Hey there, party people!

I've been sharing some of my ways of dealing with fear, ideas that don't seem all that fantastic at first and inner critics at a few other sites.

Here are zee links:

Fear can be your friend

The novel I almost didn't write

Gagging your inner critic

Today I attended a workshop by the incredible Bob Mayer. Although a lot of the content covered the basics of novel writing, he made me realize why my current manuscript had me feeling blocked.

Of course, having my brain explode a few times in a single day makes me want to curl up for a nap instead of reworking the concept, the characters, the plot and basically everything else. Le sigh.

The preparations for the Romance Writers of America National Conference are in full swing. Awards ceremony dress? Check. Updated business cards? Check. Tentative schedule planned? Check. Excited yet random jumpy-claps? Double check!

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a novel I have to rescue from mediocre motivation and bad dance sequences. ;)

It's been a crazy time for me. On one hand, I'm still verra, verra excited to be a Golden Heart® finalist, and on the other, life goes on. Laundry still needs doing, work needs to get done and I've got to get some serious revisions done on my current work in progress or I'm going to get really, really cranky.

While all this is going on, I took a quick trip out to visit a good friends and their sons. One is ten months and the other is eight. As a woman with five houseplants and a cat, I don't realize how truly busy life can be with mouths to feed, diapers to change and interesting questions to answer.

During my visit, I sat back and absorbed what my friends most likely consider normal life. Me? I found everything fascinatingly overwhelming. Like how a smile can change the world. Or how an eight-year-old boy knows way more about acceptance than I ever will.

Instead of worrying about what to wear, we put on comfy grub clothes and hung out in the yard. Instead of worrying about what to eat, we grabbed some leftovers from the fridge and made a wrap buffet. We laughed, shared opinions and stories, and didn't worry too much about anything.

We all need to do more of that.

How about you? How do you stay in the moment?

Labels: adventures, ideas

Last night, while the DH and I were watching a documentary about plane crashes (hey, we know how to party!), we saw an ad for the season finale of Amish Mafia.

It looked like Levi was ready to whomp John for holding buggy races without his permission. And another guy, Merlin, is preparing to move in on Levi's territory. I even spotted an Amish woman without a bonnet on!

All I could think was: this is a lot like a plane crash documentary, except with some German words thrown in. ;)

I guess every group has its bad apples. Even if they start out as organic.

Need to know more about the show? Here's the link: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/amish-mafia/about-the-show/about-the-show.htm

Labels: adventures, fun

This has been an incredibly crazy week for me. Allow me to explain:

Monday
I finally finished my current manuscript, Deflowered, a twist on Beauty and the Beast, after taking a couple wrong turns and rewriting the ending three times. When I sent out an email to my brainstorming group saying it was done, I had tears in my eyes.

Tuesday
My phone rang at 9:30 or so, and I thought it was the roofing company that was coming to work on my house the next day. It wasn't. A lovely woman from the Romance Writers of America® called to let me know that the manuscript I'd entered, Camp Awakening, was a 2013 Golden Heart® finalist in the Young Adult category.

I started to cry on the phone. I couldn't conjugate verbs. I mean, I entered, but I didn't expect to be a finalist. For those of you not affiliated with RWA, the Golden Heart is kind of like the Oscars for unpublished romance manuscripts.

I don't remember much else from the conversation except the overwhelming urge to scream, throw up and jump for joy simultaneously.

As soon as I hung up the phone I called my main motivator and BFF, Michelle Rowen, but all I could do was sob. I think she thought I might have been in some sort of diabetic situation until I said, "They called."

Then we both freaked out.

Wednesday
Still in a daze, I received approximately a gazillion emails while roofers worked on my house and cause my internet connection to be spotty at best. Somehow this does not take the smile off my face.

Thursday
Even without the whole being a finalist thing, I knew this was going to be an awesome week because I had tickets to see The Price is Right LIVE -- a stage show that brings the PiR experience to, you guessed it, the stage.

Four of us went. I was the only one who put my name into the draw to be a contestant and was rewarded with my very own price-tag shaped name tag. I still have it!

Despite crossing my fingers, toes, eyes and bra straps, my name wasn't called. But that was okay, I was still a 2013 Golden Heart finalist!

What's next?
Let's see. Lose ten pounds. Find just the right outfit to wear for the awards ceremony, which takes place at the RWA National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on July 20. And maybe, just maybe, get some more writing done!

Labels: adventures, contests, goals, RWA, writing