Summer!!!

I missed reading and writing this week!  (Well, a little bit!)  It's funny how you can miss your routine when you take yourself away from it.  No computers or electricity for 4 days can be very challenging for writers!

We went camping and had a great time! Lots of fun, friends, burnt marshmallows and SUN! It was a much needed break and SUN! Summer vacations are the best and then there's the SUN! *sigh*..the resonating sigh of an Oregonian.

Prior to vacation, I had been working on a chapter that just wasn't coming together. I was stuck with puzzle pieces just NOT fitting together and I was ready to throw the whole thing out!!! I wanted to finished it before we left for vacation but you know how it goes.

Cool thing about vacations, it's a chance for your subconscious to work out your problems. Sitting next to a fire, the solution to my writing challenges just wafted into my mind.  Vacations and sun just rock!

So if you're at a breaking point...take a break! Your creativity and productivity will thank you for it!!!

Motivation Monday

"The really happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour."
- Anonymous

Write hard, play hard

Living in Oregon has its disadvantages, or disadvantage really.  

Rain.

So when the sun is out you learn to take advantage of it.  With that said, Erika and I are taking a well deserved sun-break.  We will still be blogging, just not as often.  We appreciate everyone's support of our newest endeavor and look forward to coming up with new topics and author interviews in the fall!

In the mean time, imagine us here:

or here:

Motivation Monday

"Ever tried.  Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

- Samuel Beckett

How to start a novel - part 1

It dawned on me the other day that, in all of our bloggness (new word!  I just made it up and love it!) we usually discuss why and how to keep going when a literary agent or publisher has rejected you (us).  But what about those who haven't even started?  Are we scaring them into quitting before they even start? I hope not!

I hope that if you've ever thought about writing a book, a story, a poem that you will.  There is something magical about writing; you fall in love with characters, you believe in them, you root for them, and finally, you can't wait to hear how their story ends (because yes, the characters write the story, not you.)

I was in my oldest sons class talking to the kids about writing (and the dreaded "E" word - editing) and one of the kids asked me how I started writing.

(**Imagine me staring off into the distance, while that soothing, flashback music plays in the distance**)



It was the summer before my oldest son went into 3rd grade and all three of my boys were going to their grandpa's for a week (or two, I can't remember!) My father-in-law lives in a tiny town, nestled in the mountains of Eastern Oregon. (Where they can ride 4-wheeler's around century-old barns, and man-made ponds and yet never leave grandpa's property!)

So when Kole said he couldn't find anything interesting to read I offered to write him a book.  (I was very naive and thought it wasn't THAT hard!) So, while they were gone, I wrote a story about three boys who went to visit their grandpa in a tiny town in Eastern Oregon who discover a forest full of secrets.  Along their journey they uncover a power to turn into animals.  Of course I've done a few (a lot) of edits since then so the story has taken on a new life (and new worlds) of its own, but the point is, write what you know!

I know my father-in-law, the town he lives in, the things that happen in a small town - and I especially know my boys and what they are like.  So pick something you love to do, or even something you'd like to know more about and research the heck out of it - and then write about it.

And the most important step of all:

READ!  You may think that your idea is the best - ever!  And yes I am sure that a Vampire-Alien lovechild heading off to wizard's school will make you a bazillionaire, BUT unless you read, read, and read some more, you'll have no idea who to sell your wonderful idea to, or if anyone would be interested in reading it!

Good luck!  And remember, never give up on your dreams!  And when you've had 1 too many rejections, know that we will be here, with our annoying little stories and imaginary pom-poms, cheering you on!

-Toni

Keeping your marbles

Some times life is so CRA-ZZZ-AZY! If you are like most of us, we are being pulled in so many directions due to our demanding schedules. It's exhilarating yet exhausting at the same time. AND most of us love it! That's right we love it! We fill our schedules with fun and important things such as work, volunteer work, caring for those we love, making memories and fun activities with our kids, causes we are passionate about and making the world better in our own little way. All important things that make our lives worth living and we do it because we love it! I would rather be super crazy busy than bored out of my mind.

In all this super, crazy busy stuff, sometimes it's really hard to find the time for writing. I love to write but it's more a "fun thing I get to do at the end of the day if I get everything else done" type of thing. So it's no surprise that I often feel frustrated for not meeting my writing goals. Grrrr!

Today I found this great post on Writer Unboxed about great advice to writers. Keep Moving Forward was the theme of the post and I found it very inspiring! In our crazy world, there is so much that is out of our control. Work on the things that you can control like:  finding a time to write, making writing a priority, writing the very best that you can and most importantly....keeping your marbles during all of this! All things we've heard so many times but hearing again and again brings hope and renewed vigor. It's a great post and just what I needed to read today. I would recommend checking it out!

So let yourself be crazy busy! Just remember to schedule time for what's really important in your life!

Motivation Monday

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."
- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

F.E.A.R.

Nasty little four letter word, isn't it?  It's right up there with c%!* and &^!t.  And it's intertwined with that other nasty word, rejection.  As a writer, I fear rejection and failure.  It causes me to doubt, and more than once, to give up.  And yet, as a writer, I refuse to let my fear control me.

Again, this weeks' Motivation Monday, really spoke to me:

"Being scared can keep a man from getting killed, and often makes a better fighter out of him."
- Louis L'Amour

How true is that?!  We've all heard the stories; where some eighty year old grandma beat the living daylights out of a twenty something thug with her cane.   How is that possible?  Because she has something to live for.  She has the will to fight.  In those moments, the ones where we are faced with the possibility of dying, something kicks in and tells us to fight.

So what does that have to do with writing?

As authors we need to find our will. The will to write.  The will to try.  The will to keep going.

Fear is that twenty something thug.  It's do or die time.

Find the fight within.

Reading Rockstars

The Reading Rockstar Sumer Reading Program Launch was today. With lots of music, crooked stars decorations, and very supportive teachers, the kids had a great time!

Words can't express how grateful we are to Lisa Ard, author of the Dream Seeker Series, for coming in and speaking to the kids. They were very receptive and expressed their enthusiasm very loudly!

Thank you Lisa! You are a Rock Star!!!

Oscars or Kids?

So I've been running around today like a chicken with my head cut off. I grew up on a farm and believe me that is a really scary thing!!!

Today is the last day before the Reading Rock Star Summer Reading Program launch at my son's school. Like all assemblies,  a million things have gone wrong. The DJ cancelled 3 days before the program, bookmarks missing, reading charts came back from printers the wrong color and those are just the ones I can mention without crying.

Nothing is going according to my magical, Disney like, super awesome, will get everyone super excited, perfect assembly I had envisioned.

Three deep breaths later, I have to remind myself the real reason we're doing this....the kids! They aren't going to care if there isn't a DJ or the reading charts are green. Maybe the decorations are a little crooked or they don't notice the decorations at all. The important thing is if that one child who was looking forward to endless video games this summer decides to include reading in their list of summer activities then it was all worth it! It's all about the kids! It's all about getting them excited about reading.

We do have some really cool things planned. Super rock star author, Lisa Ard, is coming to speak to the kids about her book! Fun prizes and lots of glitter stars plastered to the walls! If we can pull off the music without a DJ it will be a miracle but in the end, I hope the kids leave psyched for reading!! It's all about the kids!

*Next year, I want Toni to be our author!!! Good things are going to happen to her!!

Motivation Monday

"Being scared can keep a man from getting killed, and often makes a better fighter out of him."
- Louis L'Amour