Things that Make me go Ouch

3 Tips to Help You Begin Again After Difficult Depressing Times

What gets you out of bed in the morning to brave a day of ordinary or the unknown? What keeps you going when nothing you’ve planned is working? When your kids are defiant and your husband just doesn’t ‘get you’ and you’re friends, well, are only online? What keeps you going through that nasty divorce…

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Take Chances, Make Mistakes, Get Messy!

Who can forget that beloved Ms. Frizzle who inspired her class to “take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!” All but play-it-safe Arnold loved Ms. Frizzle’s field trips that took them to places they’d never been before, often leading them into scary and unfamiliar territory. But oh the adventures they had! Even Arnold would end…

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Interrupted by American Idol Auditions & Lessons Learned From The End of the Journey

This last week has been a whirlwind of excitement for my son and our family as we focused on his dreams instead of mine. American Idol auditions. It started with a simple press release I sent out last Monday with the hope that some local media would respond to the subject line: Local Teen Wins…

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5 Rules to Avoid Disappointments

It’s been a while since I got a rejection, (mainly because it’s been a while since I submitted something.) They used to hit me hard, and sometimes they still do, if I don’t follow the 5 rules to avoid disappointments I’ve learned the hard way over the years. This weekend I forgot the rules. I…

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The Emotions of Writing a Novel!

A little comic reality for my intense writing weekend! This is so spot on it’s scary!!!

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Dare to Suck

This video kick in the butt pep talk is soooo what I need right now as I’m getting familiar with my 25,000 already written WIP and hearing the voices in my head say “this sucks!” But sucking is good! Without sucking I’d have a blank page! And in the words of my wise agent, “You…

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Not Finaling in Genesis Doesn't Make You a Loser!

Earlier today, Katie Ganshert wrote that she never finaled in the Genesis contest, yet is contracted for two books with Waterbrook Multnomah for a book she entered twice. Her post made me think about my own contest journey and road to publication, and how there are many hurting nonfinalists out there today questioning their writing…

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My Journey to Balancing My Dreams

I’ve been thinking a lot about my personal goals, my children’s dreams, and what I want my family to look like. Unfortunately, all three are often in conflict with one another at different times. I knew from a young age that I wanted to write and I’ve never doubted the calling, though I’ve struggled often…

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How to Edit a Full-Length Novel to a Novella

When I contracted my novella in January and had to cut 30,000 words off my full length novel, I knew it was going to be hard. In fact, I almost bailed on submitting the anthology to Barbour because I knew that would mean cutting more than half of my story. The pain of deleting my…

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Seasons of Writing and Waiting

In January, I was all set to dive into my WIP. I had just put my daughter in school full time, and I had my days mapped out by the hour. Then “I got the call.” The novella I submitted to Barbour for an anthology the week before was sold! After the shock registered, I…

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