The Next Big Thing

by:  Staci Stallings

This is so fun!

In a few seconds I’m going to share with you my Next Big Thing, but first thanks to Gail Pallotta, who’s one of my writer friends on the ‘Net for tagging me in the Next Big Thing blog hop!  This is the Next Big Thing blog hop in which you get to hop back and forth through the posts to find new and exciting authors and books.  Some authors will share upcoming books, some will share already released books, others will give you a peek into their current work in progress!  So hop around and enjoy all of the excitement!

Now, I’m here now to answer…

10 Questions about My Next Big Thing

And then stick around at the end for a great opportunity and more fantastic blogs!

Hope you have fun…

What is the working title of your next book?

My next big thing will be coming out in February.  It’s called “Eternity.”

Freddie Prinze Jr. as Aaron Foster

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Many years ago I was on a message board for a show that was very popular at the time but the series was ending. There was one actor I just LOVED on the show.  He had an emotional depth that for a young man was astounding.  Then one night I went to a movie and there was a guy in the movie that just captivated me.  Back on the message board, I was expounding on how fantastic these two guys were, and someone said, “Someone should make a movie with the two of them in it.”

Well, I had already written 7 full-length novels to that point, and I WAS inspired.  30 days later, “Eternity” was finished.

What genre does your book fall under?

Contemporary Inspirational Fiction (great story, great message, not overtly Christian)

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Well, THAT’S easy!  The lead role of Aaron Foster is played by Freddie Prinze Jr. 

Rider Strong as Drew Easton

Aaron’s best friend, Drew Easton is played by Rider Strong.

And Mena Suvari is Harmony Jordan.

Mena Suvari as Harmony Jordan

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

He set her up with his best friend, then fell in love with her. Now what?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It will be published through Spirit Light Books as all of mine are.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

30 days.  Fastest one I ever wrote, and you will probably read it that fast as well.  It kind of grabs hold of you and won’t let go!
What is unique about this book?

This is the love triangle that will rip your heart out and stomp on it… in a good way.  You’ve got Aaron, the nice above-average, completely clueless guy.  You’ve got Harmony, the love-struck girl next door who Aaron sees as his best friend in the world but nothing more than that.  And then you’ve got Drew who you will absolutely fall in love with and then hate everyone else for what’s about to happen.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

They say that nice guys finish last, but what happens when you’ve got TWO nice guys, and only one can win the girl’s heart?

Do you have anything to keep us entertained while we wait?

I certainly do…

You have ONE DAY LEFT to get

COWBOY for FREE on KINDLE–Click here!

“Christian fiction at it’s best!”
Don’t miss out!
Click here!

Then visit the next five outstanding blogs in the Next Big Thing blog hop!

Mary Campagna Findley

Sharon Srock

Naty Matos

Precarious Yates

Edie Mahoney Melson

Enjoy!

Free Ebook Thursday & Friday ONLY!

Taking today off from blogging to let you know that my #1 Christian Romance Best Seller, TO PROTECT & SERVE is FREE on Kindle!

TO PROTECT & SERVE

“Romance of the purest and sweetest kind…”

Houston firefighter, Jeff Taylor is a fireman’s fireman. He’s not afraid of anything, and no situation is too dangerous to keep him on the sideline if lives are at stake.

Lisa Matheson runs a semi-successful ad agency that’s on the brink of falling apart. Her employees are incompetent and her schedule has become exhausting. When she takes on a client with a brilliant idea for a big conference, she thinks that maybe, finally this is her lucky break. However, the fire station wasn’t what she had in mind for finding conference speakers. When she falls for a handsome but shy firefighter, it’s possible that life might just be going her way for a change. The only problem is she can’t quite get control Jeff and the death wish he seems to have…

“Staci Stalling is like an artist, and she really paints a beautiful picture. There are few books that can glue me to my seat and with every Staci Stallings’ book, I am glued. In ‘To Protect and Serve,’ you will smile with them, get angry with them, and you’ll also cry when the characters are hurting. In this novel, Staci shows that love does not only encompass emotion, but to love, we need to trust, to accept and in some instances, surrender.” 

–Amazon Reviewer, Rhonda Aberdeen

Get it FREE on Kindle!

Interview with Jim and Karen Baney

Welcome, Jim & Karen.  Can you tell us what Christian eBooks Today.com is all about?

Jim:  Christian eBooks Today.com is a website that is for fans of Christian fiction and nonfiction.  It is a safe place to browse and learn more about great Christian eBooks without worrying about coming across any racy or explicit content.

Why did you start Christian eBooks Today.com?

Karen:  I’ve been an avid reader of Christian fiction since I was a young girl.  But, over the past few years as I started publishing books, I noticed that it was getting harder and harder to browse for Christian eBooks online without coming across some pretty embarrassing and racy covers.  I just wanted to find a good clean Christian romance book and find new authors.

In August, Jim joined the ranks of the unemployed, so I asked him what he thought about helping me launch a site for Christian readers.  It took some convincing, but he finally agreed to do it.

Jim:  Hey!  It didn’t really take much convincing.  I like the idea of being self-employed.

On your Vision and Mission page on the website, you mention edgy Christian fiction.  Can you tell us more about this?

Karen:  Sure.  Over the past few years or even a decade, the Christian fiction market is changing.  Authors are writing more true-to-life characters that get thrown into some pretty tough circumstances, such as rape, abuse, abandonment, etc.  In fact, some of my novels fall into that category.

Anyway, there is a bit of a divide in readership.  Some readers don’t like the trend, while others prefer it.  We wanted to mention that we accept those types of books on our site so readers are not surprised if they come across something like that.

So, your site includes Christian nonfiction too?

Jim:  Yes.  We include a variety of nonfiction genres, too.  Bible studies, devotionals, self-help, Christian living and much more.  We really want the site to be a place where readers can find any type of Christian eBooks.

Who runs the site, I mean really?

[Karen glances at Jim and giggles.]

Jim:  We joke around.  I’m the chief operations officer and Karen is the CEO.  She has the vision and then I do all the hard work to make it happen.

Karen:  [elbows Jim]  I do some of the hard work, like marketing and writing content.

Jim:  Okay, okay.  I’ll give you that.

Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?

Karen:  Yes.  We have a feature on our website under the “For Readers” menu called “Reader’s Choice”.  This is where readers can fill out a form telling us about great Christian eBooks that they’ve read.  Each week, we will select one submission to appear on our website.  Then, once a month we will randomly choose a winner from all of the submissions (even if they don’t get featured).  The winner receives a $25 gift card from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  Readers can submit as many eBooks as they want.

Wow, that sounds great!  So, where can we see this new website?

Jim:  Visit ChristianEBooksToday.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter (@cebtoday), Facebook, or Google+.  Check our site daily for our list of free fiction and free nonfiction ebooks.

Karen:  Remember to sign up for our newsletter too.  Just click on the envelope icon in the upper right corner of our site.  Each week we email readers a summary of our key weekly features including: guest blog posts, great reads, author of the week, and the reader’s choice selection for the week.

Thank you so much for hosting us!

http://www.christianebookstoday.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/cebtoday

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/ChristianEBooksToday

Google+: https://plus.google.com/111493938878400897607/posts

A Blessing

By: Dennis Bates

I’ve been helping a fellow writer polish up a manuscript this past week and loved every minute of it. One of the really neat things about writing is how ready other writers are to help. I often get asked for a male perspective on a particular scene or piece of dialogue because, face it, most romance and love story authors are women.

In the present situation my friend asked me for that perspective and for an overall read of her revisions to a story I read at least once before. I’ve read parts of it even more than that, but that doesn’t matter. The fun for me is the exchange of ideas and styles. We all see things a little differently and write them down in our own unique ways.

 Some writing groups try to discourage that or beat your stories and styles into some sort of bland, universal product that sells well in the general market. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if sales are your major goal, but it’s the opposite of what this blog and small publishing effort is all about. Staci and I used to exchange stories and ideas a lot when we first got acquainted.

We still do from time to time, but both of us have expanded our territories since we first met. It is an answer to a prayer we shared from the first few days we knew each other. At the moment my territory has been expanded to include several new friends. The woman I discussed at the beginning is one of them. I get as much satisfaction from working with her as I do from working on my own pieces these days, and I have learned so much in the process.

God is funny that way. Especially when He deals with writers. He allows us to teach but requires us to learn at the same time. The best teachers are those who continue to learn. It really comes down to that.

The story I just finished for the second time is a mixture of romance and historical fiction. It is far more formula than what I write for the most part. Yet it is so compelling to me because the author’s voice (the way she tells the story) is so open and easy to understand. I found myself wishing over and over that I could write more like she does. I am convinced that if I could, over time, I could develop a string of stories that would sell through traditional publishing houses on a regular basis and make me a modest, but steady income.

But I can’t write that way, even when I try. I have formula elements to some of my stories, but I also have very edgy elements, some more than edgy. I write from the world I know, in the manner I see it. My fervent belief is that God lives in that world too and offers us his grace even if He has to give us a good power washing every now and then.

The sweetness I read in stories like the one I just read is something that has helped me smooth out a lot of the rough edges in the stories I write. If it makes any sense, I feel the sweetness inside me while I write from a different view point. Not all sweet stories do that for me. Some border on fantasy, but when done right, they work. And they help.

The story I just read does it right. I am certain that God allowed me to help the author so He could teach me as much or more than I could ever teach her. I think some people might call that a blessing. I know I do.

Artist or Craftsman?

By: Dennis Bates

I think I’ve finally figured it out. Sometimes it just takes me awhile, especially when I am so convinced that I am right. That happens often, just so you know. Like the old saying goes, “I thought I was wrong once, but I wasn’t. I was mistaken.”

For several years now I have had this totally unrequited love affair with a Christian fiction writing group. And at times it hurt. I felt so unloved, so unappreciated, so misunderstood. After all, that is the definition of unrequited love: one sided.

I learned a lot of things, and I met some wonderful people in cyberspace, but I got no respect. You know what I mean? I wasn’t a total newbie to writing. I wrote a column for a newspaper in a former life, and a lot of other things that just sound like bragging at this point. So I won’t brag. It’s unseemly to say the least. But to be honest, I just didn’t get it. I just wanted to contribute, bounce ideas off fellow writers and have all of us grow from the experience.

It’s called the Socratic method. Blame it on law school if you have to blame it on somebody. It’s how I was trained; okay, and I’m actually fairly proficient at it, but there’s that bragging thing again, so I’ll stop.

At any rate, I shot right to the top of the persona non grata list on this writer’s loop  for all kinds of reasons, most of which I still find to be petty, and that’s the nice way of putting it. But gradually, I pulled in my horns and basically confined my responses to individuals rather than the entire group. You don’t get monitored and censored that way.

I was amazed at how many people agreed with me privately, even though most of them never said so in the public forum. I’m actually used to that; it’s kind of the story of my life. A lot of people appreciate someone who says out loud what they wish they had the nerve to say themselves. I just never had the good sense not to. My bad.

And then it dawned on me. The group I wanted to discuss good writing with, had a totally different concept of what that was. The powers that be there, for the most part, equated good writing with getting published. I did not. I still have this totally naïve notion that good writing is something that will stand the test of time, that enjoys a turn of a phrase, and appreciates the art in writing.

Most of the people I argued with were more interested in the craft of writing, not the artistry of it, and I don’t mean that to be the slightest bit demeaning. It’s an age old debate. Do we create something so we can sell it, or for the sheer artistry of creating it? There is no right or wrong answer when it comes down to it. The answer is “yes” to both questions.

Writing is for some people a means to make a living, even if it’s not a very good one in most cases. Writing isn’t worth much unless it makes money, and to make money you have to write something that will sell. These are the craftsmen, and there is nothing wrong with them. They know their trade and many become quite good at it. That is to be admired and emulated by all those who want that.

There are others, however, who want to create art, and that doesn’t mean they are better or superior in any way. Just different. Money and sales are fine with them, but they don’t’ write for that reason. They write because they can’t and don’t want to do anything else. They too are worthy of respect and emulation.

The problem comes when either side tries to convince the other that their way is the only way. It isn’t. Both need to be recognized, and arguing about which is better is pointless. The goal for both sides is to write. Simply write.

Christianity isn’t all that different. There is one, and only one goal, and that’s to know Jesus Christ and love him forever. He died so that we might live, and if we believe that then no matter how we get there, we are right. Theologians, ministers and priests may be the artists; the rest of us may be the craftsmen.

All of us need to seek the goal, using the path we are given. That’s why I finally get it. There is no point arguing art with a craftsmen. We just need to remember we are both headed toward the same goal and accept each other.

That’s all there is to it.

A Review of Except for the Eagles

By: Dennis Bates

Let’s face it; authors frequently seek out other writers to review their latest books. It’s called marketing, and it helps sell copies of their books, which is, after all, one of the reasons they are written. So up front: I know Peg Phifer from talking to her on an Internet group we both belong to, but I did not solicit her review. In fact, she bought the copy of the book she reviewed, something reviewers don’t always do. Just so you know.

I do think very highly of her and not just because of the review. She is one of a small group of people who have mostly never met except on the Internet. The group, which we have nicknamed “The Gracie’s,” acts as a critique group, a resource, a prayer group and in some cases a lifeline that sustains each of us and constantly reminds us that our ultimate help comes from the Lord, but loving friends don’t hurt either.

That’s the reason Peg’s review linked below touched me so deeply. She didn’t have to write it, but she did anyway, and instead of being puffed up by her kind and generous review, I am totally humbled by it. Thank you, Peg. You have no idea how important that review is to me. I invite the rest of you to read her review and her blog every day, and to God be the glory.  Hallelujah!

 http://www.sipsncupscafe.com

Mean Spirited?

By: Dennis Bates

I’ve gotten to this a little later than I usually do because I got caught up in one of the endless discussions on a Christian writer’s loop about the virtues of traditional publishing verses self publishing. I hate it when I do that. The pointlessness of it is almost overwhelming.

In the interests of full disclosure, I will state right up front that both Staci and I are self published at this point for all practical purposes. Both of us have dabbled  on the dark side previously, but ended up where we are. So view my comments with a grain of salt, maybe even a shaker full.

Try as I might, sometimes I just can’t ignore discussions like the one I’ve been involved in all morning. Sometimes the Internet is a curse. I would never have seen this discussion if it weren’t for cyberspace.  I would never have thought about jumping into it, if tilting windmills wasn’t something I can’t resist. Believe it or not, we have real windmills dotting the Iowa landscape these days. I applaud the attempt to find an alternative energy source, but I have to fight the urge to sing “The Impossible Dream” at the top of my lungs as I drive down the Interstates any more.

It struck me as I read many of the comments that nothing much has changed when it comes to the pros and cons of self publishing verses the  “true and noble” traditional method. All writing needs to be vetted so the inferior products don’t get into print. That would be all self published books according to some, just so you know. Self published books are poorly edited and most “just aren’t ready” whatever that means.

For the record, I am not the greatest proofreader in the world, as Staci could tell you. Some of my typos are legendary and been both the source of great pain and raucous laughter for her. However, proofreading and editing are two different things entirely, and I would defy any traditionally published author to show me that they have written and rewritten their stories any more than I have. That is editing. For me, the key is knowing when to stop.

What bothers me the most about discussions like this, especially those that appear on discussions sites with Christian in their name, is how mean spirited they are at times. In a way the spirit is not any different from the foul stench that has invaded so much of our world these days. Television advertising delights is making fun of people. All women are sex objects and air heads; all men are thoughtless and slightly clueless.

Political talking heads make everything evil if their opponents do it and everything  good and understandable if their side does it. That isn’t totally new, but it seems more vicious than ever before.

Christians aren’t supposed to be that way either to themselves or to others that don’t agree with them. The Bible tells us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, but it  commands us to love our enemies as well, whether they be Democrat or Republican, believers or nonbelievers, Christian or Jew, or even Arab. That love isn’t conditioned on the other person loving us in return.

Jesus Himself died on the cross for all of us, and the only group he had harsh words for were the religious leaders of the day because they should have known better.

Shouldn’t we who are Christian writers, or Christian anything, for that matter, do the same? Paul said love does not insist on having its own way. The Bible also tells us people will know we are Christians by our love. How do we demonstrate that love when we insist on having everything our way or no way at all?

Do I really need to answer that?

Satan Plays Mahjong

By: Dennis Bates

            Okay, so there I was, minding my own business in the church parking lot when a big, black limo rolls in and Satan himself gets out.

            I tried to scrunch down behind my steering wheel and hide, but he must have seen me. I have to say he didn’t look as menacing as I thought he might. In fact, he looked pretty ordinary and almost friendly. Still, I was quite certain I didn’t want to be his friend. My mother warned me about such things from the time I was old enough to understand warnings.

            The first thing he did was walk completely around the outside of the church building apparently counting off the steps and making notes in a little black notebook he pulled out of his vest pocket. He nodded and smiled. Then he tried to peer in through the windows to see what was inside. He put his hands around his eyes and leaned on the glass, pressing his nose to the window panes while he looked.

            I slid lower in the front seat of my pickup truck, but every time I moved, he turned around and winked my way. Like I said, he must have seen me, but I have no idea how he did. I thought I had hidden pretty well. Guess not.

Satan walked straight to my vehicle, holding his black note book in one arm against his chest like many church members hold their Bibles. The closer he got, the less menacing he seemed to be, but that didn’t stop me from sweating bullets when he stopped less than a foot away from me.

            “Excuse me,” he said, tapping on my half opened window, “I hate to bother you, but do you know anything about this church?”

            He ducked his head so he could look in my side window at me. I didn’t want to look back, but for some reason I had to. Curiosity, I guess. That and a friendly stare that froze me in place.

            He handed me his business card. It read: S.A. Tan, consultant and entrepreneur. Isn’t everybody these days, I thought to myself.

            “I’ve gone to that little church all my life,” I finally said. “What would you like to know?”

            Satan shrugged. “Is the property for sale? I’m trying to acquire property in the area. This one interests me in particular.”

            “Why?” I asked. “It’s in the middle of nowhere and it’s always been a church. What would you do with it?”

            “Mahjong parlors,” he whispered, covering his mouth with his hand as he looked around. “They’re the latest rage.” He smiled and chuckled, “At least they will be.”

            I scratched my head. “Never heard of such a thing,” I said.

            “I like being on the cutting edge,” he said, winking at me. “You know what I mean? I’ll be looking for partners at some point. You have my number on my card. Give me a call if you’re interested. No experience necessary; we have an extensive training program. ”

            I nodded my head as I looked at the card, but I had no intention of calling the number. In fact, I had no plans to keep the card.

            “Just don’t wait too long to decide,” Satan said. “From the looks of things, most of these smaller churches won’t last much longer. There are too many empty spaces inside. So, if they don’t want to sell, I’ll wait.” He clasped my shoulder with his hand and his grip was a lot firmer than I would have suspected from his appearance. “Once I take over, things will heat up in a hurry,” he said. “Just some friendly advice. It’s best to be in on the ground floor.”

            “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.

            “Good,” he said. “That’s all I ask.”

            He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, I’d better get going. If I don’t get back to the office, there will be you know what to pay.” He laughed at his own words.

            “Uh huh,” I said, watching him back away from my truck.

            He saluted with two fingers. “I’ll be waiting to hear from you. Nice talking with you.”

            The black limo pulled away and my wife came out of the church building. She slid into her side of the truck and let out a sigh.

            “How was the meeting?” I asked.

            “Same old, same old,” she answered. “You been waiting long?”

            “Long enough,” I responded. “Dear, if it’s all the same to you, I’m going to wait for you inside the next time.”

            “Whatever,” she said, smiling.

            “And I’m thinking we need to start inviting more people from the neighborhood to come to church.  There’s just too many empty seats in there.”

            Now I had her attention. She turned to me and raised her right eyebrow. “What’s gotten into you?”

            “You ever play mahjong?” I asked.

            “No, why?”

            “Neither have I and I have a strong feeling I don’t want to learn.”

 

 

First Lines and Sheep

By: Dennis Bates

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”

I never get tired of reading that paragraph. It is, of course, the opening paragraph of “A Tale of Two Cities,” written by Charles Dickens. It breaks a lot of the modern day rules of good writing. For example, it is far too long, and it’s all one sentence. It uses semicolons, but worst of all, it uses “was”, past tense of “is.” How totally shameful. Obviously, that Dickens fellow didn’t know that all forms of  the infinitive “to be,” are not used in good writing.

I had one well meaning writer tell me once that Dickens could never get published today because of those obvious defects in his writing. I didn’t have the heart to tell the person that books by Dickens still appear everywhere in bookstores, classrooms and private libraries 150 years after they were written.

To me, that paragraph sets the tone for the entire book, and isn’t that what a first sentence of any good piece of writing should do? I think so.

Another of my favorite first lines comes from the 23rd Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Back in the day when we still had to do such things, I memorized that Psalm along with all the other people my age so we could qualify for adult membership in our church. I remember how even then I loved everything about that single line.

It set the tone for the relatively short number of lines that followed, but it always brought peace to me, even if I only read that line.

My grandparents kept a few sheep in a small pasture behind their house. One summer when they were away for a while, my mother, my younger brother and I stayed in my grandparents house and watched those sheep.

Don’t believe all the stories about being able to lead sheep anywhere. They aren’t entirely true. Almost every day at least one of those sheep managed to get out of the fenced in pasture. Sometimes they all did. My grandparent’s house sat on the edge of a small town and a busy highway went along side of it. For some reason, the sheep liked to go there as soon as they escaped. I don’t know what worried my mother more: having one of the sheep struck by a car or seeing my brother and I chasing those sheep off the highway.

Still, in spite of their bad habits, sheep can be very docile and they seem to do better when they know there is somebody like a shepherd there watching them, taking care of them, and ready to get them out of trouble. It is enough for them to see the shepherd in the area and hear his voice. They don’t need much else to remain calm.

That’s what I like about the first line of the 23^rd Psalm. It reminds me of that summer at my grandparent’s house. It’s enough just to lie contentedly in a nice, green pasture knowing that my Shepherd is there, and He will always come get me off the highway when I wander away.

In His Image

By: Dennis Bates

Sometimes words flow freely when I sit down to write, and sometimes they don’t flow at all. At times like that, typing each letter feels like exercising muscles I didn’t know Ihad anymore and the net result is I am sore and tired by the end of the day. Writers live for the moments when the words flow effortlessly and we still have energy at the end of the day.

 

But those aren’t necessarily the days when the words and phrases I craft are the best, just the easiest. Most of the time the writing I like best at the end is the writing that comes from those moments that are the hardest and most difficult. I know when the moments come for the most part. I feel myself drawn into a zone where nothing exists except for the words that focus on what I’m trying to say. Each word feels good when I finish writing it or  when I change it, and I simply can’t stop until every word is exactly the way it should be.

 

Some people might not care how long or how painstakingly I worry about everything being just right and sometimes I may get it wrong. But I care, and I hate putting down anything that isn’t exactly the way I want it to be. It’s not vanity or pride that makes me feel that way, it’s more like duty and responsibility.

 

See, I take the words in Genesis 1, verse 27 quite seriously, even though I often act like I don’t take anything seriously. In those seminal verses of the Bible we are told that God created man in his own image and I believe that and take it literally. We are made just like God and we have a duty and a responsibility to act like it, even in the words we speak or write. To be sure, we are not made to be God, but to be like God as much as possible.

 

Acting like God does not flow freely for human beings, but that doesn’t free us from our duty to try and give it our all. We should ache and be tired at the end of the day because God sets a high standard for us to emulate…a perfect standard that we can never meet without the grace that only he has to give us through Jesus Christ. However, the fact that He is perfect and we cannot be doesn’t relieve us of our duty to try…to give it our all.

 

“And the words of the Lord are flawless like silver refined in a furnace of clay purified seven times,” the Psalmist said. Seven means eternal in the Bible so this verse means the words of the Lord are flawless forever. Compared to God’s words, mine haven’t even gone through the first refinement yet, so they have a lot of purifying that is still required, but I know at the end of my day, if I keep trying, they will be purer than they are now, even if I am tired and sore.

 

I have been made in His image and so have my words. What more can I ask?