How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Part 1

Since fall is here, it seems appropriate to talk about summer. Go figure that logic. There’s a small thread of it, trust me. I am excitedly waiting to experience my first fall. I’ve never lived any place that had seasons. Already the leaves are beginning to change, the corn fields are being harvested. I even changed my blog banner to reflect one of local fields I drove by the other day.

At the same time, I can’t help but reflect on the season that just ended. It seems odd to have summer ending in September. Normally, where I’ve lived we don’t get cooler weather until November. But it’s been quite a summer. And since I didn’t often have time to blog about it, bear with me while we do a little retrospective…

End of May, beginning of June

The day after Memorial Day, Michelle flew into Phoenix to drive a moving truck containing all our worldly possessions and towing my Jetta to Indiana. Jenny came with me to meet Mich at the airport and to give us hugs and prayers for the journey.

Mich and I got a late start because we had to finish packing the truck in 90 degree heat. It was probably 110 inside the truck. The Jetta had the pet supplies and an ice chest, in addition to every piece of electronic equipment and anything else that we could stuff in there. The cat was in her carrier under the truck seat, and Charlie was supposed to sit on the floor. Supposed to being the operative word. The 85-pould Lab thought he should be a lap dog instead. I had the claw marks on my thighs to prove it. In between Mich and me was a box that held Red Vines, Sun Chips, trail mix, and a small cooler of Diet Coke and water.


Finally we hit the road and made the long drive up the grade to Flagstaff. This was the slowest leg of the journey because we couldn’t make good time going up that grade. We had hoped to get to Alburquerque that night but didn’t even make it out of Arizona before crashing in the little town of Holbrook. We made about 300 miles in 8 hours. Ugh! Doesn’t this look like something that inspired Cars?

The next day was better. After we finally got Charlie to sit on the floor on his bed and look out the little wing window life was a lot more comfortable for me. We were basically doing Route 66 backwards. I tried to sing the song backwards but couldn't manage it. However, we did pass through every town mentioned in the lyrics, with the exception of Kingman, Barstow (been there lots), and San Bernardino (the town next to the one I grew up in).

Mich and I listened to Jeremy Camp and some other CDs, singing along. We talked about writing and God and listened to Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story. We also managed to stop somewhere in every state to get souvenirs for the kids. Other than the fact that Mich had a hard time reaching the pedals and I had to keep my feet propped up on the dash because the seat was so close there was no room for my legs, it was a fun, if tiring day.

Around 11 PM we pulled into Oklahoma City to get coffee, snacks, and gas before pressing on to Tulsa to spend the night. Mich got in a “discussion” with a truck driver about how far it was to Tulsa. Mich used to be a truck driver herself, so she had some issues with the fact that the guy didn’t know miles, just time and some other things. She muttered most of the way about how wrong he was. And she was right. She showed him!

The next day was the longest, 17 hours in the truck, but the final stretch home. We crossed the Mississippi. Did I mention Mich doesn’t like bridges over water? I think the last 5 hours came close to torture for both of us as our backs were hurting from the truck seat and we were sick of the junk food we’d bought. We pulled into her yard at 3 AM. After letting the dog go pee, I fell into the sleeper sofa--fully clothed and sweaty--next to my kids, who, even in their sleep, cuddled up next to me.

I was home.

Congrats to the Misfits!

At the ACFW Genesis award banquet last night Angie, Chris, and Jenny each took second place in their respective categories. Whoo hoo! More details and a pic on the Misfit blog.

Way to go, guys. I'm so proud of you. Wish I could have been there.

If You Love Books...

. . .then you might find these things fascinating.

First of all, Crossway is coming out with the Literary Study Bible.

I love this idea. When I was in college and learning critical theory of literature, and we studied parts of the Bible in that way, it opened up a whole new way of looking at God's Word and I was just fascinated by it. So I was thrilled to hear about this version of the Bible. Plus, it's an ESV translation, which is even cooler.

And on a whole other coolness scale is a Bible you'll never be able to own.

A scribe bends intently over a worktable in his scriptorium in Monmouth, Wales. The page before him is vellum—calfskin sanded to a velvety smoothness. His goose quill pen has been hardened in hot sand and cut with a knife to hold ink and to create a precise line. He dips the end into vermilion pigment mixed with egg yolk for luminosity and begins to shape the first capital letter of a new chapter of the Bible he is copying.

Finishing this page will take a day. If he makes a mistake, he will have to scrape the vellum and write the word or line over again. The pressure is greater because the other side has already been illuminated—biblical themes spun into a visual tapestry of brilliant colors, evocative imagery, and radiant gold.

But the scribe's hand is guided by long experience and a clear idea of the words' pattern on the page. The line length has already been worked out by computer to ensure a perfect fit. The accompanying illustrations are the result of months of e-mail messages between the scribe and those who have commissioned him, discussing theological interpretation and symbolism. Medieval artistry with a modern twist: That's the achievement and the challenge of the Saint John's Bible, the first handwritten, illuminated Bible in 500 years.

Here's a slide show of the process and some of the pages.

Wow.

Over at the Misfits

Come join me over at the Misfits blog where I talk about the season of loss and how it's impacted my writing.

I'm Still Alive

I realized that I kinda left you all hanging, mentioning I was having surgery and then not saying anything for over a week. Guess I'm a suspense writer.

The surgery went well. I felt better immediately after the surgery, which I guess means they took the right thing out. I was tempted to write on my side with Sharpie "here" and make an X. But I wasn't exactly sure where my gallbladder was and didn't want to mark my spleen or liver by mistake.

Apparently along with my gallbladder, they removed my Diet Coke taste buds. Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that I've admitted to an addiction to Diet Coke. Well, guess I went cold turkey. It doesn't taste good at all. Neither does another favorite, Diet Dr. Pepper. Not sure why. But anyhow, the only thing carbonated I'm drinking is Perrier.

It's taken some getting used to, not having something cold and caffeinated to grab out of the fridge and sip on throughout the day. Not sure if iced tea will give me enough caffeine. Guess we'll find out.

Later this week I'll be posting a series of blogs on what I did on my summer vacation. I'm sure you all can't wait.

Not so Wordless Wednesday

I'm up over at the Misfits blog with my Wordless Wednesday post.

Sorry things have been so thin around here lately. That will continue for a bit more as I'm having surgery on my gallbladder tomorrow. Prayers are appreciated.

Wordless Wednesday

Over There

The Misfits blog, that is.

Check This Out

Here's an excellent post over at Aspire2. Sandra puts my thoughts into words much better than I can.

Wordless Wednesday

Rain, Rain Go Away

We're not in Arizona anymore, Charlie!

We had our first brush with a tornado Wednesday night. Two of them touched down 25 miles southeast of here. We had severe winds and rain, and the tornado alarms went off. From a little after 9 to almost midnight we had 50-60 mph winds, gusting up to 80 or 90 mph with heavy rain and a lot of lightning.

Michelle put up her own map and pics of the destruction. I agree with her assessment of how close it came to our houses based on the damage.



When the tornado sirens went off I was on the computer and the kids had just gone to bed. Now, remember, my only experience with tornadoes comes from watching Twister. I haven't even seen Wizard of Oz. Yeah, yeah, I know. So I go to the weather sites and see the tornado warning and the weather service advisory for
high winds, large hail, flooding.

Then the power went out. I managed to bang my knee pretty good on a chair in the dark. Rain was coming in the windows where I have the AC units. So I had to cover things up with towels. Then I remembered I should probably light some candles. Though the lightning was coming so fast and furious I felt like I was at a disco. Finally got the candle lighter to light. Then got the kids settled in the bathroom with pillows and blankets. I left them a candle on the sink and found the flashlight.



My main concern was that with all the trees around us we were going to end up with branches through the windows and the only place without windows was the bathroom and hallway. I closed all the bedroom doors, dumped my purse and computer bag in the bathtub with a couple bottles of water and dragged the dog and his cage into the hallway with me. He was panting, and continued to do so for the next three hours. I thought he was going to hyperventilate. About midnight the wind and lightning stopped so we all crawled into my bed. It was hot and sticky without the AC and way too quiet.

The main problem was the lack of information. With no TV or Internet, I had no idea what was going on outside. The next day I bought a radio with a weather station.

We were without power for 8 hours (better than the nearly 24 Michelle suffered). Schools were closed, thus the second day of school never happened. I also was without cell service for some time last night. Roads were shut down all around as the crews tried to cut up and remove trees that had fallen across the road.

My first thought this morning after a generally sleepless night was, where am I going to get coffee? Considering power was out in a 50-mile swath, that was going to be no easy feat. Luckily the power came back on just as I got up so I could pretend to be somewhat human.

I've had some other adventures in the past ten days that I haven't blogged about, but I'll get caught up soon.

Detour!

I'm over at the Misfits blog today talking about the artistic temperament. Check it out.

Christian Art?

I listened to an excellent sermon this weekend from Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee called "A Christian World View of Culture and the Arts." And since I was suffering from a migraine and still enjoyed it, you can take that as a high recommendation.

I liked that questions such as what is our responsibility as artists who are Christians? Is "Christian" a genre? And other similar topics that have been subjects of discussion among my artist friends and me. I highly recommend it, so go check it out.


A related article in the Washington Post on evangelicals embracing the arts.

I'm Not Here

I'm over at the Misfits blog asking where is Snyderman and talking about critique groups. Come check it out.

Bowling Alley Blues

There’s a small bowling alley in our town. Twelve lanes. Smoking still allowed. Furnishings from that great decade of design, the seventies. Formica with built in stainless steel cup holders and ashtrays. Molded plastic seats. But my kids wanted to go and on Fridays from 6-10 PM you can bowl two games, get a hot dog and a “pop” and shoes for $5. Now that’s a deal I can afford.

My kids then proceeded to kick my butt in bowling. I haven’t bowled since junior high so I scored in the um, 60s. My son’s unusual method of taking the ball in both hands, heaving it down the lane like a shot put, and then walking away still scored him in the 80s and a strike. My daughter won with a score of 113 and three strikes. Oh, and did I mention we were playing with those bumpers they put up so you don’t get gutter balls? Um, yeah. Obviously bowling is not my sport.

However, I rallied in the second game when I switched to bowling left handed. Never got any strikes but I managed a few spares and scored 110. My son lost interest during the second game and wandered around checking out the video games and pinball (yes, pinball) machines. So Sissy and I took turns playing his frames.

Two hours later we walked out reeking of cigarette smoke, not quite filled by our hot dogs and "pop," but still pretty happy. We’ll do it again, so anyone have any bowling tips for me?

A Meme for Writers

Both Sabrina and Heather tagged me with the latest meme of the blogosphere.

1. What's the one book or writing project you haven't yet written but still hope to?

Lately I’ve been playing with the idea of doing a Russo-esque book on life in a small town. I find I’m loving the little quirks about living here and that I have a ton of fodder for stories.


2. If you had one entire day in which to do nothing but read, what book would you start with?

Man, I have a huge TBR pile. It’s actually two shelves in a bookcase in my bedroom. I’m on a Russo kick right now so I’d finished Nobody’s Fool and then move to Risk Pool. Like I’d ever have a day to just read.


3. What was your first writing "instrument" (besides pen and paper)?

I had a manual typewriter that I remember working on even as far back as kindergarten. I loved the smell of metal and ink and ribbon. The feel of the keys and the thunking sound they make. I want to get another one some day. But the first “real” book I wrote in high school was done on my Apple IIe. In the hallway of my house where the swamp cooler blew across me. I had broken my thumb in gymnastics and couldn’t swim or get it wet or any of the normal things you do in inland California in the summer, so I camped out in front of the computer and swamp cooler and wrote my first 100 page historical transporting all of my classmates back in time. I also taught myself to program in BASIC that summer.

4. What's your best guess as to how many books you read in a month?

Depends on the book and what all’s going on but I read about 6 and listen to about 2 in the car. I don’t read as much as I used to and I’ve been trying to work it into my schedule more. I have a feeling that when winter comes I’ll have more reading time.

5. What's your most favorite writing "machine" you've ever owned?


My current Mac PowerBook G4. Though if I had it to do over, I’d get a smaller laptop and a big screen to hook it into when I’m using it at the desk.


6. Think historical fiction: what's your favorite time period in which to read? (And if you don't read historical fiction--shame on you.)


Well, the time period I transported my classmates to, the American West, 1880s. It was such an amazing period of change, on the cusp of modernity.


7. What's the one book you remember most clearly from your youth (childhood or teens)?


Easily the Little House books. I read them over and over and over. That’s probably where my fascination with the 1880s West comes from.

Sabrina tagged one half of my usual tag-ees and Heather got the other half. So if you haven’t been tagged (or even if you have and want another group of people to read your answers) consider yourself tagged and leave a note in the comments when your answers are up. I’m thinking Jeanne here ;)

Life in a Small Town

It’s been interesting moving to a small Midwest town. Here’s a couple of examples. A week or so ago we drove almost an hour to the nearest Krispy Kreme. Lest you think that’s quite a trip for donuts, the nearest chain grocery store is 35 minutes away, WalMart 30 minutes, so really we’re used to driving to get places. Except the library. It’s only a mile away.

So we’re driving to Krispy Kreme after church on Sunday, and I noticed something I hadn’t seen anywhere else I’d lived. Graveyards everywhere. I must have passed a dozen in that hour drive. Just plopped along the side of the road. Now I happen to like graveyards and one of these days want to go exploring and find out who those people are that are buried there. But it’s such a different thing from the large, gated cemeteries in the West, set on the outskirts of town.

Being a writer, I of course pay more attention to language than most people. Some of the differences I expected, like calling soda “pop.” It’s even printed on the grocery store aisles that way.

The other is more unexpected. I’ve had a few people say I wasn’t from around here because of my accent. Um, what accent? I’m from California. We don’t have accents. It’s the rest of y’all that do.

One Sunday at church I told Michelle I’d go get the kids and meet her back in the foyer. A lady turned to me and said, “You’re not from around here, are you?”

I said no, why? She told me it was because I said ‘foy-yay’ not ‘foy-yer’ and she has a friend from California that says it that way too. Obviously, her friend from California says it right.

I think I need to go take some pics in the graveyard. I’m sure my kids and the locals will think I’m nuts.

Wordless Wednesday

Things we rescued from our pond. Heather, don't look.

Check Me Out

I'm posting over at the Misfits blog today on creativity if you're interested.

I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger!

Both Dineen and Sabrina nominated me for this award, which I think is really cool. Thanks girls! It's hard to find people who haven't been nominated but I'll pass the award on to the Misfit chicks: Michelle, Heather, Angie, and Jenny. Sorry, Chris and Mike.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Storm Over Indiana

The Next Stage of the Journey

About time I updated my blog, huh?

I’ve been trying to get settled and everything (I know, it’s taken me long enough) so updating my blog hasn’t been my top priority. But one day during church I had an epiphany on my blog name. So of course I wrote it all down on the bulletin. And, also of course, now I can’t find it. Sigh. But I do remember the gist of it.

But before that, here are all the wonderful suggestions I got for my new blog name. Some are serious, some are laugh-out-loud funny.

Hoosier Mama
Hoosier Horizons
Coast to Toast to Wheat
Desert to Deluge
Heat to Humid
Jordan to Jericho
Desert to Dairy
East of Jericho
Camping at Gilgal
Cows and Bees
Cheese and Pollen
Dairy and Apiary
Lait et miel
Beginning of Months
Indiana Initiative
Jen at Work
Côte à griller au blé
Hot to Humid
Chaud a Humide
Out of the frying pan and into the cornfield
Out of the frying pan... into the corn
Out of the frying pan... into the snow
Out of the frying pan... into my thermal underwear

Both Jenny’s Phil and Jeanne Damoff deserve credit for their terrific suggestions.

Back to my epiphany. One of my on-line devotionals was on 2 Samuel 22:20. “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me” (NIV). This was exactly one week after I’d been in Indiana. Something about the passage was familiar. I was thinking one of my Beth Moore Bible studies had included that verse. But I didn’t think too much about it.

A few days later I was sitting in church and we opened that same passage. So, I know God is trying to tell me something. Then I look at what verse it cross references. Psalm 18:19. Now I know for sure God is telling me something. I studied Chapter 18 in depth the first summer I moved to Arizona. I spent weeks in that one psalm, looking up Hebrew words. It was there that I learned the word ‘rock’—used so often in that psalm—can mean a fortress, a refuge, a place of safety. Or it can mean a sharp edge, like a cliff or a flint used for circumcision.

For about a year before God brought us out of Arizona, I had a feeling our time there was ending. Our desert years had been very real desert years for us, a time of testing and trial, a time of digging our roots down deep and drawing only on Living Water, a time to trust God and God alone. Those lessons were for a purpose I don’t fully understand yet.

So when I read that verse, the one that so eloquently bookended my desert years, I knew I had a title for my blog for the next stage of this journey. Thank you all for joining on it with me.

Yet Another Group Author Blog

Just wanted to let you all know that the Misfits have started their own group blog. We did kind of a spoof on the Declaration of Independence and hope that it becomes a place for some great discussion on the intersection of writing, life, and faith. We argue and disagree among ourselves (nicely, of course) so we're hoping to spark some good discussion on our blog.

Come check us out.

A New Critique Service

Good friend Ronie Kendig has started a critique service. I'm a little behind the ball announcing this, but better late than never I guess. Anyhow, if you're in need of a good critique, check out Ronie. Here's the press release.

DOUBLE CRIT EDITORIAL SERVICES
www.doublecrit.com
PRESS RELEASE

Double Crit Editorial Services

~specializes in polishing fiction book proposals~

NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Double Crit is a unique freelance editing service that offers high-level critiques of fiction book proposals from two experienced editors. Whether a writer is preparing for a conference or getting ready to submit their manuscript to editors and agents, Double Crit can help.

Double Crit is here to help with book proposal formatting, query letters, synopses and story structure as well as the first thirty pages of the manuscript. They can assist with the opening hook, back-cover copy, active and passive voice, showing vs. telling, character development, spiritual threads, and point of view.

Double Crit sharpens proposals to double your edge in the publishing world.

Double Crit Editorial Services is the brain-child of Ronie Kendig and Sara Mills. Ronie and Sara were brought together as friends and critique partners because they are both represented by agent.

Through networking with other writers, Sara & Ronie saw a gaping need for high-level editing services for writers who want to attend writers conferences with proposals that are polished and ready to impress. Thus, Double Crit was born.

A great book proposal can open publishing house doors for a writer, and Double Crit can to help you to tighten your proposal to sharpen your edge in the publishing world.



Contact Double Crit: submissions@doublecrit.com

Wow

This is a great article on Storytellers Unplugged about the Artist's Soul. I'm going to have to read it several times for it to really sink in. Amazing.

Lightning Bugs

http://flickr.com/photos/56412930@N00/23522284/


Can you believe I'd never seen them before? But last night we were driving home and the fields were just shimmering with them. We pulled over to the side of the road to watch.

I have found something Calvin is afraid of since we've moved here. He doesn't like bugs. So he wasn't too happy when we rolled down the window to see them better and several of them came near the car. But I was entranced.

By the time we got home is was dark and there were only a few in the backyard. But I'm hoping we see more tonight.

Yay!

I have Internet!

I don't think I've ever been without it this long since I've had Internet back in, um, 1993? Wow. Anyhow, glad to have one of my permanently-attached appendages back.

On another note, fellow Misfit Elaina has a short story of hers posted at her blog. Go check it out.

Route 66 in Reverse

Hey, I made it to Indiana safely with kids, animals, and stuff mostly intact. Three 17-hour days in a moving truck with Michelle, a 75-pound black Lab, and a 16-year-old cat. No Internet service yet. I'm at the library using theirs. So, this is a short post.

I found it interesting that we basically did Route 66 backwards. Or at least backwards according to the song. I have pictures to post later when I figure out where my camera dock is.

I'll post more when I can.

The Caffeinated Cat

Seems like a good title for something, doesn’t it? I don’t know for what, but you’re welcome to use it as long as you give me credit.





This is my cat Duchess. She’s 16. And apparently has developed an iced tea habit in her old age. I had brought my tea and my computer upstairs to get all comfy on my bed and get some work done. I set the tea on my nightstand, but when I went to reach for it, um, someone had beat me to it. Some cat. Duchess had her whole head buried in the glass.

I thought she’d take a drink, taste it and realize it wasn’t water and stop drinking. Of course she’d ruined the whole glass for me. But no, she kept drinking. Then she stopped. But came back a few minutes later. She drank half of a 24 oz glass. Which made me wonder what caffeine would do to a cat. I mean, would it keep her up? She tends to be nocturnal anyway.

I guess it made her chase flies. Out here, the flies seem to sense the cool air inside the houses and they wait in ambush by the door. Soon as one opens, wham!, they sneak in. And with two kids, they get lots of those opportunities. So I have flies in my house. But Duchess managed to kill at least three the other night while I was watching. So guess she can have all the iced tea she wants. Just not out of my glass.

Should be interesting to see how she stands sharing the cab of a moving truck with me, Michelle and the dog. The adventure starts Tuesday. Stay tuned.

The Final Bell

Yesterday was the last day of school for my kids. Well, since they are homeschooled, it was the last day of their enrichment program where they went two days a week for dance, music, Spanish, chess, and other fun kinds of things.

The kids had great teachers, so Sissy wrote thank you notes to her teacher and I wrote "Calvin's" for him. I spent a lot of time telling her how much I appreciated her understanding my son and instilling in him a love of learning. Those were the important things for me this year.

For the last day of school they had a talent show. And I learned something. I can play the piano as well as the kindergartners. I can play Mary Had a Little Lamb with my left hand just like Calvin's friend.

However, Calvin hasn't quite learned recital etiquette. He was sitting on my lap and when his friend Ethan went up to play the piano, he started yelling, "Do it Ethan, do it!" Then when another little girl went up, they pronounced her name wrong and he corrected them. Other than that, he was pretty good for the hour-long show where his sister danced in two routines.

A couple other interesting observations. This girl in really ripped jeans, a ripped t-shirt, razor-cut hair, and dark eyeliner comes up. And she begins playing classical cello. And was very good. So incongruous. I love it when things like that happen. I can see her as a character in a book.

Then this little kid, maybe 2nd grade, played electric guitar, nearly as big as him, and he was GOOD. I was amazed.

And finally, I noticed that the younger kids would get up and do anything, but the older kids only came up to play if they were really, really good. At what point do we lose that ability to just want to show off and realize we have to be good to display our talents?

Calvin was crying when I picked him up at the end of the day. It was the first time he'd ever experienced this kind of change and loss, knowing we're moving and he won't see his friends again. Made me a little teary too. But thanks to the Internet, the kids will have pen pals via e-mail. I hope that makes the transition just a little bit better.

Genesis Finalists

The finalists in the ACFW Genesis contest were announced yesterday. Congrats to all the winners but specifically fellow Misfits Chris Mikesell, Angie Poole, and Jenny Cary. Also to fellow writer-friends Sabrina Fox and Dineen Miller. Having read all of these guys' writing, I know this was well deserved. Hope it leads to wonderful things for all of you.

A Laugh for Sunday Morning

Found this on Brenda Coulter's blog. It's a hysterical how-to video for men on hugging. Remeniscent of those Goofy cartoons on how to dance.

I tried to get the video to post here, but for some reason YouTube and Blogger aren't talking to each other this morning.

The Big Announcement

I’ve never been much of one for following the crowd. In fact, I rather like swimming upstream. So since a lot of people move to Arizona from the Midwest, I decided to move from Arizona to the Midwest. Besides, last year at the ACFW conference in Dallas, Dave Long of Bethany House Publishers called me a cream puff for never having lived anywhere it snowed. Well, I couldn’t take a challenge like that laying down. So, we’re off to Indiana. Take that, Dave.


(Okay, yeah, I know there's not snow there right now, but I didn't take any more pictures last time I was there when everything was green. The first one is a deer track in the snow.)

Things I’ll miss about Arizona:

The water out of the tap is hot. Probably 95 or so. The pipes get really hot in the summer. And the toilet water is hot. You can lift the lid and have condensation. Kind of like giving your rear end a facial.

Not many mountains in Indiana

Amazing and dramatic views.

Dust devils the size of small tornadoes

Warm (okay, blow-dryer hot) afternoon winds.

Warm nights

Monsoon season with amazing thunderstorms.

Colorful Mediterranean plants


Things I’m looking forward to:

Seasons. I’ve heard rumors there are four but I’ve only seen two.

Snow. Not sure how I’ll survive. But I’ve never seen a real snowflake. That should be fun.

Greenery.

And plants like peonies and lilacs and bulbs. Stuff that doesn’t grow anywhere I lived.

Things that are the same:

Lots of two lane roads through corn fields.

Trains blocking those two lane roads

Bright, starry skies.

Here's where you come in.

The name of this blog is Sonoran Saga. Um, guess that's not going to work anymore. So I'm up for suggestions. I also need to change the little description box up at the top. Right now, the only thing I've come up with is Jen at Work and putting 'Caution:...." in the little description box. But I need more stuff to choose from. So, give me your ideas and if I pick yours you can come over to my house and help me pack. Wait, that doesn't sound like much of an incentive. Um, okay, how about this? I'm getting rid of a bunch of books, so I'll give some of those away.

Check This Out

There's a good discussion about taste going on over at Mick Silva's blog. I like these kind of discussions because there is really no right answer, but everyone's thoughts illuminate a little bit more of the puzzle for me.

And yes, I'll have something else to post this afternoon. ;)

Sick of These Yet?

These are two examples of fields near my home. The first is an alfalfa field recently harvested. I love how the hay bales look like green Legos in a row.



I'm not sure what this field is going to be. It looks like either cotton or potatoes. But I love the geometric lines of the furrows accented by the afternoon light.



These are bougainvillea (foreground) and lantana (purple flowers in background) in my front yard. They looked like little brown sticks two months ago. As Mediterranean plants, they didn't do well in the frost. But they've come back nicely with some pruning.



Now, make sure you come back tomorrow for the big announcement. There might even be a little contest or something involved.

Still More Arizona Images...

These are my kids, taken at the pool the other day. Not really an image of Arizona, but rather an image in Arizona. I liked it, though

More Images from Arizona

As promised, here's more pictures of Arizona. These are from Sedona taken a couple of years ago on New Year's Day after a big rainstorm that caused flooding. It's very pretty up there. I love the contrast between the greenery and the red dirt. There are some nice hiking trails too, but many were closed off due to mud slides. And let me tell you, that red mud was extremely sticky. We couldn't get it off our hiking boots.

Images of Arizona

Later this week I'll have some news to share, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post some pictures from Arizona. I spent some time this week trying to recover photos from my Mac (got it back, yay!) and on the PC. And I realized there's some great pictures from Arizona to share. So guess what? You get to enjoy them. (And if you don't, just pretend, okay? Thanks.)

This is a roadrunner that was on our back fence one morning. In the background are the Superstition Mountains.





More photos tomorrow. I know you can't wait. You'll probably be here even before you get your coffee. Or, maybe not.

Beauty from Brokenness

Go check out this post by Lisa Samson over at The Master's Artist. All I can say is wow. It really seemed to coalesce a lot of thoughts I've had about writing lately and some discussions the Misfits have been having about writing and our calling as writers. Anyhow, go read it for yourself.

Eight Random Things

Elaina tagged all of the Misfits with the eight random things about yourself meme.

So here's eight random things about myself. With a little help from a friend . . .

1. I broke both my elbows two weeks before my wedding. This is really my claim to fame. It's even inspired a dance.

2. I'm ambidexerous. I can write quite legibily with my left hand, though it's slower from lack of use. Everything else is about equal.

3. I used to turn Rick Warren's (Purpose Driven Life) sermons into small group Bible studies when I attended his church, Saddleback.

4. I'm a bona fide California girl, born there and lived there for over thirty years.

5. I've had quite the wide variety of jobs. I've worked for both Apple and IBM, I've been an insurance underwriter, worked as a draftsman and entitlement specialist for an engineering firm, and directed traffic and drove a bus as part of campus security, i was a director of marketing, and I do web design. And, ahem, I'm now looking for a job, so, any offers?

6. I have a fondness for late night laundry room visits and the smell of fabric softener . . .

7. I like sour stuff more than sweet, especially sour and salty like pickles, olives, artichoke hearts.

8. I broke my toe ring on a trip to visit Michelle. I have no idea how I did that.

I tag Malia, Sabrina, Diana and anyone else that hasn't already been tagged.

Daily Sacrament Contest Winners

Relief Journal announced the winner of the Daily Sacrament contest. Don Hosel was the winner and fellow Misfit Angie Poole was the runner up. Both stories will be published in issue three of Relief which you can order by clicking on the picture to the right. Having read Angie's terrific story I knew it had a great chance to be in contention. I'm looking forward to reading Don's story. I liked his story last year for the Faith in Fiction conversion contest.

Congratulations to you both.

Charlie the Conehead

This is our dog Charlie with his conehead. He got it off Friday and was very happy. However the vet was not so happy with him. He had dislodged the drain that was supposed to be in his ear. It was sutured in and somehow Charlie had gotten it out, despite the cone. It seems like ripping out something that was sewn it would be painful. But he doesn't look too unhappy, does he?

This was Charlie's second surgery on his ears. Part of the problem is because he's a lab and they have floppy ears so the air doesn't get in there and dry things out. But Charlie is worse because he has allergies. He's allergic to everything. He has to have a special pet food with no animal protein in it. No dog bones for him. He gets apples and pears and ice cubes to chew on. When Charlie's allergies act up he scratches and rubs his ears in the lawn, thus creating hematomas (giant bruises) and getting cuts and dirt and debris in there. So I have to bathe him weekly and clean his ears out twice a week, plus put in antibiotics. This last time, his hemotoma got big enough he had to have it surgically removed. Except that he had too much scar tissue from the last surgery so the doctor could only put in the drain to siphon off the fluid. Which Charlie managed to take out somehow.

This picture might give you an idea of how he does that. He runs across the lawn and dives head first into the grass, twisting until his ears hit the grass and he forces the cone back. He went through two cones in three weeks, both of which I ended up duct taping to hold them together.

It's a good thing he's cute. And happy.

Long Time No Post

Sorry I've been letting my blog get dusty. I was trying to get my entry done for the Genesis contest of ACFW.

Also, our dog, Charlie, had surgery on his ear and has a conehead now. I should post some pictures of him.

And I got my Mac almost fully restored. I was so happy to get my pictures back, especially the ones from our trip to Chicago and Indiana.

I particularly liked this picture I took of leaves frozen in Michelle's pond.

Finally, when I converted my blog to the new Blogger version, it lost one of my RSS feeds. The one with the most subscribers. So, if you were one of them, you'll need to resubscribe to the other feed.

I'll try to be a better blogger, but no promises.

Ah, a Good April 1 Press Release

Google announced via press release new, self-installed, plumbing-based Internet access called Dark Porcelain. Hey, it can't be any worse than my DSL.

I think that's going up there as one of my favorites, along with the Liberty Taco Bell.

Credit to Mir for the link.

Happy April Fools!

While I’d love to play some sort of April Fool’s Joke on you all, I don’t have the brain power. However, if someone has a good one to relate, from this year or years past, please tell us about it in the comment.

I did get my Mac back. It now has a new hard drive. And I have the arduous task of sticking all the stuff back on it. But I’ve been busy with a couple of writing projects, namely a novella proposal I was asked to be part of and getting one of my novels ready for the Genesis. And since the restore process is time consuming and doesn’t allow any other applications to be open while it’s running, I have to wait until I’m not working on something to start restoring. Sigh.

On another topic, I ran across this article by Neil Gaiman in my RWA eNotes. In it he talks about the question he gets asked the most: where do your ideas come from? It’s a great short discussion on the creative process and makes the point that ideas aren’t really what make a book. Something writers get but normals don’t.

Also I was gratified to see he had the same experience in his child’s classroom that I did in my daughter’s last year.

But then there was this awesome quote near the end of the article.

My idea of hell is a blank sheet of paper. Or a blank screen. And me, staring at it, unable to think of a single thing worth saying, a single character that people could believe in, a single story that hasn't been told before.

Staring at a blank sheet of paper.

Forever.

Reminds me of Mike Snyder’s post at the Master’s Artist last Thursday.

Which was kind of timely for me because for the novella project I was given a location, a date, and a character. That was it. And I had two weeks to come up with a synopsis and a first chapter. It was a new experience for me. And because I like to plan and plot before I write, it was pretty scary to just write. But I came to the same conclusion Gaiman did: the ideas are there and I don't have to worry about running out of them. That was pretty freeing.

Angie at Infuze

Fellow Misfit Angie Poole has her story, "A Stone's Throw" up at Infuze. It's a great example of her pink collar drama. I just love her voice. So go read it; you'll be glad you did.

Update on the Mac:
Still not working. I did recover and backup all my files but I still have some corruption on the hard drive. Trying to determine exactly what it is before I call Apple. AGAIN. Sigh.

Day Eight and Nine

UPDATE: This was supposed to post Sunday. However, my Mac died. I think it's the hard drive. I ran some diagnostic tests and tried to repair it myself today to no avail. Luckily it's still under warranty and I have automatic backups. Unluckily, I'm without my pacifier and going through withdrawals. I'm having to try to access everything from the PC at home, which is where this post is coming from. I'll let you know more after I talk to Apple tomorrow.

***

Since I was done with writing for a while, I spent Friday updating my blog. Blogger forced me to a new template so I had some difficulty figuring out how to get it back to the customization I had done before. Then I added a few things. So that took a big chunk of time.

Then I decided to get a MySpace page. With Michelle walking me through it I was able to get it up pretty quickly.

On Saturday, we had been invited to a theatre fundraiser by Michelle’s friend, Kim. Kim sells clothes, jewelry, and makeup and has a great eye for putting outfits together. Since the event was formal, she dressed and bedecked Michelle and I with jewelry. She even lent Mich her mink coat.

On the way to the theatre we drove by a field filled with deer. I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t seen deer since I was at Yosemite. Well, there was a dead one on the road to Kokomo that someone had hit, but that doesn’t really count.

The evening began with silent auction. Michelle had put together a basket of books donated by ACFW authors. It ended up brining in $105. Then we had a really nice dinner and watched a shortened version of Guys and Dolls.


Because it was such a late evening, we were hungry again on the drive home, so I requested a stop at White Castle. I’ve had frozen White Castle burgers from Costco but never the real thing. In fact, until I saw Wayne’s World, I never knew it was an actual place. So we go tromping inside in our formal dresses and Mich’s mink to eat at White Castle. Kim shared her White Castle experiences from college. We went back to Kim’s house to return the clothes and jewelry then drove another back to Mich’s house where we arrived at 2:30 AM. It was a great night.

Our flight leaves tomorrow at 8 AM so we have to be up EARLY! It’s been a great trip and we can’t wait to come back and visit again. The only thing the kids missed was actually seeing the snow falling.

Day Five, Six and Seven

Well Sabrina kinda outted us in her comment on Day Two. Wednesday Mich and I had planned to drive down to Kokomo to meet Sabrina and Cara Putman for lunch.

The day before, Mich’s dog, Molly, had scratched Mich’s eye with her claw. So Phil took Mich to the doctor’s where they spent most of the day. Mich got a contact bandage and some drops to put in. It was one of the worst kinds of scratches you can get on your eye. So she had a follow up appointment Wednesday morning.

She got back and we left. Between getting stuck behind some slow drivers and having to ask to find where the Cracker Barrel was, we were about a half hour late. We thought.

I should make another disclaimer here. I’ve lived in two time zones: Pacific and Mountain. In Arizona, we don’t even change our clocks for Daylight Savings. So I don’t know about time zones out here. But apparently Mich lives in Central and Kokomo is in Eastern. So we were actually an hour and a half late. And we hadn’t exchanged phone numbers. Sigh..

So Cara had to leave by the time we got there and Sabrina was nice enough to stay and visit for another hour. Poor woman, she’d spent her whole afternoon there! But it was great to visit and catch up with her.

On the way home we let the kids run around McDonald’s playplace for a while to burn off energy before driving home in a rainstorm.

Yesterday, Mich and I finished the final polish on our Relief Daily Sacrament contest stories and submitted them. I happened to double check mine after I’d uploaded it and it looked like total gibberish. Considering I’d been having trouble with Firefox uploading files to my Yahoo groups, I assumed that was the problem. And it was. I switched to Safari, uploaded it, and it looked fine. But it was a little stressful there for a moment. I should learn to not play so close to the deadline. Which I think I’ve said before.

I don’t know what we’re going to do today. But I know what we’re NOT going to do: write.

Day Three and Four

Since Michelle doesn’t have enough money to buy me off and there’s nothing that I want to blackmail her for, the story of our trip to Chicago will end with the beginning.

Let me just say this. I like to plan. If I’m going some place new I like maps and schedules and all the information I can get. I actually had all that stuff for Chicago, but I left it at the house because I trusted Michelle. That was my first mistake. Kidding! But really, I was just having a good time and not really paying attention where we needed to be and when. I figured Mich would keep track of all of that. However, Mich only got three hours of sleep the night before.

We got off the train at 9 PM. There are two cars in the parking lot, neither of which were Michelle’s. We got off at the wrong stop. One stop PAST our stop. And no trains going back that direction.

So it’s dark. And there’s nothing around but a small gas station. Luckily, it has a mini-mart inside where we got something to drink and a place to wait outside.

We could walk 4 miles in the dark on a two-lane road to the station where our car was at, with three tired kids. Or call a cab. Or call Phil but he’d take at least an hour to get to us.

Luckily, Mich has a friend who lives about 20 minutes from the station. She came and took us to the station. Mich was able to talk to the lady at the mini-mart and get directions. She also told us that people get off at this stop by mistake all the time. So Mich’s friend came and got us, took us to our car and then we had another hour drive home. But we talked writing and stuff, like we have been all weekend while the kids slept.

So, back to the beginning. I forgot to mention that yesterday, even though it was upper 40s, Mich and I sat outside on her porch and wrote. With my heavy coat, my warm laptop, and a blanket on my legs, I was pretty cozy. Of course our being outside was necessitated by Calvin’s attempt to walk on their not-totally-frozen-solid pond.

Today we went to Chicago (okay, it’s yesterday now). I’ve never been. Then again, I’ve never been anywhere. We took the train in, which was also a new experience, and hit the Starbucks in the train station. Mich and I were critiquing some Misfit stuff on the train.

When then took the bus (going the wrong way at first) to Navy Pier where we spent the day at the Children’s Museum.












We also walked the length of the pier and visited the stained glass museum. Apparently at the turn of the century (19th to 20th) Chicago was quite the place for art glass. We saw some beautiful examples.

It was pretty comfortable temp wise. It was drizzling in the morning, but soon turned sunny with a light breeze. I wasn’t cold once.

Mich and I are also teaching our children our rule breaking tendency. They were doing an elevated net/rope course when two of them turned and started coming back. We waved at them to continue on when we heard a chorus of “we’re not allowed!” Huh? We’d sent them through the exit.

Later on the way home we were trying to find the train station. We found the El stations and the bus stops, but we couldn’t find the entrance to the train station. Turns out we walked past it three times, once going a couple of blocks out of our way. I think we were talking. Then we proceeded down the stairs, en masse, on the wrong side. Irritating hurried commuters, I’m sure.

Actually, everyone we met was really nice to us. We were hurrying to make our train, after another stop at the bathroom and Starbucks, only to find every car was full we were going to have to sit apart. Several people changed seats so we were each able to sit with our kids. We found out that even though we got on the train at 7:10 PM, this was actually the 6:08 train. It finally left at 7:30. Because it was running so late, we got to ride for free. Let’s just say I was glad to have my venti chai latte. Especially given what came later.

More tomorrow after we’ve recovered.

Day Two

When we got in the car yesterday Sissy asked, “What station is this? What kind of music is this?” Yes, Mich is making me listen to country music. I don’t think my kids have ever heard it.

The kids got to play in what was left of the snow today. They had fun tossing it at each other. Calvin tried his hand at reverse snow-shoveling. He was tossing it from the yard onto the porch. He also thought shoes were optional.

We went walking in the woods. The Pendergrasses have 15 acres. Calvin came home with the bone of some animal. He was quite thrilled.

Mich and I also spent time brainstorming and editing our stories for the Relief/FiF contest. I think we’ve made some progress.

More tomorrow . . .

We're Here

The kids and I are spending Spring Break with Michelle and her family. This should be an adventure. I’ve rarely been outside of California and Arizona. They live in Indiana. Where they get snow. And it’s cold.

So we’re flying in and I have to laugh. As gray and brown and overcast as it is, it could almost be San Bernardino, California in the summer when I was growing up. The grasses on the foothills would be brown and dead from the heat and the smog hung over and obscured the mountains. Other than the temperatures, the scenes were eerily similar.

One thing I noticed is that the raindrops seem smaller here. Twice we’ve walked outside, I’ve noticed the ground was wet, but I couldn’t feel any rain. I’m wondering if all the dust in the desert air makes the raindrops bigger.

The other thing is how much more hydrated my skin feels. My hands were dry and flaky when I was on the plane and all ready they are feeling softer. So, beauty tip for the day: move somewhere where it rains. Or there’s actual moisture in the air. So it doesn’t get sucked out of your skin.

When we got to Michelle’s house there were still patches of snow on the ground. My kids have never seen snow, so first thing out of the car they make a beeline for the nearest patch. Sissy just touches it (“Wow! It’s cold!”) but Calvin has to go jump in it (“It feels like ice!”). He walks in snow up to his ankles from the car to the house, big grin on his face.

It’s raining tonight, so I don’t know if there’ll be any snow left by morning for them to play in.

More updates tomorrow.

And you might want to check out Michelle’s blog to get her version of events.

Facing the Giant of Christian Art: an oxymoron?

Over on the ACFW loop there was some discussion about the movie Facing the Giants. I’m not going to rehash it here, I haven’t even seen the movie. But it’s an example of a subject that comes up time and again about Christian art. What is it? Does it even exist? Should it? Huge questions that I’m not going to even begin to address.

Pam Meyers posted a link to a Jeffrey Overstreet article at Christianity Today that I thought did an outstanding job of summing up some of the answers to these questions. While he’s talking about movies and movie reviews, I think everything he says applies equally to writing. This quote in particular really resonated with me.

"Sermons have their proper place and purpose, but art is something different. I want to encourage audiences to move beyond simplistic, formulaic gospel lessons into the magnificence of the gospel as it is revealed in the lives of our neighbors, in creation, in history, in aesthetics, in mystery, and in the darkest corners of human experience."

That might be the best quote to explain what I want to accomplish with my writing. And I don’t think I’m alone in that desire.

Later he says:

"And good art cannot be reduced to a simple, extractable message. If your movie leads up to a simple 'Come to Jesus' climax, that may make for an entertaining sermon, but don't ask us to praise it as great storytelling. That's an altar call, not art."

And this:

"I want to see that what is good is lifted up. And I want to see crass and sinful behavior reflected truthfully so that we can see it as unhealthy, and then live our lives with that understanding.

In other words, I am looking for signs of truth, beauty, excellence, and redemption in art. And that means looking closer, not putting on blinders."

Because I write romantic suspense, this is an issue that comes up. How do I portray evil in the world in a way that is truthful and glorifies God? How much to put ‘on scene’? Are there subjects that are off limits? I think the answer will vary from book to book and writer to writer, but the above quote is a good reference point to begin thinking about those questions.

"Many Christians are not comfortable with art that reflects the complexity and the darkness of the world. Many would prefer movies that make them comfortable, or that steer their attentions away from the problems in the world and the rough edges of worldly people. They prefer movies that tell them that Christians are clearly "the good guys" and everybody else, well, they're the bad guys. And they do not discern the difference between portraying/exposing wickedness—and actually condoning wickedness.

They want Christian critics to condemn movies that portray the reality of evil, because dealing with evil is a discomforting, painful, sometimes horrifying process."

This is the one of the issues that has been discussed in the CBA writing circles. Lately there has been something called “the new CBA” as opposed to the traditional, bread-and-butter CBA. The quote above I think embodies what those of us trying to write for “the new CBA” are trying to do and the challenges we are coming up against.

I’m tempted to keep quoting the whole article, so please click over and read it for yourself. For me there was just a ton of stuff to mull over. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this too.

And the Winner Is…

Well, we’ll get to that in a minute. First, some congratulations to friend and fellow Misfit, Heather, whose story "Matt and Marnie Sittin' in a Tree. Or Something Like That" is up at Infuze Magazine. Go check it out.

Second, I spent last night at my daughter’s enrichment programs. They put on a Living History Museum. The kids got to pick which historical character they wanted to come dressed as. She chose Amelia Earhart. She wrote a four page report, made a display board, came in costume and answered questions about Amelia’s life. She was one of 19 participants, and the historical figures ranged from Cleopatra to Ronald and Nancy Reagan. There were entertainers, scientists, and political figures. It was so fun to see the different ways the kids chose to present their projects. A few even used computer presentations.

Even better, this was all voluntary participation. This is an enrichment program for homeschoolers where they can do more extracurricular activities like Spanish, dance, drama, chess, intense science units, etc to enrich their homeschooling experience. It’s been a great program for both of my kids. And I was pretty proud of how much work she put into her project and how well she did last night.

Finally, what you all have been waiting for. The winner of Renovating Becky Miller is . . .

Georgiana D!

E-mail me through my contact information on the right and give me your snail mail info so I can get the book out to you. Thanks for playing, everyone.

Welcome Sharon Hinck

Hey everyone. Today I have a guest, Sharon Hinck. She’s the author of the Secret Life of Becky Miller and her latest book, Renovating Becky Miller.

In addition to being a young mom, Becky Miller is a daydreamer. Most recently, she’s been envisioning herself in the happy endings she sees during her weekly movie nights with husband Kevin. But her real life feels more like a broken filmstrip, spinning out of control!

When Becky and her family decide to purchase a rundown farmhouse, Becky pictures a slower, simpler lifestyle in the pastoral countryside. Of course, it doesn’t quite work out like she imagined . . . .

Regular readers of my blog know that I have, um, “adventures.” Sometimes they’re of my kids’ making, sometimes they’re my own. Sometimes they involve home improvement (here too). With that in mind, did the inspiration for Becky Miller come from the collision of motherhood and writing in your own life, or is she strictly imaginary, or some composite?

Friends know that I’m always having adventures – and that went on even before I had children to blame it on! Once we had children, the “adventures” increased exponentially. As did the internal pressures to “get it right.” Becky’s storylines are fictional, but her juggling act is VERY familiar to me.

I love this section: “I was a full time mom. And I loved it. Except when it drove me crazy. My children were magnificent, bewildering creations gifted to me from the Almighty. Except when they were tormenting me like gleeful gargoyles wielding red-hot pokers.” Which made me wonder, how do you juggle being a mom and writer? And have any of your children tried to burn the house down with a toaster while you were writing? (Or is that just me?)

Okay, I have to confess that I’m the one who starts the most fires. I put eggs on to boil then wander off to check my email…and don’t come up for air until the smoke alarm goes off a half-hour later. I’m also entering that wonderful age where I go downstairs to get something, but then can’t remember why I went downstairs. The kids help – by mocking me. I’m always losing my cup of tea (usually where I’ve left it – reheating in the microwave).

I wrestle a lot with the things I’m not good at as a mom, since I’m expending a lot of energy and time in writing. On the other hand, all four of my kids are passionate about the arts – music, drama, writing, photography, composing, singing. We’ve had some great conversations about the challenge of serving God through the arts. So in some ways my artistic life can bring blessing to my parenting life. (But pray for my dear husband – surrounded by a wife and four children who are ALL artists. Poor man. We sure keep his life interesting.)

I haven’t been on the sports booster club for school, but I’ve choreographed school musicals. I didn’t drive for grade-school field trips, but I talked to classes for reading week. I rarely bake cookies, but I listen to my daughter’s plot-threads for her latest story or play piano duets with my son. I’m not measuring up to my picture of “The Good Mom,” but I’m learning that picture can be a harmful myth.

I struggle with that too. One of Becky’s issues is an overloaded schedule that makes her feel like she’s rushing constantly and being pulled in different directions. I think we can all relate to that. Did you come up with any secret solutions while writing this that you’d like to share?

One thing Becky taught me, as I watched her journey in Renovating Becky Miller, is that we take on responsibilities to fix things that aren’t our job to fix. In each situation, we have an opportunity to bring our small part of grace to the needs we see. But that doesn’t mean it’s all up to us to make others happy, or solve every issue. God really is big enough (and the ONLY ONE big enough) to handle the needs we see around us. That spoke to me. I used to see my tiny contributions as failures, since they only helped a little – and didn’t fix the whole problem. Now I’m beginning to see that sometimes God has called me to that one little piece, and He has other people in the body to contribute other pieces.

That's so true and yet so hard for us to remember. I love this part of your bio: ‘My favorite college and community theatre role was as Luisa in “The Fantastiks” where in an opening monologue the character prays, “Please, God, please. Don’t let me be normal.” I think God answered my prayer...’ Writers are some of my favorite people to hang out with because they aren’t normal, because their combination of verbal skills and imagination can create some of the most interesting conversations. What experiences have you had talking with ‘normals’ where they looked at you like you were out of your mind?

Hee hee! Great question. My small group women’s Bible study (affectionately known as The Church Ladies) have informed me that my mind is a weird and scary place. But they encourage me to be who God made me (as a “not normal”) because they’ve been blessed by that. Come to think of it, maybe that’s just because they find it so reassuring to see how much more normal they are by comparison! They DO think it’s weird when I come to our Bible study worried about a character that’s in trouble. I’ll explain that I have to hurry home to finish a scene, because I don’t want to leave the character in that dilemma for too long.

Generally they give me a cup of tea and pat my shoulders, and remind me that my characters are fictional.

I’ve worked in the arts all my life, and there is certainly a heightened degree of “not normal” that goes along with the sideways view of life and the desire to express deep things. However, I’ll let you in on a secret. Each of us is so unique, and reflects such specific and amazing aspects of God’s nature – that no one is normal. And I’m delighted by that.

Good, then I'm in good company. Thanks for being with us, Sharon.

Thank YOU so much for inviting me to stop by! This was a really fun chat! I hope your kids stop setting your toaster on fire – but I hope life never gets too normal for you.
Hugs, Sharon

Jen here. If you want to win an autographed copy of Renovating Becky Miller leave a comment and I'll draw names next Friday. You can also leave a comment even if you don't want to win ;)

Schedule Update

Just to let you all know tomorrow I'll have an interview here with Sharon Hinck, author of Secret Life of Becky Miller and Renovating Becky Miller. She'll also stop by to answer questions and I'll be giving away a copy of her latest book. So stop by tomorrow and make Sharon feel welcome.

Blame Michelle

Ah, I guess meme's are good for giving me something to blog about. This one is courtesy of Michelle.

A - Available or Married? Married.

B - Best Moment? Wow, hard to say. But I'm going with the birth of my son, little Calvin, because he wasn't suppose to survive the pregnancy.

C - Cake or Pie? Pie -- Cake, preferably chocolate. Maybe a flourless torte with a ganache icing. Hmm, I wonder if I have any.

D - Drink of choice? Diet Coke, a decent wine, and either Perrier or San Pellegrino.

E - Essential Item? My Mac PowerBook G4. Even if the lid won't stay shut. Sigh.

F - Favorite Color? Blue. Periwinkle, to be specific.

G - Gummi Bears or Worms? Bears, but really I'm not fond of either. Too sweet and they stick in your teeth.

H - Hometown? Highland, Calif. Major points to anyone who's even heard of it. More points if you know where it is.

I - Indulgence? A hot bubble bath, a glass of wine, and a good book.

J - January or February? February. In January I'm still recovering from the holidays. It's nothing personal.

K - Kids & names? "Sissy" and "Calvin". Sorry, not giving you their real names.

L - Life is incomplete without? Books.

M - Marriage Date? September 2, 1995.

N - Number of Siblings? Two younger brothers.

O - Oranges or apples? Oranges. But I grew up surrounded by orange groves, so that's kind of a given. Ever been in a rotten orange fight? I don't recommend it.

P - Phobias/Fears... Kites (kidding). Heights, elevators, and spiders.

Q - Favorite Quotation? "For God so loved the world . . ."

R - Reason to Smile? My kids. Always.

S - Season? Summer. It's warm. Okay, in Arizona it's blisteringly hot. Still. . .

T - Tag three people! Oh good grief. Everybody's already been tagged. How about this? Tag yourself.

U - Unknown fact about me: If it's unknown, do I even know it? And if I do, why would I want to share it? There's probably a good reason it's unknown.

V - Vegetable you hate? Beans. In any way, shape, or form.

W - Worst habit? Probably worrying. But I'm getting better.

Where's X? Because there could be question on X-rays. I've had a lot of those.

Y - Your favorite food? Right now chocolate covered strawberries sound wonderful . . .

Z - Zodiac? Cancer.

To Goal or Not to Goal

Okay, it’s February, a little late normally to be talking about goals. But then again, I’m not much for rules . . . And lately I’ve been thinking a lot about goals. I normally make goals for myself, both short term and long term. But this year I haven’t been real motivated to get any done. Usually my short to medium term goals go on a white board above my desk. But up until a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t even know where that whiteboard was after our move. Now, I need to find the whiteboard cleaner so I can clean it and then figure out what I want to put up there. Maybe that should be my first goal.

I like this blog entry from Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt on goal setting. It’s worth perusing if you’re interested in the topic. The points he makes that have worked for me are: reward yourself for hitting your goals, write them down, keep them limited, and keep them specific. I love this in particular.

I know my limitations and am very much aware that I can’t accomplish what I believe I am supposed to do without God’s help. (If you can accomplish an objective without God’s help, you’re not thinking big enough.)

Here's why I like goals. It's hard to hit something you're not aiming at. In fact, it rarely happens. Plus, it helps you make decisions on where you spend your time, talent, and resources. If you want to write a best-seller but you spend all your time painting, something isn't adding up.

That ties in a lot with what I've been thinking lately about who God designed me to be. It's not necessarily what other people think I've been designed to be. So as a result, I'm thinking of starting a “To NOT do” list. I think I first heard of this idea from Andy Stanley's The Next Generation Leader. And I think Michael Hyatt brought it up recently on his blog, but I can't be sure about much if I have to rely on my memory. Anyhow, they are things I’m not going to do anymore. This does fit in nicely with goals, because to achieve some goals you have to give some stuff up. While I’d love to put house cleaning on my “To NOT do” list, I think that may have to wait awhile. But I am going to be delegating more chores to my kids. I am not going to be guilted into doing things that don’t apply to my goals anymore. And I’m going to give up a few activities that don’t relate to my goals.

As soon as I find that whiteboard cleaner.

So anyone want to share their goals? Or their To NOT do list?