Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Financially speaking, the last couple of years have been difficult for me and Will. We've battled off multiple attacks of Murphy, paid several tuition bills in full, and took a trip to Ireland. (Okay, so the trip to Ireland was by choice, but Murphy and tuition? Those were kinda necessary.) And we still have one more semester of tuition to go before we're done with that.
We'd hoped to start an adoption this fall. We even filed a pre-application, sure that we would move forward as soon as we returned from Ireland. But...we haven't. Finances are one glaring reason, but there are others, too, that I prefer not to share. So for now, we're holding off. We know kids are in our future. If anything, we're more sure of that than ever. We're fairly certain God is leading us toward adoption. Still, the timing seems not quite right. We feel as though maybe we're getting a message that we're not there yet. And so we wait.
That's where we are. It feels like a good decision despite that pesky personality trait of mine that's always raring to go at full speed ahead. One thing I can be sure of is that God's timing is perfect even when ours isn't. I take great comfort in that.
We'd hoped to start an adoption this fall. We even filed a pre-application, sure that we would move forward as soon as we returned from Ireland. But...we haven't. Finances are one glaring reason, but there are others, too, that I prefer not to share. So for now, we're holding off. We know kids are in our future. If anything, we're more sure of that than ever. We're fairly certain God is leading us toward adoption. Still, the timing seems not quite right. We feel as though maybe we're getting a message that we're not there yet. And so we wait.
That's where we are. It feels like a good decision despite that pesky personality trait of mine that's always raring to go at full speed ahead. One thing I can be sure of is that God's timing is perfect even when ours isn't. I take great comfort in that.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Have I told you I love the book series The Hunger Games? No? Consider yourself told.
The trailer for the upcoming movie starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was released this week, and I am stoked. I read the entire series earlier this year in just a couple of weeks, completely enthralled with this dystopian fiction, which I normally don't care for. One thing I'm happy about is how different it is from the other hot young adult novel series...Twilight. In my opinion, the Hunger Games series has much more depth and a lot more layers. While it was initially geared toward the YA crowd (i.e. teenagers), as a 30-year-old adult, I found it to be vastly entertaining. I think you will, too, and I hope the movie doesn't disappoint. Judging by the trailer, it won't.
The trailer for the upcoming movie starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was released this week, and I am stoked. I read the entire series earlier this year in just a couple of weeks, completely enthralled with this dystopian fiction, which I normally don't care for. One thing I'm happy about is how different it is from the other hot young adult novel series...Twilight. In my opinion, the Hunger Games series has much more depth and a lot more layers. While it was initially geared toward the YA crowd (i.e. teenagers), as a 30-year-old adult, I found it to be vastly entertaining. I think you will, too, and I hope the movie doesn't disappoint. Judging by the trailer, it won't.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
National Novel Writing Month has begun, and I'm hiding.
You see, every year, about 101 of you ask me if I'm participating. Ha! You're funny. All of you.
I'm a slow writer, and NaNoWriMo strikes a fear in my heart like that of a stunned deer standing in the oncoming headlights. Or, if you prefer a Dave Ramsey
reference, I feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. Every year, I toy with the idea of signing up, and every year, I back away from the website like the vicious anaconda that it is.
It took me about two years to fully complete The Stolen Lady. And I'm sporadically working on my new contemporary novel—in first person, no less—and while I'd love to tell you that the new project is trucking right along...it isn't. I'm really struggling with my creativity right now, particularly plotting, and that makes moving a project forward rather difficult. But just like I did with TSL, I'll get there with the new (untitled) work.
Speaking of TSL, when I attended a Bob Mayer writing workshop with my local RWA chapter recently, some of my writerly friends told me I need to start querying again. I queried a bit heavily for a while, and I managed to send out 16 of them. But after 16 (apparent and not-so-apparent) rejections, I fizzled out. They encouraged me to get back in the game because with the positive rejections I've received, surely the right agent could be out there waiting for me to submit. So I may start that up again. We'll see.
One of the things I really took away from Bob's workshop was the need to work on your weakest areas. This should be an obvious assumption, but I really needed to hear it. My strongest point is character development. Often, I can actually hear the characters talking in monologues in my head...or even having conversations with one another. (No, I'm not crazy. I promise.) I obviously have no problem envisioning exactly who I'm going to write about; it's the what I have trouble with.
Bob also emphasized the importance of knowing whether or not you're a pantser or a plotter. What's the difference? Well, I'm your classic pantser. Basically, I don't know what I'm going to write until it appears on the page. As the story progresses, it meanders and wanders and often surprises the heck out of me because I didn't see this or that coming. A plotter plans the story out from beginning to end, often making full character sketches, outlining the plot, etc. Ideally, I'd like to fall somewhere in the middle. This is an area I simply must work on in order to get better.
By the way, if you ever have an opportunity, go listen to Bob speak. You can find his books on Amazon.com and BN.com, and he speaks all over the country at writing conferences, including the Romance Writers of America national conference.
You see, every year, about 101 of you ask me if I'm participating. Ha! You're funny. All of you.
I'm a slow writer, and NaNoWriMo strikes a fear in my heart like that of a stunned deer standing in the oncoming headlights. Or, if you prefer a Dave Ramsey
reference, I feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. Every year, I toy with the idea of signing up, and every year, I back away from the website like the vicious anaconda that it is.It took me about two years to fully complete The Stolen Lady. And I'm sporadically working on my new contemporary novel—in first person, no less—and while I'd love to tell you that the new project is trucking right along...it isn't. I'm really struggling with my creativity right now, particularly plotting, and that makes moving a project forward rather difficult. But just like I did with TSL, I'll get there with the new (untitled) work.
Speaking of TSL, when I attended a Bob Mayer writing workshop with my local RWA chapter recently, some of my writerly friends told me I need to start querying again. I queried a bit heavily for a while, and I managed to send out 16 of them. But after 16 (apparent and not-so-apparent) rejections, I fizzled out. They encouraged me to get back in the game because with the positive rejections I've received, surely the right agent could be out there waiting for me to submit. So I may start that up again. We'll see.
One of the things I really took away from Bob's workshop was the need to work on your weakest areas. This should be an obvious assumption, but I really needed to hear it. My strongest point is character development. Often, I can actually hear the characters talking in monologues in my head...or even having conversations with one another. (No, I'm not crazy. I promise.) I obviously have no problem envisioning exactly who I'm going to write about; it's the what I have trouble with.
Bob also emphasized the importance of knowing whether or not you're a pantser or a plotter. What's the difference? Well, I'm your classic pantser. Basically, I don't know what I'm going to write until it appears on the page. As the story progresses, it meanders and wanders and often surprises the heck out of me because I didn't see this or that coming. A plotter plans the story out from beginning to end, often making full character sketches, outlining the plot, etc. Ideally, I'd like to fall somewhere in the middle. This is an area I simply must work on in order to get better.
By the way, if you ever have an opportunity, go listen to Bob speak. You can find his books
on Amazon.com and BN.com, and he speaks all over the country at writing conferences, including the Romance Writers of America national conference.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I made a guest appearance today on The Real Dealio. Over at The Real Dealio, you can find all of today's latest and greatest local deals, including those from Groupon, LivingSocial, and more. Each day, a different blogger takes the stage to tell a story and integrates the daily deals into the story. What a creative way to keep up with our Nashville deals! It's also a fun way to keep writers on their toes. I had to improvise quickly and efficiently while figuring out a way to integrate all (or some) of the deals into my post. And I had a lot of fun doing it.
You can check out my own contribution here.
You can check out my own contribution here.
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