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The Joy of Jammies

A friend sent me a blog about altering your “at home” work habits to be more successful or get out of a rut. One of the suggestions was to change things up a little and NOT take a shower and get dressed as if going to an actual office.

I read the line twice before it hit me.

Some people don’t stay in their jammies for as long as possible throughout the day. Some people actually get washed and dressed even if they aren’t going anywhere.

Oh my…what a concept.

I have discovered that my absolute best writing is done the instant the morning rush is over and those that are heading out the door are out. Generally from 8 until 11 a.m. If I interrupt this time with something as mundane as clothes? Well my muse doesn’t like it! Not one bit! See I am one of those people who forever wander from one room of the house to the other, constantly getting distracted with new projects and shiny objects. If I don’t park myself in front of the laptop and write at that time, I’m toast.

The whole topic has sparked my curiosity. Writer friends, and others who work at home, which are you? Does your morning routine include a shower and clothes or a cup of coffee and slippers? Inquiring minds want to know!

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Goals Are Not Just For Soccer Balls

The FIFA soccer championship has been over now for weeks and yet I’m still pondering something. Would I be better at setting and working toward my goals if I had a stadium filled with people to cheer me on?

Writing is such a solitary process. We sit for hours at our computers and type out our stories. Sometimes I just sit while I contemplate a plot turn or character (my husband calls this napping, I prefer Ann Lamont’s term “wool gathering.”) But it’s not like we have a crowd of people gathered around us and urging us on to finish the next chapter.

It seems like whenever I do set a goal  I become my own worst enemy. I plan on writing 5 pages a day and somehow I hit a wall at 4. Try as I might, everything I write on the fifth page is worthless drivel. Perhaps if I hired a rabid “writing” fan I could manage a game saving head shot at the final buzzer and get that last page done, shimmering with symbolism and hyperbole.  The critics would go wild and my readers would weep with joy.

But alas, it’s not to be. I must play this writing game alone. I must dodge the opponents of writer’s block and laundry and cross that finish line to my own applause.

Maybe I’ll buy a vuvuzela  just to cheer myself on…

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My First Book

I received an e-mail the other day that 101 Facets of Faith is now available on Amazon.com. My first book!

Okay, so it’s not all mine. It’s actually a compilation of devotions written by several authors. But my name is on it. Thoughts of mine are written on the pages for everyone to read.

Wow.

What an incredibly frightening and humbling thought.

I’ve always written. Since childhood I’ve kept journals and notebooks of random thoughts, poems, stories and prayers. For the past seven years I’ve worked at creating fictional stories that I hope to someday have published.

And yet, it’s fitting that this first book should be a non-fiction one that illustrates our difficulties with faith. God is, after all, the one who inspires my writing. I’m thankful that this first offering of the gifts He’s entrusted me with is one that clearly gives Him glory.

Yes, my heart is in fiction. Creating characters who learn and grow in faith. But I will take every opportunity to tell people about my own struggles while I learn and grow in my own walk with God. After all, that is the story that ulitmately matters the most.

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Rejection is Not An Excuse

I’d been waiting several months to hear news about a short story I’d written back in January. I submitted it in February and the magazine said to give them up to six months to respond before re-submitting. I had just e-mailed a friend and said I planned on trying again once the calendar page turned to August when lo and behold in the mailbox today came the note:

Dear Writer, Thanks but no thanks. Okay, so they really weren’t that blunt, but you get the idea.

For a moment I let myself be sucker punched. I stared at the note in utter defeat. Then I went down to my computer and whined on FaceBook. There’s always someone on-line to commiserate with, to buck you up when you’re feeling down.

And now, in the words of that famous philosopher Monty Python, “I’m not dead yet! I’m feeling much better.” Rejection used to be an excuse for me to wallow in self-pity for days. Not anymore. Now I use it as a tool. A tool to motivate me to work harder. No longer a hammer to pound me into the ground, rejection is sandpaper. It may be rough and hurt a little, but ultimately it will smooth out my writing making it a thing of beauty.

And so, in the words of another great philosopher, “Once more unto the breach, dear friend, once more!” I’m off to my lap top and ready to try again!

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Inspirational Characters

I’ve had quite a few questions about my new character so I thought I’d update y’all here.

He’s doing quite well, thank you! He’s been an inspiration to my story. And not just for me, my protagonist is learning from him as well. He’s helped her escape from a precarious position but he’s also pushed her to discover strength she didn’t know she had. He’s helping her to grow into a more powerful yet empathetic version of the person she thought she was.

In short, I love this guy! I’m so glad he forced his way into my story.

 I started thinking about the people in my life and how they have transformed me. Twenty-five years ago, God placed a man in my life, John Stokely, who not only accepted my eccentricities, but loved me all the more for them. I never thought I’d move away from the East Coast but by falling in love with a Naval Officer I was forced to see more of the United States than I ever thought I would.

Moving away from family and friends is difficult, but a wise woman (my mother-in-law) told me early on, “If you don’t cry when you leave a town, you’ve wasted your time there!” I vowed then that I wouldn’t waste my time, I’d explore every new duty station and make as many friends as I could.

That’s a difficult thing for a person like me. My friends don’t believe it, but I’m actually shy until I get very comfortable in a new situation. But God forced me out of my box with each move and I’m grateful for every one. Each new town, each new friend, gave me the opportunity to grow in ways I never would have dreamed of on my own.

So again I’m asking you to take a look around this week for the “stranger in the corner.” Who is it God might be placing in your life to help you grow? What new opportunity might force you out of your box? As Mr. Magorium said in his Magic Emporium (if you haven’t seen this movie, I recommend it), “Life is an occasion. Rise to it!”

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A Character in Search of a Home

Okay, this blog may be a bit weird if you’re not a writer, but here goes. I’m presently working on a YA (young adult) fantasy novel.  I breezed through the first 220 pages. The story flew from my imagination, to my fingertips, to the computer screen. And then….

nothing.

For weeks now.

Nothing!!!!!

I kept coming back to this one scene in a tavern and I couldn’t get my main character out of there. And then I realized there was someone else in the background. Someone I didn’t know yet, but he lurked in the corner and kept drawing me back to the scene. Everytime I tried to leave without introducing him, my writing stopped.

What to do? I hadn’t planned on adding a new character. He wasn’t in my plot outline. I didn’t even know who he was! So I sat down today and interviewed him. It sounds bizarre, but it worked. I asked him who he was, what his history was and what his intentions were for my story. You’d think, seeing as he’d come from my head in the first place,  I’d have already known the answers, but I didn’t.

But now I do! And I can’t wait to sit down and add him to my cast of characters and see where he takes me and my protagonist. I think it’s going to be a wild ride!

I thought about how many times I do that in real life. How many times do I leave a “scene”–a meeting or a party, and don’t take time to notice the person in the corner. Whether it’s my own insecurities or my self-absorption, I bet I’ve missed out on a lot of opportunities to bring a new “character,” a new friend into my life. It’s sad to think about but it makes me determined to try harder to live outside my comfort zone and allow new people into my story!

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What I learned on my summer vacation

The family and I just got back from a road trip to Hilton Head, SC. We took four days to drive out there with a day and 1/2 stop in Nashville to visit my aunt.  We spent six days in Hilton Head with eighteen people celebrating my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary and then drove the twenty hours home in two days. Here are some things I learned along the way.

1. Make sure to cross check the AAA reviews of hotels with other sources. And remember, there’s a VAST difference between 2, 3, and 4 star hotels! Ew…that’s all I have to say.

2. All McDonald’s are not alike. I won’t go into details for fear of prosecution but we stopped at one that gave us all the heeby jeebies!

3. A box of 50 munchkins (donut holes) from Dunkin Donuts will not last long in the back seat with two teenagers.

4. It is ALWAYS a good idea to get a second cup of coffee for later when you don’t know when you’ll see another Dunkin Donuts.

5. South Carolina is VERY humid. And just because it thunders doesn’t mean it will rain.

6. Hilton Head has a lot of traffic circles. And they all look the same. Really.  And, they can double as amusement park rides when you’re in the car with a bunch of crazy women! “Raise your arms and scream!”

7. After not having one in six years I can unequivocally say that Chik-Fil-A sandwiches still rock!!!

8. Eating at Paula Deen’s restaurant will make your tummy explode. She makes awesome fried chicken and her mac & cheese is to die for.

9. A glorious morning sunrise reveling in God’s presence can do wonders to restore your sanity after spending five days with eighteen people!

10. If you want to be happily married after fifty years make sure you marry your very best friend! What a blessing to celebrate Pat and Doug’s love and friendship. What a joy to be with siblings and cousins celebrating their twenty-plus year marriages! I’m looking forward to the 60th anniversary!

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An Encouraging Word

During my prayer time today I asked God for some encouragment. The writing life can be full of rejections and silences. It’s enough to drive a sane person crazy. So I prayed for a little good news.

And it came. No, I didn’t sell a story or get a call from my agent. But my niece sent me an e-mail telling me she’d finally gotten to read a copy of my first book, “Instead of Ashes.” She told me she couldn’t put it down.  Sigh. My heart beat a little faster. A smile came to my face. That one little e-mail meant so much. I marched up to my lap top, turned it on and started working on another story to send out.

Please don’t think I”m looking for anymore pats on the back this week, my “kudos tank” is full. But I got to thinking, who could I encourage?  Who can you?  Take a minute today and think about someone you might like to thank for being in your life or helping you with a problem and then jot them a note, an e-mail or give them a call. Sometimes we don’t realize what such a simple act can mean to someone.

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A Memorable Line

Douglas Adams died last week. I remember reading Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in high school and loving it. Adams’s passing got me thinking about another book I read during that time, Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach.

To be honest, I can’t recall much about the storyline now. But one line a character spoke stuck with me. “Live your life so as never to be ashamed if something is published about you. Even if what is published isn’t true.” I remember memorizing that line at the time and thinking it was a great philosophy.

Think about it. In order to make that a reality, you would have to be secure in who you are, in everything you’ve done, and all that you’ve said over the years. I wish I could say I’d never made a mistake, said the wrong thing or made the wrong decision; I have. But I do feel I’ve stayed true to the person I want to be. I’m not perfect, far from it. But my mistakes were honest ones. And I’ve made fewer as I’ve gotten older. I’ve learned to take myself less seriously, to value others more than myself and to keep my mouth shut unless I know I’m adding something positive to the conversation (although this one I still struggle with!)

It’s interesting to think about in this day in age. With the media ready to pounce on anyone for any indiscretion, is there anything you would change about your life? Anything you wish you would have done differently? I wonder when our life is done here, will we be forced to watch those mistakes and see how they affected others? Perhaps that’s what God’s grace is all about. For now, on this side of things, I will continue to try and not be ashamed by anything I say or do, even if CNN decides to broadcast it!

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Time Flies

I’ve spent the last two weeks caught up in the hoopla of my son’s graduation. Hard to believe the strapping young man who now towers over me was born seventeen years ago. Where does the time go?

I couldn’t help but think about all that’s happened in my life since my son’s birth. Happiness ebbs and flows. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the events that mold us. In the past seventeen years I moved five times, twice across the country; I lost a child and fought depression; I gave birth to a daughter; my mom battled breast cancer and won; my brother disowned his family; aunts, uncles and cousins have passed away while nieces and nephews have been born.

Life’s not easy. My pastor’s recent teaching on Ecclesiastes has shown this to me in a new light. We can rack our brains trying to figure out what buttons to push in order to have a good life. What’s the secret formula? What products do I need to use or what car do I need to drive in order to be happy? What can I do to keep anything bad from happening to me or my family? The truth is there is no button. There’s nothing we can do or say, buy or use, that will give us the perfect life. Just in the last few months we’ve seen celebrities who seemed to have it all throw it away in search of something more.

I’ve made it my goal this year to live a better life. Not one of monetary success or fame, but one where the things I do and say matter more. I have to admit, I’m not doing the best job of it. I’ve let life sidetrack me. But watching my son cross the stage to receive his diploma the other night has spurred my desire again. I saw this young man my husband and I’d raised beaming with pride (and relief!) at his accomplishment and I wanted that joy for myself. What new skill can I learn this year? What fear can I overcome? What goal can I set and see attained? Just like the characters in one of my favorite movies, Second Hand Lions, when my time on earth is done I want people to think that I LIVED! I’m making plans my friends! I’ll let you know what happens!