—and the joys and challenges of our modern holiday—remind us that gratitude changes everything. Whether there are gifts stacked to the ceiling with your name on them or you aren’t sure anyone is going to give you anything, stop and give thanks to God, the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. You’ll receive a special blessing in your spirit and discover you have everything you need.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

 

The Simple Blessings of Christmas by Mark Gilroy

From the Simple Blessings of Christmas by Mark Gilroy

Why Does It Take So Long to Get a Book Published?

It takes forever to get published! Or so it seems. Why does it take so long for a traditional book publisher to take a book to market? Impatient and sometimes frustrated authors don’t realize that it’s not just the tasks of designing, editing, and printing a book that take time – and those things do take time. But what spreads the process out longest is working with the sales cycle of the key bookseller accounts. Let me explain why it takes so long to get published.