Waaaaahhhh!

Sorry. Had to let off a little steam. I think this sucknopsis will be the death of me. Ya know, I've done several and they never seem to get any easier. Guess I'll try another method. I think I'll pull up my last synopsis and keep it open beside the one I'm working on. I've got a few examples from workshops and links from helpful authors, maybe I'll go through a few of those before I work on mine further. My hero is doing all the talking and it's like my heroine is playing the quiet game or something. *sigh* The ms is an old one and I've been tweaking it to add depth to a couple of my secondary characters.

Something else I didn't do with this ms was to pick out character photos to help myself envision the scenes. Maybe I need to find a couple of pictures...

Dagnabit. Stop procrastinating and get back to work. Love you guys and all, but I need to get back to work! We're headed home on Thursday and I have a ton to do before then. Hope you all are having a warm and productive week so far?!

Request!!

Well...ya'll know that I was chosen as a finalist to pitch online to Ms. Victoria Curran, editor with Harlequin Superromance. Being pubbed with Superromances has been a dream of mine from the beginning. I'd done well with a previous pitch and had a partial requested, though it was ultimately rejected with some wonderful advice attached.

I've done it again. *squuuuueeeeeee* Ms. Curran has requested a partial with a synopsis on my Call of Duty manuscript. I was incredibly nervous and had the whole sweating palms-could electrocute-myself thing going on. I prepared by setting up a document listing my H/h goals, motivations, and conflicts. I figured I could just cut and paste to answer Ms. Curran's questions. She was the one that came prepared, and probably the reason she's the editor and I'm the peon stumbling around sounding like a raving idiot. LOL. Anyhoo...I'm assuming I halfway answered her question because she said something to the effect that my author voice would fit with the Supers line.

So here we go again. I'm off to torture myself with the synopsis and then to tweak the partial with her suggestions on a secondary character. Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!! Anything exciting?

Successful Pitch!

Woooohoooo! I found out yesterday that my two paragraph pitch was one of the 6 out of 45 pitches subbed chosen by Victoria Curran, Superromance line editor at Harlequin. On Friday I will have the opportunity to participate in an online pitch with her to see if she wants to read my book, Call of Duty.

*sigh* It also means if she wants to read it...I have to prepare a synopsis. Ack!! I have a basic outline I had completed for another pitch a couple of years ago. Maybe it won't require too much wrangling to get ready. The rest of this week will be a little busy for me. We're trying to get our stuff ready to be in Savannah for a month. The travel trailer has to be cleaned and restocked, and I want to leave the house clean so I won't come home to a nasty pit. Hubby and I both have doc appts Thursday and Friday. Busy, busy, busy...

Have a great weekend, my peeps. Huge hugs!!

No rest for the weary...

My poor hubby. He's home and working on his Honey-Do list. We finally got the Suburban and our 5th wheel trailer moved over to the new house. And he's just finished painting the living room wall and is headed off to pick up a lighter shade of taupe for the hall. I think he's feeling the stress a little because we're going to Savannah and have little time to get some of this stuff done. Good news...we're going to Savannah. OMG!!! I've always wanted to go and now I'll get the chance to spend some real time there. We're going to leave a couple of days early so we can stop when I need to. Hopefully my body won't give me too much trouble. I'm a little worried about the long trip, but I'm hoping to make a couple of stops along the way to meet some of my online writing buddies.

I wanted to thank Rae, Bella, and Vanessa for giving me a couple of blog awards. I still haven't figured out how to post them permanently. *sigh*

Thanks, Rae!
Thanks, Vanessa & Bella!

I'll try to come up with facts you guys haven't already heard me gripe about. LOL.

1. My whole family took karate lessons when I was about 13 yrs old, young and skinny.

2. I absolutely LOVE eating red meat. Give this girl a medium rare ribeye steak or juicy hamburger any day. Of course with my health in the toilet right now...I've made an effort to eat more white meat. Ugh.

3. I've always had a passion for most things western. I've always thought I was born a century too late and could totally see myself living among my Chickasaw ancestors. My hubby thinks it's ironic that I married a cowboy.

4. I was a tomboy. The neighborhood guys always came by to see if I wanted to play soccer, basketball, baseball...anything outside, I was game. I was a closet girly-girl. I had the Barbie's and dolls...just played them when I couldn't be outside.

5. I HATE to wear shoes. Summer is not just my favorite because of the warm weather...I can get away with wearing flip-flops everywhere. I'll wear the sandals with bling when I have to dress up.

6. I am not a cat person. They can be quite cute and cuddly. But I think they can also be rude, manipulative, and just plain evil. Have you ever watched Pet Cemetary? I rest my case.

7. I have the travel bug. I hate being away from my 16 yr old when we travel, he stays with my mom, but I love the adventure of checking out local history.

8. I guess #7 could lead into this...I love our rich and colorful history. I used to dream of being a pioneer woman. Guess that's WHY I married a cowboy.

9. I hate to swim in murky water. I don't mind getting dirty...just hate not knowing what's swimming around me. LOL. Oklahoma lakes are rich with red clay so I'm kinda stuck with that.

10. And last, but not least...I would LOVE to have a little girl. I'm stuck in a manly-man house full of guys.

Okay guys...I'll pass these awards on to...

Jennifer Bianco

Natalie Bahm

What is that I hear?

Absolutely nothing. Well, almost. The dog won't stop licking herself and I can hear the trickle of the water filtering in the fish tank. But the house is quiet. *deep breath....and sigh* Mr. Chelle is finally home and took little man with him to run errands this morning after he took the man-child to school.

So here I am, enjoying my cup of coffee, hoping my toes will warm up. :) Did everyone have a great weekend? A good Valentine's Day? Mr. Chelle took me to a movie Saturday night and we met his dad and his girlfriend for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant. Yum. Yesterday? We just hung out and took it easy. Mom took little man to see a movie so we could have some quiet time. Overall? Not a bad weekend at all.

Ok. We talked about what elements are important in a pitch. I guess alot of it depends on what kind of pitch you are looking at as to how detailed it can be. Is it a logline? A basic sentence has to make an impact. I personally HATE loglines and think it's not a valid way to gather enough info about the story to make an informed decision. My first pitch was a one page, simplified synopsis. I was fortunate enough to have been chosen to pitch to a Harlequin editor and had a partial request. The next two pitches I participated in dealt with loglines. They suck. Or I guess I should say...I suck at writing them. You've got to pack alot of punch within just a few words, and you have to choose your words wisely. That's when it's especially important to know exactly who and what line you are targeting.

That's what we're dealing with today. Key words that pack a punch. A pad and pen is my friend at that point unless I'm having a day where I simply cannot hold or grasp small objects. But rolling with the punches is another post, another day. I'll sit down and try to write out descriptive words for each character, the conflict, and what their ultimate goal needs to be. Know your target audience. Use key words to acknowledge you've done your homework. Is your story about home and hearth, or inspirational? Full of desire and passion, exotic or erotic? Is your heroine a single mom struggling to survive only to have a billionaire boss that can give her a Cinderella HEA?

You don't have enough room in a logline for names or places. But the small amount of words used need to include key words to tempt an editor or agent. Know your story. Who are your main protagonists and what do they want/need?

Perfect Pitch?

I don't think I'll ever hear those words. I HAVE been told that I'm wordy, so imagine my extreme panic when I try to come up with a condensed version of what my book is about. I think I actually begin to sweat. Over the course of my writing journey to the ultimate destination of "Pubbed Land", I have forced myself to pitch several of my manuscripts. Some of you have mentioned having the same angst over preparing pitches or blurbs. I thought today maybe we could go over a few of the basics and work up from there. Just know that...I am in no way an expert. LOL. I have had a few requests out of my attempts, and even won or finaled in a couple of contests. But I've also been passed over. You are the ultimate storyteller. Have faith in your story!!

The pitch is basically a high concept showcase of your manuscript. The first thing I do is to open a Word file, or you can just grab a piece of paper. I list my two main protagonists, my heroine and hero. Make a basic list of WHO they are, WHAT they want, and WHY it is important to them. It's the basic goal, motivation, and conflict of the story. Try to use genre specific key words.

And a final thought for today... It's really important to KNOW who you are pitching to. My advice?? Read through the submission guidelines and write down specific key words that are listed to describe the line.

Have a great weekend!! I'll try to get back as soon as possible to work more on the pitching process.

Blog Award

Thanks so much, Jennifer!!

I'm not sure my kiddos would agree though. LOL. Jennifer deserves this one so much that I should resend it to her. She always has such an upbeat outlook. I've been stuck indoors with two boys fighting over anything, and everything. Ugh. Thankfully, before I ate my young, the oldest went back to school today. But we're supposed to get more snow and ice tomorrow night. Ack!!!!

So here are 10 things that make me happy:

1) My hubby, especially when he's home and not traveling. I also like it when he leaves after being home for a long time. JK. Kinda. ;) He really is a huge help with the house and boys when he's home, but I truly love him and enjoy being with him. Even when he's home for long stretches of time.

2) My kids keep me going. There are some mornings that I'm hurting pretty bad and can barely get out of bed, but I know they need to see me doing normal mom things and it helps give me strength. They are growing up so fast and have such cool personalities.

3) Our new house. It feels so good to be back out in the country. When I went outside with the little man during the recent snowstorm, I felt almost overwhelmed by how pretty the house and trees looked covered in snow.

4) My Mom. She is truly an inspiration to me. She has been a huge source of comfort and support my entire life, especially now that I've been diagnosed with the stupid auto-immune diseases. She has a heart of gold and is always involved in helping someone, whether it's her family or employees and local charities.

5) My cousin. She's also my best friend, and I know that I can always share my morbid sense of humor with her. She agrees that we can laugh even in the worst of times and I can count on her to make me laugh.

6) My friends. And that includes my online crit partners and blog buddies. I love sharing my writing journey with you.

7) My pets. We recently lost my sweet Boston Terrier and sent her sister to live with my brother. That doesn't make me happy, but when they were here...and along with the remaining two pups...they make me happy. It's got to be that unconditional love thing.

8) Rain. I don't like to drive in bad weather...but I love to sit and read or relax and listen to the rain.

9) Reading. I LOVE to find books that I can't put down. Ellen Hartman and Helen Brenna are two of my favorite Superromance authors and I know I can always count on them for a feel good story.

10) And lastly...I have to agree with Ms. Jennifer...getting blog awards! It makes me feel like someone really likes me. ;)

I have to admit that I dreaded coming up with 10 things that make me happy. It definitely beats coming up with 10 things I hate. I wonder if someone has come up with that one? The Venting Award, maybe?! LOL

The hard part is coming up with people to pass the award over to, but here goes:

1) Heather Rae Scott

2) Bethanne Strasser

3) Diane Estrella

Perfect Day

Almost. Of course it would be better if Mr. Chelle were here enjoying a cup of coffee with me as I watch the snow fall. It's not often we get snow in Oklahoma. When we do, I try to take some quiet time and relax. I didn't have much time to myself this morning though. The 16 yo is home from school due to the weather so no early morning rush, but everyone decided to call to check on us this morning. I love my family and friends, don't get me wrong, but the calls started at 6 am. No big deal...except they woke up the little man. And when he realized it was snowing... I had to hog tie him from putting on his snow gear. The ground is frozen solid from the ice storm yesterday. After a major meltdown, he figured out I wasn't letting him outside until the snow covered some of the ice. I warned him I wasn't driving the 20 minutes to the ER if he fell and busted his head. I'd just sew it up myself with a needle and thread. That did it. The boy gags at the word blood. LOL. My luck though, it'd be me falling and busting my butt bone. I'm having a hard enough time getting my poor bones moving to take the dogs out. So I bribed the kid with no homeschool work today since brother is out of school.

My plotting bootcamp is winding down and although I haven't kept up with the assignments, I saved all of the files and plan to work on them today. I printd out more of my outline on index cards. I need to finish the character details and then move on to the actual conflict outline. One of the things that has distracted me is so many pitches going on right now. I participated in Donna Alward's mentor pitch, and now Harlequin/Silhouette have a few coming up soon. Which makes it very tempting to put away the historical WIP to work on my contemporary romances.

I'm off to say hi to a couple of my blog buddies...and unplug so I can make an attempt at an assignment or two. Have a happy and productive day!!

Jinx

Well...I opened my mouth and jinxed myself. I was so ready to give away some of our dogs. We had four of them. When we moved, Mr. Chelle promised to build a large pen to keep them contained when they go out to do their thing. He built the pen, but it doesn't contain the dogs. *sigh* And now he's back at work so it won't get repaired for another two weeks. The Boston Terrier sisters got out. Bella and Gracie took off and a couple of hours later, Gracie showed up and was completely freaked out. I seriously thought she'd need the Dog Whisperer. Bella still hasn't come home and we're afraid she's fallen victim to a pack of strays that are terrorizing this section of the county. Instead of therapy my brother offered to take Gracie hoping she wouldn't be able to get out of their fence. I insisted she remain a house dog, and so far she hasn't played Houdini and escaped. As frustrated as I was with the pups...my heart is broken that they're gone. At least I can still see Gracie.

How has everyone's writing/life been? I've been trying to stay in touch, but I started my new meds and it has kinda wiped me out this week. We'll give it until I go back on Feb 26th. I did submit a two paragraph pitch to Donna Alward's pitch. She's a fabulous HQ Romance author and has offered her mentorship to an unpubbed author for another year. Last year I was fortunate enough to have made it into the final 5. This year...top 11. Not too bad out of 80 something entries. She said the pitch was good...the storyline just didn't excite her. Guess I need to work on making it a little more conflict filled before I sub to Silhouette.

Hope yous guys are well and warm!!

Happy Friday!!

Awwww! Got the teen man/child to school, and the little man fed. I'm a bad mom...bribed him with a large mug of hot chocolate, and put his homeschool lessons on hold until after lunch. Maybe I can get my character outlines finished today. First thing though, I need to finish a beta read before my crit partner thinks I've abandoned her.

I'm so glad today is Friday and I have nothing to do this weekend that requires going out in this ridiculous weather. Our high today is supposed to be 19. *sigh* The low....3 degress. I'm so ready to give away a couple of dogs. The Chihuahua won't go to the bathroom outside when it's this cold and just stands by the door shivering. So he's using his carrier and my laundry room smells awful. Which means he smells awful. Ugh. The two Boston Terrier sisters keep getting out of the fence and running off. We've been hearing a pack of coyotes or wild dogs recently, and I'm afraid the girls will disappear. The rescue lab? She loves me. She goes out, does her business and comes into the warm house to lay around quietly. Good dog. Anyone want a couple of adorable lap dogs? I'll even pay to ship them.

I actually got another box emptied yesterday. By this rate...I'll have everything put up in it's place by 2013. Hubby was supposed to paint a couple of walls before he left, but didn't. I'm trying not to stare at the baby blue walls with gold glitter. Thankfully my chair faces the log walls and I can look out at the trees and landscape. I'm looking forward to Spring when the leaves will be full. The front porch will be beautiful. It spans all the way across the front of the house and has hooks for plenty of hanging baskets, draped with vibrant colored flowers. I took a ton of pictures during our recent "blizzard" and will try to post when I find all of my computer cords. In 2013?

Happy Friday!! Hope your week was productive!

Digging in...

So far so good. I actually got something accomplished last night and will upload my book theme, logline, and premise today to the bootcamp group. I really suck at the short stuff though. I'm so wordy and have been struggling with the heroes side of the premise. This story came to me after I'd done some searching through my ancestry documents and family records.

I meant to send out a plug for the lovely group running the bootcamp. They've got some great info and resources available for writers. Check it out...

Rose Colored Glasses ~ Writer's Resources

Okay...want to see how bad my attempt was at my first assignment? Here goes nothing.

Logline: A forbidden dreamwalker will risk her father’s reputation, and her own life, in order to save the man in her dreams, even if he refuses to let go of the past and trust her.

I'm off to work on my next assignment...character roles. Easy peasy.

Brrrrr...

I am soooo not liking this weather. But at least it's not distracting me today by enticing me out into the warm sunshine. Cold, cold, and reallllly cold. I think our lows this week are expected into the single digits. That's not typical Oklahoma at all. And my RA doesn't like the cold either. My poor fingers are protesting my attempts to make them work today. My sweet buddy sent me the voice recognition software. I'm thinking today would be a good day to set that up.

Okay. Got the teen monster off to school and just fed the little man monster. I say that because hubby has gone back to work and the boys are picking at each other constantly. Ugh. Last night I told them they would have to go outside and sit for 10 minutes every time I broke up a fight. So the teen slammed off to his room. Problem solved. At least I can use the weather to my advantage. ;)

Heading offline to get my first bootcamp assignment finished. I decided to go with the historical. I'm even cringing at the introduction. *sigh* Why am I feeling so shy all of a sudden? More like terror and anxiety. I absolutely suck at taglines. Guess what my first assignment is?

Happy New Year!!

Hope ya had a wonderful holiday season! Any resolutions? Me? Not so much. I'm definitely motivated with what looks like a clean slate. The start of new year always brings with it a determination. Motivation. To do more. Be better. In all aspects of my life.

So while my motivation and determination are at an all time high, I've joined a plotting bootcamp group. I've got several story ideas running around rampant in my poor little brain. And every time I sit down to write, I have a difficult time choosing. My Native American/western historical keeps yelling the loudest, but I keep putting it away because I guess I'm scared to try something out of my element. I absolutely love reading historicals...but am I capable of writing one?

I can do just about anything if I put my mind to it. That's what I tell my children anyways. LOL. So I must practice what I preach and stop procrastinating. The plotting bootcamp begins tomorrow. Hopefully I'll maintain my level of motivation and also be a better blogger. I love my online blogger buddies, you guys ALWAYS lend me the support and encouragement I need. I only hope to be more active online this coming year so that I may be the support and encouragement you guys need.

Here's to a bright and shiny new year!! May you have an abundance of good health, happiness, and prosperity! A couple of publishing contracts would be nice, too. =)

*sigh of relief*

Hubby has left the building. I'm sad to see him heading off to California for their next job, but the last couple of weeks have been hectic. No time for Christmas decorations. No time for shopping. No Christmas spirit. Must change that. I'll rest up a bit today and work with little man on his schoolwork. Maybe tonight I can get the man/child to help me move things around and get the tree up. Maybe I'll even light some candles and play a few Christmas CDs to get in the mood.

Anyone busy working? This time of year tends to play havoc with my writing time. Not that I've been able to get back in the game. I can't seem to get fully engaged. Not sure if it's me or the new meds. I'm going to try to keep taking them at least until I go back to the Rhuematologist on the 18th. It sounds like several of my writer friends are struggling for various reasons. A few of us joined NaNoWriMo this year and didn't complete the word count. Others blasted right through and kudos to you if you're one of them.

Hope you guys are having a productive week. I'm off to check out a few blogs to see what's new. I'm determined to finish a beta read for a buddy today and submit 10 pages of my contemporary category to my RWA chapter contest.

Happy writing!

Season of Giving

Today feels like a Friday. Most likely because my oldest is out of school today, and my nephews are here to spend the night. Hubby will be getting off work early and will head home to help get the house ready for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow.

This is my favorite time of year for many reasons. It always begins with the start of school to occupy the kiddos and college football. My Sooners are having a really bad, injury plagued year. I know we can't win them all, but this hasn't been a fun year to watch. The excitement continues on though with most of our family birthdays leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This year we will spend the first part of Thanksgiving day at my aunt's house with her family. Then we'll head home to have our own celebration with my brother and his kids. I have NEVER EVER wanted to torture myself with Black Friday and it wouldn't even be an option this year.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and good thoughts. I'm feeling much better and getting around pretty well. The rash on my face is still visible but just looks as if my face is a little flushed. The Rheumatologist has diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia and is testing for an underlying illness. While he believes that I have arthritis, he's feeling optimistic that it's not Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have an appointment today at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for more tests for the Lupus.

Even if I wasn't dealing with illness, I have so much to be thankful for. My family is a huge source of comfort for me. My boys are well behaved and have become protective of me. My husband hates to leave me to go to work, and is willing to get up at 4am every morning and work his patootie off for us. They will be leaving next week to start the next tank in California, but we are so fortunate that he even has a job in this economy. My mother has had a few episodes with her health problems from battling cancer, but she is celebrating another year cancer free.

Yes, God has truly blessed us. We have a warm, safe home with a table full of good food. We were fortunate enough to buy food for three other families to make sure they are able to have the same meal we're having with leftovers to enjoy for another week. We will even prepare the meal for one of the families because she admitted to not knowing how to cook. Of course I'll have a plate ready for our homeless alley guy, Gary. He'll eat well this week for sure. Things are tough right now for so many families. I can only hope that we spread some of our good fortune as far as possible and it makes a difference somehow.

As for my writing? I'm trying to decide which story I'll submit to my chapter's contest for the members. I'm thinking it'll be my contemporary category romance, but lately I've been working a little on my historical. I have a couple of weeks to decide.

In the meantime...I hope you guys have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Silence...

Awwww...the house is so quiet. Except for the dog's collar jingling when she scratches at those pesky fleas. Man. We have four dogs and having a really hard time getting rid of the fleas this year. We've never had a problem like this. We usually bathe the 3 little dogs in our utility sink and the lab mix outside. But Mom decided to graciously offer to take Possum to the groomer since I'm having health problems. Well...she came home with fleas. Not my Mom. Possum. ;)

Hubby started back to work after having his five day break, and man-child is headed off to school. Little man is still zonked out, snoring quietly. Isn't it amazing how peaceful and sweet they look when they're asleep? LOL. Give him another hour and we'll be dealing with breakfast and getting his schoolwork started.

Until then...I'll work on a beta read for a friend. As soon as we finish little man's homework, hopefully I can work on my chapter. Is everyone enjoying the change in the weather? Are the leaves beautiful where you live?

Have a productive day and happy writing!

Happy NaNo!

I know, I know. I'm a little late. NaNoWriMo officially began on November 1. I signed up, but my WIP is my first manuscript that I wrote during NaNo in 2007 and needs a complete rewrite. I have a chapter and a half revised and will use suggestions I received back from judges in the FAB contest to tweak a few issues before I move on. I found out that I came within 3 points of being a finalist. I had thought seriously that it was time to put this ms away for good...methinks it just earned itself another chance. Anyone else participating? What are you working on?

You guys would be proud of me...I've been able to get up and around the last two days and got out of the house. Hubby took me to dinner last night and I was actually brave enough to go grocery shopping with Mom at Walmart. Thank you so much for your encouragement, love, and support. I'm still hurting but can at least get out of bed and my recliner by myself. I absolutely HATE feeling so independent. I gave in last Thursday and went to the hospital. They gave me something to help ease my symptoms until my appointment on the 20th with the specialist. I've been a good girl and increased my daily water intake and decreased the amount of crap I usually inhale. As soon as the pain in my hips and back ease up, I'll slowly start exercising to a yoga DVD I have. We've decided to sell the building so the hot tub is on hold until we move. I checked with a gym I used to go to and they have water aerobics I can try.

Well...little man did better with his new glasses than we thought he would. The frames lasted a whole month before he found a way to break them. LOL. I talked with the doc office today and they may be under warranty. *sigh* It didn't come as a surprise but it's amazing how well behaved he has become with the loss of television and video games. So much so that we've decided this is a great time to set a higher limit. I take full credit for allowing him to pretty much have no limits. As long as he got his homeschool work finished, he was allowed to watch or play unlimited. Bad Mommy. He hasn't argued or given me a hard time the last two days so it has given me the incentive to set higher limits. We had fun today and started preparing our materials for planned Thanksgiving crafts. Hopefully we'll get dinner and shower over early tonight and keep the newly scheduled bedtime. If I can be strong and committed...I should have plenty of writing time tonight. Yay me.

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!!

Adversity

Well...hopefully all of you made it through Monday without a scratch. My day turned out to be pretty ok. Little man had Taekwondo practice and as much as I hated to drag myself out of my pj's, he needed the exercise and kiddo interaction. Hubby finally sold our extra 5th wheel hitch which means I'll get the charm necklace that I've been drooling over for my birthday. Yay me!! I'll have to take pictures and post on Thursday. And I actually cooked dinner last night. The boys were kind enough to let me know I'd slacked off lately and they were due for a homecooked meal. I made ranch style fried chicken, cheddar-garlic mashed potatoes with fresh parsley, and a salad. I'm sure I could've been more creative with the veggies but that's another story.

Several of you mentioned struggling with your chosen path. That was the reason for my post. I think we're all faced at some point, or on a regular basis, with doubts or roadblocks. While my first instinct and reaction is to pray, I eventually have to make a decision to move on. The reason I'm so nostaligic recently is because I've been faced with some difficult choices and my path is changing because of possible roadblocks.

I've openly shared with you guys my passion to bulldoze forward with our family dream to own a restaurant. We've started and stopped in the past for various reasons but I really thought this was the time to move forward. I've put alot of time and energy lately into the business planning and building a solid foundation so we wouldn't be faced with problems later down the line. The website for my bath & body shop is ready for product pictures and descriptions. I've been so busy that I've had to put my publishing dreams on hold.

Until now. I think the decision has been made for me. I finally have a name for my health issues. Recently my body has been telling me to slow down and I prayed that I could find the strength to keep pushing and would slow down once we could hire people to step in and help. Wrong. My lab tests came back positive and the diagnosis is Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have an appointment with a specialist to begin my treatment plan to stop the progression, but my doctor believes I also have Lupus with possible lung and kidney involvement. Which really sucks because I'll have to start taking pills on a daily basis.

My doc says that RA and Lupus affects everyone differently but because of my symptoms and apparent progression, I need to forget the restaurant plans. He believes that once they begin the treatment I'll have some pain relief, but the stress and physical demands of owning a restaurant will be too much. They'll send me to occupational/physical therapy to help with the pain in my joints and muscles. My son's Taekwondo instructor says he'll add Yoga and Tai-Chi to his classes and that will help with my fatigue. And we'll have an excuse to get a hot tub. Darn it. ;)

Chosen path? What about roadblocks? Methinks my writing has sabotaged the restaurant. It looks as if my writing will take center stage again. I'll deal with rejections and editing just like I have in the past. If it doesn't work...find a way to fix it or move on. God answers prayers in mysterious ways. ;)

Chosen Path

Good Monday morning! I hope ya'll had a spectactular weekend...or at least didn't hurt yourselves?! ;) I began my Monday morning with a sick teen man/child and a dog who couldn't wait to be let out. *sigh* Lovely. I want to be grouchy, but I just read a post from one of my blog friends and feel uplifted for some odd reason.

Have you ever wondered how some people manage to work through adversity? Whether you're working full-time outside of the home and go home exhausted only to start your second job as mom in charge, or you're a stay-at-home mom trying to find time to write between children wanting, fighting or whining. I'm a stay-at-home mom and I don't know how I ever worked two jobs as a single parent. You just do it. You could have 10 children or none at all. You may have a simple cold or life altering disease. Maybe it is/was a rejection on a manuscript you absolutely feel is a best-seller. We all have our conflicts, internal and external roadblocks.

Isn't that what we torture our characters with? It's our job to create substantial conflict to sustain it through to the end. Have you had a professional, a reader or crit partner question the character's motive or strength of conflict? What may be enough to some, may not be worthy to another.

You may not even be a writer, but I think most of us have a chosen path. It may change tomorrow for whatever reason, choices come with consequences. Good or bad. I think it's all about how we roll with the punches. Good or bad. Is it fate or a higher power that changes the path for us or helps us keep our feet planted firmly along the journey? Have faith and confidence in your choices. Have faith in your path and it'll shine through to those chosen to be a part of that path.

Self-Publishing

One of my crit partners posted an interesting link the other day and I thought I'd run it past you guys. I've never known anyone who went the self-publishing route, that I know of anyways, and I hadn't really looked in to it. It is definitely a dream of mine to be published, but not if I have to fork out the money to do it.

Author J.A. (Joe) Konrath has an interesting blog that I check out often. When I followed the link my crit partner posted, I wasn't surprised to see where it took me. I found this particular post interesting because I hadn't heard about self-publishing directly through Kindle or any of the digital readers. It's something I'd like to check into further to see if there are any hidden snags we should be aware of. One thing I wonder about is if there is a contract involved that would tie up my rights in case I get an offer through a print publisher. The only cost involved seems to be for the cover art. You'd have to be serious about marketing yourself and getting your name out there, but I believe it could be something worth considering.

See what ya think...

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing