I can remember from the time I was little dreaming of the job I’d want to do when I grew up. My dream to be a nurse started before I was 5 years old. I can remember sitting for an artist who drew one of those silly characters to where you have a little itty bitty body and your head is HUGE. He drew me like this as a nurse. I just knew this is what I wanted to be all through elementary school, junior high, and high school. I applied to colleges based on whether they had a nursing program or … [Read more...]
Nehemiah, The Story Continues…
Wow, another long one. I feel like when I'm on a roll, the words just flow out of me and onto the page. I loved how I can see the Holy Spirit working through me as I was studying just the background of the Book of Nehemiah. I hadn't even gotten into the book itself yet. Today is November 8, 2015 and I'm doing week 4 day 3 of the study guide today. Continuing in the Book of Nehemiah 1. Nehemiah, the actual person, wrote the book more as a memoir than just a simple non-fiction book. A … [Read more...]
Motivation… Or the Lack There of
Motivation. I can be a tricky thing to conquer (especially when all motivation has failed you thus far). You know in your heart you want to do this (whatever it is) and nothing you say or do moves you forward to do it. It's rather irritation quite frankly. For me, I have a couple of things I want to be continuously motivated to do but I'm simply not: Writing and a Personal Quiet Time After Mari died writing became cathartic for me. I had constant ideas floating around my head. However, … [Read more...]
What Does True Love Look Like?
Today is Week 2 Day 3 of the study, and before we get further into studying the Bible, she first has us pray so that our heart will be able to hear what the Holy Spirit has to tell us and to have us slow down so we can hear Him speak. In doing this He will be able to stretch us as we do our study today. I truly feel every time I take the time to pray before I dig deeper into God's Word, I'm able to understand it so much better than when I don't. Page 167 1. For question one, she has us … [Read more...]
Day 131: Do Not Try This at Home #acfw #365days
Well, this is a little different. There are so many things where there is a warning, especially on TV, where it says, “Do Not Try This At Home.” I think of that movie “Jack (you know the word)” where there is a guy who I guess does a bunch of really stupid things. Personally, I’ve never seen this movie and really never want to either. Dare devils who do their death-defying stunts. And you’re like, “Yeah right would I try that at home. I’m sane.” Or how about those who go after things like … [Read more...]
Q is for Query #atozchallenge
The dreaded query letter. No one wants to write this yet it is a very important part of the writing process. I wanted to get a specific definition for a query so I thought what better way to find it than by doing a Google search and here is what I found: "A query letter is a formal letter sent to magazine editors, literary agents and sometimes publishing houses or companies. Writers write query letters to propose writing ideas." A query is basically your first step in the door. That all … [Read more...]
L is for Literary Agents
How many of us dream of being a published author someday? I have a feeling many of us do, especially if we know we're writers and have been working on a book of any kind. Writing is relatively new for me. I only found writing after the loss of my daughter. I actually started writing while she was in the hospital those sixteen days fighting for her life from what the E. coli did to her little body. But in the end it had wreaked too much havoc on her little body and she went home to be with … [Read more...]
Day 96: The Things We Keep
In life, as each day goes by, we create memories. For the most part, most of those memories aren't that important so we forget about them. But the important ones sometimes feel like they embed themselves into our brains. When my daughter died I knew I couldn't go back and live in the house where all I had surrounding me were memories of her. Pictures on the wall. Her sippy cups. Her food. Her bedroom. I was a stay at home mom of a child with severe autism whose life completely revolved around … [Read more...]
Day 66: The Pitfalls of Grammar
When we first think about something to write, whether it's a new book idea, a short story, or even a paper for school, we need to be able to be free to write without worrying about where a comma goes or if you have a run on sentence. Just write. Freely let your hand write out those thoughts on paper or into the computer. This is where our creative juices flow. Freely from our minds to the paper below us. I love that time. None of it may make sense when I'm done, but in that moment it sure did … [Read more...]
Day 41: Overnight Success Story
I think we'd all like to be an overnight success story. It's a dream of ours as a writer. The process would be simple. We write out our novel. We work ferociously to get it just right. Then we query the agent of our dreams. You receive a phone call almost immediately from said agent where he says, "You're the writer I've been waiting for." You sign the contact he has for you the next day because he's flown to your house. Next he calls and tells you that Thomas Nelson, Bethany House, and … [Read more...]
