Friday, September 25, 2009

Friday's are always good

Friday's are always good, but Sunday's are better. Friday is always a catch-up day for me before the week-end. When my children were small, it was cleaning day. Then I had Saturday and Sunday to spend with the family.

Writing will take a back seat today. I try to write a little each day. Yesterday I edited some, but I was at a hard place and had to think a lot. That's a big deal for me, thinking. I finally sat down at the computer last night and it hit me. I wanted a funny scene and I could not get it together. All day I thought about how I would try to avoid someone as they tried to see me. Then it hit me and I have a good scene going, I think.

Sometimes when I write, I have to give it space for a while. I am sure every other writer has the same blocks at times. You have to do something else and then it hits you. There it was all the time and you couldn't see through the fog. Each time I edit my chapters, I fall in love with my book.

Okay, today is a busy day. I need to finish cleaning up my house and put things in boxes. It is harder to pack when you are dividing things to keep and to sell. Right now our sell boxes are much more than our keep boxes.

This is exciting and I am looking forward to being in our new place. I am also anxious for our place to sell. The realtor says it will sell fast, I hope and pray that it will. They won't be able to go to the Planning Commission until next month and maybe then we can get things moving.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

I Feel Good!!!

I'm ready to burst out in song. "I feel good, like I knew I should," or something like that. Last night I had a sleep test with a CPAP machine. It was wonderful. I was up at 5 a.m. feeling so good. My knees are not hurting and I am rested. WOW!!!

My book is doing so good. I am so thankful for finding Sandi Rog. I can't thank God enough for sending her my way. A little help came from A.J. Hawke. Thank you A.J. for sending me her name. And yes, you have a room at our new house, just come on.

I was so encouraged at conference. I can't wait to get the tapes and hear what everyone else taught. I will have the whole conference on tape. It is so good that ACFW tapes them. I have been to conferences where only a few classes were taped. This is going to be so good. (I've used that word too many times in this blog.)

There is so much to do today and I must get busy. Have a wonderful day.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

ACFW Conference

Let me introduce you to my friend, Sandi Rog. Sandi and I roomed together in Denver. She and her family are wonderful. Sandi is beautiful inside and out. I appreciate her so much. She has taught me so much about writing and she is my biggest encourager. I hope you figured out I am the one with the grey hair.

So much happened in Denver. I am still in a cloud. The classes that I went to were awesome. Instead of being so tired, I elected to order the conference tapes and rest a little more. That did help. Sandi and I both have problems with tiring so easily. We had a lot of opportunities to really talk.

Friday afternoon, I was hostess to Deborah Raney. She is such a lovely person. Her class helped us to get ideas for books, characters names and story plots. I had never thought of some of the things she told us. In my book, I have a name of one of my husband's great's. It goes back a long way, but I don't think Susannah Cole will mind me using her name.

Later that same day I had an interview with Rebecca Germany with Barbour Publishing. It has always been my dream to publish with Barbour. I read their books constantly. It was a very good interview and I have to send them a proposal and the first three chapters.

Saturday morning I met with Tamala Hancock Murray. She is an agent that I would love to have represent me. We seemed to click and I was impressed with her so much. She asked for my full manuscript. I almost turned flips in the elevator.

Saturday afternoon I saw Charlene Patterson in the hallway. Charlene is with Bethany House and that is another pub company I would love to publish my book. I had talked to Charlene about a year ago, but things had come up and I had not sent her my proposal. She seemed to remember what I wrote and said to send it on. She is so sweet.

So, now you know why I flew the plane home. I will be working on my proposal either today or tomorrow. Sandi is editing the third chapter for me now. We were both so excited.

Going into the conference, I felt so depressed. I felt my book would never be published and I was almost ready to give up. Now I am full of excitement and ready to take the plunge into publishing. The excitement of publishing and moving is really big for me. Tonight I have a sleep test with the CPAP machine. I am excited about it also. We also set a date for the auction of our personal property. We not taking everything we own to Kentucky. We will have the auction on October 31. Come if you can.

My day is going smoothly, so I must get going. Have a wonderful day.


Monday, September 21, 2009

Back from Conference

The ACFW conference in Denver was wonderful. I renewed so many friendships and met so many wonderful writers. Also, a few good things happened to me. I would rather not talk about them until I know more for sure. I will tell you I was asked for a full manuscript and two publishers wanted proposals. That is really good.

Debbie Macomber was the key note speaker and she was so good. I learned not to give up, even if someone tells you your book is trash. So far I have not been told that.

I met several writers and authors that I had met at Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers and October Fest. Then I made new friends, one in particular has asked me out to lunch when we are moved. It was a wonderful experience.

The flights coming and going were both bumpy. The weather did not cooperate with me this time. Coming from Atlanta to Tri Cities was extremely bumpy. We were in clouds most of the way both times. I did meet some wonderful people in the airport and on the plane.

It is good to be home and now I have some writing to do and packing and selling a house. It will be busy for the next few weeks. I won't have many spare moments. My bed felt so good last night!

Everyone have a wonderful day.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Watermelons and Other Things

Last year my husband raised a fifty pound watermelon in our yard. It's really a strip of flower bed, but somewhere through the years, seeds have been spit out in that area. Each year we have volunteer watermelons come up. This year so far we have pulled a 53.5 pound one and then the BIG ONE. My husband pulled the largest one yesterday and weighed it. It weighed 65 pounds! That is the biggest watermelon I have ever seen.

The children are coming home this week-end. We will have plenty of watermelon for them to eat. I've never tried watermelon pancakes, but they may be good. I'll try to get a picture of this whopper on in a few days.

The surveyors were out yesterday to survey the farm. I'm anxious to get a printout of it. At least there is progress going on. I'll start packing more after Labor Day. Right now I am packing what we don't need at this time. It is hard to decide what you will need.

I've sent the second chapter of my book to be edited. It is a short chapter and I may need to add more to it. I also made shuttle reservations in Denver to be picked up at the airport and again when I leave at the hotel. One less thing to worry about.

I'm cleaning again today and packing as I go. Next week, I will be packing more. I'm anxious to move and start a new adventure.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Finally

Finally, the final edit is finished for the first chapter on Callie's Mountain. It has been a long time and I now feel good about the first chapter. Sandi Rog has been a big help. I know she gets tired of me making the same mistakes over and over, but I am learning. I think the next chapter will be much better.

This has been struggle. I have worked on that first chapter for a year. The editor I had then changed so much that it was no longer my book. It had her voice instead of mine. I am so thankful that I found Sandi. She understands me and I can talk to her whenever I want to. That helps when I have a question.

Most of our books are packed. We are both packrats when it comes to books. I still have a few out that I have not read yet, but they will be packed away in the next month.

It's hard to believe that I will be flying out to Denver two weeks from Thursday. I am getting very excited about seeing so many of my friends that I haven't seen for a year. Then I am anxious to make new friends. A friend of mine said, "Strangers are friends you haven't met yet." I agree. I have written to so many of the ACFW people and now I will get to meet them.

I am making the last run of spaghetti sauce from our tomatoes. They are almost gone. The Lord has blessed us with a good garden this year. I admit, I complained. I would cringe when another bucket of beans entered the house. We will eat good this winter.