March Madness

I love this time of year!  I love the intensity, the Cinderellas, the feeling that maybe this year could be THE year.  I love that any team could potentially win any game.  I love the overtimes, the buzzer beaters and the brackets.  

For the past twelve years or so, my family has made March Madness a big event.  We take off work for the first round (second round - however you count it).  We watch basketball all day and eat wonderful food.  We spend time together and make memories.  We fill out brackets and tease each other.  It's a time that I look forward to every year.

This year, Joel and I started celebrating March Madness early.  In May we will celebrate our fifteenth anniversary, but since May is a difficult time for us to get away, we decided to do something that we've been wanting to do.  We left the kids with the grandparents and we went to Las Vegas to the Pac-12 basketball tournament.  It was so much fun!  It was great to spend time alone together, to watch every single tournament game, to eat at restaurants that don't have a kids menu.  We had such a great time!  As much as we love our children and are thankful for them, it was so refreshing to have time without them.  And the kids didn't miss us one bit!  They were having way too much fun being spoiled by their grandparents.  

In the midst of all the madness, I've even been able to write a little bit.  I'm fairly certain that I'm way behind schedule to get three books written this year, but I'll definitely have book four written by fall of this year.  It's been interesting to write as we watch basketball, as the kids play around us, as people are cheering and yelling.  You'd think it would be distracting, but I love it.  As I'm writing this, basketball is on the TV, people are chatting, I can hear the kids' show playing in the next room and dinner is being prepared.  I love these people and this chaos.  I love this madness!

Writer's Block

My cousin got me this shirt for Christmas and I love it.  My characters sort of are like imaginary friends - scary, but true.  Yesterday, they stopped talking to me.  I sat and wrote maybe five sentences and gave up in frustration.  The dialogue seemed forced and awkward.  The story wasn't going any where.  It was frustrating.  So I closed the computer and walked away.  I'm not going to force something just to say that I had written something.  If it's hard to write, then it's time to rest.  

Here's what I'm struggling with right now.  Book four is all about Isabelle and I know where that is going.  Her story is easy to write.  I even have some exciting updates on Georgia and Kate!  Sometimes I have to physically pull myself from their stories to get back to Isabelle.  However, Brooke is not speaking to me right now.  I really don't know where she is going or what to do with her.   I keep hoping that inspiration will hit me and that all of a sudden, I'll know what I should do with her.  But for right now, she's kind of just sitting there in the story, taking up space.

I have some time set aside for writing this afternoon.  I'm hoping that Brooke will start talking to me again and that I'll be able to move her along in the story.  If not, I guess I'll move around her until she decides to tell me where to go.  Characters take on a personality of their own - or at least they should.  It's interesting to see how sometimes they just sort of take over the story.  Or in this case, drag the story down.  The thing is, I like Brooke and I enjoyed writing her story.  But her story is over.  And apparently my brain is satisfied with the ending.  My imagination is struggling to push her somewhere new.  

For now, I'll keep daydreaming, keep writing and keep hoping that I'll be able to get over this writer's block and move the story along.

Dealing with Discouragement

Discouragement can be part of the life of a writer.  It can get a hold of me if I don't watch out.  I can be discouraged when a review isn't quite as glowing as I would like or if my book has very few reviews (my last two books only have one review each).  I can be discouraged that I only have three fans on Goodreads.com - two of them are my best friends.  I can be discouraged that someone bought my book only to return it (what if they read the first chapter and absolutely hated it?)  I can be discouraged that I can't afford to see my books in print or that no publisher has miraculously discovered my books, loved them and is wanting to sign me up to write for their company.  I can be discouraged when I don't have time to write like I would like to.

The worst for me is when I have a slow sales month.  That was what happened last month.  I had one of the worst months I have had since I only had one book published.  I don't know why it was slow and maybe that's what drives me a little bit crazy.  I can think up all sorts of ridiculous scenarios for why things are so bad.  Someone really powerful read my book and then posted a blog to millions of people about how terrible it was, urging them to not waste their time or money on my books.  Or something like that.  I have a very active imagination which is good for writing, but not so good when I begin to worry about things.

So how do I combat discouragement?  First and foremost, I pray.  I put what I am worried about, concerned about, what is dragging me down into God's hands.  They're much better off there than they are with me.  I can do nothing.  He can do anything.  Second, I count my blessings.  I realize how blessed I am that I haven't had a month that slow in two years!  That's something to be thankful for.  I'm thankful for the support of my friends and family.  I'm thankful that even though the sales were slow, I still had some sales.  And believe me, I thanked God profusely over each and every one of those sales last month.  Really, those two things are usually all it takes to bring me out of the doldrums and into the sunlight.  I'm blessed beyond measure and God is taking care of me.  I may not be exactly where I would like to be, but I'm exactly where He wants me to be.  He knows what is for my ultimate good and that's really what I want for my life.

Right now I am thankful that God has blessed me with a great start in sales for the month of March!  And I still thank God profusely for each of those sales as well.  Each one is precious to me.  Starting tomorrow, Smell the Roses, will be on sale for just $0.99!  I'm praying that will help my sales as well, but if it doesn't, I know I'm still in God's hands.

Best Laid Plans (KW Consulting Book 1)
Smell the Roses (KW Consulting Book 2) <---- (This one will be $0.99 March 4 - March 11, 2015)
Dress for Success (KW Consulting Book 3)

Finding Time

I feel like life has recently sped up.  Between my kids's activities, church activities, and family celebrations, my time is scheduled most days pretty tightly.  When I actually have some "free time", I need to spend it working on cleaning the house which has gotten behind because I've been busy the other days and not home long enough to actually clean.  

Which leaves me with the question, when do I get a chance to write?  The answer is, not often.  I will on occasion find thirty minutes at a time where I can write for a while.  It seems like I have just enough time to get invested in what I'm writing and then it's time to go to some appointment or another.  I pull myself reluctantly away from the computer and promise myself that I'll find more time later.  It's just so difficult to actually find that time.

Of course, this year I set the most difficult goal for myself thay I ever have before.  I will definitely publish the final book of the KW Consulting series in September.  I was hoping to get another Christmas novella done by Thanksgiving, but that is the least important goal to me right now.  What I would love to be able to do is publish the first book of my next series by the beginning of 2016!  To write two full novels and a novella in one year may be a bit much for me to bite off, but I'm going to see what I can do.  Hopefully things will settle down and I'll start being able to write for more than half an hour at a time.

I have started writing the final book of the KW Consulting series and I'm excited to see more of Isabelle.  She's always been such a fun character and I've been excited for her to finally get her turn in the limelight.  I have to admit to being surprised by some of the events happening to some of the other consultants as well, in particular to Mark and Georgia.  The newlyweds have an interesting road ahead of them.  I can't wait to see where it takes them.

I have an idea for my next series and I'm so excited about it.  I think it's going to be a lot of fun!  I'm not ready to let anyone in on the details quite yet, but it's been toying around in my mind for a while now and I sometimes get itchy to start it.

When I go a long time between writing, my brain is still writing and sometimes I just feel like if I don't sit down and write something soon, I'm going to burst!  I have all these stories bouncing around in my mind just begging to be released onto paper (or in my case, into an ebook).  The longer I go between writing sessions, the more my mind is filled with stories and not only the one I'm working on, but the one I want to write after that and the one after that.  Sometimes even the series after the next series.  The more I write, the more ideas I have to write.  

So until I can find time to sit down regularly and write, I suppose I'll just keep writing stories in my head until they can be released.  In the meantime, I hope that you've had a chance to read Brooke's story in Dress for Success.  If you have, I would like to encourage you to write a review for me on Amazon.  Even if you didn't care for it, please review the book because that also helps me know where I need to improve as an author.  If you haven't read any of the book in the KW Consulting series or have missed one, you can find them by clicking the links below.

Best Laid Plans (Book 1)

Smell the Roses (Book 2)

Dress for Success (Book 3)

A (Not So) Happy New Year

Before I climbed into bed on New Year's Day (it was actually January 2nd by that time), I got a message from my dad and found out that my Grandpa Larsen had passed away.  After talking with my dad for a while, I turned to my husband and cried.  It was certainly not the way we had hoped to begin this year.

A few hectic days of planning how to get back to Iowa for the funeral followed.  Planning with my parents, my sister, my aunt, as we arranged flights, rental car and lodging.  In a short time, we had everything arranged and were on our way.

We were asked to write a memory of our grandpa for the service and I found myself looking backward.  The thing was that my memories of my grandpa were vague and distant.  Even when we had lived in Iowa, we didn't see my grandparents often.  After we moved to Arizona, it was extremely rare to see each other.  We rarely made it back up to the Midwest and their trips to Arizona were limited to my wedding and after my first child was born.  What possible memories did I have?

I remember my grandpa as a quiet man who never rushed anything.  Even when he raised his voice, I think it was quieter than most people's speaking voice.  He often sat quietly, taking in everything with a small smile on his face.  We have a large family (my dad is the middle of seven children) and I think he honestly enjoyed just having the noisy bunch of us all together.  He had his own pace and nothing was going to make him hurry.  It seemed to just fit him though and I never remember feeling like his pace was too slow.  Except for at Christmas.

Every Christmas, before we opened presents, my grandpa would read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2.  In his quiet, unhurried voice, he would remind us of why we celebrate Christmas.  As a child, I found myself looking over at the gifts and wishing he would read faster.  As an adult, I wish I had appreciated his quiet faith more.  He wanted his family to focus on the things that really matter and the thing that mattered most to him was his Savior, Jesus Christ.

I always picture games when I think of the times at my grandpa's house.  Mostly we played Uno and I remember that even the children would participate.  The younger ones would climb up on someone's lap while they older children had hands of their own to play.  I don't think I ever play Uno without thinking about my grandpa.

These last few years were trying for my grandpa.  His memory was going and the last time he saw me I could tell that it took him a while to figure out who I was.  I do believe that he eventually knew and enjoyed having me there, but when I left, I cried, because I was certain that I had just seen my grandpa alive for the final time.  A little while after that, he began to fall and couldn't get back up.  The paramedics were called often enough that my grandparents were told that he needed to be placed in a home where he would have medical attention.  His heart was failing, his mind was failing, he was aging, but his faith never wavered.  He knew Who he believed in and was certain that his final home would be in heaven.

Any funeral has sad moments, but for a believer, it's a sweet sadness.  As we gathered to remember my grandpa, there were a few tears shed, but the laughter outweighed the tears.  We will miss him, but we have hope that we will see him again someday.  I think my grandpa would have been pleased with his service.  I think seeing his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren gathered together would have put a smile on his face.  Hearing the voices of his family lift together to sing hymns would have brought joy to his heart.  But knowing that Jesus was the center of the service would have pleased him the most.

I'm so thankful for the impact that my grandpa had on his family. I hope that I continue his legacy and that faith will be something that our family is known for throughout the generations.

I love you, Grandpa.  Thank you!

For Norman Louis Larsen  March 7, 1930-January 2 2015

Traditions

Christmas is full of traditions that very from culture to culture and family to family.  I was thinking of all the traditions that I have and realized that one of the things I love about this time of year is all the traditions we observe.

Christmas begins for me with A Festival of Carols - a Christmas program that our choir at church puts on every year.  It's a lot of work, but I love spending time with my fellow choir members, learning the Christmas music, singing with the orchestra and presenting the Christmas story.

We also let each kids (and me, too) pick a new ornament for our Christmas tree every year.  It's fun to see what they pick each year and how it changes with their age and interests.  We have superheroes, princesses, ballerinas and many more.  They love pulling out their ornaments each year and remembering what they've picked from past years.

Our next tradition is to celebrate Christmas with my parents and siblings.  We get together and we each buy little gifts for each of the kids' stockings.  The adults have their own stockings, too, but we each are in charge of filling one of them.  It's so much fun to see the little things that we've picked up for each other through the year.  My parents give the kids their gifts and while the children play with their new toys, we play games together.

Next is Christmas Eve.  We meet at my parents' house and then we walk to church for the candlelight service.  We celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday either before or after depending on when we can all get together.  Even that has a tradition.  My family always gets him an Arizona Wildcat bowl game shirt - if we're going to a bowl game that year.  We have appetizers for dinner and then my mom has a treasure hunt for the grandkids.  This is a new tradition, but the kids love it.  They find a little chest filled with small toys and candies.

Christmas day get to open their stockings first.  After that we get dressed and get the food ready.  While the food for lunch is cooking, we open gifts.  In my family, we take turns with the youngest starting.  Then we head to either my grandparents' home or Joel's parents' home.  This year we'll be with my grandparents.  We have lunch and open gifts and then spend the rest of the day watching football, playing games and enjoying family time.  Whichever family we didn't get to be with on Christmas day, we'll find another time to celebrate with them.  (My kids love getting so many Christmases!)

Throughout all of this, we have three advent calendars (one for each of our kids).  They take turns doing each one.  One of our calendars is a garland of little stockings that have a little candy in each one.  Another is a quilt made my aunt and it has a tree with buttons on it and each day they get to hang a fabric ornament on the buttons.  My favorite though is our Jesse Tree advent.  We read a devotion each night and then there is an ornament that corresponds to the lesson for that night.  We start at the beginning of the Bible and end at the birth of Christ, showing how the Old Testament leads up to the coming of the Messiah.  I love how we can end each day focusing the busyness of the season back to Jesus.

Last year I started moving my wise men from our nativity around every day, but this year, their journey was more scripted and planned out.  I posted Bible verses beside them so the kids would know what each stage of their journey was meant to demonstrate.  Some were prophesies, some were parts of the magi's story and some were names for Jesus.  It was a lot of fun and the kids loved looking for the wise men every day.  They had to tell me who was the first to find them every day and my four year old made us read her the verse that was posted beside them every day.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and hope that you enjoy your own family traditions.  If you haven't already done it, I hope that you pick up my Christmas novella and allow me to be a small part of your Christmas.

Christmas Angel

Dedication: Christmas Angel

When I was trying to decide who to dedicate my Christmas novella to, I was thinking about the people who help to make Christmas such a special time.  There are many people who do that, but one stood out to me and that was my grandma, Fay Smith.  

My grandma is a person who truly has a servant's heart.  We always have our extended family Christmas celebration at my grandma's house and even though we all pitch in, inevitably it is my grandma who does the large share of the work.  She makes her home ready for us and it's a place that we all think of as an extension of our own homes.  She makes Christmas treats for all of us:  divinity, peanut butter fudge, sugar cookies, bon bons, almond bark - and more.  We can never get her to sit down and let the rest of us clean, so we all just pitch in and try to make it not as much work for her.  As we play games later in the evening, she usually comes and sits with us.  She doesn't really enjoy playing them.  She just enjoys being with her family.  As we play, she often takes care of the little great grandchildren so that we can keep playing.  After we leave, she cleans the house again, making Christmas a long day.  Yet when we've offered to move the Christmas celebration my grandma would rather host it.

Why does my grandma do all this?  It's love.  It's love that compels her to go above and beyond for her family.  It's love that drives her to bake everyone's favorite Christmas treat.  It's love that won't let her leave the cleaning to the rest of us.  It's love that brings her over to watch us play games and spend time with her family.  It's love for her grandkids and great grandkids that makes her take care of the little ones while we play.  But above all, it's love for her Savior that compels her to serve wholeheartedly as to the Lord.  

My grandma loves Christmas, not because of the gifts, the goodies, the time with family (although she enjoys that, too), but because it's when we remember when our Savior was born.  My grandma has been such an example of what a true servant looks like.  She's humble, does things without expecting or wanting praise, puts her best into what she does, is willing to serve wherever He leads.  I think my grandma's life verse could be this, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31).  She's my Christmas angel.

Christmas Angel