So What Are You Reading?

Today I visited Ane Mulligan’s blog and decided to play a game that she’s playing over at her place.

The Rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages), or whatever book you are currently reading.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people.

Okay, here's mine from Bygones, by Kim Vogel Sawyer:

Might give her the wrong idea too.
She trudged up the stairs and went to the kitchen sink to wash the remnants of coal dust from her hands. Outside the kitchen window, the sky look bleak, like the color of an old iron washtub.

I'm curious about what Angie, Jan, Tonya, Heather and Marion are reading. Come girls, let's play!

Anyone else want to play? Leave a comment so we can hop over to your blog to see what you’re reading right now.

Tara Road

Last night we watched the movie Tara Road, based on the book by Maeve Binchy. She’s been one of my favorite authors for years. I’m certain I read the book a while back, and I plan to read it again.

The movie was a delight. Not a light-hearted flick, but one where you were able to cozy up to the characters and really to get love (or hate) them.

But the best part of the DVD was the interview with Ms. Binchy. I loved hearing what inspired the story, what her vision of the characters were and other insights she shared. I recommend both the movie and, of course, the book!

We've Come a Long Way, Baby

I want to go here. It’s somewhere in Ireland, probably in Limerick.

The photo was taken in 1907, when my grandmother, her mother and sisters went to visit family. Isn't the little dog in the photo cute? No wonder I love terriers, it must be in my DNA.

My grandmother is standing, second from left and her mother is sitting in front of her on the left. Those women were born in 1880 and 1848. My great aunts are the two ladies standing on the right. What a different world they inhabited from the reality I experience today. My grandmother passed away a few months before I was born. I’ve often thought what it would be like if she could experience one day of the present time with me. Where would I even begin to explain the advances in culture and technology to her? Just an interesting thought I had.

Another thought—my great grandmother was only a little over six years older than I am now when that photo was taken. Yowsa. I hope I age better than great-granny!

I made a copy of this photo and sent it to my cousin Jeanne, who is into genealogy. Although we’ve never met in person, we’ve emailed and shared family history. Who knows, maybe all of the information Jeanne’s sharing will somehow, someday end up in a book.

PS: If you look to the far left side of the photo, you'll see the horses a** that my dad said he always knew was in the family.

New Voices Ad Campaign

This is the advertisement that Tyndale created to promote new authors. Isn't it great?! (The color may be a bit funky because I printed the pdf and then scanned it to a jpg.) So far this ad's been in a library journal and some trade journals. Look for it in the March edition of Today's Christian Woman.

I'm so very grateful to be an author for such a wonderful organization. As one author friend told me, "Tyndale knows how to sell books."

(If you click on the image, it will open larger in your window.)

Watching the Super Bowl?

Are you getting ready to watch the Super Bowl? Naah. Me neither. And to be honest, on the years that I've watched it—it’s only for the commercials.

Here’s a random thought. I went to a Pampered Chef party on Friday night, and I realized that I could never be a Pampered Chef representative. The woman who entertained us, informed us and whipped up a delicious dinner salad for us was wonderful. But here’s my point: She had to repeatedly say a few phrases that I could never spit out as gracefully as she did. “Hard-anodized aluminum,” and “tri-ply clad stainless steel.”

Nope. There’s no way I could say those tongue twisters with such ease. So I guess I’ll stick to being a writer.

Stringing Words

I remember when my family would speak in complete sentences when we communicated. But for the past several days, since brainstorming titles, we’ve fallen into a bizarre pattern.

Daughter to me as we pass on the stairs, “Coming Unhinged.”

My response, “Hold on, Honey.”

And last night when my dear husband kissed me goodnight, he said, “Which Way is Up?”

Ahhh. Brainstorming titles is something else.

If you have any good title ideas, please leave your suggestion as a comment. Thanks.

Help! (Please)

I heard back from my editors at Tyndale about book # 2 which was turned in earlier this month.

You know what they say about great minds—thinking alike and all that. Well, it seems that one of the threads in my plot somewhat mirror upcoming releases by Angie Hunt and Karen Kingsbury.

So guess which author will be doing a major rewrite? Me.

I’m not panicked and not worried. The reason for the rewrite isn’t because the story is bad or my craft is lacking. If you think about it, I should feel good that my mind is running in the same direction as these best-selling authors.

Besides, I trust God will give me more words.

Right now we’ve got to come up with a new title. All Shook Up is out.

Want to help me brainstorm? If any of my blog readers come up with the winning title, I’ll mention you in the acknowledgements and send you an autographed copy.

I had tied All Shook Up to this verse: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38. I would still like to figure out a way to use this verse.

Another verse I’m considering is: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

The story line is that my character’s looking forward to a quiet, status quo existence, but her college son’s (unacceptable) girlfriend comes into the picture, stirring up trouble in the family, and her beloved father-in-law is also dating, and my poor character feels that changes she can’t control are coming much too fast and furious at her.

If you want to tie that idea to another verse, then have at it.

Please, any help is greatly appreciated.

So You Wanna Be A Writer?

Let me tell you, if I had $10 for every person who’s told me that they want to write a book/can write a book/have the perfect story for a book, then I could pay off my mortgage.

Friends, if you want to write a book or feel led to write a book—start writing. It’s not rocket science and it’s not a great mystery. Granted, you’re not going to pen The Great American Novel your first time out of the shoots, but the craft of writing is a skill that can be learned--provided you have a good story to tell.

Now that I’m (nearly) published** I’ve had the unusual experience of people looking at me a little differently than if I said I worked as an accountant for my living. More than one person has said, “Wow. Now I know a famous author.” Tee, hee, hee. That phrase, famous author, cracks me up. My response: “I’ll only be a famous author if you tell everyone you know to buy my book.” And maybe not even then.

My point is, don’t live with regrets, live with dreams. I dreamed of being a published author, and I made the effort to learn everything I need to learn to pursue that dream. Dream big and put legs on that dream. Who knows? One day you may reach your goal.

Hey, do you want to know one of the reasons why I call myself a prisoner of hope? Because I dared to dream. And to tell the truth, I'm still dreaming . . .

**Searching for Spice releases in April. FYI: That’s only 69 days from today!!

My 29th anniversary day ~ sunny and warm

This was January 13th. Who knew we would one day enjoy a tropical anniversary? We got married on a cold day in a blizzard in NY.

Excuse the end of the video. LOL - I thought I had turned off the camera. Fortunately I had a professional pedicure before leaving on vacation. :)

Beach Friends

I was fully prepared for a wonderful time on my vacation, and of course that includes plenty of good beach books.

Doesn't She Look Natural by Angie Hunt is wonderful. Some of the phrases Angie wove into the story took my breath away. What fun.

My friend Maureen Lang sent me an Advance Reader Copy of On Sparrow Hill. It's a sequel to Autumn Leaves, and Maureen once again seamlessly wove two plots and two time periods into a spellbinding book.

The Begotten by Lisa T. Bergren was recommended to me by my friend Paula Moldenhauer. I trust Paula's picks, so that was another book on my Christmas list. This book kept me content on the long flight home.
PS: I'm glad that was an American tourist under Lisa's book and not one of the European gals, if you get my meaning. :)

Home Again

This is my 2008 beach photo. The thin line above the horizon is a strip of caution tape. It seems the beach there has been damaged by recent weather conditions. Instead of a gradual slope to the water, there was a 15 foot drop. Yowsa.


Despite that, we had a fabulous time.

See that palm tree in the center of the photo? The next morning it had fallen down to the beach. You can see the root balls from other fallen trees and the stump and stem of a palapa. Ahh. The sound of chain saws in the morning--what a wonderful memory.

The management got on the ball by the end of the week and were making greater efforts to save the beach.

But now I'm back to real life. Thank God I have a wonderful life.

Have a Nice Week

In the wee hours of the morning, I’m leaving for a week in paradise.

I just sent book # 2 off to Tyndale. Whew.

That’s a photo of me on the beach with my girls. Unless I’m married to you or I gave birth to you, that’s about as much of me in a bathing suit that you’ll ever see. I'm in the middle of the photo, if you're wondering.

This photo pretty much sums up what I expect to be doing for the next seven days. Relaxing under the palapa with a good book and loved ones.

I’m walking, yes indeed, I’m walking . . .

Remember that song?

Yes, I’m walking and writing and walking and editing and walking and reading emails and walking and researching on the Internet and walking miles and miles per day on my nifty treadmill desk.

I know I said I’d give an update in a month or five pounds, but all the walking I’ve done in the past several days may have been negated by one lunch. Today I was running errands, and all I could think of was 365 Organic Chocolate Truffles (available at a Whole Foods store near you). Yes, that was my lunch today. Let's see, servings size 3 pieces, calories per serving 170--I can't even tell you how many of those delicious, melt-in-your-mouth candies I ate. Mmmm.

That image looks exactly like my tennis shoes and my legs. Now I can say I have a body double that’s a model or I can say I’m a body double for a model. Same difference.

Sounds like I’m getting punchy. Probably too much sugar. Back to work. Editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking and editing and walking . . .

Woo hoo!!!!!!

The birthing process is finished. (I’ve just written The End in book #2 of my Tyndale contract.)

My baby, All Shook Up, arrived safe and sound at 8:06 PM Mountain time, weighing in at a hefty 111,028 words and 462 pages.

Now the editing begins. I'd like to take it down by at least 5,000 words before I send it in to my editor.

All Shook Up will make her public appearance this October. I'll let you know what the final title will be as soon as I find out.

Mother is fine. I’m going to celebrate right now!! I wish I had chilled some champagne.

Ta da!

On Saturday I blogged about wanting a treadmill desk so I can write and walk at the same time. I even have a family friend who offered to make one for me. But being the impatient and clever woman I am, I decide to figure out a way to do this myself—without having to wait.

So, ta da! My homemade version of the treadmill desk.

DISCLAIMER: Avert your eyes if you don’t want to see my nasty, unfinished basement.

Last night I wrote 1,300 words and burned an extra 400 calories.

Goodbye & Hello

Happy New Year, friends!

So, that was 2007? It went by so fast, didn’t it? Or am I showing my age?

As I reflect on the past year, I have much to be thankful for. My family and friends are well and happy. We’ve enjoyed a blessed year. Love abounds.

There were many firsts for me this year. My first publishing contract, my first time speaking before the attendees at the ACFW conference (500 people!), my first time teaching at a writing conference. Oh, also—my first “true” deadline. It’s been a thrilling year.

I face 2008 with a wonderful sense of anticipation. What is in store for me? What challenges will present themselves?

A tradition in my family is to greet the New Year with prayer. We approached the throne by 12:01 a.m. Glorious. My prayer for you is that you will achieve all that God intends for you in 2008.

I’ve asked God for a theme word to cling to during the New Year for the past few years. I’m not yet sure of that that is. Still praying. I’ll let you know.

What a Great Idea!

Have you ever heard of something and thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” You know, something like Post-Its or super garlic presses or a coffee shop that sells 10 oz. of coffee for $4. Those type of things that everyone should have/need/use.

I was reading US News & World Report yesterday and came across just that thing. First let me give you some backstory—there have been many days recently when I’ve thought that if I weren’t on my deadline, I would be walking on my treadmill instead of sitting on my butt with my laptop. Well, wonder of wonders, some people have invented contraptions to secure your laptop to a treadmill! I’m not kidding.

Some folks have built their own treadmill desk or you can buy the Cadillac of treadmill desks, the Walkstation. (BTW, the Walkstation site has an interesting video to explain their product.)Well, because I’m neither handy enough to build my own desk or affluent enough to buy a Walkstation, I’ve found a good alternative called the Net Runner which has a strap that holds a laptop on a treadmill. Yeah, I’m going to order it. I’ll give you an update in two months or five pounds, whichever comes first.

New pics!

I'm updating my marketing images, and here are two of my new portraits.

For nearly six years, my day job has been in the portrait photography industry. I'm a firm believer that the way you present yourself in your marketing materials helps to establish your professionalism in the eyes of the beholder. Everyone needs a touch of digital artwork to make them look their best--and it's cheaper than plastic surgery. But for the love of all goodness, please, please don't go all glamour shots on us. Hey, I've been around for a few decades, and I've earned my laugh lines. I'm keeping them in my images.

My new images were done by my friend Pauline Fortuna of Fat Tuna Photography.

We Don't Have To Dream

. . . of a white Christmas here in Colorado!

Have a blessed Christmas as you celebrate Emmanuel!

"God is with us!"

Pammer carded me and I'm responding. Uh, I don’t really know what the term “carded” actually means, but I’m like the geek in high school who isn’t on the “inside,” so I’m not going to ask. I’ll just go along with it.

Ronie Kendig altered this CARDED meme to include a Spiritual Wish list so we can know how to pray for each other, both spiritually and physically. Sweet!

THE RULES:

1. Each player starts with 5 gifts that they would want for Christmas.

2. People who are "CARDED" need to write their own Blog about their 5 things & post these rules.

3. At the end of your Blog, you need to choose 5 people to get "CARDED" and list their names.

4. Don't forget to leave them a COMMENT telling them they're "CARDED," and to read your Blog.

My Materialistic Gift/Wish List:

1. A new kitchen sink and a new bathroom. See I’m not as spoiled as some people may think. Jewels, electronics, vehicle, ets. are not on my list. I’m a really, really happy and satisfied woman.
2. The money to stay home and write. I stole this one from Pammer. I know that day will come, but until then I’m locked into the dreaded day job. (Part-time though, praise God!)
3. Anything from JJill.
4. A new purse. The one I have is beginning to show wear.
5. A weekly housecleaning service. Boy that would be nice.

My Spiritual Gift/Wish List:

1. Discipline to spend more time in Bible study.
2. The ability to look outside of myself more and see the needs of others.
3. The ability to be more organized.
4. Discernment to know what is truly important and what I should just let go.
5. Wisdom for everyday living.

The people I carded are:

1. Heather Diane Tipton
2. Jan Parrish
3. Tonya Vander
4. Paula Moldenhauer
5. Jenny Cary

Oh, I used that photo of Belle because it makes me laugh. She's really a cute dog and her head is not really two sizes too big for her body.

The Fun of My Writing Journey Continues

Several months ago novelist Deb Raney emailed me to invite me to participate in her website, The Plot Thickens. The site is devoted to novelists and their garden spots.

Well, I just checked in and discovered she’s already put me on the site. Believe it or not, I'm between Mary DeMuth and Robin Lee Hatcher. What fun!

I don’t mind telling you I’m a little intimidated to be listed with all the other fine authors there.

That Deb, she's a clever girl to create such a cool site, and she's a dear to maintain it. Have fun checking out the garden world of your favorite authors.

Where Did The Week Go?

I can barely grasp the day before it evaporates. And now it’s Saturday night. The week’s gone. Not that it’s a bad thing. I’ve had a glorious week.

I’ve gotten a lot written on my wip. I actually made myself laugh and cry this week.

I had a great week at work with some wonderful, energetic, creative women. We laugh and work and laugh and plan and laugh and create beautiful marketing pieces. I think, for a writer, I’ve got the coolest job ever.

On Wednesday I had dinner with my peeps. Jan, Tonya, Sharen and Heather. We laughed, cried, ate and prayed. Oh, boy, did we pray. I hope you have wonderful friends to pray with. It can change your world.

That's a photo of Heather and Jan laughing. We met for coffee before dinner.

Then they settled down and let me take a nice photo.

The weekend has also been jam packed with amazing, sweet, uneventful family time.

Oh, and it snowed in Colorado. Beautiful, fluffy, sparkly snow.

I hope you had a blessed week too.

Miracle Monday

Please join with the saints and pray for Kristy Dykes at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Her husband Milton requests, “Please share the word with everyone who will join in prayer this Monday to eradicate through prayer that which cannot be killed by radiation.”

Kristy has been diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme stage four tumor. According to all reports, except the Word of the Lord, this is terminal, and without a miracle she will not live long even with radiation and chemotherapy.

Please visit Kristy’s blog and read the heartwarming and loving story of this journey as seen through the eyes of Kristy and Milton.

Watch This!

My friend and writing mentor, Angela Hunt, had her book The Note made into a movie by the Hallmark Channel.

It looks like it is a wonderful family movie. Watch it tonight on the Hallmark Channel, and then go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of the book. While you're there, pick up a copy of Angie's latest book, Doesn't She Look Natural. It's on my Christmas list.

*UPDATE*
I very much enjoyed the movie, and it brought a tear to my eyes more than once.

Good news--there are encore airinngs: The Note will also air (on the Hallmark channel)
Dec. 13th, nine p.m. EST
December 18th, 9 p.m. EST
And Dec. 25th, 7 p.m. EST.

Give yourself a nice Christmas moment and watch the movie.

Hanging Out

Good news/bad news. My awful sore throat is gone/now I have bronchitis.

I'm still home, and to tell the truth, I'm sure my co-workers don't want me in the office spreading my cooties.

So, here I sit in my corner of the world, which happens to be the corner of my living room, next to my ginormous Christmas tree. You can see my laptop on the footstool in front of my rocking chair.

My writing buddy (dog Belle) is keeping me company. She's learning to live with the Christmas music. Lucky dog, at least I can't sing along to further torment her.

Working--finally

Yippi--the fog is clearing from my brain and I'm in the writing groove.

God bless you~now get to work yourself!

It looks like someone's not appreciating my Christmas music.

Just one of those days

I’ve been a bit under the weather since Sunday night. I’ve even stayed home from work the past two days. My doctor says I have strep throat, but after a day of medication, I got worse. Who knows? I’ve been hanging out with my head feeling like it’s stuffed with cotton (actually it feels like it’s stuffed with something else, but I’m too much of a lady to say what.)

Late this afternoon, I got into the writing groove for the first time in a few days. My dear daughter borrowed my laptop, so I was using the PC. I finally finished that chapter that’s been bugging me. I wrote it. Deleted it. Rewrote it. Deleted most of it, and then this afternoon, I nailed it. Unfortunately, I was working off a jumpdrive in the PC, and an error occurred.

Aargh! The entire file went poof! I lost the good chapter I had written and the entire file containing my book that was on the jumpdrive disappeared as well.


That's an illustration of my heart breaking when I realized my stupid mistake. Now, it’s not the end of the world. I still have the document on my laptop—minus the new chapter. Funny thing, a few moments before disaster struck, I was recalling that someone on the ACFW loop said that you should never work off a jumpdrive in a computer, and that you should put the document on the desktop.

Lesson learned. The hard way.

Whoops!

Guess what? I’ve done it again. I’ve bought a Christmas tree that some people in my family (read: dear husband and darling son) may think is a little too large. I’m fairly certain when he left for work Friday, Dear Husband said something about a 7’ tree.

Well, my 23 year-old-daughter and I went out to that ginormous home-improvement store with nothing but the best intentions. It turns out the 7’ trees were a little old, but the lot attendant said they had just gotten a shipment in, and would we like to see another tree. Poor innocent dear. Did he really think two women would look at ONE tree and say, “Oh, perfect. We’ll take it.” How naïve could a guy be?

Anyway, after the good hearted fellow unwrapped about four trees, he offered to give us an upgraded tree for the lower price. What woman doesn’t like a bargain? We said yes. (In hindsight, I think he was trying to get rid of us.)

We bought one that was categorized as a 9-10’ tree. Yowsa. The attendants tied it to the roof of my car, and we were on our way. We manhandled it off of my Hyundai and leaned it against the wall of the garage. Believe it or not, the top of the tree touched the garage ceiling (which is high).

My husband and son wrestled it into the living room, both fearful that when it was released from the plastic mesh it would pull a “Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation” thing and thwap everything in site. But this lovely Noble Fir was more of a lady, and she gently relaxed her beautiful boughs.

It took almost all day Saturday to decorate. Oh, did I mention that my son measured it? It’s not a 7’ tree, and it’s not even a 10’ tree as it was marked. No, this baby is a full 12’!
And did I also mention that our tree stand is guaranteed for trees up to 9’ tall?

This afternoon, my beautiful tree took a fall. Yup. C-R-A-S-H. Oh, boy. We were able to stand it up again, but with just the two of us home, couldn’t situate it properly. When someone else comes home we’ll give it another try.

Until then, my elegant tree looks like that drunk girl who crashed the party and just looks a mess. The angel is hanging down the front of the tree and the ribbon is in disarray.

I’ve learned my lesson. Next year I’ll get a 7’tree . . .

(Maybe)

Divine Humanity

For as long as I can remember, my mother put this reproduction antique post card on the table next to our nativity set each Christmas season. The nativity set was passed on to me a few years ago. In the box was the post card with a sentiment written by Phillips Brooks, a man known as the greatest American preacher of the 19th century and writer of the Christmas hymn, O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Each year when I read the post card, a thrill of joy bubbles up from my heart. At this beautiful time of year, I wish you a similar thrill of joy. . .

“Lift up your eyes to the great meaning of the day, and dare to think of your humanity as something so divinely precious that it is worthy of being made an offering to God.

Count it as a privilege to make that offering as complete as possible, keeping nothing back; and then go out to the pleasures and duties of your life, having been truly born anew into His divinity, as he was born into our humanity on Christmas Day.”

Since I was a very young woman, I have given myself, heart and soul, to my Lord. I offer each of my days to Him. And in a most humble way, I think of my writing as something so divinely precious that it is worthy of being made an offering to God as well.

Writer Montage Thoughts

Some of those lines from the previous post were great. Weren’t they?

I liked the one about the unpublished guy who says, “I’m a playwright. I write unproduced plays.” I had a line similar to that for many years.

And then there was the one about the genre that was all over the place: “It’s an action, suspense, romantic melodrama with lots of comedy, of course.” Now that one hit close to home because nobody is 100% sure what my genre is. If you take out the suspense in the above quote, you may very well have a description on my genre. But what would that be called?

And what writer hasn’t heard something like this: “It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just not good enough.”

Can You Relate?

This writer montage is so on the mark. It encompasses the ups and downs of the writing life.

Enjoy the chuckle.

Thanks to my wonderful agent Beth Jusino for sharing it.

Never in My Wildest Dreams

I never imagined that I would be the kind of person to go out and buy doggie steps. Oh, to what depths have I fallen? Am I one of those? You know—the people who go ga-ga over their pets and start to accessorize their homes in doggie décor.

Our house has looked like an obstacle course since my dog Belle tore her ACL. As soon as you walk in the door you’re greeted with those round sunblocking thingies blocking the stairs to the second floor. You know what I mean, those things covered with fabric that go on a car’s windshield to keep the car cool while it’s parked in the sun.

If you gaze into the living room, there’s a dining room chair laying on the loveseat. Walk toward the family room, and a chair is turned on its side blocking the entry. We know she can jump up to get on a couch, it’s the jumping down that may do her more damage.

Anyway we’re getting tired of stepping over a chair to get to our family room. So the solution? Doggie steps. Little Belle has her own corner of the couch, complete with a handmade afghan. You wouldn’t believe the variety of doggie steps available on the market.

Of course you know what this mean—now we have to teach our old girl how to use doggie steps.

Oh, the adventure continues! Isn’t life grand?

(I'll let you know how it goes.)

Please Pray

Kristy Dykes is a fellow ACFW member and author. About a week ago she received the news that she has a brain tumor. I believe she’s been told she may have one to three years left to live—and boy is she living. I’ve been following her journey on her blog. What a beautiful example of a Jesus lover (and Milton lover!).

Kristy’s blog is Christian Love Stories, and her favorite is the love story between herself and her dear husband Milton. Grab a tissue if you go, and do go, to her blog. The past week she has blogged on her thoughts and the pleasure she’s had spending time with loved ones. What a sweet, sweet story she’s penning.

Bless her, she knows how important love between a husband and wife is, and she doesn’t mind telling you about it. I can only imagine Milton blushing as she is so frank about their private lives.

Today Milton authored the blog and it started out this way:
I held her hand in the night and sang sweet songs of praise to our Lord. I quoted scripture, kissed her forehead and then held her hands. We are strong in the Lord for we are one in Him.

Kristy wanted me to blog last night on my portable mobile phone these words: private room in ICU. Kristy--frisky. But I can't blog that!

So, please pray for Kristy and follow her incredible journey as she walks with the Lord through this trial.

Dreams Come True!

Warning: this story requires a tissue nearby.

It’s difficult to nurture a dream year after year. Rejections come. Friends and family may doubt your talent. Oftentimes you doubt your talent and your calling. Boy, I’ve been down that road. It took me 12 years of learning the craft and learning the business before I was invited to the party. You can’t imagine how many times in that 12-year period I gave up.

But the moral of the story is, don’t give up. Hold on to your dreams. Press on. Trust God. Someone once told me writers don’t fail, they quit. And I decided to believe it.

The story of Paul Potts, a man who wouldn’t let go of his dream, is an inspiration. Paul appeared on the British TV show Britain’s Got Talent as a man filled with insecurities but also as a man filled with a dream. And guess who one of the judges on the show was? None other than Simon Cowell. Take a look at this video and be inspired.


To learn more about Paul Potts visit http://www.paulpottsopera.org/index.html.

Language Fun

This post serves no purpose other than to allow people a moment to say, "Hmm." And sometimes that's a good thing.

Enjoy!

'Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

And 'lollipop' is the longest word typed with your right hand.

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

'Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.

The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet. (Do you remember typing that in typing class?)

There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.' (Yes, admit it, you are saying, a e i o u)

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

Well, that was fun!

I never thought I would say that about getting my annual mammogram. But this year we formed the Breast Friend’s Club and partied through the experience.

Pictured is myself, Jan and Karen. Jan gave out pink Hershey Kisses to EVERYONE in the suite. Jan also made us beautiful pink scarves, Karen’s modeling hers.
After our exams, we went out to lunch—and sat on the patio. Can you believe that? It was in the low 70s in Denver today.

What a beautiful day with some wonderful friends.

Breast Friends

Yeah, that’s not a typo. I said breast friends, not best friends. My friends Jan and Sharen and I were joking around a few months ago, talking about having to make appointments for our annual mammogram when the idea that we’d be breast friends came up.

Taking care of your health is so important, we vowed to be breast friends and make a day of it every year when we each have to go for our annual mammography. Jan and Sharon went for their exams last month, and tomorrow’s my appointment. The three of us are going to the Sally Jobe Breast Center, and no, I’ll be going into the exam room alone. LOL.

Part of the fun is that we’ll each wear something pink, hand out pink M&Ms to the other women in the office and make the day a celebration of friends and health.

After my appointment we’ll go out to lunch, and then we’ll probably go out for coffee. I’ve cleared my calendar for the afternoon—with these girls, a celebration can last for hours.

FYI--these two friends are the stinkers from my November 6th post.

The Stinkers

Aren't your friends supposed to support your writing efforts? Pictured are Sharen and Tonya trying to make me feel guilty for not joining them. They look slightly evil, don't they?

This morning was my weekly Words For The Journey meeting. I wasn’t going to go, and last night I sent an email to Sharen, telling her that I need to stay home and write. Her reply to me was so convincing (read: she’s a master at pouring on the guilt), that I ended up going to this morning’s meeting.

“I’ll go on one condition.” I told her. “That no one will try to force me to go out to lunch or coffee after the meeting.” She promised that she would run interference for me. And she needed to.

Jan tried to guilt me into going to lunch with the girls, but I was strong and came home to write thousands of words.


Oh, and Jan and Danica? Candy? Really? You think you can get me to give up my principles for a little chocolate kiss?

So I’m the big party pooper—again. Everyone else went out to lunch. They’re sending me emails via BlackBerry with photos of themselves having fun and trying to make me feel guilty for blowing them off BECAUSE I NEED TO FINISH WRITING the book that Tyndale’s contracted.

But, being the good writer I am, I’m home pounding the keys. (Except for this little blog post).

My friends are so naughty. But I still love them.

NILMDTS Gala

Tomorrow night’s the big fundraising gala for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, a non-profit organization for whom I’ve donated my time by writing some of their documents, press releases and marketing materials. I hope it turns out well and NILMDTS makes a ton of $$$.

As part of the silent auction, I’ve donated an autographed copy of Searching for Spice, two tickets to my book launch party, and naming rights to a character in my October 2008 release. The above image is that of the tickets that will be displayed at the auction. Don’t they look great? My graphic artist friend, Tash, created them.

NILMDTS is an organization of professional photographers who donate their time and talents and travel to hospitals to take portraits of babies who will never go home with their parents. They provide achingly beautiful portraits for the parents who will go home with empty arms. I know, it’s very sad. But the truth is that these parents will have amazing, professional portraits of their precious children. Count your blessings that you have a lifetime to make memories with your children. Some parents only have days or hours.

Unhappy Halloween

I hope yours was better than mine, or at least somewhat saner. See that Jack-o-lantern? That's pretty much the way I looked by the end of the evening.

During my drive home from work my darling husband and I did the “who’s going to make dinner negotiations,” on our cell phones and decided (without her knowledge) the 21-year-old daughter would cook. He won, ahem--I mean lost, the coin toss and ended up having to call her to give her that information.

By the time I got home, she was nearly finished making tacos. I would have loved something a bit more substantial, but hey, I requested a meal, and technically tacos is a meal. Of sorts.

I’ve been in the writing groove, so I was eager to get back to my wip—except nobody wanted to answer the doorbell, which rang repeatedly. So, that fell on me. And boy did that baby ring. From the amount of candy we gave out, we figured we had more than 120 kids come to the door.

Let me tell you, 99% of our trick or treaters were cute, lovely, polite kids. Our neighbors came by with their little boy dressed as a construction worker. Aww, he was so cute. They happened to mention that they left a bowl of candy on their porch with a sign that said, “Take One.” I smiled and thought, how naïve.

I was in the kitchen once when the bell rang. It takes me about 8 seconds to walk to the door. Before I arrived, the kids were pounding on the door and windows, screaming for someone to give them candy. Boy was I steamed. I opened the door fully intending to give them a short lesson in manners. Before I could speak they started screaming the Trick or Treat song at me. The whole thing took my breath away, especially since this was a group of about a half dozen junior high-age girls. Talk about pack mentality. I bet each one of those girls individually is charming, but as a group they were nearly frightening. And then my neighbors walked by again and told me that they were across the street and saw that group of girls take the entire bowl of candy. Nice girls.

Between answering the door and trying to calm the whining dog, I somehow managed to write 900+ words. Yeah!! But as we began to run out of candy, I panicked. My solution—to send my husband to the store for more candy. Good plan. He returned with sushi. That made me laugh. Oh, he also had some candy.

The neighbors rang the bell again. It seems someone took the bowl that had held their candy—their glass bowl—and broke it at the end of my driveway! As a writer, I had an eerie sense of premonition when they told me their candy distribution was on the honor system. Talk about foreshadowing.

Toward the end of the night I answered to the door again. I looked at the person standing on my doorstep and said, “Wow. You’ve got the best costume of the night. Would you like to come in?”

Hearing that, my husband ventured to the foyer out of curiosity. (I’m not the type of girl to invite random people into my home.) It was a police officer. No, a real police officer.

Talk about a crazy night! It seems my husband witness a federal crime, and the officer came to get a statement. Before you start imagining all kinds of crazy things, my husband spotted someone drilling through the keyholes at our community mailboxes.

So, that was my Halloween. Crazy. Busy. Bizarre. How was yours?

Oh, for the good old days

Remember when folks used to rake their leaves? Now it seems like a quaint, outdated practice. Today everyone owns leaf blowers. We even broke down and bought one last year. I have to say, it makes removing leaves from our river rock edging so much easier.

Today’s a gorgeous day in Colorado, and it’s one of my writing days. The sun is peeking between puffy clouds and it’s 73 degrees with a breeze just strong enough to make the leaves dance. If only the chaise lounge wasn’t in the basement, I’d be on the patio right now. That, and if only my neighbors would rake their leaves.

The electronic buzz of the blowers is bending my brain. Is it too much to ask for a little quiet on my writing days? And how politically correct is it to use a blower? After all, Gary blows some of his leaves to our property, we blow them to Ron’s, Ron blows them to Jack, and heaven help the person at the end of the street.

My husband was out over the weekend blowing our leaves. I noticed there were still plenty left on the front lawn. “What could I do?” said my dear husband, “Terry was outside next door and . . .”

Mama told me they’re be days like this, AKA doggie update and more.

Today is one of my writing days, but life always seems to interfere. This morning we noticed a “spot” on our garage ceiling. Yeah, I figured I would deal with that, but first things first. I had an appointment for a recheck at the vet for Belle (torn ACL).

Seems she’s improving but s-l-o-w-l-y. Ideally, surgery would solve the problem, but Belle’s an old girl—14 ½ years old. We decided on a schedule of doggie physical therapy. As if I need another task in my day. But whatever, she’s our canine family member.

Then I had to deal with that water spot on the garage ceiling. Right under the shower. The plumber has come and gone. He’s convinced it’s a tile problem. He says you should seal or replace tile every five years. That’s news to me. We’ve been in our house 13 years and have never done that. Live and learn. But in our defense, previously the longest we ever lived in one house was three years.

Interesting thing. The plumber is a new writer. He just joined a new writing group that meets at a church in town. We ended up talking about writing for about 30 minutes. One would think that would have cancelled out some of his fee, but no.

What can you do? Some days are just like that.

Pass the Sunscreen

My home in Colorado had its first snowstorm of the season. What started out as rain turned to snow and accumulated on the roads and grassy areas. For a while the driving was a bit treacherous.

At least that’s what I was told. I was fortunate. I missed this first storm because I spent the weekend in Arizona. Um, hum. Sunny, hot Arizona.

I tagged along on a business trip with my husband. I was promised that I would have time to write. (Word count, word count, word count!) Anyway, it didn’t work out that way. Sure, I probably could have excused myself and spent time writing, but then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of visiting with folks, listening to exciting ideas and making new friends.

You could consider it wasted time in regards to productivity. But sometimes that’s just what a writer needs. Time to meet and greet, time to listen to different points of view and time to listen in on conversations that are mostly outside my realm of experience.

I often wish my friends a good, productive weekend. Aside from word count (let’s not go there), that’s what I enjoyed.

Like -- you know

Taylor Mali is so clever. He discusses uptalking and other annoying speech habits. Check out the video in the post below.

The first time I heard someone excessively uptalk, I thought, "What is wrong with this girl?"

Thanks to Kristin Billerbeck for bringing this to my attention.

Enjoy!

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