Curious What I'm Up To?
Feb 2022
I've gotten some great feedback from my Beta readers, and am getting the last details ready to go. You can order Lost here!
Nov 2021
Milana 5, Lost, is off to the proofreaders! Hooray! After that will be formatting and then beta readers.
June 2021
Finished the draft for Milana 5, Lost. So incredibly excited! It's ready for some first level editing, and then alpha reading... Huzzah!
March 2021
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Well. I have had a time. I hit the halfway point in my draft and then promptly broke my finger. My littlest made a sudden dive, and I managed to avert the danger gravity was bringing him to, but at the cost of my finger. Then I learned that it was utterly impossible to type. I also learned that it's very easy to re-break your finger. It cost me three months of writing time, plus all of the inertia I had built up for writing!
I'm finally building that back up though, and I'm writing almost every day again. The whole thing has driven home what CS Lewis said in the Silver Chair, a person never really does have any idea what is going to happen to them in the next hour. So, with that in mind, I've gotten the cover together, and I'm also going to put some serious effort into learning dictation. |
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Late Aug 2020 - The Legends of Milana, Book 5 - That's a Good Sign
28,000 words down. I've been letting my three oldest kids read each chapter as I finish, and it really keeps me working. I try to write six days a week, while my fifth takes his afternoon nap. I gave my kids Chapter Thirteen this morning. My oldest daughter just came in the room, waving the pages wildly and shouting about how dare I make things so difficult for certain characters, and whether I had quite lost my mind. She finally threw them at me and stomped out of the room in a way that would have made Anne of Green Gables proud.
I'll take that as a sign that she is drawn in on an emotional level as a reader. Poor kid. She'll be all grown-up someday, talking about how her writer mother tortured them by giving them one chapter at a time...
I'll take that as a sign that she is drawn in on an emotional level as a reader. Poor kid. She'll be all grown-up someday, talking about how her writer mother tortured them by giving them one chapter at a time...
Summer 2020
Working on Milana 5!
This season has been such a challenge, hasn't it? Seeking God's guidance, I am reminded more than ever that loving my babies and teaching them to love God and others is my tiny piece of the puzzle, my way of trying to do God's work and spread His goodness and peace. Working on book five is another piece of my story in the Kingdom. I feel that our culture truly needs more stories where the heroes are fighting for right and protecting others.
This season has been such a challenge, hasn't it? Seeking God's guidance, I am reminded more than ever that loving my babies and teaching them to love God and others is my tiny piece of the puzzle, my way of trying to do God's work and spread His goodness and peace. Working on book five is another piece of my story in the Kingdom. I feel that our culture truly needs more stories where the heroes are fighting for right and protecting others.
Spring 2020
Wow. Can I just say I never thought I would live to watch the whole world come to a stop? That aside, I am currently working with Juliet (my Milana narrator); going through the audio files. I'm also trying to make sure our home is a refuge for our family; making scones and jam, riding our bikes, playing games, and coming up with creative assignments for the kids.
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I took a break from my fiction to put together a prayer journal for my girls. My oldest enjoyed the simplicity of my Heavenly Spaces journal (I had made that for one of my boys, because he wanted a prayer journal, preferably one without flowers all over it), but she likes flowers and all things girly, and wanted me to make one just for her. This time I added Ponder Pages, and wrote about some of the things that I believe it is important for girls to ponder in light of what God has to say. You know, stuff like Who Does God Say I Am? Prayer Journal for Girls is favorite prayer journal to date.
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Feb 2020
So excited! I have book launching butterflies! And not only that, but Juliet has started work on the audio book, and I have book 5 outlined.
Winter 2020 - Milana 4 & 5Book Four is up for Pre-Order at Amazon. I'm taking care of the behind the scenes stuff for launching a book. I'm also starting to work on book five!
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Christmas 2019 - Milana 4 - The Emptiness
The Emptiness is off being proofread! Once they're done, it's on to the beta readers.
Fall 2019
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I am on the last major pass through The Emptiness. A crazy idea occurred to me, that perhaps, just maybe, if I handed each finished chapter off to my three older kids, they might encourage me to get on with it.
Those three are quite the variety, being one school aged, one middle school, and one high school. But, yeah, I was not expecting the amount of help I would get. Because, let me tell you, there are also two little ones who know zip about writing and authors and the like, who need naps and entertaining if I am to make any progress. |
I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, to be honest. I often ponder how C.S. Lewis would bring down the next chapter of The Horse and His Boy, and read it to the boys who became his stepsons. How exciting that must have been! And now, I have a teensy idea why he might have done that... I bet it was waaaay quieter when Jack went up to his study if they were anxiously waiting the next chapter.
Summer 2019
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I totally enjoyed my spring sabbatical, but I am just bursting to write! I have sewn, drawn, knitted, and sat in the sun. I have planted trees and pulled weeds. I have read and snuggled and tickled and laughed and re-charged.
And through all that, Milana bubbled to the surface, more and more, like a pot of water coming to boil. So that's what I'm working on this summer: The Emptiness, The Milana Legends, Part Four. I am also playing around with some concept art for a new cover for The Pillar of Light. I adore illustrations, and have always wanted them for my covers, so I've set out to learn to improve my painting skills! I gotta go... the kettle is whistling. ;) |
A very rough idea for the cover of POL...
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Spring 2019
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I started working on Ruby West #2, The Lost Legacy, but goodness, it really is hard to get anything "extra" done while living with a toddler tornado!
In fact, I realized that the last time we had a tiny tornado living with us I simply declared a writing sabbatical! And that's where I find myself again. You see, I think it's important to lean in to the priorities God has given me, and embrace the season I'm in! So I'm going to take some time to refill my creative well: I'll write if I have the opportunity, but I won't stress if I don't. This too shall pass in the blink of an eye, and I will have tons of time to crank out books again! |
January & February 2019
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The new year finds me doing one of my favorite things: research! Call me a Word Nerd, but it's fun, and you can't convince me otherwise.
Owing to the fact that I have a full-plate life-wise, I'm working on the next Ruby West. My mythological Leyenda Island is set right across the river from where I live, so I get to dig into some local landmark history for book two. Treasure legends are especially fascinating, and there are so many here. I'll also be outlining this mystery again (I did that for the last one, and it gave me a much cleaner first draft, which is awesome because I. Hate. Editing.). And then on to the good stuff! For those of you wondering why I'm not working on The Emptiness this month: I just finished working with my audio narrator and the first three books of The Milana Legends are audio published. Working on it had all kinds of fun Milana things bubbling into my brain, so I decided to let them simmer for a bit, while my non-author life is so full to the brim. The world-building for fantasy requires a lot of focus, and I love Milana too much to rush it. I've come to value living seasonally: this pace of life won't last forever, in a few months I shall be able to do it justice! |
Anna and Gracie
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December 2018
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I had such a blast working with Juliet for the audio, and she wanted to go on with the series, so not only is The Pillar of Light on audio, but Escape From Avoria should be up on Audible any day now too! Every few days Juliet sends more for Oceans Deep, and the kids and I gather in the kitchen to see how it's coming!
The kids are on Christmas break, so I've bribed the two oldest to do some extra baby-sitting of the Littles for me. I'm working through my editorial changes to The Coral Killer, and am getting close to being done. AND! Still loving my new hair cut. I had to chop it all off because the baby was pulling on it something fierce! No new author mug shot, yet, cause I really don't like posing for pics. |
November 2018
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Taking the leap into audio books. As an indie this means finding the write narrator and putting everything together! Choosing was scary for me, but my readers on the email list helped me decide, and now the challenge is to help Juliet Jones pronounce all these crazy words I made up!
I created a Science Journal for my kids. The History journals work so well for us that I decided to go the same route for recording our science. Child number 5 is up and walking, so that is about all the author-ing I can accomplish right now. |
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