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.