Quick Update

It's been a long time since I updated you all on my "blogging" goals. Well, I must say I am more encouraged right now than I have been in a while.

Bible Study - I have signed on to co-lead a study at my PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) here at Fort Carson.  I've also spent some time on my own doing a word study on "faith" which is my theme for 2012.  A couple weeks ago, God gave me a beautiful picture with birds flying outside my window which is somehow related to my faith venture.  It has intrigued me so much, I think on it often which draws me into His presence throughout my days.

Physical Fitness - Some very good news here.  I have a neighbor who, like me, is carrying a lot of weight over a body which still remembers the good, old days when we were young, athletic, and could eat anything we wanted and not gain because we were working so hard.  She has a bunch of exercise equipment in her home and a background in gymnastics and weight lifting.  I call her my personal torturer...uh, trainer.  Since I already confessed how much I hate going to a gym, you know what a blessing it is to be in a private setting with someone who knows how to push me, encourage me, and not let me slack off because she knows where I live! I just finished two weeks with her.  My arms may never be the same!

Writing - I am over half-way through with my current novel.  This past week, I wrote a scene I particularly love.  I took it to my critiquing group and they all felt "in the moment" with my poor hero. What an encouragement!  I also figured out a way to help fix my first few pages.  There are no shortcuts to learning this craft, so these little bits of progress are cause for celebration.

Creative Cards - Somewhere through haunting blogs of truly talented people and the Splitcoast Stampers website, I have picked up a few tricks and feel like my cards have improved quite a bit.  What fun to share them with you all.  I will be hosting a CTMH party in my home soon.  Hopefully that gives me enough hostess credit to purchase a boatload of new stuff to continue to share.  I also have a friend to gave me a bunch of Stampin' Up! supplies, and I recently won a $25 gift certificate to Our Daily Bread Designs, so I'll be branching out some.  FUN!

Thanks for sharing this journey with me.  Writing is a solitary profession, so your kind comments mean a great deal.

Until next time,
Becca

A Little Bit of This and That

Hello Friends.  I've been off in LaLa Land for the past several weeks, but I'm back to work now and have lots to report.

First: R&R with my hubby was fabulous. We spent an amazing week in the Olympic Peninsula at a lovely cabin in Grapeview. If you are ever in need of a truly magical spot on God's green earth, look up "One Sweet Retreat" on VRBO.com. More pictures are posted in an earlier blog, but here's one of our last morning where the fog rolled in and it felt like we were the only two people on earth.

Second: Back to work on my novel. I spent quite a bit of time hashing out plot lines while on vacation, and I finally wrote the first five pages late Wednesday night. I took them to my crit group yesterday, and they passed the test. Woo hoo. Five pages down, 300 to go!

Third: Read a couple books over the past few days which I would like to share with you. "Secrets" by Kristen Heitzman was truly great. Takes you on the full emotional journey except at the very end where it feels like she was bumping up against a word count and needed to conclude. It's the first of a three book set, and I'm anxious to read the other two now. I also read Karen Witemeyer's new release "To Win Her Heart". I stayed up all night reading it. It's a retelling of the Prodigal Son story set in the 1800's in a small town in Texas. I was challenged by the perspective of her "older brother" character, Eden, who must overcome the fear of ruining her reputation by loving people outside her Christian circle. It did not take me on the full emotional journey, though, and I found the reactions of certain characters (Eden's parents in particular) unbelievable. The hero has a speech impediment, and it was quite impressive how he went through the entire book without saying words with the "s" sound except at strategic moments (and one place where the author/editor didn't catch it -- but I won't tell you where -- you'll have to read the story and see if you can find it yourself.)

Fourth: It's been a long time since I entered any challenges. My son-in-law's birthday is coming up. I made this card for him before I remembered he is highly allergic to horses. Oh dear! I think I'd better put it in the pile and make him something else. Still, it works as an entry in the the challenges over at Mojo Monday #187 and Can You Say Addicted to Stamps - Forgotten Friday.

Fifth: Got on the scale after coming home. Yeah. Hmmm. The good news is I've begun a daily food diary and am e-mailing it to a friend for accountability.

Sixth (and final): I have been spending time with God in fits and starts. The task of writing a novel worthy of His calling overwhelms me...and it is driving me to my knees, which is where any Christian endeavor should begin. And end. And spend the in-between time. Years ago, I got over feeling guilty if every day didn't start with a long Bible study and prayer time. Instead, I asked God to give me the desire--out of pure love for Him--to know Him. What an answer to prayer to be called to write (regardless of whether I ever get published or not) and have it send me straight to Him in order to accomplish it. For those of you who pray, I would ask you to remember me, and all authors wanting to honor God, when you pray.

Until next time,
Becca

I Won! I Won! I Won!

Has God ever poured so much blessing over your life it filled you up and leaked out your eyes?

Today was the Peak Writing Conference here in Colorado Springs.  Our speaker, Karen Ball, agreed to do a fund raiser.  Anyone could enter a up to a 100 word paragraph and she would critique the first two chapters of their WIP (work in progress). 

I WON!!!

When they started reading the winning entry, I knew right away it was mine.  I raised my hands in the air like a referee signaling a touchdown.  And then, it took me five minutes to stop shaking.  Here's my winning entry:

Bella Ingersol counted ceiling tiles wondering who her lawyers would sue for this. Halston? The tiger trainer? The African government? Hitler?

Could she sue a dead man?

She touched the gauze strips taped to her neck and wrapped around her head. She ought to find a mirror, but Arty forbade it. Before her transfer from ICU, he authorized a private wing for her use and had all mirrors removed.

If she stepped close to the windows or off her wing, pictures would be splashed across every news channel within an hour.

Not exactly how she wanted to find out.

The funny part about this is I write mostly historical fiction, but when I took my contest entries to my critiquing group, the openings of two contemporary novels are what they thought worked best.  This threw me into a bit of an author identity crisis...which sent me to my friends house for a chat...which led to me getting a spot at the writing conference at the end of this month where I get to show my novel to two more editors.
 
If I ever get a chance to catch my breath, I will use every last bit of oxygen to praise my God.
 
Until next time,
Becca

When Dream Becomes (more of) a Reality

For many, many years, I dreamed of writing a novel which would actually be catalogued by the Library of Congress and published without me having to pay for it.  At the end of this month, I am heading to a writer's conference with 20 "real authors" and two "real editors" where I will have the chance to present my current WIP (that's "work in progress" for all you non-writer types..ahem. I'll bring my nose back down from the snooty position now.)

This opportunity is a direct result of moving to Colorado Springs, getting involved with a Chaplain Spouses group, opening my mouth to say, "I'm working on a novel" (which is a pretty scary thing to admit outside the walls of my shower), and then jumping in with both feet.  God is blessing me with friends to guide and cheer me on, critics to lovingly say, "This whole thing isn't going to work here," and the freedom to run off for weeks at a time to attend conferences.

For twenty-six years, this dream has been on hold while I focused on raising my children and caring for my in-laws.  It never went away.  I continued to write novels which will likely never see anything but the inside of my laptop, but I kept writing...and dreaming.  I even made "writing for publication" one of my goals when I started this blog a year ago.  It was the first step.  The first time I let my passion to write outside the confines of my basement.  I have no regrets about using all my time and talent to raise my kids.  They are incredible human beings.  But I do wonder what would have happened if I let my heart's desire breath a little during those years.

I have no idea where this will end.  But what a ride!  And what an incredible God I serve...the giver of every good gift!

Until next time,
Becca

P.S.  One of those new friends took the profile picture now gracing this blog.  It will be used for my "author" business cards.  Tee Hee!!

Birthday Gifts

Today is my birthday, and I decided to count the many gifts I have in my life.  To list them all would take too long, but here are some of the highlights:

• A husband who adores me and I respect more than any other person on this earth
• Two amazing children who have grown into adulthood with their faith in tact
• A son-in-law who loves my beautiful daughter as she deserves to be loved
• Born to a couple who lived their faith every day not just on Sundays
• Parents who are still married after 52 years; In-laws who are still married after 61 years
• Not just siblings I love but sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law I love, too
• A sister who is my best friend and a best friend who is my sister
• Army wives who have adopted me into their loving circle
• A church family in three different states and the many individuals I still call friends despite the geographical distance
• Facebook for helping me keep in closer touch with friends
• Health
• Creativity
• A GOD WHO LOVES ME PERSONALLY...ME!

There are no temporal gifts which can compare to these.  In honor of the last two, it is my great joy to announce I have taken a significant step toward publication of my novel.  Today, I finished the last of the edits, formatted it, and e-mailed it to one of those Army wives I'm so grateful to know who just happens to have contacts with a local publisher where she used to work as an editor's assistant.  This book may never get to your local Christian book store, but at least it's off my laptop and into the big, bad publishing world...even if it is just a baby step.

Happy Birthday to Me!
Becca

Good News; Bad News

Wow!  Long time, no see blogger friends.  Some of you may be wondering if I have left the blog world entirely...no, I haven't.  The reasons I've not been on lately are a combination of good news and bad news.

Good News:  I went to a meeting of the Colorado Springs Area Christian Fiction Writer's group.  I have also joined a critiquing group.  And more to the point, I have started book two of my trilogy following one family's journey through forgiveness, choices, and reconciliation.  My extra writing time has now actually been taken up by this rather than my blog.  My first book is as done as I can get it, so it's now in the hands of another writer and will be critiqued in preparation for publication in the next few months.  I am also registered for a writing workshop in November.  Since this has been a goal of mine for years and years, it is terribly exciting and nerve wracking to actually start doing more than just creating stories in a vacuum.

Bad News:  I have plumbing problems and loan financing problems.  It is incredible how much we take running water for granted.  We have a collapsed pipe and, until permits are in place to dig up the old and replace with new, I am taking baths instead of showers so I can let the water out about two gallons at a time.  I can't wash clothes unless I do the same kind of thing...stop the washer every few seconds as it drains and let it sit for an hour until the water level drops.  On the loan front, hmmm.  I guess the only thing I can say is I have about 6 inches of paperwork; around 50 e-mails, and a couple dozen phone calls into this thing.  I am, for the first time in my life, looking for a lawyer to see if we can sue this group because of their unscrupulous behavior for adding fees and changing settlement amounts multiple times.

And, more good news, now that all our husbands are deployed, many of us are making efforts to do things like lunch dates, days out, weekend trips, Bible studies, and evening get togethers.

I have not forsaken the craft world, either.  I'm just going through all of my overwhelming supplies to get ready for a "Trash to Treasure" sale at a local stamping store.  I'm busy bagging, tagging and pricing.  I've "discovered" a few things!!

That's why blogging has been sporadic, and I'm not sure much will change until the loan and plumbing issues stop taking up so much time.  I hope you will bear with me!

Until next time,
Becca

Accountability Update

I really, really would rather keep things to myself sometimes.  Because the truth is I'm struggling these past few weeks with keeping up even one of my four goals.  I'm making excuses, starting to eat things I shouldn't, and generally not devoting myself to being serious about any of this.

And now I get to tell you all about what a miserable failure I am.  Such a joy!

I went back and read all my entries from the time this blog started and was convicted by my own words - which was the point of starting this blog in the first place.  In some ways it stinks, because no one likes being convicted, but in other ways it's quite good, because who can I blame but myself.

I don't really know how to "start over" rather than to brush off the dust from where I've fallen and continue to walk forward one step at a time.  I can't even think about one full day at a time...just one more step...the next right thing.

Until next time,
Becca

The Next Big Thing

I have been wrestling with this for a few days and it will not let me go...which stinks.  I am being challenged to add bread and pasta to my list of "not to be eaten again" things.  I don't want to...really, really don't want to, but when God speaks it's best to listen.

I can just hear someone out there saying, "Don't try to tell me God is actually talking to you about this."  Well...yeah.  He is.  I can tell by the way it will not go away.  When God speaks my choice is obedience or disobedience. 

For those prayer warriors out there, add  me to your list please.  This is not going to be easy, but I'm going to choose obedience.  And I'm probably going to be a bear to live with so you might add Nathan to your list, too.

Until next time,
Becca

Writing, writing, writing

I've spent the entire day working on a novel...and I got more than 15 pages written.  I find I either write on the blog or write for publication...so I thought I'd better work on the stuff I want to eventually publish for a bit.

So...this is my quick accountability update:

Exercise:  not so good this past week, but great the week before.  Both the treadmill and bike are working, however, so that makes it easier to do.
Food: have not had any sugar since committing to cutting it out of my diet...pretty proud of that!
Writing: way too much time on the blog, not enough time on the publishable stuff.
Creative Inspiration: been pretty good but I feel way behind on my scrapbook pages and some cards that need to go out.  Plus, my laptop is on the fritz, and since it has all my inspirational ideas on it, I'm pouting and not just sitting down to create.
Bible Study:  spotty on actual Bible reading because my Women's Group is working through a pretty intense book.

Tried to add a link that showed a counter of how many people have stopped by this blog.  It feels like I'm writing into a complete void, so I was hoping to get an idea of how many pop in to read even if no comments are left.  (My hubby tried to comment and said it was way too much trouble!)  If you know how to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you once in a while.

Until next time,
Becca

Accountability Update

Usually deals don't work with me, but I think I might have just found one that will.  I have someone very dear to me who is involved in something really unhealthy so I made a deal...I'll quit sugar and my loved one's bad habit stops, too.  I'm currently working on day 4 without refined sugar.  It's amazing what proper motivation will do for you.  I really don't want my loved one reverting so I'm willing to do what I should have done for myself years ago.  Except I know it will only hold so long.

Why is it addictions are so impossible to avoid and nearly impossible to break? 

I am reading a book called "Desiring God" by John Piper.  His premise is we will, at all costs, seek after pleasure but the greatest enjoyment to be found is in God.  He contends we should seek happiness in God, enjoyment in His presence, and complete fulfillment in Him.  In other words, we replace the fleeting pleasure we find in our addictions with true pleasure in God.  I'm still wrapping my head around Piper's assertions, but I've only read the intro and first chapter.  Hopefully, by the time I'm done with his book, I'll have a better grip on this.

I don't know about you, but I've failed so many times at trying to break my unhealthy habits, I'm afraid to even try again.  I am willing to abide by this deal I made to stop eating sugar, but in the long run, I need to find a way to replace the happiness and fullness I find in food (a pleasure which lasts only as long as I'm in the midst of it and is almost immediately followed by guilt) with a pleasure in God which has no regrets in the aftermath. 

I can live with giving up one pleasure for a greater one. 

I can live with that long term.

Until next time,
Becca

Week One

Time for an accountability update. 

Bible Study:  check!!!
Physical fitness and nutrition:  three exercise sessions this week, one day of eating which was out of control, but not bad overall
Writing:  pretty darn good, if I do say so myself, got at least two hours in every day but one with one day being over four hours
Something creative and fun:  Hmm...this hasn't seemed to be a problem  :)

My son, God bless him, found several of my old novels on an ancient computer and restored them for me.  They are in WordPerfect rather than Word, so it's going to be a pain in the neck to reformat them, but I found some stuff I'd forgotten all about over the years.  It's been kindof fun to get reacquainted with the figments of my imagination.

I am finding the combination of regular Bible study and writing is making me more in tune to themes and nuggets of truth I come across during the day.  I hope you have been encouraged or challenged by some of last week's posts.

Until next time,
Becca

Four Little Phrases

I had a discussion a couple days ago with my son. I followed it up today with another chat with my husband. And I'm finally going to do something my daughter has been after me about for a long time.

To tell the truth, it's things I've needed to do for myself and have been putting off for one reason or another for years.

How do you like that lead in?

I am creating this blog as my "accountability partner" in cyberspace. You are welcome to follow along as I learn to be all God has created me to be. My intention is to set some goals and publish my results. That's all. You are welcome to follow along, comment, send words of encouragement, leave advice, or simply laugh at me.

Here are my goals:

1. To regularly spend time with God through Bible study.
2. To become physically fit through exercise and nutrition.
3. To write for at least two hours a day with a goal of four hours a day, and to continue to pursue publication of my novels.
4. To do something fun and creative everyday.

So...there it is. My life, my goals, and my struggles all outlined in four little phrases.

Here we go!

Becca