Blogging Hiatus

I'm copying my friend, Wendy Delfosse on this subject.


I'm a little overextended in my work/home/writing/church/family life right now, and the blog is getting very...VERY undernourished.

So, I'm sure you've all either written me off, counted me gone already, or deleted your "follow" status from my blog...but for those of you who haven't, thank you...but here's the official "I'm taking time off" letter...

Of the Lord gives me something to put up here, then I'll do so, but if not, things are as they stand.

Thanks for your patience.

Sincerely,
Kelly

Out of a slump!

I don't know if this is biblically sound, or if there's even a verse to back it up, I've not taken time to research it, but I KNOW it's true becuase it worked for me.

One afternoon I was riding with my children home from school/work.  It was late, they were fighting, I was a tired mommy and needed to do so much laundry (after a weekend off) that it could have easily taken the form of a monster and eaten us up in our sleep.


I was frustrated that I had to start all over again.
Monday
Laundry
Work AAAAALLLLLL WWWEEEEEKKK LOOOOONNNG!
Missing my sweet, incredible boys all day
work
work
work!

Then it hit me...Lord, thank you I've got a JOB!  I've got CLOTHES!  I've got HEALTHY CHILDREN!
A husband that comes home happy each night, a church family, food ...now, let me tell you, I was so overcome with a grateful heart at this next one that I began to cry... salvation.

All the menal "jobs" fell to the wayside.

I'm SAVED!

Praising God for what I have really picked me up out of a slump, out of the drudgery of everyday (granted, we just came back into town from a weekend vacation...I know that's always hard).

I'm here on earth to spread His love and my testimony.

Get this, not only has He blessed me with all this stuff, but He CHOSE to come from Heaven, grow up into a man, face life-every step, every breath, every move was FOR US!  He did it all for us!  And He loves us!
He teaches us so many things if we let Him.
He doesn't just say, "That's wrong, you'd better quit!"
He picks us up and dusts us off, and shows us a way out of sin.  Through Him.  Through His blood.

Now, if that don't get you shoutin', lemme know, I'll perscribe you some anti-depressants!

What has really brought you face to face with what God's done for you recently?

Thursday 3's

Hey everyone!



Trials:
Schedule...still.
NaNo's done and I feel the resolve for 4:45 mornings dwindling by the quarter hour marks on my alarm clock. 

Thoughts:
December is so full of mystery to me.  Not just the Christmas gift thing, that's all fun and stuff, but the new things we learn each year about Christ, the way our children react and act about the holidays, the anticipation of the weeks off of AWANA...(come on, I know I'm not alone in THAT one!)  But most of all, the disheveling of work/play/shopping priorities has really thrown me for a loop this year. 
I want to spend, spend, spend for some odd reason.  Last year we only spent about 150$ on Christmas (all gifts and decorations), but this year, I'm going haywire!  We've spend at least 500 and we're not done yet!!!!
Maybe we're making up for last year ;)
Things feel so out-of-sorts starting with Thanksgiving week and on into the new year when things start to settle down into a new year of routines.

Triumphs:
IT'S OUR FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY TODAY!!!!!
Yay!
Four years ago, I married the man of my dreams.  My spiritual leader, the father of my kids, the cook in our house, the man I go to for counsel...God wound us together as one that day...and I'll never forget how happy I was.  Nor will I ever think a wedding was more perfect or suited for the couple than ours was.  Each time we go to another wedding, we lean in at some point to each other and admit that ours was waaaay better :)

So tell me....

I had no idea what I was going to do this morning...so instead, I'm writing it tonight, and it's going to be seen on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. 
I have a few questions for you to answer...they will be interesting answers, they always are, but these I felt really made me remember why I write and want to share it with the world.

I'll answer the questions, but then it's your turn.  Leave a comment telling me your answers.


1. What do you write? (YA, Women's Fiction...)
2. What is your message?
3. What does writing do for your relationship with God?
4. What does writing do for your relationship with your family?
5. What does writing do for you?


Okay, here's the answers from moi:

1. At the moment, I'm writing Women's Fiction/speculative
2. Wow, this is harder than a synopsis...
Hope, even after an abortion, God still forgives, he LOVES and heals people of their pain.
3. Writing puts me in a mode of worship (when I let it).
4. My family will attest to the fact that my attitude changes for the better when I write.  I get thoughts out in my devotion, and my creativity isn't just scrambled around inside, it's channeled.
5. Writing for me personally, lets me get my ideas out.  It makes my mind clearer and ready for the "next thing".

Now...
shoot. 
You're turn.

Through God ALL Things...

Are Possible!

Lord knows I didn't think it could happen, but it has! 

50,000 words in a month! 

To all the NaNo's out there, GREAT job!  This took a lot of sacrifice, hard work, and a lot of toil in fighting that inner critic. 

My inner critic was a brat! 

I showed her, though!

I did the prologue in third person and without thinking twice, switched to first on chapter one!

Here's the best part...it's STILL sitting like that in my computer.  (teehehe)

I found myself looking forward to spending time with my characters, and with God writing without care of what was left in the wake.

I finally just threw a story down like the first layer of primer to the painter.

I'm NOT so excited to go back and tweak, respell...okay, BUTCHER the thing, but hey, you can't edit a blank page!

I LOVED this push.

I needed that one.

Here is the rundown of how I was working on before NaNo (which I plan on fully continuing this story in the morning, just a lot differently now that I can do it)

-I did three first drafts of the thing.

-I plotted (slowly, detailed) for a full month and worked out all the bugs (not finished plotting, though!  Only about 1/3rd of the way through)

-Still looking at part of the draft and not happy with it. 

-Going to work on that tomorrow. 

Here's the rundown of how I did the NaNo book.

-Plotted for 2 days

-Wrote for 30

-To edit when I finish previous WIP  (4th) first draft.

The good news?

All those stories that are flying in my head are going to get put down a lot more quickly now that I know I can do it.

Here's to November, and December and January, and Feb...

Juggle I must...

How did your NaNo go?

Have you ever done it?

What did you learn from it?

Will you do it again?

Tossing Out the Clock

 

photo: granbypdblog.org



Each morning I get up at 4:45am to do a devotion and pray, then I get right to work at 5am.  I type away with, as NaNoWriMo so elliquently puts it, literary abandon.  My deadline to get up is 6am.  I sort of watch the clock as I type, type, type away, but I am always amazed by how quickly the time flies.  5:03...5:17...5:38...5:.....6?!  Wha...but...I....UGH!!!! FINE....

Most days, when I really get in the zone and I'm flying by with 1500 w/hour, I'm saddened by the time restraint.  "I've just begun!  I'm just now really getting into it!"  If I were a child, I'd fall to the ground, whine, cry and want to get my way...but I'm not a child (at least that's what I've been told), so I close my laptop and get things going for the long day ahead, and anxiously anticipate the next morning.

However, when Thanksgiving morning comes I'm getting on that computer and going into FULL literary abandon mode!!  I'm so excited to bring my charging cord with me to the living room! :)  I can't wait to see how many words I can get in. 

(I'll certainly keep you posted.  My current wc is 34,000 or so...eeek!  I'm so nervous!  We don't have very many days left in November!!!  But considering the only amount I thought I'd reach was 30,000, I've already exeded my personal goal :)

Now, here's my laundry list of random questions:

-Do you watch the clock?

-What is your normal daily word count/hour? (or however you measure it)

-What are your writing Thanksgiving day-off plans? 

-Are you going to push writing aside and go for the extra z's?

Happy Thanksgiving, Family!

Thursday Thoughts

Okay, in an attempt to liven up this blog, I'm going to try a few new things.
The first in line this week is a version of Katie Ganshert's 3C's Friday...only it's Thrusdays and with different words that start with a different letter.
I've decided, I do believe, that I'm going to post Tuesdays and Thursdays.
So, Here's the first go-at-it.

Three T's Thursday

Trials:
NaNo.  Need I say more? lol

Triumphs:
Norman is getting better.  That's somewhat part of the reason I've been in and out of blogger.  I've been taking care of the kids and the house alone while Norman gets better, leaving little time for posting :( I've missed you guys, but THANKFULLY, Norman is getting over his bug and cold stuff.
Keep praying that me and the boys don't get it, though.

Thoughts:
I'm so thankful for what NaNo's been doing for me.  I get up at 4:45 and do my devotion/pray.  Then I get to my computer promptly (or not) at 5am and write till 6am.  My goal each day is (what NaNo suggests) 1667wds/day.  I go up and down on it.  Sometimes I'll have 1400 sometimes I'll have 1800...but in the end it works out.
Now, this has pushed me SOOOO far along in the novel writing process that it amazes me.  I'm already on chapter 19 of my first draft!!!!  I never thought it could be done...but all it takes is a plan!

I'm really proud of what this has done for my confidence in actually "doing the dirty work" of writing.  I'm able to push past the blank page, Lord willing, and write!  To do what I was meant to do, and to do it quickly.  To get the words down is a big deal...then I can butcher it into a really good manuscript...over and over and over again till it shines.  BUT NaNo is helping me see how far I can really take myself.

Now, your turn!