Like everyone else I’m thinking about those resolutions we either make or make an effort not to make. In the past I’ve made long lists and of course I accomplish nothing. This year I’m doing something different. I’m re-naming the resolution to options. I don’t like to be tied to a specific thing, you guessed it I’m not very good at goal setting either!
Options give me the freedom to choose, like FREEWILL! Woo hoo! Isn’t that awesome? It’s a God thing. Thump, that was the sound of my realizing it really is a God thing. I want my choices/options to be pleasing to Him, to show others His amazing grace, now the pressure is on, how will I accomplish that?
Wait, I have it! I don’t have to do anything! God’s grace is not earned. Relief! I can however choose to continue writing books with Christian characters. I like that option, I think I’ll keep it.
I can continue my sewing, but how can I use that to show God’s love and mercy? I have several projects in mind for that but need to do some research on how to donate. I’d like to make burial dresses for premies/stillborns. If anyone has any information on how to do that please let me know. I’m going to continue sewing at least one quilt top a year for the ladies of BSLC to quilt and send to Lutheran World Relief.
So far my options aren’t so scary and do able.
I’m also going to use my option to monitor my intake of food, and exercise. Hmmm, that sounds like a resolution EXCEPT there is no number associated with this option. So it gets to stay!
So anyone with me here? Dump the resolution treadmill and climb on the options horse. 🙂
What gift could an author find under her tree to make her jump around the room in excitement?
An plane ticket to PORTLAND specifically to visit Powell’s Bookstore! The store is a city block big! This store holds a special spot in my heart as they were the first to embrace ebooks and carried my book right from the start. I’ve always longed to visit this magical place and now, thank you Ed, I get to! Before I leave home I have to find the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to ship the treasures I find back home after I purchase them. I know there will be a lot, how could a person who lives and breathes words come back without a box full of books? And while I’m there I’ve discovered there is a huge fabric store close by, so I’ll be checking that out as well. I’m sure we’ll need to eat somewhere too, so if anyone knows of a great place to eat (not a chain) please let me know. If you know of a place that I shouldn’t miss while I’m there post that too. I won’t be there long, just two full days but I plan to use every minute I can–who needs sleep?
How fun is this? SNOW before CHRISTMAS! I love snow this time of year, it really gets me into the season.
After sending off a requested manuscript I decided to take the rest of the month off, sort of a mini-vacation at home. One of the joys of not working is this guy. Home for the holidays! He’s my Christmas kid, always humming or singing, decorating, he makes my Christmas special. Welcome home J.
So what have I been doing on my mini-vacation? Fun things! I made this digital ornament, not the best, but it’s a new skill.
I’ve also been sewing, learning to use my new machine. There is a lot to learn. I may need to take an extra week or two to figure it out.
Soon though I will be missing writing so much I’ll have to return to work on my newest story. Even now the character Amy Grace keeps poking my brain as if I should get busy and write her story.
Christmas is almost here and even though the season excites me–I love the lights, the best part of the season is knowing a child was born to save ME! AND YOU! Happy Birthday Jesus and thank you for your most amazing gift!
Is it? I’m so very confused. When I went outside yesterday morning it was in the 60’s by the evening it was so cold I had to wear a coat! Ah, Midwest living, there is nothing like it.
Have you all started the decoration of your homes yet? I have put out two things, my favorite snowman quilt, and my snowflake rug. Maybe this week I’ll get the tree set up or not. 🙂 We have a cat that likes to climb and take things from the tree, so delaying is more for my sanity.
The other thing that must be done is CLEANING. The last few years I’ve approached this icky job in a different way. I focus on the coming of Christ, now I know HE won’t care what my house looks like, but I would! I wouldn’t want guests to celebrate my childrens birthdays in a dirty house. I don’t want to have them celebrate Christ’s birthday in a messy one either!
The cleaning shouldn’t be too hard, now that all my children live somewhere else–except for the youngest and he won’t be home until the middle of Dec. so he shouldn’t make to much of a mess before Christmas. Sorry Josh. 🙂
That leaves baking. How do you handle baking all those wonderful delights if you and your husband are the only ones in the house most of Dec. I’m thinking of baking and freezing. The problem is neither of us mind eating frozen cookies. Such a dilemma.
That’s what my mom taught me and it stuck, along with make sure to wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident.
Jen nominated me for this award! “This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.”
I love it! It’s so nice to be appreciated for niceness. Thanks Jen! And to keep in the spirit of passing it on I nominate Jenny Lillie Cathye
This video just made me smile. Thanks Jen, for posting it. I know you snagged it from Terry Whalin so I’m sure it is making every writing blog out here, but it’s so good! Watch and enjoy!
I hope all you had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was a bit subdued since we were missing members of our family. The food was spectacular as always. My brother-in-law loves to cook, and he does it well. He made three turkeys and there were only 18 of us! He was also well prepared with takeout containers for all us.
My youngest son came home from college for the break. It’s been good to have him home. The funny thing is while he is gone our home is a healthy home. The minute he comes home we forget about health. The cookies are made or bought, chips, and cinnamon rolls fill our tummy’s. Life is fun! But tomorrow he’ll go back to school, and we will return to salads in preparation for the Christmas break.
I love that word. It means so much to many people, I sold my house, or I sold the car, or even I managed to sell my old sofa. Today though SOLD means I can say my manuscript Hearts on the Road sold to Heartsong! A publisher I have long tried to get to notice me. I am excited to be in traditional print. There is something about a book in your hands with pages to turn that excites almost every writer.
*Yes, I know I misspelled Hershey’s name on my mini movie but I can’t remember how I saved that file. I did it on photostory and that file isn’t liked by photobucket. IF anyone knows how I can convert the file please let me know. It’s driving me nuts! That’s what happens when you do something at 3 a.m.
DianaLand has been quiet these past few weeks and that’s a good thing. I needed a rest. Or at least my body said it’s time to take a long hiatus. I’ve read books, made a few t-shirts and scrapbooked a few pages. Now I feel better. I’m not quite back to ME yet, the person who can write a thousand words in a few hours, plan for dinner, contact my friends and do the laundry seemingly at the same time. I’m not sure I want to be that person anymore.
Why?
Because I realize (and this is not the first time, I’m a slow learner) that every moment I’m here is a time that God gave me to use to His glory and in his way. Maybe I don’t need to do double and triple duty with every minute have. Maybe it is okay to enjoy the task at hand. Just because I can do more than one thing at a time doesn’t mean I should.
So for the rest of this month anyway I’m going to give my full attention to the task of the day. That means this month a class by Margie Lawson, Empowering Characters’ Emotions. Yes, I’m going back to school even if it is in my own office. I’m excited about this class. As I look through the material I am encouraged. This is a graduate level course and something I’ve been looking for to improve my writing. If you are a writer I encourage you to take a look at her courses www.margielawson.com Thank you Jenny Cary, my writer friend for telling me about Margie’s classes!
Here are a few photos of what else I’ve done this month to relax and to check off of my 50 things to do before my 51rst birthday.
The Balloon Glow at Forest Park.
Abe Lincoln’s home in Springfield.
We took a Saturday trip. The first in a very long time.
Welcome to my blog, Mary Lu. I just finished reading The Restitution. It’s great. Will there be another book following this one?
Hi Diana! Thanks for having me on. No, I’m sorry to say, there will not be another book in the pirate series at this time. I do get a ton of emails asking for more books, so perhaps in the future, there will be another “Legacy of the King’s Pirates.”
Pirates are fascinating to read about but how do you do your research?
Not being able to go back in time and join a pirate crew really limited my research! LOL. Although I doubt I would have made a good pirate (I still have all my teeth) and they would have probably made me walk the plank or something else equally hideous! I use a variety of research methods. I read many books, both fiction and non-fiction, watched as many pirate movies as I could get my hands on (Go Errol Flynn!) and made a trip to the Florida keys to sail aboard a real pirate vessel. I love this job!
I’ve always wanted to know what really happens to pirate treasure. After it’s taken and they store it in massive trunks in the bottom of the ship how do they turn their spoils into money?
Aye, the treasure! It all be about the treasure! Pirates did what all thieves do, even to this day, they spent what they could easily spend (the Spanish doubloons, the Pieces of Eight, the gold and silver coins) and they sold the rest of the things (jewels, coffee, tobacco, pearls) for money—which they promptly turned around and spent!. Pirates were notorious for spending every penny they stole. Rarely did they ever bury their treasure anywhere, as most of us have heard in pirate stories.
How does the captain keep his crew from taking from the stolen treasure? Do they each have a trunk and it gets filled from the spoils each time?
When any man joins a pirate crew, he must sign the Pirate Articles for that ship. These are rules made up by the captain and enforced on penalty of death. One of those rules would always be that any man caught stealing more than his share of the plunder would be killed (in some heinous way which I won’t describe here). Normally that was enough to deter any of the pirates from stealing treasure that wasn’t theirs—especially since not only just the captain would be angry but the whole crew of violent miscreants would be after him as well.
I think of pirates as homeless but in Redemption you mention the ships must be taken out of the water every few months to scrape the sides and bottom so were there pirate safety islands were everyone gets along while the ships are cleaned? Did pirates during this time period have a home besides their ships?
Normally, the ships were the only homes the pirates knew. They spent so much time at sea, that they didn’t feel “at home” on land. Many of the pirates had a “home” port that they would return to where they were usually welcomed among fellow pirates and where they could spend their “hard-earned” money on food, rum and women. The careening of a ship only took a few days and was often preformed on some secluded island away from any civilization. This was a very vulnerable time for any pirate because if he was caught during this time, he would lose his ship, and possibly his life as well.
What difficulties have you had in getting your books published since pirates are not known to be God loving men?
Surprisingly, None. The three book series was picked up only a month after my agent submitted it. Yes, I see your mouth hanging open. I was just as shocked. That’s why I really believe it was a God thing. The timing, the movies just coming out.. everything just fell into place.
Thank you for spending time here today. Is there anything you would like to share with my readers?
I pray you do not let the “pirate” theme dissuade you from picking up my books. Though there are indeed some nasty pirates, there are wonderful swashbuckling heroes and daring, alluring heroines. These stories are filled with romance and adventure, all interwoven with a strong message of God’s love and His power to changes lives. My one and only purpose in this life is to glorify God in whatever I do—to show others that He is on the throne and He loves us and has a grand adventure planned for every one of His children.
Thanks to all of you, and God Bless!
Weclome to my blog, MaryLu. I just finished reading The Restitution. It’s great. Will there be another book following this one?
Hi Diana! Thanks for having me on. No, I’m sorry to say, there will not be another book in the pirate series at this time. I do get a ton of emails asking for more books, so perhaps in the future, there will be another “Legacy of the King’s Pirates.”
Pirates are fascinating to read about but how do you do your research?
Not being able to go back in time and join a pirate crew really limited my research! LOL. Although I doubt I would have made a good pirate (I still have all my teethl) and they would have probably made me walk the plank or something else equally hideous! I use a variety of research methods. I read many books, both fiction and non-fiction, watched as many pirate movies as I could get my hands on (Go Errol Flynn!) and made a trip to the Florida keys to sail aboard a real pirate vessel. I love this job!
I’ve always wanted to know what really happens to pirate treasure. After it’s taken and they store it in massive trunks in the bottom of the ship how do they turn their spoils into money?
Aye, the treasure! It all be about the treasure! Pirates did what all thieves do, even to this day, they spent what they could easily spend (the Spanish doubloons, the Pieces of Eight, the gold and silver coins) and they sold the rest of the things (jewels, coffee, tobacco, pearls) for money—which they promptly turned around and spent!. Pirates were notorious for spending every penny they stole. Rarely did they ever bury their treasure anywhere, as most of us have heard in pirate stories.
How does the captain keep his crew from taking from the stolen treasure? Do they each have a trunk and it gets filled from the spoils each time?
When any man joins a pirate crew, he must sign the Pirate Articles for that ship. These are rules made up by the captain and enforced on penalty of death. One of those rules would always be that any man caught stealing more than his share of the plunder would be killed (in some heinous way which I won’t describe here). Normally that was enough to deter any of the pirates from stealing treasure that wasn’t theirs—especially since not only just the captain would be angry but the whole crew of violent miscreants would be after him as well.
I think of pirates as homeless but in Redemption you mention the ships must be taken out of the water every few months to scrape the sides and bottom so were there pirate safety islands were everyone gets along while the ships are cleaned? Did pirates during this time period have a home besides their ships?
Normally, the ships were the only homes the pirates knew. They spent so much time at sea, that they didn’t feel “at home” on land. Many of the pirates had a “home” port that they would return to where they were usually welcomed among fellow pirates and where they could spend their “hard-earned” money on food, rum and women. The careening of a ship only took a few days and was often preformed on some secluded island away from any civilization. This was a very vulnerable time for any pirate because if he was caught during this time, he would lose his ship, and possibly his life as well.
What difficulties have you had in getting your books published since pirates are not known to be God loving men?
Surprisingly, None. The three book series was picked up only a month after my agent submitted it. Yes, I see your mouth hanging open. I was just as shocked. That’s why I really believe it was a God thing. The timing, the movies just coming out.. everything just fell into place.
Thank you for spending time here today. Is there anything you would like to share with my readers?
I pray you do not let the “pirate” theme dissuade you from picking up my books. Though there are indeed some nasty pirates, there are wonderful swashbuckling heroes and daring, alluring heroines. These stories are filled with romance and adventure, all interwoven with a strong message of God’s love and His power to changes lives. My one and only purpose in this life is to glorify God in whatever I do—to show others that He is on the throne and He loves us and has a grand adventure planned for every one of His children.
