Changes are coming....

The past couple of years of my life have been full of changes, and they just keep coming.

As of this past Monday, I am officially a full-time freelancer again (hooray!), and I will be relocating back to central Florida at the end of August/beginning of September.

There are a lot of reasons I've made this decision. If you feel the need to know details, please email me and I'll share with you that way. I'm not going to go into it here except to say that this is the best decision for my family.

I'm happy to be freelancing again. I loved the job I had for the past year, but I love the freedom that comes with being self-employed, as well as different kinds of opportunities for growth and success. I have some wonderful repeat clients who have gotten back in touch with me, and I've gotten a few new clients.

So as I'm preparing to move back to the Sunshine State, I'm working with some great clients, and working on building a new website for my new career. (I already have a domain name hosted, and my next step is to choose a CMS and get the content added.) As an aside, you'll likely notice some changes to the blog as I get my new site up and running, and I will likely relocate my blog to the new domain.

I'm trying to settle into a new routine, and looking forward at what's to come. I hope you all will join me on this newest adventure.

Starting a new journal

Journaling is an important part of my life, and has been for quite some time. It provides an outlet for me, allows me to think things through, brainstorm, and organize my thoughts privately. I've journaled off and on (mostly on) for as long as I can remember. There was a while a couple of years ago that I couldn't bring myself to journal because of a specific incident, but I'm happily back to it.

I'm reaching the end of my personal journal. I have the new one ready to go, and I'm looking forward to the fresh emotional and creative start that always occurs when I start a new journal. But I'm still a little sad about putting the filled one away.

The journal I'm finishing has covered the last three months of my life. Reflections, thoughts, frustrations, pictures, Sunday bulletins, poems and articles by others, and lots of other things that have added up to who I have been for the past three months. In some ways, it's hard to let go of so much of who I am like that. In other ways, it's a relief because the past few months have been so difficult for me.

That being said, the coming weeks are a time of change for me. I'm looking forward to a new big, scary adventure in my life, and it's very fitting that I'm starting a new journal with these major changes just ahead of me.

Every once in a while I read back through my journals. It's nice to see where I was and where I am, and know that I'm growing and becoming stronger with every page. I'm looking forward to seeing what memories this new journal will capture.

Do you journal? Why?

Renew Your Spirit Sunday with Your Mountain

Yesterday I went to a family dinner to celebrate my mom being done with school and having passed her boards. Tomorrow she starts her orientation for her shiny new job as an RN on the hospice ward of a hospital. It's the job she wanted, o frabjous day!

I say this as a prelude to the real intention of this post (and it does relate to the post).

During the family dinner, I had a really great conversation with my brother. Chronologically he is younger than me, but we're close in age, and we've always had a big brother-little sister kind of relationship. We watch out for each other. I know that he's always there for me. And that has never been more apparent than it was last night.

We were talking about some upcoming changes in my life. My brother knows I'm worried about some things that are to come and how it'll all play out.

My brother has had some really rough patches. I won't go into details, but he's had a hard life, and he's fought his way out of it to where he is now. He's got a good job, a beautiful family, and he's on his way to where he wants to be. I'm incredibly proud of how much he's grown and changed.

He told me that one thing that he was able to hold on to every step of the way was that it's going to be okay. Every time he hit bottom, he knew he would be able to pick back out of it, and that, ultimately, it would be okay. He told me he knows that with these changes in my life, it's going to be okay. It's going to be a hard transition, and there will be some rough spots, but it's going to be okay.

He told me that everything that's happened to him has gotten him to where he is. He's gone through the swamps and forests and now he's standing at the bottom of the mountain, ready to climb. This is where he's supposed to be.

He told me that these changes in my life are to put me at the bottom of my mountain, to set me on my path. It's going to be hard, but this is where I'm supposed to go.

Last night was one of those incredibly significant conversations in my life, the kind that I'll remember for a long, long time, and refer back to when I need inner strength or peace or just something to hold on to in order to get me through to the next bright spot.

I have an awesome brother.

Independence Day

Today is Independence Day. One day in the year during which drunken idiots can set off explosives in their yards and driveways in the name of 'Murica.

All joking aside, I'm proud to be an American. I know there are problems in this country, that not everyone is treated equally in a nation that claims equality and freedom. But I also know that change happens, and that's wonderful.

I went to poetry group on Tuesday, and in honor of Independence Day, one of our group members performed "Paul Revere's Ride," which she'll be performing at a local event this fall.

It was a wonderful performance, and reminded me of the passion of the people of the Revolutionary War for what they believed. They took a stand and didn't back down.

People don't take stands the way they once did. Perhaps that's due in part to more freedoms than we once had--we don't have the same reasons to stand up. That being said, we have a long way to go.

A major advance was made with the Supreme Court's decisions on DOMA and Prop 8 (congratulations, brothers and sisters in California!), but another basic freedom--voting--has been challenged. There is still a chasm between classes in this country. There are homeless, hungry, unemployed people that aren't getting the support they need. There are children who have no families or support. There are elderly who have no proper care.

There's a helluva lot of work to be done.

I hope that as we celebrate the first step toward equality and freedom that came centuries ago we stay this passionate about other issues. That we remember those who fought for what they believed in, and take that heart to make changes in our nation today.

The United States is the people. We are the nation. And if we want things to happen, we have to make them happen. Go be America.

And happy Independence Day.

My series bible

The collection is not a series. Not really, anyway. The books are connected, the work together, but it's not a series.

Still, because of the way the books are all connected, I'm writing them similarly to the way others write a series. Specifically, I'm creating a series bible.

The idea behind a series bible is to have notes and information all in one place that I can reference as I'm working on the books. That way, when I write about Cameron, who first appears in the coffee house book, in a later book, I have notes about him to keep consistency in his character and story.

The biggest thing in the series bible so far is character biographies. The characters are the driving force in the books, so it's important to have that information handy. That's not all that's going to be in there, though.

I have charts that show relationships between characters as needed for the stories. I have a sheet that shows which books the characters are in, since there is crossover. And I have an overall story arc for each character that spans the whole of the collection.

When you create a world in a series or collection, you have to stay true to it and write within whatever parameters you establish. A series bible helps you do that.

Nathan Bransford has a nice post about creating a series bible, which he used for Jacob Wonderbar. If you need a series bible (and you do if you're writing a series), I encourage you to read his post.

Do you have a series bible? How has it impacted your writing?

Turning Point

Everyone has turning points in their lives. Sometimes they're small turning points, moments that have impact. Other times, they're bigger turning points that take you in a whole new direction.

This week is one of the big ones for me.

A turning point can be scary, particularly if you don't know what's around the bend. But a turning point can be very much a good thing in your life, too. A new direction, yes, but a better one. One that can open up different paths later on.

I'm sorry I can't offer more details right now, but once things are a little more confirmed, I'll be able to share more. That being said, I'm embracing the change as best I can, and looking forward to the many good things it will bring for my family and my life.

Renew Your Spirit Sunday with a Peaceful Path

As you may or may not know, my life is generally chaotic. There's been a lot going on in my personal life, and I've had some difficult decisions to make.

The good news is that today, I've come to a major decision about how to move forward with something, and I feel very much at peace about the path I've chosen.

Today I'm thankful for the incredible love and support I have in my family and friends, people who support my journey no matter where it takes me.

I don't know exactly what's to come in the future, but I know that where I'm headed is a good place, and that I'm strong enough to take this journey.

Renew Your Spirit Sunday with Music

Today is a special day. This afternoon, I have the privilege to be in a choir performance celebrating a friend's 35 years in music ministry.

Music is a big part of my spiritual walk, and I am blessed to get to sing with Sean every week at church since he plays piano and organ at my home church. His music helps bring my heart to a quiet place for services, celebrate and praise, and sends me to a busy week with a spirit centered right where it needs to be. He may not know it, but Sean's ministry at church is important to me. I'm so thankful to be able to sing with him every week, and especially in the church choir.

Music is like that, isn't it? It has a way of touching souls, connecting people, and moving something in us that no other art form can. Music is special, and people who dedicate their lives to music--like Sean--are special, too.

In an article for the local paper, Sean mentioned that when he was little, an organist introduced him to the organ. She showed him how it worked and let him sit beside her. It was her patience and care in fostering curiosity that led to Sean pursuing the organ.

I would like to note that it's Sean who introduced my son to the organ. We were in church one Sunday, sitting close to the front on the organ side of the sanctuary, and Puck realized that the music he was hearing was coming from the organ pipes, but that Mr. Sean was making the music off to the side. He became completely entranced by the music.

After the service, while Sean was still at the organ, I took Puck up to show him, and explained that Mr. Sean played the keys and pedals, and the music came from the pipes. So Sean showed Puck how it worked, showed him how to adjust the volume, and told Puck that when he's tall enough to reach the pedals, he can learn, too.

I don't know if Puck is going to learn to play piano and organ or not. If he does, I'll make sure he knows that it's thanks to Mr. Sean that he started.

And in the meantime, we'll continue to share in Sean's ministry and celebrate with him.

Congratulations, Sean, and thank you for your beautiful ministry to the community.

The fallacy of writer comparison

My fiction-writing career is not where I'd like it to be. I'm making progress on the collection, but from time to time I think about what I want to accomplish and how far I am from that, especially when I hear about other writers younger than me doing so much more.... I get a little disheartened. In the competitive world of the publishing industry, it's easy to compare yourself to others, isn't it?

There's a book I read for my day job that I think applies here. It's Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. The main message in the book is to secure your position in a "blue ocean" rather than a "red ocean." The red ocean is the industry you're in where companies compete fiercely for customer. The blue ocean, on the other hand, is taking your company to a new, uncharted space separate from your competitors.

The example given in the first pages of the book is Cirque du Soleil. In a dying market (the family circus), this company said, "We're not a family circus." They re-imagined this form of entertainment and have created a new market because of it. They didn't compete with Ringling Brothers or Barnum & Bailey. They had no competition at all. They were just Cirque du Soleil.

That's the mindset we need as writers. Yes, there is competition, particularly when you get into genre fiction. But my goal is to write a story that is outside of my genre. I want to have a story that can't really be compared with other stories because it's so different.

There have been many blog posts and articles I've read by agents, editors and writers that say you can tell an age-old story, but tell it in a way that makes it seem new. There are some who think that's all you can do, actually.

I took an independent study on personal mythmaking in college with my mentor. In it we discussed monomyth, and how some believe that all stories are based on this archetype. In that way, there are no new stories, and all stories have to be told in a way that makes them seem like they're not based on the monomyth. You can do this by jiggering Freytag's Pyramid a bit. (Chuck Wendig has an excellent post on story-telling. I encourage you to read it.)

When you figure out a new way to say something old, you're creating a blue ocean for your writing career. You're no longer competing with other writers who tell stories because their stories are so vastly different from yours.

That's a good position to be in, isn't it?

Okay, so that's my long-winded way of saying "Don't compare yourself to other writers." Here's the thing: everyone has a story to tell, but no one's story is the same. No one's path or experiences or life is the same, so what good does it do to compare yourself with someone else?

To use a racing metaphor, other writers aren't running the same race as you are. How can you compare someone running a 100-meter dash to someone running a marathon? That's what you're trying to do when you look at other writers and get down on yourself. I do it, too, and it's something I'm trying to remind myself doesn't matter.

Tell your story. Don't worry about anyone else. Swim in a blue ocean.

Happy scribbling.

The Runaway Bunny

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown is one of my favorite children's books. I read it to my children constantly and still get a little choked up when the baby bunny becomes a bird and the mama bunny becomes a tree.

I love the idea of the book: the baby bunny is loved, and mama bunny wants him to come home so much, that she will go after him and bring him home to her, no matter how far he goes. Puck and Tink, too, will know that they are so loved that they can always come home to me, no matter where they've been, what they've done, or who they are.

But the cheesy in me wants to take something from it for myself, too, and I've come to associate the book--and its message--with my writing life, and (specifically) the collection.

The correlation being that no matter what path my life takes, no matter what else I have going on, I can always "come home" to writing.

Here's the thing.

Writing doesn't care what else you've got going on. It doesn't care that things are tough (or easy), that you're struggling or succeeding, that you're dealing with drama or creating it. All that matters is that you show up at the page and put words on it. That you tell the story. Anything else is an excuse.

Regardless of what's going on in my life, I still manage to write. I may take a break for a while, but I always come back to writing. And, like coming home, it rejuvenates me, re-centers me and keeps me pushing through to the next lap.