A Little Behind

I'm doing some cyberspace cleaning. I have lots of things I've bookmarked that I'm slowly getting to. Like this nice award Mich gave to me. Back in AUGUST!



"This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world."

Aw, isn't that sweet?

So I in turn nominate
Jeanne
Diana
Sabrina
Elaina
I'd nominate Mike but I think the whole pink and flowery thing is too girly.

And feel free to take up to three months to accept your award. Just like me.

Wordless Wednesday

Me Multiplied



I took this picture at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day. Turned out rather interesting.

Warning: Sitting Can Be Dangerous to Your Health

I found this interesting article via the Thinklings.

Given that those of us who are writers sit a lot in front of our computers, this study should cause us to do some thinking. I know for me, I have a lot of back and neck pain from being in front of the computer, and I have to take frequent breaks and work out with weights and do yoga to counteract the effects of sitting and computer use (I've been bad about doing it lately and paying the price).

And of course many of us through talking have shared how we've gotten out of shape and gained weight when we've taken office jobs.

But this article takes it to another level, seeming to imply from the study that sitting can contribute to the disease process. This is interesting, and not far fetched when you realize the body uses a combination of gravity and muscle contraction to move blood, oxygen, and waste throughout the body and so movement would facilitate all of that.

Now one thing the article didn't address was sitting on an exercise ball, which I often do when I'm working on the computer. That necessitates movement and muscle contraction and I think would be better than sitting in a chair. Whether it's as good as movement, who knows?

I also thought the article was in many ways encouraging. For me, I need to think of ways to stand more during the day. That shouldn't be too hard once it becomes more of a habit. Certainly easier than trying to figure out how to add more workout hours in my day.

And I can relabel housecleaning "exercise."

Video for Writers

This is a funny video I found about writers on Terry Whalin's blog. Makes typewriters seem so romantic.

Turkey in the Snow

On Thanksgiving Day even.

And, by the way, the kids got to see their first snow and they were enthralled.

I got to drive in it. I was less enthralled.

Another Installment in Home Remodeling on a Budget

When we moved to Indiana, we downsized by over 50%, which meant giving up my office. And the bedrooms were too small for me to put my computer desk in. And you saw in yesterday's Tackle it Tuesday what happened to the small secretary's desk in my room. I tried to use it for my computer but the height was wrong and it hurt my wrists. Which meant I was relegated to the living room.

But that ended up driving me crazy. The chair, while comfortable, wasn't great for my back and I needed a space of my own. I was contemplating the garage for awhile but it was either too hot or too cold, and frankly too dark and dreary.

As with most houses, especially older ones, there are spaces that make no sense. For example, the one bathroom in our house has two doors. One goes to the laundry room. I don't know why. There's another perfectly good access point to the laundry room. So this second door to the laundry room has a shallow closet with a door but no rod or shelves. While my cat was alive, it was her room. Once she passed on to kitty heaven, I saw potential for it to be my room.

It started out looking like this. I took the closet door off the hinges and I found a quart of "oops" paint at Lowes for $3 in a nice sage green. I'm standing in the bathroom taking the picture and the laundry is just out of sight to the right.


I bought a 10" laminate shelf ($9) and braced it with some scrap wood and that became my desk surface. I had some shelves already that I trimmed to fit and added above.


I found an old curtain and hung it so I couldn't see the laundry while I was in my office. Once I brought in a bookcase, my white board, a lamp, and all my fun office stuff it looked like this.



This is the furnace which I make good use of as a magnetic board, posting pictures the kids have done for me and those inspirational magnets.


This is a close-up of the desk. I put self-stick cork tile below the shelf so I could pin up reminders and fun things. And you can see the desk top is just wide enough for my lap top. I made sure to install it at the right height for me to use comfortably.


So for $12 and a weekend's worth of work, I found a room of my own. I'm liking it very much and getting a lot more work done in my "office."

Tackle it Tuesday

I'm happy to be doing my first Tackle it Tuesday. This is the desk in my bedroom. It has become the catch-all for stuff I need to file or put somewhere else but I don't want to get lost, ruined, or messed up by the kids. But now that I have created my office out of a unusable closet (more on that later this week hopefully) and cleaned out the garage so I can get to my filing cabinets, this desk needs to be cleaned up!



And here it is clean!




I think the bedroom should be a place that's restful so it's been good to get that cleaned off. And now I can actually shut the lid like it's supposed to!

A Laugh for Thursday

If you want to had a little humor to your day, check out two of my Misfit friends. Having a wacko sense of humor is definitely a requirement to be a Misfit.

Heather's blog about the frustration of writing.

Mike's interesting interview. And don't forget to vote.

And, here's a warning. Keep your coffee or beverage of choice far from your computer when you're at these sites. Oh my.

Manage Your Time

Mad Writer Genius Randy Ingermanson is talking about time management on his blog. I plan to implement some of his suggestions over the next couple of weeks, and I'll let you know how it goes. Because we can always manage our time better. Or at least I can.

If you do it unto the least of these...

I read a few business blogs, always trying to learn more. So I was a bit surprised to see an article on Internet Business 101 challenging readers to buy packages of athletic socks and hand them out to the homeless and listen to their stories. You can read about it here.

When we lived in California we ran into the homeless quite often, bought them food, worked in shelters with our small groups. But in Arizona, and now out in the Midwest, they've sort of fallen off my radar screen. Granted, I'm in a pretty small town. I'm sure if I were in Indy or Chicago it would be a totally different story.

What I learned from James Brausch's blog wasn't what I expected. But I learned something else: the power of a pair of white socks and a listening ear.

I'd encourage all of you to take up James's challenge too.

History for 100, Alex

I saw this on Georgiana's blog and it cracked me up. Since I have a Bachelor's in history I had to take it.

You Passed 8th Grade US History

Congratulations, you got 7/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade History?

Whew! It'd be kind of embarrassing if I didn't pass. Of course now I'm wondering which question I missed. I have a suspicion it was one of their questions that I thought was wrong anyway!

Deja vu?

I had an interesting experience this morning. I woke up to check the news feeds of the fires in Southern California since I'm still a California girl at heart and have all my family there. And I saw my current book playing out on one of the screens. Well, not exactly, but I wrote about it over on the Misfits blog. Go check it out.

Informed Consent by Sandra Glahn

Informed Consent is a fast-paced medical thriller with an intriguing plot. While the CBA has embraced legal thrillers as much as the ABA, I haven't seen nearly as many medical thrillers, though they are as equally as popular. So I was happy to see Sandra filling that slot.


And now, here's an interview with Sandra.

What’'s Informed Consent about?
Jeremy Cramer, the next Einstein of research, is a medical resident specializing in infectious diseases. While working on a way to revive water submersion victims, he makes surprising discoveries, while also living with massive guilt over incidental infections that occur (which he could have prevented). Even as his marriage teeters, his career continues to skyrocket. Then, with a few twists along the way, he finds everything he has fought for threatened by the most personal, most heart-wrenching, choices of all.

I love exploring bioethics, and this book allowed me to consider end-of-life issues, patient rights, a compassionate response to HIV-AIDS…lots of edutainment.

How did you come up with this story? Was there a specific 'what if' moment?
The story had a thousand or more “what if” moments. I'’m pursuing a PhD in Aesthetic Studies, and I worked on the setting, characters, a lot of the plot, as well as my narrative voice during three novel-writing classes taught by a novelist who writes fiction reviews for Publishers Weekly. And I got some great feedback from fellow students who don’'t believe in Christ about ways to address faith issues more naturally. I also took a Dante class, which influenced my choice to give my characters five of the seven deadly sins. (I'’m saving the other two for a future work.)

But the elements in the plot designed to keep readers up at night came through a brainstorming session with medical doctor, William Cutrer, with whom I’'ve coauthored three medical novels.

What is the most difficult part of writing for you or was when you first started on your writing journey?
I still struggle with expressing character emotion. I feel like I’'ll insult the reader if I stop to say “the shock of the news hit like a two-by-four in the back of the head.” I figure if I tell the horrible circumstance, the reader has enough imagination to feel what any normal soul would feel. I want to say simply “His dad died in a plane crash,” and let the reader fill in the emotional blanks. Yet everybody experiences shock and grief differently. For some the room spins. For others it shrinks. For some it grabs in the pit of the stomach. Or it feels like a physical jolt. It’'s part of my job as a developer of character to choose how this character will react and respond. When the emotions get intense, I need to slow down and let the reader enter the character’s head. But I’d rather get on with the plot.

Take us through your process of writing a novel briefly— from conception to revision.
Once I have a germ idea, I come up with the beginning, middle, and end. Then I figure out the in-between points. Next, I create the main characters. I have four pages of questions I answer for each. About thirty percent of novel-crafting for me is the pre-writing imaginative work on the plot and character sketches. Then I choose a setting. I ask myself how I can use setting to communicate something. Where was Jezebel when she stole the vineyard? In Jezreel. Where was she years later when dogs ate her? Jezreel. The setting tells more than a place. It says something about the character of God. So I try to choose a setting that communicates on a deeper level. All the time I’m making these choices, I deliberate about the best way to tell the story. First-person? Third-person? Who will be the main POV character? Why?

After that I craft a proposal. It starts with a one-paragraph synopsis. While my agent shops it around, I develop the summary into a chapter-by-chapter outline. And then I make a file for each chapter and start dumping in ideas.

When my agent has some success, he calls. Here’'s what happens from there…

Editorial person really likes it
He or she takes it to the marketing meeting
I wait forever for that meeting to happen
Marketing approves it
I wait for them to agree on an offer
They issue an offer
I reel from the shock of how low it is
I negotiate
I wait for them to draw up the contract
I receive and sign the contract
I write the book
I send the book to the publisher.
They send the first half of the advance
I spend it all in one place
I wait for them to edit it
I wait a while longer for them to edit it
They send back the manuscript with lots of changes needed immediately
I edit it again
I wait
And wait
They send a galley proof, which they need back immediately
I edit it yet again
I watch helplessly as the release date gets delayed--again
I wait forever for my progeny to arrive in the mail
Finally, I hold my masterpiece in my hands
I find a typo

What made you decide to write a book that deals with AIDS?
The church in Africa is doing a fantastic job dealing with HIV-AIDS. The North American church— not so much. So I wanted to tackle some of our misconceptions, challenge some of our stereotypes, and hopefully help readers consider their own involvement with AIDS patients.

Favorite dessert?
Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Chocolate gets better with age (mine). (So does Advil, but it’s not a dessert.)

Sandra Glahn, ThM, teaches in the media arts program at Dallas Theological Seminary, where she edits the award-winning magazine Kindred Spirit. The author of six books and co-author of seven others, she is pursuing a PhD in Aesthetic Studies (Arts and Humanities) at the University of Texas at Dallas . She recently released her first solo medical suspense novel, Informed Consent (Cook). She is the co-author of three other such novels, which include the Christy Award finalist, Lethal Harvest.

You can find Sandra at her blog or her website.

Tag! I'm it!

Georgiana tagged me with the 10-20-30 meme. You have to say what you were doing 10, 20, and 30 years ago. Let's hope I can remember!

Um, ten years ago I was seven-months pregnant with my daughter. That I remember. Living in the OC, just a few miles from the beach. Sigh.

Twenty years ago I was in college at the University of California, Riverside. I'm guessing at that point my major was still English. I don't think I'd switched it to Business Administration yet. I can't remember if I was working for IBM then or the local newspaper. I do remember I was living in a cute art deco bungalow and drove a 66 Mustang.

Thirty years ago I was in third grade and Mrs. Bunch was my teacher. I liked her a lot. She had a daughter my age (we ended up in the same class in high school). I had a blue bike with a banana seat and got to ride it to school, about a mile away, through some empty fields and orange groves.

Whew! I think that used up my brain cells for the day.

I tag Michelle, Jenny, Diana (who's always looking for memes), Mike (who needs to update his blog and it's fun to see what he can't remember), Angie, and Chris. It's really sad that I know people too young for this meme!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Part 5 (finally!)

I bet you were wondering if I’d ever get back to it, huh? Sure you were. Well it ends on a good note.

In August I got a call from a woman at my church whom I’d never met who said she’d heard I was interested in starting my own web site design business, and she had a business proposition for me. I was a little confused and a little intrigued. I didn’t remember saying I really wanted to start my own business, more that I was doing web sites. I guess that’s a fine point of distinction. Anyhow, we agreed to meet at the park because we both have kids, and we started talking.

Turns out she’s a graphic artist and is friends with a photographer. Both of them wanted to go out on their own and start a design studio but felt they needed a third person: me. Sarah, the graphic designer, had already come up with a logo and a name. Think Studios.
I went on line and found that was already taken so we ended up with ThinkStudio3, which I think is way cool anyway.

Angela and Sarah know everybody. Through their connections we got our first job photographing a pilots’ reunion. I happened to bring my video camera and decided to make a movie. You can see it here (let it load before trying to play it). It’s not great, because I ended up having that gall bladder issue in the middle of it, but it helped us realize that we wanted to do video along with photos for any events we do.

As it turns out, one of the couples at our church just bought a building downtown and turned part of it into an art gallery. Through some bartering, they’re leasing us a really cool office space in it. So we will be part of the artistic community.

The past couple of months we have had to make a lot of decisions. We’ve met with some business consultants who were so impressed with our little video and web site that not only have they recommended us to their clients, they’ve asked us to do some work for them. We’ve generated a lot of interest while trying to build the proper foundations of the business at the same time. Feels a bit like trying to build an airplane while it’s flying.

At this point, we’ve decided we don’t want to do run-of-the-mill stuff. We want to do unique and creative things. We’re doing web sites, marketing plans, events, and something unique called a Legacy Project. Think of what Ken Burns did for the Civil War, baseball, and jazz. We’re hoping to bring that combination of photos, history, and technology to individuals and families. We want to record their history the way Ken Burns recorded America’s history. I should have a sample online soon to show you.

So, that’s what’s keeping me up and nights and keeping me from my writing. I just absolutely love it. I never could have articulated it before but it is my dream job. I’m getting to use both of my degrees (history and business administration) and all my widely varied artistic experience. Only God could have orchestrated that. And he brought me together with two amazingly talented women who I’d love to hang out with, regardless if we were business partners or not. Every time we’ve had a business meeting people have remarked at how much fun our meetings are.

Our website’s not completely done yet. It keeps getting interrupted by potentially-paying work. But you can check it out at www.ThinkStudio3.com.

Check Me Out

I'm over at the Misfits blog today.

Tomorrow (I hope) I'll have the final installment on my summer vacation saga. At least it ends on a good note.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Part 4

Continuing with the theme of loss...

I ended up losing my gall bladder too. I had no idea my gall bladder had issues, but apparently it had been bothering me for awhile and I just thought it was acid. It started out with my suddenly having severe pain directly under my ribs. I broke out in a cold sweat and called the doctor, certain I had a bleeding ulcer or something.

The doctor's office got me in. The receptionist said it was because she was afraid I had appendicitis. I didn't tell her I'd lost that disposable part of my anatomy over 30 years ago. But as soon as the nurse looked at me, she said, "Classic gall bladder." Huh? I never would have guessed. The doctor agreed and ordered an ultrasound and told me to go on a low fat diet. I supposed the low fat diet helped somewhat, but the pain was still so intense, I couldn't walk more than a few steps.

Two things happened. One, because my insurance is still based in Arizona, I couldn't find an ultrasound place closer than 3 hours away that would be covered. Two, I kept passing out because I wasn't eating enough protein in my attempt to eliminate fat. One day when the pain and the passing out collided, Michelle insisted on driving me to the ER. The good thing was sometime in the seven hours there, that I don't remember because of the drugs, I got an ultrasound. The bad thing was I promptly threw up in Michelle's car when they released me. Luckily I had a barf bag with me.

The ultrasound showed I didn't have any gall stones, which was good because it meant I wasn't in any danger of one of them blocking my bile ducts and putting my life in danger. But it did mean I had to do a nuclear scan to see if my gall bladder was functioning properly.

It wasn't. When I saw the surgeon four days later, he scheduled me for surgery before even sending me to the lab for the nuclear test. He was that convinced. The test proved him right. The only thing I regret was that I felt bad enough that I didn't think to make any glowing in the dark jokes the day I was radioactive from the test.

So, six days later I was having my gall bladder out in an outpatient surgery. I couldn't believe how quick it was and how much better I felt after I had it removed. Recovery was better than I expected. I'm still on a low fat diet, trying to discover what I can safely eat. It hasn't been a radical change, because I've generally had a good diet. But it does mean I have to eat smaller, more frequent meals and have to do some advance planning. What's interesting is that I lost my taste for Diet Coke and other sodas (except root beer, oddly enough) and most fatty foods. They really don't taste good. I do have to make sure that I get enough protein, which can be a challenge but I make a lot of smoothies boosted with protein powder.

We really don't know why my gall bladder decided to bail on me. I don't have a lot of the risk factors for it, nobody in my family has had gall bladder issues. It was just one of those random things. Ultimately, though, everything is turning out okay.

Tomorrow, the conclusion of this tale, with some really good news that came out of this summer.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Part 3

Something else died this summer. My beloved Mac. If you’ve read this blog for awhile, you’ll know I’ve had issues with my Mac, really the first time I’ve ever had a Mac act up and I’ve owned one since 1986.

This would make the fourth time in a year my Mac would have to go in for repairs. After the last time, I was told by the technician that if anything else happened, to let him know and he would make sure I got a replacement machine. So when the hard drive went out AGAIN I called Apple. (Note: normally I don’t buy extended warranties, but in this case, buying the three-year Apple Care warranty has been a very good investment. With all the beatings laptops are subject to, I think it’s practically a requirement).

While the technician on the phone couldn’t authorize a new machine, she referred me to Customer Relations. There I was able to convince them that being without my computer, which is my only way of making a living at this point, was extremely detrimental to my cash flow, and given how much time Apple had already had this computer, it was time to give me a new one. They agreed and within two days I had a brand new MacBook Pro. Top of the line. Now, my G4 Powerbook was three years old and they don’t make it anymore. So to give me a machine with the equivalent screen size (17”) and backlit keyboard, I had to get a brand new one. Needless to say, kudos to Apple for doing the right thing.

The downside was, even though I tried to back up everything as much as possible, I still lost some data. Mostly pictures as far as I can tell. The good news is, the newer, faster machine would come in handy in ways I couldn’t imagine at the time. Which I’ll talk about in Part 5. Even in the midst of something that was hugely frustrating, God was working in ways I couldn’t see.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Part 2

Part 2 isn’t as happy. After surviving the long trip from Arizona to Indiana (which I really wondered if she would) my cat, Duchess, died. It’s weird because Chloe, my other cat, died last year in same month. I blogged about it here.

I think Duchess’s death hit me particularly hard for several reasons. One, even though I knew she was sick and didn’t expect her to make it through the night it was still a shock to find her dead the next morning. Also it was the first time I had to deal with one of my dead pets by myself. And I just couldn’t. So Michelle’s Phil had to come bury her for me.

The kids and I went and got donuts and then we went to see Underdog. I figured Duchess would appreciate the irony. We then went to Wal-Mart and got three baby rose bushes to put in a planter out front. We also got some scrapbooking supplies to make a memory book of both Duchess and Chloe. Of course I haven’t gotten to that yet.

Duchess was the first cat I got when I was out of college and on my own sixteen years ago. She survived something like 13 moves, 8 states, and 3 days in close proximity to the dog. She represented a whole segment of my adulthood.

I have a couple of prominent memories of her. She was the most agile and acrobatic of any cat I’ve owned. She could jump to the top of a six-foot bookcase by ricocheting off the wall. In one townhome I lived in the second story railing was visible from the entry way and she loved to prance and pirouette along its two-inch width. Once when the little neighbor girl was visiting she asked me if my cat was training for the circus. I had no idea what she meant until she pointed above my head. Duchess was on the railing, leaning over looking at us, and balancing some how.

However, for all her agility she really was a scaredy cat. When I got her as a kitten, I had to drag her out from underneath the couch at the house she was at. I had to drag her out from under the car when I got home, drag her out from under my desk, my bed, the couch. When we had the big Northridge earthquake she hid so far in my closet I couldn’t find her for hours. Most people never even knew I had her because they never saw her. I knew Malia was an animal person when Duchess made an appearance for her.

I am glad Duchess didn’t suffer. She declined in just a few days and went quickly. It’s odd for me not having a cat in the house. There’s been very few times in my life when I haven’t had a cat. Charlie now has run of the house, I don’t think he’s figured out entirely why. I am glad for him though. With the kids gone at school all day, the house would feel awfully empty without some animal of some sort in it.

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.