Touring the Country . . .

Or at least, Barbour Publishing.

A group of us distinguished (??) writers visited by invitation, Barbour Publishing Monday.

Beneficial, fun, and exciting! Three words that describe the event.

Early in the year, Susan Downs (Heartsong Mystery Editor) asked if there would be interest in touring the facility. Would there? Oh, yes!! Date was set and anticipation rode high as the date neared.

Of course, lunch places had to be considered. Laugh. Priorities, and all that stuff! We chose a mom and pop place with delicious food. Fifteen of us (a few with spouses) gathered at Jerry's and had a fun time chatting (about writing; what else?) and laughing together. We even had the spouses talking about their writing, even though they're not officially members.

Then about one we entered the publishing house and was met by Susan. She's a gracious hostess who led us, after we'd filled out our name tags, to a big conference room, where she introduced us to the various department heads. They each explained what their department did. In addition, each of three main editors talked to us, explaining what they looked for in manuscripts.

Here's some requirements for this house:

• Length
• Interesting new topics to romance
• Romance plot

Since they focus on romance, the theme from every book has to pursue romance. In other words, if you take out the romance and you still have a book, then they can't consider it. Of course, in the mysteries, the mystery is the big plot, but romance still plays a huge part in it.

We took a break, with refreshments of fruit, cookies, coffee and water, then enjoyed the tour through each section.

All in all, it was a wonderful opportunity, and I'm so thankful I went. Who knows what will happen from here on?




Quote:
God doesn't ask about your ability, or your inability; He asks only for your availability. --Mary Kay Ash


Blessings

Beds

I'm so excited! I have two new big beds.

Of course, they're not made yet. But at least the basic part is there.

I'm talking flower beds, that is. We've been wanting to get these made for a long time, but thanks to the generosity of some good friends, we were able to pick up the beautiful stone that makes the foundation for the beds.

Now to get the compost. Then on to choosing the lovely flowers that will grace the beds. And the ornaments.

One of them is beneath my Redbud tree and the other is right below my garden pond and circles the big oak that stands beside our lower driveway. This last one I made a little bigger because it already has a huge rock there that hubby found somewhere. It also contains some moss that I plan on leaving there. And an odd shaped smaller rock that looks a little like a sentinel.

So all in all, yesterday was a good day.

Two beds in one day. Now that's accomplishment.




Quote:
The work praises the man. --Irish proverb


Blessings!

Lessons to Remember

This was written by Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, ”To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.”

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6.. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.


8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11 . Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.


18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

How true! More later . . .

Blessings

Where Do I Wanna Go?

For starters:

Pose Lake in the Boundary Waters CanoeArea Wilderness

• Minnesota this fall to my writing conference.

Crooked Creek in Gospel Hump Wilderness, Idaho

• Idaho this spring while hubby has business. Maybe we'll get in a day or so of sightseeing.

Sterling Highway in Alaska

• Alaska would be nice. Always wanted to go. Wouldn't even mind seeing a few grizzlies, as long as they stay their distance from me. You know: you mind your business and I'll do the same.

Gondolas in Venice

• I'd love to go on a tour of Eastern Europe: England, France, Italy, maybe even Germany. And a few other countries around there.

The koala and the eucalyptus forming an iconic Australian pair.

• I think I'd like to see Australia, at least some of it. No alligators, thank you.

A view of the Acapulco coastal region.

• And more of Mexico. As long as I don't have to run into any dope-raising people. (I'm all for safe in real life. Love to write about danger (it's glamorous in fiction), but give me safe living. LOL)

And closer to home:

• How about more dates with hubby to our usual places? Never get tired of that.
• Been craving a good steak. Now that sounds like fun: a good steak house.
• Coming up on the 28th: a tour of Barbour Publishing here in Ohio. Wow. That's impressive.
• A few quick one-day visits to places of interest close by.

Then . . .

• I wouldn't mind (never, ever) seeing N.M. and Arizona again this year.
• Got a hankering to see California, especially northern Cal and San Francisco.
• Been yearning for Montana.
• NEED to see the Smokies again . . . soon!
• A trip to North Carolina could be on the calendar, shortly.

And, forget (unless I get a reason to change my mind):

• Florida. Sorry, too, too hot.
• Pakistan and Iraq (I'm not into getting blown up, thank you!)
• Swampy places: several good reasons: alligators, snakes, and creepy things.
• Quebec: They say they really can speak English, but when I was there, they were very unfriendly.
• Any place that has too many diseases. (I know, I know, I'm a coward. What can I say?)

So there you have it.

Now if I can only fit all that into my schedule.




Quote:
Life without friends is death without a witness. --Spanish proverb


Blessings

Just Stay

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

"Your son is here," she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

"Who was that man?" he asked.

The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his
son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell

whether or not I was his son,knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.

Quote:

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A
TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY
HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

Blessings

Ostrich Life is Looking Better and Better!

Especially this time of the year. Sigh.

Whisper: April 15. Get it?

I'd like to do away with it. I mean, why would our government need all that money anyway? (snicker)

Here's some ideas:

• Rename April 15 to something warm and fun. Maybe "Go Shopping Day." Or "Spend the Day in the Woods Day." How about, "Have Lunch With a Friend Day?" Who could have fun on a day titled, "Deadline for Taxes" Day? Come on, who's going to feel like laughing with that hanging over your head? Even the words are like a depressing tornado cloud: Deadline. Yuk. And the second bad word: Taxes. Double Yuk!!! Who wants to spend money like that (unless, of course, you're lucky (?) enough to get some back (yeah!!!!) ). It's much more fun to spend money on shoes or handbags.
• Earn lots of money, hire a bunch of accountants, then go out and do whatever you want.
• Take an accountant course, so you can do your own taxes and not pay exorbitant prices for them to do something for you, you don't want done, and don't want to spend money for.
• File an extension and then forget about the day. It's always better to do tomorrow what you don't want to do today. Right?
• Or if all else fails, stick your head in the sand (like the ostrich) until its all over.
  

Sigh.

If only we could.




Quote:
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances. --Martha Washington


Blessings

Where Do the Ideas Come From?

Oh, goodness, everywhere!
I mean, look all around you; stories are everywhere.

Here's some of my favorites:

One of mine almost completed is a 1900's historical, during WWII, set in a large town. I took the plot from a true story, but fictionalized it to fit two characters that I created. A minister is involved in the war at home in a very special way. A daughter of a shipping business magistrate, has the care of two sisters and the running of a boarding house.

Another novel came from a paper I wrote during my computer training. I fell in love through research on hoboes of the late 1800's and early 1900's. I haven't gotten very far with this one, but hope to someday. It involves a rich lawyer who loses his family, turns bitter, and leaves his wealth behind to become a hobo. He eventually will find his way back, but not before . . . oh, well, I won't give away any more!!!

Another came from trying to write a "western." Eventually that one turned into lots of research and a suspense and a series.

One, that's on a back burner for when the time is right, is a complicated one that was given to me as an idea from one of my mentees' hubby. He knows I love suspense and came up with a brilliant plot. Don't want to give anything away on this one; it's too, too good. Suffice it to say, I've already begun plotting on this!

Some of my children's stories came from my pets.
Some came from prayer.
A few come from a love of a certain country, or a combination of other things.
Another one came from wanting to incorporate a niece's name and the love of a country into a novel.

Ideas can come from newspapers, ancestry, history, current events, people, places, facts, or strange twists. There are books that come because some wanted to write sequels. Some wanted to prove a point. Or even some who want to promote lies through fiction.


All it takes is a little bit of imagination.
And a whole lot of work after that.



Quote:
A great man is always willing to be little. --Ralph Waldo Emerson


Blessings!

When I'm Discouraged . . .

I think about these famous people:

• Jack London received six hundred rejection slips before he sold his first story.
• Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college. He was described as both "unable and unwilling to learn." No doubt a slow developer.
  
• Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was encouraged to find work as a servant by her family.
• Emily Dickinson had only seven poems published in her lifetime.
• Eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bach's story about a "soaring eagle." Macmillan finally published Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1970. By 1975 it had sold more than 7 million copies in the U.S. alone.
  
• Twenty-one publishers rejected Richard Hooker's humorous war novel, M*A*S*H. He had worked on it for seven years.
  
• Twenty-two publishers rejected James Joyce's The Dubliners.
• Twenty-seven publishers rejected Dr. Seuss's first book, To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
• English crime novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.
• William Saroyan accumulated more than a thousand rejections before he had his first literary piece published. Way to not take a hint, Bill!
• Gertude Stein submitted poems to editors for nearly 20 years before one was finally accepted. See . . . a rose is a rose.
• I bet you didn't know that John Milton wrote Paradise Lost 16 years after losing his eyesight.
  
• One of Professor Pajares's first research efforts came back with a review that began, "There are so many things I don't like about this article I just don't know where to begin."
• A professor at MIT offers a course on failure. He does that, he says, because failure is a far more common experience than success. An interviewer once asked him if anybody ever failed the course on failure. He thought a moment and replied, "No, but there were two Incompletes."
  

Quote:
Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly. ~ Robert F. Kennedy


Blessings

The Word for Spring is . . .

How about . . .

New?
Bulbs?
Light?
Sunshine?
Warmth?
Revival?
Frisky?
Green?
Smells?
Bursting?

or . . .

Fragrant?
Coatless?
Babies?
Young?
Active?
Returning?
Beginning?
Again?
Showers?


What one word would describe spring for you?



Quote:
The will to win is worth nothing unless you have the will to prepare.


Blessings

The Question is . . .


Will it get started again?

The fireplace, that is.

You see, hubby cleaned the chimney Saturday. Did a thorough job of it, too.


Haven't had much need of the fireplace the last few days what with the warmer temperatures. Since we like it cooler in the home, and definitely not overheated, we don't require a lot of heat when the outdoors temp reaches the 50's and 60's.

Now, the question is . . . will the warm temperatures hold? Has spring really come or is still just a date on the calendar, giving us false hopes that the cold winter has finally tucked its tail between legs and trotted off?

As much as I love my fireplace, I really, really hope we don't have to light it again!!




Quote:
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. --Anne Bradstreet


Blessings

Oh, Blessed Day


Went to look at windows today for our addition. (It's kind of a few feet added on to make the room that will be our bedroom and my writing work room bigger. This is very much needed, not only because we NEED another bedroom now, but because I will lose what little sanity I have left if I don't have my own space. Laugh.

Anyhow, the windows. Hubby was thinking wide and narrow; I'm thinking more boxy than rectangle. I want plenty of sun and view and the feel of openness in this part. We've got a few more places to check to see what we can come up with. Sigh. As always, gotta go with what's best for the ole pocketbook!!

BUT . . . while getting ready to begin that room, hubby gave the family/living room a going over. Windows got spiced up (and I LOVE them. Those beautiful old-fashion fancy things--hold on--went to ask him--blocks of wood - rosetta wood blocks and they are totally adorable.) A new coat of paint and some rearranging of wall pics. Then, we were able to buy two new lights for this room that are awesome, they go so well with the woodsy, cabin-ish look I like right now.

Happy sigh. I do so love updates on the house!!!!

We've been busy, as you can read. Not much work on the writing today, but, hopefully, back to the grindstone (lovely as it is) tomorrow.

By the way, someone asked me if I missed my work. I loved it while I worked, but had been feeling for some time that I needed more time to write, so the answer? Nope. I'm too busy with my writing and keeping up with everything else.




Quote:
Nothing can be so perfect when we possess it as it will seem when remembered. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes


Blessings!

Signs of . . .

Spring.



Robins return, chirping away.
Frogs croaking making the evening.


Crocuses, irises, and daffodils refusing to stay in their winter prisons.
Trees budding, impatiently waiting to burst forth into glory.
Cold weather reluctantly giving way to warmth.
Rain.

Thawed ponds.
Water plants peeking above the water line.
Pets wanting to explore the outdoors.
Seed and plant catalogs dogeared edges.

A gnawing inside me to get out.
The impatience to get to my flower beds.
Urges to plant, clear, smell, and dig in the dirt.

Fresh veggies in my dreams.

Tomatoes

Green beans



Cucumbers



Radishes

Thoughts of new flower beds.
Repairing the driveway.
Showers.
Rainbows again.
Fields turning green.


Spring.




Quote:
The moment somebody says, "this is very risky," is the moment it becomes attractive to me. --Kate Capshaw


Blessings

Why Did I Title the Last Blog . . .?

Actually, I was going to talk about dry spells in writing, but once I got started . . .

1. I got sidetracked on other portions of writing, and
2. It's much too big of a topic

So, today I'll explain a little more about getting ideas to write about.

The last post talked about some of my novels that are character driven. Today, I'd like to mention some that are plot driven. Here's one example:

My suspense series. Of course, without the characters, there wouldn't be a book. Without the setting, the story wouldn't be as rich. BUT, and that's a big but, without the plot, there wouldn't a story to tell in this suspense series.

It's plot driven, oh, probably about 60-75%. The characters probably average about 40%, and the setting about 5-10%. Now, I know that doesn't all add up to 100%. But all these are variant parts that can go one way or the other.

In the suspense you've got fast action that pushes forth your story from chapter to chapter. That doesn't mean you can't take a breather now and then, but even in the breather's, you're building the reader up to the next event.

In a plot driven story, you begin with a basic idea of what going to happen and write from there. Because such and such must happen, the characters act accordingly. Because you have to begin with such and such happening and go on till something else is accomplished, everything else must fall in line.

That's a very general description but maybe it'll give you an idea.

So, to recap what I've mentioned. Two ways to get ideas:

1. Characters
2. Plots

Later, I'll talk about some other special things about writing.

Have a good day!



Quote:
It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh


Blessings!