Here's to New Adventures

Happy Spring!  I don't know if I still have any followers that visit my blog, but I hope to woo some back and even have new people visit.  This blog is much beloved by me, and I miss it dearly.  I also miss writing.  I haven't written creatively in far too long.  So what have I been up to you ask?  Working at the library still, and I also work with exchange students through International Student Exchange.  I am looking at some big changes coming up in my life, I hope.  I need to shake things up.  Need some fresh air in my lungs both physically and metaphorically.  Physically, I'm getting outside more.  Taking walks and trying to improve my health.  Metaphorically I am working toward doing more of what I love, and that means more writing.  I am looking into some freelance work, as well as more creative writing.  I will be revisiting my poor book that I have neglected.  I'm sure some more editing is required.  I also have other stories that could be tweaked and may even have one or two that could be publish-able in a magazine, literary journal, or some other outlet.  Of course, I have the ever-present tide of fresh ideas that bubble and surge in my brain.  They buzz around like frantic insects until I free them into a notebook or computer file.  As with many other writers my time is limited and it can be a challenge to use what time I do have in a beneficial way with all of the distractions of life. Speaking of which, we have another blog that is dedicated to our healthier living struggles, and I'm working on setting up a website through Wix for our travels and photography.  This the Mr. is helping on, I can't do it all no matter how hard I try.  :)  I will link that when we get it more into shape.

This photo was taken in Prague, Czech Republic in November, 2016.  This is part of the outer wall of Vysehrad.  An amazing place that I could, and will write much about.  This magical city is inspirational to say the very least.

So...This Was A Draft...

There is nothing like an injury to put life into perspective.  Ok, it is only a minor injury, nothing to worry over.  I won't get into the gory details or bore you with hypothetical accounts of how it could have been so much worse.  The point is that I have so many things that I want in my life, and I'm not doing anything about it.  I go to work, I come home.  I have my family and volunteer projects, but I am not doing anything for myself.
So, after a few months (or several) of being more crushed than I would admit about my first rejection, I set myself up for a couple more.  I received a very nice reply yesterday about how agenting is subjective and though my ms wasn't right for her, she wished me luck and sent me back out into the world.  I will find the right agent, I just can't give up.

I think about author Mike Mullin (ASHFALL and ASHEN WINTER) who tells of being rejected by all of the agents he queried before finding his publisher.  ASHFALL has since garnered much critical acclaim and awards, which you can read about here.  Perhaps middle grade is harder than YA, unless you are JK Rowling, but even she had to endure rejection in the beginning.  I can, and will find the right people to help make this book happen.

Back to researching agents.

Why not just query publishers?  I have thought about it.  I feel like going the agent route is right for me.  I want someone who has knowledge and connections in the world of publishing.  It is a big, scary world, the world of publishing.  I want a navigator.

In the meantime, I will continue to write/edit/rewrite something completely different.  I have to get back into a regular schedule.  Blogging helps keep me focused, even though I do it only sporadically.

So, A Funny Thing Happened

No, really.  It was a very funny thing.....or not so much.  Once I had a blog that I loved.  I sometimes used this blog to make contact with others.  It was fun.  I miss my blog.  I still write blog posts in my head as I fall asleep sometimes.  *sigh*

So guess what?  I'm back!  (hopefully in a regular way)  Oh blog, how I have missed you.  I perused a couple of past posts.  Not bad.  So how is it that it has been ALMOST TWO YEARS since I have posted?!?!  I'll tell you.  Tis a sad tale.  If you look at the last post you will note that I had sent a query to the literary agent whom I had all but cyber stalked, you know, to make sure I was querying the right one.  Well, as you can imagine, I was rejected, and looking back the book wasn't ready.  It really wasn't.  Really.  Just because my sister and cousin loved it didn't mean it was ready.

So, I did some editing, some re-writing, and then I queried a few more agents at a time....and was rejected.  I just checked my list, and it has only been 8 rejections in total.  What have I been whining about? Time to dust off and get back on that horse!  I still love this book, and think it is worthy, but I have other stories in me that *need* to get out.  I shall get back into a writing routine and set aside time for more revisions and more querying and all of that.  I even have a list of people I'm planning to send to next, so look out literary world, I'm jumping back in.

Childhood and Writing Stories

I've been thinking lately about my childhood.  I am one of those people blessed enough to have had a wonderful childhood.  We were not wealthy, in fact most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from my older sister and our cousins.  We never went hungry, we lived on a farm.  Dad raised beef cattle, we had chickens.  My Uncle, whose farm bordered ours, had a dairy farm.  Mom always had a large garden.  There was always plenty of food.  When my baby brother was found to be allergic to cow's milk we got a dairy goat to milk.

We never lacked for entertainment either. Unlike today, we had few TV channels, no computers or video games.  In spite of these hardships we had a fantastic time. We spent as much time outside as we could....preferably, for me at least, without shoes.  We spent a lot of time in the woods, or the barn.  Played baseball with just my older sister and I....assisted by several "ghost men".  Played hide-and-seek in the corn, but only after it was taller than us. We crawled though the tall grass pretending to be wild animals.  Suffice it to say that we had a great time. We did watch TV, one of our favorite things for my older sister Vikki, our cousin Lisa, and I to play was "Charlie's Angels", we went on daring missions and talked to "Charlie" via our "communicators" which were really erasers shaped like the Burger King's head.

Is it any wonder then that when I got my first really solid story idea that it was taken from actual childhood events and, well, tweaked?  So I added some magical creatures and a few made-up events. The joy of my childhood was a strong influence and inspiration. I was blessed with a wonderful childhood and wonderful family, and I hope that comes across in my writing. I also am hopeful that what I have written will help to inspire a younger generation to go out and play and discover things about the world around them.



Oh yeah....these guys made excellent communicators for talking to Charlie. :)

This was taken in my Granddad's barn last September.  Love it. Inspires my imagination in several directions; historical and magical in turn. What inspiration can you find around you? How about from your childhood?  Write it!

*note: I sent my query letter to my agent-of-choice last night (what was I thinking?)

I did sleep, though I have worries....what if my beginning is not as strong as it should be and it fails to grab this busy, successful literary agent?  I forgot to check my e-mail font, what if it was all wrong?  Still, it is high time I did this. It will be fine, or a learning experience.  *deep breath* 

Oh Frabjous Day!

Callooh! Callay!

I did it! I finished my book!  I know that it isn't finished finished, but....huzzah!

Life, The Universe, and Everything

*Credit for the title of this post must go to the genius, and sadly late Douglas Adams.  I was going to post some Vogon poetry in honor of National Poetry Month, but April came and went with nary a blog post....*sigh*  Life has been quite busy, as it tends to be.  Working and living, and having a busy son and two grandbabies can really be quite time-consuming.  This is not a complaint.  Nor is it an excuse.  It just is.

I am nearing completion of my WIP (I hope).  I will admit that I have considered sending my query to the agent I have scoped out as the one (at least, the first one....I'm being quite hopeful by saying "the one", I realize this.) just to spur me into working harder.  I realized however that this could be quite disastrous.  What if I suddenly realize that it is totally written in the wrong POV and that I really need to change the entire thing?  What if I never feel finished with it, and therefore never send the query?  *shudder*  *deep breath*  It will be fine.  It will.  All in good time.  But it has been SO long, and I really just want to put this one out there and get on with writing down more of the many ideas vying for my attention.  On the other hand, I do want it to be the best that I can make it before I put my fate in the hands of someone who I hope can really make my dreams of moving from "writer" to "published author" happen.

Life happens, and will hopefully continue to happen for some time to come.  The struggle is to make the best use of the time we are allotted.  Sometimes the day job becomes too time consuming and I feel as though I wish I could step away, or cut back my hours.  Alas, there are bills to pay, and it really is a job that I enjoy, which is not something everyone can say.  And so I struggle to balance my time between writing, working, family, and sleeping.  As evinced by the blog of nearly every writer, this is a difficult and common struggle.  I am not unique in this balancing act.  Whenever I am frustrated, I remind myself that Stephen King, in the early days, wrote while working a pretty disgusting job to support his family.  This helps.  (*if you haven't read On Writing, I highly recommend it)I would really love to take a survey and ask how many out there have read Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn, but as I rarely get comments, this would be like asking myself the question.  Yes, I have read it many times and it remains one of my very favorite books.  Ever.  It is so beautifully written.  Achingly, beautifully, hauntingly wonderful book.  I love the animated film adaptation as well (though I do prefer the book).  I love the soundtrack by America.  I love the non-computerized animation.  I love the casting.  I could go on.  The problem (and it really isn't a huge problem) is that I feel like hardly anyone I know has read this amazing book.  It seems popular judging from the internet, so how is it that most of the people I am in contact with (the ones who read, that is) have not read it?  I once gave a friend a copy as a gift....I'm pretty sure she still hasn't read it.  I know that if and when she does she will exclaim "why did I not read this sooner?  how have I missed this until now?"  I will just shrug and say "I did tell you."

Confession:  I have lost many hours in the last week to daydream planning my UK visit....there are some amazing places in this world that I long to see with my own eyes, and not merely via Google Maps......money is the only thing holding me back.  If anyone out there is interested in sponsoring my travel fund (or providing one where none now exists), please do let me know.  All I ask is unlimited travel.  I don't need luxury accommodations, I would really make good use of every dollar.  Really, I could make it pay for itself eventually, I am certain.  I get story ideas galore just from satellite images, what I could do with time and actually travelling to these places......I know, I know.  Start where I am, build from there.  I just get impatient.   Truth:  with all of the suffering in our world, my complaint of not having travel money is insignificant, I realize this.  If I can make helping to alleviate any suffering, a part of my travel plans I fully intend to try.  I love the idea of volunteer vacations/working vacations.

Ok, I have much still to accomplish today.  Many thanks for reading my ramblings.

Also, Happy Mother's Day to all.  I leave you with photos of my Grandbabies....and one of my own Mom. I love you Mom.  I think of you every day, and hope that you know that I do.  

Books!

It has been quite some time since I have talked about a book I've read.  Mostly because it has been a while since I have done any serious reading, I'm sad to say.  (though, I have mentioned it a time or two)  However, I not only finished (and LOVED) this book, but I also did an oral book report on it.  There's something I had not done in a very long time.  I have told countless children about countless books over the years, but this was a full on book report.  With my weekly homeschool group we are having a 'thing'.  Not a contest, more of a reward project.  If they tell me, and the group about a book they have read, they get a prize and their name on the wall.  After they've done 5 the get a free ice cream via coupon donated by our local Dairy Queen.  None of them, I think, had ever done anything like this, and one of the Moms asked for help.  Her son loves to read, but had trouble telling her about what he had read.  So I devised a scheme to get him to work on his narrative skills, and lo, a group-wide book report project was born.  Obviously, I had to go first, to model this thing that I wanted them to do.  This is where Kenny comes in. 

Fear, Hope, and Harry Potter

Apparently I am afraid. Afraid of my story ending. Afraid I don’t know how to end it. Afraid of what people will think of it. Afraid that I will never finish it. Afraid I won’t get the agent I have set my sights on. Afraid that to get published I will have to change too much. Afraid that it won’t matter what I change, it still will not be published. Afraid that even if it is it won’t sell. Afraid that after all of the time and energy spent it will be for naught. Afraid that I will never know because I’ll never finish it.

I have learned so much throughout this process. From the writing, and the even the not writing. (and from writing other things along the way) From two years of SCBWI membership. From 7 ½ years working in a public library. From many wonderful authors, their books and blogs, twitter and facebook pages. I am very grateful and indebted to so many people that I have never met. The internet is a hell of a thing.

Babies

These precious sleepers are my sweet grandbabies.  Kira Grace, on the left, and her new baby sister Molly May.  I vow to write more for these two if not for myself.

Months, and Months

Disclaimer:  All of this was written over the course of several months and promptly not posted.  I mention a few times about being busy and such....it is true.  Things have been nuts.  I shall post more (hopefully) soon.  I am still struggling to get back into that wonderful routine that I had in August.  (August is sounding good right now for many reasons....not the least of which is my cold hands.)  Hoping all is well with everyone reading this.  Please, leave a comment to say "Hi", even if you don't read all of this craziness.

Maybe I Am A Writer

Writing.  That was my subject last time, and guess what?  I have been doing pretty well.  I started getting up early and writing, only on weekdays though.  Weekends and evenings are for my family.  Early mornings are for writing.  And lo, the book is progressing.  I'm SO excited!  I have my "beta readers" and a critique partner, and I just got a volunteer (whom I trust) to edit for grammar and such.....I think I may just finish in the timeline that I hoped.  I haven't been blogging, but things will hopefully balance out.  I did attend a conference that I still want to blog about....

Oh, and I entered a short story contest over at Figment.  You can read it here.  It is much different than my WIP, and took me away for a little bit, but it was also refreshing, and a big step putting myself out there for potential rejection, even if it is "just" a contest.  *deep breath*

Writing (again)

Yesterday I took a huge step.  I sent off the first part of my WIP to someone I barely know for a critique.  I'm excited, nervous, scared, embarrassed, and a bit sick.  *deep breath*  It will be fine.  This is why we do this.  Get other perspectives and try to polish our stories up before sending them off again to an agent or editor, or wherever we intend to send them.  (at which time I will be feeling all of the above emotions even stronger)  I think that this fear of having others read your (less than perfect) work is why many wanna be writers will never be published.  I have read statements from absolutely amazing authors who still have this fear, so I'm just going to bite my lip and go for it.  It will never be perfect anyway.

"Guilty Pleasures"

I’ve been thinking.  (maybe I’m an owl since “all owls think a lot”*)  There are so many sources for my line of thinking this morning that I couldn’t begin to write them all out and not lose my train of thought.  Let’s just get right to it.  First, the term ‘guilty pleasures’, I see this used a lot in terms of books, music, tv, movies and such.  These are forms of entertainment.  Are they not supposed to be pleasurable?  Everyone has their own tastes, their own ideas of what is fun.  Why should I have to classify a book I enjoy as a ‘guilty pleasure’ simply because someone out there may not find it of value?

Quickie

Oh, this is why I don't type on my phone. Aside from a very strange dream I just had, I've been thinking about my WIP (work in progress). This is a stretch to call it that sometimes, but it isn't a finished draft yet. The thing is I worked on it! I actually delved back in and I realized that I hadn't since October.

New Post! : )

Lately I have found myself distracted.  Distracted by technology is much to blame.  Twitter, facebook, Words With Friends, imdb, all from the comfort of a small handheld device. Not to mention tv.  I just realized.  This is not recent. 

I’ve also been reading more than I’ve been writing.  This is a frustrating truth, but books are great.  I love books.  I just need balance.  That is what I need, balance.  Balance between the day job, my family, reading writing, and sleep.  And life.  I follow enough authors on their blogs, facebook, and Twitter to know that this is a pretty common thing.  I think that we, as a society have become so busy, so inundated with sights and sounds, that we respond by thinking that we have to do it all.  It is all too much.

Reading, Writing Blog Posts, and The Woman In Black

About a week ago….or two, I wrote the beginnings of a great post.  Then it was somehow eaten.  I don’t want to talk about that.  Painful.  Ultimately not life altering, just blog altering.  Then I left here and posted on my library's blog about a few books I have enjoyed lately, feel free to go and read that.  I feel like, given the time I could have done more justice to them, but time is a limited resource.  Also, it had been a frustrating day.  The last one, Princess of the Midnight Ball is one that I was working on here.

Grrr.....and Sigh

I spent a good portion of my life today on a lovely post about a lovely book, and it is gone.  Completely.  Anyone else having blogger issues today?  *sigh*  SO, I think I will work on my post for my library's blog, and re-do this one....which was quite nice, or at least nicer than this later.  At some point over the weekend.  I am just frustrated.  It wouldn't be good.

While your here though, let me direct you to this amazing blog.  I read this yesterday, and was very moved.  This is how I have tried to live, and raise my kids to live, and he writes it so very well.  Thanks for stopping in.  Be well, and please do check back with me later.

Some Cool Things, and Some *sigh* Things

My sweet Grandbaby and her parents are moving out.  Moving into their own place.  A bittersweet, but overall good thing.  I no longer get to see/smooch/cuddle the little pumpkin every morning, evening, and lunchtime.  But they have their own space, and the visits will be more special, right?  I am happy for my "kids".  The house they are moving into is the house we moved into when my daughter was a baby, so that is a very cool thing.  It is back in the family now after being "bought on contract" (read that "trashed and moved out of") for almost two years.  Much cleaning and painting has been going on. 

On another note, I am still getting (or trying anyway) more organized in my life, and in doing so I realized that there are AT LEAST a dozen books that I REALLY WANT to blog about that I didn't get to.  In the mean time, I want to share this interview with Kiersten White, author of  Paranormalcy, Supernaturally, and this year's Endlessly.  It is a hoot!  : )  (image borrowed from the author's aforelinked blog)

The reason I have so many books that I read, loved, and didn't blog about is pretty simple, I get busy and forget things.  Also, I want to do justice to them and not just throw something up. (to be continued...)

First Blog Post of 2012!

Well, for ME at least.  : )

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Albeit a little bit late.  Hey, it is only the 6th, so that's not too bad!  I'm actually proud of myself.  Wait, I've not posted since when?  The last time I shared a book was WHEN?  oh....

I am happy to say that things are going well, and I am SUPER excited about the year to come!  My little Grandbaby is now 2 months old, and smiling and cooing and all those adorable baby things that wrap us around their cute little pinky fingers.  She is definitely a blessing and the absolute best thing about 2011.

So it IS that time of year when our dear MotherReader issues her annual Comment Challenge.  The kick in the you-know-what I needed to get back here on a more regular basis.  Much thanks to her and Lee Wind for all they do out there in the blogosphere.  If you aren't familiar with either of them......that's what the links are for.

Happily, I have been reading throughout this whole blogging drought.  The most recent book I finished was just a few days ago.  I fully intend that to be my next post.  Maybe I'll even tell you about more than one book!  Crazy, I know.  One thing at a time.  : )

Welcome to newcomers, and hello to you who've been here before!
I've missed you, you look great!

Grandma's Sweetie

Kira Grace

 

This is my new (and first) Granddaughter.  She is one week old today.  Born 11-01-11. 

Sorry for not blogging much lately....