Serious Wednesday: Include Christmas in Your Next Novel

Whether you love or hate Christmas, for writers, it's an opportunity to share some joy, happiness and
perhaps write with a different perspective than where your usual writings take you. Here are some very good reasons to write with a Christmas theme or background or even as part of your plot: 

1.  It helps to increase your reader audience. Readers love Christmas-themed books. Christmas books look great on store shelves and attract attention. By writing a Christmas-themed book, you will possibly draw new readers who will follow you through the rest of the year, reading your other books. 

2.  There's a huge demand for holiday-themed books. The colorful festive books with their shiny snowflakes and fancy script titles are hard to miss. They line bookshelves over the holidays and scream for attention. There is a big demand for these types of books, and if you're trying to make a living at writing, then Christmas is the perfect time to release a holiday book. Shopkeepers are looking for these type of books to sell that fly off the shelves. Why not capitalize on this opportunity? 

3.  If you approach it right, writing a Christmas-themed book can put you in a holiday mood. Admit it, from Thanksgiving on, life is busy and can be stressful, but having a Christmas book release kind of gives you a sense of happiness and peace. Just knowing that you've fulfilled and shared some joy to readers should, in return, fill you with a sense of completion. 

There are a lot of good reasons to write a Christmas book, and these just touch the surface of the why. I would encourage you to give it a thought. You might just come up with the perfect plot! 

Rambling Friday: It's Too Hot? No! It's Too Cold!

I don't like the weather too cold (or maybe I should say, not very cold at all). But then when the temp heads toward the eighties, nineties, or higher, then I'm not crazy about that either. Especially if you live, as I do, where the humidity likes to climb high! 

I normally try hard to not complain. I'm so thankful and grateful for so many things in life, and another day to live is one of them. 

I find the words in 1 Timothy 6:6-12 to be an admonition and encouragement: 

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

For we brought nothing into the world, 

and we can take nothing out of it. 

But if we have food and clothing, 

we will be content with that.

What do I learn from this scripture?

• If I'm godly and contented I will have gained a LOT!
• I brought nothing into this world, and I'll take nothing out of it!
• I should be content with such as I have, whether small or great!

For actually, I do have a lot:  God, family, and friends. A career I love, memories and adventures
with my family through the years, almost anything one could desire...

Why should I complain? 

Rambling Friday: I Thought I'd Never Make it!

Sometimes I make crazy decisions and this was a humdinger-of-a-one!

We planned to take the grandboys on a trip to the Lost Sea which was nice but not nearly as I remembered it when we took our sons years ago. Still...our oldest grandson wanted to experience it, so we took him and the rest of the family.

Come to find out, he also wanted to experience hiking to a secluded waterfall nearby. None of us had been there before so good ole GPS was called into service. You would have thought we'd go straight to the place!

But, no! We missed a sign, had to circle around to get back on the right road. And finally made it. BUT...

That's not the end of the story.

We started up the path--and what a path. The first part, though uphill and down, was a little deceiving. It was partially clear and fairly decent, but at the crossroads: that's when the ruggedness began.

Our son, wife and two oldest grandsons decided to take the upper trail which would lead to a section where they'd use a cable to get to the bottom of the falls. Hubby, youngest grandson and I took the "better" path. Ha.

Stones and branches and logs impeded our way. Hills, steep cliffsides, hillsides that looked as if the rocks would tumble any time. And a million miles--at least!

Well, hubby says it was a lot less, and maybe he was right. When I thought I could not take another step, I did. When grandson Jonathan thought it was much too dangerous, his grandpa encouraged him to try it, that he would be there to help him. And he did!

To make this rambling post shorter...We rounded the last curve, and there she was in all her wilderness glory. A beautiful waterfall, a pond and a gorgeous sight. That, even with knowing how my oldest grandson enjoyed the trek, was well worth the trip!

And believe it or not, I'd go again.

Happy end-of-summer!

Serious Wednesday: The Craziness of Writing

On Passionate Writing

It is a writer's greatest pleasure

to hear that someone

was kept up until the unholy hours 

of the morn

reading

one of his books.

--B. Sanderson

Writing is the strangest

and most interesting,

besides the most misunderstood,

craziest and hardest

most frustrating--

yet satisfying talent--

or is it a curse?

career?

hobby?

job?

                                                                          purpose?

A writer will certainly dwell in stages of 

despair

discouragement

hopelessness

yet writing affords deep . . .

satisfaction and pleasure,

determination

happiness and joy 

by one act of a reader, in reading.

To the real writer, 

that is enough.

Blessings!

Mom Month

Before I was a Mom:
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.


Before I was a Mom:
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.


Before I was a Mom:
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom:
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom:
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom:
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.


Quote:
Obstacles are frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. --Hannah Moore

Blessings!