Writing Tools

 I'm so thankful to be writing in an era that has so much information at my fingertips. We all know the power of a good internet search for authors. I've looked up things like average temperatures in certain locations, checked to make sure my fictional town is indeed fictional, and found out symptoms for diseases. In my current work in progress, I've had to look up information about a specific surgery and the recovery time. It is incredibly helpful! I can't imagine trying to write before the internet and having to leave home to do research - exhausting!

There are a couple of other tools besides generic internet searches that I use frequently that people might not consider. The first is behindthename.com/random. Sometimes naming characters is easy, but sometimes it's more difficult. This website allows me to set some parameters and then randomly generates names from which to choose. If I want some specific ethnic names, I can select that and get a list (including surnames) that I can use for my characters. I used this in Maui Christmas because I wanted traditional Hawaiian names that were also not super common. For minor characters, I might use it if nothing is coming to mind for the name. Plus, it's a lot of fun - at least for a nerd like me who loves names.

Another tool that I've only recently begun to use is houseplans.net. I can't always picture a floor plan in my mind. It's very vague to me which makes it difficult to write. I discovered this tool when working on A Groom for Christmas so that I could find a little mountain cabin for Bryce's grandma. Since then, I use it often. I can select regional areas and styles of homes, and then select the one that I think fits best. It's fantastic! (If you want to see the floor plan I'm using in my upcoming Holliday Hotel book, you can click here) 

Not only are these sites useful, they're also fun to play around in. I can waste a lot of time looking up names or houses. Do you know of any other tools that writers use? I'd love to hear about them if you do! 

Technology is a blessing for research. It makes writing much easier, and kind of fun, too.

Photo by Nao Triponez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/shallow-focus-photography-of-macbook-792199/

We Love Our Readers Giveaway

 Happy February Readers!

February is the month we celebrate love. As an author, I am so thankful for all your love and support! I wanted to show you how much I love all my readers by partnering up with Celebrate Lit Publicity for their We Love Our Readers Multi-Author Giveaway.

Here is your chance to win 45 books or a $500 Amazon card to buy a ton of books for yourself in Celebrate Lit's We Love Our Readers Giveaway.

Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/23a85/2023-we-love-our-readers

The event and giveaway is going on now through February 19.

Love & Thanks

Recently I read an article that said scientists had done a study and discovered that successful couples say one phrase more often than other couples. While I thought it might be words of encouragement or a simple "I love you", the answer was more simple. They said thank you. It's more than just a casual 'thanks' though. It's about being specific with your gratitude. So saying something like, "Thanks for making dinner tonight. I was really wiped out after such a long day, and it was nice to have dinner ready by the time I got home." Not only does it focus the attention on the good things in the relationship, it's also contagious. It doesn't take long for it to become something that both partners do.

Since the next book in the Holliday Hotel series is the Thanksgiving book, I found this very interesting. Obviously giving thanks and gratitude would have to be a feature in the book, that's a given, but maybe it needs to be a key component, not only of the situations in the plot, but of the relationship between the characters as well. Is it possible that being grateful not only keeps the relationship strong, but can it help someone fall in love in the first place? 

What if one of them felt continually unappreciated and struggled with their own value? Then having someone who noticed the things that they did and thanked them for it could get them to take notice of that person. Or maybe a character has only had superficial relationships based on shallow things that can change like looks or wealth. When someone appreciates them for what they do and who they are, they finally feel like someone knows them at a deeper level like they've always wanted. There are lots of ways to incorporate thankfulness into a romance.

It makes sense. When I think about the times I'm most upset with my husband, it's because I'm focusing on myself and all the things that are wrong instead of being grateful for all the things that he does for me and all the blessings that we have together. I truly believe that God had a plan for our relationship and designed for us to be together, so shouldn't I spend more time being grateful? 

How can we shift the focus? The article suggested studying your spouse, following them around and taking notes of what they do. Personally, I wouldn't enjoy being treated like a science experiment, and I doubt my husband would either (he'd find ways to turn it into a joke). I think a better option would be to try to find one thing a day to thank your spouse for, something specific, and something that shows that you truly see them. Once that habit begins to take shape, I think that gratitude will start to become second nature. 

In real life, I think this goes beyond a marriage relationship. How much nicer would our work place be if we genuinely and specifically thanked people? How might our kids respond when we thank them earnestly for the ways they help out? Would our friendships grow deeper if we showed gratitude for what they do and their support? It's something that requires so little effort, and yet can make a huge impact on others.

Love and thankfulness go hand-in-hand. One helps the other to grow. Let's be a people who appreciate others and tell them about it!

Photo by Marcus Wöckel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silver-colored-heart-lock-bridge-883466/

New Years Giveaway

 

Happy New Years Readers!

To kick off 2023 I wanted to do something special to get your year started so I have teamed up with Celebrate Lit to do a huge giveaway just for you!

Here is your chance to win over 45 books or a $500 Amazon card to buy a ton of books for yourself in Celebrate Lit's Happy New Year Readers Giveaway.

Click here to enter:

https://promosimple.com/ps/24309/2023-happy-new-year-readers-updated

The event and giveaway is going on now through January 15.

Forced to Rest

At the beginning of November, I had a passing thought. I hadn't been sick since January. I'll admit that I felt pretty proud at that moment. Sickness and I don't have a great relationship. I'm the type of person that fills my calendar and is on the go most of the time. Sickness slows me down, and it's never a good time to be sick because there's always something going on. I'm too busy to take time off.

But sometimes there isn't really a choice, and I'm forced to rest. About a week after I had the thought of the last time that I had been sick, I got laryngitis. I felt fine, but I had no voice. As a teacher, that's a problem. So I took three days off to recover. They were the best sick days I've ever had, because I felt fine and had energy so I was still able to get things done, but I really couldn't teach. I still went in to work after school and graded papers since I had to go to pick up my daughter anyway. It wasn't so bad. I was sick, but felt pretty good and didn't get too far behind. 

About a week and a half later, I came home from school with a scratchy throat and a cough. I had felt fine that morning, but this virus came on quickly. By that evening I had a fever of 102, chills, and aches. Two more days off of work and a weekend of rest allowed me to recover. This illness was not as productive as the first since this time I felt terrible. Another forced rest at a busy time of year. 

With two illness under my belt, I was already regretting my thought at the beginning of November, and beginning to feel like I had jinxed myself. I'm not normally superstitious, but this might be an exception. 

During final week of school before Christmas break, I woke up at four in the morning with stomach pain. I didn't want to admit that I would need to call in yet again, but as the hours passed and the pain remained, I knew that I would not be able to teach that day either. My husband took the kids to school, and while he was gone I text to ask him if he would take me to the emergency room when he got back. Knowing that I'm not one to admit that I'm sick or need help, he dropped our daughter off early and came back to take me to the emergency center near our house. 

The emergency center was amazing! They got me into a room before I had done much more than put my name on the paperwork. The doctor saw me soon after and let me know what tests they were going to run. He hadn't been gone long before they got me for the CT scan. The results were back soon revealing that I had appendicitis. Another forced rest, and this time it was going to be longer than a couple of days.

By 3:15 pm, I was in the operating room. It was startling how quickly everything went, and it testified to how urgent my situation was. Doctors and nurses seemed surprised that I had only started feeling pain that morning, so I figure my appendix was in pretty rough shape. I was in enough pain by this point, that I was happy to be getting surgery.

It's now been two weeks since my surgery. I've found that I'm a very impatient patient. Since the surgery was laparoscopic, I had placed unrealistic expectations on my recovery. I expected to be sore for a couple days, and then be feeling almost back to normal. For a week and half I barely moved from my spot on the couch because it was the only place I felt comfortable. Sleeping was difficult because every position hurt. Finally, I turned a corner, and felt more tender than sore. I praise God for the timing of that, because the first day that I wasn't in a lot of pain was the day before Christmas Eve. This allowed me to attend our Christmas Eve service at church and go to all the family activities planned through Christmas weekend. 

It's not surprising that I often push myself too hard and end up feeling a little tender as a result, but the doctor was pleased with my progress yesterday. I'm still in stretchy pants because jeans are not comfortable, and I still have to take it easy or I'll regret it later. I still have another 2 weeks of lifting restrictions as well. 

This was not how I envisioned my November and December going. I didn't want to spend most of my Christmas break in pain on the couch. Still there have been some benefits to this forced rest. I've had some nice evenings of relaxation with my family. I've had some extra time to write. My husband has taken very good care of me, and it's been nice to be spoiled a little bit, nice to be cared for instead of caring for everyone else for a little while.

There's a saying that if we don't schedule time to rest, our bodies will choose a time to rest for us. I run my life too busy, too stressed, with too little sleep, and my body forced me to rest - again and again and again. I need to be better about making time to rest, choosing to say no, and taking care of me. 

I'm not one to make resolutions for the new year, but I do believe in being aware of where I need to change and grow. This is something I need to work on as I enter 2023. I need to plan more time of rest, get better sleep, and take better care of me. 

 Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blur-close-up-coffee-coffee-cup-236699/

Merry Christmas Readers Giveaway

 Merry Christmas Readers!

This Christmas I wanted to do something spectacular to show you how much I appreciate all your love and support throughout the year so I teamed up with Celebrate Lti to do a HUGE giveaway!

Here is your chance to win over 50 books or a $500 Amazon card to buy a ton of books for yourself in Celebrate Lit's Merry Christmas Readers Giveaway.

Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/2266d/2022-merry-christmas-readers-multi-author

The event and giveaway is going on now through December 17

Grumbling vs. Gratitude

 

My classroom rules are all Bible verses. I love this because my students can see that these aren't just things I've randomly come up with to make their time in school miserable or take away their fun. These are things that God wants us - all of us - to do in life. They're not just for the classroom, but for home, work, church, social events, everything. Each new class has a unique personality and they seem to have difficulty with a different class rule every year. This year's class has trouble with this rule: Do all things without grumbling or disputing, (Philippians 2:14)

It's so easy to grumble. "Do I have to do this?" "Why do we have to do so many problems?" "I hate math!" And it's not just my students. I can find myself grumbling as well. "Ugh. I do not want to go back to work tomorrow." "I have so many papers to grade!" "I hate dealing with these things." 

So what's the cure for grumbling? Gratitude. I started something with my class where whenever they grumble, I ask them to give me something they're thankful for. If they're upset because it's not a lab in science today, they might say something like, "Even though we're not doing a lab today, I'm thankful that we get the opportunity to do labs in science." It's amazing how quickly their attitude changes when they have to think of something they're thankful for in response to their grumbling. In fact, often they can come up with more than one, and their classmates start chiming in with more, too. Pretty soon they realize that they have a lot of blessings to be grateful for.

It's a practice that can help me, too. Even though I'm not looking forward to going to work tomorrow, I'm thankful I have a job. I'm thankful that I love my school and my co-workers. I'm thankful that my job helps to not only supply my family's needs, but some of our wants as well. Even though I have a lot of papers to grade, I'm thankful for the progress I see my students. I'm thankful for technology that makes it so that I don't have to average grades manually. Even though I hate dealing with difficult situations, I'm thankful God is with me. I'm thankful He guides me and gives me wisdom in how to respond. I'm thankful for an administration that is very supportive to teachers. My whole outlook changes when I take a moment to switch to an attitude of gratitude. 

I think that's why 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." We don't always know God's will for our lives, but here in the Bible we clearly see that God's will for us is to be a people who give thanks. It takes our focus off our difficulties and turns it to the One who is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). 

There are seasons in life that this practice becomes even more difficult. I know that looking at my examples above one might think that it's easy to give thanks when your biggest problems are as insignificant as I described. But what about when a loved one has died, or a diagnosis has been given that you hoped you never have to face? What about when a marriage is crumbling or a wayward child is breaking your heart? Does it still work then?

Yes! I know this from experience. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 was my verse of the year one time. I resolved to come up with something I was thankful for every day of the year. That year God showed me the power of gratitude. My dad was in the hospital for a month with severe pancreatitis that almost killed him. In fact, he had medical personnel stopping by his room simply because they had seen his chart and couldn't believe that not only was he alive, but he wasn't even in a coma. At this same time, my grandpa was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Later that year, a woman that I had known from youth group gave birth to her first baby and a few days later slipped into a coma and died. Eventually both my father and grandfather ended up back in the hospital for more surgeries. It was year that I spent so much time in the hospital that I accidentally turned into the hospital parking lot out of habit one day. It was a difficult year, but I found that searching for things to be thankful for made the year easier to cope with. I was thankful that both my father and grandfather survived that year. I was thankful that my friend had wisely made arrangements for her baby. There were so many blessings that I could have easily missed because I was too focused on the problems. Gratitude doesn't change the situation, but it lifts our focus to the One who knows our situation intimately.

Life is hard. We never know when things will seem to be flipped upside down. Gratitude keeps us from wallowing in the problems, and instead lifts our attention to God.

“Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”