Fathers

51,042! I'm very happy with that progress. In about a week and a half, I will do the first read through to smooth out transitions.

Happy Father's Day coming up! Some fun facts about Rael and Arianwyn's fathers.

Arianwyn: Her father had nothing to do with her rearing. Her mother died when she was born and her father descended into drunken grief, eventually dying from exposure when Arianwyn was very young. Arianwyn gets her looks from her father, but her size from her mother. Had she known her father, she would have developed the same temper and passion he had.

Rael: Having spent so much time training to be king, he didn't actually get to know his father very well. But in this book or the next, he's going to learn just how much his father loved him. Rael looks like his father in everything but coloring. Rael inherited his mother's temper and soft heart, his father's protective instincts and love of his people. Like his father, Rael would do nearly anything for those he leads as king.

Whether you like it or not (I do like it), you've inherited something from your father. If you never knew your father, take a moment to think about the person who became the father figure for you. What did you learn from them? There are good men all about us. This coming Sunday (and why not start now?), take a chance to tell them thanks.

Wish I Would Have Known

I think there's an ever growing list of things that we wish we would have known then...the "What I wish I knew then that I know now" list. I doubt it ends. And that's okay. We gain a lot of experience from our wish we would have knowns.

One thing that's been nagging at me lately that I wish I would have known is that I wanted to be an author not a doctor. Yup. When I was in school, I said confidently and on multiple occasions that I wanted to be a cardio-pulmonary surgeon. I should have known from the fact that I already had specific words in place that I should be an author. I think most kids say "A doctor" and then figure out what kind after they start school.

It's not like I didn't think I couldn't be an author, either. I knew I had a fair amount of talent writing. It was something I enjoyed. But as a lucrative career, it seemed silly. Maybe that's the other thing I should have known. How much "lucrative" I really needed (turns out, not as much as I thought when I was a teenager).

I'm lucky, though. I figured out that not only did I WANT to be an author, but also that I COULD be an author and went after it. I stopped making excuses and started writing. Then I took a deep breath and uploaded to amazon. Then I took an even bigger breath and hit the publish button. This year, I took the biggest breath of all and hired someone to design the cover for me (Erica Crouch did a FANTASTIC job!).

Maybe that's all there is to it to shrink the "wish I would have known" list. If you really want something, take a deep breath and do it. And if you don't need to take a deep breath before doing something, is it really what you want to do? If it doesn't excite and scare you all at the same time, are you going for what you want or safe? Don't do safe. You won't like it so much. You'll burn out. You'll spend your life wishing you could do, be, something, someone else. That you would have known better. Don't be that person. Be the person you truly want to be.

Self Sabotage

I like to read. That probably doesn't surprise most of you. Hearing someone ask for a reading suggestion literally gives me a buzz. At least, what I imagine a buzz would feel like. I love sharing my favorite books. Be warned, though, I'll want to talk your ear off about the book I recommend if you decide to read it.

One of the books I'm reading now is titled Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Dennise Duffield Thomas (no, I am not being paid to promote her book). I bought it on a whim and am now reading it. It's been interesting, to say the least. Her audience targets women who want to get rich. She talks about the money blocks most women have and how to overcome them. The money block that has jumped out at me recently is self-sabotage.

Self-sabotage. Why would we do things that would intentionally harm our self? It sounds crazy and illogical. The first time I read the self-sabotage section, I could not think of a single one that I had. Honestly. I am that perfect. (I hope those of you who know me are rolling on the ground laughing right now.) But this struck a chord yesterday. My method of self-sabotage? I do something once. I may even do it twice. And then I stop. I get lazy. "I can do it later," I say to myself. But later never seems to happen. It always falls to the wayside.

Surprisingly, this runs congruent to my last post, about schedules. One of my methods (unbeknownst to me) was to switch things up. That helped me defeat my "I've been there, done this" attitude. But I've been slacking. Guardians: Revenge is out to beta readers right now. And what have I been doing with me time? Nothing constructive. I even missed writing a post last week because "I didn't feel like it."

Now I'm going to an analogy. I enjoy running. Sometimes. If I do run, I do distance. Back in high school, I actually ran with a track team. Something funny happened, usually on the second or third to last lap. I would be done. My body would tell me to stop running, it was tired, we'd gone far enough. And you know what I would do? I would keep running. In my circle of running friends, we called that "pushing through the wall." Pushing through the wall is hard. However, once you are past that wall, the attitude of your body changes. It submits to your will.

It's the same with whatever goal you set, be it money, exercise, writing, or whatever. You'll start out very excited. The people around you will be cheering. But then you'll get to the middle/middle-end of your project. No one will be cheering anymore because it's boring watching you run in circles. You'll be bored of running in circles and tired of the circus. But you have to keep going. And do you know what happens at the end? Your body submits. People start cheering for you again. You get a surge of satisfaction for doing something hard.

So, what's your self-sabotage? Where do you give up your dream because you can? Once  you figure out what that is, you can figure out how to fix it. If you need help, I love dispensing advice. It's free and you don't have to take it. Have a great day! I'm going to get something done now. :)

Schedules

If you have been following my updates, you have probably noticed that I don't post on the exact same day every month. I have discovered that I can maintain a schedule for so long (about a month) and then I have to switch it up. If I do not switch it up, I stop doing the activity. I have no idea why that is. It's just a part of me that I've discovered and learned to deal with. What about YOU? What's something random about yourself that you've noticed and how have you dealt with it?

The Guardians: Gateways is receiving a bit of a face-lift. I'm re-editing the story. It needed it. If you bought through Amazon, you will have the option to "upgrade" your book for free. Don't worry too much, though. I'm mostly fixing typos. There are a few sentences I've added for better description, but nothing story-altering. I did add a "sneak peak" chapter for The Guardians: Revenge. I'm 96% done.

The Guardians: Revenge is now in beta-reading. Yeah! One beta reader has already returned the manuscript. I'm so excited to publish this story! The April and Eddy relationship develops a bit more. April develops a lot more, discovering her independence in spite of her circumstances.

The Guardians: Life is still in outline phase (okay, I'm also thinking about calling this one Hope or Past or something). I believe I am finished with chapter one, which I have included at the end of The Guardians: Revenge. This will be the final book in my Guardians trilogy. Then we'll see what happens. :)

Happy reading!

"The Guardians"

The Guardians: Revenge is 100% complete with the first draft! It is sitting for a week before I read through one final time and then send to beta readers. I am happy with this product so far and hope you are, too.

The Guardians: Life is just started. I have written a rough first chapter and am planning the other chapters. This is the final book to The Guardian series...and it makes me a little sad to be so close to parting with Eddy and April so soon.

Totems: A King's Treasure has sat long enough. It's time I read through it one more time. And then I plan on going to fiverr.com in order to find someone to make a cover. I am very excited for this story as all of my betas have informed me that it's better than The Guardian story.

Totems: The Sword and the Shield is under construction. I know what is going to happen, I just have to map it out now. Actually, I'm not sure how that one will end, just how it will lead into book 3 which will be called Totems: Clouds of War.

If you have enjoyed my stories and think this is the end, don't! I have a series of eight or nine books in the works (The Planetary series? Planetarians? Hmmm, I need a title still...) and a stand alone novel that just came to me last night: Hope Springs, Idaho.

Yes, when I don't write, I go crazy. Ever since putting The Guardians: Revenge on the back burner, I have deep cleaned the majority of my house, baked cookies, and planned out several more books. Silly me.

For you future writers, take this as a cue: Writing takes energy! You will be exhausted after a good round of writing, whether you write 50 words in one sitting or 5,000 words. The work required to generate ideas and then communicate them is demanding. But it is so worth it! There is a "high" when you complete a particularly exciting scene and you just want to share it with the world. Do share it. Don't be ashamed or embarrassed by what you've written. It is a huge accomplishment and you should be proud of it.

And We're Back!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope we've all had a good time with the holidays. I hope you even took time off of work to enjoy the holidays. I know I did. :)

Status Updates on books: Totems: The Sword and the Shield is sitting still. I believe it's complete, although I will read through one more time just to check. Bernie's character needs a little tweeking, I think. Also, I'm considering changing the title to Totems: The King's Treasure. I believe The Sword and the Shield will work better for book 2.

Guardians: Revenge is about 8,000 words shy of being complete. Then it will sit for about a week before I begin serious editing. After the rough draft, I tend to edit as I go so editing should be relatively quick. Then it's to Beta Readers. I hope to have it published by the end of March. Also, Guardians: Gateways may receive a slight revision. There are a few typos that I would like to fix.

Publish Guardians: Revenge by the end of March happens to be one of my New Year's goals. I would say resolutions, but that does not fit. As one author has stated, a resolution is something you do to better yourself. A goal is how you might reach your resolution. For example: I want to be healthier in 2014 is a resolution. The goals might be based on eating habits or exercise or weight loss.

My second goal is to submit my work to a writing contest. I've found a local one and I think I'm going with the short story category. They have not updated rules for 2014, but last year submission was from April through June.

All in all, I'm very excited for this year. There's a lot of promise for things to be done. A lot of excitement. It's going to be great!

Do you have any writing goals (or other goals) that you want to share? Comment below!

Dreams

Why did I start writing? Why now, of all times? We're living on a tight budget, I'm a stay-at-home mom to three young kids (the oldest is in Kindergarten, the rest are home 100% of the time). Did it really make sense to do this?

In early 2013 or late 2012, it struck me. Now is the time. We all have dreams and we all talk about "someday" doing this or that. I was thinking of my dreams, one of which was to write a book. Mind you, some of my dreams do have to wait. I hope to serve a mission with my husband someday. For that to happen, our children need to be grown adults and we need to be secure. It has to wait. But writing? I realized that I could do that anywhere, anytime. I did not need a computer to write (it's a bonus!) and I did not necessarily have to publish (another perk, thank you Amazon!).

I am so grateful that I had that particular realization. Writing has been exciting to me. It has opened up conversations with my kids. My oldest son in particular thinks it's neat that I write books as he's learning about letters. He is constantly asking questions (Is that the title? What's your book about? Can I read it someday? :) ).

I am a dreamer. I'm day-dreaming most of the time if I'm not actively engaged in something. Writing lets those dreams come into reality. It actually helps focus my dreams and makes them more productive!

I am so happy I started writing. It is not something that I regret. I have not seen any ill effects so far...except or on days when I'm on fire (figuratively speaking) and the house gets a little messy...but those days are not often.

So evaluate! What dreams do you have? Must they wait for "someday," a day that may never come? If you knew you were going to die, would there be dreams you wished you would have accomplished? Evaluate! Discover what they are, what can be done now and what must wait for someday. You will not regret getting started.

New Pages

If you haven't already, take a moment to notice the new pages. :) I figure that if I'm going to be an author, I better give you a place to find what I've written and to keep track of what's coming up! It's also an easier way for me to keep track of what's going on. After teaching junior high for a bit, I know that having a lot of names in your head can get confusing...imagine having entire WORLDS stored up in your head! So, here's my little bit of organization. Hopefully I'll get to add more pages to my blog as more worlds come into being.

First Draft!

The first draft of my second book is complete! :) Totems: The Sword and the Shield. Of course, now comes to tedious part that I think does in most authors...editing! Oh well. I love writing. And I get so excited re-reading things that I've already written! And that excites me even more!

Totems: The Sword and the Shield

"Arianwyn is nothing more than a lowly orphan, passed over and abused in a tiny mountain village where family is everything (Hmmm, maybe I need to make that more prominent in the story). When the abuse becomes too much, she flees the village. She has no hope for a future; she only knows that the present is too painful to continue living.

After living on her own in the woods, she comes across an awesome (and dangerous) creature. A dragon. This dragon, however, has been captured under a magical net. In her attempt to rescue the creature, the dragon forms an unbreakable bond between them.

After fleeing still more abusive situations, Arianwyn finds herself living under the nose of King Rael, a man looking for a wife and hoping for a miracle."

How's that for a book reading? I'll have to ask my beta readers...speaking of which, wanna be a reader? ;)

Writer's Block

Writer's block. These two words should fall under the category of "words I won't allow my children to say." They're so foul! Unfortunately, like most of the bodily functions swear words cover, it happens. Writer's block, I mean. Not 'it.' ;)

The question most writers have, new or not, is how to get past that blasted wall of creativity. I've researched the topic a bit myself, having been the victim of the block. My conclusion? Experiment. The same solution for one writer will not work for another. That's the genius of the creative process. If we all created the same way, it wouldn't be very creative, would it?

Some writers write through the block. That is, they keep writing the scene, deleting it, and writing it again until they get what they want. Kind of like running through the pain when you're running distance.

Others write around the block. They write and write and write until they finally say what they want to say, how they want to say. Then they delete the fluff.

Still more ignore the block and hope it goes away. They do this creativly, of course. Some draw or paint. Others take pictures. Some read a book. Okay, they're not really ignoring it so much as taking a change in pace, giving the old cerebrum a break from the work of writing.

Me? I write over the block. I pretty much know what major things I want happening in my story. I suppose it's an outline of sorts, but it only exists in my head. Then I write. I vomit my creativity onto the screen until nothing else comes out. When nothing else is coming, that means I've reached my block. So I skip to the next scene. And I write. That section of my creativity hasn't been blocked at all. I get a burst of excitement to be working on something "new." When I've reached the end of my story, the work begins for me. Editting. Ugh. We'll talk about that eight letter word another day... ;)

Following

I guess you reach a point where you realize that you can't do things because you believe it will make a difference for someone else. The only change that I can be sure of is the one I make for myself. So, here we have it. This blog was originally to help ME learn and discover new things. Others learning and such was supposed to be a side-note. Somewhere, I lost track of that.

Now, it's for me. I am my audience. And I intend to enjoy every minute of it. :)

"The Guardians: Gateway" has 100 more pages to go before I'm finished editting it. Then I plan on self-publishing on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). I plan on this being a trilogy; "The Guardians: Revenge" and "The Guardians: Hope." The titles are tentative, but I'm pretty sure that they're a solid tentative. :) I also have a fantasy book in the works, another trilogy...although the third isn't very solid. Basically it's a "dilogy" or "duology." Hmmm, which word would you use? Probably Duology. Anyways, this series is "The Sword and the Shield" series. Not sure what differentiation to use between the titles yet.

Mad Monday: Writer's Digest Challenge

So, I follow the Writer's Digest on Twitter (you can follow me, too: smilingrayita) and a few days ago (okay, about 14) they offered a 12 day writing challenge. The 12th day was to pick your favorite and publish it. Here's mine, a 20 line poem of a memorable moment.

In a Moment of Faith

Inspired by Love

I said

Yes.

 

On a Windy Hill

O'erlooked by Dead

He asked

Me.

 

A Sweet Letter read

An Uncertain Look

We laughed

Together

 

The Future Together

We There pledged

I loved

Him.

 

No End in Time

Our Love's Eternal

This I

Know.