Merry Christmas

Christmas is a season of absolute craziness at times!  If ever we needed to remember to "Smell the Roses", (like how I fit that in there?) it's during this season.  Yet, it's one of my favorite times of the year.  I love the traditions, the time with family, the joy of the season, but most of all, I love the reason for the season and I love the ways we celebrate Jesus' birthday!

The busyness of the season has prevented me from blogging or writing much, but I thought that I'd take a moment to share a few things with you.  One of our busiest things that we do at Christmas is participate in A Festival of Carols at our church.  My mom, dad, sister, husband and I all sing in the choir and my two oldest children are in the children's choir.  This year, my two daughters were able to do some ballet during the prelude.  I love having the opportunity to sing praises to my God and I love the time with my fellow choir members.  Having my children participate just makes it even sweeter.

My oldest daughter participated in the Nutcracker this year and did a wonderful job.  It's been fantastic to see her grow and develop her skills.  It definitely added to the busyness, but seeing her face glow at the end was worth it all.

My brother and his family were able to come for a visit and we were able to do some of our traditional Christmas celebrations while they were here.  It was so great to have them here to participate in our Christmas and I loved seeing my niece and nephews!  It was great to have some time for all eight cousins to be together. 

Last night we celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday and then headed over to our church for our candlelight service.  My favorite part is always when the pastor has the children come to the front while he reads the Christmas story to them and asks them questions.  You never know what those kids are going to say!  I also love seeing the light spread throughout the congregation as the candles are lit.  It's a powerful reminder that we need to be lights in our dark world.  I pray that I can remember to do that throughout this coming year!

Today we celebrate our Savior's birth!  My family has already opened presents and in a short while we will be joining our extended family to further celebrate this blessed event.  I pray that as you celebrate this year that you will take time to pause and remember the reason that we celebrate today.  We were given the greatest gift we will ever receive that first Christmas when God came down to dwell among us and sacrifice Himself in order that we could be saved.  That's the sweetest story ever told.

Now as I sip my Christmas tea (White chocolate peppermint!  Yummy!), I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!  

On Sale!

"Smell the Roses" is now on sale for $0.99!  It'll only be on sale for 3 days and then the price will raise to $1.99.  A few days later, it will return to the normal $2.99 price.  If you haven't bought it yet, now is the time to get it!  Even if you have bought it, please share this with your friends.  I appreciate every word of mouth share, every share on Facebook, every mention in a blog or tweet.  Each one helps so much!  Thank you!

To make it easier, I'll even include the link for quick access!  As always, I love to hear from you - your comments, questions and advice are precious to me!

Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses

I am thankful . . .

This has been such an incredible journey and it's not over yet!  I have no idea how long this journey will be, but I am enjoying every step of the way.  With Thanksgiving this week, I am thinking about the things that I am thankful for and I thought I'd share some of the things I'm thankful for that are part of being a writer.

I am very much thankful for each and every one of you who have purchased and read my books.  I am thankful for the encouraging comments that some of you have been so sweet to share with me.  I am thankful for the good reviews I've been blessed with on Amazon.  I'm thankful for those who take the time to read my blog.  I'm thankful for the support of my husband, family and friends.  I am thankful for my editors.  I am thankful that writing still allows me to be home with my children.  I'm thankful for self-publishing which allows people like me to write a story and actually see it published.  I am thankful for my beautiful covers that killercovers.com have created for me.  I am thankful for the new sale options that Kindle has given so I can play around with things a  little bit.  I am thankful that each sale feels like a gift from God to keep me humble.

I could probably list many more, but it's amazing to see how blessed I have been just in this one aspect of my life.  I am blessed beyond measure and I thank God every day for His abundant blessings.

Now, I'll give you a quick update.  I haven't progressed at all on conforming my first two books to Nook.  It's partly because of the busyness of the holiday season that is keeping from doing it, but honestly, I keep dragging my feet because I expect it to be tedious.  Sorry for all the Nook users out there. On the up side though, I did start writing my third book and I'm already surprised at how it's turning out!  I already have characters who I only expected to play a very small part taking a much bigger part in the story than I had anticipated.  I'm so excited to see where this goes.

As always, I'd love to hear from you if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for me!  Also, if you haven't picked up a copy of "Best Laid Plans" or "Smell the Roses" they can be found by clicking the link below.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman
Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman

A New Development

Kindle began a new program this week and I'm very excited about it!  They are allowing authors to put their books on sale.  It will show the original price and have a countdown to when it will jump up.  In addition to that, they will have a page dedicated to books that are on sale so that people can go there and find books at a discount.

My part of it is that I have to be enrolled in KDP Select, and I have to select the higher 70% royalty option.  KDP Select allows my book to be borrowed for free by anyone with a Prime membership, and I get a portion of a fund based on how many authors are enrolled, how many books are borrowed, etc.  I had to increase my price to $2.99 in order to bring my royalty up to the needed level, which I expect to decrease my sales for a little while.  However, I'm hoping that, in the long run, this will help my sales out.  Another advantage to it is that even at the sale price I will still be earning 70%.

I had said that I was anxious to experiment with my pricing and this has given me more things to play with.  I'm really hoping that this can help get the word out about my books as well.  My books are available at the links below.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman
Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman

Decisions and Delays

I haven't written anything for the last few weeks - not even a blog post - and there are several reasons for that.  Some of it has been that after publishing "Smell the Roses" I felt like taking a little break from writing.  Some of it is that life picked up the pace again and I feel like I spend my days running around and just haven't had a lot of time to sit down at my computer.  Some of it has been that my husband just got me a new (to us) computer and so I've been waiting while he transferred my files over and got the computer set up.  I'm so thankful for this development by the way!  My last computer was on it's last legs and there was a real fear that in the middle of writing it would die on me.  I saved and backed up my work almost obsessively in fear of losing part of it.  Finally, I've been trying to decide what to work on next.  I could either start working on book three or I could go back to "Best Laid Plans" and make the necessary changes to it so that I can publish it on Nook and then do the same with "Smell the Roses".  I've decided to do the latter.  I don't think it will take long, but it will be tedious.  Hopefully, I'm right about it not taking long and I can get it out of the way.  Honestly, I've been putting it off for a while simply because - well writing is much more interesting and fun.  So for those of you who have been after to me to get busy on book three, I'm sorry, but hopefully this step will be over quickly and I will be writing Brooke's story.

I already have some ideas in mind for Brooke's story and I'm very excited about where I see it going.  At the beginning of the writing process what I have in mind is brief snippets of the story line.  I know maybe ten events that I really want to see happen in the story and sometimes those get integrated into the story and sometimes they get left out, but I love to see how it all develops!  I'm already seeing some glimpses into  Brooke's past and that's always so helpful as I develop her character further.  I'm anxious to get started.

I want to give a HUGE thank you to those who have shared my book on social media or verbally to their friends!  I know that helps more than anything!  Thank you so much!  For those of you who have been such an encouragement to  me with your sweet words, thank you!  That means so much to me and keeps me energized!

Best Laid Plans (Book 1) by Courtney Lyman
Smell the Roses (Book 2) by Courtney Lyman

On Sale Now!

"Smell the Roses" is now available for purchase!  You can check it out by clicking the link below.
Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman

One of the decisions that needs to be made when publishing is how to price the book.  Amazon has two royalty options.  You can either choose to take 35% royalty or 70% royalty.  If you choose the 70%, your book's price has to be set at a minimum of $2.99 and if you choose 35% the minimum sale price is $0.99.

With "Best Laid Plans", I started off using the 70% which meant I had to charge $2.99 and I found that was a little too pricey for people to take a risk on a new author so I dropped my royalty and the price.  After that, I began to see sales again.  This time, I started low, but I'm still going to play around with the price a little bit.  I'm going to keep it low for a couple months to give those of you have been such a great support to me a little thank you.  After all, I know you are the ones who purchase the book as soon as it's available and I really appreciate that!  In a couple months, I'll raise the price and see what happens.  I may end up having to drop the price back down, but I'm interested to experiment with this process a bit.

I hope that you enjoy "Smell the Roses".  Thank you so much for your support!  It means so much to me!

Waiting . . .

I purposefully didn't write a blog entry last week, because, honestly, I had nothing to say.  This part of the process, I'm basically just waiting.  I don't really have a whole lot to do while my editors are busily revising my book.

However, I have received some notes over the weekend and I am back to work this week.  I am correcting my manuscript again with a different editor's notes.  I highly recommend having multiple editors when someone writes without the help of a publishing firm and/or professional editors.  One person may miss mistakes, but, hopefully, a second person will catch what they missed.  Another thing with having more than one editor is that one person may think a portion reads just fine and another thinks it's confusing.  It's helpful to have so many eyes checking things before it heads to publication.

After I've gone through the notes and made the corrections, I will begin formatting.  I anticipate having the book published by September 30th at the latest.

A Special Day

Today is a special day.  It's my birthday!  Here's a family picture taken shortly after I was born.

Another reason today is a special day, it was one year ago today that I published "Best Laid Plans" and officially became an author!  It's been an amazing road and I've been so thankful for the response I've received.  It's been such an encouragement and has kept me writing.

Which brings me to another reason today is special.  Today I'm going to reveal the cover for book two!  Here it is!

Getting the cover is always so exciting!  I know the end is in sight and soon the book will be available! 

I have received notes back from one of my editors and have made the changes to the book.  It's always so nice to have someone else to catch mistakes for you.  I'm still waiting for the rest of the editing, but it's close.  I'm going to venture to say that before the end of September, "Smell the Roses" will be published!

Thank you so much for your support this past year!  Honestly, it has meant so much to me!

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Quick update

In my last post, I mentioned that I have sent my book on to my editors.  I have received some good feedback so far.  I'm still waiting for their final suggestions so that I can make corrections, but I'm excited about what I'm hearing from them.

I have also ordered my cover art and am waiting to see the new artwork.  Cover art is so important because even though we say "don't judge a book by it's cover" most people decide if they're going to buy a book within eight seconds of seeing the cover.  It's possible to do your own cover art, but since I have no knowledge of how to design my own cover art and there are places where you can get into trouble if you use images that are copyrighted, I decided with my first book to use a professional.  If you do an online search, you can find so many different options.  Some are extremely expensive and others are more affordable.  Some have a more professional feel than others.  I decided to go with Killer Covers for my first book as a nice middle of the road option.  They were somewhat reasonable and their sample covers were very well done.  I was very happy with their work with the first book.  It was exactly what I was thinking of.  I've sent them the information for the second book.  Hopefully, I will be able to give you a look at the new cover by next week!

Everything is coming together and I'm hoping to have the second book available for purchase this month!

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Meet the Editors

When I wrote my first book, I knew that I would need to have someone go through and do some editing.  They would find mistakes that I had missed and be able to tell me where the plot or characters needed some more development.  I could have paid for editing services.  There are several with varying degrees of thoroughness.  Some read just the first chapter, or the first ten pages and others read the whole the book.  The problem was those services are expensive and I didn't have much money to invest in publishing my book.

Right before I published my first book, I went to a women's conference where there were a couple of authors speaking.  One of them talked about her publishing journey and one of the things she suggested was to surround yourself with people who would be completely honest, but in love.  I needed to be able to trust that they would tell me the truth about the book and be able to show me where things needed fixed without crushing me in the process.

I chose three women to be my editors and each of them has this quality first and foremost.  They are able to tell me the truth of what they think in a loving way.  Another reason I chose them is that all three of them are avid readers.  Not only that, but they each like to read romance novels.  I figured if they like it, then other readers would, too.  Their help was extremely valuable and I've remembered the things that they told me when they read my first book so that I wouldn't make those same mistakes in the second book.

Kim Larsen, Ashley Beaulieu and Meghan James were the women who edited my first book for me and are currently editing my second book!  Kim Larsen is my mom and the woman who has introduced me to some of my favorite books and authors.  We have similar tastes so we often pass books around.  My mom is really good at being able to be honest, but loving.  She can give me helpful critiques in a way that's understandable and done in a pleasing manner.  I know my mom also has my dad, Pete Larsen, read my first draft as well and any grammatical question she has she refers it to him.  So I get two editors for the price of one when I send it to my mom.

Ashley Beaulieu is my younger sister and again is an avid reader.  Like mom and I, she shares our tastes in books and often our books make their way between the three of us.  I would almost venture to say that Ashley is my biggest fan.  I get messages every once in awhile that say things like "Hurry up and finish your book so I can read it!"  Whenever someone gives my book a review with a negative comment, my sister is the first to my defense.  I know that she would never give me any harsh criticism because she resents it so much when others criticize me.  Yet I also know that, like most sisters, she has no problem being honest with me.

Meghan James has been one of my best friends for years.  She was my maid of honor at my wedding and she's one of those people that if you just need a shoulder to cry on she'll be there - with a pint of ice cream.  Not only is she an avid reader and honest yet loving, but she also edits the children's materials at her church.  Meghan is the one who goes through and puts in commas that I've missed or takes out extra commas, finds my spelling errors and does basic grammatical editing for me.  While I'm writing I've been known to send a note to Meghan asking her if she knows the grammar rule in a certain situation.

I love all three of these women so much and I've been so thankful for their help and support through my publishing journey.  They've each contributed so much to make my books better.  Besides that, they're my cheerleaders.  I know they want to help my books succeed which is part of why they'll be honest in their critiques.  They want it to be the best it can be.  Thank you so much, girls!  I appreciate it immensely.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

A Progress Report

I was able to make some really great progress this week!  Unfortunately, it was because I got sick.  I didn't have a whole lot of energy to do my housework, but I could sit in my chair and type.  This allowed me to complete my first draft of the second book!  It's always a nice feeling to get to the end of the book, but it's not quite ready for publication just yet.

The next step is a read through.  I try to read the entire manuscript in a few days.  This way I can pick up inconsistencies that I didn't notice throughout the months of writing.  I usually end up changing some typos and grammatical errors as well as find sentences that need to be changed for clarity.  I'm always a little nervous when I start this step that I'll start reading and think, "This isn't written well at all!  I should just start all over."  However, it's gone very well so far, and I have more the feeling of rereading a well loved book that I have read many times before.

I'm hoping to have the read through completed within the next couple of days which will bring me to the next step.  I will send it to my three favorite editors who have all assured me that they are eager to read through it.  When they are finished and have given me their suggestions, I'll make up my final draft and get the manuscript in the proper format for publication.

It's coming together well, and I'm so excited as each step brings me a little closer to seeing book two published.  If you would like to check out the first book in the series before book two is released, you can click on the link below.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

On a Roll - sort of

As I'm heading to the end of the book, my writing is coming easily.  I'll start to type and my fingers just fly over the keys.  The characters are getting to the place where I've been driving them for the entire book.  It gets exciting, and I find myself absolutely enthralled with the story.  Sometimes when I'm writing, I have to take a break because I have no idea what should come next, or I stare at a blank screen hoping that something will hit me.  It's not like that right now.  I know exactly where everything is going and it's so much fun to watch it unfold.

Unfortunately, I seem to only be able to snatch little bits and pieces of time to work on it lately.  My fingers will be flying on the keys and then it's time to take my kids somewhere, or put them to bed, or get dinner ready.  Lately I've been lucky to type a page or two before I'm interrupted and have to save and quit.  It so frustrating because I am anticipating the end and wanting to get there, but it's going so slowly!

I'm hoping to be able to make some time this week and get a decent amount done!  I would love to have a large block of time to just sit down and write, but I need to be patient.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

How Long?

One of the most common criticisms my book has received in the reviews is that it's too short.  Honestly, I'm not unhappy with that criticism.  I'd much rather hear "I wish it were longer" than "It should have ended long before it did".  I've always had difficulty stretching my stories out to a decent length.  There's a part of me that just wants to hurry to where I know it's going.  It's something I'm working on.

So where am I now?  In Microsoft Word, "Best Laid Plans" was 145 pages long (including title page, table of contents, etc.) which translated to approximately 125 pages on Kindle.  In book two, I am at about 122 pages (without the extra pages at the beginning) and at chapter twenty-two.  I'm starting to wonder if I can pull it off and make book two longer than book one.  I'm hoping to reach about 150 to 160 pages in Word.  The challenge is to stretch it out without making the story weaker because of it.

I've given myself a deadline to finish writing and it's looming.  I may be sending my husband and children out for a long dinner so that I can focus on getting it done.  Then I'll send it to my team of "editors".  Hopefully, all will go smoothly and there won't be too much rewriting.  I'm getting excited about the book.  I think it's better than the first which is what I always want to accomplish.  It'll be interesting to see if I feel that way when I do the read through and if my team agrees with me.

As always, I would love to hear from you if you have any questions, comments or advice.  Book one can be found by clicking the link below.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

The Moral of the Story (part 2)

Whenever we discussed what topics our classes wanted to study at church "how to know the will of God" came up often.  Most of us would love for God to just write His will on the wall for us or speak to us with a booming audible voice so that we would know for sure that it was God talking.  However, there are many ways to know the will of God.  Sometimes it says what the will of God is in the Bible.  "For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:15)  Other times it can be through the wise council of others.  

One of the things I've always found helpful when I'm having trouble deciding which direction to go is prayer.  That was another theme I tried to get across in "Best Laid Plans".  Whenever I hear someone say "I guess all we can do now is pray" in a tone that is heavy with defeat, it just irritates me so much.  Prayer is so powerful and I think it's an area that most Christians struggle with (myself included).  We so badly want to do something and often we feel like praying isn't doing.  So much is accomplished with prayer.  Whenever I've put myself in a position of fervent prayer, I find that the problem that I stressed so much about suddenly becomes very clear.  Those are the times that I feel like God is very near.

In the fifth chapter of James, he talks about the power of prayer.  "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.  Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit." (James 5:16b-18).  I think we'd be amazed at how many things have happened simply because someone prayed earnestly.

I think one of the first times I remember feeling awed by the power of prayer was when I was a teenager.  It was on New Year's Eve and a woman from our church was sick.  Her name was Betty and she and her husband, Walt, treated us like family.  Because of that we ended up calling them "Grandma" and "Grandpa" even though they were not blood relations.  That night Betty got very sick with an infection that turned septic.  The doctors told her husband that there was nothing they could do and suggested that he take her off life support.  My real Grandpa was with him that night. Walt told him that he wasn't ready to say good-bye, so my Grandpa told him to keep her on life support.   I remember going outside and praying earnestly for Betty.  I'm not sure if I believed that God could or would do anything, but I prayed for a long time with tears running down my face, pleading that God would somehow heal Betty.  Betty not only survived her ordeal, but was healthier and better than ever after going through it!  She has even outlived her dear husband and is still living today.

I could list many more instances where prayer has had such an amazing impact.  I'm also sure that I don't even know a fraction of the times that prayer has accomplished tremendous things!  I need to stop considering prayer the thing I do when my back is against the wall and start living a life of prayer.  I'm sure that if I could become a true "prayer warrior" that I would be astounded at the things that God does.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

The Moral of the Story (part 1)

I think one of the key components that makes "Christian" romance different from regular romance (other than the absence of obscenities and sex scenes) is that it ought to have some sort of moral to the story.  At least, I feel like you should be able to see some sort of point to the whole story.  I know it's not on the same level as fables or allegories, but I feel there should be some kind of emphasis that the writer is hoping the reader will pick up on.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I knew what I wanted to emphasize when I started writing "Best Laid Plans", but sometime during the process I was keenly aware of what my focus had become.  To me, it's in the title - you can map your life out to the best of your ability, but sometimes God steps in and changes everything.  Sometimes it's a pleasant change and sometimes it's a difficult change, but God has the right to do so and it always ends up being for the best, even when you can't see it at the moment.

In James there is a series of verses about how when we plan things out, without consulting God's will, it is a form of arrogance because our life is a vapor and we have no idea what is in store for us.  "Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." (James 4:15)  I don't think God wants us to wander aimlessly without any plans, but He wants us to realize that ultimately He has the authority and He knows our entire story where we can only see a small part.

This is not something that comes easily for me.  I am a planner and when my plans change I tend to get angry or frustrated.  Many times I freeze up and can't come up with an alternate solution - or won't come up with one.  I need this reminder.  I think we can also throw out a glib "Lord willing" when we mention our plans, but it almost becomes a superstition like knocking on wood.  If you say "Lord willing" then God won't change your plans.  I think it's important (again speaking to myself) to learn to say "if the Lord wills" and mean it!

I know it's not always easy to give up your plans.  A few years ago my mom was going to turn fifty.  The whole family was all going to go to Disneyland to celebrate, but a month before her birthday my mom was in a serious car accident.  She was sore and shook up, but seemed all right.  However, two weeks after the accident my mom went in for an MRI and they found that in the accident she had broken the vertebrae in her neck.  Now we had already known that God had protected my mom in that accident.  There were just too many odd things that happened that even the professionals couldn't explain.  This one, though, showed us the extent of God's protection.  The surgeon came in to talk to my parents and he told them that he had seen patients with half as much compression on their spinal column as she had that were permanently paralyzed and that she should have been paralyzed at the time of the accident.  He had no explanation for why my mom could still walk!  My mom needed surgery to relieve the compression and replace the damaged vertebrae.  Our plans needed to change because my mom would have to spend her birthday recovering from her surgery and in a neck brace.  It wasn't what we planned and it was not what any of us wanted.  It was difficult, but in it all God showed His hand.  My grandma wrote in my mom's birthday card that year "How does it feel to be a miracle?"  My mom's answer?  "Very humbling, because He had no reason to choose me."  It isn't a time that we look back on with delight, but it was a time when we all became very aware that our God is not just a distant God who is unaware of our lives, but a God who is deeply involved with us and desires to be a very personal God.

I think God uses my writing to teach me and show me what I need to work on in my own life.  Then if that also happens to be what someone else needs to hear then that's just an added blessing.  

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Back to Work

Now that vacations are over and our busy summer has slowed down, it's time for me to get back to work.  It's been a fun summer, although sometimes I felt like I was always on the run, but I'm excited to get back to writing.  My self-imposed deadline is looming, and I still have so much to do!  I need to finish writing the book before I go back to the beginning to do a quick read through to check for any blatantly obvious errors, correct any contradictions in the story line and add more details when needed.  After that, I send it to my team of editors to correct anything I missed and let me know how the story can be improved.  Finally I'll need to format everything for publishing and get my cover artwork done.  After that I can publish my second book!

Being a stay-at-home mom/housewife/author can make it difficult to find time to write.  It seems like it's ideal since "stay-at-home" would appear to imply that I am at home most of the time.  In actuality, I feel like I'm seldom home, but rather running the kids here and there and everywhere.  Right now I'm in the process of getting the kids ready to go back to school.  School time would be an excellent time to write - except that I still have a toddler at home.  She certainly keeps me busy!

When I am at home, I tend to need to do the "housewife" chores - laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, etc.  Although my kids can pitch in and help, the bulk of the responsibility still rests on me.  Have you ever heard the saying, "Cleaning the house with kids in it is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos"?  That's so true.  Even as they help, they also seem to find new things to drag out.  I'm not complaining really because I love my children and I appreciate that they are old enough now to help me out.  There are times when it would be nice if the house could magically stay clean so that I could slip in some writing while we are at home.

Even though my "author" job is the only one that brings in any income, it's certainly not my most important job.  My family has to come first.  God really blessed us to allow me to stay home with my children and I take that responsibility very seriously.  Writing has been an added bonus on top of what He's already given me.  He's allowed me an opportunity to do something I love to do while staying home with my children and bring in a little extra income for my family as well.  I'm very blessed!

If you'd like to check out my first book, you can click the link below.Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Vacations & Locations

Our family has been on two long vacations this summer.  From Arizona we went to Iowa for my cousin's graduation and were able to stop for a time in Missouri and Colorado on our way home.  Just this past week we went to Minnesota for my husband's grandpa's 90th birthday and were able to see Mt. Rushmore on our way up.  They were both fantastic times spent with our families and we enjoyed them immensely.

I particularly enjoyed the trips because I got to see states that I have never seen before and visit places I have never been.  Living in the southwest of the U.S. means that I see a lot of desert and mountains which I absolutely love.  It was great to see the Rockies, the Badlands, prairies, lakes and forests across the country.  I love seeing God's creation in such tremendous diversity.  I believe these trips may help me as an author as well.

I purposely set "Best Laid Plans" vaguely.  I wanted it to be almost an "Any Town, U.S.A." if possible.  It was great to see such a large stretch of the country to be able to broaden my view a bit.  Hopefully in the future I can feel more comfortable having a specific setting to place my characters in.  That's what I'm working towards.

I know I have a lot to learn.  I'm just beginning on this road and I'm very aware of my inadequacies.  I've loved hearing the encouraging reviews I've received and I especially enjoy the constructive criticism that has been mixed in.  I hope that I can learn from each of them!

If you'd like to check out my book, just click on the link below.
Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

A Bunch of Characters

I don't know how other authors do it, but my characters come to me sort of nameless and shapeless at first.  As they begin to interact with others, they begin developing personalities and physical characteristics.  The last thing they usually get is a name.  Usually a name will "come to me" so to speak.  Sometimes I love the name and sometimes I have a moment where I want to say "Really?  That's their name?"  It's actually rather odd.  You would think that I have more control, but somehow the characters almost seem to name themselves.

Georgia was a character that named herself.  It wasn't really a decision on my part.  That just seemed to be her name.  It wasn't until I began to write her story that I realized why that was her name.  While I was writing I actually thought, "Oh!  That's why her name is Georgia!"  It wasn't planned ahead of time.  I don't know why it sometimes happens that way, but I always think it's cool when it does occur like that.  It feels as if they are more alive that way because it's almost as if I'm learning about them as I go.

When that happens, it's only after they have a name that I write them into the story.  Sometimes, as I'm writing, a character comes in that I suddenly have to name.  In that case, it's usually the name that first comes to mind.  I've only had a couple times when that name ended up changing because it didn't seem to fit.

Someday I'd like to write a book where the names mean something.  I read a series one time where I liked the main character's name well enough that I had to look up it's meaning, and it fit the character so well that I ended up looking up several more characters names to find that their name meanings fit perfectly with their characters as well.  I think it would be fun to write a book where the characters have names that are relevant to their personalities or positions.  I enjoy researching names and meanings so I think I could have a good time with that.

For now though, my KW Consulting Series characters have been naming themselves and it seems to be a system that is working.  If you haven't read book one yet, you can click on the link below to purchase it and if you have read it, I'm hoping that book two will be available this fall.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Father's Day

There is a book called The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.  In his book Gary Chapman says that there are five love languages and that everyone has one that is their specific love language and they might have a secondary one as well.  His idea is that when we don't feel loved in a relationship it's because we may be speaking different languages.  According to him, the five love languages are physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, gift giving, and acts of service.  These languages can affect any relationship.  It's not solely in for marital relations.

One of my love languages is words of affirmation.  A kind word, an encouraging word can put me in a glow that can last for days.  I'm pretty sure that my dad also has words of affirmation as one of his.  He has probably encouraged me verbally through the entire writing process more than anyone.  When I first brought up that I was writing a book, my dad talked about "when" my book would be published, not "if".  He's always been positive that my book will do well and that I would succeed as an author.  I love that he never tried to convince me to try something less risky.  He never once intimated that I might fail.  I love that about my dad.

Another thing I love about my dad is that he actually read my book.  I wrote a romance novel.  That is not my dad's "thing".  He reads a lot, but he enjoys histories, biographies and thrillers.  Romance is definitely not what he wants to read.  Yet he bought my book and read the whole thing.  I would have understood if he hadn't read it, but I appreciate that he did.  Again, he only had positive, uplifting words for me afterwards.  

My dad has been such a support for me.  He encourages me when I get discouraged.  Most of all, he believes in me - or I should say, he believes that God can work in me.  He always reminds me that God is in control of my situation and that my future is in His hands.  I have been blessed with a wonderful father!  I love you, Dad!  Thank you for your constant faith in me!  Happy Father's Day!

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Rejected!

There is a certain risk of rejection in being an author.  In traditional publishing I think you pretty much need to accept that you will be rejected tons of times before you will receive an acceptance.  I got to avoid that part of publishing.  I didn't send out my manuscript to every publisher I could think of only to have it sent back repeatedly with varying degrees of harshness in the letters accompanying it.  I just went ahead and published it myself.

I did send it to a writing competition before deciding to self-publish.  It was through Women of Faith and Westbow Publishing.  I did not make the top thirty and I have no idea how far under the top thirty I was.  I choose to believe that it just wasn't the type of book they were looking for and not for any other reason.  Wishful thinking, I know, but I'm fairly certain that I would never have taken the next step if I hadn't decided that was the reason.

Putting the book on Kindle, I was concerned about people not being interested or people writing negative reviews.  What I didn't know is that when someone returns it, I can see that.  When you buy a Kindle book you have a short window of time to say that it was a mistake and send it back.  When I look at my sales report it has a column for books sold, books returned and net books sold.  It's amazing how difficult it is not to take it personally when a book is returned.  There's always a feeling that they quickly read the first chapter or two and then decided that it wasn't good enough.  Again, I lie to myself and choose to believe that they had intended to buy another book called "Best Laid Plans" (because there are a million books with that title) and bought mine by mistake.

I've actually been rather blessed by this as well.  It's not often that I have a book returned.  I think maybe in the nine months it's been available, I may have had eight to ten books returned.  Yet each one sort of makes you wonder.  I have to remind myself that there have been lots more who haven't returned my book and be thankful for those.

On a side note, I've had a bit of a break from writing lately.  We were on vacation for a couple of weeks and last week was just really busy.  Today I finally got to sit down and write again.  It was so nice to get back to Georgia's story.  I have a feeling that my climax is coming soon!  I'm very excited about how this story is developing.  I'm hoping that I can have it available by September - my self-imposed deadline.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Absolutely Blown Away

I had already picked out my topic for this week's blog several weeks ago because today is my thirteenth wedding anniversary!  I was going to write about my husband and the support he has been to me through this process and maybe even talk a little bit about our history together, but God changed my plans.  I'll just save that topic for another date, but today I have to share something else because I am just absolutely blown away by what has happened!

I've mentioned before that being a self-published author means that I have no one doing marketing or publicity for me.  I am my own agent.  When I put my book on Amazon, I think the scariest thing for me was that I had to rely on God to take it wherever it would go.  If that meant that only my friends and family would ever read it, then that was going to have to be okay with me.  If it took off and sold like crazy, well, that would be okay, too.  My sphere of influence is really very small.  I had let my friends and family know about it and asked them to pass on the news to their friends and family.

This process makes my sales kind of peak and valley.  One month I hardly have any book sales and then the next there will be several.  The thing I've noticed is that when I have a good month, if I Google my book I'll find that someone has posted it on a list or blog or something to get attention.  Can I tell you how supremely grateful I am to every person who has ever done this?  If you are one of those people, thank you, thank you, thank you!

To give you an idea of how the peaks and valleys go, I want to share with you what has happened the last few months.  In February, 12 copies sold and that was actually a good month to date.  In March, it took off and I had 100 sales!  April started slow, but I ended with 22 books sold. 

Now here's where my mind was blown.  May started very slowly.  I had 9 copies sold heading into the last week of the month.  I was sitting and thinking about it and wondering what was going on.  Suddenly, it hit me that I needed to realize Who was in control.  I can worry and agonize over what I should do or if I should do anything.  I can rejoice when it sells well and be disappointed when it doesn't, or I can just understand that God is in control and let Him take it wherever He will.  I said, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord."  (from Job 1:21)  I told God that no matter what happened I understood that He was in control and I was going to bless His name regardless of the situation.

Yesterday morning I woke up and 16 copies had sold.  Last night I looked at it said 357 books were sold!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  A minute later I checked again and it said 360 books were sold!  I took it to my husband, Joel, to show him and it was up to 362!  I was in tears!  My husband hugged me close and told me how proud he was of me and how happy he was that my hard work was paying off.  (I told you that he's been so supportive of me!  I am so thankful for my husband!) 

I don't say any of this to sound like I've got it all figured out, because, believe me, I don't.  I feel sometimes like God is taking me on this journey in part to teach to me to let go!  In another couple months, I may have to go through this all over again.  But maybe eventually I'll learn.  I also don't say this because I think I stumbled on a "magic" prayer.  I cannot presume to know the mind of God.  I don't know if one had anything to do with the other, but it meant something to me and it was something that I needed.

As of right now, my book has sold 476 copies this month - most of that just within the last two days!  All I can do is sit back and marvel.  I am blown away and emotional and just extremely thankful.   One more thing.  "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."  (Ephesians 3:20-21) 

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

High School

I just went to my cousin's high school graduation yesterday.  That made me think that it's been fifteen years since I graduated from high school.  Now I feel old.

It was actually back in high school that I began to write.  A few of my friends and I would write stories.  Then we would switch and read them so we could offer constructive criticism.  Often they would bring up things that I had never noticed before which helped make the story better.  My stories back then were short, not very detailed and, to be honest, not very good.  Yet I stilled enjoyed writing.

I never had any intention of actually publishing anything back then.  I had wanted to be a teacher.  My writing was just a fun pastime.  I think those times got writing in my system and now when I have a story in my head I just have to write it down.

I'm pretty sure that none of my friends who read my stories thought I would ever one day write a full book and publish it.  As nice as they were to me, I'm sure they realized that my stories were not good.  They were so encouraging to me though.  I'm sure if they had known I was writing a book, they would have been cheering me on and helping me out any way they could.

Even though it's been so long since I've been in high school, I'm so thankful for the support I got from my friends back then.  They ignited a fire in me to write and gave me the assurance I needed to keep on.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Mother's Day

My mom is a reader.  Her idea of a great vacation is someplace quiet so that she can read as many books as possible.  She always has a book on her nightstand, on her desk, in her purse - and now with ebooks, on her phone and on her Kindle.  She was my example to be a reader.

As I got older, she began directing me to some of her own favorite books, authors and series.  It was my mom who suggested that I read "Anne of Green Gables" and "Gone with the Wind".  During the summer, my mom would take us to the library where I would come home with stacks of books because all I wanted to do on my summer vacation was read.  My mom and I have a similar taste in books - we're actual a lot alike in many ways - and now that I'm an adult we swap books all the time knowing that if one of us liked it, the other one will, too.  Usually when we loan books to each other, it's followed with the statement "Let me know when you're done, because I want to talk about it with you."

Before I published my book, I knew I wanted a few people to read it first.  I wanted people who were avid readers (particularly of romance) and who could be honest without being hurtful.  I wanted them to tell me what needed to change and what would make it better.  I also wanted them to catch any errors like a character's name changing or a contradiction of something that had happened before.  Then I wanted them to be my editors.  I gave them a difficult task and I knew it.  I chose three women:  my mom, my sister and my closest friend.  It was scary to let them read my book.  I was opening myself up to criticism, which I knew I needed, and it was important to choose people who would be encouraging as well as critical.

My mom was a huge encouragement and still able to point out things that needed changing or clarification.  I remember her telling me that while she was reading it she was watching some of her grandchildren, and she really wanted to just sit and read my book. However, she knew that it needed her full concentration to help me and wouldn't have that with the little ones running around.  She also told me that, in some ways, my book reminded her of Debbie Macomber, who is one of our favorite authors!  I know she's my mom and is biased, but it made me happy anyway.  She also pointed out some key flaws to my story and asked some questions that helped me develop the characters a little bit more.

My mom is one of my best friends, one of my biggest supporters and a huge help to me.  I know my book would have been lacking without her help and her encouragement gave me the courage I needed to actually go through with the publishing process and put my book out there for others to read.  Mom, I love you so much!  Thank you for everything you've done, for all your encouragement and all your help!  I couldn't have done it without you!

As always, please feel free to offer advice or submit a question.  If you'd like to receive my blog in your email, you can sign up below and if you'd like to check out my book, just click the link below.
Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Day Dreaming

When I went to the University of Arizona, I had a half an hour drive to get to school and then a half an hour walk once I got there since I didn't have a parking permit.  All that time alone gave me time to day dream.  I would wonder what would happen in certain situations and then day dream about it to see what would happen.

One day I wondered what would happen if a wedding planner had to plan her ex's wedding.  The scenario popped up often as I walked to school and eventually characters emerged.  They developed features and names.  This scenario stuck with me for several years.  It wasn't until three or four years after I graduated from the U of A that I even began to write Best Laid Plans and it would take me five years to complete it since I would write for a while and then forget about it for a time.  Yet  I would still think about the characters and the various situations that they might face.  When I felt I had something worked out, I would sit down and type.

I still day dream a lot.  I don't have that long drive and walk anymore, but just about anytime alone allows my thoughts to drift.  When I get to a place where I feel stuck and don't know where to take my characters, I often just leave them there for a while and use my alone time to think of different ways to go.  Then when I get something I like, I return to my writing.

I often use day dreaming to think about my next book as well.  While writing Best Laid Plans, I decided that the other wedding planners needed their stories told as well and Georgia's story started to develop.  Now that I'm writing book two, I often think about book three.  It helps me keep one step ahead so that as soon as the book is finished and published, I can immediately begin writing the next story.

As always I look forward to hearing any questions or advice you may have for me, and you can see my book by clicking on the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Plans-Consulting-Series-ebook/dp/B0098O5A7M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367906685&sr=8-1&keywords=best+laid+plans+courtney+lyman

Self-publishing

A friend of mine told me that she has always wanted to write a book and asked how I knew how to get started with self-publishing for Kindle.  Actually, the first thing I looked into was publishing through a company that offers more support.  They do the leg work for you:  have the cover art made up, get the book on ebook sites and in print and make sure it gets into stores.  It's a great option - if you have the money to afford it.  The price was several hundred to several thousand dollars and I have to admit that I felt discouraged when I saw the prices.  There was no way for me to afford that service.  Even when they offered to break it into monthly payments it still seemed unattainable for me.

I can't remember now who it was that first told me about Kindle publishing, but I decided that it was worth looking into.  My whole family has Kindles - both the actual readers and apps on their phones or tablets and so I was familiar with Kindle.  I went to the Amazon site and was surprised to find that they publish your book with no cost to you and offer a couple of different royalty options.  I read it over several times, talked it over with my husband and finally decided that this was the best way for me to make my entrance into the magical world of authorship.

One of the suggestions that Amazon made was to download a free Kindle ebook about publishing for Kindle.  It was amazingly helpful.  It talked about how to format the document, how to get it uploaded, suggestions for cover art, and basically walked me through the entire process.  I went chapter by chapter with it at my computer and worked on getting my book done with the proper settings so that when it was finally uploaded, it would be exactly how I wanted it to be.

All in all it was a relatively easy and pain-free procedure.

As always, if you have questions or suggestions, I would love to hear them.  If you'd like to check out my book, just click on the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Plans-Consulting-Series-ebook/dp/B0098O5A7M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367274458&sr=8-1&keywords=best+laid+plans+courtney+lyman

Author?

Author.  I almost hate to use that word in connection to myself.  On the one hand, the word "author" conjures up images of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, or <insert your favorite author's name here> and I would not dare to classify myself with them.   On the other hand, I have written a book and I did self-publish it and people have and are buying it which technically makes me an author.

This has been an interesting experience for me.  I started writing my book almost six years ago.  That was before there was any such thing as electronic readers or ebooks.  Publishing meant getting an agent, hoping to find a publisher willing to even look at the book and usually a huge expense to initially publish.  Now publishing is much cheaper and easier, but as a self-published author there is no marketing or advertising.  I have become very much aware of how helpful the internet is to an author like me.  I am astounded when I Google my name and the title of my book, Best Laid Plans.  It seems like every time I do, I see it pop up on another site.  I am so thankful for every post, mention or review my book is given.  Each post, each sale, gives a little more credence to that term "author" which just boggles my mind.

There was nothing scarier or more intimidating than publishing my book.  I was putting myself out there in a way that made me completely vulnerable.  I had no idea what would happen.  I had no control over what would happen.  I really felt like I had to do it though. I felt like it was what God wanted me to do.  In spite of that though, I'm not sure if I could have actually gone through with it if it hadn't been for the support of my husband and my family.  They truly gave me the encouragement and support I needed to get it done.  I'm not sure that I would have had the courage to do it without them.

So what's next on my journey?  A second book, of course!  I wrote my first book with the idea that it would be the first of a four part series.  I am about half-way through writing book two and I hope that it will be published around the end of the summer.  I am also looking at expanding my market for Best Laid Plans.  Right now it's only available on Kindle, but I'm looking at making it available on Nook as well.  The problem is that it requires me to reformat it which is just time consuming.  And lastly, I've started a blog!  It's something I've felt like I should do, but I've been putting it off.  I felt like I couldn't put it off any more.  I'm hoping to let people know how things are going in my publishing adventure and share what I've learned or hope to have happen.  If there are any questions to answer or if anyone has any advice to share, I would love to hear it.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Plans-Consulting-Series-ebook/dp/B0098O5A7M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366776303&sr=8-1&keywords=best+laid+plans+courtney+lyman