Keeping it together

   For our area it is the first day of school. I am trying to control my emotions of my oldest going off for his first day of kindergarten. It is crazy how fast the kids grow up. He is my crazy little man. He wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up. In fact he has wanted to be that since he was 2. I was so amazed that my 2 year-old could say that big word. Now 3 years later I just sent him off to his first school. Well, I sent him off at 7:30 this morning, but I am now just getting time to get on here.

   I can say not even taking him to the pre-k program he was in last year helped me prepare for today. My house is quiet without him here. My kids aren't fighting of whatever toy or spot they want. The only one really making noise is my husband.

   There is my oldest pride and joy on his way to school. I am grateful to have him in my life every day. He is one of the reasons I want to be successful with what i have written to share with everyone. I hope you all like it as much as I do once I'm finished editing and get it published.

  Normally I wouldn't share pictures of my kids, but this is a special day for me. My emotion are running in overdrive that he is gone. Plus, I there are thousands of parents out there that either did, are today, or will be next week, sending their babies off to their first day of school whether it would be their first of kindergarten or whatever grade.

   So all the fellow parents out there sending you babies off to first day of school, good luck with your emotions today. I know I'm not having a good time with mine. Hopefully tomorrow is better.

Thanks you!!!

Excited to announce ...

  I am excited to announce that I finally finished writing my first book. It may not be my first one I have actually completed, but it is the first one I am completely satisfied with. I obviously have a lot of editing to do. It might be a few weeks until I'm completely ready to decide what I want to do with it. I know I want it published, and be out there for anyone who wants to read it. I just don't know if I want to self-publish and get it out there faster, or start sending it to Lit agents and find someone out there that will do all the other work for me so I can concentrate on the next chapter in the Jessie Ramsey's life.

  I have plenty to decide and plenty of time to decide. I have already created accounts with 2 different self-publishing sites. If I decide on going that way I have to decide which one to use. There is also the cover for each book. I have to figure out how I am going to accomplish it. I know what I want, just not how to go about doing it.

  As much as i would like to say I would be submitting it within the week to be approved and published for everyone to purchase and enjoy, I can't say that just yet. I have plenty to get done yet. Between editing, figuring out how to get the cover I really want, and figure out which way to publish, i have a lot to do as well as work on the next book in her journey.

 I will keep you updated on the progress on The Dark of Night as it is edited and how I go about deciding how to get it from just being on my computer to publishing.I can officially say I that i can keep up updated on the second book. So watch for post on The Fire of Night as well.

  I will warn you now I don't know how much I will get done with any of the stuff this week. For the school district we live in it is starting school and it is my son's very first day. Also, it is the start of AYSO Fall soccer season and my son is also into that. I know we start this week, just don't exactly what day. My daughter also has her play groups for her home based preschool to go to.

  While I live my crazy busy life, I will also be editing, writing and thinking. I will keep you posted

Thank you for reading and to keep posted with each new post remember to follow my blog. Have any questions, comment and just have something to say leave it in the comment box or want to keep it personal just use the contact form.

Thank you!!!

I can't believe it!

  I sat down to write some more today and realized that I am almost finished with the first part of the story of my character. After thinking about it for a few minutes I came to the conclusion that I have to edit some things at the beginning and even though it shows I am on chapter 14 right at this moment it will end up being more than that anyway.

   The fact is that the first part of story is about to end, and it did so without me realizing it. Not to worry her journey isn't over yet. I have to keep telling myself that. I have fallen in love with my own character, even if she is a female. I think all author love the characters they create, but this one she has been a favorite for as long as I could remember. always pushing to get out, but for a long time I pushed her down. For a long time I didn't want to let her out.

   I started reading this book that somehow made its way into my possession when we moved into our own place called Getting Published For Dummy's, of all the books, that lead me to wanting to write after close to 10 years after putting it everything into the back of my mind. That is the kind of thing that can happen if you don't have the support and appraisal that you hope for when you are only 17 or 18.

  That is why I took one year off school between high school and college and then went back. That is why even though I love children, and working with them, it just wasn't my passion. That is why I quit school after 2 semesters of school. Could be one of the reasons that any job I worked never made me happy. Why I can't seem to be too excited when I go for interviews to go back to work 5 years after having my first baby and 2 years after my second baby.

  Now, that I finally let my character tell her story, I feel free, well, sort of since she isn't done telling her story yet. I can't wait to the next part of the journey with her on the road she is walking down. I can only hope that people like her as much as I do.

   I think I'm overly happy that I will be done writing it long before I had planned. We still have a few months until Thanksgiving and maybe that means it can all be available before then and it would make a wonderful Christmas present. Fingers crossed.

   I know now i have to figure out how to get the cover I really want for this book. I don't have a good photoshop program to get what it is I'm looking for. I will have to figure it all out. I will let everyone know when it is available to purchase, and where you can purchase it.

  I want to thank all of you for reading and keeping up-to-date with progress and my rambling. Life may be crazy at this moment with school starting and finally hearing from my son's soccer coach and we should be starting that next week as well.

  So once again I thank you for reading. Remember if you haven't done so already follow the blog to keep better updated on everything. If you have any questions, comments or whatever leave them in the comment box or feel free to email me if you don't want the world to know whatever is on your mind.


Thank you!!

Crazy writing

   I have been writing like mad these last couple of weeks. I can officially say I am past halfway of being done with the first part of my characters story. I am pretty happy with it so far. I feel pretty good about hitting my goal of having it finish by Thanksgiving, and maybe edited by Christmas. Soon after I hope to have it ready for everyone to purchase.

   I think my plan for now is to self-publish it and hope that maybe some day it can be published through a big name publisher. Right now I'm trying to get through the last few chapters for this book and figure out how to accomplish the cover for my book that I want.

   Maybe once I'm done with my book and have everything edited and ready to go, maybe, just maybe I will give you all an exert out of it. I plan on trying to get it to e-book and hopefully available for the kindle and any other type of e-reader out there.

   Other than crazy writing getting done, I have been spending as much time with both of kids. My oldest goes off to kindergarten on Wednesday! He is so excited. I'm excited, but sad. We went to a close amusement park yesterday and spent the day with my parents chasing after the kids as they rode rides all day and watch a band that was there to play. Well, we kind of watch them twice. I wanted to watch them for their final show of the night, but it got cancelled due to a thunderstorm.

  As always I want to that you for taking the time to live my life with me. I hope to eventually give you something I'm very proud of. I have been work forever on this, or so it seems. I want to get this out there, only because I have looked constantly, like I did today while I finished school shopping, for a Young Adult or Teen book about dealing with really tough situations, like death for one. As hard as it is for an adult to deal with things like death or other difficult situation it can be even harder for teens even young kids to deal with.

  I want them to have a story that maybe they can kind of relate to if not completely relate to, like going through something difficult even if it isn't death. I also will have ways to get help when it is really and truly needed.

  Thank you so much for keeping up-to-date. If you haven't done so and don't want to wait to see an update on Twitter in one of my tweets, then be sure to subscribe to get updates. Remember if you like what you read and know someone who would like this as well then feel free to share with whoever you would like! Thank you once again!

My 30 day challenge

  So normally I don't like challenges, but I have come across the 30 challenge for squats. For those who don't know it is a workout. Because I always feel weird doing squats I have decided to turn the 30 Day Squat Challenge into a 30 Day Curl-up Challenge. I have been wanting to lose weight since having my first child. When my son was 2 I started to lose some of the baby weight from having him. I lost 13 lbs, almost before I got pregnant with the youngest. Now I'm working on losing the belly along with writing my book and reading other works. Not something that's easy even if you eat healthy food.
  I have noticed anyone, well anyone I know that is, that decides to take a supplement to help them lose weight forgets that you no matter how long you take them if you don't eat healthy and exercise you won't lose much weight. It makes me want to throw something at their heads when I ask what they are doing to help them lose weight and they say they are using some green tea extract or whatever, but not doing anything else. I see what they are eating, but they insist that it doesn't matter the stuff helps them lose a lot of weight.
   I don't buy it. I believe in working hard for something. If you want to get something done then you need to work hard to accomplish it, whether it be losing weight or working on a project.

   For my hard work I'm going to do the same thing they do with the 30 Day squat Challenge but with curl-ups or sit-ups. I'm using that for my guide to hopefully lose the baby belly. It has been 2 years since I had my baby girl, and I have tried other things, but haven't really stuck with. I have done measurements on my ab region so I think on day 15 I will measure again and see if I have tightened up the ab muscles any. That's all I really want. I wouldn't mind dropping a few pant sizes either. I only really need to lose 20lbs to be where I should be for a good weight for my height and age.

  If anyone is up for the challenge with me leave me a comment. Let me know how you progress through it. I will keep you up-to-date with my progress with this small journey, plus my progress with the book. It is nearing the end of August which means I only have a September, October, and most of November to get it done if I want to reach my goal of having it done. That is why I have been working like mad to getting work done on it. That is another story.

Don't forget if you want to take this challenge with me let me know when you start and how you progress. Have a lovely day readers! Don't forget to follow the blog to keep up-to-date with everything posted.

Checking out a self-publishing site.

So I was at a birthday party for my son's friend from his Pre-k program he was in last year. One of the other mom's knows an author who self-publishes with two different sites. If you would like to get published, and want to do the work yourself and not pay anyone then check out Createspace and Lulu to get started

Here is a picture of what I have been working. I have been playing around with one of the templates I downloaded from Lulu. It is so fun to be able to make any and all decisions regarding my own work. Now it will be the part on how to make the cover that i have dreamed about since I started writing this. i know what I want, just have to figure out how to accomplish it when I go to publish!

I am very excited to be able to share this with every out there. I will be glad when this one is finished and i start on the next one for you. I am working very hard to get it done!!! Look out "The Dark of Night" will be coming soon! Good luck to those who wish to join this profession. Good luck with you ventures in creating your work and getting everything you need to say out!

Craziness

   Okay, so as you can see I post sporadically. Mainly, I post when I feel there might be something important for you readers to read. Tonight though, I feel like I just have to get out there how crazy life feels. I am big on family. I love my little family, plus all the rest, even if I don't like them sometimes.

   Of course as I type this out I get distracted by music. Oh, music you second love to my writing. Anything, all music is awesome. For writing though, I have to sit down and play with the stations on http://www.pandora.com/ to find the the right mood of music. Mostly for what I'm working at the moment it requires desperate, depressing music, so I turn to Coldplay station. Except for today. I got around about 2,000 words done from Today's hits station. It might have been more if I hadn't had to chase after my two lovely children or my pain in the behind dog. I can say taking it all outside and just sitting there helped a lot.

  So if you are aspiring writer and need something to help, try music. Whether it be using your iPod, mp3 player, or something from the internet. It crazy how songs can inspire the mood of your characters and the mood of the scene.

  Think we have anything in common? I like to read, like a lot. I read mostly romance. Lots of Nora Roberts, and such. Recently, I have come to love erotic romance, never thought I would, but low-and-behold I do. Authors like E. L. James, Sylvia Day, to name some. Okay, so they are the only one so far that I read. I also dig a little into young adult, which is how I kind of gotten started in it. I also like some tween works as well. I was really big on The Babysitter Club Books. I have read most. In fact I was only two-years-old at the time the first book was released. Of course I was in middle school before I actually read them, curtsy of one of my friends who had most of the collection. Thanks to her I now look for them when I'm out at used stores and pick them up, they are for my daughter to read when she is old enough, and hey, I still would read them too. I haven't read them all yet.

   Apart from reading I have a love for music. I, at one point wanted to go into that profession, but after a while it was no longer a goal for me. I can't say that in this point in my life I have a favorite singer/band, but I do like anywhere from soloist like Bruno Mars to bands like Imagine Dragons, also I venture into Country music and a little Blues. Give me some 50s and 60s music any day and I would be happy. I'm a big Elvis fan. So much so that I did my senior project on him. We didn't do community project at our school, at least not when I was there, for that project for us to graduate.

   I can't say I am a foodie. Actually, up until a few years ago, I only ate things I knew I already liked. Now I would be willing to try almost anything. Other than that, I like pizza, I love Pizza Hut, mainly I love anything that I don't have to cook, Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury at the moment to eat out that much. Once in a while we get to, but then it is places like Pizza Hut, Burger King, or KFC. Ewwww! To McDonald's, sorry but I can't say I like that place. I can't stand it. I only stop there once in a while for the sake of my son, who loves the place.

  Well, I think that is good as any for you to know my crazy life a little more. If you want to stay up-to-date when I post feel free to follow me by email or whichever. Share with your friends as well. I hope everyone out there is making their dreams come true. Remember always work hard and you can accomplish the things you want. Also, enjoy life!

A little ranting tonight.

   With this headache/migraine that I have tonight, I don't think I will accomplish much. I'm just glad to be back on to where I want to be. Of everything I have read, it isn't just new writers that goes through this. Even famous author apparently go through this. I guess as of right now I'm glad I'm not famous or on a deadline which most author have once they have contracts to write books.

   Right now I'm a little bit focused on getting my son to his first day of kindergarten and dealing with soccer, which hopefully starts next week for practices anyway. I have also been dealing with seasonal allergies and asthma attacks that come along with those allergies.

   I think tonight I will head to bed an hour earlier than I normally do. Have to be up early so hubby can go to bed by 9 a.m. if he doesn't sleep tonight that is, so he gets enough sleep for work tomorrow night. Hate that the hubby works rotating shifts and every month it changes. One month he works nights, that's this month and next month he will go back to days for a month. Crappy schedule, plus he also is working every Saturday he has off this month. He does it all to support his family.

   I have to say that it was awful when he got laid off in June with the rest of the company, which including at least 3 plants in our area, 2 close by not even 5 minutes away from our home, and the other was maybe a good hour away. All this without warning. The plant my husband worked at had maybe an hour to get their personal belongs and had to get out. My husband had called in sick that day. They it has been 2 months and none have yet to receive their last pay.
   Luckily, though, my husband was back to work within three weeks of all this happening. A good job with good benefits, but crappy hours. We barely get to see him.

    I guess I should be glad we have some sort of income in our household. I know there are families out there without incomes. I don't believe I know any of them personally, at least not to my knowledge. Some of them I can't be sorry for. Some of those people out there without income comes down to being their own fault. Yes, the economy is bad. No, there isn't many jobs out there. But can they say that they really have tried? All will say yes, most in reality probably haven't. Those are the ones that want to make mega bucks for doing nothing.
   I'm sorry, but if you can get even a part time job working fast food that makes minimum wage, then hey it is an income. I wish financially, it would be best for me to go back to work. I would love nothing more than just to get out of the house and be around adults without my 2 little loves under foot, but for our family it isn't in the cards.
   That is why I write. I have loved to write since I was a young teen. I started about age 13 or 14. I never knew anything really about getting published before. I didn't have access at home to the internet. I come from a mid-income family. I now live as a mid-income family. I wanted to go to college. I did so for 1 year. In the major I was able to work as a classroom assistant without having a degree, but when I couldn't get hired for a position in the field I figured it wouldn't be the right field for me.
   I tried doing an online school while planning my wedding to become a bridal consultant, I was 23 at the time, when I couldn't afford to pay for that anymore, I stopped. I really want to try again, but now with 2 kids and only one income it makes it hard to afford it. Especially, when you are sitting on 3 cars that breaks down so often.
   Right now I run a mini van. I hate the thing with a passion. My husband picked out after he wrecked our only vehicle at the time. We found out a few weeks after the purchase that it had problems and the check engine light had electrical tape over and you couldn't see it in the daylight. After that my husband has been through 3 trucks now. He bought one and just before that one died he traded that and a few hundred bucks for another truck, newer than his was at the time, but in crappier shape. He had also taken over his friends truck and was fixing that as well. When he couldn't get that to stay running he just gave it away.
   The third vehicle is my beloved car. I love my Ford Focus, but when we bought it it had problems. I wasn't listened to when I said something wasn't right and low-and-behold it died on me while I had both kids with me along the highway.
    Luck for me I'm a daddy's girl, and my daddy does a lot for me when he can. He is also a pretty good DIY mechanic, he use to repair tracker trailer trucks when I was little.

   Everyone thinks writers come from a money background, but let me just say. I love to write. Whether or not I ever get published by a big time publishing company or I have to find a way to come up with the money to self-publish on amazon.com or where ever, if I even get to do that. It doesn't matter. I write for myself. I don't write for you, the reader. I can only hope that you love, like at the very least, what I have to say and what I put out for the world to see.
    Do I want to have tons of money? Yeah, who wouldn't. It would mean our household be financially stable for a change. That I know my kids are getting everything they need. Who cares about wants. I would know my children would  have money for college. (My son has an expensive goal of becoming a paleontologist. My daughter hasn't decided like my son did. Yet.) 

  I am also a person who would love to give to all kinds of different charities, but I don't have the extra money most of the time. Expenses come first and play and helping others come last. Charities is one of the main reasons I want to get out there, get published and sell. Yes, I want to pay bills. Yes, I would like to purchase a house that better fits our family than the place we own at the moment. Yes, I would like for my husband and I to purchase good vehicles so we aren't wasting money fixing our vehicles with every single paycheck. Yes, I want to put money into both my kids savings account and start a retirement account my us. I would also like to give more to charities that mean a lot to me.

   In case your wondering what kind of charities I would support; those are just about any cancer charity, I have been touched by cancer of different kinds, not myself, but through my family, I support anything with children, I had a friend effected by domestic abuse, so I would definitely support them, I am all for equal rights for everyone, and anything to do with education. I also try to be environmentally aware. I am also a supporter for our troops.

   I hope this gives you a better insight to who I am. I try and be truthful about everything. Sometimes I can be too truthful. I am in no way religious in any of the norm religions. I am not a religious activist. I will not hone my religion on you, so please don't push yours on me. I am who I am, and that's the way I will be.

Thank you for reading, and good night readers!

A whole new view

   So last night after thinking I was blocked, and everything start to not make sense I stop everything. I did a little research. Trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Where everything was getting jumbled at. After I was lost with researching I decided to try and go to bed.

   Well, I tried to sleep I should say. That didn't help. My mind was going a mile a minute and I couldn't sleep. That when I realized I had changed something I shouldn't have. So now I have to go back and fix things I have changed and start back on what I came up with this lovely morning when my lovely husband rudely awaken me all because he forgot his keys to get in the house.

   So you ask what did I do that I now have to change? Well, I had longer chapters. They ranged from 9 to 11 pages, that was double spaced, It might be a little less single spaced. I changed and they went down to 3 to 6 pages depending on what the chapter was about. So now i am going to back and put the chapters back to where they first where, where they belong.

   Now, though, it is time to get ready for my daughter's teacher to come for about 1 and 1/2 then it will be lunch. After that i should be able to get to work. It will be nap time for my little lady. My son is less needy at the moment at age 5. Plus, he will soon be starting his first year of school. Exciting year ahead. I get to see my oldest baby go to school, although he was in a pre-k program, this is different. He also will be playing soccer for our local AYSO teams.
   My little lady isn't ready just yet to start dance classes, but next summer I will be making the call to start, if the place excepts 3 year-old's that is. I also hope to have this first book for you at least started in the process of getting published.

   I promise to keep you up-to-date on how far a I come with everything. With time getting tight for working due to school and sports, I will do my best. I goal is to have it complete by Thanksgiving or Christmas. I hope that with the first of the year for 2014 I can have it already to either be sent to a publisher/lit agent or ready to self-publish!

Have a wonderful day lovely readers!

When life hands me a lemon...

    Sitting here working on my writing, I felt I was doing so well. Then everything started not to make sense. ERRRR! Anyone else ever have that problem? I'm going to sleep on it and try again in when I get up and after my daughter's teacher leaves.
    It just feels like life threw me a lemon and I am now going to try and make lemonade, after I get some sleep! As crazy as it seems I almost feel like starting over. I have to say though, I'm not sure about that. I have been working on this for about 1.5 years now. Not so much the story I have to tell, but trying to get it all together. I might have to sit down and rethink how I am writing though.
    Fingers crossed that I figure something out soon. I got major work ahead of me if I decide to throw out what I have now and start all over. I just think I have been going about partially wrong.

    I'm going to head to bed now. It is 12:30 EST where I'm at. My children rise at about 8 a.m. and I need sleep to keep up with those 2 all day. Plus, I have to be alert for my son's parent meeting for soccer in the evening.

                   Good night my lovely readers!

My first...

   As I said have in my "Get To Know Me" that I write YA (young adult) books, for the time being that is. I what to see what you have to say about what I am in the process of writing right now.

     The title is "The Dark of Night."
    
     A description:

A young girl lost both her parents when she was thirteen. Four years later she find herself lost in a house full of family. She feels depressed and alone. Her older brother finally notices that she hasn't gotten back to her happy self before loosing their parents. He talks her into submission and she starts to see a therapist to deal with her issues.

     Where it goes:

The plan is to take you on the character's journey of realizes she needs to share a secret she holds. To let go of every all she thought she needed to hold on to.

    I want this book to take you on a short journey through something that could happen. I don't know if this has ever happen to anyone out there, but it is possible. Just a fair warning, the journey for the character is short, not something that would actually happen in real life. 

   I would like your input about this. You can leave any comments below. You can contact me privately in the contact form as well. Think a friend might have an opinion about this share it with them. Thank you for reading!

Getting To Know Me!

          Where to start? I am probably the most boring person you could meet. Other than loving books and writing, I have a big love for music. I like all kinds of music. Just depends on my mood as to what I might be listening to at any moment. I listen to most of my music on either www.iheartradio.com or www.pandora.com.
         
         Most of my passion lies with my writing. I have been writing for myself since I was in the 9th grade. I graduated in 2002, so that tells you how long I have been writing. My first work never made it anywhere except in a pile of rubble after my childhood home burnt in the summer of 2000.
         After we got settled into our new home I tried to rewrite everything I had finished only months before. My dad had seen it and read some of it and make some snide remarks about it. I my pride was shattered and I quit rewriting. It took me until recently to feel like it was time to start rewriting. This time it is a lot different for me. I am more mature and have a lot different point of view than what I had before.

         Aside from writing I spend my days with my 2 little ones. I have a five-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl. As you may have guessed we are in the midst of potty training. Mainly, I am pulling my hair out and chasing them all day and watching PBS, Disney channel, and whatever other channels I allow them to watch during the day. That is just for the next few weeks. My oldest will start his first day of school in just a few short weeks, and he will play his first sport. I have a soccer player on my hands.
        Because of them I do most of my writing at night after they have been put to bed. If I get time to write during the day, it is because my husband isn't at work. If I'm luck in that, I might get an hour. Really though I only get about 3 hours to work every night. That is what makes my progress some what slow.

        I think I got most of my passion for writing from all the books I have read. I am a very avid reader for romance, but I don't write in that genre though. At least not at the moment. I also love to read young adult books. All fiction. I can't stand non-fiction. That is unless it is a blog or something to help me with certain things.

        When I'm not writing I am having fun with my family. I have a few t.v. shows i like to watch during the day. Ellen is one of them. Mainly whatever is on ABC from the time I get up in the morning until allow the kids to take it over so I can clean and get things done around the house. If I'm not doing any of that or writing I'm reading. With any luck I can find a quiet place in my home to escape into a fictional world just to getaway from every day stress.
       I want to say right now, I have not been publish as of this date 8-11-2013. We come from an average income to lower income family. We don't have much and we don't need much. I don't want anyone to get the impression that we have tons of money. I may stay home, but that doesn't mean we have all the money in the world for me to do so. It is just makes more sense with our family to do so than to pay a daycare hundreds of dollars each week for me to go work a part time job or even a full time job. Around this area most of our full time jobs are 12 hour shifts with rotating shifts and you have to start out at night shift a.k.a. third shift. We don't have many day cares that are open 24 hours all 7 days of the week. Sure there are the grandparents and siblings that might help, but why when we only need to have one of us working providing the things we need. We don't have to have the things we really want. It would be nice, but we don't need tons of stuff.
       That is where I get my saying "Someday when we have money we can..." There are a lot of things I want to do too. That is for another time though. If you wish to know more, you can leave me a comment and I will try and get answers back as soon as I can!

Thank you for reading and be sure to become a follower, sign up to emails when I update me blog, share with your friends. I am planning on posting bits and pieces from my books to get your opinion about it. Once again thank you!