Well, today is the last day of November and the last day of JuCanWriMo. As you may recall, my goal was to write 18,000 words this month. As I added up my totals this morning and added on what I got this week, (which was 4004 words) I am so excited to tell you that---*drum roll*my final word count in JuCanWriMo was 18,890 words!!Woohoo! I made my goal. Just barely, but I still made it. It was probably one of the most productive Novembers I've ever had and I'm so glad you were a part of that for me. Thank you so much for all your encouragement.How...
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
This is one Christmas story you should definitely pick up. Carla Kelly brings to life a story of love and family and Christmas in a regency romance and then mixes it with intrigue and diplomacy and attempted murder that made this a book I could not put down.We are introduced to Marian Wynswich, the girl who is trying to hold her family together after the untimely death of their father. He has left them with lots of debts and when big brother Percy...
Monday, 28 November 2011
Last Friday, I ventured out later in the afternoon with my son and daughter because we’ve been looking for a coat for my daughter for some time and thought we’d see what was on sale. That was a big mistake.I pulled into the parking lot of the store we were going into, and spied a car just pulling out of a parking space near the doors. I hurried over and just as I was about to pull into the parking space the truck just down the row laid on its horn and the driver began gesturing and yelling through the windshield. It was obvious he was angry...
Friday, 25 November 2011
I am always so grateful to those who have submitted to First Page Friday to have their work critiqued by professional editors. Angela and Ms. Shreditor are some of the best editors I’ve come across and I’m so happy they offer their services to us on this blog so we can all learn from them. If you are interested in submitted your first page, we are now taking submissions that will be critiqued in January. (We caught up and we’re so happy!) So polish up your stellar first page and see what a national editor has to say about it.(I did want to...
Thursday, 24 November 2011
My turkey is roasting in the oven as I write this and my children are all safe at home and waiting for me so we can start our board game marathon. I am grateful for so many things this year. I would list them for you, but you would probably be bored.One of the things I am grateful for, though, is books. I am grateful for authors who have amazing stories to share and go through all the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to get those stories into...
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Well, I had the wind taken out of my sails a bit this week. My muse left and every word I wrote was pulled out of me like the pulling of a tooth with very long roots and it wasn't very fun. Like doing dentistry with no anesthesia type of not fun.It also wasn't very productive. I only got 2280 words this week.Since it's a holiday weekend I might get a bit more time to write so I'm hoping to maybe triple that for next week and really finish up JuCanWriMo with a bang. Wish me luck!How did you do in your word count this we...
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
I have realized something about my two favorite shows and probably me in general. I think I love action driven stories more than relationship driven stories. I mean, when you look at things, there are a lot of similarities between Castle and Hawaii Five-O.Both Hawaii Five-O and Castle have a lead who has had a parent murdered and there is an over-arching mystery surrounding it.Both of them have leads with witty dialogue between them.Both of them have a core team of four.Both of them are trying to add new characters this season that audiences aren’t...
Monday, 21 November 2011
Generally when people find out I’m an author, they like to talk about books. Inevitably I will ask them who their favorite authors are and lately, the response seems to be, “Oh, I don’t have time to read.”It always surprises me a little when people say this. Maybe it’s because reading is such a needed part of my life. For me, with eight children, teaching, writing, blogging, my service commitments in my church, and everything else that comes with being me, I really have to take those fifteen minutes each night to just lose myself in a book....
Friday, 18 November 2011
For some reason I have hiccups today and it makes it weird to type and hiccup. Anyway, let's get right to Ms. Shreditor's critique today. This is a good one!The EntryTHERESA MANNINGby Mario Almonte Severe winter storm warnings closed businesses early in Manhattan and left the city to the occasional, lost traveler. An ambulance navigated the empty streets, and inside that ambulance I sat and watched Theresa. She rested on a stretcher and I held her hand, but I do not believe she knew that I was there. She was adrift in her private world of pain,...
Thursday, 17 November 2011
As a writer, I’ve been asked to do some pretty great things like be a beta reader, edit something awesome, teach a class on writing, make up kids’ stories, that sort of thing. But I have to say one of the most awesome things I’ve been asked to do recently has been writing songs for a road show. It isn’t something you would necessarily think a writer would be asked to do, but I’m having so much fun doing it. It’s definitely out of the box for me....
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
I went to the theater last night with my son and saw the musical The Marvelous Wonderettes. Oh man, I haven't laughed that hard in forever. Such a fun show! We got home late and I was tired but as I was getting ready for bed, the solution to the problem I'd been having with my plot hit me. At 1 a.m. When I was too tired to go downstairs and write it all down. So that meant I had to think about it all night long so I wouldn't forget it (and yes, it does give me weird dreams when I do that.) (And before you say, well, you should have taken...
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Author Christine Mehring has created some solid YA characters who are going through some very difficult life changes in her debut novel Bitter Blessings.We are introduced to Megan who is happily eating dinner with her family.Then the phone rings and it’s bad news. Mom has been killed in a car accident.Megan is very sad.But it only gets worse from there. Her grandma tells her to get a better job to put food on the table and gets all grumpy and wrapped...
Monday, 14 November 2011
So it’s my birthday this week and I’ve been thinking about how wonderful this past year has been.In the past year two amazing things happened.1. I had a baby who is the happiest baby I’ve ever had. He just always has a smile on his face. He is such a joy and I’m so lucky to have him.2. I put out a new novel. It was a labor of love on that one and I’m so glad it’s doing so well, even if it didn’t have a particularly smooth road to publication.In the past year I’ve learned a few things, too.1. I learned that all my precious 80s music is now on...
Friday, 11 November 2011
My heart is a little tender today because it is Veteran’s Day (or Remembrance Day if you’re Canadian). My sons got up early to go and put flags in our neighborhood yards. It’s such a grand sight to drive down the street and see those flags waving from every yard, like small sentinels watching over all who pass. There are so many things running through my mind--being grateful for sacrifice, remembering my own relatives who have served, and love for those left behind. This video seems to capture everything I'm feeling today, so if you have five...
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Writers are a funny group. We can be isolated hermits while we’re plotting out the depths of a novel, but we are also compassionate people with a great ability to empathize and reach out to others. And when one of our own is struggling, we are there for them. As such, Larry Correia is hosting a book bomb on his website today. Basically, a fellow author friend of mine (and former Six LDS Writers and a Frog contributor) Robison Wells wrote an amazing book called Variant. It is receiving incredible reviews, (Publishers Weekly recently named it...
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Last week I announced I was doing a personal mini-NaNoWriMo and calling it JuCanWriMo. My goal was 600 words a day or 4200 words this week.I am happy to tell you that I wrote 5286 words this week.WOOOOHOOOOO!!!! I am so proud of myself because this week was really busy and it was hard to sit down each day, even for a little while, and just pound out a scene.I'm feeling really good about my JuCanWriMo and know I can do it again this week if I'm consistent with sitting down each day. The hard thing is the negatives that sometimes run through my...
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Man, last night’s Castle and Hawaii Five-O were made of win. Serious, serious win.Hawaii Five-O started out with an aerial-type Jaws attack, (instead of a shark, it’s a small plane about to hit the water with swimmers in it) and the idiot guy in the water is staring at his friend about a hundred yards away who is frantically pointing behind the guy and yelling and his friend just stares at him like, huh? and then just before the plane hits, he turns around. Cue the awesome Five-O music.Probably the two scenes I liked best on Hawaii Five-O last...
Monday, 7 November 2011
For some reason I’ve had the chorus to a Kenny Rogers' song going through my head today, “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run,” and as I listened to this on replay in my head over and over I got to thinking. Doesn’t every mom need to know things like that? It’s like a required listening song for moms!I mean, for example, you have to know when to hold your child, (there are definitely times when they don’t want to be held. Like when they’re about thirteen and you’re anywhere near their friends.)...
Friday, 4 November 2011
I'm so excited about my JuCanWriMo. So far so good! I'm looking forward to checking in with all of you on Wednesday.Today's First Page Friday is a good one, so let's get right to it.The EntryThe Two-Way Leechby Melanie Goldmund“Blood-sucker, power-feeder, energy conduit,” the crewmembers chanted over and over again.Not wanting to understand, Vero reached up to her thought-translator, but as soon as she touched the gold circlet, Cur smacked her hand away, and fingered the handle of his short whip in unnecessary warning.Vero glanced away, back...
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