Finishing Touch

In fast-food society we long for quick fixes and easy answers. But no worthwhile goal is easily reached, and a deep spiritual life is not created in a week or two. It takes perseverance over the long haul to finish well. The Finishing Touch encourages you to keep on keeping on to reach your goals and reap the harvest of a life worth living. Charles Swindoll challenges today's I'm-getting-tired-so-let's-just-quit mentality. He says, "Dieting is a discipline, so we stay fat. Finishing school is a hassle, so we bail out. Cultivating a close relationship is painful, so we back off. Working through conflicts in a marriage is a tiring struggle, so we walk away. Sticking with an occupation is tough, so we change jobs. . . . what we don't hear about is finishing well. About sticking with something until it is done. "God wants to touch us and be our strength in the struggle. He wants us to finish what we started and complete the course. The Finishing Touch takes you through every day of a year, introducing you to God's touches of grace, joy, and love. As a sculptor applies himself to the marble, and keeps chipping and cutting away to reveal the masterpiece within, so the Master Artist wants to use our trials, hard times, and day-to-day struggles to chip away at our faults and to help us discover the potential treasures within us. Daily devotionals for fifty-two weeks help you discover gut-level authenticity, hope in the midst of despair, courage in the face of fear, the light of faith in the shadows of doubt, and peace in the midst of stress. Learn how God's touch on your life enables you to run the race to the finish; to the honor and glory of the Master who has called you to be more than you think you can be.

Learn how to make every room special by accentuating details. This book has examples showing how small personal touches can bring charm to a setting and explains why the decor works.

Melissa Craig is a successful crime novelist who has left London to pursue her career in the more relaxed atmosphere of the Cotswolds. It doesn't take her long to discover that fact and fiction are sometimes frighteningly similar, and the gentle country existence she planned for herself is, instead, providing grist for her creative mill. Finishing Touch finds Melissa becoming more involved with the local community, and teaching creative writing at the local Tech. But murder stalks the college art department, reminding both Melissa and Iris, her artist neighbour, of a bizarre event they had witnessed some time before. 'A gently old-fashioned whodunit, riddled with lurking anguish' The Times

The tweedy Miss Hetty Braid worships the lovely but selfish Miss Antonia Mount, her co-proprietor at the most exclusive finishing school on the French Riviera. The girls they teach are quite remarkable, though hardly in the sense of academic distinction. But trouble looms when Antonia announces that 'Royalty is coming.' The great day arrives, and though at first things go tolerably well, disaster springs from good intentions. This Faber Finds edition includes a 1987 introduction by Brigid Brophy and a new preface by Sir Peter Stothard. 'A wicked little entertainment... plaubly not meant for the moralists or naive.' Evening Standard 'An outrageously indelicate joke made in beautifully mannered prose.' Daily Herald 'Waspish and witty.' TLS

A fading English finishing school gets a twenty-first-century makeover in this "modern-day fairy tale" (Romantic Times Book Reviews) from New York Times bestselling author Hester Browne, whose sparkling novels are "charming and feel-good" (Cosmopolitan). Twenty-seven years ago, an infant turned up on the doorstep of London’s esteemed Phillimore Academy for Young Ladies. Now, Betsy Phillimore returns to the place where she was lovingly raised by Lord and Lady Phillimore, only to find the Academy in disrepair and Lord P. desperate to save his legacy. Enter Betsy with a savvy business plan to replace dusty protocol with the essentials girls need today: cell phone etiquette, eating sushi properly, handling credit cards, choosing the perfect little black dress, negotiating a pre-nup, and other lessons in independent living. But returning to London also means crossing paths with her sexy girlhood crush . . . and stirring up the mystery of who her parents are and why they abandoned her. Will the puzzle pieces of her past fall into place while Betsy races to save the only home she’s ever known?

Seeking comfort in traditional family culinary practices after the early deaths of her parents, twenty-six-year-old Asperger's patient Ginny struggles with her domineering sister's decision to sell the house, troubling secrets, and the ghost of a dead ancestor.

In this charming offering from internationally bestselling author Patricia Scanlan, the ties of family are tested when siblings reunite to celebrate their sister’s new interior design business. Will family and friends help Cassie Jordan follow her dreams—or hinder her? Meet Cassie Jordan as she launches the dream venture she has fought so hard to create: her own interior design business, named Finishing Touches. The party promises to be a night to remember; will Cassie’s long-estranged sister, Barbara, bury her resentment and toast Cassie’s success? Will their younger sister, Irene, travel all the way from the States for the big night? And will brother Mark ignore his wife’s pettiness and support his sister when she needs him? What Cassie does know for certain is that her two oldest and best friends, Laura and Aileen, will be there by her side, supporting each other as they have done since their school days. Finishing Touches is an engrossing novel of schoolmates and soulmates, shared secrets, and desires—and how one woman dares to make her dreams come true.

By popular demand, this best seller is now in paperback! Knitted one too many sweaters that scream "homemade"? Help is here! Finishing techniques are the key to turning out professional-looking projects. This comprehensive reference gives you the know-how to get gorgeous, polished results every time. More than 50 expert techniques cover increases, decreases, seams, blocking, decorative finishes, and more Master each method with step-by-step illustrations, easy-to-read text, and dozens of color photos Bring along this handy guide wherever you go--its lay-flat binding means trouble-free knitting

Empower Your Writing Through Craft and Community! Writing can be a lonely profession plagued by blind stumbles, writer's block, and despair--but it doesn't have to be. Written by members of the popular Writer Unboxed website, Author in Progress is filled with practical, candid essays to help you reach the next rung on the publishing ladder. By tracking your creative journey from first draft to completion and beyond, you can improve your craft, find your community, and overcome the mental barriers that stand in the way of success. Author in Progress is the perfect no-nonsense guide for excelling at every step of the novel-writing process, from setting goals, researching, and drafting to giving and receiving critiques, polishing prose, and seeking publication. You'll love Author in Progress if... • You're an aspiring novelist working on your first book. • You're an experienced veteran looking for ways to enhance your career and connect with your writing community. • You've finished your first draft and want to know the next steps. • You're seeking clear, effective advice about publication-from professionals who are "down in the trenches" every day. What's Inside Author in Progress features: • More than 50 essays from best-selling authors, editors, and industry leaders on a variety of writing and publishing topics. • Advice on writing first drafts, conducting research, building and fostering community, seeking critique, revising, and getting published. • An encouraging approach to the writing and publishing process, from authors who've walked this path.