Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Small Accomplishments

     The past week has been one of those mundane sort of weeks.   It poured rain for days.  Now I admit that I love a good rain storm but when the kid's toys start floating around in the back yard I am ready for some sunshine.  Today I was finally able to send my oldest son outside to run off some of his energy.  I was one happy momma!
     I haven't felt like I've been making any real progress this week.  I didn't make my writing goal.  My mood has been as dismal as the weather.  My floors are in need of a good mopping. I'm tired of being grumpy.  If I really look at my week without judging myself to harshly I see that I finished an afghan that I have been working on forever.  Homeschooling is going well.  My oldest has had his nose stuck in a book ( or my e-reader!) all week and I'm happy with the direction my novel is going.  I just might make my goal this time! Perspective really is an amazing thing.
Now to take care of those floors....

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

IndieReCon

   I am only half way done with my first draft of my novel.  It is about 200 pages long!  Even though I still have so much writing and then revising in my near future I am starting to look ahead to publishing options. 
    I am seriously considering self-publishing (Indie).  I have been attending an online conference called IndieReCon and it has answered so many of my questions about this publishing route.  Until recently I didn't even realize how many best selling books are indie.  I love how you are still completely in control of your own work and image.  One thing I'm not sure how to work around is the upfront cost that comes with hiring your own editor ect.
    For now I suppose I will just have to learn as much about both sides of publishing as I can.  If I can figure out how to swing it, I really want to give indie a try.  I told my husband and he informed me that he saw this coming.  I didn't.  I suppose I should have.  I have an independent streak that's a mile long.
   If anyone is interested in IndieReCon I would highly recommend checking it out!


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Weekly Progress

   I have officially reached the half way point in my novel!  I am aiming for a total of 60,000 words, but of course if it goes a bit longer than that I wouldn't mind.  Right now my work sits at 31,319. 
    My goal for this week was 7000 words and I surpassed it by 400 words.  My story has doubled in length so far this month!  Now if only I could think of a title.  Everything I think of sounds over used or falls short for some reason or another. I suppose the right one will hit me one of these days.
As for today,  I am not adding a thing to my manuscript.  Hopefully the extra time will be spent catching up on my reading and enjoying time with my family.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Book Review- When to Speak Up and When to Shut Up by Dr. Michael Sedler

      The title of this book pretty much sums up the contents within.  "When to Speak Up and When to Shut Up" by Dr. Michael D. Sedler is about how and when to speak your mind and when silence is the best option. Based on passages from the Bible, this book guides its readers though the obvious and not as obvious principles of Godly conduct in conversation.

     When should you make a stand?  How do you respectfully disagree with an authority figure?  How do you discuss an issue with your spouse with out it turning into an argument? When is silence your best stance?  This book provides the foundations for all of these situations and more.  It emphasizes what the Bible has to say on the many aspects of communication and stresses the importance of making sure that you are well informed and approaching the situation from a heart that is void of selfish motives.  Each chapter is concisely written and has thought provoking questions to help you get the most from the text.

      I enjoyed not only the informative content of this book but the positive tone of the author as well.  The examples were from all walks of life which made it a useful book for anyone who desires to be more Godly in there interactions with others.  At first glance I was expecting this book to be directed more towards people in the corporate world.  I was pleased to find that it was full of information that I could use in my daily conversations as a stay at home mom and wife.  I plan on re-reading this one. 

I received a free copy of this book to review from Chosen Publishing.

Friday, February 8, 2013

February Goal Progress

       My writing goal for this week was to write 5oo words everyday and to figure out my plot.  I still want to work on my plot a bit but I am much happier with it than I was.  It seems to be falling into line quite nicely.  I had been worried that my story was a spineless blob of words but now I am feeling hopeful in its potential again.  A lot of that is just my change in outlook.  The more I wrote, the more I remembered how much I loved this idea in the first place.  As for the word part of my goal, I soon realized that I am now a much faster writer than I was previously.  The words just kept coming, so I just kept writing.  I did over 1000 words a day.  My total for the week was over 8,000!  That is a big accomplishment for me.  I am changing my February goal to 1,000 words a day.  It seems realistic for me now and I love seeing a steady amount of progress on my total word count.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Writing Prompt Fun

I decide to write a quick story to go with the Saturday writing prompt from Kathleen Doyle's blog Writing, Reading,Life.

It was really fun! Here is what I came up with.

      “No! I won’t do it. I hate cleaning.”
 My big sister was mad. That wasn’t anything new.
“I told you to put away your shoes. Start with that.” Mom said.
 Her lips were funny looking, like they had forgotten how to move all the way.
“NO” my sister yelled back. “You can’t make me do it.” She crossed her arms and glared.
 Mom took one step toward her then let out a squeal as her toe connected with a metal dump truck. She almost fell into a bowl of fruit. It was a good thing she missed it. She had spent forever getting it to look like that. I scurried to the far side of the room and started picking up toys as fast as my arms could go. The dump truck was mine. It was supposed to be put away yesterday. I glanced back to see what had become of my sister. She was sitting in the time out corner with a sly grin on her lips.
 “AW, it looks like you have to do all the cleaning by yourself.” she said.
“No I don’t” I said
 The room was a mess.
“Go ask Mom. I’ll bet that she tells you to clean the whole thing”
 I didn’t want to talk to Mom. What if she remembered why her toe hurt?”
 “Yup, you have to clean the whole room, all by yourself. Ahh, it is so relaxing over here. I’m so glad that I don’t have to clean.”
 “No talking in time out “Mom called out from the other room.
“I don’t want to clean the whole room. I’m hungry.” I said.
My sister was smiling with one eye brow raised up taller than the other. That never meant anything good.
 “There is a whole bowl of fruit right there in front of you. Mmm. It looks so good.”
 It did look good. My sister looked over her shoulder to make sure that Mom wasn’t watching. She crawled up to me.
“Take just one bite and you can join me,” she whispered into my ear. “You can’t clean if you’re in time out.”
I looked at the sea of toys and books. I looked at the pile of smelly shoes. Time out really didn’t seem like that bad of an option. I walked up to the fruit bowl and took out the biggest, juiciest apple. It was at the bottom so the rest of the fruit tumbled all over. I opened my mouth and sank my teeth into its shiny skin just as Mom walked into the room.
Moments later I was in time out across the room from my sister. She looked at me and flashed me a triumphant grin. Whatever her motive may have been, she had been right. This sure did beat cleaning.

Sick Kids and Goal Updates

       My poor kids are sick again.  At least two of them are.  The third one is running away from the others begging them not to breathe on him.  Chicken soup is on the menu for today.  I am sad that my babies are sick but a slow paced day full of soup and Blue's Clues doesn't sound that bad.  The past week was full of running around.  Today I plan to air out the bed rooms and wash the linens, maybe I will even light a candle and read with my little ones.  We could all use a relaxing day.
     I have been sticking with my writing goals this month!  I know it is barely into February but I am pleased to have a positive start to it.  Hopefully it will set the tone to a productive month.  I have learned that if I spend time thinking about my characters and settings throughout the day I can have a decent idea of what to write by the time my kids are in bed.  When I finally sit down at the computer the words flow (usually!) and I have been writing close to double the words of my original goal.  I love how my characters are becoming more and more alive in my head! 
    Well, I have hidden from life long enough...  I need to go make some soup!