Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

That was me this weekend. I took a great fall and did a faceplant on a concrete patio. Most likely I broke my nose--definitely a black eye. Scabby face and bruises on every part of my body. I'm a real cutie pie.

It was early in the morning and my feet just weren't awake yet, I guess. I went to let my dogs outside for their morning "business." I stepped over the--well, not quite--I tripped over the small dog fence and kaboom. I remember feeling my skin scrape across the cement and thinking like my two-year-old grandson, Michael, "uh-oh!"

Without exception everyone has asked, "Didn't you put your hands out?"

"Uh, no. Just my face." (I do not know why my hands didn't respond, except that I would have probably broken my right wrist--disaster for a writer.)

"Did you go to the doctor?"

"Uh no, I prefer self-medicating." (Just kidding!) Actually, by the time I realized that my nose was probably broken, it was hours afterwards. I figured that by that time, it wasn't going to do any good. (Afi, if you're reading this, I'll see you on Tuesday anyway--smile.)

All right, I am off to watch the Tony's and I need to take another Tylenol.

Friday -- The Writer's Porch -- Writers Write

Whenever you attend a writer's conference you will inevitably hear the phrase, “Writers write.” This translates to, if you are really a writer then you sit down at your computer and plod on along. You may sit and stare at the screen for hours, but your cute bottom is stuck to the chair until you write something down.

For the past several months, I have struggled with making myself write. I can think of a bazillion other things that I need to do or want to do. However, yesterday I made a decision to get back in the saddle (my ergonomic computer chair) and to write 300 words a day—except for Saturday and Sunday. If I do the math correctly that averages out to 1500 words a week. If I do this for 52 weeks, I will have written 78,000 words—in essence a book. And if I am honest with myself and I am actually writing I will probably achieve closer to 600 words a day. So for me that translates to writing my blog, my Proverbs 31 devotions and a book in one year. So why haven’t I kept up this pace? Good question.

Here are the things that tend to distract me from writing:

Emails

Internet research (Yes, we must do it as writers, but I can do it for hours)

Phone calls I feel I just have to make

Playing Hearts on the computer

A few weeks ago, I read Michael Hyatt’s blog. He’s the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. He highly suggested setting the goal of zero emails in the inbox by the end of the day and to only read your emails twice a day. Check it out at http://michaelhyatt.com/2008/06/yes-you-can-stay-on-top-of-email.html Love it!

Internet “research” can take on a life of its own. It can become a fire breathing dragon that fries up your writing time. Make your search and stop! Personally, I am going to try to do my research at night while I'm watching TV or sitting outside enjoying the summer weather. And try not to do it when I am supposed to be typing away.

When I am sitting at my desk, for some reason I always think of someone I should call. So I call and bingo, 30 minutes is burned up on the phone. So, my new resolution is no calls until I have written my 300 words.

And the game of Hearts? It needs to be deleted. I had to do that once with Solitaire when I had a manuscript deadline looming ahead of me. So, if I can’t stop Hearts, it’s going into the recycling bin.

John Saul said, "When I write a book, I always think it's patently absurd that I can write one. No one, certainly not me, can write a book 500 pages long. But I know I can write 15 pages, and if I write 15 pages everyday, eventually I'll have 500 of them." (1942).

My word count for today: 750. Woohoo!

Babbling About Books--Thursday--House of Dark Shadows

House of Dark Shadows (Series Dream House Kings)
Robert Liparulo
Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
(2008)

Yesterday I encouraged my blogger friends to invest in the youth of our nation by encouraging them in their gifts and passions that God has given to them. So today I thought I would follow-up with a great young adult book series. These books would be a great summer read for you and your kids.

The first book of the series, House of Dark Shadows, begins with the history of a very strange house. The protagonist, Xander, moves into the house with his family. He has an eerie feeling right away and soon the house begins to reveal its secrets—and they are truly scary. It is a page turner from beginning to end.

What I like about these books is they aren’t smarmy religiously written books. They are action filled with real kids who do things they shouldn’t, get into situations because of poor choices, and the house is frightening. The characters are believable. Mr. Liparulo has written a book that grabs the read with the fantasy and the character driven plot, while not succumbing to the occultic tendency of the Harry Potter books. Think of a cross between J.R.R. Tolkien and Edgar Allen Poe.

I sat in on a lecture by Liparulo at the Christian Book Expo. His thoughts on plots and character intrigued me. I went out and purchased most of his books. (He writes adult thrillers, also.) I have not been disappointed. He knows what he’s doing in the genre of thrillers for adults and young adults.

As for House of Dark Shadows I applaud Thomas Nelson, the publisher, for printing Christian Young Adult fiction that not only will reel in the kids, but can keep an adult turning the page. I have purchased the series and will keep them for my grandchildren to read in the future.

Hang on Michael, Emily and Brianna, these books will make you want to keep a flashlight by your bed even when you’re a big person.

Next Generation--Encourage Her Now!

Do you dream about speaking or writing? Do you wish that you had pursued your dream earlier? I certainly do. I wanted to be a writer at the age of fourteen. Decades later I finally began the pursuit of my writing dream.

I hear about young women who hold a passion for Christ and want to dedicate their lives to His service. Just on Monday, I spoke with a mom whose daughter has the gift of writing. I told her to encourage her--put her in a writing class somewhere!

Now there is the problem--finding that type of creative outlet for young women. Proverbs 31 Ministries has the solution. We provide Next Generation, which is held during the same time as our She Speaks Conference. Please let me encourage you to bring your daughter, niece, granchild, etc. to Next Generation. They will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with nationally known authors and speakers. They will catch a glimpse of dreams coming true. Each young woman will be loved upon and encouraged to follow her heart.

I feel passionately about this opportunity. One of my nieces showed amazing talent to write in her teen years. But life took over and she has shelved the gift of writing words to work in a mundane job. I wish I could've provided an outlet for her dreams. I wish I hadn't waited so long.

Take the opportunity of Next Generation to fulfill a dream of someone you know! Register her online at http://www.shespeaksconference.com/theNextGenInfo.htm

Friendships--Priceless

The last few days I have had treasured moments with some of my favorite people, my girlfriends. I sipped coffee with a friend who makes me laugh like no one else. I shared with one of my dearest friends heart-to-heart the struggles of life.

Then tonight I went to my small group that consists of seven girlfriends. We ate, laughed, studied and prayed together--absolutely priceless.

I have given some thought to what I treasure in my friends. Number one is authenticity and number two is a great sense of humor. I need all the laughter I can get in my life. Tonight at Bible study, somehow we got off on the topic of doing kegel exercises. (If you are not sure what those are, do a Google search.) :) We laughed our heads off.

I would not trade my friendships for anything. They are a gift from God.

Psalms 126:2-3 (MSG) "We laughed, we sang, we couldn't believe our good fortune. We were the talk of the nations— 'God was wonderful to them!' God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people."

What Frustrates You?

Now honestly, I can't believe how hard televisions are to work nowadays. Why does my TV have four different remote controls? My husband was gone on a Harley ride for a couple of days. All I wanted to do was to watch an old classic--Gone With the Wind. But do you think I could figure out how to play a simple DVD? No!

I called my husband and interrupted his "guy time", but no help on a long distance phone call. Then I called my son, certainly he could help me. But not even my TV savvy son could seem to steer me through all the right buttons. To make matters worse, the TV was stuck on the rolling TV Channel rolling through the times and shows. Even worse, the set wouldn't shut off. The screen just kept scrolling, scrolling, and scrolling . . .

Finally, after two hours of pushing buttons, I gave up. So then I thought, "I'll just watch the DVD on my computer." Now at least it played on the computer, but I couldn't hear it very well. I even grabbed my i-pod ear buds. However, the sound barely projected. Sigh.

I know this is a small thing in the whole scheme of life, but let me tell you, I was one frustrated woman, But even as I write this I smile inside; what a silly thing to upset me. I know and understand the terrible blows that life deals on a daily basis. But even in the most terrible of crises it seems that the small things can tip the scale in an emotional crisis. Why is that?

One thing I can't figure out is why such little things throw me into such a tizzy? But reality check, I was one frustrated woman. What are the little things in life that make you a crazy woman?

By the way, does anyone know how to work the four TV remote controls?

Friday--The Writers' Porch--Wretched Rejection

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit."—Richard Bach.

One of the most difficult things we experience as a writer in process of publication is the rejection letter. One of the analogies of writing is that it is similar to having children. We labor over our words and we protect our creations. Then whammy—someone rejects it. We feel hurt personally. We become discouraged and want to quit writing. We wonder, “Why?”

The truth of publication is almost every writer experiences the “rejection letter.” Here’s my thoughts on the ominous rejection—rejoice. If you have received the “No” letter, then at least it means you have send out your baby for review. Here’s the choice— if you don’t send it out you’ll never be rejected, but you’ll never be published, either.

There are several reasons an editor sends a rejection letter for our precious manuscripts. The reason could have nothing to do with your writing. It might be the wrong type of project for the publisher, or perhaps they recently purchased something similar. Unfortunately, rejections usually do not include the reason for rejection, so we assume the worst—they didn’t like our baby. But wonder if they liked it, but just couldn’t publish it? There’s no way to know.

So, I suggest you send out the manuscript and give it wings to fly. Keep writing, in the meantime, with new ideas and projects. If you get a rejection letter, so what? Keep writing, collect the rejections and wallpaper the room where you write.

Don’t take rejection personally, use it as a springboard. Use it as part of the writing process and learn from it if you can, but don’t quit writing. Writers write, published writers submit and experience rejection. Remember, authors like John Grisham and Stephen King were rejected multiple times, but look at ‘em now. Perseverance in writing, submitting and publication is the key to a writer’s success.

Until Monday,