Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland

Hello Everyone! I'm sorry for not updating as often as I should and I have no excuse for why I haven't. I'm posting some pictures that I took around my house just this morning. We had 4 inches of snow on the ground yesterday and during the night...we got another 5-6 inches. Needless to say the kids are having a blast.

Here's the hill my children sled down all day long. It starts in our front yard and goes beside the house, down into the trees in the backyard. They'd stay out there all day long if I'd let them but they have to come in and warm up occasionally.

They were supposed to go to school last week but they made it to Tuesday and the schools were closed because of the weather. We've never had this much snow here and temps down in the single digets...that's unheard of here. I woke up in the early morning a couple of days ago and it was 1 degree.

Here's our house from the road. As much as I hate the snow- which those of you who know me well know that I really hate the snow- I can admit that it's pretty. I especially like the way the trees look.

And speaking of trees, I love how the snow looks on this bush. It just does neat things with the branches.

For those of you who want to know how the writing is going...it's going very slowly right now. My muse doesn't appear to like the cold and the word factory has shut down. I sit and stare at the last sentence I wrote and at the end of an hour it's still the last sentence I wrote. Sheesh! I think maybe my crit partners need to sic the rhino on me...or maybe Chauncy the chainsaw...

Okay, okay! I'm writing!

Merry Christmas!!

It's that time again!!!

Okay everyone, it's time again for every writer to get him/herself a comfy chair, stock up on your favorite writerly snacks, tell the family you're unaccessable for the entire month of November because NaNoWriMo is right around the corner!!

That's right, you heard me right. Many authors feel adreneline surge into their blood at the mere mention of NaNo. 50,000 words in a month. Their brains start sifting through long ignored plots and story ideas for THE ONE! The one that will finally get their undevided attention for a whole writing intensive month.

So, get your supplies, inform the family so they can make preparations for your absence and don't look back.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this right of passage, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Here's the website: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ Join in the fun!!

It's contest time....finally!

Okay folks, I know I promised a contest many months ago with the prize being an autographed copy of Jane Porter's latest 5Spot book, Mrs. Perfect. I promised this contest just a few days shy of my husband being involved in a serious motorcycle accident and this week he has gone back to work! Exciting news! So, to celebrate this milestone and follow up on my promise, it's contest time!!

The contest is this: The first person to tell me how many books Jane Porter has had published wins. Post your answer as a comment.

Good luck!

EDITED FOR CLARITY SINCE THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME CONFUSION AMONG READERS (MYSELF INCLUDED): THE PUBLICATION'S I'M REFERRING TO ARE SINGLE TITLES AND AMERICAN RELEASED CATEGORY TITLES.

I apologize in advance...

Okay, as most of my readers know, I'm not one to bring politics to my blog. I think there are enough politics out there already but this whole situation with the Wall Street bail out gone awry I felt like I really needed to put my $.02 in.

This whole situation was caused by greedy banks not willing to work with homeowners to help them save their homes. Now the banks are left with no revenue coming in and a crap load of empty houses on their hands. Why are these houses still empty? Because the banks still refuse to try to work things out so that people can get the loans they need to get their homes back or get into a new home.

If the banks would have just worked a bit harder to refinance people, dropped their interest rates as the Feds did, then they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. In my honest opinion, the House of Reps did the right thing today by putting a kibosh on the 700Billion dollar rescue plan. I think that if the government rescues anyone, it should be the American homeowners that are in trouble because of money grubbing banks.

Okay, I'm done and getting off my soap box. If you don't agree with my way of thinking, post a comment and tell me why I'm wrong. If you agree...feel free to post a comment and back me up :)

I Am Woman...Hear Me Roar!

As I struggled to make it through this summer with even the tiniest bit of my sanity in tact, I used my spare time to read...a lot. Reading was my escape when I wasn't taking care of my injured husband and my out of school children. There were times when I thought for sure I was going to go insane but, alas, school has returned to session and my husband is walking again and things are returning to some semblance of normalcy in my world.

In the midst of doctors appointments and play dates I learned a few things about myself this summer. I learned that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be. I learned that when I think I can't go any further, I always find another bit of strength to get me through. The main character, Taylor, in Jane Porter's book Mrs. Perfect taught me that no matter how vulnerable and alone we feel in times of strife and hardship, women are so much stronger than we are often times given credit for.

Right now I'm trying to finish a book that I'm writing in hopes of pitching to an editor or agent at an upcoming conference I'm attending. The thought of it fills me with abject terror because I've never done anything like this before. My writing has always been such a personal part of me and to lay it all out face to face before a total stranger, gives me hives. But, that bit of truth being shared, I'm going to do it because I am strong and I've worked too hard to let this wonderful opportunity pass me by.

When you're feeling down, when you're at the end of your rope with a yawning canyon stretching endlessly below you, tie a knot and hang on with all your might because you CAN do it. You can get through whatever difficult situation you're in the midst of and you can come out on the other side stronger than you ever imagined.

One Step At A Time

It has been 14 weeks since my husband's accident and as of this past Wednesday he is able to walk again. It's amazing how wonderful that simple accomplishment is. It's been three and a half months since I've seen him verticle under his own power and it's such sweet victory to see it now. It'll still be awhile before he's back to work full time but like the title of this post says, we're taking things one step at a time.

And for another bit of good news, no I didn't get 'the call', it's even better than that.....School starts back up in less than two weeks!!! LOL. This summer- what little bit of summer we've actually had- has been one of the longest of my life and I'm very ready for a little six hour mini vacation each day while the kids are in school.

Writing hasn't happened much lately simply because of the drain on my time and creativity. I have to get back to it though because I'll be attending the Emerald City Writer's Conference in October and I need to have something ready by then. So here I sit at my nice clean desk...blogging. Hehehe, my priorities are so skewed.

And that being said, I'm going to publish this and get to work. I just wanted to update all my writing buddies on what's been happening here. Thanks again to all of you who've sent such wonderful encouraging messages during this difficult time. Things are looking up and we'll be back up and RUNNING soon.

Cleanliness is next to...creativity!

I couldn't quite figure out why my muse has been so absent lately but I figured it out yesterday. As I sat amongst the disaster I call my writing center, I got so frusterated by the mess that I went to the thrift store and purchased a nice little book shelf and got to work cleaning up the mess. The pictures on the left show the before and the pictures on the right show the after. Once it was tidied up and organized, my muse popped back into the picture with a relieved sigh and said, "Let's get to work." And work we did. I was able to pound out a good 2000 words last night before my brain shut down from exhaustion.

So, if your muse has suddenly vanished, maybe she's tired of working in a mess...clean up your work space and see how productive you become :)

Surgery two is complete

Well, James went for an appointment Wednesday with the foot doctor and Dr. Binerschke admitted him to the hospital for surgery. The surgery took place on Friday and took nearly eight hours to complete. My poor husband was so groggy and in so much pain when he came back from recovery that it broke my heart. I wanted so badly to be strong for him but I broke down and sobbed. It crushed me to see him like that with all the tubes and wires and bandages...and he hurt so bad. They gave him a nerve block in his upper thigh to keep his leg numb for a couple of days but it started wearing off way sooner than that and the first night was miserable for him.

So after five days in the hospital we are home as of this afternoon. The surgery went well and everything should be on the mend now. The heel bone was so crushed that the doctor had to use donor bone from a cadaver to rebuild the heel. It sounded kind of creepy when he first said it was a possibility but now that the surgery has gone so well, I don't care where the bone came from, just so long as it works.

Anyway, I just wanted to give everyone an update and let you know how things are going. Hopefully we'll be able to get back on a regular schedule and life will fall into something of a normal pattern for the next few months. 'Normal' being relative of course :)

Thank you to everyone who has prayed and sent good wishes our way. Your support and kindness means the world to me.

I know I haven't been around much lately....

But I have a really good reason for it. My husband was riding his motorcycle home from work when a driver ran a red light and broadsided him, sending him 30 feet through the air where he landed on his back. His left foot was crushed between his motorcycle and the car's bumper and when he landed on his back his T12 vertebrae suffered a serious fracture. He's home now but he's pretty banged up and has a number of surgeries ahead of him in the near future. It's been an exhausting few days for all of us here. For my readers who are inclinded to pray, please do, and I thank you so much for it :)

We'll be okay, we always bounce back thanks to God, but it's going to be a trial. It's going to be rough not having any real income for the next 6-12 months. I'd get a job but he needs so much care right now that I really can't. I know eventually that we'll get some sort of financial settlement from all of this to help pay all these medical bills but for now, it's going to be really difficult.

The hardest part for me, I think, has been the loss of my strongest support system at a time when I really need it. My husband is everything to me and at the end of a long day, his big bear hugs keep me going. Now that he's flat on his back all the time, his hugs are no longer possible. We take a shower together every single night and that simple action is something I look forward to all day, it's not sexual at all, just a few minutes for us to connect and be alone, to shut the world out and let us reconnect...and now that's gone. I feel kind of alone even surrounded by so many people who love and care for us because the one person I draw so much strength from is hurt and I can't do anything to make it better. It breaks my heart when I have to kiss him goodnight in the hospital bed we have set up at home and go to bed myself in our big bed. I cry every night because it's just not right. My heart tells me that something is so very wrong with that and I hate that it has to be that way. I hate not being able to reach over and touch him if I wake up in the night, I hate that I can't snuggle up beside him and feel his arms around me. This is the saddest I've been in so very long and my heart just hurts so bad.

Needless to say, my writing has come to a screeching halt. My brain is so tired from all the stress of the last few days that I couldn't conjure up a creative thought if someone handed me one. That said, I'm going to publish this post and go to bed because three hours from now comes very quickly :)

See Jane Party!

Yesterday, all day, I anticipated an event, a wonderful event, the likes of which I had never had the opportunity to attend before. A couple of weeks ago I was invited by Jane Porter- author extrordinaire- to attend the release party for her latest 5 Spot book called Mrs. Perfect. I've read the book already and it is amazing. It it a story of the strength of women and at the same time, the softness and vulnerability of the same women. The book touched my heart and made me realize that I, too, am stronger than I realize.




So, here are some pictures I took of the event, not all of them are wonderful quality but I was so excited to be included that I was shaking a bit. I met some really great people besides Jane, including author Susanna Carr, Sound Relations CEO Leena Hyat, Kari Andersen- founder of www.momsmakingmoneyfromhome.com. Jennifer Stewart, a member of Jane's website and aspiring author herself was also among those I had dinner and much fun with.

Jane was gracious and beyond sweet. She spoke of her desire to see all kids having great opportunities for their futures. She supports an organization called Page Ahead; they supply books for low income children and instill in them a love of reading and books. Jane is very passionate about this program and her heart was clearly on her sleeve as she spoke about it. If anyone is interested in helping support this very worth cause, the web address is http://www.pageahead.org/. You can find more information there.

After listening to Jane speak about her books and writing, among other things, she signed books, chatted with people and then we all headed over to Ooba Tooba's for drinks and more fun. The evening was a blast and, in spite of getting home in the wee hours of morning, I am so glad I was able to attend. I knew Jane was cool after having spoken with her many times online, but after meeting her in person and getting to chat with her over dinner, she is even more cool than I imagined. She is very sweet and her writing talent is amazing. If you get the chance to pick up one- or more- of her books, please do. You will not be disappointed. You can find the titles of her books on her website: http://www.janeporter.com/

And as an added bonus for those of you who read my blog regularly, I'll be giving away an autographed copy of Jane's latest 5Spot release, Mrs. Perfect, sometime in the very near future. So keep watching and don't miss out!