Week of Thanks…

It’s Thanksgiving week if you haven’t looked at your calendar. This year has flown by. I was sitting in Church yesterday which is an oddity for me because normally I’m downstairs with the children. It was a special Thanksgiving service, so I brought the older children upstairs for the sermon.

The band started singing a song called “Thank You”. It really hit me that as a whole we are not thankful enough for what we have. I was humbled at the thought. So many of us, me included, are so busy that we don’t take time to be thankful for what we take for granted. Here is my list of things I’m thankful for.

1: First and foremost I’m thankful for a forgiving Savior, because I need forgiveness.

2: My wonderful family. I am biased, but I have the most special family. I have a great husband who supports me in all I do and a wonderful son who helps me with anything I need and he’s a great kid.

3: My business. I own a accounting business and it is right beside my house. How many can just walk out the door and be at work in 30 seconds.

4: My writing. I am thankful for the fact that I can publish my writing and people will buy it. It has been a wild ride.

5: Definitely my friends. I have some great friends and that includes my blog friends, my twitter friends and as I call them my cyber friends. I treasure the conversations we have.

Take some time this week to be thankful for what you have. As always, good writing and May God bless you.

The birth of a novel.

Have you ever read a novel and wondered what the author was thinking about when they wrote the first word? Like what was Charlotte Bronte thinking when she started Jane Eyre or J.K. Rowling when she started Harry Potter? Did they know at the moment of the first word that it would be a success?

As I started my last novel I was thinking, will someone want to read this. Will it make the New Your Best Sellers list? I typed the first word and suddenly the words were flowing from my fingers. It was as though the story had to be written and I’d been chosen to write it. I knew what had to be said and what the characters had to go through to get to the words The End.

As the story evolved I became immersed in the lives of the characters. It was as though I was watching the story from a distance. I could see the house, the people, the horses, and feel the pain, love or just happiness. I even cried at one point which is so in character with myself.

To make the great novel what do you do? You put everything inside you on paper. You leave nothing unsaid and no feeling unfelt. I’m not saying my novel is the great novel by any stretch of the mind, but instead I’m saying it could be to me or maybe a fan of my writing. I can dream of the day it soars to life in someone else’s heart.

The one thing I hope to achieve from my writing, other than making a little extra money, I hope to take the reader to another world, another time and help them to experience love through my characters. My Christian series was created to help others cope with something in their life. My romance novels were created to inspire romance. Everyone needs it.

So as I close this post, I glance out my window and watch the sun shine on the golden leaves as they fall from the trees. My mind is working on the novel at my fingertips and I smile. Maybe one day after I’m gone, someone will read my books and say, “I wonder what she was thinking as she wrote these words.”

As always good writing and May God bless you.

How authors are portrayed.

Have you ever read a book and you had an idea in your head what the author would look like? Come on, you know you have. Well, since becoming a published author I’ve thought long and hard about the portrayal of authors. If you write a horror story does that make you ugly and mean? If you write a romance does that make you beautiful and romantic? No, the genre you write in doesn’t make you who you are.

I’ve talked to people that know me and they always say, “Yeah, I can see you writing romance novels.” Why do they say that? What makes me more of a romance novelist than someone else? In my opinion nothing. Who says I couldn’t write a gory horror story, well I personally couldn’t but just by looking at me you wouldn’t be able to tell that.

It’s profiling plain and simple. Just like with models, everyone thinks they all have eating disorders, but not all of them do. Some of them are naturally skinny, it’s just in their nature. One of my favorite authors of romance and I’m not mentioning any names, but she was totally different from what I portrayed her as. I could see the younger person and she turned out to be a retired grandmother. This in no way made me stop reading her work because I still love her writing. It actually spurred me on because I hope I can write as well as her when I get to be a grandmother. Wait, I am a grandmother, well a step grandmother.

Oh well, good writing and may God bless you!

“The Winner is Love” coming soon!

Well, the book may not be totally finished for publishing, but the front cover is completed. This is the first of the two holiday romances that I have coming out. I am so excited about this new Christmas romance. The editing and finalizing has been harrowing, but it’s almost ready to unwrap, pardon the pun.

This is a romance about an Accountant from Atlanta that wins the “Win A Weekend With A Star” contest. She did not enter it, her best friend entered her. The star happens to be the hottest star out at the moment and she is a little leary spending a weekend in the Colorado mountains with him. What happens when a blizzard hits the first night and the power goes out? No heat, no cell reception and no lights, how will they cope? Will it be a weekend to remember? Check it out to see how they cope and what comes later.

I will keep you guys updated on the release date. Hope you like the sneak peek at the new cover. I’m real excited about it.

As always good writing and May God bless you!

First romance, what happened?

Do you remember your first romance? Not the one you had in grammar school with the boy that sat beside you in homeroom. I’m talking about that first time your toes curled and your whole body tingled when they walked into the room. The one where the looks you gave one another could start a fire. Yeah, that one. You remember. Are you smiling or shedding a tear?

Let me tell you about a first romance story. It’s up to you whether you think it’s a true story or just a tale of two lovers… You be the judge.

As she stood watching him do what he did best, work in the stables. He looked up from under his Stetson and gave her a wink. She felt her heartbeat quicken. She began to hear a buzzing in her ears. What was happening? Why did just a look from him give her such a start? He was an old friend. That was it, or was it?

Something had changed since they’d become closer. She couldn’t put a name to it yet, but she new it was starting to take over her mind and heart. He seemed to notice something different. It was the way he looked at her. The deepness of his voice as he spoke to her.

With the love songs playing on the radio she smiled. That was it, the songs inspired love. Then as he walked toward her, she knew it wasn’t just the songs. He pulled her to him. They had never kissed, but that was about to change in an explosive way. He lowered his lips to hers and she was lost in the sensations that swirled around in her heart.

Her toes started to curl and she found it hard to breath. He pulled back and said, “I’ve wanted to do that all night.” He turned and went into a stall to finish putting out hay. She stood there in a daze, wondering if she was in a dream. Would she wake up soon and be sorry it was a dream?

When she left the barn, he followed her out and over the window of her car he kissed her again. This time the kiss lasted a long while until he finally pulled her around the door of the car, never losing contact with her lips. They kissed for twenty minutes without ceasing. They caressed each other and held on as thought it would be the last kiss. Neither realizing it would be. It would have to last forever. He held her to him for a long while, then he said the most devastating thing. “I’m moving away in a week. I’ve enjoyed our time together and I’ll never forget it. It will keep me warm at night.”

She just stood there speechless. What was happening? Please let her wake up now from this dream that started out with so much promise and turned out to be a nightmare.

She was brave and told him goodbye. Would it be forever? How would she move on after those passionate kisses and embraces?

She did move on, but it was hard. She married a great man and pushed those memories to the back. But guess what, with that first romance, memories come back at the mere thought. When she sees him now she smiles, he smiles, it’s there in both their memories. She sees it in his eyes. He remembers that night, that kiss, that moment when time stopped. She hides the tears and goes on with life. One day…

Well, maybe it’s about me, maybe a friend or maybe a tale spun in my mind. I’ll never tell. Romance can inspire so much in us. Let it happen, even if it is not forever, the memories will be, if it was real romance.

The Petals of a Rose.

Have you ever looked at a rose? I mean really looked at it. A rose has always been a symbol of romance. I was pondering why and here is my take on it.

A rose is beautiful in any color or type. The smell is usually sweet and enduring. The petals each hold onto the other as romance should hold you together. As each petal gets to the center it grows closer and tighter. Just as romance. The closer you get to your lover, the tighter you get, the closer in tune with each other you are.

As with a rose, sometimes the edges get frazzled as does any romance, but the other petals endure. The petals are soft and velvety just as true romance feels. You get all soft inside and your mind turns to velvet. Roses do have thorns that prick you, but romance can also have thorns. Just when you think you are past romance, it comes up and pricks you, making you stand up and take notice. We all need that prick from time to time. No matter how well your relationship is, that prick is needed to remind you of the days of velvet romance.

Just with reading or writing romance you get the warm, velvety feeling inside. It inspires you and makes you want to have that in your own life.

So go out and look at a rose differently. Why do you think the old saying goes “Stop and smell the roses”? It just makes you feel better. Put a little romance in your life every day, not just on special occasions.

As always good writing and romance. May God bless you!

Laugh, it’s Friday!

Hello fellow bloggers. It’s Friday. Had you noticed? Did you forget? Well, I woke up and smiled. It’s Friday and the weekend officially starts in a couple of hours.

Have you laughed lately? I’m not talking about that snicker or pretend laugh when someone tells you a stupid joke. I’m talking about a outright, stomach clenching laugh. Well if you haven’t then try it. It helps you feel better. It clears the mind and makes way for positive thinking. Studies show that laughter helps people heal faster. I don’t know much about that, but I do know it helps you feel better.

As a children’s minister I laugh a lot. Children can just bring on laughter just being themselves. Sometimes I get to class on Wednesday or Sunday with a splitting headache and soon I’m feeling better. I contribute it to laughter.

Try to laugh today. Don’t take things so seriously. You only live once and you need to enjoy it. It also helps your writing and during November a lot of people are on a writing marathon. If you don’t have anything to laugh about, go to the internet and find a joke site or youtube video. See if you don’t feel better after you have that healthy side splitting laugh.

Well, as always, good writing, have a good laugh and May God always bless you!

For those in the north that are still having issues from Sandy, try to laugh. I know that you don’t have a lot to laugh about, but it couldn’t hurt to just laugh. It might give you some hope or extra energy. Not to mention it will warm your body against the cold. Praying for all of you!

Cover Mania!

Having a little cover mania. It’s only one more day until the weekend. Working on a Twitter profile page design, my cover designer did this for me. It looked so cool, that I just had to share it.Now we have to get back to designing the covers for my two new novels that are coming out this month. So exciting.

Music that inspires me!

We all have different inspirations for our writing. I’ve written several posts about the inspirations for my writing from leaves to just people watching, even slimy slugs. Well, this post is about the music I use to keep my mind in the mood to write. I call this post the “Music that inspires me” for a reason. Here is my as I call it, “Writing inspiration playlist”.

1: Point of No Return from the Phantom of the Opera (Gerard Butler’s version)

2: I’ll Be There Where the Heart Is – Kim Carnes

3: Before the Dawn – Evanescence

4: Total Eclipse of the Heart – Bonnie Tyler

5: Right Here Waiting For You – Richard Marx

6: I Don’t Want This Night to End – Luke Bryan

7: I Cross My Heart – George Strait

8: Haunted – Evanescence

9: My Immortal – Evanescence

10: Open Arms – Journey

This is only 10 of the over 50 songs that rotate on my RealPlayer. I have several Evanescence songs, also Mariana’s Trench, Muse, Paramore and many others. They just inspire me.

Let me know what kind of music inspires you. Everyone has that song that just inspires them to write. What’s yours?

Hope you enjoyed this post. As always enjoy you writing and May God Bless you.

The mind of a writer!

The road we take as a writer is not always beautiful and lyrical. Most of the time it’s frustrating, nail biting, and down right scary. As I sit and watch the light mist fall outside my den window, I ponder what makes a good writer, what makes a bad writer?

The mind of a writer takes on several layers. A writer can swing from one emotion to another rapidly. It’s funny how quickly things change in the mind of a writer. I know personally I have had an idea about how a book would go and suddenly halfway through it takes a different turn. Sometimes I sit back and say “Wow, didn’t see that one coming” then I laugh to myself, why would I say that knowing it came from my own mind. Sometimes I think I have two brains, one the inner writer and two the outer person.

As a writer you usually see a story out of the simplest thing. I picked up a beautiful bright yellow leaf and looked at it. My mind exploding with possibilities. I traced the veins with my brain, suddenly thinking about a story line about the road less taken or maybe even a story line of the winding roads of life. Yep I got all that from a leaf.

Last night I was helping my son feed the dogs and he picked up a bowl outside and grabbed a slug. He immediately said, “Gross!” I immediately thought of a story about a person being a complete slug and how they pulled themselves out. This being thought of as I showed my son what happens to slugs as salt is sprinkled on them. Now that’s scary.

At Christmas time I get nostalgic and that brings on a wave of new writing possibilities in my mind. I can’t seem to stay on the same piece of work, I’m constantly swinging from one to the other. My mind saying you’ve got to do this, not that.

Don’t get me started on how music effects my writing. I have a long writing playlist. I use this while writing. It inspires me. It ranges from classical, country, classic rock, love, and just plain crazy. That might be my next blog post, the playlist of a writer.

Well, I’m through rambling. Aren’t you glad? As always good writing and if it comes through your head, write it down immediately and spread it into a story. You never know. May God bless and keep you.