Clearing Out the Clutter - Most of the Time

I am not a hoarder - quite the opposite. I love to get rid of things I'm not using or don't need: clothes, household items, papers, etc. There's constantly a box in my basement for goodwill items. Once I take them to the store, it's not long before I start another box.

For me, there's something thrilling about organizing a drawer or closet or space and purging out what isn't necessary or useful. My husband jokes when I get into organizing mode that the rest of the family should watch out or Mom might organize them all out of the house.

Interestingly this need to organize and purge doesn't apply to the various manuscripts on my hard drive. And thank goodness for that! As I was going through my edits the other week, I found a spot where my editor felt one chapter ended too abruptly. She wanted me to add more to the scene. To my relief - and luck - I found a continuation of that scene, which I'd written about five years ago and kept on my computer - just in case. Having that scene already written made it easy to rework and plug it into the spot I needed it. So, as much as it pains me to say, there are times when it's good to keep a little clutter around.

Are you a hoarder or are you all about clearing out the clutter (a get-ridder)? What things are easy to let go of? What things are harder?

I Heart These . . .

In the wake of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share some love - movie love that this. My husband and I love watching movies and quoting movies. We even had a tradition going to watch Out of Africa every year, though that sort of fizzled out - why that movie, I don't really know, especially since it's very sad and long.

But here's Five Movies I Love to Watch Again and Again.

1. Dan in Real Life

2. Confessions of a Shopaholic

3. Persuasion

 

4. North and South

 

5. The Bourne Identity (see, they aren't all romance movies!)

What movie(s) could you watch over and over? What's your favorite type of movie?

Conflict is Key

When I started writing my first book - sort of my pre-draft - I was sure I didn't need conflict. I would have a nice, lovely story without all the angst - characters happily would go about their business. Thankfully I wised up to the importance of conflict and wrote a story rife with it - fires, attempted kidnapping, illness, death, loss of home and wealth, unrequited love.

Because a story without conflict is boring, meaningless, with little power to draw us in.

I once attended a writers class where the instructor talked about what made successful books and movies. He believed the key was the way these books and movies upped the stress levels in readers and viewers, taking their stress above their current level, then resolving that stress at the end. Good conflict creates that vicarious stress and resolution, sucking us into the story and keeping us caring about these fictional characters.


One of my favorite tv shows that does a fantastic job with conflict (especially interpersonal/relationships) and upping those stress levels is Masterpiece Theater's Downton Abbey. It's about the lives of a wealthy, titled family in England during WWI and the lives of their servants. After this last episode - full of relationship strife, war, death, impediments to love and dreams - I told my husband what a big mess things had become for the characters.

And we love it. We have to keep watching until that stress is resolved. We're drawn in. We care about these people.

Have you watched Downton Abbey? What are your favorite types of conflict in books or movies (physical, internal, familial)? What other movies/tv shows or books are examples of good conflict?

The Post I've Waited Seven Years to Write!

Before my blog, before I knew how long and tough this road might be, before I began seriously writing, I dreamed of one day writing and publishing a book.

That dream will become a reality in September of this year when my book will be published by Harlequin's Love Inspired Historical.

This weekend has been a whirlwind, to say the least. I received an offer from Harlequin and now have the fabulous Jessica Alvarez of BookEnds, LLC as my agent. I couldn't be more excited for both!

I want to share my journey getting to this point because I love reading other people's stories, but it's hard to know where to start.

Back in 2004, after the birth of my first son, when I decided to write my first novel? Back in 2007, when I finished writing this story that will become my first published book?  Maybe back in 2010 when I went to my first national conference and an agent requested the full manuscript of this book? That was really when I realized I had a viable, fun story.

All of those would work as beginnings - certainly as stepping stones to this point - but I'll save time and fast-forward to 2011 when I entered a pitch contest for Love Inspired Historical. (I wrote about it here.) I was one of six winners selected to do an online chat, and they requested the full manuscript. Though there were things they liked, initially they passed, mostly because my hero was too perfect.

So I took a chance and wrote them back to ask if they would read the manuscript again if I fixed my hero. To my surprise and delight, I got a "yes" response. That began a seven-week task of revising before I sent the manuscript off again.

Then I waited, hoping, wondering what they thought. Last Friday, I got my answer. Harlequin wanted to publish my book. I told my editor it was the best Friday the 13th I'd ever had!

In addition to the sort of dazed state I'm walking around in this week, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for the many people who have lent support to my writing over the years - chiefly, my husband and my Father in Heaven. Thanks to all of you - including my blog friends here - for taking this journey with me!

What good things have you experienced lately? What fills you up with gratitude?

Straight from the Horse's Mouth

I won't be talking about New Year's resolutions today - though I did actually make them this year and they're all MEASURABLE, which I'm pretty stoked about. Instead I'm talking about animals.

By and large, I am not an animal-lover. I like cats and bunnies, and that's about it. I believe some of this dislike stems from watching too many tear-jerker movies as a kid involving the tragedies and triumphs of every animal imaginable. (The dog ones were the worst.)

When it comes to horses, the main contributor to my disinterest is one too many bad horseback riding experiences. Nearly every family vacation growing up involved us signing up for a horseback ride. There was the time we were led to believe we'd be galloping along the beach in Hawaii, only to experience about five minutes of riding on the sand and the rest in weeds about as tall as the horses. Another time the horses brought on a bout of allergies.

Our final horseback riding adventure as a family, while in Mexico, didn't go well either. The memory burnt into my mind from that trip is FEAR as my horse maneuvered down the mountain of at what felt like a 90 degree angle.

The irony in all of this is that the man I married trained race horses for several years. He likes horses, has worked with horses, knows how to ride horses. The other ironic thing is that I write historical romances set in the West where people rode - and often adored - horses. Thank goodness for my critique group or the horses in my last book wouldn't even have had names!

Maybe I should enlist my husband's help in creating a positive horseback riding experience. Or maybe I'm content to look at horses from a far and stick to writing fiction where animals and people live in harmony - or pretty close.

Are you an animal-lover or not? If not, why not? Have you ever been horseback riding? Do you like movies/books centered around animals/pets?

*Come "like" my new writer page on Facebook!

Mommy Failed-it/Mommy Nailed-it

My five-year-old told me last Friday he hadn't received a Christmas candy-gram at school (parents and friends can buy a candy-cane and send it to a student) while one of his friends got three. I'd forgotten about the candy-grams and told him we'd see if they were still doing it this week. Unfortunately we learned Monday the candy gram event was over. My son ran to his room, heartbroken. We tried consoling him by telling him that they do the same thing at Valentine's Day, but he said that was too far away. Mommy Failed-it.

That same night, out of the blue, my seven-year-old asked me, "So how's your book going?" I told him what I'd been working on lately. "Are you going to publish it?" he asked. "That's what Mom's trying to do," I said. He replied, "That'd be cool to get the book." Then he asked this insightful question, "Has anybody said 'yes, it's good?'" Mommy Nailed-it.

Okay, so I can't really take credit for this, but I appreciated his excitement and was pleasantly surprised at his grasp of the situation. Where I feel like I nailed it as a mom is I didn't have to tell him I'd quit or I wasn't doing that anymore. I was able to tell him I was still working toward my dreams.

After a conversation with my hubby earlier that day, I realized how often I site my Mommy Fail moments - or the other things I'm not doing or getting right - but that's easy. Anybody can write a list a mile long of the things they aren't doing or getting wrong. It's much harder to think of and REMEMBER the Mommy Nailed-it moments, the things I do right. And that is what I am going to focus on - now and this coming year.

What are some of your Mommy Nailed-it moments? What do you do to avoid focusing on what you haven't accomplished? Do you think the toddler in the photo above is trying to say,"Mom, you failed it" or "Mom, you nailed it"?

Curing My Stress

Last week was crazy - the flu bug we had a couple weeks ago made a slight return along with a dose of coughs/colds. All adding up to STRESS for this mom. But no worries, I found me some great stress cures over the weekend.

First, I got to hang out with my good friend and critique partner Ali Cross at the launch of her YA novel BECOME. And since I brought my second son along, I got a mini-date too. The party was incredibly fun. Ali's main character Desi rocks in the ninja-moves department and so there were karate shows and a sweet bow-staff demonstration at the launch. My son and I had a great time.

Second, I went shopping by myself that night. What made this even more blissful, besides being in my own little cocoon of quiet as I roamed the store at will, was I told myself I wasn't going to get all the Christmas shopping done in one night so I just needed to enjoy the time to myself and do what I could/felt like. And I did.

Third, I bought myself a chocolate treat - the good Swiss kind. These Toblerone chocolates with nuts are delicious and can be found at most grocery stores.


All in all, positive outlook was restored, stress levels were contained, and thankfully the sickies are all on the mend!

What do you do to turn around a bad day/week? What keeps your stress levels down?