Saturday, July 11, 2009

Waterlilies and Other Stuff

Popping in to say:

When we cleaned up my garden pond this spring, I replanted my water lilies into bigger pots, and wow! Got several new blossoms that I've not had before. A gorgeous violet and a perfect creamy yellow, along with a white. Can't wait to see what else will pop up out of that water.

Of course, all my other plants are showing off--discreetly cause they know they can't outdo the lilies. But still, they are welcome and beneficial to the pond.

Inspiration has struck and I'm making tracks (er, chapters) in my writing. Distractions have held me back, but I've got my writing life back and while I do, I ain't agonna let it go to waste!

Then . . . had a stupendous evening/date with hubby last night. Fun and relaxing. A perfect near-ending of the week. And something I've needed for awhile. Precious time.

One other thing: Contest coming up soon!

Back to my writing now . . .




Quote:
Either I will find a way, or I will make one. --Sir Philip Sidney

Blessings!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

M.K. and a Little Boy

Are you one of those persons that loves everyone and everything?

Well, I've gotta tell you, it's not that easy for me. Take for example:

Years ago, I babysat some kids. This one little boy--well, there was just something about the little fellow that was hard for me to love like I should have.

I tried. Honest. But I couldn't make myself love him.
So I resorted to prayer. I told God he would have to help me learn to love this child.

To make a long story short (as all the long-winders always say, and then go on and on) he did, and I did. Wasn't in my power, but his.

Now on to M.K.

Who's M.K.? Stands for Miniature KitKat (KitKat is the mother). When Son # 1 moved, he brought them to us to watch. I had no trouble with KitKat. Even though she did things I didn't like, I cared about her.

But M.K. was another matter. Could have been cause she's not an overly friendly cat. Or could be . . . well, I don't rightly know.

But I didn't like her. Care for her. Love her.

Until she took a liking to me.

I guess I felt sorry for her, with Son # 1 gone so much. So when she mewed and drug her "string" into our great room so I could have the privilege of running around the kitchen for her to chase, I started to enjoy playing with her.

And then she's got these BIG yellow eyes that are totally gorgeous. And she started making up to me. When she wanted petting, she'd allow me to pet her majesty's head a little. And she deigns now and then to sit at my feet or near me.

She also is the only cat on our hobby farm that can open the door to go out and then paw it to come back in. Darling!

She still doesn't want picked up. She won't ever be a lap cat. She's spoiled and touchy and self-centered.

But I love her.


Quote:
You write to me that it's not possible. The word is not French. --Napoleon

Blessings

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Second-Guesses

What does it take to be a second-guess-er-writer?

Hmm.

Take some: Anxiousness.
Throw in a few: Wishes that didn't happen.
Check out the: Fast heart rates.
Sprinkle in: A touch of inferiority.
Toss in a dash of: impatience.
Smother it all with: Rejections!

And you have a situation that is ripe for second-guessing yourself. You get to thinking:

I should have written this novel differently. Or . . .
This novel isn't any good. Or . . .
What am I doing trying to write anyway?

But, if you're a writer, with a great agent, then you've got a chance of
coming out of that thick soup of despair! Ha.

She/he can set your feet right back on the solid earth where they belong with a few words of encouragement, advice, or suggestion. Instead of swimming in a fluffy cloud and never getting anywhere, she/he can help you re-focus your ambition, your calling, your career, right where you know it should be, but are so moody, sometimes, you let IT all side-track you.

Thank God for agents. Heaven's gift to writers!


Quote:
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others. --Robert Louis Stevenson

Blessings

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Just Heard About . . .

A book called "Emerson the Magnificent." It's suppose to be good, and I can't wait to order it. For ages 8 to 80. If I like it, I'll post a review for you so you can enjoy it too! Published by Lighthouse Publishing. Feel free to check it out before me. I won't harp!



Quote:
Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it! --Col. Michael Friedman

Hard at work and . . .
Blessings to you all!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Gotta Say

I'm glad to be home. We've had such an hectic, busy spring and summer, that I think I must be Atlas shedding the world.

For a month or more, I had little time to concentrate on my writing. BUT back to it I'm headed. Got a fresh start. Some inspiration. Some ideas. And I'm in the race again.

  • Back to hitting my cult novel hard.
  • Back to cutting a suspense down to fit a certain publisher.
  • Back to adding words to a romance for another publisher.
  • Back to picking up a mystery that was set on a shelf (due to target publisher closing it's doors), and turning it into a suspense. That shouldn't be hard since it was almost that anyway!
  • Working on the second in a series on my historical suspense.
  • Plotting a couple other ideas.

Got lots to do. Just thought I'd update you all.

By the way, where are you?



Quote:
My will shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. --Elaine Maxwell

Smiles and tons of blessings!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Ponderous Thoughts


Chapter headings taken from Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber:


1. A lot of people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.
2. The best way to get even is to forget.
3. Feed your faith and doubts will starve to death.


4. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
5. Some folks wear their halos much too tight.
6. Some marriages are made in heaven, but they all have to be maintained on earth.


7. Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up.
8. Pick your friends, but not to pieces.
9. Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides (Margaret Thatcher)


10. Those who bury their talents make a grave mistake.
11. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
12. Words are the windows to the heart.


13. A skeptic is a person, who when he sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it’s a forgery (Morris Bender)
14. It isn’t difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill. Just add a little dirt.
15. A successful marriage isn’t finding the right person; it’s being the right person.
16. Scatter Sonshine


17. All things are possible with God, but no one said they’d be easy.
18. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
19. The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground.
20. Too many people offer God prayers with claw marks all over them.


21. The tongue must be heavy indeed, for so few people can hold it.
22. To forgive is to set the prisoner free and then discover the prisoner was you.
23. You have to wonder about people. They think God is dead and Elvis is alive.


24. Swallowing angry words is much more palatable than having to eat them afterward.
25. There’s a reason a dog has so many friends: he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
26. Love looks through a telescope, not a microscope.


27. It’s all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you’re finished.
28. A turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.
29. If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can believe the water bill is higher.

Quote:

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. --Thomas Edison

Blessings!

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Useless, But Interesting

Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
And 'lollipop' is the longest word typed with your right hand.
(Bet you tried this out mentally, didn't you?)

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

' Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.
(Are you doubting this?)

Our eyes are always the same size from birth,
ut our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'
uses every letter of the alphabet.
(Check it out!)

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same
whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).
There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
(You're not possibly doubting this, are you ?)

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

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made
using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
(Come on, get those keypads out and see for yourself.)

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
.
(Some days that's about what my memory span is.)

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

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.
(I know some people that could do this too.!)

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like that also .
Actually I know A LOT of people like this!)

Babies are born without kneecaps.

They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history
not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast,
the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE 2,moves only six inches
for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher
walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
(Good thing he did that.)

The winter of 1932 was so cold that
Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Now you know more than you did before you read this post.

Quote: One of the greatest gifts adults can give to their offspring and to society, is to read to children. --Carl Sagan

Blessings!