Don't Panic!

One of my awesome crit partners Sara (who's background in military weapons has come in super handy) brought us these postcards from England where she traveled this summer to study Winston Churchill.

I LOVE this thought and it's applications to so many things in life. For example:

Just found out one of my top agents isn't accepting queries for an undetermined amount of time - keep calm and carry on.

Wishing for more writing time and wondering if the WIP is any good - keep calm and carry on.

School and shuttling back and forth to commence in t-minus two days - keep calm and carry on.

No butter to make our delicious (healthy) oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies - keep calm and carry on.

When faced with challenges/problems, we can slow down, not panic, think things through, and most of all, keep going. Don't give up. Keep calm and carry on!

Check out what my other crit partners said about this: Ali Cross, Elana Johnson, Jenn Wilks.

Stage Fright

Last weekend I did something out of the ordinary, something scary. I performed a monologue at our neighborhood talent show.

Acting used to be a regular part of my life. I took drama in junior high, high school and college. I even performed this same humorous monologue (about a mother-of-the-bride who's daughter won't come out of the bathroom and get married) in front of a high school auditorium full of people.

But doing acting again after all these years and in front of people I see on a regularly basis really made me nervous. What if I forgot my lines? What if no one laughed? What if they all thought I was weird (most of them didn't even know I'd ever done anything like this)?

I really wanted to back out - big time. Still, I'd already told my kids about it and how I was scared. I wanted them to know grown-ups get scared too, but we can all do hard, scary things.

So I performed it and the monologue went great! In fact, I even won second place and a chance to perform at the next stage of the competition.

As I prepare to query my third completed novel in the next month, I think this will be my mantra - I can do hard, scary things! Because you just never know how they'll turn out or what you really can do, until you try.

All Roads Lead to Rome (or Dublin)

As a teenager/young adult I dreamed of visiting England. So after completing junior college in Idaho, I signed up for a three-week study aboard to visit Ireland, Scotland, England, France, and Belgium. Then disaster struck.

I lost my passport right before I was supposed to leave. I went to the airport on the day the group was to depart (without me) and talked to the directors. Once I got my new passport, I would fly alone to Ireland, and the group would pick me up at the airport in Dublin. But I would miss the first three days of the trip.

Being somewhat of an introvert, I was not thrilled with the idea of traveling across the ocean alone. But I did it, and the rest of the trip was amazing.

Was my experience aboard any better or worse from anyone else's because I came late? No; it was just different. Traveling by myself helped me gain courage for other life experiences to come. And though I only saw Ireland from the bus window, I apparently missed having to spend the night in the least desirable accommodations of the trip because I joined the group later.

All of us have dreams, some of us even have similar dreams, but the way we get there is totally unique. It's not necessarily better or worse than somebody else's journey. It's just different, because it's your journey.

Don't Knock It Till You've Tried It

Seven years ago, sans children, my husband and I went with my family to Maui. One of the things we got to do was hike to some waterfalls to swim. When we reached the first waterfall, I didn't go into the water. Not that I'm scared of water (okay, maybe I'm a little nervous about swimming in the ocean - but that's what Jaws will do to you); I just don't like cold water.

So I sat on the shore for an hour, working up the gumption to go in and watching the rest of the group having a great time swimming underneath the waterfall. Finally, I mustered up enough courage to wade in the shallow part and then I dove in. Soon after, it was time to go, but now I didn't want to get out. I was having too much fun!

Sometimes in life there are things we want to do but don't because they look too hard, too scary, too big, too (fill in the blank). But you'll never know what you can do - write a novel, travel to a new place, learn a language, make a change within yourself - until you try.

Too often we let our fears (particularly fear of failure) get in the way. The title of a book I read several years ago, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, says it all. Feel the fear, but don't let it paralyze you. Maybe you'll write the next bestseller, or turn into an amazing chef, or simply become a better person. You can't know until you try.

Been There, Done That

Another fun story from Child #2. He was telling me a couple of weeks back about when he was six. "But I thought you were three, almost four," I said. He replied, "I grew back down to three." My youngest sister did the same thing as a kid - talking about all the stuff she'd done when she was older.

We as writers do something similar. For example, I was watching Flyboys last night (James Franco used to be my movie crush), which takes place in France during WWI. One of my novels takes place in the same country three years later. But as I watched the show, I kept thinking how familiar it felt. Though I didn't live then, I've experienced that place, that time period through my story and research.

As writers (and readers) we get to be "six" before we even turn "four," or visit London in 1868, or rescue a runaway stage out West. I think that's one of the cool things about being a writer - how real our stories, our characters, our settings can become.

What I Wish I'd Known

I started this summer with great plans: a schedule of jobs for the kids, time to practice school stuff, and a way to cut down on the TV viewing, Wii playing, etc. And while I still think those things are still important, I got to thinking last night about how I might feel differently in the Fall. Would I wish I'd been less rigid, because once school starts things naturally have to be more structured? If my future self could talk to me now, would she say "let your hair down a little this summer?"

Then I started thinking about my writer self. What do I wish I'd known back when I first started writing? If I could talk to that girl then, what would I say? I think I would tell her to enjoy the writing journey even more. It's harder to write now - I like the end result more than the writing of it, but back then, I was more into the process.

What would my future writer self tell me now? (Like on The Office when Jim sends Dwight faxes from Future Dwight!) I hope she'd say that publishing is closer than I think and to not give up - the dream will be realized. I think she might say again to enjoy the journey, the process, a little more. This is the time in my career when I can write what I want, explore, hone, and take the time.

My Reading List

Here it is:

I've read Sarah's Key before and really enjoyed it. And no, I haven't read The Hunger Games yet (probably one of the few writers who hasn't). Isn't that a beautiful pile? Maybe a tad heavy on the historical fiction side, but hey, that's what I like to read and what I write. Can't wait to dive in!