Sunday, January 31, 2010

Ready - Set - Go! Spring Frenzy starts tomorrow!

January 31, 2010

If my computers were working properly, today would have been a perfect day! Nothing to do, aside from a quick shopping trip for groceries and office products for tomorrows Spring Frenzy classes.

I'm all set for the classes. Packets for the attendees are ready and I've reviewed my notes on what to say/show to make the classes come alive. As I reviewed the material, I was reminded of the very basics of writing and a refresher course in the basics is always a good thing. It's always fun and I get to meet new folks. Thru my classes, we picked up Jim and Rusty for our local writer's group. Good writers and most welcome additions to our writer's group.

Wrote more on 'Steve's Boys'. I introduced the problems Josh has been having with his amputation that he has been hiding from his wife. I've changed my mind about the ending, but I do want to leave the reader wondering at the end of this saga of the Farrell family.

Didn't get time to work on 'Mama Played for the King' for that agent. Hopefully, after this week of classes is over, I'll have time to work on it. I'm so excited that she asked for the whole book after reading 80 pages.

Oh, my kids presented me with a Kindle for Christmas. I love it!!! Of course, I downloaded 'Hannah' and 'Mota 8 - Addiction' that has my short story 'The Gift'. I downloaded the new Patterson book, 'I, Alex Cross'. We are reading Patterson's books for my book club this month. I'm really enjoying it. I down loaded about 10 books and I carry them around in my purse now on my Kindle and it takes up less space than my checkbook. It's amazing.

Debbie, her mom and a couple of other authors are coming up from Quartzite tomorrow for my short story class. Then, a couple of Havasu writers are going to join us and we going out to dinner. I sure wish she lived closer. She's such a positive person.

Got to go to bed now so I'll be alert for my classes. Creativity, learning and persisting - the jewels in a writer's work box. So I'll leave you with a quote by Isaac Asimov - "You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist."

Saturday, January 30, 2010

A Fun-Fun-Fun Day

January 30, 2010

Life has been keeping me busy this past month and I've been remiss in keeping up with my daily posts on my life in the writing world. But, today was so special that I had to drop back in.

My local writer's group, Lake Havasu City Writer's Group, had a book signing for their 2010 'Offerings from the Oasis' anthology. We flocked over to Hasting Books and Music to sell and sign books. Off and on their were about a dozen of us and we managed to sell a fair number of books. I was so pleased that they included two of my stories - 'Pastrami vs Tuna Salad' and 'Exquisite Moments'. I hope the readers enjoy them. All in all the presentation and the content is probably one of the best 'Oasis' yet. I guess we're all getting better and better!

Since I last blogged, I had another book signing down in Quartzite. Sold 4 Hannah books and 1 After the War, Before the Peace. Got a fan email from a lady in Utah saying she enjoyed Hannah so much, she has ordered After the War, .... Yahoo! Always nice to hear. We're going back down there on Feb. 7th.

Also, I've been working on the final edits for 'Abby-Finding More Than Gold'. It is due out in March from Awe-Struck Publishing. I had a great editor and I think the final product will sell nicely. The editor liked it so much, she suggests a sequel. Maybe, someday.

Still working on 'Stephen's Boys'. Poor Josh lost a leg when his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean and Andy has gone mental from all the killing and wounding he saw on Suribachi. They are both in a hospital in Hawaii.

Having lots of computer problems! That's all I'll say, because I want to keep this blog 'G' rated!

Tomorrow, I need to practice how I'm going to moderate my Journaling and Short Story Writing classes scheduled for Mon. and Thurs or next week.

So, got to run, but let me leave you with this little quote about time and how fleeting it is these days. "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of." Benjamin Franklin