Perception coming 7-13-2015

I am so excited!  My new novel, Perception - Book 2 in the Retribution Series -is coming out in July!  I received my cover art today.  Makes it seem so real when I see the cover with the title and my name.  Still gives me goosebumps.  If you love romantic suspense - I hope you give my Retribution Series a try!  Let me know what you think!

Isn't it beautiful!  The designers at Liquid Silver Books are great!

It has been so long since I have chosen to Blog.  I guess life sometimes gets in the way :-)

  Working as a teacher, helping my students with their own personal needs and trying to educate them at the same time is exhausting.  Coming home to my own children who need me just as much is a joy, but just as exhausting.  Keeping up with the four of them (who all enjoy sports and extra-curricular activities) takes a lot out of me.  Not that I don't enjoy it, but once in a while I just want to stop and sit.

I glance up at the calendar and another school year has passed.  It takes most of June to recuperate.  By July I am going through my to-do list I have made for myself throughout the school year of things I want to accomplish in my time off.  Then August is here.  I look at my list and I have a few items scratched off, but not many.  It's time to get ready to go all over again.

Then I stop and think of all the ball games I sat through watching my children participate in.  Or the time we went to the lake or the pool, the time we sat outside in our driveway together and grilled hamburgers on my husbands new grill and ate them right there.  Together.  My entire summer has been spent together, with my family.

No, I did not get the van cleaned out.  No, I did not get the refrigerator cleaned out.  No, I did not get caught up on laundry (even though that is nearly impossible in this house anyway :-)  But you know what?  Who cares.  I read a few books, some good, some bad.  I have my next novel two-thirds of the way through...I wanted it finished by the time school started, but at least I worked on it faithfully and I can be proud of that.

I DID enjoy every single day with my kids.  We would stay up late and play or watch movies.  Sometimes they would crawl in bed with me and snuggle late into the morning.  I spent every moment possible with them.

Am I ready for school to start?  A little part of me is and a little part of me isn't.  That's how it is every year.  This is the profession I have chosen, the profession I enjoy, even with the ups and downs.  Now it's time to get out the calendar and the colored pens to organize our lives for the next school year.  All I can say is...

Bring it on!!!

Set Time Aside

As a mother of four, wife, and a full time working mom, I am finding I have to be really creative with my time.

Since I have decided to take writing more seriously, actually write to be published someday, not just for enjoyment, I have tried to set time aside everyday.  One audio workshop I listened to said if you can write a page a day that is one book a year.  Sounds easy, right?  You must not have four kids. *smiles*  The only thing in my schedule that is consistent on a daily basis are my work hours.  Even my mornings are debatable with my athletic daughter having morning practice.  Mama has a hard time functioning at 5am.

So, why do I want to add the extra stress in the first place?  Because to me...writing is a destressor...it is something just for me that I enjoy.  I read Stephen King's On Writing (which btw is a fantastic read) and he mentions that you need to write everyday to be a better writer.  He was right.  I have made an effort to write as much as possible daily, trying to incorporate all the new techniques I have learned.  I am seeing drastic improvement in my writing style.  If I don't write everyday, I lose/forget where I am in my story and waste precious time going back and reviewing.  So, if I can manage to write, even a little bit, every day it helps to keep me moving forward...slowly, but surely.

So, how do I squeeze in time? 

First off, I carry a bag with me everywhere I go...school, store, everywhere.  This bag has a notebook, writing/editing utensils, and a hard copy of a chapter I am currently working on.  This way I can work on something if I find five minutes somewhere in my day, whether it is waiting at the doctor's office or waiting for one of my kiddos to get out of school...I do a lot of waiting.  It is small and lightweight and is covered with ball field dust from writing while watching my kids' ball practice.  (It also has a handy pocket for my iPod when I need to block out extra noise).

I can get a solid twenty minutes during my lunch break...plus it gets me away from work - mentally - for awhile.  I try to stay after work two or three times a week for fifteen or twenty minutes.  I close my classroom door and write.  It all adds up!  I have a thirty minute commute where I do one of two things...either listen to audio workshops on writing (I check these out from my local RWA chapter) or I narrate my ideas onto a small portable tape recorder.  Sometimes I work on my next chapter in my head and scribble them down when I get home.

When I get home is the challenge.  Believe it or not my 'off' nights - where we don't have anything going on - are the most difficult.  The kids want my attention after not seeing me all day, especially my four year old.  The nights we have ball practice is where I get the bulk of my writing done.  This spring all four of my kiddos will be playing ball, so I am looking forward to all the extra time!  Other parents look at me funny as I sit by myself scribbling away, eventually they will ask what I am doing.  Their reaction is a whole other Blog.

On nice evenings (or my summers *sigh*) we go outside to play.  I alternate between pushing my little one on the swing, catching for my daughter, pitching to my son, and working on my wip.  This is where my bag comes in handy!

As you can see, most of my writing is done in pieces and chunks.  This method might not be for some people, but it works for me....for now!

From a Teacher's POV

     I'm a newbie writer, but an experienced teacher, so take the following for what it is worth.  All the published authors out there have already made this mistake and moved on.

     I'm talking about head hopping - switching point of view (POV).  Don't know what I am talking about?  Let me help you.  Find a 2-4 page part of your novel between your hero and heroine (or two main characters).  Now, get out your highlighters!

     With your pink highlighter go through and mark anything your heroine is thinking (what is on her mind).  When you are finished, get out your blue highlighter...you got it...mark anything that the hero is thinking.

     Put your markers away.  Stand back and look at the pretty colors.  If you are like me you have a generous helping of both colors.  This is head hopping!  (And this is bad :-)

     Try going through a favorite novel (NOT a library book) marking a scene with two main characters interacting.  How is your work different from your favorite work?

     Master writers can get away with switching POV...that is why they are the masters.  But to those of us just getting started, it is best to keep it simple and focused.

     What have I learned from my experience?  Figure out who you want telling the story...the hero or the heroine.  Just write the scene from their head (POV).  If a scene changes, then you can change POV...just don't hop around too much.  If you are not sure, try writing the scene from one POV then write from the other POV.  See which you like best...you might be surprised...I was.

     I thought it was important for the reader to know everything that was going on in my story (both "heads" or POV).  After entering a contest all three judges commented how head hopping was confusing them.  I decided to listen.  I found out the reader doesn't necessarily want to know everything at once...they want to discover what is going on through your characters.

     Don't be stubborn.  I reluctantly changed my ways and immediately could tell a difference.  Give it a shot...what have you got to lose? 

Where are the Manners?

My tweenie-bopper answered her cell phone yesterday with "Yo, Grandma."  After I recovered from shock, it got me to thinking how all the manners we learned as children are no longer being used.  I see this with my students as well as my own children.

When we were kids we had a home phone, usualy one with a long cord that reached to the closet for privacy, if you were lucky.  We were taught how to greet the caller when answering since you never knew who might be on the other end.  Today, when someone calls, you look at the screen to identify the caller then decide whether you want to answer or ignore.  If we do not recognize the number, we simply do not answer. Where are the manners?

Just the other day, I bought stamps for the first time in probably five years.  I honestly don't remember the last time I wrote a letter.  And now I think about it, I don't remember ever having my children write/mail a letter.  Fortunately, letter writing is still taught in school, however, last year one of my students asked why bother since people email.  I didn't have a good answer, since I no longer write letters using the convenience of email.  We have gone from polite letters to "just the facts, please" emails.  I don't remember the last time I was asked how I was doing or how my family was.  Where are the manners?

Do not get me started on texting.

I admit I am just as guilty as the next person.  I hit that ignore button (sorry, Mom!), I crank out emails without a thought to who is receiving them, and texting is the best thing to busy mom's next to DVR.  So, where are my manners?

Technology is changing our lives so quickly, we can barely keep up.  We need to adapt.  Answer the phone and ask how the person is doing, thank them at the end for calling (sound familiar?).  Start an email asking how the person's family is doing or how their vacation was.  If we each take time to use the manners we were taught, others will catch on.  Our children will see the polite interaction and begin using it themselves.

Lord knows, in a few years I do not want to be greeted with "Yo, Grandma."

Never too old to change your mind!

When I was four, I knew I wanted to be a teacher.  Could have something to do with brainwashing I received from a wonderful neighbor (who was a teacher).  So, everything I have done in life has been geared toward education...high school cadet teaching, working at a Day Camp during the summers, college with an on site elementary school.  I can honestly say I love my job.  A lot of people can't say that.

After a couple of decades of teaching...that makes me sound old!...I find myself wondering what I am going to do next.  Starting my career at 21 brings my retirement fairly soon. 

I have always been a reader.  I love books...our school librarian says I can sense when she gets a new order of books for our library.  My classroom is filled with all kinds - a poetry section, a wall of nonfiction organized by topic, and fiction scattered everywhere organized by favorite authors, series, or specific genres.  We recently moved to a new home and it took longer to unpack my books than it did my clothes!

When it came to writing, I have always dabbled.  My younger years for pleasure then later to learn the craft so I could teach my students. 

So, a couple of years ago, I got to thinking...what if?  What if I tried to start writing for enjoyment again? (check)  What if I tried to write a book?  (check)  What if I started gearing my life toward a future of writing? 

What if I decide to be a writer when I grow up???