Everyday is a Blessing

Thing can happen in ones life that make you go, "Hey.....I am blessed and recognizing that this life is so very precious. I am committing myself to less negativity. This means:
less complaining,
less gossip,
less trying to fix anything except myself,
less gloom,
less news,
less shallow breathing,
less tight pants,
less worrying,
less fussing about dust or whatever,
less pushing myself for anything....really!
and the biggie..........know that less is really more. HA!!!

Hey...I'm still here! Really!

Believe it or not, I'm still here writing. I have taken a much more graceful approach to the task and listen to my inner guidance. Well, sure sometimes I can't hear anything and I'm lost. This is when I journal or create art instead of trying and forcing myself to create something fabulous in my latest novel or picture book. I read from one of my oracle cards LET IT GO. Stop struggling, pushing or forcing things to happen. Such actions push against the universal flow and lead to frustration and blocks.
Ahhhh...this is what must have been happening to me! So, here I am letting it go and trusting my inner voice or the Universe to guide me. Stay tuned for more good stuff since I'll be clearing my ever so busy mind and accepting a more creative flow.

I think I'm Rolling Again?

I say I think I'm rolling again, because I opened my novel. I had to put it out of my mind to see where it was going. Sure many writers keep plugging away at the same book till it's finished, but somewhere along the way I sometimes get bogged up in it and can't see it clearly. I'm not sure what this is called or what caused it, but it happens. So this is the part where I "trust in the process" and let it be. I was thinking that I needed to change my entire setting from 1971 to present day and I began again and rewrote the first chapter. It was working and it felt good, then life got busy with whatever and I put it away again. Now.....I just re-read both books and they are both good. I'm feeling much better about the 1971 setting and the same story with today's setting. Hummm???? Not sure what to do at the moment? The novel set in 1971 is finished. Should I keep going with the re-write or stick with the finished novel?

I guess I need to let it sit a bit more?? or not?

SCBWI LA 09 Conference

I just signed up for the next SCBWI LA 09 Writer's Conference. Sigh of relief....one more off my check list for writing To-Do's (it's a long list). Four days long with lots of workshops and lots of editors/agents to work out listening to and trying to get a feel for. I have been trying to work the schedule so that I can see almost everyone that will offer me a chance to submit my manuscripts. It's a tricky thing discovering who will accept and what they will accept and if it is someone who would be a good match. It's kind of like dating (that's what I'm told). After studying the schedule many times and working out a rough spread sheet, and swinging my pendulum at some names (really, I'm feeling unsure of some so why not?), I think I have a good strategy going.
So, back to writing on my YA novel and some more editing for my picture books.

REWRITE AND REWRITE AGAIN & AGAIN

I'm working on a major rewrite for one of my Emma Jean picture books. My first or I should say my at least fifth draft was at 2500 words. After working it and re-reading and re-thinking, and sleeping on it some more, I have it down to 1000 words. Whew! It's a task to keep the essence of the characters and the heart of the story in so few words. Writing a novel has its advantages. I love descriptive detail that I can create paragraph after paragraph. But, it's a great exercise in saying only what you mean and want.

Attending Writer's Conferences

Magic happens when I go to Writer's Conferences. I'm sure of it. Yesterday I went to the SCBWI (Society of Children's Writer's and Illustrators) Conference in NorCal at Davis. It was a bitty one, but still had all the essence with it. Linda Joy Singleton gave a great talk on networking on the Internet. She wrote the Dead Girl Series. I saw the book at the last Writer's Conference at the Asilomar in Feb. 09 and it reminded me to buy it this time. After a long drive home, I began reading the great beginning. And as they say, "Read, read, read, and write, write, write." It was perfect for me, cause I needed to work on my beginning for my middle grade novel I'm working on. I received some great advice from agent Nathan Bransford with Curtis Brown Ltd. about reworking my beginning. Ah, new beginnings are always interesting. After being surrounded by so many inspiring people and beginning again, I woke jazzed and inspired to write.

Law of Attraction and My Direction

OK...Here it is, The Law of Attraction states: If I am in the Ozarks or wherever, and it is my desire to be in let's say Puerto Rico, how would I go about getting to Puerto Rico? The answer to the question is easy to hear: No matter what your mode of transportation-by air, car, boat, or even on foot-if you will face in the direction of Puerto Rico, and continue to move in the direction of Puerto Rico, then you must reach Puerto Rico.

How does this relate to me??? I want to be going in a particular direction and to accomplish certain goals and in order to accomplish these goals and directions, I need to face myself in THAT direction. Direction being- WRITING and what I want for myself always!

Getting With It!

You'd think that I would have it figured out by now in my 47 years of life, but it's still new every time if figure out something about myself or what's going on. Maybe it's just me seeing it from a different angle or different light. Yeah, that's what it must be. Good thing the light changes everyday and so does my angle. So, getting clear is my goal these days. Sure it sounds like an easy task, but I'm trying to figure out what I should be or want to write. I am still working on more than one book at a time and go back and forth between unfinished books or keep changing and adding to completed books. I guess this is the mode of writing for most, but it makes me feel a bit detached or like having more than one lover. I'm sometimes torn between lovers and not sure which one would be best to work on. I guess the real goal is to JUST KEEP WRITING. Maybe I should just be chasing more sea turtles at the moment (This is a sea turtle that swam past me in warm waters....such good stuff!).

Between Two Books

I'm jumping back and forth at the moment between two books I am writing. One is Nellie & Norman which started to be a picture book and is becoming a novel. The other is another picture book for my Emma Jean collection. It seems like it would be easier to focus on just one book, but when it comes to sitting down and writing, sometimes I'm just more inspired to work on another project. I still have my other middle grade novel Believing is Seeing that I'm at least 1/3 the way and keep it going in my head with ideas and plot directions. I can't forget Pig Boy either. This is going to be a great story. I'm not sure what time period I want to focus on. I have lots of information on the Gold Rush and live in California, so that could work. But, I think I see Peter set in the Great Depression too.

I have so many ideas and great starts. I am just plugging along each day and adding more to whatever inspires me. I trust where I am lead.

Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market

I sit before me a lovely purple copy of the 2008 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. On the cover is a fish that already tells a story if you listen carefully, but I need to dive into the pages find a publishing company/agent to represent my lovely body of work. As is flip through the pages I stop on art work and successful published books, they are all inspiring and hopeful and I feel their magic. The possibilities are unlimited. I am ever hopeful.