Quote for the Week

There are some truly amazing writers out there. Not just in their work, but just in who they are. Rachel Hauck is one of those people. I've learned a lot from her, especially when it comes to being surrendered to God in your writing and in your life. Here's a great quote from her:

"You can't write about what you don't have in yourself. The spiritual journey of a character is often the fragrance of God in and on the author. If you aren't going deep in God, spending time at His feet, praying, worshipping, fellowshipping with others, your spiritual message will be flat. Always. Your message will feel forced and tacked on."

She was referring to writing, but it relates to how we live, as well. If you don't have your own growing relationship with God, how can you tell others about Him? It'll be forced. Unbelievable. Forgettable.

I want my life and my writing to have that fragrance of God. But that's not going to happen unless I'm continually in touch with Him. Something to think about...

If You Had To Choose...

Obviously, reading is something I think about maybe a little too much. Sometimes my husband catches me gazing at my bookshelf and likes to make fun of me. Usually I have a reason--I'm trying to decide which books to take to someone who's asking for something to read, or I'm trying to decide what I want to read next. Plus, they're just so beautiful... :-)

Anyway, if you had to choose your top five favorite books--of all time, or over the last year or two--which ones would make your list? I'll narrow it down for you--they have to be fiction, and they can't be Double Take because I'll know you're just trying to win a prize if I give one out. :-)

I honestly don't know if I can do this. Just five? So if you have more than five, feel free to go a little overboard. :-) Maybe you guys will add to my must-read list.

Trash?

Someone left a comment on my soap box blog entry a while back, asking whether I would say whether there are novels that I consider trash.


I hadn't forgotten about it, and I wasn't avoiding the question. I just wanted to think a while before answering. (And, of course, I'm a bad blogger. hehehe) So here are some of my thoughts on that.


As a novelist, I know how much time and blood and sweat and tears and hair-pulling goes into writing a book. To actually finish a book is an accomplishment, no matter how badly written. So I'm not sure I would use the word "trash" to describe another book. Many books published by secular publishing houses still have many great qualities. Justice. Hope. Beautiful stories of life and love and values and patriotism and a bunch of other wonderful things.




Insert a BIG "however" here. There are many novels filled with things that should not be read. Some that leave you with a feeling of darkness or hopelessness, that put foul language into your head, that give a scewed view of love, etc. Words have power. Stories can have an influence on the way you look at things. So I do think you should be very careful what you read, because some novels are full of trash...

Whether or not that makes them trash is up to you. Just don't dump every novel into the same garbage heap, please. :-)

Goal Check

So it's March. Three months into the new year, and I'm still writing '09 when I date things. I figure it's time to glance over my resolution list and see how I'm doing.

1. Blogging ~ Well, that's easy enough to check. Not quite accomplishing my 1 blog a week, but it's slightly more regular. Maybe.

2. Weight ~ I can honestly say I don't know, since I haven't gotten on the scales in a while. But I have a bad bad feeling...And exercise? Well, does it count when I walk outside to check the mail?

3. Reading ~ I have a cute little notebook where I'm keeping track of the books I read as well as a line or two saying what I thought of each one. I have a couple books I haven't entered yet, but I'm doing pretty good there. AND I've completed two non-fiction books. I'm counting them toward my goal of 6, even though one was started last year. :-)

4. Decorating ~ Well, I figured out what I want to do, at least. And part of it is spread all over my dresser...as it has been for the past week or two. But at least I have a plan. :-)

5. I reorganized all but two cabinets. Patting myself on the back.

6. Still haven't taken the games off my computer. I'm blaming that on my husband. Because I don't know how. And if I accidentally delete the wrong thing, it could be trouble. Right?

Okay, so I missed some. I'm doing okay at some, haven't started working on others. But the year isn't over yet! Maybe I'll print them off and put them by my computer.

Or better yet, make them the background on my computer instead of the picture of the guy who's supposed to be my latest hero.

Nah. :-)

What about you? How are your goals coming?

And The Winner Is...

So many great, live heroes out there! Thanks for sharing. :-) The lucky winner of my dear friend Betsy's book, A Valentine's Wish, is...

Drumroll...

....

....

Alright, already. Valery, send me your address! And on the way to the mail box to pick it up, make a pit stop at the closest Stein Mart for a chocolate gator. You're going to be craving it before you're finished reading!

Thanks, everybody. I just might have some new hero material here...

March Madness

Some writing friends have decided to do a March version of NaNoWriMo. (Which is the National Novel Writing Month, in November, just in case you didn't know. There. Don't you feel educated?) So this month we are picking our own word count goal and are going to try to do it all in one month. A few are finishing up manuscripts. Some are going to try to write from beginning to end.

This can be partially blamed on the NaNoWriMo thing, and the fact that many of us are too busy in November to concentrate on cranking out 50k words. But mostly we can blame Susan May Warren. The Writing Maniac. Seriously. She sat us down at dinner during a My Book Therapy Retreat and proceeded to tell us how to write a 60k (the equivalent of a Steeple Hill) book not in a month, but in 10 days. Write and edit, no less. Ready for submission. And it wasn't just a theory. She actually did it at least once. Think about that. That's Double Take and a few thousand extra words. In ten days. I won't tell you how long it took me to write it...

Anyway, so that's one reason we're doing this. We're going to try out her 10 day model...and stretch it into 30 days because we're wussies who like to get on Facebook every once in a while. :-) But I am taking steps to get ready for this. I'm blogging ahead of time so that I have something to post, since I am still trying to be a better blogger. (Hey! I saw you snicker. Take it back!)

So, my own version of March Madness is...well, I have two different goals. Some of you may be aware I sent in another submission to my editor a while back. Well, it got lost in the mail, so I still haven't heard back. I've decided that was a good thing, because I got a horrible cold which crashed my brain for about a week. Plus I attended a writing retreat. So if the novel had been accepted and I was on a tight deadline for revisions, well, that would have been a bad thing. So that's my way at looking at the bright side of things. If you have a dissenting opinion, keep it to yourself. :-)

Anyway, back to the goals. If my editor accepts the story, my goal will be 30k words on Brogan's story, plus whatever revisions I have to do on the submitted manuscript. If I don't hear back in March, or if they aren't interested in publishing it, then my goal on Brogan's story is 50k words. Which should be ALMOST enough to type The End.

Don't hold your breath.

But don't be offended if I don't call or email you, either. :-)