More Thankful Things

I figure I have a month’s worth of thankful statuses to catch up with, so I hope you don’t mind if I keep going for a bit. I did warn you that I have a long list, didn’t I? No? Well, consider yourselves warned.

It’s the small and simple stuff that makes life grand. So today I’m thankful for:

Twinkling Christmas lights, Little Giant ladders, and our Elves Gone Wild CD.

Online shopping, since Black Friday has turned into Black Thursday (which, IMO has gone out of control) and I have no desire to fight strangers over toys anymore. Also, special advance sales geared toward people who are prepared, and who can shop from the comfort of their bedrooms.

Free shipping!

Amazon—because they have everything, and usually at a discount.

Email. Seriously, I remember a time when I had to write letters to my long distance friends on paper and stick the paper in an envelope with a stamp, then wait days for my words to reach them. Now we can have real-time conversations via chat. Or for that matter, face-to-face ones with Skype,

Vacuum cleaners that pick up fake pine needles, dust, dirt, and sludge off my floor whenever someone walks in. Also, Clorox wipes, Awesome spray cleaner (yeah, that’s actually a brand), and melty wax cubes that make my house smell good.

My convertible Mustang, because even though it’s getting up there in miles, I continue to love driving it. (And it’s still cheaper than therapy.)

My followers, who give me a reason to write blogs every week, and who stick around and comment, even when I’m introspective or reminiscent. Or making silly lists, like this one.

Writer’s groups where I have made some amazing friends who have greatly enhanced my life. Also writer’s conferences and CON’s. Because, well, they’re amazing and fun, and great for my career plans. And the most amazing people attend them.

Take-out restaurants. Because, let’s face it. All too often this is the best way to assure the family gets fed.

Soft new flannel pajamas. Because that is my most productive writing outfit. (Now you know.)

And Chris Baty, who invented National Novel Writing Month, which thousands of authors now utilize in order to bulk up their levels of creativity to bigger, better heights. For the third year in a row, I hit 50,000 words. Yahoo!

So there you have them. My status updates that never made it to Facebook. I hope you’re having a beautiful, fun-filled Thanksgiving weekend. Oh, and if you’re out shopping, keep your eyes open and your fighting hands at the ready. And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Kinds of Things

I’ve noticed there’s a trend on Facebook this November. Every day, certain friends of mine update their status by saying something for which they are thankful. I think that’s a really great idea, because anything that reminds us about all the many blessings in our lives, however small, makes us stronger.

Being that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought I’d do something similar, because, well, I am feeling rather thankful at the moment.

My kids, who are wise beyond their years, and who have worked hard this week to prepare our house for the insurgence of people coming for Thanksgiving dinner (looking at 35+).

My husband, who works extra hard to provide our family with the things we need, and other things we just want. Like turkey and pie. And who also offered to brave Black Friday if I need him. (Don’t worry, honey, I’m taking the girls.)

Friends who stand by me and cheer me on and who would break me out of jail if ever I needed. (You know who you are!)

Stephenie Meyer for creating books that were turned into movies that my girls insisted on seeing at 12:29 on a school night last week, because movies like that aren’t nearly as fun without screaming, excited girls who are hopped up on sugar and caffeine.

The Baltimore Ravens for letting us in their stadium (last fall) to look around, and then gave us all hats and footballs and signed team pictures. We became life-long fans that day, and now you’re looking at Super Bowl possibilities. This makes us happy.

Hawaii—because it exists and gives us something to dream about.

Publishing companies who produce quality books that make us love to read and who give writers a goal for which to strive. And also, for giving me a reason to stay up all night because I just have to see what happens next.

Blue glow sticks, rock candy lollipops, and Thunder—the Australian kind. Oh, and also peanuts.

Steve Jobs for inventing…well, pretty much all things Apple. But specifically, my iPhone.

**To be continued**

What are you Thankful for this year?

Blog-hop Winner!

I know, I'm totally a slacker because I haven't announced a winner for the blog hop drawing yet. But as my regular readers know, I don't blog on the weekends.

The prize was a copy of Pride and Popularity by Jenni James. And the winner is...


Carolyn V.

YAY Carolyn! That random generator must just love you! I'll get a hold of you this week and make the necessary arrangements.

Thanks for playing, everyone!

Apparently, November = the Month of Giveaways

In case you didn’t see yesterday’s post, which is totally unrelated to this one, but IS, in fact, a giveaway, here’s the link. Or you can scroll down. Either way. But first, you’re going to want to read this one.

Amusing story: A bunch of people I know decided THIS must be the lucky week to hold all types of November giveaways, and I (not paying much attention to important details like dates) signed up to do a few of them. Because, well, why not? Right? (This is not me jumping on a bandwagon so much as wanting to support my friends who are hosting events—TOTALLY different situation.)

So this is how I have come to be posting TWO separate giveaway posts in two days, and also how I will post one more next week.

For today’s opportunity to win, I will be offering a copy of Pride and Popularity by Jenni James. (And if I can track her down, I may even get it autographed.)

Check out this really adorable cover:

The blurb:

Chloe Elizabeth Hart despises the conceited antics of the popular crowd, or more importantly, one very annoying self-possessed guy, Taylor Anderson, who seems determined to make her the president of his fan club! As if! Every girl in the whole city of Farmington, New Mexico, is in love with him, but he seems to be only interested in Chloe. This modern high school adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is a battle of wits as Chloe desperately tries to remain the only girl who can avoid the inevitable falling for Taylor.


It’s easy to enter. Simply become a follower (see the upper sidebar) and then leave me a comment telling me one thing for which you are thankful this month.

And since I won’t be doing a giveback giveaway for November (sorry, my budget can only handle so much this month) , I’ll give you an extra entry if you tell me one nice thing you’ve done to give back to someone else. This thing can be big or small. (For some great ideas, check out this post and this one.)

This contest will close on November 11th. US shipping, only, please.

The Juggling Act

About now—or sometime in the next week—thousands of authors are going to hit a wall in their speed writing process (otherwise known as NaNoWriMo).

Things come up. Our families need us. The holidays are upon us, and there is baking / decorating / shopping / socializing to be done. Really. Who has time to write?

It’s definitely tricky. But you can handle it. Know why? It’s what we do. We juggle. We shift. We move things around until all the pieces of our lives and time fit together. Maybe we get less sleep and put off some unimportant things like making dinner and scrubbing floors.

We do what we must to accomplish our goals because this is how we keep all our balls in the air. We learn to juggle. And really, all I can offer is my wishes of good luck. I hope you manage to catch them all.

It Begins

Ladies and gentlemen, November is officially here, and with it, the beginning of NaNoWriMo. Yes, I am writing, and yes, I intend to complete a 50,000 word manuscript this month.

Because of that (and other things, like going out of town and stuff), I’m not going to write a long missive of encouragement this year. But I will say this:

You. Can. Do. It.

It’s not about winning, but about proving to yourself that you have what it takes to work hard toward a specific goal and accomplish that goal to your own satisfaction. The end product or result will not be the same for everyone, but everyone will get results that matter to them. And that’s really the whole point.

Never underestimate your ability to accomplish something important.

*waves pompoms and cheers*

Now get off the internet and get to work!

Do You NaNo?

And by that I mean do you plan to participate in the once-yearly National Novel Writing Month held in November? I’ve participated for two years in a row, and have to say, it’s a blast. Not only does it give me the freedom to write crap (which I do, but which is also much more easily fixable than a blank page) but it also forces me to pound out a rough draft in record time, without allowing me to think too hard about plot.

For a pantser like me, it’s completely exhilarating. And absolutely fulfilling. Because normally, it takes me a lot longer to complete a manuscript—even a rough draft. I just have too many distractions in my life, and pushing myself hard for one month of the year helps narrow my focus just long enough to accomplish something seriously awesome in a short amount of time.

So yes. I NaNo. And yes, I’ve figured out that it goes a lot smoother when I do some advance planning. And by some, I mean a small amount of plot structuring and some character developing.

This month I have goals to:

a) Write an outline that consists of maybes. (Because even a pantser needs a page of ideas that tell her where the story might go if I get stuck.)

b) Figure out my main characters, who they are, what they want, and why they can’t have it. (Because if I do that, maybe I won’t need the stinkin outline.)

c) Decide on a general location where this story might be set—even if it’s fictional. (Because that just makes it easier to see in my head.)

d) Figure out how in the heck I’m going to fit writing an entire 50,000 word novel into November this year, because my schedule’s already looking INSANE. This might require making a writing schedule that works around everything else. *gulps* Can we say challenging?


Writers: I recommend you try this once-a-year exercise dubbed NaNoWriMo, if for no other reason than to stimulate your brain.

Non-writers: Is there something you do once a year which stimulates you into temporary mass productivity? Tell me about it.