Verse for the Year

I've heard of people having a verse they focus on for the year.  They post it somewhere where it's visible to them to remind them through the year.  They memorize it.  I had never done it before.  I think mostly I hadn't done it because I didn't know where to start!  The Bible has so many wonderful passages in it.  How do you pick one verse out of it to focus on?

Towards the end of last year, I took a Bible study called "The Power of a Woman's Words".  The facilitator gave each of us laminated cards on a key ring with verses for every week to remind us to be careful of our words.  The key verse for the entire series was Psalm 19:14 and it really stuck out to me.  For the first time, I had a verse to focus on for the new year.

This is now posted right next to my computer.  Women tend to use more words in a day than men.  I know that I need to be aware of my words when I speak to my children.  As a stay-at-home mom, I know that there are days where my words are spoken hastily and in frustration, annoyance or anger and that they can really hurt my children.  I want to be a mom who encourages her kids daily, who is patient, who is able to discipline with love when they need it.  I know not every day will be a success, but I know that, with God's help, I can be that kind of mom.  There are also words that I use with my husband, my family, my friends.  Are my words with them encouraging?  Are they helpful?  Are they true?

In today's world, it's not just the words that proceed from our mouth that can cause trouble.  When I'm on Facebook, I have to think about what I'm posting as my status.  Is it something that everyone needs to know?  Is it ungrateful or selfish?  Is it arrogant or rude?  When I comment on one of my friend's pictures or statuses, am I kind?  I have typed many statuses that, before I pressed post, I thought better of it and deleted it.  I'm sure there are many more that I should have thought a little longer about.

As an author, I deal with words all the time.  I want the books I write to be pleasing to God first and foremost.  I want people to feel uplifted after they read one.  I pray all the time that God will give me the wisdom to write what I should.  I pray that my books will speak to my readers.  My biggest prayer is that the words I write will be pleasing to "my Rock and my Redeemer".

A Return

I've mentioned before that I'm often surprised as I'm writing by what's happening.  It seems odd that the author is surprised, but things sometimes go in a way that I did not expect.  Afterwards it seems like the most natural progression and I wonder why I hadn't expected it.

I was working on the third book the other day and a character from a previous book returned.  I had known that they were going to, but I was surprised at the direction it took.  I'm very excited though because I think it's going very well.  I think the best part of writing a series is being able to bring back characters that you were interested in before and check in on them.

Brooke's story is coming along, but slower than I anticipated.  Part of that might be my schedule.  I need to have more of a set time to write instead of making it so hit and miss.  I'm still hoping it to get it done by summer, but my very latest date is to have it published sometime this fall.  I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.  It's still early in the book and anything can happen!

You may have noticed that I've stopped giving updates on my new year's resolution.  (Or maybe you haven't and that's all right, too!)  I'm not doing so good with my housecleaning.  I got towards the end of January and I'm not really sure what happened.  I think my old habits came back and that was detrimental to my resolution.  However, we're only in the third month of the year so I still have nine months to get my act together.  I'm going to try anyway.

I enjoy hearing from you!  If you have any questions or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!  Thank you for your support!

Based on a True Story?

I get asked  often if my books are based on real life.  More accurately, I get asked if my books are my own love story written down.  The short answer is no.  My own story is precious to me because it's mine, but not something that I think others would find very interesting.  My books are pure fiction.

Having said that, there are a few elements that I can very much relate to in my stories.  In "Best Laid Plans", Kate and Jeff were high school sweethearts and my husband was my high school sweetheart.  Now we've been married for over thirteen years.  I do think that my own history made it so that I didn't feel like it was too far fetched to believe that Kate and Jeff could have been very strongly attached to each other even when they were teenagers.  To be honest, it sort of runs in my family.  My parents and grandparents were both high school sweethearts as well so I've seen that those high school relationships can become deep, lasting relationships.

Kate also has a peculiarity that I share.  It's the tea drinking.  I love the smell of coffee, but I can't stand the taste of it.  However, I absolutely love to drink tea!  I'm not quite as fastidious as she is about tea though.  I don't always have loose leaf tea and I don't always use a cup and saucer, tea pots or sugar cubes.  I do love it when I can take the time to enjoy all the pretty things that belong to tea, but they aren't necessary for me.

I also very much enjoy my food, just like Kate.  I'm not as good as she is about balancing it, but I'm working on it.  I absolutely love to sit down to a really good meal and both my husband and I love cooking so that means that I get to sit down to good meals often.  There have been times when I am really enjoying my food and tell my husband that food should not make me as happy as it does.  I figure that God created food to be enjoyed though, because even in Heaven we'll get to sit down to a feast!

Georgia from "Smell the Roses" and I don't share as much in common.  There is one thing that we do share, besides being short and blonde, and that is our tendency to cram our calendars full.  I really felt like God had me write Georgia's story to speak straight to my heart.  I used to just say yes to almost anything that came along, but now I have to look at my calendar and really think about whether or not it's worth it.  I've put myself in a near panic attack before by putting too much on myself, but I try hard not to make my life so crazy. Having three children definitely adds to my schedule - I have one who wants to do ballet, drama, choir, orchestra, you name it and another who wants to do sports.  My third is still too young to want to do extra activities and I'm thankful for that right now, but I know the day is coming when she'll be asking to do something, too.  I have to limit what my children do as well.  I don't want our family to never see each other or spend time together because we're constantly running to this practice and that performance and this game.  Sometimes the decisions are difficult, but I'd rather my kids focus on a few things that they truly love to do than to cram their lives full of activity for the sake of activity.

I guess the answer to the question is a bit more complicated than a yes or no.  No, my books are not based on my own love life.  Yes, there are elements of my characters or plots that have some basis in my own life.  I suppose that most authors have some element of themselves in their books.

Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses

My Valentine

I suppose it would be normal to assume that an author who writes romance novels would love Valentine's Day.  It would probably be her favorite holiday - all those hearts and flowers and romance every where.  For me and my husband, we enjoy Valentine's Day and we observe it, but I enjoy many days of the year.  Honestly, I think that most days have something to celebrate, something to make it memorable.  Even the every day kind of days seem like they can hold buried treasure.  Sure there are days that I wish I could go back and redo the entire day or days that I wish had never happened, but all in all, I'm content with my life.

My husband and I are celebrating our nineteenth Valentine's together this year!  We used to buy gifts for each other, but, now that we have three children, the gift we value most is time together.  A few years ago we decided that our gift to each other would be a date night.  Sometimes, it's dinner and a movie and sometimes we send the kids off to one of the grandparents and get an entire night alone together.  This year we get a night alone!  My kids are excited - even now their suitcases are packed and they're anxiously waiting for me.  The grandparents enjoy a night with the grandchildren.  Joel and I enjoy getting to be just us once again.

Tomorrow I'll get my children back and I will be happy to wrap my arms around them and hear about all the ways they got spoiled while they were at their grandparents house, but for tonight, I get to go back in time and just be with my Valentine.  Those precious moments are sometimes hard for parents to grasp, but so important.  It's nice to have an evening where we're not "mom" and "dad", we're just Joel and Courtney.

I hope you are able to spend time with your loved ones this Valentine's Day, but even if you're alone, remember that 1 John 4:10 says "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  There's no greater love than that!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Writer's Envy

I started reading a book that my friend, Meghan, gave me for Christmas. Not only was I completely envious that this author's book is 560 pages long (remember my struggle to make 200 pages?), but she is a tremendous wordsmith.  This author has a way of drawing you in from the first page and creating images with her words that are just fantastic.  Her use of similes and metaphors are phenomenal.  I was definitely envious of her ability to write.

But then I started thinking a little further about it.  First of all, I don't know how long she's been writing, but I do know that I am a novice.  I have already learned a lot, and I know that I have tons more to learn.  Some things I may learn in time, but even if I don't, the world is full of different types of authors and genres and that's a beautiful thing!

Another thing is that we write two very different genres.  I'm not quite sure how to describe this book's genre, but it's dark, mysterious, as Meghan put it, "other-worldly".  Her settings are as much a character as the actual characters in the book.  Description is extremely important for conveying mood and tone and you need to be able to see the old, crumbling castle to be able to get the proper mood of the story.  Mine are much different. Mine are light-hearted romances.  My stories are more about the situations and the interactions of characters than about any particular setting.

As far as length goes, I'm pretty sure most readers would be frustrated if I tried to keep writing for 560 pages.  I think there would be an "all right already" feeling to the book.  On the flip side, if the book I'm reading was only 200 pages, I think most readers would feel like all the build-up and suspense were a let down.  I'm still going to try to keep lengthening my books, but I don't ever want to get them so long that my readers end up frustrated, bored, or, worse yet, giving up on the story all together.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with where I am.  I know I'm still learning, but honestly, I hope that I'll still be learning for the rest of my life.  I write a genre that I love and I feel like I'm pretty good at telling a story.  Reading has always been one of my favorite hobbies.  I know that by reading other authors, I can learn a lot.  Not necessarily to imitate them, because everyone has their own style and personality, but I can still pick up ideas for how to use my words better or craft a better story.

"How are the book sales going?"

"So how are the book sales going?"  I get asked this often.  I usually answer the same way.  I shrug and say, "Good."  To be honest, I don't really know what this question means.  I'm certainly not on anyone's best seller list and my books aren't flying off the shelves, but I get sales every month.  No one is pounding on my door to publish my books for me, but I'm content with how things are going.  Some days there aren't any sales and other days there will be several.  I've only had the one time last May when the book sales really took off like crazy.  So if you ask me this and I seem vague, I guess it's because I'm not really sure what is meant by "going".  I'm content with how it's going and I just leave them in God's hands knowing that He is ultimately in control.

I got to work a little bit on book three this week and I was happy because I had left off in a place where I didn't know where to go from there, but things seemed to have resolved in a way that I'm pleased with.  I have a few ideas for a possible Christmas novella so that gives me a little more incentive for me to get it done a little early.  I'm excited about some of the possibilities that are presenting themselves right now.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.  I very much appreciate it!

Christmas Novellas

During the month of December, I was reading several Christmas novellas.  I love the Christmas season and getting to incorporate that into my reading is so enjoyable.  I also enjoy watching Christmas movies - although I watched most of them after Christmas this year.  One of my favorite authors puts out a new Christmas novel or novella every year along with her other books and I've always wondered how she is able to write so much in a year.

Loving reading, writing and Christmas got me thinking about my own books.  First of all, Brooke's story begins where Georgia's leaves off which means it's autumn.  I'm very excited to have the girls celebrate Christmas in Brooke's story!  I don't know yet whether the book will end at Christmas, I sort of doubt it, but it will definitely be a part of book three.

My other thought is that I would actually like to write a Christmas novella, but it takes me so long to just keep up with my current series.  I'm wondering if I could push through book three a little faster and get a Christmas novella written in time for Christmas.  It's a thought, but it will just depend on how things go with Brooke's story, because that's my priority in writing right now.  If I can get it done by summer instead of fall this year, there's a possibility that I may have time to write a novella before November.  I'll have to see how it goes.  In any case, I will be writing about Christmas soon!

Now, an update on my New Year's resolution.  I've been making out lists and following through with them.  I've been able to clean a lot of my kitchen and some of my dining room.  I'm sure my friends are tired of hearing about each item I've cleaned, but to me it's a big deal!  I've also been able to keep up on dishes (once I caught up on them) and laundry.  It may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but, believe me, this is huge for me!  This week, though, I have my work cut out for me, because, instead of focusing on small areas, I need to do a quick clean of the whole house.  My oldest daughter is turning ten and is having a party this coming weekend which means I need to get busy!

Because of all the cleaning, I really haven't done much writing lately.  I'm going to need to figure out how to keep my resolution and still allow time for writing.  Maybe I need to put writing on my list of things to do for the day!  If I want to push my (self-imposed) deadline and try to get it done sooner, I will definitely have to work it into my daily schedule a bit more than I normally do.