I bet Edison had a mother...

Before I begin this post, I want to make it very clear that I do not put myself on plane with Edison or any other genius that changed our world. No, I'm an ordinary Jane. But, I do know what it's like to work toward something that many feel is impossible.

Edison was a persistent man. He worked for years to develop a carbon filament for the light bulb. After hundreds upon hundreds of failed attempts, in 1879 he succeeded, and we have never been the same since.

The other day, I was stranded at my parents house without a car. (Long story. Not interesting, I promise.) My darling mother asked to see my newest manuscript, and I consented.

I read my words aloud while we lounged on her bed. She gave me her whole self, hanging on every syllable like it was auditory gold. She oooed and ahhhed in all the right places. She laughed right on cue when my characters made a pun, and she felt sympathy for my characters when they were disheartened.

Was she just giving me what I wanted to hear? I honestly don't think so. Does this mean that my manuscript will be the envy of every major publishing house in New York? Probably not. But it does go to show that mothers can work small miracles in the lives of their children. Because she believes in me, it is that much easier to believe in myself (something that is imperative for an aspiring author). I'm glad she likes my new story, and her opinion is a valuable one. More than anything, I'm glad she's my mother.

Frustrating!

I love Christmas like a candy cane loves hot chocolate. But... all of this season's festivities are seriously affecting my daily writing goals. I am WAY behind, like 3,000 words behind, where I should be for the month.

On the bright side, my parent's gave both of my kids a Nintendo DS for Christmas. Let's just say, they're going to be quite occupied for the next six months. (No joke, they would play them all day if I let them). So what does this mean? It means I might be changing my blog from "writing by candlelight" to "writing during the day, like normal authors who value a good night's sleep."

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! I'll report on my progress after the holidays.

Wish me luck!

Behold, I bring you three fidgety angels, one kingly wise man, an adorable shepherd, a little brown donkey showing off his backside, a distracted lamb, a patient Mary and Joseph, and two mothers trying their best to hold it all together.

Getting this picture was no small Christmas miracle! I own the wise man and middle angel.

We had my son's fifth birthday party today. After the party, my family came to celebrate. We are doing Christmas with my husband's family this year, and so decided to do the Nativity story tonight while we had the whole group together.

I am exhausted! I am supposed to knock out 1000 words tonight before I fall asleep. We'll see what happens... ZZZZZZZZ

Side-Tracked

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was giving into the technology monster by starting this blog. Well, the plot thickens... I'm on facebook. (cringe) I'm not sure why I find that so cumbersome. It's all about the networking, I guess.

Since this blog was started to document my writing, I have to tell you about a new project that has captured and held hostage my writing sessions. It all started when I was doing a freewrite to warm up for another day of working on Natura 2. (For those of you who don't know, I've written a book entitled Natura. No, it is not published. I'm currently trying to find a literary agent who can help me navigate the murky waters of the publishing industry.) Well, the freewrite got way out of hand. A page turned into five. Five turned into fifteen. The next thing I knew, I had an entire novel outlined and a protagonist that I absolutely adored bringing to life. I'm determined to write her story, and I feel extremely excited to bring it all to life.

For those of you who have read Natura, don't worry, I haven't abandoned my baby. I'm going to continue to work hard to get it off the ground. Natura 2 is still a huge priority for me, and will pick it up as soon as I finish this new project. (I'm thinking April)

King's English

Tonight my adorable little sister (who happens to be three inches taller and drop dead gorgeous) and I drove to Sugar House to meet some incredibly talented authors. Can I just say that it's so refreshing to meet people in the writing world. I love seeing these gifted writers who have tasted the triumph of publication. It proves A) That good things do happen to good people, and B) That local writers are finding success in this tough industry. As an aspiring author, I thrive off of other people's successes.

Among others, I got to talk to James Dashner, who is officially a good friend of mine now, no matter what Dean Hale says. I've been anxious to pick up The 13th Reality so that I would be prepared when the second comes out in February. When James (What? I can call him "James". We're friends now remember?) discovered that I drove from Spanish Fork to come to the signing, he whipped out one of his advanced copies of the sequel and signed it for me as a gift. What a cool, down to earth guy.

Ann Cannon (you might know her as A. E. Cannon) signed a copy of her newest work, Loser's Guild to Life and Love. I enjoyed seeing her again. She gave me some constructive critique during the "Writing for Charity" event back in July. She is all grace and goodness, not to mention, a stellar author.

Shannon Hale thinks I'm a stocker, which for the record, goes against everything I stand for. I don't know why I couldn't just go up to her table, ask her to sign my books, and move on with my life. I HAD to tell her that I check her blog everyday. I HAD to run my mouth. So to Shannon, who I'm sure will be desperately scanning the web to find my blog, I would like to say that I was just a tinsy bit star struck tonight. It's embarrassing. I am normally a mellow, level-headed person. Honestly, if Brad Pit walked in to the King's English tonight, I wouldn't have batted an eye. But I meet these great authors and my knees become rapidly liquefying jello. Go figure.

Anyway, thank you James for the words of encouragement, thank you Ann for the good humor, and thank you Shannon and Dean for waiting until I left to laugh at the fool I made of myself.

A plug for a friend!

My sister-in-law, Whitnee Jenkins, is a gifted photographer. She did some fun Christmas shots of my little family. So here is a shameless plug on her behalf. Check out studiomjphotography.com. If you live anywhere in Northern Utah, she should be your first pick if you need professional pictures taken.