Giveaway!

I'm very excited to announce that, in honor of the CAPE Homeschool Convention (happening this month), I'm doing a giveaway!

I'll be part of the convention again this year selling books with several other local authors (You might recognize one from an interview I did here). I'm really looking forward to this year. It is exciting to think that a whole year has passed and so much has happened in that time.
Check out the website and come participate! We'll have free chocolate at our table, too... Not that I'm trying to get you to come or anything....

Onto the giveaway. I will be giving away a free, signed copy of "On Grandpa's Knee". All you need to do is follow my blog to enter.

For extra entries:
~"Like" My Facebook Page
~Add me to your circles on Google+
~Spread the word by linking to this post on either blogger, Facebook, or G+

Giveaway ends Sunday, April 20th at midnight (MT timezone)

When You've Reached Your Limit

I sometimes think that the purpose of this blog is to show how imperfect a writer I am. However, I also hope that perhaps it will be an encouragement to other writers that we *don't* have to be perfect!

The last month or so I have been feeling extremely overwhelmed. I really couldn't put a finger on what it was in my life that was stressing me out so much, but I definitely knew it was there. When I woke up sick on Sunday morning with a 'stress and lack of sleep' migraine, I knew that I really needed to reevaluate my schedule and life.

I began looking at what I had been doing the past couple of months. I have just started directing a drama group all on my own, and, a couple weeks into the semester, I was pulled in as a 'fill in' actor for another group. So directing and acting (thankfully a small part on the acting side, but still acting nonetheless). Then we just started up our busy season for the ranch- bull sales. Went to Oklahoma, and we have Tucumcari, Belen and Montana still to come. Then, we're also still in the middle of calving (which doesn't include me all that much, but I still feel involved). Oh, and to top it all off, I was trying to write over 50,000 in about two weeks.

Huh.

I just couldn't figure out what was going on! I mean, I knew I had lots going, but seriously? I can handle this. Right?

Wrong. After an emotional breakdown last night, and a wonderful, wisdom filled conversation with my mom and, later on, my dad, I realized what my problem was. I simply had too much going on. As my mom and I talked, I realized that one of the things that was stressing me out the most was trying to finish this book in time for CAPE convention this April. I knew that I would really be straining to get it done, but one of the things I realized and what scared me the most? I wasn't enjoying writing.

In fact, I pretty much hated it. I wasn't getting inspiration for my story, and I had gotten into the 'writer's block rut' where I was simply writing just to get a word count in. Not a wise idea. And it has always been the biggest pet peeve to me. I used to say (and still do, sometimes) "forget the word count and just write a story!"  Who cares if it passes up the 50,000 word count in order to qualify for a 'novella' or what have you. Write the story, write it well, and be content. I told my mom that if I were to get my story published by convention, I wouldn't be proud of it. I wouldn't be satisfied with the way it turned out because I would know it was slapped together.

That's when I realized something.

I'm not a professional author.

I thought perhaps that idea might alarm me, but actually, it brought a lot of peace. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I don't write because I want to make money with my writing skills. I write because I love it. I love the thrill of developing characters and the shivers I get when I construct a great sentence. I love it when I feel proud of the story I wrote. It's even better when I know that I did my best and that it turned out well.

Most importantly, I love being able to write to the Glory of God. However, if I am writing just to write and become famous, or churn out so many books a year with no inspiration from Him, what sort of a writer am I? I fall into the common writer's category of folks who just want to make a living off of writing. Now, before I go further, I do want to say that there are several authors that I enjoy that know how to write a book, but they also know how to write several books in a year. I admire them for it, and I praise the Lord that there are authors out there like that. However, I have realized that it isn't my dream to be famous. It used to be, yes (yeah, I was determined to go on Oprah Winfrey and on all major news stations as being the youngest writer who could write an amazing book.. oh, and let's not forget the New York Time's best seller.). However, that dream has been changed into something else. I want to write because I love it. I don't mind if people don't like my stories. That's ok. If I get a 2 star review, it might hurt for a bit, but it really won't bother me in the long run because I don't want to make it a business to write.

A wise 'Titus 2 woman' friend of mine once told me, "Yup, once I started doing such and such for a business I really didn't enjoy it anymore... so be careful what you turn into a business". Of course, there are lots of people out there who have turned a passion into a business and, more often than not, you have to have a passion for what you do in order to keep it thriving.

I guess I'm just one of those people who need to learn how to keep a business while still having the passion for what I do.

So, all this to say that I have decided I won't have a book ready for convention in April. I will go to convention with my one book that I published last year, and I will be proud of it. Then I will just tell other folks about the new book coming out in the summer. Then, I'll have more time to get it done, but I'll still have a deadline (I do better with those). =)

Now to all you new authors (and perhaps 'older' authors who have been doing this for a while). Don't be afraid to admit when you've got too much on your plate. It's better to back out of a few things than to do a bunch of things halfheartedly or to realize that you didn't do a good job on all of the things you signed up for. I would much rather do a few things in life and be proud of how I did and feel satisfied and content than to be overloaded and burn out way too quickly.

I'm off to enjoy a less stressful, more enjoyable month of writing. Feeling very much at peace with the decision the Lord helped me to make (I think He has probably been telling me to do this for a long time, and I just haven't wanted to admit it...). I'll just look forward to releasing a book in the summer.

Toodlepip and Cheerio, my author friends!

Success at the CAPE Home school Convention

Hello everyone! I thought I had better drop in and do an update. First of all, thank you so much to everyone who prayed that my book would get here in time. Praise the Lord, it actually arrived several weeks before convention. So happy about that. :-) The Lord just continues to amaze me as He orchestrates everything with  this book publishing process (from the very beginning all the way to getting my book out to different retailers.)

Just last week I was blessed to be part of the exhibitors at the New Mexico Home School convention. My friend, Alicia, and I shared a table. We cleverly called it, "Homeschool Authors"... actually, I think she is the one that came up with that title.. :-) In any case, it was quite brilliant and made for some neat conversations with homeschooling parents.

Alicia was selling her book, "To Birmingham Castle". If you haven't seen the interview I did with Alicia, you can check it out here. The book that she published was written very well and had tons of historical facts and adventure. She researched for about 5 years before publishing so that she made sure she was as accurate as possible. It definitely paid off! Alicia was able to sell out on the second day, which was fantastic! We were all pretty excited- yes, I say 'all' because we had several visitors and helpers who came frequently to our table.... but, hey, who could resist the free chocolate we were passing out?

We forgot to start out our first day 'right'. We had both said that we wanted to pray together for the Lord to bless our sales and let us just shine for Him. So, we forgot to that the first day. The second and third, however, we were able to have some time before we opened to seek the Lord. It is quite amazing how it can make your day go so much better when you start out right! :-) Not that we were too surprised or anything, but it was still nice to see and feel that change.

The Lord blessed me as well and I was able to sell out- at the last minute! I remember thinking, as the people in charge began calling through the vendor hall for vendors to start shutting down, "Well, Lord, thank you for letting me sell most of my books..." then it occurred to me that we hadn't officially closed and He could still sell my last three books.... and sure enough, He did. It was quite exciting. :-)

Needless to say, Alicia and I had a wonderful time at convention. We hope to do it again next year and we'll see how the Lord grows it.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the convention. They were taken by my friends Rachelle and Kelsey. Enjoy!

(The candy that was in that jar was the 'convention saver'... espresso candy! Literally kept us going... and all the mom loved it, too.... hmm..)

 (The pictures below were taken by Kelsey- Thank you for letting me use them!)

(This is a book that we were honored to also have at our table. The illustrator, Debbie, did an amazing job. It is simply Psalm 1 put to pictures to help children memorize their scripture. I thought it was fantastic! She has done the artwork for the Curious George show as well.)

Well, that is all I have! I will be returning soon with some other update posts. Also, you can now find links to purchase my book on the sidebar.