Writing

~And Here We Go Again…

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I know, I know… I always come back after an absence of posting, with renewed resolves to become the blogger I once was… and I always seem to fail. I was doing pretty good about a year and a half ago. I even had more than one or two readers. (I’m thinking Ashton, you might be the only one around now…) Then, we moved. Yes, that was my excuse. I can’t use it anymore though. My family  has moved three times in the last two and a half years. It’s been crazy. But we’ve now been in this house for six months… I think we’re settled. Hopefully, LORD willing, the crazy moving spree is over and we’ll stay put for awhile – and free of sickness. I have no idea how people manage to keep up their blog through sickness and household upheaval. I do, however, want to try. I really miss my blog. I miss sharing my posts with readers, interacting with fellow bloggers, doing an in-depth review of the newest book I’ve read… I miss it. So, settled or not, I hope to begin again, here and now, to blog regularly.

I need to move a few things around on here… and update my About Me page… I already redesigned my header! Bethany drew me the feather and I did the rest. Doesn’t it look neat?

As for new posts, I have some books to review – hopefully, I’ll go back to reviewing a book every Wednesday – a few poems to share, and I’m working on a serial story to start putting up. Not sure what day I’ll do for that one. I also have plenty of updates to share about my upcoming books, Grandmother’s Letters and The Tale of a Say’s Phoebe. (The first is Christian Contemporary Fiction for young adults, the second is a children’s picture book.)

I’m off to work on getting some of these ready… Oh, and in case anyone wants to know, windmills make me think of the passage of time… hence the picture at the head of this post.

To the KING be all the glory!

~Checking In!

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And, was, passive sentence, active voice, comma here, comma there, capitalize this, italicize that… My brain is about to be fried and turn to ashes. Maybe I’m too much of a perfectionist for a first time author. Maybe my original manuscript was terrible. I’m not sure. I do know that I had no idea how much work I was getting into when I started this revision! None. I’m hoping that I’ll be done very soon… I just hope I still have brain enough left when I’m done!

My characters are better for the rewrite. Almost non-existent minor characters have been brought out. Problems with major characters are fixed. I’ve changed a few names and revised a few timeline issues.

I’m still working on my cover idea. I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing with it yet, but I have a picture in my head. I’m working on ideas for marketing and trying to write loglines.

I promise to have a more interesting post soon. I seriously do have a few poems started and plenty of book reviews in my mental queue. Until then, back to my keyboard and Word documents…

 
To the KING be all the glory!

~I’ve Been Missing…

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I’ve been sort of missing for the last week. I had posts planned and everything, but not written, when my editor unexpectedly handed over the last of her notes on one of my books. Instead of posting, I spent nearly all of my computer time last week, editing… constantly editing. Now, I’m basically done! I have a final draft sitting in my computer, on the laptop and backed up for safety. I am in the process of a final read through, but it’s only pages away from being complete.

For those of you who keep track of word counts, this is one of my shorter books. It’s a children’s book titled A Year with the Potters. It’s about 27,000 words. I’ve been working on it for several years now, and much of it comes from real life occurrences. My goal with this story is to have a good book for children, that also teaches them as they read. The book follows a Christ-following, homeschool family as they explore nature, learn lessons of character and study history (such as learning about Martin Luther), always bringing everything back to the word of God. It’s pretty light-hearted, more so than my other books. I’m so excited to have it completed, that I can’t seem to stop telling how excited I am! It’s my first book to come this far!

On a random note, I’m reading The Phantom of the Opera right now. Trying to see why I’ve seen so many people say how much they like it. I’m about an eighth of the way through it, and I’m reserving judgment until I’ve read more.

I plan to begin posting again. My review for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde should be up by the end of the week, LORD willing, and I’m already planning some posts for next week. It will be nice to get my blog going again… until the next project claims my attention.

To the KING be all the glory!

~A Busy Parking Lot

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I wrote this while I was waiting for Daddy and my sister to come out of a store yesterday. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, if anything. I would love to hear your thoughts!

*****

Curled up on her little seat, Karen watched the sea of faces ebbing in and out before her, searching in vain for one that she recognized.

So many faces! So many strangers! the shy side of the twenty-two year old made her shrink from interaction, even that of mere sight. Protected by a makeshift shelter, she mentally separated the people into groups. A family of four, likely shopping for dinner, walked through the parking lot with Grandpa and Grandma. The adults talked happily as they went, while the little ones rode in the cart.

A tired other with a four year old in her arms and an eight year old by her side. Her husband walked just behind her, a cell phone to his ear. His smile was completely opposite of her look of exhaustion.

A man of 50, his hair silvered and his shoulders bowed, walked by the side of a young man of 17. Likely his son, the two bore no resemblance to each other. The dark wavy hair and the broad features of the younger, contrasted with the sharp chiseled bones and straight hair of the older man. Dark glasses hid his eyes completely, while the pale eyes of the father ran from place to place with amazing speed.

Karen’s own bright eyes continued to scan over the pedestrians, once these had disappeared. Still, any search for a familiar face proved vain. Her heat constricted and she sighed for sheer loneliness. After all, what were the odds that she would randomly see someone that she knew in the middle of a busy parking lot?

An elderly couple walked laughingly by, carrying their two small grandsons. One about a year, the other perhaps three, the little ones were evidently the joy and treasures of their grandparents.

A young couple walked hand in hand. Though probably in their thirties, they had no children. They went to the doorway of the store, only to return to their car, obviously in search of a forgotten object. The husband searched, while the wife waited, the wind lightly blowing at her long brown hair. A moment and the two were walking again, once more hand in hand.

 

To the KING be all the glory!

~A Tiny Writing Update and “I’m it!”

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I have been writing sporadically this weekend. We went to a funeral on Friday, and somehow it just seemed to make the entire weekend somewhat odd. I did get a little done though, and LORD willing, either this Friday, or the next, I’ll be able to show you one of my new projects. I just need to get it a little farther along first. Anyway…

I was tagged last week by Perry. I haven’t done any tags in years now, but this one looked really fun. Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with 11 random things about yourself? I do now! Since nearly all of my cyber friends have been tagged already, I tried to come up with those who hadn’t… for the most part. :)  I tag the following:

Mrs. Havig

Aubrey

Jamie

Kayla

Sadie

RubyThursdays

Rules of the game:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post 11 random things about yourself. (Though this can be optional.)

3. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you in their post.

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you ask to answer.

5. Go to their blog and let them know you’ve tagged them.

 

11 Random Things:

1. My first story I ever wrote a lot on was about a boy named Joseph who planted a tree in the desert. It never even amounted to a short story in length though.

2. People usually think I look younger than I am. Less than six months ago, I was asked what grade I was in. (and I was 21 at the time.)

3. Most of my writing is done in the same room with all of my siblings making noise, people talking to me and often, music or a movie playing, not to mention 25 other interruptions in an hour. I used to write while singing the baby to sleep too.

4. Two of my favorite subjects to study are history and astronomy. Each of them are so fascinating and the LORD’s hand is so evident in each!

5. I really, really, enjoy singing!

6. I want to learn American Sign Language efficiently.

7. Vintage style clothing from the 1930’s through the 1950’s are my favorite styles, as long as the skirts are long enough.

8. Science with all it’s branches is fascinating!! Chemistry, Biology, Anthropology, Paleontology…

9. Sometimes I write my journal entries as poetry. I write letters to my friends in the same way at times too.

10. I am the eldest child in my family.

11. I always have far too many writing projects going at once!
The questions that Perry asked:

1. Were you / are you homeschooled?

– Homeschooled all my life.

2. Do you like rain or sunshine?

– It depends on my mood. As a general rule, I love rainy days though!

3. What is one thing that usually inspires you to write?

-Watching people, especially my sisters and my friends.

4. Facebook: “like” or “unlike”?

– “Like” most of the time. I don’t enjoy the changes, but I do enjoy reading statuses written by my friends.

5. How many people are in your family?

-Less then 10. :)

6. Have you ever written something on a roll of toilet paper?

-I don’t think so, but I’ve written on napkins before! And I once a received a letter from my grandmother written on a roll of toilet paper!

7. Fiddle or classical violin music?

-Classical violin!

8. Do you know the rules for “to,” “too,” “your,” and “you’re”? ;)

-“I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might tend to incriminate me, since I’m a writer!” :p I think I *mostly* understand them though.

9. Do you prefer writing on paper or on the computer?

-Paper. Always.

10. What is your favorite book (other than the Bible)?

-Oh my!! Well, there’s A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens… and The Betrayal by Douglas Bond… and Nicholas Nickleby, also by Mr. Dickens… then Mrs. Havig’s Aggie Series… then the Sherlock Holmes stories… and that’s just fiction! I don’t think I can pick an individual favorite! :)

11. How many books do you personally own? (You can estimate if the amount is so great you won’t get any writing done today for counting them all.)

-About 50? I’m still working on building my library though. :)

 

My list of questions:

1. Would you rather read a book or watch a movie?

2. Do you have a favorite poet?

3. Is your handwriting neat or sloppy?

4. What font do you like to type in?

5. What is your favorite book of the Bible?

6. Ice Cream or Cake?

7. Do you prefer to write with a pen or a pencil?

8. Do you prefer to be hot or cold?

9. What is one of your favorite hymns?

10. What do you do when you want to relax?

11. Do you prefer to e-mail or make a phone call?

I hope that you all had fun reading! :)
To the KING be all the glory!