More About Agents

You can probably tell this is something I am very concerned about at this time in my writing career. It is time for me to think seriously about whether I want an agent or not.

Chip MacGregor, who is an agent, has a good newsletter. The last two have been about agents and I am sure there are more. I know he will be answering more questions in his next issue. He tells you where to go to find out more about agents. Go to www.chipmacgregor.com and sign up for his newsletter.

I am looking for an honest agent. That is high on my priority list. I also want someone who will give me honest advice and not sugar coat it. If they are not trying to sell my book, let me know. I have heard Chip say before if you and he do not get along, go to someone else you like better and he won't hold you to him. That impresses me about any agent. I don't think I could work with someone I could not get along with.

The best way to meet agents is to go to conferences. Yes, it is expensive, but, honey, you don't get anything for free. These agents won't hear about your book on the grapevine and come to you, you have to find them. 

Those television commercials that tell you they made $5000 dollars a month working part-time, the key word is "work." They worked to get it, it was not handed to them. Writing is the same way. If you want to be recognized, you have to work. Go to conferences, meet people, network with authors, learn about publishing houses, enter contests and get to know agents. It is hard work and it costs money, but start saving and do it. You will not regret it. 

I'm a planner. I plan my day either the night before or the minute I get out of bed. I know what I need to do and I try to do it. I know when I want to have my novel polished and ready for an agent or publisher. I am trying to work as hard as I can to accomplish my desires. I'm not dreaming, I am working.

Talking Aboout Agents

There is a lot of talk about agents and whether to have one or not. Some of my author friends are doing fine without an agent and some want an agent. My husband and I have discussed this several times. We both see the advantages of an agent, a good agent.

Yes, you do have to give them a percentage of what you make on a contract and your royalties. On the other hand, they advise you and can get into the door of a publisher better than a writer can, especially a first time writer. There are many pros and cons and I would like to discuss some of them.

First of all you want an agent that will help you grow your business. Not only will they get your manuscript to the right people, but they should help you with other areas of your business. 

You want an agent who is respected in the industry. I have heard a lot of horror stories about agents and on the other hand I have heard wonderful stories about them. Some about the same agent. We all have different personalities and can work with different people better. I would suggest everyone get to know several agents at conferences. One will stand out in your mind and you will be drawn to that person. If you read the ACFW loops, you will get an idea about which agents are better than others.

Is the agent friendly or only talks to certain people? I've seen that happen that some agents have certain groups that they want to talk to. To me, I want an agent that is outgoing with everyone. They are friendly and willing to take a moment to listen to you. I had one agent that seemed enthralled with what I was telling them about my book. That agent had good listening skills. I want an agent like that.

Can the agent offer you anything other than selling your book? Can they help you with good advice about further books? Do they encourage you to go out of your box with promotions? Are they really interested in your book selling or do they just want a paycheck themselves? I want someone who can help me. As a first time writer, I need help. I have found it in other authors and writers, but when it gets down to an agent, I want someone who believes in me and can take my interests at heart.

Do they read your proposal? A good agent will read it, I believe. I may be wrong, but I hope and pray that they do. Can they make suggestions? I live on suggestions and comments from other people. Some people can say one word that will make a difference in your journey. 

When it comes time for that contract, will the agent explain the contract to you. Will they see that there is no mumbo-jumbo in the contract and that everything is legal? I want someone to explain what I don't understand.

Does the agent list their clients on their web site? I like to see who this person represents. I want to know who is associated with that person. I may want to ask them a question. 

As I draw nearer to the agent game, I am thinking more about these questions. I want an agent that will work with me and do the best for me. I want one who is concerned about me as a person. I want someone I can talk to and they will listen.

Another Day of Editing

This is a wonderful day here, but not for some people in other parts of the country. My son and his family are one of those stuck in the ice with no electricity or phone service. I'm doing a  lot of praying as any mother would. I did talk to him last night and they are warm so far, but the temperature dropped to 22 degrees this morning. I've been watching the Weather Chanel to get the latest updates on Paducah, Kentucky. I also have relatives in southern Indiana and they are iced in as well. 

It is raining here and was 58 degrees. That is such a difference from other areas. We will get the cold later today. I have food and a warm house, so I'm not worried.

Today I will be working on more of my novel. I find editing very slow work. Just like everything else, it has to be done. It is so amazing how you can change words to make the thoughts better. When I see the finished product, or finished so far, I am pleased and excited that I have come this far.

I have a wedding to put in the last of the book and I know in that era the bride did not wear white. She most likely dressed as she would going to church. I've found some dresses they would have worn and I have a good idea what my bride will wear. In the frontier, it is completely different. The wedding would have been much more simpler than in a city or town. When you are several miles from civilization, you learn to make do. Food would have been turkey, venison or pheasant. That sounds rich for us today, but there was and still is an abundance of those animals and birds in the area. 

I like the idea of a chivalry. The wedding guests would have followed the couple home and then amused themselves outside their house with songs, beating on wash pans, and a lot of loud noises. When the newly weds brought food out to them, they would eat and leave them alone. From what my father told me, it was more fun for the guests than the couple inside of the house. 

I'm getting ahead of myself by talking about that, but it was a part of the frontier. It is interesting to read about things they did to amuse themselves.

Another Good Day to Write

It's raining and we do need it. Rainy days are good days for me to write or read. Since I am re-writing my edit, I need to write. It is slow going. 

Yesterday I rewrote the ending of my first chapter. I didn't like it all along, but no one had ever pointed it out to me except the person that is editing my novel. I think I made it stronger and more mature. It's the first time the heroine sees her true love. That should be special shouldn't it? That is what I tried to make it be. 

Can you imagine seeing your true love for the first time and you had been on the trail for six weeks? From what I have read, they did stop and take baths and wash clothes during their trek to the frontier. If they didn't they would be a smelly mess. I can't imagine what it would have been like if the first time I saw my husband I had not had a bath in weeks. Learning about how they lived has made me appreciate my warm shower in the mornings and my washing machine.

We are a pampered bunch. We whine about things now that we should be thankful we have. I appreciate my top of the line stove. I can cook fast with a stove top that cools down quickly. I also have a convection oven that I love, plus a warming oven. You can't beat that. I don't think I could cook very long in a fireplace. My food would probably be burned or half cooked.

Soon after I married, we stayed with my husband's grandfather while his parents took a little trip. My mother-in-law cooked on a wood stove and I had never been around one, so it was an experience. I remember Granddaddy Bob saying, "I always did like my biscuits white on top." That was good because they never did brown. My first and last time cooking on a wood stove.

Well, I need to start chapter two and get it finished today. I hope there are not so many red comments, but I'm afraid there probably are. I am improving so much with my writing. It is a wonderful experience and I love it.

Writers Groups

For several years, I have been a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. It is an organization that encourages and supports Christian authors and writers. I don't think I could write and not be a part of this group. Their support and information cannot be explained in mere words. They are our support group, our information channel, our shoulder to cry on and anything you can think about.

Soon after I joined this group, I started looking for groups in my area. There were no Christian groups and since my mind does not know the words that secular writers use, I didn't think I wanted to be exposed to those words. I am much happier in a Christian setting. I don't want my mind cluttered with language I can't use at church and in front of my family.

Since there was no one in my area, I put out the word on one of our loops to see if there was anyone in this area. There was and we started our own group. So far most of our members are members of the ACFW, but since we are in the planning stage, we are not that picky.

We had a very interesting meeting Saturday, and we are making plans for more meetings to come. It is exciting to be a part of something where we all have the same goals, to write clean, decent literature. These ladies are an encouragement to me. They are young and full of energy. They have a glow in their eyes when they talk about what they are writing. It's almost like them telling about their first love. To watch them is very exciting and rejuvenating. It was a very exciting day.

We're Having a Heat Wave

The south is not supposed to be cold! Last week we were three degrees and it was COLD! Today it is supposed to be close to sixty degrees. That is a big difference. I did find out one thing. When it is really, really cold, I can't write. It was warm in my house, but I think my brain was frozen.

I did whine a little to a friend in northern Ohio. She had no pity for me since she was living with a -25 degrees. For us in Tennessee three is cold.

My writing was slow yesterday due to another accident I had. I am accident prone and I tripped over a rug and fell into my kitchen. I landed on my bad knee and my shoulder. I also hit my mead on a coat rack. My head hurt most of the afternoon and my knee was swollen. Today I am sore, no bruises showing yet and I do have a headache. I've taken Tylenol and I should feel better in a few minutes.

In re-writing yesterday, I did find I was using a lot of the same words. I do try to watch, but then I get lazy and forget to catch everything. That is why you have critique partners and editors. 

I've tried to use those talking machines, but I am not technical and I can never get it to work. I put one on my computer and never could get the little fellow to read my novel. I must be doing something wrong. I do want to try again to see if I can get it to work. It will help with my writing.

I don't think I have written much about determination. I am a firm believer that if you are determined to do something and work hard to do it, that it will happen. Working in the right way is important.

I hear a lot of people say they have written several books, but none are published. They continue to get rejections. Rejections can be discouraging or they can be an encouragement. They are a learning tool. The letters tell you what you can do to improve. Determination comes next. Are you going to use all the tools you have available to make yours the best book ever, or are you going to wallow in your defeat? Personally, I'm going to use everything I can to make this the perfect book.

It's not cheap to succeed. We get nothing free in this world. If you want to succeed, you need to find a good editor to read your book and show you what you need to do to improve. I have found editors to be kinder than critique partners. I've laughed at some of the notes that my editor gives me. She shows me in a nice way what I can do to improve. I don't think she has ever said, "Don't do this" or "Don't do that." She has shown me in a positive way that I understand. Then comes the Flip Dictionary to find a better word. I don't know how anyone writes without a Flip Dictionary. It is so useful.

I need to make up for lost time and get busy. I'm still enjoying my "work." I don't think I can call this work. It is so much fun. I am praying that my book will be ready to send to a publisher before the end of this year. Then you can all read it.

Self-Edits

Right now I am in the middle of a self-edit. No, I am not editing myself, which would be a good idea, but I am going through my novel and making it stronger.

Yesterday I talked about characterizations and how we need to notice people. That has been brought home to me more than once. When you are writing, you also want to bring the reader into the book by using our senses. Did the character smell something, touch something, see something, hear something? Remember this is a real person to you.

That is what I am doing now. I have finished the first draft, so to say. With 79,500 words already written, I am able to add more words by giving more detail. This is wonderful and I am enjoying bringing them to life for the reader.

If you are writing, remember to put this in your book. I realize not everyone writes, but if you write a blog you want it to be interesting. If you blog as a scrapbooker, the feel of the paper is important. At lease it is for me if it has fibers in it or other things you can feel. There is more to say about things than we realize. 

I have learned so much in the last few weeks. Now I am anxious to finish with this edit. I have finished most of my house work today so I can write. The only thing I have to do is read the Bible for today and exercise. 

I have exercised for 23 days and more than that with daily Bible readings. Both exercises strengthen my mind and body. I have to make my body strong before we take our trip. I think there will be "hill walking" on the agenda. Also, strengthen my knowledge in God's Word is something I try to do daily. 

Things We do

There are several things we do each day that we don't realize. When I first started writing, I wrote more or less like I talked. As I wrote more, I realized there were several useless words I used to fill space in writing. You know about word count, don't you?

Word count is how we know how long or short our novel will be. On some programs on your computer, you can set your word count. To think about writing 90,000 to 100,000 thousand words can blow your mind. It did mine in the beginning. Now I set a number of words I want to write each day to finish a novel in a certain length of time.

Word fillers are like it sounds, words to fill a page. When I first started writing, my favorite word was "that" and I used it often. As I began to re-read my written word, I realized it was unnecessary to put so many "that" in my work. So I began going back and eliminating them.

Do you watch people? I have always loved to. When I was small, back in the 40's and 50's, we would spend some Sunday afternoons driving to town and sitting in the car on the side of the street watching people. Even now when I am out, I still watch people. A ballgame is a wonderful place to watch people. Do you really notice what they are doing? You can get some good notes for your novel if you do.

Are you conscious of what you do at different times? When I am nervous or bored, I pick my cuticles on my fingernails. A bad habit I know, but I am trying to break myself of it. I don't like scary movies. When I am home and it gets to the scary part, I leave the room. My family knows what I'm doing and I do get kidded a lot. 

Notice what you do each day and why you do it. It will amaze you.

What Is a Writer?

This morning I started to write my blog since my husband was painting in the basement. We have a huge basement filled with my mother's things. We are trying to clean up and make a large family room. Anyway, he was painting and I was on the computer. He dropped something connected to his computer and mixed some cords around and I had no computer upstairs. The wireless was dead. I tried not to lose my cool, but I'm afraid I did. That is one thing a writer or anyone else should not do. So here goes how I feel about writing.

A writer should be flexible with disappointments and with compliments. I can take the disappointments and learn from them, but compliments are something else. I don't want to seem proud and say, "I knew I could do that." Instead I feel I should be humble, but then when someone pays you a compliment about your writing, how humble do you go? I have been writing for three years and I feel I have made a lot of progress. I've been told that I am doing a good job and making a lot of progress. I am trying and it is paying off.

A writer should have an open mind about writing. Writing changes each day or year. Things we were doing five years ago are not done today. Life changes, our jobs changes, our families change, so there are changes in writing. Be able to adapt to those changes and look at things positive. 

Writing is a constant learning curve. I sure don't know anything much about writing. Those who have wrote for years know so much more than I do. That is why I network with those people. They can teach me so much. I read a lot of books on writing and people. I am reading a book on body language by Tonya Reiman now. That book is helping me with my characters. When I want one to be shifty, I know they won't look anyone in the eye. Why do they look at their feet? They are guilty of something, shy or don't want to give you an answer. There is so much to learn. I'm also reading Donald Maas, The Breakout Novel. There is so much to do and learn.

Writing is for enjoyment. If I want someone to enjoy my novel, I have to love it also. If my characters are to be liked, I have to like them when I write them. I feel I have to enjoy what I do. I've worked jobs where I hated to go into work, but I had to for money. Now that I am retired, I can enjoy my work and I can sit in my pajamas and work all I want to.

A writer has to find time for play. Playing is very important in life. Whether you go for a walk, scrapbook or play a game with children, playing relaxes your body and mind. When I exercise, I relax and have fun. Yes, it can be fun. Then when I am through, I go back to writing and my mind is fresher.

All of that said, I need to exercise and then work. Have a good afternoon and evening.

Writing Friends

The most wonderful thing to me is friends. My most cherished friends are writing friends. If you have read my web site, www.kattanderson.com, you know that I am a member of the church of Christ. We have a group of writers, some published and some unpublished who keep in touch with each other. It is a very friendly, loving group of women.

Over the week-end we have been trying to put something together to promote us as members of the church of Christ. By putting all of our heads together, we have an idea. 

We are contributing bio's, pictures of ourselves or our book covers, recipes and other things. I am so excited to be doing this. Although I am not published, I will be included because things are moving along so good with me. These will be on a CD.

One of the published authors will distribute these at Freed-Hardeman University the first week in February. So, everyone has to get a move on and get this finished. I am so happy that we are doing this because there will be a chance for us to advertise within the church.

I am so proud of my Sister authors. A couple have published with small publishers and their books are not so widely known. Our exception is Christine Lynxwiler who is published with Barbour. All of the ladies are great authors and I hope soon to be a part of them.

In the next few weeks, I plan of having interviews with these ladies, plus some of my writing friends that I work closely with. I have enjoyed interviewing so much and I plan to do more in the future.

It's snowing here in East Tennessee. The ground is white and more snow is to fall today. I love the snow better than the cold weather. When it was three degrees, I could not motivate myself to do anything. I wanted to curl up in a blanket and stay warm. Snow is different. It energizes me.

If anyone would like a CD, let me know and I will be glad to send one to you. Reply on the comments and I will be in touch with you privately to get your snail mail address.

The Red Siren

Last night around midnight, I finished The Red Siren, by M.L. Tyndall. I knew I could not go to bed until I finished it. I never even thought of reading the last page, but that ruins the story when you do that.

A couple of years ago I read the first of Mary Lu's books, The Redemption. I never in my wildest dreams ever imagine I would love pirate stories so much. 

Several years ago I worked for a company that rewarded us with paid trips. One of these trips was to Barbados. I did not even know where the island was, much less know anything about it. We stayed at a resort called Sam Lord Castle. I had no idea what it was, except I had seen a picture of the castle. 

The first thing I remember was the heat. At midnight, it was smothering and that was the cool part of the day. For some reason, I went to the castle, I think just to see it. One of the employees took my friends and I through part of the castle and told us the story of the pirate, Sam Lord. I was hooked a little on pirate stories, but it was just history to me.

Later we went to Okracoke Island and there you hear more pirate stories. I was more interested in the lighthouses than the pirates, but it made chills run down my spine hearing about them.

The Red Siren is about a lady pirate, Fath Westcott. She was not a blood thirsty pirate and never killed anyone, just took their merchandise. She states in one place that she is like a Robin Hood. She is so angry with God and I got so frustrated with her that I wanted to shake her several times and tell her to wake up. 

Then there is Dajon Waite, who falls in love with her, but he is there to capture pirates, especially the Red Siren. How interesting! The twists and turns are so exciting. I cannot say that I never put the book down. I did several times. I would become so furious with Faith that I could not read for a while. When I cooled off, I would go back to it. Maybe that is why my blood pressure has risen lately.

I do highly recommend this book. This history of Charles Towne is interesting. Mary Lu, you did a fantastic job with this book. The next in the series will be out this fall. Can't wait.

Getting Behind

It is so easy to get behind in anything. I find if I don't write in the mornings, I don't write at all. I am a morning person. By afternoon, I am not interested in completing any job. That was until yesterday.

Yesterday was an early morning appointment with the doctor. That threw everything behind. My check-up went well, but it didn't help the rest of my day. My day went haywire from there on.

I teach a teen-age girls class on Wednesday nights. The lessons are very good and the girls are very interested, but I could not get motivated at all. I hate doing that. I tried to study more, but I kept going to sleep. Finally, I slept and after that I could get the studying completed. We had a good class.

After church, I had work to do on my WIP. I think it was 11:30 p.m. when I became so tired I had to stop. The words were blurring together and the eye drops did not help at all. So, it was not the dry eyes, just the tired eyes. 

Now, I have to pull double time today to do get my goals completed. That's all right because I know I can do it. It does take time to write. I do set goals for myself to complete so much each day. 

Today, I have a lot to do. I want to re-submit my proposal to several more agents and publishers as soon as I can. This is one thing that is important to me. I know it will take a while to get everything finished, but I am sure I can do it.

Keeping Motivated

The hardest thing for me to do is to keep motivated. I am a little on the procrastinator side and will put things off that I hate to do. 

Lately my writing has seen a little bland. I could not motivate myself to so anything different. I didn't know what to do different. I thought I might need a break, but that didn't help, but it did prolong my sitting down at the computer.

Holidays are always good to get us out of our habit of doing something. So during the holidays when we visited our children and then had company, I was out of the habit. Now comes to the excuses.

My husband is going from a full-time job to a part-time job. My writing schedule has been to write when he sleeps during the day and now I will only have three days where I can write like I'm used to. We may have the problem licked.

He wants to put our offices together. I work upstairs in a bedroom and he works downstairs in the basement. I like peace and quiet and he likes music (and he talks to himself). I think and hope we can adjust because I would like to be out of the bedroom.

The hope of a new office has motivated me, but there is a lot of work to do to get it up and going. I'm trying to do one thing at a time and set my days/time for writing and then set a time for doing housework, laundry, etc. If I can get that accomplished I will be fine. When I don't have something pressing on me, I can work better. 

Yesterday I wrote that I had found a way to deepen my characters. That is my big motivation right now. I want them to be real people and doing that should help.

Today is Special

Yes, today is a special day for me. I am being interviewed by Tiffany Colter on her blog www.writingcareercoach.blogspot.com. 

Since I am not a published author, I was shocked and honored when Tiff asked me. I didn't think I had anything to tell anyone about writing because I am not a "success" yet. I have loved to network with other people in the career field I am in for years. That makes any career most interesting. We can learn so much from other people.

We learn each day of our life and that is why writing is a journey for me. I tell people when I stop learning, I will be six feet under the ground. We should never stop learning, it is growing.

I do hope I can help others with my comments. If you read my blog very often, you know I read a lot. By reading I learn how to write. Last night I noticed something in a book that I had never thought about before. 

I had been writing in my main character's Point of View. That would be Callie. I had never written Jacob's Point of View after a scene he had with Callie. Now, I have more fodder. The book will not be so one-sided anymore. I think it will be more interesting to see how Jacob feels about Callie. Oh, I am going to have so much fun today. I got up an hour earlier to get started on this.

It is wonderful to do something you love. I am blessed beyond measure. I am renewed each day of my life and have a desire to work harder.

Making Progress

Last night I did make some progress with my desk. My left side is cleaned off and now I have the right side to do. I'm afraid I got side-tracked with phone calls.

My novel is also making progress. Today I plan to go through several chapters and make them more readable. I forget to let everyone feel the characters as I do. They remain like paper dolls most of the time. I am trying to breathe air into them and make them come alive. It is so strange being a writer and you can let someone live or die. Right now everyone is living, but who knows how long their life will be.

My husband says all I do is re-do my novel. I think he is getting discouraged and thinks it will never be published. I'm praying there will be a contract in the next twelve months.

The people in Eastern Tennessee are so interesting to write about. The older people had/have an entire language of their own. My mind is going back to my childhood and some of the words and phrases I have heard. I remember one word "plackon" which means "play like." I have no idea where it started from, but it is interesting. Then a bag or sack was a "poke" and a soda pop was a "dope." Today we would never say, "Let's go to the store and get a dope." It has a completely different meaning. This is what makes writing interesting for me.

I'm putting some blogs on my blog site. These are the one's I follow. My daughter's is a scrapbooking blog. She is very good at it. She doesn't realize it, but she is writing.

Have a wonderful day.

Getting Rid of Clutter

Usually I read The Edit Cafe, a blog from Barbour Publishing. Today Becky Germany had written something that hit home with me.

To make it short and to the point, it was about clutter. I read and then looked at my desk. On the left side there is a stack of "things." Several that can be removed easily. I have a Bible where I was looking up a scripture to use on a lesson I wrote for Ladies Class, a sheet of questions that were asked for an interview, a calendar from DiAnn Mills, and a book I have read, Paper Roses. Most of it can be discarded, not the Bible, the calender and the book, I'll need those later.

On the other side is a stack of bills that have been paid, but need filing. Okay, I'm lazy. There is also a copy of a page from my grandparents family Bible with all the information on our family and a gift card that I am getting ready to use online.

This will probably sound crazy, but I work better without the clutter. My project for tonight is to rid myself of this clutter. I want to also rid myself of the clutter in my house. My sweetie and I are the biggest pack-rats in the universe, well not completely, I think my mother held that honor. I'm still cleaning up her clutter and she's been gone for over a year.

I am a procrastinator. I will admit it. That is why I have such a problem with clutter. My mind clutters also, but that's a whole different story.  I would love to be neat and tidy. I really have to work at it and strive to do better. 

We're getting ready to move my office, so I will have to get my desk cleaned off. I am going to try to share an office with my husband. I don't know how that will work because he talks out loud a lot. I know I can never be there when there is a ballgame going on. I would never be able to concentrate.

Life is a journey

After several weeks in the hospital several years ago, I felt my life had come all the way around. I realized how fragile life is and how much there is to enjoy. My youngest grandson was due to be born in a couple of months after I was admitted. I wanted so much to see him. I fought to live and I survived. 

Today I think about how much there is to enjoy each day. I don't understand how anyone can be on the negative side of things all the time. I see God's wonder each time I open my eyes in the morning and I thank Him for giving me life. You only realize how much you enjoy something after you have almost lost it.

My journey has been hard at times and sometimes so easy. When I started writing, I thought it would be easy. Let me tell you a secret. It is not! It is easy if you enjoy it and sometimes you make big mistakes and realize how hard it is. Isn't that the way with life?

I enjoy a clean house, but I hate to clean it. If I didn't clean it, it would never be clean. It's mostly never clean, but it is enjoyable. 

I look at writing the same way. A finished product is wonderful, but it did take time and energy to get there. Nothing falls in your lap. You have to work for it. Writing is a learning process. I learn each day something I can do better. If I never sat down at the computer to write, I would never know how.

Most people are like me. You have to do something and learn from your mistakes. Along the way so far, I have had several good teachers and I am so proud of them for showing me things I can do better. 

My thought for today is to experience life and live it. See something good in everything. Watch the rain, smile at the sun and laugh when the wind blows.

2009

The beginning of a new year is always exciting. I enjoy trying to improve myself each year and this year is no exception.

This year I will work harder on my writing. My deepest desire is to be published, as it is for all writers. I always liked to write, even in school. I have always had a good imagination that was always allowed to run wild. My family laughs about my dreams at night. So, I guess my imagination goes strong in my sleep.

My book is improving. Yesterday I started going through the chapters and adding more things of interest. There are some parts that I realized over the holidays that I need to make stronger and better. This may take a little while to do, but I hope I am finished by the end of this month.

This year I will be trying to improve my health. One of the things I am doing is working out each day. My husband and I gave each other a Wii for Christmas. In all truth, it was before Christmas. We worked hard on the sports and we have done very well. I bought a Wii Fit after the holidays. So far I missed one day working out and it is a work out.

I never thought it would be this good. The exercises gradually build up your strength and the trainer tells you how you are doing. Right now my Wii age is ten years younger than I am. That's pretty good. I do yoga for ten minutes, strength exercise for ten minutes and aerobics for ten minutes. I only do thirty minutes at a time. I can always go back and do more in ten minute intervals. I do recommend it to anyone who is able to exercise. 

The exercise also helps me to think better. As we get older, we are more inclined to do less and our mind just does not work well. I have clearer thoughts each day and I am able to work longer at a time. By eating better and exercising, I feel I am off to a great start for the new year. Will I keep it up? I believe I will. 

Happy New Year

Happy  New Year to everyone! We did stay up until midnight, but because we had finger foods at church last night. I'm not much of a midnight person.

2009 looks promising for me. I will be making my characters stronger and submit my book to other agents and publishers. Discouragement is good for the soul. It also makes you work hard to have a perfect manuscript.

There will be more interviews on the blog with people I love. Isn't the word "love" wonderful. We all have feelings toward people, either love or hate. During the past year, I have made so many friends in the writing world and I have learned to love them. We are much happier when we love people. Our books are easier to write.

What do I look for in the new year? I am going to be pushing for a contract and I will join the many who are going to lose weight. Mine is not just a saying, it is a have-to. My diabetes is going higher, except for this morning, and I know I need to exercise and eat smarter. My husband and I gave each other a Wii for Christmas. I now have a Wii Fit. It is great. I exercise each day. This will help my weight and my blood sugar.

I am anxious to start back writing on my book. We have been gone several days and now we have company, so it has been hard to write. I decided to take a breather until after our company leaves.

I wish all of you a Happy New Year. May the best happen to you.