Thankful Friday

I'm thankful that my parents are doing well. They have a few problems but overall their health is great.

Where did it go?

Lately, it appears time is breaking all kinds of speed limits. No sooner than I reach home, it's time to go to bed. Then it's Friday. Wake the next morning, another month has gone by. I'm trying to get a few odds and ends done writing and chapter business wise before I start on the second book in my spy series. Somehow I need to tame this time business. Any ideas?

Another Huh? Moment

This article in Time Magazine was to be a positive spin on the increased sales of romance novels. All I can say with her using the BR words, twice, she proves she still uses a rotary phone and DOS on her desk top. She's so behind the times.

Romance Trailer

Back and Forth

I'm having a hard time staying on one thing. I want to revised THE PREACHER'S SON for the Golden Heart. In fact, I've changed the beginning but there's more to correct/change. You can send 55 pages including the synopsis. That's a lot of pages for a contest.

Then I want to write my next book in the "spy" series. The first one, OUT OF THE SHADOWS, is with an agent now and I hope she really likes it. To have the second book in the series half way done would be great. I have only three pages written and I've named it IN THE SHADOWS. Actually, that's a perfect fit for the story.

And then again, I would like to revise and finish a paranormal I have that's in first person, THE ONES: DEADLY TEMPTATION. I love the world the heroine lives in and I believe it's different enough to strike an agent's or editor's interest.

So much to do. So little time.

Went a Visiting

Visited with my youngest daughter today. She's still at university and now renting a house. The place is old and not perfect and it had the typical kid junk sitting around everywhere. While my husband set up a washer and dryer for her, I washed dishes and washed dishes and washed pots and pans. I have to say, she has more dishes than my hubby and I did when we were newlyweds. Maybe that's the only reason she had more to wash than I did back then. LOL! By the way, I made her dry and put up. Only fair.

Thankful Friday

I'm thankful for the real life heroes who join our armed forces. Like my sweet, handsome son-in-law. And in remembrance of a friend's son...a hero...click here to read about him.

Square Peg, Round Hole?

The other day I was watching a short interview with Ringo Starr of The Beatles fame. For those who don’t know (though that’s hard to imagine), he was one of four fellows who changed the way teenagers look at music. As in most bands, the guys were friends before starting the band, but Ringo wasn’t one of them. He came in later though still before they hit it big in the sixties.

A comment he made stood out. One time, Ringo went to see John, another member, and told him he felt John, Paul and George were the real group and he would step aside. John told Ringo, he had thought the same thing but he considered Paul, George and Ringo as the real group.

That really struck me. How often have we thought we didn’t fit in or someone was smarter or more fortunate? And then we find out none of that to be true. No matter how “big” the person is, they have insecurities too. Maybe not in their craft, as Ringo wasn’t saying he wasn’t the best drummer The Beatles could have, he was talking about how they meshed, were friends. Our emotions can play tricks on us. That’s where friends can help by being supportive. You don’t need to hear how wonderful you are, though that doesn’t hurt, you just need people there willing to listen and hug you on occasion.

Thankfully I have that in Diane, JoAnn and Sande.

Rejection

Of course, there are authors out there who receive an offer of representation the first time they query, just as there are authors whose first books were published. And I know for sure there are others who have more rejections than I do. This is what I tell myself everytime I receive a rejection. Like I did today.

I took it in stride and thought to myself , "How sad," and didn't think any more about it until I got home. After a little while I realized I wasn't acting like myself. In fact I was tired and quiet. Then I remembered the rejection email. Funny how you try not to let something bother you, but your body will let you know what's going on.

Sorry to be so depressing lately. I'm really trying to keep my chin up. There's no way I can give up but changing strategies (again) may be in my future. :-)

Decisions, Decisions

Let me give you a scenario.

A teenage boy didn't show up at school one day. He's known for skipping and wandering the streets of a big city. His sister goes in search for him. She's concerned and wants to bring him home. She loves her brother but understands his need to do what he does, but as any big sis would do, she wants to make sure he's okay.

Now it's almost midnight and she comes across a wounded man in front of an apartment building. Someone has beaten him up. She doesn't own a cell phone and no one is around. What should she do?

Let's see...leave him bleeding in the rain to find her brother? NO! Of course not.

So she checks the wounded guy (she's had some medical training) to make sure he's breathing. Does she leave him now? Goodness no!

So she thinks of ways to help him. Maybe she can knock on the doors inside the apartment building and hopefully someone will call 911 or help. Right? Right. Before she can, the wounded guy's younger brother comes out and tries to bring his bigger brother out of the rain and into their apartment. The younger brother is too little. By the way, they don't have a phone. I know it's hard to believe that some people are too poor to own a phone. (It's times like these I wish there was a sarcastic font.)

Okay. She helps the little brother bring in the big brother. I guess she could dump him in the apartment and say, "Sorry. But I've got to go and look for my brother though you have a little brother and sister worried about rather or not you'll live." Of course, you wouldn't leave. Sure she's still worried about her brother, but didn't I aready mention this wasn't the first time her brother went out wandering around?

Then the wounded guy (a few cuts and bruises along with a big knot on his head) offers to help find her brother because, lo and behold! his teenage sister is with her brother. But he tells her it will be safer to wait until daylight. You have to remember, she's not a cop, superhero or an alien with a ray gun. Those streets are as dangerous for her as they are for her brother and the guy's sister.

Now. Tell me. Would you say, "Sorry but I can't worry about you and I've got to go back out into the big city streets AFTER midnight and look for my brother because I'm WORRIED about him"? Talk about too stupid to live!

As you probably guessed. I received back comments from a judge on my manuscript SHADOW HEALER and the judge couldn't believe the heroine didn't leave right then and look for her brother. It bothered her. Geez! I would like to see her wandering Atlanta streets around midnight. Actually, I have with one other woman and the whole time I kept thinking how stupid we were.

All the points I made were in the manuscript, why can't they read the words I've written? What am I doing wrong? No need to answer. I'm just ranting. This is good therapy.