Here it is! The cover for book three, Dress for Success! The book has been edited, formatted and is now ready to publish! It should be available for purchase tomorrow, September 16th, in the afternoon sometime. You can find it at amazon.com.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
Dedication: Smell the Roses
After my husband, the next most obvious people to dedicate my book to was my parents. I dedicated Smell the Roses to both of my parents because I couldn't possibly choose one over the other. When I first told my parents that I was writing a book, they were both excited and supportive. It would have been so easy for them to think that I was wasting my time or to warn me that the likelihood of my ever getting published was not good. Instead they acted like it was completely natural for me to be writing a book and that they would fully expect to one day expect to see a book with my name written on the cover. Their reaction gave me confidence to continue and see where it went.
Both of my parents have helped with editing my books, although my mom is more active in that aspect than my dad. I know that I could go through my book ten times and still miss errors simply because I know what it's supposed to say. I'm so thankful to have fresh eyes take a look at my books and catch those errors or those phrases that don't make sense.
I know my parents are proud of my writing. My dad actually has read my books which says a lot and I can honestly say that I am the only romance author he has ever read. My dad likes to tell people that his daughter is an author and I can hear the pride in his voice when he does. My mom enjoys reading my books and she loves to tell her friends that are looking for a new book to read that they should try my books. I appreciate her willingness to "advertise" for me.
My parents taught us the value of hard work by example and taught us that we should serve the Lord, not to gain us "brownie points" or to get noticed, but to thank God for all He's done for us and to spread the Word. I can't remember my parents ever going to church and not being involved in some sort of ministry. I appreciated seeing them serve and then later they brought me alongside them so that I could learn from them how to serve.
My family is close. We just enjoy spending time together. I love the times that I can cheer on our favorite sports team with my parents, or play board games. I can talk to my parents for hours. My dad and I have always been close. My mom and I are so much alike that we understand each other better than anyone else. This makes her someone that I can go to when I'm struggling because most likely, she's been there too and she understands.
Thank you, Dad and Mom, for all your support and help! I love you!
Now for a quick update. Mom has finished editing and is going through a second time to double check. Meghan thinks she should finish up sometime this weekend. Which means that hopefully I can start the final edit either this week or next!
If you haven't read the first two books, you can find them by clicking on the links below!
Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Dedication: Best Laid Plans
I've been thinking about my dedication page for the upcoming book and I realized that I wish I could just write a page or two about the people who have been so supportive of me during this process. Then I realized that I have my blog and so I could dedicate a post to them.
My first book, Best Laid Plans, I had to dedicate to my husband, Joel. We've been married for fourteen years and this month we'll have been a couple for nineteen years. I often tell him that I can't imagine being with anyone else. He's a man who wants to be the best husband and father he can be. He wants to grow closer to God all the time and he serves God with all his heart. He is passionate about the power of prayer and I love to see how excited he gets when he sees wonderful things happen because of prayer. I have seen an improvement in my own prayer life, not because he preaches at me to be better at it, but because his own excitement is contagious!
When I told Joel that I had started writing a book, he never questioned, never doubted, never discouraged. He helped me to research various publishing options and graphic artists to do my cover art and we made the decisions together. He was excited for me when I first published the book and he's cheered me on every step of the way.
Since that first book, he often gives me suggestions for how to work pricing and sales. He anticipates each new release and is excited for me when my sales do well. I'm not sure that I would have had the courage to go through this without his support. I certainly would not have been able to wallow through all the options without his help.
Joel encourages me to better myself as a writer. He wants to see me grow and develop as an author and not stagnate. I know that he wants me to be the best writer that I am capable of being. I love how he actively participates in this process with me without taking it over. He lets me write as I want to write. He lets me set my own deadlines. He lets me have the final say in the decisions that I make. Yet he's right next to me to support me, advise me and encourage me.
Joel often gets asked if he's actually read any of my books. It's a valid question since Joel is not a big reader and he certainly doesn't read romance novels when he does read. In all honesty, I don't let him read my books until they're published. After Best Laid Plans was published, he did read it. It's the only one he has read. It may be the only one he will ever read and that's okay. He doesn't need to read my books for me to know that he supports me.
I have been blessed by the man that God put in my life. He has supported me in every way possible through this journey and I know he'll continue to support me. Joel was an obvious choice for the dedication of my first book.
Now a quick progress report. My editors have book three. I know one of them has started on it. She said that she was taken completely by surprise by the end of chapter three. Before then she was carefully reading for errors, but after that she found herself reading quickly because she had to find out what happened next! She had to force herself to slow down. I love hearing things like that!
I have also started working on my Christmas novella. I hurt my back last week and the only time I felt comfortable was when I was sitting down, so I wrote - a lot! I'm about a quarter of the way through and hoping to have it completed by October so I can hopefully have it published by Thanksgiving!
If you haven't read the first two books you can get them by clicking the links below. Book three should be ready to purchase in September!
Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses
Friday, August 8, 2014
Sent out
I have finished writing Brooke's story! I wasn't sure how it would flow when I read through it, but I only made minor changes when I went back through it. I love when I read it over for editing and I forget that I'm the author. That's when I know it's good. When it just seems like an old favorite that I'm re-reading, that's a very good thing! The only thing that reminds me that I am the author is when I stumble on a sentence that makes no sense or some other error and then I have to fix it. The read through is done now which means that I have sent it on to my editors and am now waiting for their notes to make further editing. I'm excited and eager to see what they think of it!
I'm going to try to write a Christmas novella this year as well. I know what I want to write, but I'm going to take at least a few days off from writing. The reason is that I pretty much put everything on hold while I finished up book three so that I could give my editors plenty of time and still do a September publication. Which means that my house is in terrible condition. I have dishes piled up in my sink, laundry piled up both to wash and to fold and just a general mess everywhere. I need to take some time to get things into some sort of order before I get back to work. Besides it's nice to take a little time between two stories to let my mind sort of shift gears. Especially since this one wouldn't be linked to the KW Consulting series and would have all new characters to develop. My hope is to have it written by October so it can be published around Thanksgiving or the beginning of December. Since it's a novella, I'm thinking I can accomplish that.
Thank you for your support and encouragement! I really appreciate it!
I'm going to try to write a Christmas novella this year as well. I know what I want to write, but I'm going to take at least a few days off from writing. The reason is that I pretty much put everything on hold while I finished up book three so that I could give my editors plenty of time and still do a September publication. Which means that my house is in terrible condition. I have dishes piled up in my sink, laundry piled up both to wash and to fold and just a general mess everywhere. I need to take some time to get things into some sort of order before I get back to work. Besides it's nice to take a little time between two stories to let my mind sort of shift gears. Especially since this one wouldn't be linked to the KW Consulting series and would have all new characters to develop. My hope is to have it written by October so it can be published around Thanksgiving or the beginning of December. Since it's a novella, I'm thinking I can accomplish that.
Thank you for your support and encouragement! I really appreciate it!
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Progress
I am happy to say that I made writing a priority last week and now have about one more chapter to write before book three will be finished! Next week, I will finish the final chapter, go back through for a quick edit and then send it to my editors for their editing notes. If all goes well, it should be ready to be published in September! I'm very excited!
Brooke's story has been more difficult for me to write than Georgia's story was. I think I probably related more to Georgia than I do with Brooke. It's been interesting to see her story unfold though. Her story has brought me to tears on occasion, has brought in some new characters and brought back some old ones and I think it will be a touching story when it's all is said and done. At least, I hope so.
On another note, Georgia's story, Smell the Roses, will be on sale for $0.99 starting August 3, 2014 for a week! There will be no price increase through that week so it will be available for 67% off the regular price all week long! If you haven't bought it yet or know someone who would like to read it, this would be a great time to get it! You can find it by clicking the link below.
Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman
Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman
Brooke's story has been more difficult for me to write than Georgia's story was. I think I probably related more to Georgia than I do with Brooke. It's been interesting to see her story unfold though. Her story has brought me to tears on occasion, has brought in some new characters and brought back some old ones and I think it will be a touching story when it's all is said and done. At least, I hope so.
On another note, Georgia's story, Smell the Roses, will be on sale for $0.99 starting August 3, 2014 for a week! There will be no price increase through that week so it will be available for 67% off the regular price all week long! If you haven't bought it yet or know someone who would like to read it, this would be a great time to get it! You can find it by clicking the link below.
Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Laziness
I've realized something in the ten yeas I've been a mom. God uses those little ones to point out my own imperfections and challenges me to change in ways that the best sermon won't do. See, my kids see me all the time and they pick up on my behavior and they emulate my behavior. Suddenly they're doing things that drive me crazy and I want them to change. I wonder where they ever picked up something like that and all of a sudden it hits me that it's from me!
Recently my son has been driving my crazy with his laziness. Any time I would ask him to do something he would whine and complain and drag his feet. It would take him two hours to do a ten minute job because he spent so much time trying to get out of it. I learned quickly that he couldn't share chores with his older sister because that just meant that he would let her do all the work while he played. I was getting on him all the time about how God wants us to be productive and doesn't like laziness. I wondered where he had ever learned such a thing and then I took a good look at myself.
What did he see me do every day? He saw me spend a lot of time on the computer. While some of that was work related, often it's to check Facebook or play games. He saw me reading or on my phone. More importantly he saw the results of my misspent time. He saw the piles of dishes and laundry, the layer of dust, the clutter everywhere. Why did I expect more out of him than I expected from myself?
This was part of the reasoning behind my New Year's resolution to be better about cleaning my house. I wanted to show my children that Mom knows how to work. I want them to see me work hard, not to please my husband, my parents, my friends, my kids, but to please God. I still have days where I give in to temptation and sit at my computer too much and don't get enough done, but I'm having more frequent days where I get a great deal done around the house. My house still isn't immaculate and it probably will never be, but my laundry and dishes are not piled up very often and I make my bed every day (something that I have never done in my life). The other chores get done much more often than before. I still have room for improvement, but I'm happy with the progress that God has worked in me so far. And yes, it is through God's help that I've been able to do this. Laziness was so deeply ingrained in me that I needed Him to nudge me forward. Every time I feel that temptation to just let everything slide, I also feel a familiar nudge that reminds me that my kids are watching and I need to do it and do it cheerfully.
My son had a memory verse that I told him was a good one for him to learn especially. Be careful of ever thinking or telling someone that a verse is perfect for them because often it's good for you, too. As soon as I made the comment I felt that old nudge. It was like God said, "And what about you? Don't you think this could be a good one for you to learn, too?" And He was right. The reason why it was so perfect for my son was because it was also perfect for me. Here it is: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 (emphasis mine). That's a good principal to remember as I trudge through the daily things that I don't enjoy doing and don't want to do. I need to follow that command anyway just out of obedience, but it's doubly important for me to do it as a mom so that my kids can see a good example in me.
Recently my son has been driving my crazy with his laziness. Any time I would ask him to do something he would whine and complain and drag his feet. It would take him two hours to do a ten minute job because he spent so much time trying to get out of it. I learned quickly that he couldn't share chores with his older sister because that just meant that he would let her do all the work while he played. I was getting on him all the time about how God wants us to be productive and doesn't like laziness. I wondered where he had ever learned such a thing and then I took a good look at myself.
What did he see me do every day? He saw me spend a lot of time on the computer. While some of that was work related, often it's to check Facebook or play games. He saw me reading or on my phone. More importantly he saw the results of my misspent time. He saw the piles of dishes and laundry, the layer of dust, the clutter everywhere. Why did I expect more out of him than I expected from myself?
This was part of the reasoning behind my New Year's resolution to be better about cleaning my house. I wanted to show my children that Mom knows how to work. I want them to see me work hard, not to please my husband, my parents, my friends, my kids, but to please God. I still have days where I give in to temptation and sit at my computer too much and don't get enough done, but I'm having more frequent days where I get a great deal done around the house. My house still isn't immaculate and it probably will never be, but my laundry and dishes are not piled up very often and I make my bed every day (something that I have never done in my life). The other chores get done much more often than before. I still have room for improvement, but I'm happy with the progress that God has worked in me so far. And yes, it is through God's help that I've been able to do this. Laziness was so deeply ingrained in me that I needed Him to nudge me forward. Every time I feel that temptation to just let everything slide, I also feel a familiar nudge that reminds me that my kids are watching and I need to do it and do it cheerfully.
My son had a memory verse that I told him was a good one for him to learn especially. Be careful of ever thinking or telling someone that a verse is perfect for them because often it's good for you, too. As soon as I made the comment I felt that old nudge. It was like God said, "And what about you? Don't you think this could be a good one for you to learn, too?" And He was right. The reason why it was so perfect for my son was because it was also perfect for me. Here it is: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 (emphasis mine). That's a good principal to remember as I trudge through the daily things that I don't enjoy doing and don't want to do. I need to follow that command anyway just out of obedience, but it's doubly important for me to do it as a mom so that my kids can see a good example in me.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Halfway
Yesterday evening my oldest daughter was at ballet and my husband was going to pick her up. My son was playing at a neighbor's house and my youngest daughter was napping and when she woke up she was content playing quietly by herself. Can I tell you just how amazing that time was? I almost never have a house that quiet! It was prime writing time and I took advantage of it. I was so immersed in my writing that before I knew it my husband and daughter were home. At first I thought they came home early, but I looked again and I had just lost track of time. I got quite a bit done and it flowed so easily. Those are the times when I really enjoy writing.
Looking at my progress, I'm about halfway done! That is exciting! My goal is to have the book done and ready to send to my editors by the end of July. Now having said that, it's taken me six months to get the first half done so I'm not sure that will actually happen. However, the first six months of the year were extremely busy and as I look at my July calendar there's very little going on this month. It's possible, but I'm going to have to get to work. I'll make sure that I post some updates periodically. A little accountability never hurts.
Looking at my progress, I'm about halfway done! That is exciting! My goal is to have the book done and ready to send to my editors by the end of July. Now having said that, it's taken me six months to get the first half done so I'm not sure that will actually happen. However, the first six months of the year were extremely busy and as I look at my July calendar there's very little going on this month. It's possible, but I'm going to have to get to work. I'll make sure that I post some updates periodically. A little accountability never hurts.
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