Music, Music everywhere

I know Elle won't care since she hates country music, but I'm going to see George Straight, Ronny Milsap & Taylor Swift tomorrow at the Tacoma Dome. I'm quite excited about it. I saw Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in Seattle last August and that was really fun but this one promises to be really great. I'm going with my aunt, the one that just had open heart surgery in December, because she adores George Straight so I got the tickets and a hotel for the night and I'm taking her to Red Lobster for dinner- all of this for her birthday which was two days ago. I can't wait for tomorrow to come.

Anyway, just thought I'd share :o)

Back to writing!

Well, I did it...

I sent off my partial manuscript to Harlequin today. It was lovingly packaged with rubberbands and a return envelope with postage and as I handed it over to the postmaster I felt a bit nauseaus and almost took it back...I almost changed my mind. It was almost like putting one of my children on an airplane or bus alone. It was a really hard thing to do...but I did it. The first three chapters of 'A Family for Madi' are no longer in my hands and there's no way to stop it from going to Canada and potentially getting rejected.

That's what it comes down to; I'm afraid that the editors won't love the story as much as I do and it's not because I wrote it. I love this story simply because it's one that needs to be told. It's a subject that doesn't get much attention and needs more exposure. Child abuse is far too common and it shouldn't happen at all.

But enough of that, I'm down off my soap box and trying not to chew my nails off as I worry about my 'baby' out there all alone.

I've been Tagged!

I got tagged by Elle!

"Did you meet my first caseworker?" She pursed her lips.

"No, I guess you wouldn't have had any reason to. Well, she and Gary fell in love."

Kids By Christmas by Janice Kay Johnson.

Now I'm tagging Julie, Marcy Bassett-Kennedy, & Shara Jones- Consider yourselves tagged.


Rules of the game:

1. Grab the book closest to you
2. Turn to page 123 and find the 5th sentance.
3. Post the text of the next three sentances in your blog.
4. Include the title and author's name
5. Tag three people

I'm doing a Happy Dance!

I just received a letter from Harlequin and they want the first three chapters of the book I'm working on!! I am so very excited because publishing with Harlequin is my dream, it's all I've ever wanted as far as my writing career so this is... WOW! I'm shaking.

Why? Why? Why?

Why can't I write? Why can't I focus enough to get through these revisions? Is it because maybe I like my story the way it was before the problems got pointed out to me, these problems that have to be fixed? Yeah, I think that's the biggest part of it.

Revising a story that I love, changing it from what it was when it was born in my heart, is really difficult and because of that, my muse seems to have deserted me and I can't focus on the task at hand.

Anyway, I'm done whining about it, just wanted to fuss for a moment so I could get it out of my system and go back to staring at my still unrevised WIP.

Who keeps praying for snow?

Yes, it's snowing here...again. We've had more snow this winter than the past five winters combined. The children have already missed 8 days of school because of snow and power outages, that's a record for us here and the kids are probably going to be in school until the middle of summer making up those days.

I suppose I could use the snow as inspiration considering my WIP has a lot of snow in it but I'm not finding the real snow to be terribly inspirational...it's more distracting than anything. I sit here at my desk watching the snow fall so peacefully, so quiet and unhurried as it piles up in the backyard, turning the world white and covering up all of the imperfections so that everything looks clean and soft. And still my WIP remains unrevised.

Okay, back to work. I'll close the blinds so that I can't see the snow and turn on my MP3 player so I can't hear the kids and get back to those revisions.

I just wish revisions were coming as steadily as the snow is.

I know it helps me grow but...

I received a pretty harsh critique on the first chapter of a book I'm working on and, while I tell myself to expect such reactions from some people, it still kind of takes me by surprise and makes me feel less than I am. The thing is, she was right. Some of the things I'd written just didn't add up to reality but having them pointed out to me as harshly as they were made me feel small and a bit sad. I stewed about it for days until I finally gathered up my courage and asked the woman who'd given the critique for some help in making my story stronger by making it more realistic and since she is an expert in the field that I am writing about, I figured that she could help me better than most...and you know what? She was more than happy to help and I gained some very valuable information that will make my story better than ever.

So, while I was bothered and hurt initially, I grew from the experience and learned something that will help me be better than I am and the one thing I love to do most.

Request for full!!

I got a request for my full ms from The Wild Rose Press this morning. I'm so excited. It's the first book I've ever written so it's pretty exciting that someone is interested in it after reading the first three chapters.

I sent it out right away via email and here's hoping that I hear some good news soon!!

Writer's Groups

I went to my first writers group meeting today. It's a group that meets under the banner of South Whidbey Writer's Association- they have a nice website if you care to check it out. Anyway, it was a nice time and I look forward to the next meeting in two weeks. Attendance was light today, only four other people, but that's to be expected this time of year. I got great comments and some helpful critiques on the pieces that I shared so I do believe that this will be a wonderful opportunity and learning experience.

I also sent the Q&S on my latest MS to Harlequin, hopefully it'll get a better reception than the last one did :o)

Happy New Year

Just under two hours until it's officially 2007. I can't believe another year has gone by already. What kind of year will it be? I'm hoping for a fantastic year but that's probably asking for too much. There always has to be some hard times in the course of a year, right?

So okay, my New Years Resolutions are:

1. Finish the four books I'm working on
2. Get at least one of those books published
3. Save more $
4. Lose weight and exercise more
5. Buy a house

Are those unreasonable goals? I hope not. The big question though is, am I determined enough to accomplish those goals? At this very moment, I'd have to say that the answer to that question is a very emphatic "NO"...I'm emotionally wrung out. I'm anxious for my life to get back to normal- whatever normal is.

What are your resolutions this year? How determined are you to keep them?