We’re redoing our office and I’d saved enough money for new office furniture because we all know that is going to increase my creativity by 100%.
The furniture needed and must have is located in Bollingbrook, IL at the IKEA store. My favorite place, but not my husbands. It takes about 4 1/2 hours to get there. It’s a nice Sunday drive. Not really, the photo above is what it looks like most of the trip. Flat, flat, flat.
It’s sad when the one thing that makes the trip exciting is a semi-truck on it’s side. Yes, I looked. I wasn’t driving so it’s okay. I’ve never seen the underside of a semi-truck. There were a lot of flashing lights, fire trucks and policemen. No ambulance though, so I’m praying the driver was fine and it wasn’t needed.
So what makes this long drive such a message of powerful love?
We went on Superbowl Sunday. Yes, we did.
I-55 close to Bollingbrook, Illinois
And yes, we arrived home long after the Superbowl was over. I can say my husband has a powerful love for me to miss the game.
Photo isn’t the best but I promise to show you the entire thing when it’s finished. Our weekends have been all about pulling up carpet, staples and nails and then installing this beauty.
I also painted the walls this week. Don’t be fooled by the paint and primer in one can marketing. This isn’t a big room and it took 2.5 gallons to paint. One wall is mostly windows and the other has double doors. Not sure where all that paint went. It looks blue in the photo but there it is more teal than blue.
Next step is a trip to Ikea for desks and bookcases.
I’m positive once this is all done and my mess is reorganized I’ll be able to write better and faster. Just like when you get new shoes and can run faster–that’s what this is going to be like. At least for a week until I start piling papers and books because that’s what I do. For now though I am going to dream a little dream.
All of this has been made possible because Barbour bought my book, A Bride’s Dilemma in Friendship, Tennessee. It will be coming out in May. Without that there would still be yucky carpet because we have undertaken the task of becoming Dave Ramsey people. IE. RESPONSIBLE ADULTS paying cash for what we want instead of using our credit cards and using money we don’t have.
Dave Ramsey is an easy thing to do but it is so HARD! Especially if you are an impulse buyer and you can’t do math like me. I’m the one standing at the cash register with the freaked out look. You know the one that says, “Are you kidding I spent that much? How?”
We’re only on week 2 Week 4 the scissors bite the credit cards in half. I may die.
Are you working with a budget? How’s that working out? I really want to know that I will survive this.
I know this video has been around for awhile, but every time I see it I think of my mom. She would so do this! I hope to learn to be freer and loosen some of those tight bonds I have around my funny place.
Do you know anyone older who acts this way? Please share what they do to make you giggle.
Christian Fiction stars heroes and heroines who are experiencing a time in their lives when their faith isn’t strong. They must overcome obstacles like the characters in books published by the ABA (American Bookseller Association). In the CBA (The Association for Christian Retail) the faith–not the religion–is part of the character’s journey.
Christians do write for both CBA and ABA and some make a choice to write for only the CBA. That’s what I’ve chosen. It feels write for me and where my voice comes out the strongest. I cannot and do not wish to separate myself from my faith. Some can write amazing stories that I love, like Dean Koontz. Is he a Christian? I don’t know and don’t care, but his books are good vs. evil and good always wins.
Just like the ABA publishing houses the CBA also has requirements about what they will publish. Some houses like Barbour request the characters not engage in dancing, gambling, drinking and have a personal commitment to Jesus.
Other houses, like Revell are a bit more lenient guidelines. A few of my favorite authors that write edgier Christian fiction are Julie Lessman and Lynette Eason.
Wondering what edgier means? Those authors are able to tackle the problems that are present in our culture. People make mistakes, big ones and yet they are able to recover because of their faith.
Are you thinking that Christian fiction is nothing but a big Sunday morning sermon? Not even close. Christian fiction writers take on solving murder, fighting demons, dealing with rape, and sometimes written for light entertainment. That’s where I fit in my writing journey.
Bio: Christian author, Diana Lesire Brandmeyer, writes historical and contemporary romances. She’s also written We’re Not Blended-We’re Pureed, A Survivor’s Guide to Blended Families. Once widowed and now remarried she writes with humor and experience on the difficulty of joining two families. Her first historical A Bride’s Dilemma in Friendship, Tennessee releases May 2012. For now please look for Diana Lesire Brandmeyer’s book Hearts on the Road snuggled in the middle of Wyoming Weddings.
Thanks so much, Diana, for letting me appear on your blog. You have a lovely place here, and I always enjoy your posts.
Liv! I’m glad you’re here. We’re taking a class together with Kristen Lamb and it was suggested we try having guest posters. Liv is my first guest. Liv, tell me about this speculative fiction you write.
I call myself a writer of speculative fiction, because it sounds kind of cool and classy. And also maybe a little pretentious, depending on your point of view. It’s more tasteful sounding, anyway, than saying I write paranormal romance. Which I do, but I also write paranormal family drama and paranormal mystery, and, well, I’ll bet you can pick up the consistent theme. Most of my work has a supernatural angle that allows me to deal with harsher truths than I otherwise could. The fantasy aspect makes it clear that all the crap I throw at my characters couldn’t be happening in real life. Another theme that runs through my work is faith. I deal with faith in God, in all its variations, and the belief that good will have out over evil. None of my stories could be labeled Christian Fiction, but many of my characters are religious. Their faith is worked into their character sketches and woven through the plot. It’s just that it’s not central to the plot or to the climax of the work.
My paranormal family drama, Only The Lonely, tells the story of Molly, a single mom who’s battling with her ex-husband and with the demon who gave her the mother-of-all hickeys. She has an unexpected ally in Cass, a pixie who gets assigned to help her through her trials. Molly is a good Catholic girl. Her kids go to a Catholic high school, she fights with them about going to church, and she agonizes over getting divorced because of what it means from a religious perspective. Her faith is as integral a part of her character as her love for her children, but it doesn’t drive the plot.
I have written stories where religion doesn’t play a part, except as it colors my own understanding of good and evil. It’s more satisfying, though, when it’s there. I feel a little subversive, like, “ha-ha, I’m making you think about God in this story about _____” (and you can fill in the blank with your favorite paranormal creature). There are some great writers, like Ann Rice and Neil Gaimon, who address issues of faith in their speculative fiction. They’re my inspiration, and my role models.
Peace, Liv
Thanks again Liv for telling us how you add faith to your writing. Here’s a little more about Liv. Bio: Liv Rancourt is a writer of speculative fiction and romance. She lives in Seattle with her husband, two teenagers, two cats and one wayward puppy. Writing stories that have happy endings is a nice balance for her work in the neonatal intensive care unit, and Liv can be found on-line at her website , her blog , on Facebook , or on Twitter .
I am an HGTV junkie. I admit it. Those those decorating and remodeling shows give me an adrenalin rush. But more importantly I love doing the things most people hire out or just think about doing.
When House Hunters comes on I find it hard not to yell, “Come on! Painting is easy! So what if the walls are black and purple? They make paint with primer for that!
So when I managed to save up enough cash I convinced Mr. Do Everything to go with me to the flooring store. (side note: did you know if they take cash you can get a discount!) The 24 boxes of red oak sat in our house acclimating itself to our living conditions for three days. It seems the flooring acclimated just fine to being being covered in dust and books so this week we started the project.
My job was to take up the staples left behind from carpeting and rip out the small entry way wood floor. See those nails? I did not want a tetanus shot so my goal was to keep from stepping on one or falling and puncturing my hand.
Now this is not an unwarranted concern. The last house we remodeled I stepped off a floor joist and my leg went through the ceiling of the dining room below me. No, I did not let Mr. Do Everything take a photo of my leg dangling. My sons were very disappointed.
The final report? I did step on a nail or rather stumbled into one but it only went into the side of my sketcher. It now has a flat. Thankfully, it didn’t break the skin. No shot for me!
The crowbar is another story. That is one strong piece of steel that has no give when it comes to smacking yourself in the chest.
Do you have an iPad? A friend of mine told me about Splashtop. He is a pilot and often wants to access a program from his home computer.
Splashtop Remote Access isn’t a free app, right now it’s $4.99. I downloaded it. Now where ever I go I can pull up my desktop from home–AS LONG AS MY HOME COMPUTER IS ON! I found it works well, there is a small lag time but it’s not noticeable when typing. I’ve been able to edit my photos, write blog posts and get to that important bookmark on firefox with ease.
It works with PCs and Macs. Be warned though if your going to use it on a Mac you must have Snow Leopard installed.