An Adventure in Writing and Life

Long Time, No See

2011-12-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Wow.. almost 6 months with no post. Even if I'm not writing regularly (which I'm not) I would like to try and write on here more often, because it keeps me in the writing mentality.

Anyway, so what have I been up to? I've written here and there on my WIP. I've written a little on my side WIP when I feel like it. I've even written on my short story. That's probably too much to work on at once, but I get restless with my projects after awhile. I think if I just had more focus maybe I could do better.

My sister says something like "Excuses, even if they are good, are still excuses. You don't get things done." So, I do have excuses, and some of them are good. But I'm not getting the writing done. Now, I'm not being that hard on myself. I'm one of those people that believe there is a time and place for everything and when it's the right time it will happen. EXCEPT you have to put the work in at the right now. It isn't going to happen on it's own.

One kind of exciting thing that happened is I have made some money off writing. I have a Kindle and wanted a few kids stories on there. Me being the writer I am, didn't want to just buy a bunch of books. I wanted to write one. I wrote four short stories for my kids. Then I thought, why not put it on the Kindle store and see if I could sell some? So I did. I've sold 12 copies. That is in about 1 month of sales and no real promoting (except telling some friends that ended up buying a copy. Thanks friends!). I have made $4.20 from writing these stories for my kids.

I like the publisher route, because basically says, your writing is good enough we want to sell it in a book. I like the indie publishing route because it says, I can write what I want and be in charge of it. I guess I'll just keep on writing and see which route to take next.

Hitting a Writing Milestone

2011-06-30T11:16:00.001-06:00

So far in my "writing career" I haven't gotten very far. I love to write. I make up stories here and there and usually quit writing the story because I get discouraged. But last night I hit the 39K word count. I am less than 1000 words away from hitting 40,000 words, which is roughly half a book. And not just a story that has a bunch of words, but words that I am pretty darn proud of.

I got some feedback on my first page and it just got me excited to write again. I just wish my excitement lasted longer periods of time. I've got to figure out a way to keep the momentum going. I feel like I have a better idea of what needs to be improved. I know a couple scenes that I am definitely am going to have to completely re-do, a few that I'll need to improve the quality of writing on, and I have some ideas to give the novel more quality about it.

Besides writing, I am also working on losing weight. In a year's time I have lost 27 pounds. Sadly, I still have about 25-30 more pounds to go, but now I know I can do it.

Also, having a few little kids around the house with school out makes it a little less scheduled around here. Oh, and not to mention that I am trying my hand at gardening.

So a little about gardening: I grew up in a house with 1/2 acre. We had a huge garden. Pretty much any vegetable or fruit you can think of that grows around here -- we grew it. I helped planting, picking weeds, and harvesting. So you would think I would have this green thumb. Nope.

I don't like bugs, I don't like sitting on the ground pulling weeds, and I forget to water my plants. My kids love the idea of gardening and I do also to an extent. So, we are attempting to grow: 1 corn stalk, 2 tomato plants, 1 strawberry plant, 2 pumpkin plants, and 1 watermelon plant. Last year my attempt at carrots and 3 tomato plants yielded 9 small tomatos and no carrots. Basically anything I can harvest will probably be an improvement this year. Maybe someday I will get this gardening stuff all figured out.

UPDATE: I hit 40K. 40,365 to be exact. WAHOO!!!

Summer Vacation

2011-06-14T12:02:00.000-06:00

As for the writing: Still a no show. I've been thinking about it, but just not into right now.

We are going to be heading on our first camping trip of the summer. The kids are excited and I'm getting excited. It's hard to get excited about it when you know that you need to clean out your car trunk, gather all the camping supplies, make a list of everything you need, pack your stuff, double check the stuff your kids pack, pack the food, hope everything fits, etc. But we are only camping about 10 miles away from home, so if we forget anything, we'll just run home and get it.

My brother-in-law is borrowing our Tahoe (SUV) for a relay race. So we are packing for our family of 5 (and dog) with just my Impala. We will all probably have bags on our laps and be packed like sardines in the car. Luckily, like I said, it will only be a 10 mile ride.

When the little one takes a nap, I'm heading outside to clean out the car and pack the few things that I can get packed now.

However, I am getting excited at the thought of having things done and ready for camping. No internet, no video games, but I will have my Kindle. Reading while camping is one of the nice relaxing things.

It Comes and Goes

2011-05-16T12:40:00.000-06:00

So my writing itch comes and goes. I wrote 15,000 words last month. I've barely touched my manuscript this month. I just need to make myself personal goals for writing more often.

Julie Coulter Bellon, a LDS author and also mother of 8 children started a new blog. She has something called First Page Friday. I decided to be bold and sent in the first page of one of my manuscripts. It's one that I put on the back burner, but still REALLY want to write. My creativity for it is worn out though. I've thought about taking the basic idea of it and completely re-writing it. I'd still use a bunch of the scenes and ideas that really seem to work. But some of it just doesn't flow right.

As for my personal life, I'm a little excited and a little not excited for school to be out. I have a routine down when my son is at school. When the baby (although she really is a toddler now, but I still think of her as my baby) goes down for a nap, I have one child home. She can stay somewhat quiet by herself. But with 2 kids home, they can make SO much noise. I will have to think of some good nap-time quiet activites for them to do.

Oh, and it's May 16th, and I am drinking hot chocolate and thinking about putting my housecoat on. My house is 64 degrees (had a window open and a fan blowing). I'm not ready for full on heat summer, but would like 70's degree Spring to stay.

Creative Juices Flowing

2011-04-19T22:30:00.000-06:00

It has been less than two weeks since I started my new WIP. I am already at 10,000 words. That is insane to me. If I keep up this pace, I could tentatively have the rough draft done in four months. I have never written this much in such little time.

I still like my previous WIP and would like to go back to it again sometime, but I love the way the creative juices are flowing for me. It's hard to explain what happens when I get in the zone. It's like time doesn't exist. I was writing at a little after nine o'clock and now it's ten thirty. I had my headphones on listening to soundtracks and my husband put his hand on my shoulder and scared me.

My goal for the April Writing Challenge was 8000 words. And now I am 2000 words past that. So my new goal for the challenge is to get to 15,000 words. There are 11 days left in the month. That is 500 words a day. My time is going to get a little busier this week, but I am sure I can do it.

Writer's Block

2011-04-12T20:29:00.000-06:00

I wanted to work on my current WIP (work in progress), but I just kept hitting the wall. I can feel what I want to write, but I just can't get it out on paper. So, I decided to go another direction.

I have an idea for another novel that has on my mind. I've written down a few ideas for it, but never really started writing it. I decided to go ahead and start it. I've gotten 3000 words already from 3 different writing times.

This one feels like it's going a little smoother than my last one. Of course, we'll see if I end up getting writer's block on this one. Hopefully I can get some good speed built up so I can just knock that wall down.

I've read that for the first draft to just get the story down. Don't worry about getting that perfect draw you in beginning. Don't worry about whether the scene flows right or not. Just get the story out. Then go back and reword things, find the starting point, change scenes around a little. Or even cut out parts that no longer seem necessary to have written.

My new goal for this WIP is 8000 words this month. I'm almost half-way there. Maybe I'll even "blow this thing wide open." That's for you Tristi. :)

Reading to Improve Writing

2011-04-07T11:15:00.000-06:00

I've heard or read it somewhere that reading can help your writing. I love it when I find an author or book that just makes me want to be the best writer I can possibly be. You know the kind. The one that you get real invested in the characters. Or you love the back and forth tension of the characters. The plot line just pulls you in.
You just want more. You wish the author would write more books or longer books because you just want more.

And then I think that is how I want other people to feel when they finish reading my novel. I can look at these books and see how they "show, not tell" the story. It helps me to look at what I've written and see how to better phrase what I'm trying to write.

I'm doing Tristi's April writing challenge. So far I have about 300 out of 5000 words done for my goal. I need to get going on in. I have read 3 books this month (and it's only the 7th), so that has been occupying my time. But I finished the series and now I have to wait for more. So, it's time to write again.

April Writing Challenge

2011-03-26T14:58:00.000-06:00

Author Tristi Pinkston is having her quarterly writing challenge. I love her writing challenges because it makes me think more about writing when I sign up to participate.

One year ago last March, my work-in-progress (WIP) was around 18,000 words. This March I am at 37600 words. I printed off my WIP so that I could mark on it and hopefully find what flows and what doesn't. Also so I can hopefully get some ideas to add to the story.

I'm still planning on writing here and there until April, but I can't wait until April to try and get my word count up. My goal for April is 6000 words. I hope I get higher, but I know that number is realistic for me right now. Hopefully I majorly exceed that number though.

New Month, New Goal

2011-03-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

I hit my original February goal of 4000 words. I thought I'd up it to 8000 (since it was the middle of the month). Then the flu hit. I had it the worse for about a week and then my girls had it for a few days. Then I was just tired from being sick and didn't hit the secondary goal. But that's okay. Life happens.

So, for March my goal is going to be 5000. Right now in my life, I prefer to aim lower and hope to hit higher. I didn't write anything in my WIP for over about 9 months. Then this year I started writing on it again. So if my goal is 5000 words a month, then that is 45,000 words vs. 0 words for the next 9 months again. It all adds up in the end.

Slow and Steady, but Not Fast Enough

2011-02-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Writing is going slow and steady. I know that is a good thing. I know I'm not in a place where I can get thousands of words written down a day and get a whole first draft done in a month or two. So I consider what I'm doing an accomplishment.

I feel like a turtle in a race. I see the finish line in the distance, but it's SLOW getting there. But the point is that I'm getting there. I was amazed when I had 17K words, and now I have 36K. That is over double what I had.

I love to write and I feel like I'm good at it. It's just getting myself in that place to write. I have young kids, so I have to carve time out to write. I'll enjoy my young ones now, but I'll also enjoy them when they are all in school and I have even more time to write. Or at least quiet time to write. :)

If I Keep This Up....

2011-02-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

At this rate, I will finish my first draft of my WIP (work in progress) soon. I figure even if I low ball it to 1000 words a day for 10 days out of the month, then I will be at 80,000 in about 3-4 months.

I've been on a writing roll lately, but it's going to be getting a little busier soon. One daughter is having a birthday, then next week I teach preschool two days that week. Also I am helping with my son's class Valentine party and need to help him make some valentines and decorate a box.

If I kept up the speed I'm at, I could probably have first draft done in two months. I've gone back and reworded/rewrote a few things. I'm trying hard not to do it too much. But sometimes I can't help but come up with better ideas for certain areas.

So... current word count: 33696. Phew. That's a lot of words. :)

Writing Again

2011-01-30T01:02:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post. Sometimes I get in the writing groove and a lot of the times I don't. But tonight I did. It was about 10:30 and the next thing I know it's almost 1:00 am. I finally got in the groove. I was writing and ideas were just flowing from my head to the page. I love moments like this. I seriously lost track of time and was in my own world. LOVE IT!

Goal Meet

2010-04-30T15:04:00.001-06:00

I made my monthly writing goal. I wrote a total of 5878 words. (Goal was 5000.) It was nice to take the time to actually write. It adds up slowly; but still, progress is progess.

One thing I've learned this month is to just get the story out. Don't worry about perfection. It may not come out on paper the way that I see it in my mind. But I need to get the plot line down, the characters in, the storyline there. After the story is written, I can go back and fine tune it. Find what works and what doesn't work.

I've decided that I need some writing goals if I ever want to finish the novel. So, for the month of May my goal is 2000. Not as high as last month's goal, but still something that will get me motivated to write.

I Hit a Mark

2010-04-07T21:33:00.000-06:00

Wow. Two blog posts in two days. That's a new one for me I think.

Anyway.. good news. I hit 20,000 words on my writing. To be more specific, 20013. Yay. Now it will be even more exciting when I hit my 30,000 word mark. I am definately going to blow my goal of 5000 words this month out of the water.

I'm Doing It, I'm REALLY Doing It!

2010-04-06T14:16:00.000-06:00

I am having so much fun. I'm actually writing. Consistently. Well, it's been 3 of 6 days this month. But still, it's more than I've done in probably a year. The more that I write, the more ideas that come to my mind.

I've got a good routine down. Do the chores here and there throughout the day. But when my son goes to school and the baby naps, I write. My four year old is still around, but she will play by herself or watch a TV show while I write. I put some music on and get to writing.

I've got 333 words written within the hour. I love the function "Word Count" on MS Word. I'm actually writing so much, that I'm going to write a Word Count on my WIP on a side bar. And it won't stay the same number all month. I think I may just blow my 5000 word count goal out of the water.

Sometimes I doubt myself when it comes to writing, but when I get like this I am just so happy. I absolutely love the feeling and it's a hard feeling to describe. I love to write. Even if I never get published, I LOVE to write. It's a good feeling to know what you want to do in life. :)

Kind of

2010-03-31T14:41:00.001-06:00

I'm kind of writing. I wrote about 600 words one day this month. Not a lot, but still progress. I decided to join Tristi's writing challenge this month. You get to choose your own goal for the writing challenge.

My goal is 5000 words this month. That equals out to 166 words a day. It is about 1/3 to half a page of a single spaced typed page. It depends if there is more dialogue or description. I figure I will have roughly 10 more pages written. My starting word count is 18,097. So hopefully I will be at 23,097 at the end of April. If I really get the writing bug I hope to have even more words.

I honestly don't know if anyone reads this besides a few that have commented on the past. But for those of you who don't know, here is the breakdown of novels and word count. This website has some numbers that I imagine are probably pretty correct.

So if a basic goal is 80,000 words, then all I need is 57,000 more words. I can do it, right? Yes I can!

I Want to Win a Book

2010-01-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

So this first post of the year .... which is sadly already the end of the month is for a contest. I want to win a book. Specifically Devil's Food Cake written by Josi Kilpack.

I love Josi's books, especially her latest culinary mysteries. I own the first two and will own this one too. The covers are awesome looking. If I don't win this contest, I will definately be buying it. And hopefully she'll do a nice local book signing like she did with her last one. Her English Trifle (same name as book) was AWESOME! I would love some Devil's Food cake.

I haven't read Devil's Food Cake, but I am sure it will be as good as the last two. Josi has become one of those authors that I will pretty much buy or read one of her books, just because she wrote it and I know I will like it.

One Down, Two to Go

2009-11-02T09:05:00.003-07:00

One holiday has come and gone - two more to come. I love this time of year when it feels like one holiday comes and the next is lined up. You have Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter. But you don't usually spend the whole month looking forward to it like the Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays.

Thanksgiving seems to get overlooked a bit though. Of course, Christmas decorations are starting to come up in the stores. I understand the whole ordering/setting up/being ahead thing that happens in retail. Just don't make a big deal of it though. Don't decorate your store yet. Don't put Christmas commericals on the TV quite yet. Don't play Christmas music yet.

Growing up we had a rule that there was no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. We might sneak a song here or there when my dad wasn't around. But I liked that rule. It made the anticipation even better. It seems when you start playing Christmas music too early, you're sick of it by Christmas.

Back to Thanksgiving. I am thinking about doing a Thankful Tree this year. I had thought of the idea last year, but didn't get around to doing it. But this year two of my kids know how to write their ABCs. I don't know the exact way I'd do it. My plan though is to probably cut out large leave shapes from cardstock and punch a hole in it to hang it on a tree. Not sure about the tree though. I could find a dead branch or make something out of wire and brown tape. I'll have to give it some thought still.

Halloween

2009-10-29T14:36:00.003-06:00

I had a lot of fun (and sometimes stress) making my kids halloween costumes. I have a Link (from Legend of Zelda video game), a Princess, and a Pea in a Pod.

I got a lot of compliments from people for the Link outfit. Even my husband was impressed with what I did. All the adults thought he was Robin Hood. All the kids knew he was Link.

I actually have a lot of fun making things. I'm excited for next years Halloween. I may have to stock up on halloween fabrics on clearance and check sales.

My son wants to be Indiana Jones for Halloween next year. (He has been playing Indiana Jones Lego video game.) That would be fun to make. Heck, I may just make it for dress up play.

It's Autumn Time, Leaves are Falling Down

2009-10-05T16:21:00.002-06:00

I love Fall. I love the colors, the starting to cool down. I love sitting inside with my housecoat on and drinking hot chocolate. I love pumpkins. I love pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread. It's even better when there is chocolate in it.

I guess I haven't been the best on keeping up the blog. My goal is to at least post more than I did in 2007. 2008 wasn't the best year for blogging, but I spent a little over 1/2 of that year living with my parents with dial up.

Can't think of anything that interesting to say right now. So at least I blogged. :)

Some of My Favorite Things

2009-09-14T14:33:00.010-06:00

Just some random favorite things of mine.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. An online musical. Love it. It even recently won an Emmy. Check it out. **There is a swear word, and not geared for kids at all FYI**

Rainstorms. One, I don't have to water my lawn.... saves me a chore. Two, I just love the rain.

Sitting in my housecoat, drinking hot chocolate.

Imagining up great stories to write. I think I almost love it more than actually writing it down. If only there was a device to take what I imagine and translate it into dialouge and descriptions.

Napping babies.

Sleeping through the night. Even though my baby has been sleeping through the night for the last 4 months, I still get woken up often. Some days it is more by the 3 and 5 year old than the baby. On days that I actually go to sleep and don't wake up until morning, I am in awe.

Some things I DON'T like.

Thrillers. I watched one last night. I don't like them. I have an imagination already, I don't need to feed it with scary stuff. I covered my eyes half the time and asked my husband what was happening.

The heat. I don't like being hot and sweaty. I am excited for Fall to be coming. I like the cooler weather.

Ok, can't think of other dislikes right now. I do have more, but I guess I'm just in a more positive mood today.

Keeping Your Blog Up

2009-07-28T09:46:00.003-06:00

I was browsing some blogs that I like to read and was thinking "how come they don't update with a new blog?" Then I come over here and check mine, and I haven't written anything for over a month. Oops.

Nothing all that new to update on though. The baby is getting bigger and cuter by the day. She can almost sit up by herself and is starting to get up on her hands and knees. No crawling quite yet, although she does scoot herself forward if she is just out of reach of an item. Which is another thing she does. She grabs anything she sees on the floor.

It's cute to see their little personalities coming through. She is 6 months old and already has likes and dislikes. She loves balloons, keyboards, and stroller walks. She dislikes baths and pool water. I'm hoping she'll like baths more when she can sit and doesn't feel as unstable as when I just have to lay her down and hold her.

Oh! One major change. I got my new front door finally installed. I love it. We went from an old white painted door to a new wood (just sealed, no stain). Such a nice door.

Ok, well baby is asleep. I better do something productive while she is sleeping.

"The Best Things in Life are not Things!"

2009-06-17T10:36:00.004-06:00

(A quote I got from a Don Aslett book that I love.)

I'm once again dealing with the organization problem. I'm not a hoarder and I wouldn't even consider myself a packrat. The problem I have right now is that we have sold our RV, which has house a lot of our stuff since we had the fire. Some of it has been cleaned out, but there is still a decent amount of stuff in there.

It has to be cleared out by Thursday, which means my house is now cluttered and messy from all the boxes scattered.

I've been giving a lot of thought to my stuff. I'm sick of it, I don't want it, but I have been having a hard time getting rid of it. My latest thought about it is this: I want to have a yard sale, but I don't want to deal with one. I want to make money from the stuff I have, yet I just want it gone. Let's say I was WAY lucky and got $1000 for the things I'm getting rid of. I don't care. Holding on to this stuff just drives me crazy. I can't really focus on the things that are important to me with all this stuff. If I really wanted to, I could make $1000. But not with all this stuff. It just weighs you down.

I absolutely love Don Aslett's books. I would recommend his books to anyone (unless you are the perfect homemaker with the perfect clean home). Even if you don't have a clutter problem, he has a book all about getting help from the kids and husband. His books about cleaning/clutter are to me like the Book of Mormon is to the gospel. The man is my hero.

My goal this year is to be clutter free by the end of the year. I don't want stuff. The things that are important to me: my family, my health, my wanting to write novels, the church, friends. My wants in my life are: I want a bigger home. I want more room, but not more stuff. I want to wake up everyday feeling refreshed, not worn out knowing that I have clutter to deal with.

I have some pictures of my house the way it is now. I am not posting them yet. But I love before and afters. Maybe I will post them when the after part is achieved.

Okay, now if the rain will ever slow down I will take 2 of my DI boxes out to my car.

Life is busy

2009-06-08T11:06:00.002-06:00

I have been getting long gaps of time between posts lately. Of course, there is a lot on my plate right now. Three little kids (one a baby), remodeling house, springtime outdoor chores, planning a camping trip, organizing stuff, etc. Doesn't like a lot of time to think.

I have however been thinking about writing again. Of course, thinking isn't doing, but it's a start. I actually thought of ways to better my novel that has been in the works for over a year. I know there will be a time in my life that I will make the time for writing. It just isn't top priority to me right now.

I have been reading blogs written by other writers. I enjoy reading about others successes in the writing business. There are lots of books I am excited to read someday on my list. A few of them:

Agent in Old Lace by Tristi Pinkston. Tristi is on my facebook friends, and although I have never met her in person, I have enjoyed getting to know her somewhat online. She's only about 2 hours away from me. Maybe someday our paths will cross.

My Fairy Grandmother by Aubrey Mace. I read her Spare Change novel and really liked it. (It also won a Whitney Award for Best Novel.) It was her first published novel, so she's off to a good start. :)

English Trifle by Josi Kilpack. I've enjoyed the few books of her's I've read. I also read Lemon Tart and liked it. I'm sure this one will be just as good.

Another author I have really enjoyed is Robert Farrell Smith (Not the nicest layout format on a website, but it shows his books.) Anyway, he is a funny guy. I love his books. I've read his newer ones and some of his older ones. I had to check some out from the library, but they are worth the read.

Okay, well enough of the blogging. Time to actually go do something productive like cleaning .... :(

Contest Link

2009-03-13T08:16:00.003-06:00

When you have a CTR 5 and a daughter who will be a sunbeam next year, you can use all the help you can get. Anne Bradshaw has a contest going to give away a free "Tiny Talks" book. Go to her website to find out how you can enter too.

My son hasn't yet given a talk in Primary. The one time he was assigned last year, we were all sick that weekend. I'm not sure he would have stood up in front of everyone and talked or not. But I am pretty sure he'd do it now. He gets nervous doing new things, but he'll usually try new things when his mom is by his side.

Baby Blessing

2009-03-02T14:20:00.002-07:00

We blessed our newest little one yesterday. Afterwards, we had friends and family come over to our "small" home for a lunch. My home is around 1200 sq foot, 1 bathroom. There were 19 adults and 15 kids. Wow! I really didn't think that many would fit in my house. It was a lot of fun though.

She has been almost sleeping through the night since she was around 3 weeks. She'd sleep from 9 to 4 a lot. But here and there wake up an extra time. Last night she slept form 9 to 5:30. I can live with that. I don't like mornings or being up that early. But it's better than being up at 11:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00. I was hoping the new baby would sleep through the night around 7 weeks, because my other daughter slept through the night at 7 weeks. I don't know how I got so lucky to have it actually be true.

Now I just need a few more days of the whole night sleeping, and I may have the energy to do most everything I want to do... unless of course the baby decides otherwise. :)

Life's Getting Crazy

2009-01-30T13:14:00.002-07:00

I haven't written on here much, because life is getting more busy for me right now. I had a new baby on Jan 9th. I'm starting to get adjusted (as much as one can) to the sleepless nights. I'm a zombie for a few hours in the morning, and then my body wakes up the rest of the way after that.

I'm also feeling good enough now, that I am starting to clean and organize the house again. We are still working on remodeling the back bedroom. For now, my son and daughter are in one bedroom, and the baby is in our room. The back bedroom just needs muddding, painting, carpet, and trim. We knocked down the plaster walls, updated the electrical, put in new updated windows, and put up new walls. Well, I didn't, I was 8-9 months pregnant when the project was started.

I've decided I like a simple clean home. You may not know it by looking at some of the piles in our house. But I am going through everything and trying to objectively look at stuff and decide if I really want or need it. The DI has been getting stuff from me weekly, and I feel good getting rid of stuff.

Breast Cancer Awareness

2008-11-01T12:45:00.004-06:00

It's interesting how some things don't really mean as much to you, until it hits someone you know.

There is a woman in my ward that has Breast Cancer. When they found it 18 months ago, it was stage 4, Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I just got back from the fundraiser that the was citywide for her. (Our city is about 3000.... small place).

A little about her. She just turned 30. She's actually a little bit younger than I am. She has 5 kids. Her oldest is around 12 and her youngest is 2 1/2.

The main park is across the street from my house, so my son wanted to know why there were so many people over there. We went outside to check out the 1 mile / 5 K run. He wanted to run so bad. There I am 7 months pregnant, but we went on the 1 mile walk. He ran a good chunk of the time. He was probably about a block ahead of me at one point. I know a lot of the people walking (nice thing about small towns), so I wasn't worried about him. But then he fell and cried walking all the way back to me. Poor kid. Then they had an auction afterwards. It was pretty fun. I wish I needed a new leather overstuffed chair, because it went for $300. A nice vacuumm went for $50. I did donate some money though, so I didn't feel too bad for not bidding on stuff.

A travel agency donated a 5 night trip, park hopper passes, and free airline to go to Disneyland for their family. I can tell there was quite a bit of money raised for her. I'm sure it's exciting for the family to have that much help financially and lifting their burden some. And the trip I'm sure will be fun for all. But I'm sure it's bittersweet too. She definately had a good fight so far, and I hope that without too much pain she can stay around as long as she can.

Her favorite saying is "Every day is a gift, that's why it is called the present."

Her is a link to her blog http://amberchase.weebly.com/index.html . I'm really glad that I know Amber and am glad that they were able to have this fundraiser.

Getting Back in the Habit

2008-09-09T14:07:00.002-06:00

I just don't have the motivation to start writing much. Even though we have moved in, things still aren't organized like I would like it. Half my belongings are still in our RV waiting to be sorted and put away.

I think that things probably need to settle down a bit before I can really get into writing again. I still think of ideas for my current novel. Life is busy around here though. I am doing a home preschool group with my 4 year old. My 2 year old is, well, a 2 year old. And I'm 1/2 done with my pregnancy. My son is moving into a different room. But first we need to clear out the extra room. Then set up the crib in my daughters room.

There is a time and a season for everything in our lives. This just isn't my "work to the bone with writing" season. I suppose if I just get what I can out, then I should consider that an accomplishment.

There's No Place Like Home

2008-08-11T13:32:00.002-06:00

We're home! Finally!

When I find my camera cord, I will try and post some pictures of our home. Because of the fire and having to remodel the front room, we decided to just remodel the whole house. Well, the whole house except the bathroom and one bedroom. But we are planning on doing those two rooms now that we are back home.

Our house was initially built in 1911. It was 2 rooms. There have been two additions since then. When we bought the home, it was pretty ugly, but it was a good price and a home. It reeked of the 60-70's. The kitchen had orange, green, brown, yellow mixed thin carpeting. The cabinets were custom made probably in the 70's, and weren't all that great. The windows were randomly placed and all sorts of sizes. The carpet was worn and ugly. The only thing we had money to do when we bought it was to paint and re-carpet the baby's room.

Because of the fire we finally had a reason to remodel the house. We took the insurance money and did a lot of the work ourselves to be able to spread the money further over the house. We did have some money saved up too, and that helped. We were also in process of remodeling when we had the fire, so a lot of materials were bought, we just didn't have much time with 2 kids running around the house.

We still need to do a little of the finish work. Put up blinds, go pick up our new front door, put doorknobs on a few of the doors, etc. But it is so nice to be home.

We still need to do something to the outside. We need to decide to re-stucco or to do siding. So the inside looks really nice, and the outside looks like we are the poorest, most rednecked people ever. (We have our old toilet sitting in the driveway, waiting to be put in the truck so we can haul some stuff off to the dump.)

Now we just need to remodel the last bedroom. Which REALLY needs to be done by the end of the year, because ..... I'm pregnant. This will be child #3. Baby is due Jan 13th.

Anyway, so now I'm back to hopefully posting more often, and reading all the blogs I used to read often. Which is another reason I'm glad to be home. My parents still have dial-up. And my husband and I use the internet often, play games on the internet, get information on the internet, etc on the internet. I really missed high speed internet.

Anyway, long post again... Thanks for everyone that posted. Things are going great.

Where there's smoke, there's fire!

2008-01-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I dont' really know if there was any fire. We never actually saw flames, but we did have the fire department at our house over the holidays.

On Dec 28th we were remodeling our home. We had the kids go to Grandmas so that when we knocked the plaster down in the back room. the kids wouldn't be breathing in the dust. We were using our wood burning stove (we had used it the day before too). As my brother and brother in law left after helping us with remodeling, they both joked "hey, your house is on fire". We saw a small amount of smoke coming from above the light fixture on the porch. We all actually thought it was just a reaction. The front room was probably 70-80 degrees with the fireplace going. So we thought because it was so cold outside, that maybe the warm and cold was making it smoke, steam, sweat, something like that.

Well, my husband gets back home from the store and I show him the smoke. It was getting worse and he looked outside. The chimney area was starting to turn brownish. We stood in the front room and then heard a crumbling in the wall. So my husband grabbed the cordless phone, I grabbed some documents from the next room, my coat and my camera. All were grabbable on the way out the door.

We called the fire department and first the police came. They had just come from another fire call, but it was a false alarm. No real problem. They looked at our house and said "yes, there is a problem". The firemen came and cut a hole in our roof, cut a hole in our front room ceiling and bedroom ceiling. Then they started axing into the outside wall. That is when I saw a TON of smoke coming out. That wall between the fireplace and the outside was burnt. Some of the wood was completely gone. We never saw actual flames, but it may have gotten so hot that is smolder burnt the wood.

One of our friends grew up in that house and said he had gotten that wood burning stove MUCH hotter than we had it. So it wasn't an issue of the heat, but something just went wrong. We wonder if maybe the birds that have moved into the roof area dropped some nest pieces down the chimney or if the Box Elder bugs went down. Who knows?

Anyway, we have been staying at my parents home. My youngest has no idea what's really happening. Just that we are at Grandma and Grandpas and she is having a blast. My 3 1/2 year old wants to go home. We showed him the house and he kept asking his Dad to fix it.

Things will be okay. It's just stuff. It will be a pain in the butt to figure all this out. But at least I have my family. (WRITTEN JAN 2nd)

UPDATE:

We are in process of cleaning the house. We decided to do the work ourselves even though it will be a lot of work. Today we had: My husband and I, my father-in-law, brother-in-law, his friend, our home teacher, relief society president, her husband helping out. We actually got quite a bit of stuff packed. We are going to go ahead with our remodeling jobs that we had planned, since stuff is in disarray anyway.

We are tired, but actually quite optimistic. This gives us an oppertunity (spelling??) to go through all our stuff. I've thrown out some stuff and it's really giving me an idea of what I want to keep and what I don't want to keep. I am going to take pictures of the place during the different stages, so maybe someday I will post the goings on.

I haven't been able to really catch up on the blog reading. We are staying with my parents, and they have dial-up. !!!!! :( Anyway, Just wanted to let anyone who might read my blog see what's up.

By the way Tristi, I keep trying to check one of your books out from the library, but it is always checked out when I go. That's a good sign for you I guess.

Clutter On, In, and Around Us

2007-11-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

I have been doing some major cleaning. I have sent stuff to the Desert Industries, I have thrown away stuff, I have given away stuff. I've always been somewhat of a clutter-er. Is that even a word? I watched an Oprah show about this hoarder.

While I am nowhere near that messy, I do have my piles of stuff that I have no idea what to do with or where to put it. Show like that inspire me to clean out what I need to do.

My two favorite Clutter/Organizing people are Don Aslett and Peter Walsh.

Don Aslett has written tons of books about Clutter, Packrats, how to clean your home effectively, even one about how to get the rest of the family (husbands, kids) to help around the house. His books have a lot of suggestions and ideas from people, so there are lots of good ideas.

Peter Walsh is on TLC's Clean Sweep. It is such a good show. I haven't read any of his books.

One of my favorite lines from Don Aslett's book: "Weekend Makeover"

The Triangle of Too Much

1) Mental and Emotional Stress (clutter in us)
2) Overweight worries and concerns (clutter on us)
3) Our stuff: all the things and possesions of all kinds we have (clutter around us)

"Too much" causes much of the "too busy" in life, so in reality we have only one giant in the battle of life to fight and defeat -- too much."

So whether you are a hoarder, a little messy, or your closets and junk drawers are a mess, these books/shows are so inspirational to get moving and clean out junk. I would very much recommend Don Aslett's books. Amazon has some books that you can read a few pages of, to see if you like the style.

I've decided that I have to get rid of stuff that I don't love, don't want, don't use, don't need. I'll have less stress, less stuff to take care of and clean, an easier time cleaning, and more time for the things that I love - like my family, my writing, my crafts, my piano.

I've done a little here and there in the past, but this week, I have decided enough is enough. I may not get it all cleaned right away, but progress is progress.

So, have a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone that is celebrating it. Hopefully after this week, my posts will be flooded with writing themes.

Five Things Meme

2007-11-18T12:48:00.001-07:00

This is my first tag I've gotten from blogging, so it's pretty neat. Thanks Tristi.

Five Things Found in My Room:

I am chosing my front room.

1) I have my new digital piano. It is my Christmas present, but I got it early. A friend needed to sell it and I wanted it. So we both made out well in the deal. I haven't had daily access to a piano for over 7 years and I've played the piano since I was little. So it is really exciting to finally be able to practice and play the piano whenever I want. The best thing about the piano is that it has a volume knob. The kids can play on it without driving me crazy. It is also one of those weighted keys that feel and sound just like a real piano. Best Present Ever.

2) My grandmother's sewing machine stand with sewing machine. Her sewing machine is actually inside the stand. It's one of those cool old ones that are black and sleek looking. It works, but it is rather loud. I preferred a newer one to sew with. I haven't actually sewn anything on it yet. It's tough to find time to sew with little ones around. I mostly will use it for craft projects, not making clothes. I can sew clothes, but don't enjoy it that much.

3)A wood burning stove. It's the type that isn't in the wall. It was fun to use it the first year we lived here, but then kids started coming, and I worry that they will touch it or trip and fall near it. Because there is a stove on that side of the room, there is also a rock wall on that side. I love the rock wall, and want one in my new house (whenever the new house happens).

4) Our entertainment stand. We got this from a friend for a good deal. (Notice we get lots of used stuff from friends. We've got some real good friends.) Anyway, it is solid wood, no particle board at all. It's tall, and has doors that shut, so you can hide the TV when you don't want to see it. It also has all the DVD, video games, VHS, etc up at the top. Our son used to put crackers in the slots, but now cannot reach them anymore. This will save us lots of money, because we won't have to replace stuff as much.

5) My two wonderful children. I say that, because I've just come from church, and am feeling uplifted still. But they really are good kids. They drive me crazy sometimes, but what 3 and 1 year old don't?

Five Things I've Always Wanted to Do:

1) Travel outside the U.S. I have been to Canada (BC area). But I would like to go to another continent.

2) Sing really well. I can sing okay. I'm not tone-deaf. But I wish I hadn't been so fearful of learning how to sing when I was little.

3) Be in a movie. I think it would be fun to have a small (VERY small) part in a movie. Maybe just be part of a family having a picnic in the park and the scene shows it for a second or two. Nothing huge, no speaking, but be able to say "I was in a movie."

4) Serve a mission. I hope that I will be able to go on a mission with my husband someday in the future.

5) Learn Web programming/design. I know some basic html, but I would love to be able to have my own website and be able to design it. I will make sure to have one with I am a published author. Or maybe before if I can find a website name I want.

Five Things Found in My Bag:

1) 2 Diapers (just in case for my 3 and 1 year old.. I don't carry a diaper bag around since I don't have a baby, but my kids are still little and in diapers.)

2) A Checkbook

3) Lotion

4) A toy car

5) Lots of receipts

Five Things Found in My Wallet:

1) A gift card to Meier and Frank that I have had for 7 years. I just haven't gone and used it. There is no expiration, so I haven't had an urgency to go and use it.

2) Change

3) No Cash

4) Health insurance cards

5) Papa Murphy's coupon card

Five Things I'm Currently Into:

1) Making cards.

2) Blogging.

3) Taking short walks (by myself - when I can). It's a good time to get away from the kids and house, while getting some exercise too.

4) I like to read books to fall asleep. Sometimes my mind in going a mile a minute, and focusing it to one thing helps me wind down.

5) Ribbon. I've never been that fond of ribbon. But ever since I've started making cards, I have been buying ribbon like crazy. I need to slow down.

Little Break

2007-11-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't been writing too much since my last post. I've been trying to catch up on the house and getting myself taken care of. I did get about another 250 words, so that's another page. It may be slow, but as long as it's progressing I'm happy.

Now if I could only get my 3 1/2 year old to take a nap, I could lay down and rest.

Oh, but on a happy note - my cholesterol has lowered! It was 228, and now it's 188. I was a little doubtful that I had lowered it, but I guess losing that weight and moving around more really did make a difference.

Motivation For Me

2007-11-03T23:56:00.000-06:00

First off - I went to a cabin this weekend with friends. It was SO much fun. No kids, no husbands, just 5 out of 6 of our little group of best friends. We talked forever. Everyone was up there by 7:00 pm, and we talked until 4:00 am. We got up at 8:00 am, and kept on talking. We made cards, did crafts, played games - all while talking. We talked about life, kids, goals, families, trials. It was fun. And when I got back, I got to hear the excited "Hi Mommy!" from my kids.

Anyway, I took my novel up there. It's about 70 pages (considering 250 words a page). I told my friends that if anyone wanted to read it, they could. I wanted to make sure I was on track. I knew where I wanted the characters and plot to go, and wanted to make sure it was coming out right. The LOVED it. Which, of course, made me VERY happy. It's always nice to hear good things. They agreed with me with what I wanted to have happen in the story. They loved the characters.

And now I want to write even more. Sometimes you start doubting yourself. I can see the characters, feels the feelings, see the scenes in my mind. But getting them on paper has always been the hardest part for me. So knowing that I am doing a good job so far, motivates me on.

And the best part, is these friends of mine are really in the target audience I am writing for. And since they love it, I know that I am on track.

I really hope to get this published someday (sooner than later). But even if I never ever get published, I will be satisfied. If I know I did my best, gave it my all, and publishers just aren't taking it, I will be okay. But, hey, if my friends (target audience) love it, then I think I'll do alright.

Published is a goal, but not the dream. The dream is writing something that I can be proud of and that others can enjoy reading.

Inspiration

2007-10-17T13:03:00.002-06:00

I'm sure that all of us have some sort of "inspiration" that gets us writing, whether it's a person, and idea, or whatever.

The best thing that gets me writing, is thinking and reading about writing. I've recently discovered a bunch of authors blogs, and have them bookmarked on my browser. I've heard somewhere that if you write down a goal, you have a better chance or achieving it. But you also have to actually go out and be proactive about it. You can't just sit there and hope it happens.

So, I've decided to be proactive about my goal of having a published book someday.

One way I've decided to be proactive is to consider myself as a writer. I'm not aspiring, I'm not hoping, I AM a writer.

I've been reading books on writing. Books about the passion of writing, better plots, better dialogue, and better characters.

I'm taking an online writing course. It's through the BYU online education, and they have two creative writing classes. They are only $28, since you don't get college credit for them.

And I'm trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can about writing/editing/publishing. Afterall, knowledge is power. I've been checking out authors websites and blogs to read their advice. I've been reading LDS Publisher to get some ideas of what to expect when it's time to submit a manuscript. I'm starting to participate in Tristi's Challenges to get myself motivated to do more writing and editing.

And of course, I really enjoy meeting authors. I met a few when I was a teenager, and the thought of meeting an author was 10 times better than the thought of meeting a celebrity. Always fun to "hang out" or meet people that you aspire to be like someday.

Blog Action Day

2007-10-17T12:29:00.000-06:00

So, Monday was Blog Action Day. I didn't know that until yesterday, but I thought I would say a little something about it on my blog anyway.

The topic is environment.

In the past, I haven't been so concerned about the Environment. I did some stuff, but not anything that great.

I live in a rural area, so I'd have to do some traveling to do recycling. I'd have to say it's more what I don't do than what I do.

For instance, I rarely drink soda. So I don't have many cans to need to recycle. But I have family that does drink soda, and do keep the cans to recycle.

I also don't get the newspaper. I read the news online or watch the news on TV. So I don't need to recycle the newspaper. But if I ever do get the newspaper again, I'm planning on recycling it. My parents have a garden, and keep their newspaper for the planting season. Lay some of it down between rows of corn, and put some mulch on it, and you don't have to worry about weeds.

We also have a wood burning stove, that I will put papers in to burn. Usually it's just old bills or documents that we don't need to keep anymore, but that I don't want to put in the trash. So it saves some landfills of extra papers.

One other thing that I saw on a morning show once, was someone saying that even if everyone decided to not take a receipt from the gas station, that it would saves tons of paper. I forget the amount, but it adds up in time. I thought about it, and realized that even if I do get a receipt, I don't do anything with it. So I no longer take a receipt from the gas pump or ATM machines. If I want to know my bank balance, I can go online and check it out.

True, one person isn't going to change the world, but one person doing even the smallest thing can add up to lots of change.

Potty Training :(

2007-10-11T13:41:00.000-06:00

My son is 3 1/2 and we decided it was time to potty train him. From what I've read, he has every sign, except he doesn't care that he's wet in a diaper. He's been in underwear for 3 days now, and has not made it to the potty once. I bought plastic diaper covers though after 2 days, and it is the best purchase I've made.

But he doesn't quite get the connection that he needs to go in the potty. He'll let me know when he's already wet. I've noticed him a few times, where I thought he was about to go, so I rushed him to the potty and he had already gone. We have gotten him to where he wants to wear underwear (he cried about having to wear it at first). And he will occasionally say that he needs to use the potty. I make sure to praise him for trying, but he never actually goes when he sits on the potty.

PLEASE, anyone that has gone through potty training with a boy, please give me some advice. He's not exactly fighting potty training, but just not "getting" it.

25 Ways I Save Money

2007-10-11T09:27:00.001-06:00

I was checking out some blogs, and came across "Frugal For Life". On there, the author had "25 Ways I save Money." There is a long list of others that have posted how they save money. It sounded like a good idea to come up with my ways too.

1) I bought a freezer from a place that was selling slighty damaged stuff. The only problem with this one was that the box got all wet, and so it wasn't "pretty" to send to stores... something like that. No damage whatsoever. But I got it for a good discounted price. I stock up on meats/freezable foods when on sale. I also occasionally make 2 of some meals (lasagna, etc) It's nice to have extra stuff on hand, for days that I don't want to cook and saves us from eating out as often.

2) I occcasionally buy books from stores. But since I love to own books, I like to go to library book sales. You can get a book anywhere from .50 - $1.00. I got a grocery bag sized amount of books from the last one for $5.25.

3) I like to shop caselot sales. Some of those items I use a lot, I may as well stock up and get in bulk for a cheaper price.

4) I love to look online for good deals. KSL ads (a local newstations website) has people wanting to get rid of their stuff and it's a good deal for you.

5) Wash clothes with cold water. Not a problem for us, since the knob that changes the water temp broke off, and we are unable to change it even if we wanted to. At least we are saving money.

6) My husband can fix cars, and bought mine at an auction for $900. It was 2 years old at the time. Just had some damage. $1600 later, I had a 2 year old car for $2500, paid in full. It should last me for quite some time.

7) Some of my friends thought I was strange, but I save tissue paper from gifts. Most people save the bags, why not the tissue paper if it's still in good condition.

8) Have a garden. I don't currently have one, but grew up with my parents having one. I've helped my mother can the food in the past, but with 2 little kids, we aren't much help now. But she supplies me with canned and fresh fruits and vegetables. When we have a yard, I plan on having a small garden and some fruit trees.

9) Save money at Christmas. This year, we are planning on giving one bigger item gift, instead of lots of small items. Of course, my budget is about max $50 dollars per kid, including stocking stuffers. Gifts are great, but not the important part of the holidays.

10) Buy after the holidays. I don't like going the day after Christmas, but shopping after holidays and getting discounts is fun. I bought all my Christmas lights and the (fake) tree after the holidays. I've even heard of some people buying holiday M&M 1/2 off and freezing them. Come Feb, they use the red candies for Valentine treats. They use the green candies for St. Patrick. Don't forget easter and other holidays. Lots of possibilities.

11) Share. I have some friends that love to scrapbook and make cards. We all have different types of papers, stamps, punches. We get together once a week at night and have 3 times the amount of stuff we normally have. Unless I really love a certain product and HAVE to have it more often than once a week, I don't need to buy things that I don't use often enough to spend money on.

12) If you buy something online, share the order. I recently ordered something with 2 other people. Shipping was divided in 3, so we all saved $6 in shipping cost. Then I had a code that saved me $8 on the order.

13) Get your insurance all from the same place. We have home and car insurance at the same place, so when we decided to get some life insurance, it was relatively cheap because we got a discount for already having something insured from there.

14) Buy Generic. Most items, I don't mind generic over a brand name. Most things seem to taste the same or work the same to me. But I do have my few things that I won't buy generic. Like BBQ sauce - I have my brand that I love.

15) If we go out to eat, we have our two little kids share a meal. It seems that if we buy them each one, they tend to hardly eat anything. If we buy one to share, them seem to eat it all and want more. We can never win, but we can at least pay less and have them eat some of our food.
16) Don't buy computer games for young kids. We haven't yet bought any computer games for my son. I just find free ones on Disney or PBS kids. He loves them, and they don't cost a dime. Then if he outgrows a game, we don't have lots of games laying around that he won't play.

17) Organize. I'm still working on this one. But have you ever not been able to find something and went to buy another one? I have. And it's annoying. So I'm working hard to get as organized as I can so that I can save money by knowing where things are and can get them easily.

18) Read books by Don Aslett His books are about cleaning and organizing. But really, if you're getting rid of stuff you know you don't need, when you see stuff at the store, you start to question yourself if you really need it. You just sent two boxes to the thrift store, do you really need to fill up the house with clutter again? Keeps your spending in control.

19) If you want to go on vacation, try to take it in the off season. My husband I went to Disneyland twice before we had kids. Once in November, once in January. Hotel prices were cheaper, tickets were cheaper, and the longest we had to wait in line for a ride was 5 mins. Some ride we even got to ride twice, because there wasn't a line. Also, if you get a motel/hotel that has a kitchenette or at least a fridge, you can save money by eating all or most meals in your room.

20) Get online bill paying or automatic deposit. The only bill I send out is the gas bill. Every other bill gets taken out of my account automatically. I can log on my account and check it how much it was. No worries about late fees, because they are always paid on time.

21) Use CFL bulbs. You know the ones that give out maybe 15 wattage, but are as bright as a 60-70 watt normal bulb. I've never compared my light bill (I'm sure my husband has) to see how much it saves, but everyone I've read that has them, says it really does add up. Now days they are getting even cheaper to buy.

22) Don't use as much makeup. I don't wear any most of the time. Not to save money though, I just don't like wearing it much. I will use it on a few occasions, like weddings, family photos, funerals. Even then, I just use foundation and a little eyeshadow.

23) Cards. I love to make cards, so it combines my crafting hobby with saving money on cards. Also some people like to buy cards in boxes so they are cheaper that way. Or at the dollar store. Cards can be anywhere from $1.99-$3.95. If you give cards, this could cut down on a lot of money.

24) Photos. I live about 5 miles away from the nearest place that prints photos. Since I have a digital camera, when I get enough photos that I want to printout, I go to Walmart.com 's photo center. Upload them, and have them sent to the local store. When they are in, I get some grocery shopping and my photos at the same time. I don't have to pay shipping to come to my house, and can combine a trip for two things.

25) Pay in full. When we do make new purchases like stove, couch, etc. - we pay in full. We occasionally will pay on credit if there is a deal to not have to pay interest for 3-6-12 months. Especially if it's around tax return time and we know we will have the money for that item before the no interest gimmick wears off. The only thing I want to pay interest on is my house. (Well, I don't WANT to, but you know what I mean) :)

This took a bit longer to think of 25 ways than I thought it would. I am by no means frugal like some people. I got a little of both parents in me. My dad is really VERY good at saving and spending wisely. My mother does good, but enjoys herself with money on occasion. But she is organized and doesn't go overboard.

Lots and Lots of Words

2007-10-01T23:00:00.000-06:00

I'm writing a novel. Somedays the words just fly out of me, and other days I'm not really sure what to write. Today I've got the writing bug. I did some more writing, probably only about 1/2 page worth. I have two little kids and a husband, so getting time to write without any distractions doesn't come often.

As I've typed, I've wondered how to tell how many real pages my story is. Most books are printed in 8 1/2 X 11 sized. Novels tend to be smaller sized. So although my story is 35 pages so far, I assume it is a few more pages than that in novel print size. I guess a better way to "compare" might be words in a book. Thankfully with word processors they do they counting for you. I can't imagine trying to count all the words myself. :) So far I have 15,847 words. That's a lot of words.

I was reading one writer's blog http://www.josikilpack.blogspot.com/ (I'm sure that even though probably no one reads my blog, at least yet, she may enjoy having her link shown. It's a good blog to read.) Anyway, her goal is 80,000 words for the book. So I get to thinking that if I times my current words by 5, that is close to 80,000. That would be 175 pages or a few more novel print size. Not at bad goal. Although, at this point I can't imagine 175 pages. Maybe more like 100. But hopefully as the story evolves I can find enough good plot line and dialouge that will make the story better and maybe a little longer.

Story Ideas from the Lives Around You

2007-09-30T13:38:00.000-06:00

I read somewhere that as writers we should really notice the things in life that go on around us. Notice how people interact, how they react. I look at things around me and sometimes I get ideas for stories or for scenes in a story.

Well, this weekend I had two things happened in my life that I had never experienced before. I got my first EVER speeding ticket. I've been driving for 13 years and my perfect driving record has been broken. I'm not really that upset getting one, as no longer being able to proudly say that I have never gotten a speeding ticket. Oh well, that just means I join the ranks of most people in the world.

I also got a root canal. They numb your mouth up. In this case, it was my left side of my mouth. So besides having to hold your mouth open for about an hour, it isn't that bad. But when the numbness starts to wear off, it does not feel good.

These two things though, can really spark ideas for stories. I'm currently writing a story, in which I've thought maybe I can get two of the characters together in a car one get pulled over. That would be very embarrassing for the one character who is trying to act cool in front of the other one (because she likes him a lot, but he doesn't know).

As for the root canal, I'm still hurting a little, letting the pain medicine kick in. So I'm not ready to give any of my character that sort of pain right now.

Having the not so good things in life happen to us, may not be fun. But they do give us plenty of ideas, emotions, and thoughts to make our dialogues, and narratives hopefully that much better.

Rules of Writing

2007-09-27T16:39:00.000-06:00

I'm a big believer is knowing the rules of correct grammar. You should know what verbs, adjective, adverbs, etc are. You should understand all the correct stuff. But I'm also a big believer in writing however you want.

Now, if you decide to write like this - "hay dude what RU up 2?" - chances are that people aren't going to be so interested in your writing. Which is fine if you are only writing for yourself. But seriously, is it such a big deal if your writing ends in a preposition? Sure, if it's technical writing, say a brochure or manual. But if I'm writing a novel, and want to start a sentence with "but", which I just did, then I will.

I suppose it depends on your audience you're trying to reach. But everyone has a different style. And as much as I love Mary Higgins Clark or Mitch Albom, I have my own style of writing. I'm not looking to make millions from writing - althought that would be nice! I'm writing, because I love to do it. Hopefully enough people will be interested in my stories that I can have some published and make some money from it. But in the end, I write because I love it.

An Adventure in Writing

2007-09-27T16:27:00.000-06:00

I am a writer. How do I know that? I read it somewhere. Actually, what I read was that if you write, you are a writer. If you sing, you are a singer; if you paint, you are a painter. You don't need to be paid professionally in order to give yourself a title. So I am a writer.

I have story ideas in my head, some are written out. I actually have a whole novel written, and sent it in to publishers. My goal back when I was a teenager was to have a novel written and sent to publishers by the time I was 19. And I accomplished it. It wasn't published. Looking back I can totally see why. It was disappointing, but it was an accomplishment. I still have the letter.

I also have my high school teachers note to one of my creative writing assignments. He said to "show, not tell". It was straight to the point of what was wrong in my story. I can't say that I enjoyed reading the note, but I still have it with me today. I'm a big believer in constructive criticism.

If I were only writing for my personal satisfaction, I wouldn't care so much about that. But I plan on having a novel published someday. And I want it to be the best I can give.

So, this blog is all about writing. Random thoughts, opinions, and ideas. I don't know if anyone will ever read this. But like I said, I am a writer. I like to write. So maybe someone will see this. Maybe not. But if another "aspiring writer" comes across this, I hope they will motivated to keep on writing.