Baby + Manuscript = Paper Party

No worries. I was finished editing and making the changes on my digital copy, LOL... Otherwise I might have freaked out.

My dream home

I regularly search MLS for one house. One house that I have always loved. I key in the small town that it resides in and I see if someone has chosen to part with her.

Yesterday I found that they had.

This is the house that holds all my happy childhood memories. Every one of them. I spent at least a dozen summers at this house. It was owned by my grandma and grandpa. It was a different color back then. Browns and yellows. It was built in 1902. Those big windows at the top was grandma and grandpa's room. I only got to sleep there when I wasn't feeling well. Below the windows is the door that used to have the clear glass handle. It opened into a front porch that we didn't use. It smelled of dry paint and cobwebs and it was always warm. It smelled warm even.

You can see the solar panels on the garage to the right. They used that to heat the pool. That garage also had "the pit". The big hole in the ground that grandpa would climb down in to if he wanted to work on a car or truck.

This is the back yard. The fire pit wasn't there when we were, but this is just a stone's throw from the trees (to the right of the picture) where a bee stung my lip. I remember it vividly and I remember going inside where grandma had me drink orange juice. My lip swelled up so much I couldn't drink. Almost exactly where this fire pit is was where we put the sprinkler. My cousin and I would run naked through it (hey, we were five). If you were walk into this picture right now and keep walking straight through those trees, you would come to her house. In the very, very top left corner of this picture is my tree. See that little 'V'? I used to sit there and watch the world around me. The prairie was flat as anything and you could see for miles. You could hear for miles too so grandma didn't have to yell very loud to tell me to get out of that tree before I fell and broke my neck.

This room was an addition when I was about eight I think. The windows weren't there. The fireplace was. I remember a bird flying in through that fireplace and grandma when crazy. She didn't like birds. But to the left of the fireplace was a shelf with the tv on it. During the hot prairie summers we would cool down in this room, hot from the baking sun, and watch Gilligan's Island.

Ah. The pool. I was the very first person in this pool when it was built. It used to be a big garden, I can remember that grandpa would dig up the potatoes in the garden. One time he was digging and I reached my hand in to grab a potatoe and he almost smashed my hand with the shovel. I was reminded to keep back... but I wanted to grab the potatoe and smell it, all earthy and cold. When I first climbed in the pool there were bugs in it, and it was cold as heck. I remember the shallow end came up to my arm pits. But it was so cold you tried to walk on your tippy-toes to get the least amount of you wet. The crack in the sidewalk is still there. I stubbed my toe too many times. My cousin and I had reading marathons on this deck. I always wanted to beat her. I wanted to be better at something. Even when I was young I knew she had the better life. Her parents were still married and she lived next door to grandma and grandpa. My parents were divorced and I had to drive hours and hours to get here.

When I saw this picture I cried. This window overlooks the deck and the garage. I pressed my face to it every single night to try and see the stars and the lights from the closest town. I used to read Reader's Digest sitting at the top of the stairs when everyone else was asleep. I can still feel the cold against my cheek and taste the condensation. I remember that if you rub your hand along that wallpaper it makes a "zip" sound. And that stair rail? I got my head stuck in that rail when I was five or six.

This is the view from inside grandma and grandpa's room. Grandma has a closet to the left that had dresses and shoes that I'd never seen her wear.

This deck. This deck got HOT in the summer. And just to the right of it is the big picture window from the dining room. We used to go in and out of here, dripping from the pool to the couches with our towels.

And here's the dining room. That built in cupboard in the corner used to hold grandma and grandpa's wedding picture and china. I can still remember grandma sitting in the far chair every single morning I got up. I'd come down and she'd be sitting there. Welcoming and loving.

I think that part of the reason this is so hard for me is because we just moved grandma into one of those assisted living homes. I realized as we did it that she'd never move out. This was her one last move. The room is so small, so hot and so not enough for a woman like her.

Things of Importance

I'm involved in several different associations. Sport associations, professional associations, political associations. All are very different. They have one thread in common: they fight amongst themselves.

Today I've been thinking about the things that are really important in life. These things are not committees and associations.

I came across this story, called Four Feet Under. It's a news piece about the deaths of 14 children in 2005 who were involved with CPS in San Antonio. It struck me suddenly: What if all those people on all those committees that fight amongst themselves fought for children like these? How many could be saved?

Here's the link for the video about two of the children.

The full story about the fourteen beautiful, innocent children can be found here.

Who speaks for these kids? Who bears witness to their life?

What a 245 page manuscript looks like

The view from my desk:

The view at my feet:

Tough Enough To Wear Pink:

Our recent visitor:

Suitable breakfast attire for the Stampede:

Interview: The Writing Mother

No, I'm not interviewing myself... but Kelly Robbins of the Copywriting Institute interviewed me a while back and my interview is now up!

Find out how I cope with writing at home with my kids, and how I broke into my niche market!

IN WHICH I HAVE SOME CHEESE WITH MY WHINE

Oh I'm a little cranky today. It was one of THOSE days where nothing gets done. Where every time I ventured within a foot of my computer I would be pulled away by one of the kids.

My son is pretty easy to appease. He can pretty much be pointed in a direction and he'll run with it. My daughter, 10.5 months, not so much. Her favorite thing to do as soon as I sit at the computer is to crawl over and head for the cables beneath the desk I really wish I was organized enough to have my cables all neat and tidy and tucked. But I'm not.

I try to block her with my legs, but I can't really move since I'm usually worried about moving my chair and rolling it over a finger.

That lasts all of a minute before she objects and I pick her up and go play. Apparently she doesn't yet understand "Mommy has to transcribe three long interviews, honey!"

So why am I sitting here blogging...?

Just us chickens

I think that the midnight hour is a time seen by many writers. Especially the Writing Mothers. It's the quiet, still time of night when everyone is asleep and you are either just finishing up for the day, or just getting wound up.

Back when I worked full time and wrote "the rest of the time" I would rarely go to bed before midnight. It was just the way it was. My son was in bed, asleep by 8 pm and I would be sitting at the computer with the TV providing some background noise (and distraction).

These days I don't often see midnight as much as I used to. I get more done during the day. Normally. Today was not a normal day.

I had a photo shoot for my book, which was a blast. My model is one of the top professional horse trainers in Canada. In fact she is THE top rider. And she's gorgeous. And a sweetheart. You can't even hate her.

I battled traffic and road closures and was (unfortunately) late for our shoot, but we got it all done.

Earlier in the day a family friend had called. She's an accountant and had offered to help walk me through the hell that is QuickBooks. (Oh sure, you all SAY it's easy but you overestimate my mathability) She called and said "So, we're on for tonight, right?"

She'd forgotten to call and ask if Tuesday was ok for me. I made it ok. We walked through the process and I learned a great deal about what I can and can't do in the program. I have some data entry to get done... but other than that... I think I'll be ok.

The issues stem from the fact that there are many ways I receive money from publications. One, I send in an invoice when I submit my story and I'm paid on publication. Another is paid on acceptance. Another pays in US dollars and another pays in US dollars but on published word count only.. if they use it.

It's all straight in my head, really.

I started a new book yesterday. Jodi Picoult's Perfect Match. Boy, this is one emotionally draining book. But it's SO good. I'm not reading any more tonight as it's time for me to hit the sack, but you can bet it will be calling me in the morning!

Catching up on Blogs

Over the last couple of weeks I've woefully neglected my blogging buddies. I haven't commented, I haven't even read. How rude.

So I'm reading this morning. Here's the down low on my blogosphere:

Vicki at Standing Up For Your Child has a great post on modeling good advocate behaviour for your child. Her book Standing Up For Your Child is coming out in July and the first chapter is here.

Love has made Mir and Otto land barons.

Whitney Gaskell's new book Mommy Tracked is coming out on August 28th and you can find an excerpt here.

The Literary Chicks are signing off. Which kind of makes me grumpy, mostly because I feel like I neglected reading them and now they are gone.

Jenn has gone underground. Me thinks a) hubby found her blog or b) she is blogging somewhere else without telling me. I vote for c) both a and b.

Ann Douglas has an end of June grab bag post up. And she attended a 200th Birthday Party.

Tess Gerritsen talks about print runs and their effect on marketing your book.

Groups, Associations, Unions

It's been a few days, I know. I watch my site stats and think "I'm sorry I had nothing here for you when you stopped by!! Ack! It's like asking someone to come over and then saying - sorry, it's a bad time, I have no coffee on."

I turned 30 last weekend. I don't think I really get it yet. I'm 30! Woot!

Yeah... it's no different from the weekend before. Same book, different pile. (See, only writers will get that reference.)

I'm wondering these days about online writer's groups and associations. I'm a member of many groups and two associations. I'm considering letting my association memberships lapse because if I'm being honest, I don't really get a lot out of them that my groups don't provide.

What often happens is you end up surrounded by people who have paid a membership and expect things. And they complain when things don't come to them. Such is the nature of a membership-based organization. 10% of the people will be in full complaining mode, 10% will be actively running the association and on the board and 80% are apathetic but being tugged on by the two smaller segments.

It's tiring to be in associations, and I'm an extrovert. I've also been in all three groups above. If I'm a complainer, my feedback is "then do something about it and volunteer". If I volunteer the feedback is "you are trying to tell me how to do my job" or "you aren't doing enough". If I am in the apathetic group I'm told "you aren't qualified to complain because you don't volunteer" or "you've got your head in the sand and you need to see that the board is screwing up".

Tiring I tell ya!

Recently I thought about joining another association, a union. It's a fledgling one, about 350 to 400 members. I joined their listserv and listened in for a while to see if I could get an idea of what their flavor was.

Sour grapes with a touch of bitterness. That was their flavor.

As with almost every union I've ever come into contact with, it was "us against them and them" meaning the union against "the man" as well as "any non-union worker". Except I'm a non-union worker and I didn't like how I was being categorized. So no, I didn't send my dues in and I didn't join. They may have a future, they may not. But I don't really want to be associated with them at this time.

There is one group that I'll gladly pay my membership fee to again next year, Freelance Success. This isn't a group for newbies and I don't think they suffer fools, so you should have your books in a pile before you join. But you can get a free week's access if you go over to their site.

Currently I'm doing a Query Challenge and I'm enjoying it. The beginning of the week was a big hectic. Kindergarten ended, I had a trip to the ER to recover from... but I'm up to five queries. And I have to tell you, that's more than I've done in the last three months.

I got one tentative acceptance to a new market already!

The Last Day of Kindergarten

Oh my eyes shall not remain dry today. Today my son has his last day at Kindergarten. How did this happen. How did I have a baby boy and blink and have a child who will soon be really and truly "school aged". I've tried to keep him a child, my child, my boy. I refer to him as the Kindergartener, unwilling to think that he's really "in school".

And he is still so small. I watch him walk and he's all knobby knees and elbows. All toothy grin and dirt around his mouth. All full of life and ready to do battle at the drop of a hat with my ruler as a sword and stick for his opponent.

Yesterday his school work came home. I cried sitting at my desk and looking through his writing. I laughed at the answers. What do I like best about kindergarten? "I like to play with the sticks." What I didn't like about kindergarten. "I don't like to do work."

He grew 4 cm and 1 kg. (1.6 in and 2.2 lbs) and he gained a whole new vocabularly and skill set. I've learned a lot from his teachers. I have always spoken to my son like he's a small adult, but sometimes I still don't give him the credit that he will understand what I'm saying. Oh he does.

I was explaining that he had new cousins once I married Major Man. He said "What do you mean?" I said "Oh, cousins are ..." he interrupted, to say "I didn't ask what a cousin is, mom, I know that..." He was just wanting to know how he got them and who they were.

Can you tell a difference between the first day and the last?

Day One

Last Day

Why Write Nonfiction Instead of Fiction?

by Terry Whalin

Question:
Everyone says it is easier for an unpublished writer to break in with nonfiction vs. fiction? Is it only easier to break in with nonfiction if you have speaking engagements that will result in sales? I've always thought, "Who would buy my nonfiction? I'm a nobody without a degree, without a famous husband or friends and without an enthralling life." But everyone says it's easier to break in with nonfiction so I thought they meant that even if I'm a nobody, if I can speak to a "felt need" I can sell books.

Answer:
Here's the story about nonfiction--you don't have to have a degree or anything to write nonfiction--you do have to be able to write. And with a nonfiction book proposal--shaped in the expected format with the expected elements (something I'm teaching two extensive workshops on this year--in Florida and North Carolina), then you can break into the traditional book market--with the right idea.

With fiction, you need to be great (many aren't--just look at all the stuff in my office I need to reject this coming week if you want a visual), and it has to be a complete manuscript (so I know that you know how to end it--unless you have published a number of fiction novels). I've been writing an ebook that I plan to launch soon which will have the inside scoop about nonfiction book proposals. I've about got the cover designed and everything in place--called: Book Proposals That Sell--21 Secrets To Speed Your Success.

If you want to read a fascinating writing book, get a copy of (excuse the title--it's the real title:) Damn! Why didn't I write that? subtitled: How ordinary people are raking in $100,000.00 ...or more Writing Nonfiction Books & How You can Too! by Marc McCutcheon (Quill Driver Books) 2001.

I didn't get the zeros wrong on the subtitle--it's 100K (a hundred thousand). The book is simple reading and fascinating. Maybe it will be a huge boost to your confidence level.

Look at devotional books--nonfiction--and no degree or experience necessary other than a heart after God--and I wrote two of them which sold over 60,000 copies EACH. I wrote these books as a work made for hire--but I think I made $5,000 on each book and wrote each manuscript in a two-week period. That's $10,000 in one month that I made on those projects which is plenty from my vantage point. They are beautiful devotional books--no longer in print--Lighthouse Psalms and Love Psalms. It's not rocket science and you could do it too.

Another area to consider as a writer is collaborative nonfiction. It's where you are the writer (credentialed or not--if you can write is all that matters) and you hook up with a personality or expert to sell the book. Your co-author does all of the book promotion and has the story content for the book. You do the writing, get paid and go on to the next book. A number of writers make a substantial living every year from writing these types of books. It isn't required that they have a degree or a particular background--just the proof that you can write in a particular situation. It's all that is going to count for the publisher.

I encourage every writer who wants to have a book published to learn how to write a nonfiction book proposal then begin marketing that proposal to publishers or agents and get a nonfiction book contract. Then write the book.

__________________________________________________
W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk--as an editor and a writer. He worked as an editor for Decision and In Other Words. His magazine articles have appeared in more than 50 publications including Writer's Digest and Christianity Today. Terry has written more than 55 nonfiction books and his latest is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Teaching the Bible (Alpha Books). See more about Terry at:www.right-writing.com/whalin.html. For more than 12 years Terry has been an ECPA Gold Medallion judge in the fiction category. He has written extensively about Christian fiction and reviewed numerous fiction books in publications such as CBA Marketplace and BookPage. He is the Fiction Acquisitions Editor for Howard Publishing and creator of www.right-writing.com. Sign up for Terry's free newsletter, Right Writing News.
© 2004 W. Terry Whalin


**This post brought to you by my major deadlines!

Those Mac/PC Commercials

You know those Mac vs PC commercials that are on TV? (Where else would commercials be, really?)

I love 'em. But not because I love Macs. In fact, it's the PC guy that is endearing. The Mac guy is a smug little so-and-so and I don't like how me makes fun of the poor PC guy. The PC guy tries so hard and is so earnest.

That's why I love my PC. It's earnest. It doesn't think it's better than anyone else, it just focuses on the task and gets the job done without trying to be cool. I hate the trying to be cool.

This post brought to you by the art of procrastinating from the final editing of the book.

The Whys.

If you are a part of my Writing Mother Yahoo Group, then you may have already heard... I'm officially, officially a full time freelancer. But weren't you already? Yes and no. Yes, I freelanced full time. But I had this wonderful thing called Maternity Leave Benefits going on.

And at the end of this month, the benefits run out. So it was time to let my boss know that I wasn't coming back.

So I did.

Then he offered me a raise AND a promotion.

While I told him that I'd think about it... there really isn't anything to think about. I will still be mentally and financially better off staying at home. Truthfully, I might be a bit financially ahead if I went back, but is a couple thousand dollars a year worth the sacrifice mentally?

Today I helped my daughter stand on her own. She's ten months and can only do it for a few seconds before she's over come with giggles and she either starts to topple or she flops down on her butt.

I was here when the neighbor kid came over for the first time to ask if my son could come out to play. My son's face lit up because he's been quite leery of the boys in the neighborhood and now it seems they are buddies.

I was here to stack blocks with my daughter and giggle with my son as she smashed the blocks down with a mighty baby roar.

When my son splashed water all over the bathroom, I had enough energy left to accept it calmly and deal with it rather than get frustrated because it was another job to do before I could go write for the day. I'd been writing all day, I wasn't pressed for time.

I was worried about giving up my RRSPs and DPSP (deferred profit sharing plan) until I realized that I don't have to share my profits with anyone. And yesterday I signed up for a new RRSP with a really hot financial consultant... who happens to be my husband.

A fellow writer cautioned me about leaping into the freelance pool too soon. I understood her concerns, she'd tried to do it before. I did too... as a single mother with hardly any writing credits to my name. I wasn't in a good place emotionally as I'd just come out the "sunny" side (supposedly) of a divorce. I was too stressed to be a good writer or a good mother. Now I have five years experience with both.

And some savings... that's important. I've known this day was coming for over a year... ever since I got pregnant with my daughter I knew that I'd stay home when it was time. And I know WHY I'm staying home, deep in my heart and soul.

You are amazing.

I came across this article in one of the newsletters I receive. I almost missed it because I had convinced myself that I'm too busy this week to be reading anything. But I'm glad I did.

I heard it first at Starbucks. I ordered "calm" tea (needed it). When the barista, a cute, funky little thing, dropped in the teabag, she forgot to secure the string.

The tail landed ploink in the hot water. "I'm a little brain-dead today," she said. "But don't worry, I'm amazing." She smiled mischievously (not unlike my 2-year-old son). "A little conceited," she added, "but amazing."

Read more....

I AM FREAKING OUT

Deadline approaching, deadline approaching....

ACK!

Not just a regular deadline either... ACK!

Book Deadline!

Six weeks out!

Must get photographs organized!

I think the biggest surprise of this entire project has been the incredible amount of work that it takes to organize all the photos, line drawings and graphics.

And here you thought publishing a book was about WRITING!

Wha? It's Thursday already?

Holy Camoley, it's Thursday already!

June is a crazy month for me. It's my birthay month and I'm turning A Decade Year this time around. Hubby has been planning my birthday party and I'm really trying not to interfere. I can hardly restrain myself. I know it's a little rude to try hone in on someone else's plans, but I am a control freak...

I know that I shouldn't complain. It only took a few hints for him to get that I wanted him to plan my birthday party. I'm still scarred from my 18th birthday party... when no one showed up. Yep, me and my mom, drinking alone. Fun!

Oh I'll just say it. I'm turning 30. About half of you just thought "is that all?"

There's something about the 30 birthday. There are so many things that I said I'd be doing by the time I was 30. Truthfully, I've done quite a few of the things ... but there are those crazy ones: learn to fly a plane, travel around the world, get my scuba license... that I just never got around to doing.

But now that it's almost the summer solstice, I start thinking about how fast time is flying. By the 22nd of June the days will actually be getting shorter, not longer... and here in Calgary the summer has only just begun.

I went to the doctor today. She was investigating a suspicious lump. She doesn't think that it's anything to worry about, but suggests that I make an appointment for a couple weeks from now to poke and prod me again. It just got me thinking about when we realize that our lives are actually getting shorter and not stretching out before us into eternity.

Making, Not Finding Time to Write

I found a great article for all you Writing Mothers out there.

Time is on Our Side: Write to the Beat of Your Circadian Rhythms

How do you find time to write?

That's a question I'm often asked, not because I'm the most productive
writer in the world.

I am not.

But the question misses the mark. It's not about finding time to write, but making it. For inspiration, here are some ways that busy people make time to pursue writing dreams that may lie outside their day jobs or family lives.

Read on...

All moved!

Sorry for the delay in posting my friendly internets, I was moving! It was a little stressful and not nearly as organized as our last move. I throw my hands up because I had no part in this move. Yes I had a temper tantrum and told the family that THEY could plan the dern thing if they didn't want to listen to me. I feel vindicated. Disorganized and chaotic, but vindicated. "Ha, I won that argument!" she said from behind the pile of boxes.

How disorganized am I? Check out my new office:

It doubles as the play area for the kids. And apparently a storage spot for my saddle over there in the corner!

One thing that's great about this place is that the main floor is all one floor. There are no stairs at the entry way and I can close the door to downstairs. My daughter isn't ready to climb up the stairs yet, but when she is, a baby gate will work nicely. But for now, she can do her crawl/scoot thing all over the office, dining room and kitchen.

Off to the left side of the picture are the sliding doors to outside. There's a small yard that barely contains all the outside toys.

I got quite overwhelmed in the last week with moving and family stresses. I have been waking up in the middle of the night with my jaw clenched. It doesn't help that my daughter has been waking up 3-4 times a night either. What's up with that?! I considered going for a nap this morning while she did, but I really don't want to fall further behind in my writing.

So, without further delay... I'm off to write. Er, check email... er... have more coffee.

A Third!

I got an idea for a third book proposal! Yippeee!

I used to be one of those writers who wondered how other writers got so many ideas. I mean really, where did they come from? Out of thin air? How can one incident spur on an entire novel?

My first book (the one that is sold and being written) came from a conversation with a friend about our favourite books and we realized that there was a hole. I decided to fill it.

The second idea came up in a conversation with my agent.

The third came today whiel I was bouncing my daughter on my knee and singing a song. One line struck me and I thought "gee, that would look good on a shirt." Driving later in the day I realized that you could write a whole book on the topic.

Or *I* could write a whole book on the topic! YAY for ideas!

Cultivating ideas takes work, just like cultivating a garden. I keep a running list of every single idea that pops into my head. I have a notepad right beside me and when an idea comes, I write it down. By doing this I've begun to take note of how good ideas sound, what elements they need, how I could tweak an idea and when to just let one go.

Sometimes it's the ones you let go that come back later, stronger and smarter. They just need to stew a little on the back burner.

Howzit going?

Day two of following the "Discipline Without Distress" thingy... and things are going well. Bed time was a little long, but it always is.

"I just need to come out to find Wolverine."

"I just need to come out to find a guy to fight Wolverine."

"I just need to come out to find water cause I'm thirsty cause I'm fighting with Wolverine."

I cannot wait until we move next week. No more having to put the Kindergartener to bed in MY room so he won't wake the baby in the crib. Woohoo!

Otherwise, I'm feeling very happy, hopeful and optimistic today! Usually when this happens I try to figure out WHY I'm feeling so happy, hopeful and optimistic. I want to REPLICATE it. But I am way, way too introspective and somedays you just need to ENJOY the feelings!

There's a "waiting for the other shoe to drop" feeling that you get when good things are happening. Like, "wait, I'm happy. What's going to go WRONG?"

The problem with this is that when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So any little mis-step in the day looks like it's that BIG WRONG SHOE headed for you.