Guest Speaker takes the stage at Living Word Church

By Andy Concepcion

ORLANDO, Fla. — Preacher, Jimmy Rodriguez, visited the local Assemblies of God, Living Word Church, to be a guest speaker for part two of the “I Am History” series Wednesday, July 14.

Since the day LWC opened its doors back on May 1, 1990, they have had numerous guest speakers from locals to others from other countries. The young Jimmy Rodriguez happens to be a special guest to the Church and has quite a bit of history with it.

“It’s always a pleasure to speak to ya’ll,” Rodriguez said. “It’s glad to be back. I haven’t been on this stage since my embarrassing marriage proposal to my wife.”

The “I Am History” is a series where regular and guest speakers discuss what it means to be a true man of God based on scripture from the Bible. Rodriguez discussed the markings of a true man of God.

“A man or woman who can take a slap in the face and not retaliate back with violence or cussing up a storm is a Godly person,” Rodriguez stated. “Us Boricuas got some work to do then, don’t we?”

Shelley Lopez, a regular at LWC, thought Rodriguez did a great job keeping her entertained.

“I’ve seen some pretty great guest speakers here before,” Lopez said. “None of them can make me laugh like Jimmy can.”

Tyler Krick, a first time guest to the church, praised Rodriguez for his message and commended his humor also.

“I don’t normally enjoy church period,” Krick said. “This guy is different. He somehow manages to use humor yet not let it take away from the main point of the service which I think is cool.”

For more information on LWC and up and coming church events, visit www.ipvorlando.com or contact at:

653 Wetherbee Rd.

Orlando, FL 32824

407-851-6464

American Novelist visits students at Valencia Community College

By Andy Concepcion

ORLANDO, Fla. — Accomplished Chick Lit writer, Kristin Harmel, visited Valencia’s west campus to speak to students about her books which was followed by a “Q and A” session, July 6.

While Harmel spoke of her Journalism experience, she explained that the competitive nature of it pushed her towards writing books.

“Trying to be the best stressed me out,” said Harmel. “Being away from that kind of stuff gives me the freedom to work the way I want.”

Since her first book, “How to Sleep with a Movie Star”, was released in 2006, she has had four of her other stories published. During the “Q and A” she answered questions about how she develops her characters and gave her opinion on writer’s block.

“I usually take three to four weeks to develop a character,” said Harmel. “I don’t believe in writers block if you have an outline”.

Going more into detail about her character development, Harmel admitted that she had put two real life people into one of her novels.

“Two guys who cheated on me made a brief appearance in one of my stories,” said Harmel. “It’s stupid to cheat on an author,” she said jokingly.

Out of all four of her novels, Harmel says that “The Art of French Kissing” is her personal favorite. She said the main character’s story was inspired by her personal life while living in Paris.

“The summer at Paris changed me,” Harmel said. “A lot of what she went through in the story is what I went through”.

For more information on Kristin Harmel and her books, visit www.kristinharmel.com.