Good Sunday morning to y’all!

How’s that for an Ozarkian hello? 😉

So yesterday I was emailing with a dear writer friend – Mellie Dickerson. Apparently, I’m the only one who calls her Mellie. I could have sworn I read people calling her that, but I guess not ;). She said it was okay though :D. Makes me feel special.

So we were talking about a bunch of writerly stuff as well as life in general stuff. And she mentioned something about one of the down sides of being  a published author. It brought to mind something I’d read earlier in the day.

See… NTRWA’s Great Expectations contest had their early bird deadline yesterday. I entered Suburban Straightjacket and am contemplating entering Finding Mr. Write but that means I need to get the first 25 pages all shiny and polished up. I reread through the first pages, cringing as I did so. The placeholder names [who has a friend named “Friend3”? I mean really!], the wrong destinations and wrong mode of travel [since later needs dictated a change in both].

But then there was this moment of clarity. Hero [Jeremiah] and heroine [Dorrie] are at a local writer’s meeting a few weeks before the big national conference and their group is critiquing each other’s synopses and one sheets etc. Things they’d show to interested agents and editors while at the conference.

I read the snippet below, especially the part in italics, and I thought Wow! Did I write that?! I’m guessing that… yes, I wrote it, but let’s face it. It was divinely inspired. That’s the only answer, because it’s something I struggle daily to remember.

Beth followed with her one page synopsis then Jeremiah showed us his one sheet.

It was… much better than mine. To the point I wanted to cry. How was I supposed to compete with something like that?

You’re not, the still small voice inside me said. You write what I give you to write, the words come from Me. You aren’t competing against anyone – not when it comes to My will.

I knew the voice was right. I wasn’t competing against anyone as long as I was doing what God wanted me to. And Jeremiah and I wrote very different genres. Even if it was a competition we wouldn’t be competing against each other.

I’m not competing against Mellie*. Or even Janice Thompson or Kaye Dacus or Jenny B Jones or any of the other writers of incredible romantic comedies. In fact, I’m not competing against anyone.

All I have to do is my very best. That’s all I can do anyway. This path is in God’s hands. If and when I get published, it’s because it’s in God’s timing.

I still need to learn my craft and get my name out there through networking and so on. I can’t just sit at home and wait for the phone to ring if no one knows I’ve written a book.

So… I’m going to keep writing what He tells me to, what I have to write [and yes, I know how weird that could sound to those without the writing ‘gene’]. I’ll edit and revise and edit and revise some more then send out queries and proposals while starting on the next project until the right one, the one God ordained before the beginning of the earth**, hits the right desk at the right time.

In fact, we stayed home today because Maggie and I weren’t feeling all that hot. But I’m feeling better now and should probably try to add some words to Finding Mr. Write. It’ll never get done if I don’t.

*For the record, I was never felt I was in competition with Mellie. We write very, very different genres ;).

**NIV, Psalm 139:16 – your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Lauren Tarshis has been so incredibly gracious with Maggie and Jadyn [Maggie’s BFF]! She agreed to let them send her ten questions, she answered them with wonderful answers and sent them back. And she had lovely things to say about them! She has been wonderful to work with.

Her latest book is I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 so today, in honor of Pearl Harbor Day, we posted their interview.

You can find it here:
Pearl Harbor Day Special: Interview with Lauren Tarshis by Maggie and Jadyn

These girls are so great! Love them!

I asked Christine who she is outside the realm of writing and publication and all that jazz.
“I am so ordinary, it’s hilarious. I used to be an administrative assistant, going off to work in suits, high heels and makeup. Now that I’m following the labor of my heart (writing) I work in my home office and wear the closest thing I can get to pajamas—sweat pants and a sweat shirt.

Book trailer


Meet Pamela S. Thibodeaux:

Er, yeah. So I missed posting on Day 24.

Thanksgiving was good. Do hope to get the other half of the Thanksgiving list up this weekend :).

Today, I went to Panera. The 10yo went with me and wrote about 1300 words today. In about 3 hours. By then I had a bit over 1500 words.

I finished at Panera with 10008 words! Over 38K!!!

Have done a bit more since I got home. Was hoping to get to 40K before going to bed, but it may not happen. Have written another almost 600 since then.

Characters took an unexpected turn. But a good one. Think it makes things work even better. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to write on spec – synopses before writing the book. I never, ever would have anticipated this turn ahead of time.

Okay – back to it :).

I meant to post last night but cleaning took way longer than expected [doesn’t it always? especially since, with my back, I can only work so long and do so much before I have to break] and while I did get a bit over 650 words in, it wasn’t near as much as I’d hoped for and even though I was up till 1:30 to put the turkeys in the crock pots, I didn’t get this written.

So this is yesterday’s post. Those 650 words took me past 27K. I’m thankful for that ;). But I’m going to do the whole month – so 30 things I’m thankful for. This is the first half. Theoretically, I’ll post the 2nd half later today :D.

So… The First Day of Thanksgiving…

1. My Lord and Savior – this should go without saying, but I must say it. New mercies every morning. Thank you God for that!
2. My husband – he’s amazing! Works hard, loves me and the kids, is great at what he does, a great friend, a wonderful father, and a fabulous husband. Plus he helps clean.
3. Maggie – she’s 10 which is a bit scary, but she is an amazing girl-turning-woman. She loves to write and she’s a good helper.
4. Abbie – my tender-hearted one. At 8, she’s so sweet and loving. And helps take good care of her little brother and sister.
5. Emily – age 6. Wonderful, tenacious, precocious. Scared of nothing. The miracle baby they told us we’d lost. Stubborn to a fault but so sweet.
6. Christopher – age 4. Another miracle. Four years ago today, we were in the hospital as he recovered from surgery to fix his esophageal sphincter. [That’s the valve between your stomach and esophagus.] Sixty years ago, the surgery didn’t exist and he would have slowly starved to death no matter what we tried because he couldn’t keep food down. Plus 15 months ago, he stopped breathing but started again. He’s so sweet and loves to hug and cuddle – right before he goes all MMA on you.
7. The rest of my family – family of origin, extended family, in-laws, extended in-laws – without them, I wouldn’t be me.
8. My job – I teach part-time at a community college. It affords me the best of both worlds. I can stay home with my kids most of the time but still talk to grown ups.
9. My church – I have a wonderful church family who are like family.
10. My friends – amazing friends who drop everything to spend several late night hours at the hospital with us when a kiddo stops breathing or spend a week staying at our house so I can go on a trip with Matt for virtually free or are there when I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to celebrate with.
11. My writer friends – Yes – they deserve their own category, separate from non-writer friends. My writer friends will understand that. Because they understand the voices in my head don’t mean I’m schizophrenic. They know how hard it can be to make characters do what you want them to do. And how much it means sometimes when you write a hundred words. Or when you have a 10K day. They cheer with you for every agent signed or contract awarded. Even if at the same time they’re crying just a bit because they just got a rejection. And they’ll share the weight of that rejection with you.
12. Authors – separate from my writer friends, though many of them are published authors as well. But without the authors, there would be no books. And I love books.
13. Parachute blankets – I think they’re actually called poncho liners, but we’ve always called them camo blankets. Military issue that are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And comfy.
14. Internet – without the Internet, I wouldn’t have met many of the amazing people in my life, even those nearby who I’ve met in person a number of times. Keeping in touch with friends and family or making new friends, researching or just goofing off, I’m thankful for Internet access.
15. Facebook – because of Facebook, I’ve reconnected with so, so many friends and family I wouldn’t have otherwise. I can’t begin to count how many cousins [beyond my 3 first cousins] I’ve gotten to know through Facebook. [Okay – I can count… there’s over 20 family members on Facebook]. We had a big all school reunion about 18mos ago where I got to see friends I hadn’t seen since I moved almost 17 years ago at that point. I’ve gotten to know favorite authors, new friends and old friends. So, yes, I’m thankful for Facebook.

There you go. Half my thankful list. Hope to get the rest done tonight, but now, I’ve got to finish a few things to get the house ready, hop in the shower and then peel a million potatoes.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yay! I’m off for a week! I do have about 20 minutes worth of school work to do between now and next Tuesday, but otherwise I’m home with family, friends and fictional characters.

Thanks to the brainstorming with Joanna last night [and a bit more tonight], I made some real progress. 1220 words takes me to a total of 26413. The 20Ks are always hard for me, I’ve realized, but once I get through that it seems to flow again. We’ll see what I can get done tomorrow.

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, tomorrow is a big cleaning day. The kids helped me clean some today and will help more tomorrow. I’ll be up late because the turkey needs to go in about 130 am [as best I can tell – about 9-10 hours for a turkey breast in the crock pot], so rather than going to bed at midnight and wake up at 130 to put them on, it seems likely I’ll just stay up and write.

Naturally, my most productive, most creative time of day is about 9 or 10 at night until 1 or 2 in the morning. The problem with that? When the alarm goes off no later than 645 and you’re one of those people who needs 8-9 hours of sleep.

And on that note… it’s bedtime ;).

Guest post by Delia Latham

The Amish are known for their quiet, unassuming manner. Their love of all things peaceful…and shunning of competitive pastimes.

Well. I’m afraid that all flew out the window in the COTT Clash featuring Amish fiction. It was a fight to the finish…. a nose-to-nose race…a no-holds-barred dash to the finish line!

Contestants were:

Both authors hit the ground running with sizzling teasers that presented a definite challenge to our readers. Both were super-fantastic! Both offered a tantalizing glimpse into an amazing read.

But only one of these fabulous excerpts could take the win.

When at last the dust died down…the crowd silenced in expectation…and the winner stood revealed…

The choice was not an easy one, as our readers made perfectly clear in their comments:

“Both of these excerpts are immediately engaging—I think I’d like to read both books!”

“Both excerpts are winners. Can’t wait to read them.”

“I enjoy the Clash of the Titles!! Each author is fantastic!! And such a great place to hear of new authors that perhaps you haven’t read before. Good luck!”

“I love to read stories of the Amish. Thank you for your hard work.”

“The authors who write Amish fiction are doing a great job keeping true to the Amish ways while holding the reader’s interest with wonderful story lines over and over again.”

Heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation to both Suzanne and Laura. I wish we could call it a tie and put both in the winner’s slot, because both authors truly are winners.

Not much writing today but have been brainstorming with friend Joanna Davidson. She’s helping me get back on track with the rom com part of romantic dramedy. The drama part I was already having success with ;).

So about 183 words [for 25193 total] but feeling much, much better about the overall plot than I have in days :D. No races tonight either, but I finished reading the last of my Poli Sci book. Have a tiny bit of work to do tomorrow for school stuff but should be able to write the whole time I’m there but not actually in class. Looking forward to that. Here’s looking for a great day! And races tomorrow with Jess [because Kristy is already done… :p].

But before then, two things:

Thanks, Joanna!!!!

And, good night!

Barely, but I did pass it!!!!

I am feeling a bit discouraged though I think it’s normal for both me and many writers at this point. I’m looking at my plot and thinking “How, on God’s green earth, am I going to get another 50 THOUSAND words out of this plot and these characters?! What was I THINKING?!”

Some other stuff discouraging me too – the headache probably isn’t helping 😉 – but mostly it’s looking at this and wondering where the other 50K is going to come from. Especially since the 25K isn’t all that great and a bunch of it is going to need to be revamped completely. And in the revamping, I’ll probably lose more words than I gain.

Ah well. I’ll keep plugging on and slogging through and pray that God will give me the words. Whether now, or later. This book or another. Because I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I can feel it in my soul.

But right now, I think my body is saying it’s bedtime ;).

Today’s stats… 1992 words for the day, 25010 total