Hellos and Happy Holidays from a writer turned photographer!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all that jazz! How are you all doing? I wish I could say all these months that I have been hiding out were spent in the depth of a fabulous new novel...but sadly, I have not been anywhere near either of my manuscripts or a new one for that matter! Maybe the real reason behind the name of this blog was not after the intended trilogy The Forever Series, but after howe long it was actually going to take me to finish it! :)

I somehow found myself with 4 jobs! Yes count them FOUR!!!! YIKES! Plus add the 2 kiddos into the mix and I was crazy busy! I have got it down to just 2 now, so lucky for me I now have a moment (however brief it may be) to say a quick hello and update you on a new and exciting twist my life has taken!

Some of you may know that I have spent the last 17 years working for a wonderful couple at a photography studio. They have decided to retire to Mexico (SO JEALOUS!) and they have very kindly, pretty much handed me the business. So it appears that I am suddenly a professional photographer, with a very well-known photography studio! I am so excited (and petrified!) I have started with a few senior portraits this year, but as the weather turns cold and rainy (or rainier here in Oregon) it will most likely be put on hold until the spring, but I look forward to starting the next year of seniors and hopefully by then I will have found the perfect location!

Wish me luck! As I wish you luck and love on all your endevours next year, whether they be in writing or not!

Great reads

I have been sadly amiss from my blog and all of yours. I think my creativity went an extended holiday, maybe even to a different planet! So all I have been doing is reading, reading and more reading. Oh and that pasky little thing called work! I have gone through a gazillion books(Pretty sure that's a real measurement). I thought I'd pass on a few of my recommendations in case anyone is interested.

First and foremost (After Twilight of course) is the Shiver series by Maggie Stiefvater. I believe it's actually called the Wolves of Mercy Falls. I instantly fell in love with the love story between Grace and her part-time wolf boyfriend Sam. Shiver is followed by Linger, a much anticipated sequel where Grace and Sam's love is tested by a surprising turn of events. Soon to follow will be Forever due out in Summer of 2011. I cannot recommend these books enough nor can I hardly contain the yearning for the third one!!!

Second on my list is Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, soon to be followed by Crescendo, in October of this year. Fallen angel meets great MC with lots of twists and turns that keep you hanging!

Next is Uninvited by Justine Musk. I must say I wasn't sure how I would like this book when I first opened it up but it sucked me right in and I finished it in the hours of my second night of reading it!

And for a fourth and final, I recommend Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. You will cry so be prepared, but it was such a new and different story line I just loved it!!!

I miss all of you and our friendly little chats. I will return someday, I hope!

Old and new and a hello to you!

Hello all of my lovely ladies! How is everyone? I have been too long gone from my blog and I feel like I am missing all my friends! :) I have nothing important to talk about, just wanted to catch up!

I have taken a break from Chasing Forever. I'm not feeling it anymore. I feel like it's not where I want it to be and I'm not sure how to get it there. So, I have done nothing. Nada. Zero. I have been reading up a storm though! Wowzers! I have finished 3 books recently and am halfway through the 4th. They were all good so let me know if you are in need of reading material!! I haven't updated my reading list on here, I will soon!

Good news though, last night in the middle of reading, I was hit with a story idea. It was totally random, and I just started writing away...and away...and away, but I literally mean "writing" the hubby was hogging my laptop and I had to actually use a pen and paper! EEK! My hand was cramping so bad! Anyhow, I'm really excited about it and it just flowed, it was so great. I have no plan, no outline, but once it got going it was just coming out! LOVE those moments and I can hardly wait to see where this one goes, now having learned so much more than I knew when I started Chasing, maybe there is hope! Can't wait to share some of it with you!!

See you all real soon ;) (In cyperspace) MUAH!

12 steps to writing your first novel

As most of you have read by now, I am oh-so-very close to finishing my third rewrite. It's there, I can see the end, but I don't like the original ending so I am now hanging in limbo, unsure how I want to proceed...

But I have to admit that in re-reading my first draft (and second) that it is absolute crap!!! I mean, not just haha, this is SO bad, but truly, horribly CRAP!!! (and I am so not exaggerating) Along with the bit of disappointment that comes with realizing this, I have to say I am also feeling a twinge of pride!

Pride?!?! Yes, pride because darn I have come a LONG way since writing those horrific words! I still love the idea of the book and I still adore my characters and I will make it happen! But really, I can't believe how far I have come in just a short year. At least I can now recognize that it wasn't any good, but I know I still need to work on the how to get it to be better. It's like a twelve steps program!

Step 1: Wow, I just had this really great idea for a book. This is going to be SO easy!

Step 2: Man, this is going great! I have 5 chapters down and my fingers are just flying off the keyboard, double checking word count every two seconds.

Step 3: HALFWAY!!!

Step 4: I am SO going to be a published author! LOOK OUT STEPHENIE MEYER!

Step 5: FINISHED!!!

Step 6: Send it to every agent you can find!

Step 7: Receive rejection letters from every single one of those agents.

Step 8: Find a writing website such as Agent Query Connect and meet lots of other aspiring writers who very nicely (Most of the time) tell you your work is not so great.

Step 9: Want to crumple up all 400 printed and reprinted pages of the first draft, maybe even stomp on them, definetly light them on fire!

Step 10: Start rewriting...and rewriting....and more rewriting.

Step 11: Get out the red pen and do lots of crossing out!!!

Step 12: Realize that this is the hardest, funnest, best thing you have done in your life!!!

One Year to a new woman!

Today marks the one year anniversary of the day I sat before my computer and decided to be a writer. Today marks one year ago that I changed my life!

While I may be forever hectic and forgetful, for some reason I remember that day with absolute clarity! I had just finished reading the Twilight series (All 4 in 6 days) and felt like I needed more! Not another book to read because at the time it just didn't feel like I could find another that would make me feel the way that one did. So I decided I was going to write my own!

I have written on and off for most of my life, poetry, unfinished, horrible romance novels, but something was different this time. I WAS MOTIVATED! I wanted nothing more than to finish this novel and have it be amazing! Now you have to understand, I have never really been motivated about anything in my life. I am content with pretty much whatever life brings me. All I ever wanted in life was to be a mother. I didn't want a career, or to go to college, but it feels like this is it! This is where I want to be, writing this novel that will hopefully someday sell!

So now here I am one year later, almost done with the third (and hopefully) final rewrite with mass amounts of editing to look forward to! I have learned so much and grown in ways I never knew I could. I have made some amazing friends that maybe, just maybe, someday I will be able to meet in person. And I am honestly loving every second of it! I feel like this is what I was meant for, besides being a mom, that has already been accomplished :)

What made you start your very first novel and how has this changed your life?

Girlie Wisdom!

1 A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills... she has 14 kids but she doesn't really care..

2. One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

3. My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

4. The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

5. The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

6. The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends

7. Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today...

8 Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

9. I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my panties.

10. Amazing! You hang something in your closet, for a while, and it shrinks 2 sizes!

11. Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!'.....Now, I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name, and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

12. The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing -- and then they marry him.

13. I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

It's all in a name

So I am random. You may have noticed this by now. My posts have no rhyme or reason. This is how I live my daily life also. Thank God for my sister who keeps me on track and makes sure I get my kids where they need to go semi on-time and get all the Happy Birthday phone calls made on the right day!

Here's my random post today, has nothing to do with anything, just something I was chuckling about the other day. Do you have nicknames you call your children? My poor kids probably don't even know what their real name is, especially my daughter whom I often refer to as Miss Gertrude (her name is NOT Gertrude nor anything close), Schmoopsie Poo, Darlin', Little Britches, Punky Do, Nerdaleeacha and so on. I don't have a set list, they just come to me throughout the day. My son is a little better off, he gets Bubba and Buddy, and little Mister, but also the same mushy ones, I don't discriminate! What names do you use?

I also LOVE to sing very random, very nonsense songs. My kids are often asking me why in the world I make up those songs all the time and when one of them is actually a real song that I knew when I was a kid, it's like I'm the smartest person EVER! My daughter always had her full name sung to the tune of Winnie the Pooh and my son gets his long four name full name sung to head shoulders knees and toes. What songs do you like to sing to your kids, or animals if that's the case?

Blogging friends..unlike any other friends!

I was reading a blogging friend's post today and it got me thinking.... (TK Richardson)

She mentioned that she feels like her blog is like sitting down to a cup of coffee with friends (not a direct quote). And it just really hit a spot with me! It is SO true!!!

Though I may never meet quite a few of you, I feel like I know you. I have started this scary journey that has led me to places I never dreamed of going and along the way I found some very helpful, very sweet and darn funny people, whom I would have never had any contact with otherwise.

I feel like this is a whole other person I have become and I am liking it! If my book never gets published...well, that will just be ok because I have enjoyed the ride!

Thank you to each of my followers, now and yet to come! Can't wait to see what the future holds for this dreaming writer!