Motivation, Manuscripts & Mustard

So I am known to be a self-driven, motivated writer who pushes very hard to get her books written. And, for the most part, I can juggle multiple projects and manage the household without going bonkers. No wait. I fibbed. I do go nuts every once in a while, but I blame the moon in Venus rising or some other tidal wave pattern for the madness.

Here's the thing. I set high bars for myself. I want to reach the bar and exceed my expectations. No one is harder on me than I am. I am a task master who can't be tamed.

But life happens. Like moving the College Kid to College Town, USA. Or housework (which should be outlawed, but it keeps coming back to claim my time). Then there are friends, phone calls, long chats with the CK, other stuff like that and it's hard to get back on track.

Right now my motivation to finish revising a requested manuscript is super low because I've called it my "throwaway book." I don't know why I did that other than I thought one person would want it and wrote it for that person and poof--she wants to send it somewhere else. And double poof, I'm not sure I want it to go there. And triple poof, I have two other books that people want me to write and I'm under a contract to do so and these books are not anything like this current manuscript.

So how do I move on? I add mustard. Mustard spices up my life and my food and my manuscripts. Where do you put mustard in a manuscript? How does it flavor the words? Will the manuscript finally leave a satisfying taste in my mouth with the addition of mustard?

Heck yah! Here's the ticket. I signed up for an in depth course via Margie Lawson which is about Visceral Emotion and powering up your words. I am using this formally-known-as-a-throwaway manuscript to my in-depth homework. (And it's in-depth--ask my editing partners). And you know what? When I rework the manuscript as part of her homework, my writing starts exciting me again. And best of all, I think that it will energize the new books I have to write. I'm learning and writing and testing my writing muscles because it's a great way to bolster my motivation.

I probably won't finish the book by the end of August (which was my intention), but I will have a solid amount of it completed. And while I'm building my small town USA and beginning the process of writing my series of books I can continue to revise this manuscript now known as a potential-to-be-published story as part of my homework.

It's a win-win.

How do you add mustard to your manuscripts?

Post It or Forget It--My Reminder Wall

I have a very good memory, but I am also very visual and need concrete reminders about what to do as a writer, mother, friend, wife. If I don't see it, I often don't do it. My CINC House (Commander in Chief of Household) notes are pretty typical. I have a fridge with a grocery list, an in-box where all my important daily papers go, 3 binders holding household info, medical info (ugh), and Darling Teen info which I maintain. I also have a calendar with all our important appointments which hangs on the fridge. And finally I have my weekly to-do list in a spiral notebook which has my writing tasks and my CINC House tasks written down. This works for me. Sometimes things slip through the cracks (like my Darling Teen's Spanish 2 final but that's fixed now--I hope), but that's life. And honestly, sometimes I just ignore the task--it keeps moving to the next page and the next week till I get sick of writing it down.

My writing world had different kinds of notes. I'm a Post-it note girl and an Index Card Girl. I am so into my Post-its that when I am a published author that is what I'm going to giveaway as a promotional item. I got a Post-it stack from author Sharon Archer when I won her book THE MAN BEHIND THE BADGE. I love them. They have her name and her information on the top left corner and a beautiful photo indicating her genre--Medical Romance. Can you guess what the picture is? If you do, I'll send you a gift card from Starbucks. Not only are Sharon's Post-its appreciated, I also appreciated reading her book. She's a wonderful writer with a great eye for detail, an excellent melodic voice, and compelling characters.

The wall behind my laptop is covered with reminders, inspiration, and craft information. Right now the following notes are on my wall:

*Golden Heart entries with two checks to indicate payment for the first two entries (I have four to enter and want to spread the financial pain).
*Character Reaction Order of Events: 1-physical, 2-thought, 3-dialogue, 4-purposeful action. BE VIVID. This is my quick & dirty cheat sheet for writing visceral, deep, and detailed character reactions.
*Motivation sentence (cause), Reaction Sentence (effect). Thank you James Scott Bell for that Q&D
*MP (midpoint) has to have a Moment of Grace. Hero/Heroine aware of moral premise.
*Recap Due for GIAMx4 (Goal in a Month) December 13th.
*Suzanne Johnson Interview Questions for March 2012 (debut author!!)
*Audience: who reads is very important. The world is waiting for me to get it right. LEARN PERSIST BE SERIOUS. COMMIT MASTER AND KEEP LEARNING. CHAMPION YOUR WRITING! BE A WARRIOR WRITER!
*Jennifer Greene: "Conflict is what the main character CAN'T walk away from..."
*12 Stages of Intimacy (won't detail that here LOL)
*WRITE THE BOOK YOU WANT TO READ
*Straight Contemporary Authors to read--Robin Kaye, Melanie Milbourne, Melinda Curtis--recommendations from Margie Lawson (who is an awesome teacher)
*My Yahoo email address and login password
*Dates for my final two Petit Fours & Hot Tamales blogs (Yikes, one is due to be posted tomorrow)
*Enid Blyton (I read her books when I was a kid and I keep meaning to hunt them down)
*Query Tracker login and user name
*blogger username/login
*Disney ID (I can dream of going again and again and again)
*my RWA #
*Tami Cowden's FROM LUST TO LOVE worksheet
*Michael Hauge's 6 Stage Plot Structure Worksheet
*Latest blurb for next book I'm writing THE MAVERICK'S RED HOT REUNION
*An email about editing and agents
*a quote from Donald Maass
*word count for a Golden Heart entry and a note to check spelling is same throughout document of a character's last name.
*an index card with notes about what to seek and destroy in ALL my manuscripts. Words like after, were, saw, was, etc. Checking transitions, modifiers, etc. (not that I always succeed).


On days when I am blue, I open my closet door and I read the Things That Make Me Smile list. On days when I feel like a hack who will never see her books get published, I open my closet door and read my list of accomplishments (which are not exclusive to writing). And on days when I feel uninspired, I open my closet door and look at my Hugh Jackman poster.

What's on your wall?

Color Coded Madness Interrupted

I'm revising my current WIP. I've highlighted it in various colors based on the fabulous Margie Lawson EDITS system and her EMPOWERING CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS. I've used DABS and scored through the manuscript.

I am ready. Ready to begin this new challenge of powering up my writing.

But the world is pressing in on all sides (wait that's a plot thing, right?) and I'm unable to smoothly, quickly, efficiently move through my revision. I'm lucky if I get a passage revised, let alone a scene or a chapter. Why? Why is the world making me want to throw my sharpie highlighters against the wall and scream?

Easy answer: teenager at home under my feet. She sleeps till noonish so I have a bit of time in the morning to shape up my manuscript. But as soon as she emerges from her cave, sleepy-eyed and hair a wild tangled mess, I switch off my revisions and I let the house be noisy, crazy, loud. I let the days be lazy, busy, crowded.

I can turn on my writing time again in the morning, in the still of the pre-dawn hours, but I can't recapture the valuable time I have with my teenager. I know watching silly shows like Toddlers & Tiaras or Top Model aren't always considered quality events, but it's not the quality per say, it's the meeting her where she is that counts.

She'll remember that I just hung out with her in her world, with her friends, reading her favorite books, laughing together at funny Tumblr posts, shopping, being silly. And long after I'm gone, I hope she will cherish the fact that no matter what, no matter where, no matter when she needed me, I was there for her.

Pattern Recognition

On Saturday July 23rd, I drove down to Birmingham, AL so I could attend the Margie Lawson EMPOWERING CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS daylong workshop which was hosted by the Southern Magic Romance Writing Chapter.

I'd read Margie's lecture packet with the 8 lectures in it prior to going to the workshop so my brain would be ready for her lessons. And I'd completed a "clean" first draft as well. I didn't want to bring something I'd worked on and sent out before because I intuitively knew that would make me feel like my writing sucked. Bringing a new, clean, SHORT first draft that I knew needed revision seemed like the way to go.

And it was. I learned so much that my brain went insane with a desire to head home and apply everything she'd taught to me as I revised my MS. The first assignment Margie gave us was to work on 50-75 pages. I have about 100 pages in the short first draft, so I am tackling the entire mess. My instructions were basic:

1) Take out the five highlighters and apply the EDITS system to my MS. Look for patterns in my writing. Do I have too much green, not enough yellow, a bit too much blue?

2) Take out my handy, dandy red pen and apply the DABS system to my MS. Look for action, dialogue cues, senses, and more.

3) Circle tired, worn out cliches and pump them out. Delete them, or twist them into a new, fresh sentence.

Sounds easy, right? Highlighting the MS and looking for what is and isn't there is easy. That's easy peasy. That's so easy anyone could do it. After all, it's just analyzing the work. But fixing the work? Not so easy.

As I highlighted I realized I had a lot of all blue and a lot of all yellow scenes. I had very little pink and green in the scenes. I didn't even bother to drag out the orange highlighter because first I have to fix the other four colors. And the red pen? Well, I have boxes around paragraphs that I know I will shift around and move. Boxes that indicate where the paragraphs will go. I have notes and circled words. I have a lot of work to do.

I learned that in a clean first draft I tend to write all yellow, then all blue scenes. Usually the yellow stuff has to be woven into the blue scenes that are before or after the yellow scenes. But I had a feeling that would be the case. I am a revisionist style writer. I have to get the story down, my way, even if it is the wrong way and then I fix it. I've been intuitively weaving yellow into blue for 5 years! I knew I'd be low in green. What I didn't know is how low I'd be in pink. And that is where the fun starts. Adding powerful pink to key scenes will punch up my writing and take it to the next level.

Oh, I am excited. I can't wait to braid together the yellow and blue. I can't wait to add more green and pink where necessary. I can't wait to apply the orange pen to the pages after I print and go again. This kind of editing is right up my alley ("cliche alert!").

I've learned more than a better way to edit and revise my work. I've validated my process, my natural writing process, with this workshop and Margie's lecture packet by applying her lessons to my manuscript.

Now some of you may be wondering what the colors mean. Others may already know because they've graduated from one or more of Margie Lawson's workshops or online classes. A select few may have even gone to her total immersion class. Wow, I'm green with envy ("cliche alert!").

If  you already know what the colors and DABS system mean, then you've given yourself a great gift and are probably an NYT published writer or on your way to becoming one. If you don't know what the colors and the DABS system mean, then I highly recommend taking one of Margie's classes.

And here's a challenge to all of you. Take my two cliches and rewrite them in a fresh way. I can't wait to read the results!!

Monday Morning News & Views

Last week I kept myself super busy with all kinds of errands planned and unplanned. Keeping busy helps me to move past my sadness over losing the Dowager Feline Clancy. I'm still sad, but it is getting easier. I know she is playing now and one day we will be reunited. I believe that in my heart.

My planned errands included touring our final college: Vanderbilt. A private university with lots to offer a college student. But that all comes with a hefty tuition and price. There's a lot to be said for the cost's payoffs, and the campus is absolutely beautiful and located in Music City, USA aka Nashville so it's in a great location. But there are drawbacks: no car the first year, got to live on campus all four years, and oh yeah, the price. Darling Teen loved the look and the feel of Vanderbilt but she decided not to apply. She wants the freedom of being able to attain some adult life skills when she's at school. I agree. I think part of going away to college is to learn how to be an adult in the adult world.

Meanwhile, our brand new dishwasher has one problem that is highly annoying. Sure it works. It runs beautifully. It is amazing. It should be for $1000. But it doesn't do one thing that I paid for it to do. The four hour delay does not work. I've had 4 service calls to the house, 1 where parts were replaced, and the four hour delay is still broken. Now if it were you, what would you want to do? Me? I want a new dishwasher because obviously this one can't be fixed. My time is worth money. I'd rather be writing and exploring the world than be waiting for a technician to come to my house during a four hour window of time and then have nothing better for the wait after the technician leaves my house. Am I miffed? A little.

We experienced some unplanned events last week. We had plumbing issues requiring lots of work. Oh yay!! $500 to fix a pipe that leads water away from our house. That means "Yellow is Mellow and Brown goes Down" until the plumber can come today and excavate the area around the pipe to fix it. We've also been very creative about our dishwashing and cleanups. The good news is that I can't do laundry or clean the bathrooms till after the pipe is repaired. Hallelujah!

We also had to fix the Escape. It needed a new fuel pump. No fun paying all that money for a car repair, but it beats having a monthly car payment. The Escape is 8 years old and I've piled a lot of miles on it. I need it to run reliably and safely. I trusted Woody Anderson Ford with my literal "Escape" vehicle. I especially needed it ready to escape to the Saturday workshop I attended at the Southern Magic Chapter in Birmingham. Margie Lawson's workshop was amazing. MORE ABOUT THAT LATER THIS WEEK. But here's a bit of a teaser: if you get the opportunity to take one of her workshops, run to take it without any hesitation. You'll be a stronger, better writer for doing so. I feel I have the last missing piece of the puzzle to apply to my own work. You will, too.

So stay tuned to the blog this week. I can't wait to share my experiences with you on Wednesday and Friday.

Monday Morning Views and News

Hi Everyone. I had to say goodbye to the stalwart Dowager Feline Clancy on Friday, July 15th. I am still too emotional to write about it now, but I promise I will share as soon as I've had enough time to grieve her loss. The outpouring of support I've had via Facebook, Twitter, and phone calls has been very comforting. Thank you very much.

The Dowager Feline developed quite a following when I posted about her here and here. In the end, she taught me more about life than a thousand prophets or seers.

I have filled my weekend with family, cleaning, and movies. Now I am looking forward to my upcoming week of writing. I've been reading the Margie Lawson lectures and am almost ready to dig in with the homework. I'll be using my current WIP, first draft, for the work. On Saturday I'm heading to Birmingham's Southern Magic Romance Writing Chapter to take Margie's all-day intensive workshop EMPOWERING CHARACTER EMOTIONS. Can't wait!! And stay tuned for a recap of my day-if my brain survives the learning curve!

Those of you who visited on Friday were treated to a special blog post by Margie. And one of the commenters won a packet! Heather Leonard!!!

This week on the blog, I'm posting about my recent travels to DC and NYC. I have a lot of busywork to catch up on in the office, too. I'm sending thank you notes, transcribing conference notes from the workshops I attended, and I'm cleaning out the junk drawer.

For those of you who followed me on the 4 Hour Body Diet, I have news. It didn't work for me. As soon as I stopped following it. I gained back every inch. It also didn't work for my daughter. So I've switched over to Weight Watchers. Darling Teen, Darling Hubby, and I are losing weight together. I'm really excited about it because we're in it together AND there is a super cool phone app I can use to track my points. The best part is that I already lost two pounds. Hopefully I'll be Skinny for the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference in two months. Stay tuned.

I'm really looking forward to this week. Hope to see you all on the Veranda. And if you're setting goals or just hanging out, come visit me today and tell me what you're doing this week.

Margie Lawson: Analyze This!

Please join me in welcoming one of my favorite people, Margie Lawson, to the Veranda on Digging Out of Distraction. She's a wonderful mentor and friend to all writers. I'm super excited about her blog today and I hope you join me in all the fun!! Put your thinking caps on because you will learn something, too!! 

ANALYZE THIS!   

by Margie Lawson

I’ve always loved analyzing things, including writing.

Of the 25+ Deep Editing Analyses on my web site, the one spotlighting Marcus Sakey’s is a favorite. If you don’t know his work, but you recognize his name, you may be recalling the two-page article in RT on Marcus Sakey.

The Deep Editing Analysis below provides a preview for what I’ll present in Birmingham on July 23^rd.  Enjoy!

Marcus Sakey

THE BLADE ITSELF, AT THE CITY'S EDGE, and GOOD PEOPLE 

Marcus Sakey’s first crime thriller, THE BLADE ITSELF, was selected by the New York Times as an Editor's Pick, chosen as one of Esquire Magazine's Top 5 Reads of 2007, and won the Strand Critic's Award for Best First Novel. With his next two thrillers, AT THE CITY’S EDGE, and GOOD PEOPLE, Sakey kept the power up and electrified more readers and reviewers.

What do the giants in the film world know about Marcus Sakey? They know he writes a story guaranteed to mesmerize readers—and viewers. The film rights for all three of his novels have been optioned for film. Power-players Tobey Maguire, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, are buying slices of Sakey-talent—and likely salivating to play the leads.

You can count on dynamite writing craft in each of these stand-alone thrillers. My Sakey novels are mega-sticky-tabbed. Let’s dive in and check out a few of the several hundred examples.

THE BLADE ITSELF:

“I heard someone was asking about you.”

Old instincts tightened Danny’s skin. “Who’s that?”

Patrick looked up at him, the joking in his eyes replaced by something more serious, like he was watching for a reaction. “Evan McGann.”

Danny’s mouth went dry, and he felt that tingling in his chest, the sense of his heart beating hard enough to rattle his ribs. He scrambled for his game face, almost got it.

ANALYSIS: Marcus Sakey makes it look easy. Note the two STIMULUS / RESPONSE patterns above. Since Danny learns critical information in this passage, Sakey gives us VISCERAL with each response from Danny. Plus—the reader is treated to fresh writing in a BASIC response with the ‘old instincts’ line. Five words, and they carry visceral power.

After Danny hears “Evan McGann,” he experiences an EMPOWERED response. Sakey loaded that response set with SIX EMOTIONAL HITS:

1) dry mouth

2) tingling chest

3) sense of heart beating harder

4) amplifies by adding his heart could rattle his ribs

5) Danny tries for ‘game face’ to block his reaction from Patrick,

6) ‘almost got it’ -- Danny failed.

Danny knows his facial expression tipped Patrick that Danny had a history with Evan. And we all know it wasn’t a happy history.

NOTE 1: Sakey uses some clichéd visceral responses: dry mouth, tingling chest, heart-pounding. Writers have to fall back on some clichéd viscerals, but stacking several together in a creative way, building a COMPLEX or EMPOWERED response, makes it an interesting read. It carries power.

NOTE 2 with a 1 – 2 punch: 

1) If you write a strong stimulus, include a visceral hit in your response. 

2) If you include a visceral response, visceral comes first.

AT THE CITY’S EDGE:

“Ain’t you noticed, cop?” Dion’s voice was soft, his gaze weary, and for the tiniest second, Jason almost felt sorry for him.

ANALYSIS: Nice DIALOGUE CUE and GAZE CUE: It shows a good guy feeling sorry for a bad guy – and it’s tight, with stimulus and response in the same sentence.

EXAMPLE:

The Set-up: Jason’s talking to his 8 year old nephew whose dad was murdered

“Hey, buddy.”

Billy didn’t look up. He pinched the crayon harder, the tip of his finger bloodless, and started stroking fast, hard lines.

Jason took a tentative step forward. “What are you drawing?”

Silence.

Jason felt an acid shudder in his gut, like he’d put away a pot of coffee.

ANALYSIS: Sakey SHOWED Billy’s emotional response by sharing that Billy did not look up, and describing how Billy held and used the crayon. Writing ‘the tip of his finger bloodless’ informed the reader that Billy was holding the crayon so hard that his knuckles turned white. But Sakey dodged that cliché.

Extra credit awarded for fresh writing with ‘acid shudder in his gut’ driven home with the coffee-based simile. Fresh, fresh, fresh. And that simile had to resonate with every coffee drinker.

GOOD PEOPLE: Last example – a wife looking at her husband. It’s three paragraphs.

There was blood on Tom’s left hand, and the way he held it was odd, a swollen mess, the pinkie off-kilter. Her nerves felt like she’d bitten metal. She gasped, one hand covering her mouth, and started forward. Then she saw the look on his face, and stopped.

Sometimes it felt like they had known each other for a hundred years. She knew his every gesture, every expression. She could render them in her mind: the easy smile, titled a little to one side that drew crinkles around his eyes. The half-lidded head loll, lips barely parted, as they made love in the night. His precise squint when reading, meant not to bring the words into focus but to put the rest of the world out.

She had never seen the look that was on his face now. She recognized fear around the wide eyes. Pain marked in the press of his lips. And concern, concern for her, in the cock of his head and the readiness of his body. But there was something else too. A guardedness like a metal gate drawn across a store window. And through the slats, a sharp and sparkling accusation.

ANALYSIS: Strong example of a POWER INTERNALIZATION fueled by the POV character analyzing body language of a non-POV character. Sakey covers multiple stimuli and response patterns. 

First paragraph --  we see the husband’s mangled hand and pain – and the wife’s fear. 

Second paragraph -- Sakey draws the reader into the depth of their relationship, chronicling the husband’s nuanced body language and the wife’s caring interpretation. 

Last paragraph – the reader is hit with a contrast. The wife focuses on her husband’s body language – and sees fear and pain and concern and guardedness . . . and accusation.

Marcus Sakey’s writing will hook your mind, your funny bone, and your heart. Edgy, yet loaded with compassion. The reviewers, Top Read’s and Bestseller lists got it right with Sakey. Winning stories. Winning characters. Winning writing craft. My money’s on seeing his heart-grabbing stories about bad things happening to good people on the big screen.

Now it’s your turn. Post a comment about the blog – or just chat. 

Everyone who posts a comment will be entered in a drawing for a Lecture Packet from one of my online courses.

1. 1. Empowering Characters’ Emotions
2. 2. Deep Editing:  The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More
3. 3. Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist
4. 4. Powering Up Body Language in Real Life:
   Projecting a Professional Persona When Pitching and Presenting
5. 5. Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors

Here’s another opportunity to be a Winner!

Open House for Lawson’s Writer Academy – Today!

As soon as you post a comment on the blog, pop over HERE to my web site, to attend the Academy’s Open House.

Tour the LWA Campus. Check out the cyber classroom, the Coffeeshop, the Deep Editing Fitness Center. If you are a Margie-grad, check out the Margie-grad Forums, and pick up your cyber gift.

Drop by the Open House. You have TWELVE CHANCES to WIN a Lecture Packet or Online Course. Don't miss your chance to be a winner!

Margie Lawson —psychotherapist, writer, and international presenter—developed innovative editing systems and deep editing techniques for used by writers, from newbies to NYT Bestsellers. She teaches writers how to edit for psychological power, how to hook the reader viscerally, how to create a page-turner.

Thousands of writers have learned Margie’s psychologically-based deep editing material. In the last six years, she presented over sixty full day Master Classes for writers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

For more information on Lawson Writer’s Academy, lecture packets, on-line courses, master classes, and the Immersion Master Class sessions offered in her Colorado mountain-top home, visit:  www.MargieLawson.com.

Monday Mash Up

I've been a busy bee over the weekend. First I went to my Heart of Dixie Romance Writer Chapter meeting. We celebrated all kinds of wonderfulness in our writing world. Two of our PRO writers have joined the ranks of published writers which continues to give this writer hope for her own writing future. One of our board members made Coconut Cake. And I had some. Well, I ate a good sized piece. Delish!

I blogged about my journey from feeling tied down to having no strings on Sunday on the Romance Magician's blog. You can read about it here. I am eagerly hosting two guests this week. On July 12th, I'm celebrating Adrienne Giordano's debut novel and on July 15th the fantabulous Margie Lawson is visiting my blog and posting a guest blog. I'm very excited about both events.

Heart of Dixie's Online workshops are gearing up for the month of August. We are holding a class about FAT FREE WRITING taught by the Grammar Divas. For more information, visit our HOD Website here. I'm looking forward to trimming my own writing as well as to learning how to Empower My Characters Emotions during the July 23rd all day workshop held in Birmingham by my wonderful Southern Magic writing chapter. You can still sign up for it and learn more about it here.

So that's my Monday Mash Up. I'll be back on Wednesday to blog about my new tornado shelter. I need decorating ideas!

Hiatus is Coming to An End: Fun Things In Store

Hi folks! Miss me? I have been out of the blogger world for a few weeks now due to travel, the RWA National Conference, uber expensive Internet charges at the Marriott Marquis (boo), and more travel!!

Next week I plan to post my 3 blogs a week again. I can't wait to share the travel news with you as well as my experiences at the National Conference. If you want to get a sneak peek, you can take a gander over to the PETIT FOURS AND HOT TAMALES and see my post about all my conference confessions. I'm also super excited to be hosting the wonderful and gifted Margie Lawson next week. She is coming to Alabama to teach an all day workshop about EMPOWERING CHARACTERS EMOTIONS at the Southern Magic Romance Writing Chapter.

This year is turning out to be one fantastic year with wonderful debut authors and friends sharing their experiences. Stay tuned for more fabulous authors coming to visit the Veranda with their tales and stories.

I've had a great summer. I actually took time away from writing. I know. Unusual as I usually write every day. But I really needed a break. As many of you know, it has been a long and difficult spring. In addition to my daughter's mono (yay, she's cured!) and the horrific tornadoes, I've also been battling an ongoing sinus infection. I'm finally back to my normal self. "Normal" being as sane as one can expect me to be considering I write for quarters and I pay myself for "trying to get published" letters.

Now I'm starting to get pumped up about writing. Not selling. But writing. Nationals was a great way to juice up the writing genie. And being around my super friends in this business, new and long term, jazzed me even more. Plus I got to be part of other people's successes in the Golden Heart, the Rita, the Daphne and The Readers Choice Awards. Sometimes being at the game is enough. I showed up, I smiled, and I felt my old happy writing self come out of hiding.

So stay tuned! I can't wait to get back to action on Monday.