It's Something Unpredictable

But in the end it's right.

That verse feels like it was written for me this week.

In life and in writing.....

In my little world of writing, I've been hitting forks in the road with my story. More than I've ever hit before. This new book is a journey that started with an idea and has grown and twisted in ways that I didn't see coming. In fact, sometimes it turns so quickly that I honestly don't know what is supposed to happen next.

It's like solving a mystery. What is supposed to happen next? Yesterday I thought I had it all figured out, but then another path came into view and the more I think about it, the more this new and different direction fits the goal of my story better. In fact, it brings more depth and meaning to it, not to mention that it requires the different personalities of the characters for it to work.

And in the end it's right. It turns out my story didn't change direction, it just took a different path to get there- a better one.

I will say this about writing. Each time is different. Sometimes the whole picture might be in your head and other times, the future is foggy. But both ways work.

In many ways, I'm glad I didn't know too many details. It made it so much more unpredictable. And yet, for all the unpredictability, the beginning supports the end. It's kind of amazing.

I read another author's blog and she put her writing formula kind of like this.... prayer, time, persistence, repeat. She didn't say it like that, but I would. For me, it takes all of those things.

And in life, yeah, the same formula. If I thought my book was unpredictable, it's nothing compared to life.

So, here's one of my favorite songs. You can sing it in your head with me today.....


Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day

Another turning point A fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist
Directs you where to go
So make the best of this test
And don't ask why
It's not a question
But a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life

So take the photographs
And still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf of good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth
It was worth all the while

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life
I hope you had the time of your life

Little Miss Muffet

Some of the exciting news for today...

First order of business, the winner of the $20 Barnes & Noble Giftcard is...

theladya

Thanks to all of you who left a comment on "Something that Makes You Happy". It was encouraging to hear all of your thoughts. I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to share your happiness.

Today the Whitney Awards announced their finalists. Click here to see all the great books you could be reading right now. Congratulations to all the finalists!

And, on a totally different topic... today while my five year old twins and my two year old daughter were eating lunch, I was in the other side of the house when I hear them start screaming. My two year old was the first to make it to me. When I asked what happened, she said something I couldn't understand.

Then my five year old girl, with tears already coming down her cheeks finds me. There's a spider. Oh. A spider. I make my way to the dining room where I find my five year old BOY crying. About a spider?

All of them are shouting, "There's a spider, mom! There's a spider!"

It took them a while to calm down enough to show me where in the heck the spider was.

Oh my gosh. Now I can see why they were crying.

Wedged between the bricks was the biggest freaking black widow I've ever seen in my life. Since running and screaming wasn't an option, I did the only thing a wimpy girl like me could do.

I sprayed it with hornet and wasp spray. I couldn't step on it. It was wedged in between the bricks. As soon as the monster fled to a flat surface, I squished it with my slipper. Yes, my rubber soled slipper.

The kids almost missed the bus, but the spider situation was under control. Now that the black demon is gone from my house, we're safe for another day.

Ahh, It's Writers Conference Season....

I'm so excited for some of the really great things coming up.

Next week--- NEXT WEEK!!!!

The LTUE at BYU February 11-13. Life, the Universe and Everything
FREE conference. Say the word FREE. Feel it. Now plan to go. I'm going to be there and I can't wait. Check out my other post if you want to know lots more.

And, coming in April, the LDStorymakers Writers Conference. Click on it- it links you to the wonderful world of more details. And, because I love a good contest, join the Show Your Love For the Storymakers Contest-- don't forget to click.

This conference is April 23-24 at the Marriott Hotel in Provo. It's not free, but it is stacked with some seriously good stuff. If you've ever thought about writing, and especially if you already do, you should go. I'll admit that writer's conferences sent me on a trail that really helped me along.

And, don't sign up for the contest- you know, the Show Your Love one that I mentioned... because I want to win. Okay, I know--- I never win, but a girl can dream.

Jumping Genres

If you slur your "J" it sounds like zshumping zshenres.

Today's post is about jumping off one category of books and writing another. When I wrote Alvor, I didn't think I could write any other kind of piece. I decided to write another fantasy in between Alvor and the second book in the series. Even though it wasn't the same story and had completely different elements in it, it was the same genre.

Three books in the same genre later, I knew I was going to have to write outside of my own lines. Even while I wrote Book 2 of Alvor, I knew there was another completely different story waiting to be told. I didn't know what story it was at the time, but it scared me to know for sure that it wouldn't be a fantasy.

And did I know how to write anything else?

You never know until you try.

Not all, but many authors stay within one genre for their entire career. I understand why. When you learn how to write well in one genre, why switch?

For me? Because I needed to. It's not a permanent switch- like never writing another fantasy- but it is stretching the horizon of how I write. And I'm learning so much.

Alvor is written in third person and comes from two people's point of view.

My new book is written in first person present tense. Nothing could be more different.

My new book's character is almost 18. She's enough older than the Alvor series that I can explore different situations on a more profound level.

And, my new book is NOT fantasy. Nothing supernatural or magical in it at all. It's not historical fiction, a memoir, a horror or a graphic novel. But it is a genre I have recently fallen in love with. No, it's not a romance either- although there is a touch of that in the story.

Why the switch? My reasons are probably different than everyone else's. I've had this feeling for over a year now that I needed to write a story in this particular genre. I don't know if it's so that I can learn how to be a better writer or if it's because my new story will make it possible for me to find an agent- I'm really hoping it's both.

For the record, I have been told by agents that fantasy is hard to sell right now, and even ones who would be willing to pick it up don't want to mess with the second book in a series where the first book is published already.

Even so, it's impossible to know what the future holds. I have already learned to be more aware of sentence structure, thoughts, feelings, sensations, actions, reactions and dialogue- so writing something new has been a great teacher in the long journey of writing.

Something that makes you Happy- contest

I was on the phone last week with a lady I've known for years. I learned a couple things I couldn't believe. First, the third week of January is nationally recognized as the most depressing week of the year, and second, she knew of five people here in Boise who had committed suicide.


So, after pondering the state of the world for a while, I decided to do something. I'm giving you the chance to find some happiness.


And, to get more people to join in, we're going to throw a prize in there. A $20 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble.



All you have to do is tell me what makes you happy. Leave a comment. It could be anything.

And, I need your e-mail address just in case you win.


The contest ends February 5, 2010 at 12:00 PM MST. Like always, I will use random.org to draw the winner.


So, what's on my list? Here are some things in no particular order...

*cuddling with my two year old girl and reading stories
*my husband's warm hugs and kisses
*watching my kids play together
*seeing my kids develop their talents
*friends who aren't afraid to take a minute to talk
*strangers who smile
*dark chocolate
*anytime I get to sit with a kid on my lap, even if they're someone else's kid
*Sundays at church when my kids are being angels
*taking walks
*dancing, especially when it's with my two little girls and no one else is watching
*writing
*someone else making dinner and doing the dishes, aahhh
*reading a really good book

I can't wait to hear some of yours. May the rest of your January be filled with gratitude for the precious life you get to live. Thanks for helping me spread some joy.

Making and Keeping Writing Goals

"Without goals or resolutions, there is no reason to act and no motivation to take any daily actions or go the extra mile."

-Bob Urichuck

I haven't had a post that was geared specifically to writers lately- and I'm in a writing mood. Writing is the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. Hmmm. Maybe it's because that's the only time the house is quiet except for those times when I'm actually writing.

Or, it's because I'm obsessed.

Or it could be because of my writing goals.

I'm the kind of person who doesn't know the meaning of diets or real New Years resolutions. Nope. I make specific goals and try to figure out how to get to them. That's it. If someone told me I had to stop eating cake and cookies for the rest of my life to be healthy, I would never make it.

If someone told me I had to write 30,000 words a week, I'd never make it.

But, if I decide that I really don't want to grow up to be ginormous, I would try not to eat very many cookies, and cake not all that often. And if I decided I wanted to write an entire novel in four months, I think it's possible, but only if I have specific goals.

So, other than to admit that I don't live up to some of the greats (the fact that I don't think I can write 30,000 worthwhile words in a week) I will tell you what my goals are.

Remember that I am a stay-at-home mom with five kids and I also run a dance studio in my backyard.

Drumroll please..... my writing goal is 100 pages a month. You can all stop laughing now.

When I say 100 pages, I mean 100 intense, captiviating, riviting, inspiring, mysterious, romantic and sometimes funny pages. 100 pages of a story that I would pick up and not want to put down.

Well, I can hope that my writing can do all that. The fact is, I love writing. I love a story that sucks me in and keeps me guessing. When that story is my own, it gets complicated. Is the author really supposed to keep guessing what's going to happen next? I know the basic outline of the plot, but my characters are constantly throwing surprises at me while I write.

It's like having imaginary friends, or maybe it's exactly that. I don't set a place for them at my dinner table, but I do think about them all day long. I'm mentally creating the next chapter when I'm not writing it until I can't stand the wait anymore and I have to write it all down.

Then there are the days when I sit down at the computer and I have no idea how I'm goint to get the characters out of the mess I've created for them.

Anyway, my point is this:

Decide on what your writing goal is, be specific (how many pages do you want to write a week, or month?) and then decide when you're going to write.

I haven't figured out a reward system. Instead, I usually have a super great reason for getting something done by a certain date.

And most of all:

Don't be afraid to go on the ride that writing inherently is.

Writing a novel doesn't happen overnight. No matter how exciting a story may be, it's going to take some serious time to get it all down on paper, or more accurately, a thumb drive. But it doesn't have to take years. That's the beauty of writing goals, you get to see your dreams come to life that much sooner.

Walmart, and other mysteries of the universe

Maybe it's the LTUE coming up, but I've been looking at recent events and wondering why certain things happen when they do.

For example, on the bad side of life, my oven broke while I was making dinner on Sunday, the week before last. Of course, I was cooking three things that required an oven and everyone was especially starving.

And the good side? We happen to have a backup prehistoric oven that heats unevenly, but still cooks. Even though the cornbread was black on the bottom, the rest of it was cooked.

So we do our research. It turns out that the EOC (eloctronic oven controler NOT the End Of Course tests) was broken. And, it costs almost as much to buy the part as it does to buy a whole new oven.

The good side? Maybe someday I'll get my dream oven. In the meantime, I have a really good excuse not to bake. My son's birthday is coming up next week though, and I'm already imagining the black-on-the-bottom cake we'll be eating.

And, just when I've completely given up on anyone ever finding Alvor, someone comes to visit from Utah a couple days ago. He was at Walmart with his kids and they pulled him over to the books to show him my book on their shelf. He took a picture of it with his phone just to prove it. I'm at Walmart? Who knew. At least a Walmart in Utah somewhere.

Other cosmic wonders of the universe this last year has included two broken dryers and one broken washing machine. If you went into our shop right now, you would find the two dryers. My husband is sure he can figure out how to fix one of them using the parts, but he's probably really building a spaceship with them or something. He wants to keep the broken oven when we can finally afford to replace ours. I think he's going to make a man cave with all our broken appliances. If the fridge goes out, I'll know for sure something is up. Ha ha ha....

There are more mysteries in my life right now, the kind I won't tell the whole world, but do make me wonder what I'm supposed to do. Sometimes I just have to go with the flow, and other times I wonder if someone's trying to send me some messages and I'm really slow to figure it out. Oh well. When the car breaks down, I'll have even more time to contemplate the mysteries of the universe. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.