My Life’s Greatest Accomplishment

My son is turning 18 tomorrow. In some ways, this really freaks me out, because, well, I am the mother of an adult. Yikes! But in other ways, it doesn’t. He’s a good kid, and while he isn’t really sure what he wants to do for the rest of his life, I know he’ll figure it out as he goes, the same way I did.

For all intents and purposes, I didn’t figure out I wanted to be a writer until I was 30. It’s not so unusual. Don’t get me wrong, at his age I did have goals, and I reached them in short order. I think he has similar goals, but I also look at him and see a hundred-thousand possibilities. It’s entirely possible he does too, which would make it really hard to pick one or two on which to focus.

The good news is that I am quite confident that once he sets his mind to doing something, he will. It’s all a matter of him deciding what that thing is.

Whatever he decides, I could never be more proud of the man he has grown into, and who he continues to evolve to be.

See, one of my earliest goals was to get married and have a family—the opportunity to raise children to become responsible, conscious, compassionate, and just all around good adults. I may not be a bestselling author (yet), in fact, I have a long way to go. BUT. In raising this boy-become-man, I have achieved the single-most important accomplishment of my life.

Nothing I ever do could possibly compare to this. Nor would I allow anything to try. The story of my family is the single greatest story I could EVER write. And no matter what happens in the world, that is one thing that will never change.

What is your greatest accomplishment in life?

What Have You Done?

We’re running out of time!

I don’t know where this year went. Seriously. Winter lasted like, forever, and then there was spring. Summer was here, and then it wasn’t, and now there are only three weeks left of 2011. Makes me wonder what I’ve done this year.

I know I’ve written another book, queried a LOT of agents, been to a number of conferences, etc, etc, etc. But really, what have I done?

I loved my family, made priceless memories with the people I love most in the world (friends and family), tried to be of service to others, and put together beautiful words that will someday mean something to someone else.

All in all, I’d say 2011 has been good to me. What about you? What have you done this year?

Up To The Challenge!

By Nichole (Duh!)



I suppose, being that it's already July 3rd, that perhaps I should map out my goals for Tristi Pinkston's July writing challenge. Considering how I'm participating this month, and all.



In April, I had some big, lofty plans for what I hoped to accomplish. But as it turned out, April was just not my month for writing, or editing, or even cleaning my house. And...I didn't get much of anything done. So, basically I blew the whole challenge. I was not up to it.



However, July is an entirely different story. For one thing, even though my kids are out of school for summer break, I will not have to carve out four or five days for a "spring break" family trip. (Our summer trip is weeks in the past, so that's a good thing.) Also, the Storymaker's conference isn't this month. I know I'm not involved in the planning for that conference, per-se, but because my writer's group is sponsored by the Storymakers, there was lots of plotting and planning going on--especially for social things among ourselves. We sure are quite the chatty bunch when we get together. Plus, we just don't see each other nearly often enough. Then, take away Easter (which requires shopping and preparation that the July holidays don't) and my daughter's birthday, and...yeah. July is looking more productive. I hope.
So--short story long--my official goal is going to be realistic enough to reach. Because, even given all the things I just listed, it's still summer, the kids are still out of school, and I still end up staying up late into the night if I want to write.


This month I'm planning to add 30,000 words to my work in progress--hopefully bringing it to a conclusion or coming close enough that I can go back and do some serious rewrites that will help shape the plot. That way, when I take my chapters to critique, I will know they're relevant.



Ta da! That's it.



Wish me luck!




PS. There's still time to enter my summer rocks contest. See the post below for details!