Moving Day

Hey everyone!

Well, it's that time. Again.

Packers will be here in a little bit to put our whole world in boxes, ready to ship it across the Pacific. As such, my posts on here are about to get, well, sporatic at best. I hope to be able to get on once in awhile to let you know I'm still alive and what I'm up to.

In Jan 2011, though, you can look for me to be back at full speed. I'll be in Hawaii, lounging by the beach--and who couldn't be inspired by that!

Who Can Resist My Hook?

In October, I entered the ACFWOhio Chapter’s Hook Me Contest. I turned in a back cover blurb along with the first 1000 words to see if I would “hook” the judges into wanting to read my novel.

I finally got the results back, along with some great feedback. No, I didn’t win, but that’s okay. I still did really well. My main reason for entering was that I needed some feedback on my first 1000 words as I’d been receiving conflicting opinions.

I belong to two critique groups which are wonderful and I absolutely respect the opinions of these fellow writers—however, in certain cases they tend to disagree a lot. And the first few pages of my first chapter was one of them. Some people like it just the way it is and believe it accomplishes introducing the characters in a good way before the horrible tragedy at the end of the chapter. Others think that the first few pages are not interesting enough to garner the reader’s attention and keep them engaged to get to the second part of the chapter.

So, for awhile I’ve been debating on who was right and what I needed to do about it (if anything). After receiving the feedback from the judges and then brainstorming with my wonderful hubby, I’m excited to say that I think I’ve finally figured out which path I’m going to try. Which one do you ask?

Well, I’m going to make some changes, but I’m not exactly giving up the first few pages. A little relocation, deletion of a character, and shortening the length of the opening scene will help to introduce the important characters in the “normal” life before I throw that life out of whack.

Too bad I’m up to my head in moving stuff or I’d go rewrite it now! I’m hoping that after we’re packed up and on vacation, I’ll have plenty of time to edit the rest of my novel and go over it a couple more times.

My goal is to be completely done by February. I’m going to try my hand at the Amazon Breakout Novel Award again (despite the disaster that occurred the first time), and then enter the ACFW Genesis contest in March. FEEDBACK! After that, then I hope to start querying it. We shall see!

Hello, December!

Hello, December! Oh how I've missed you. So glad you've come around again.


Now, for all of my faithful readers, picture this:

Wet snow perfect for sledding and building snowmen

Hot chocolate (or coffee)

Crackling fireplace with a stack of books and that perfect throw

A bare Christmas tree just begging to be decorated

A nativity scene with a missing baby Jesus (yes, I hide mine until Christmas morning)


This is my time of the year!

This year is a little different for us though. We didn't get to put up a tree and decorate the house. We'll be having Christmas "on the road" this year. As we prepare for our transition to Hawaii, we are taking four weeks to visit family (who knows when we'll see them again!).

That's what I'm looking forward to most this year. Spending time with our families. Being military, we very rarely live anywhere close to family. Right now, my family is in Virginia and my husband's family is in Kentucky--we're in Kansas (soon to be Hawaii). Family get togethers only happen a couple of times a year.

This year will be extra special.

What are you looking forward to this Christmas season? Anything special or different? Or are you reveling in the gift of a "normal" Christmas celebrating the birth of Christ?