Guilty as charged

I'm having a bad day...
That's the purpose of this new post.
I wonder if it's Karma. [my previous post was pretty snarky, wasn't it? Please, go read it. It might make you laugh.]
So, I just wanted to say, Little annoyances aside, I could love a guy like the carpenter in my parable. On an even more humbling note, I'm probably no better.

There.

Maybe my day will get better now.

A Servant's Heart--and goals

I don't usually preach on my blog...and I'm not going to now, either, but in case you can't tell from my blog, I'm a Christian. If the handy-dandy, clickable picture in the sidebar wasn't enough[you don't always see it], hopefully you left here thinking, that's that really nice blogger, a little sarcastic, funny and hardworking, with the lovey-dovey pictures in the header. [these are all better things than, that's that blogger who is so mean to everyone! and talks nasty about everyone!]

~*~

Story telling is kind of my thing. I like to tell stories. And this one has a definite parable-type feel to it. I think, if Jesus had come today, he would use this story in order to get a point across...

There was a man who grew up to be a carpenter. He loved wood of all kinds. In his workshop, he created such beautiful things--tables, frames, chairs, paperclip menu holders... This man was also known to get down and dirty on a construction site. He could build walls, remodel bathrooms, lay tile, patch a roof. If he had a tool in his hand, this man was happy.

There came a day, one with winds so fast, his neighbor's roof blew off. The shingles, in a mighty gust, ripped from the tar and boards. This man ran to help. He grabbed that hammer and some roofing nails. He hauled blocks of wood, bricks and stones to hold down what was still clinging.

And the neighbors were grateful.

When the man came home, he found the toilet paper roll empty. Dagnabit, he exclaimed. Who was the last person to use the bathroom, he wanted to know! Of course, no one knew. He used that restroom, anyway.

Later, his wife used the same restroom, and there was that roll of toilet paper sitting on the back of the toilet, while the cardboard tubing rested on the toilet paper roll.

Jesus would ask, did this man have the heart of a servant? The crowds would roar, yes! He did, Lord. When his neighber was in need, he helped.

But Jesus would quietly reply, No. I tell you. The servant's heart would go out of his way to serve, doing something he so adamantly despises. He sacrifices nothing to hold that hammer and pound a few nails, but to uncoil the rod and replace the toilet paper, speaking not of the agony he suffers in order to serve his family and wife, that is what a true servant would do.

~*~

Monday goals. Had a very busy week past. Must get more done this time around. :) Wish me luck!

Me

Whether I get published or not,

I'm a mom who writes.

Someday, I'll be a writer with four Kids.

Monday Goals

I spent all day yesterday, critiquing. It was nice ot take a break from my own manuscript and enjoy some very AWESOME stories that my friends are writing. :D

This week will be more of the same.
1) continue pacing revisions
2) prepare for my parents to visit this coming weekend
...yes, this means clean the house! LOL
3) write two letters for two organizations who are giving away registration scholarships for the RWA National Conference. If I can get a scholarship, I'm going. My parents would give me a place to stay...and I could find babysitters for during the day. It would be a whirlwind but totally worth it!!!!!!!!
4) Enter a contest for a drawing for a chance to win free registration to the Conference....
LMAO. I know, I'm desperate. I can't help it. The entry is only like 10 dollars. The winning is way more than that!

That'll be my week.

Yesterday, my hubby came home and mentioned that Linda [a friend from work] gave him a book. I said, "Oh! Is it a romance?"
He replied, "In a way, yes--"
I questioned him with a disbelieving look.
He continued, "--if you love woodworking."

Fire and Ice

The last two days of the week went by quickly and uneventfully. I enjoyed Mom's Night Out at Pastabilities...The drink was good, the food...eh. I've had better. I'm sorry I spent twelve dollars on it, when I could have had another drink instead. We finished the night at Katz, a martini bar. I had a Fat Tire, which is beer, but I didn't want to mix anymore liquor in there. The one I had at the first place was stroooong! The company was more than great and I met another gal, Kathy. I can't wait until next month when we do it again. Dougherty's here we come!

~~~~~~~~~~

So, the real purpose for my blog post. Julie Garwood. Fire and Ice.



I think as writers[especially new writers], we all worry about how we're going to label our next book. Is it a cozy mystery? a romantic suspense? a chic lit?

Is it more light than dark? Serious or funny?

I picked up Fire and Ice and expected a traditional Romantic Suspense--this term bugs me to no end because it implies that the story is suspense with elements of romance, but usually an RS has strong guidelines for the Hero and Heroine and their subsequent Happily-Ever-After. That's what makes it a romance. To me, that means it's a Suspentic Romance, but hey! No one asked me.

In any case, I really liked how Mrs. Garwood put her story together. Her characters seemed so real to me. They weren't overboard emotional...though they did reveal themselves poignantly. I did end up feeling like the H/h were meant for each other, but without the drama of melodrama. [does that make any sense?]

The entire book really struck a chord with me. Maybe you'd have to read it to see what I mean... it's possible I'm not putting this to words very well. [shame on me! LOL] The romance in this book was strong, yet strong enough to take the back seat and NOT backseat-drive.

This is my writing perspective of Fire and Ice.
Tomorrow, I'll post my review for it on The Girls on Books [the link is in my sidebar. Click the pic!].

Conversation -- Three

Okay, this conversation could have happened anytime, not just this week, but it certainly isn't typical!

A week or so ago, our van lost all power to the gages[sp?]. No spedometer, no gas tank indicator, cold and hot...nothing. Matt had filled it with gas, about $20. So, I drive the kids to school and back...couple appointments, but nothing big.

Today, I call down to Matt in his workshop. "Hey Matt?! You think I can make it to the library and back in the van?"

"Sure, yeah, I think so," he replies.

I weigh my options, but I really want my coffee and driving his rice-burning, standard, pick-up with my thermos of coffee is a pain in the rear, so I take the van.

I get five blocks away, and it starts acting funny... slowing down, etc. A slight hiccup. I immediately turn into the Target parking lot, drive through and drive back down the road towards home. Three blocks from home, I can no longer accelerate, but I'm still moving [yay!]. I turn onto our street and I pray, "Let me get up the hill, so I can coast down the other side and into my driveway."

Nope. Didn't make the crest. The walk is nothing. I'm so close to our yard I can spit in it.

"Honey! I ran out of gas!!!"

LMAO He had to go get gas...and I never did make it to the library.

The Next Forty Days

The first day of Lent.

I'm giving up the internet for lent. I do work online, so my hour or so a day will be at 8pm.

Sundays are NOT included in the 40 days, so I'll be getting on to post some blogs and keep my obligations fulfilled. :-) There's actually something about lent that is freeing...even peaceful.

I don't think the God's intentions are for us to be anxious or stressed out because of Lent. So, take it easy, say an extra prayer, do something nice for others, volunteer at a soup kitchen...

I'll be around...
Take care.
Bethanne

Goals & conversation two

I'm reading a really AWESOME book.
Fire and Ice by Julie Garwood. She's not an immediate buy for me, but I saw her book at the library and thought it sounded like fun. I WAS RIGHT! I'll talk more when I finish it...and I'll review it, too, on Sunday at The Girls on Books.

~~~~~~~~~~

Goals for the week
1) continue pacing revisions-- i worked in a new chapter four and five and eight last week. so...that means the chapter thirteen I'm looking to rewrite is now sixteen. It's moving along and I love it. Now, I've--

[hold on, the bagel popped up]

--I've been inspired by Garwood [again, more on that later].

~~~~~~~~~~

Conversation Two -- of conversations I wouldn't normally have in a week [just prior to the PBS airing of New Yankee Workshop]

"Hey hon." He hesitates, mutters to himself. "No. Nevermind--" He glances at the clock. "Actually, when this bagel pops up, will you butter it and bring it out to me?"

SERIOUSLY? Hahahahahaha..... Of course I did it!!

Conversation -- One

You ever find when your man is home things don't always go as usually planned or scheduled?
I'm okay with that, of course. I'm really happy for Matt who gets to relax this week, enjoy his woodshop, and otherwise do things he doesn't normally get to do in a week.

I sat at the computer to work. I've got my cup of coffee... a friend's wip open and my radio playing, when Matt comes in....

to talk about FERAL HOGS.

Halfway through this conversation, I'm inspired to keep track of the conversations I have this week that I wouldn't in a typical week.

From North American Hunter, Dec/Jan 09 Issue
~The explosion in the population of wild hogs is a concern for wildlife management and landowners, yet it's creating a bonanza for hunters.

~Domestic hogs that escape to the wild become wild hogs, with tusks and long hair, within two generations. Less than a year.

[long pause--sorry, This Old House is on and Matt thought I would want to watch it with him...which I do. They are renovating a New York City brownstone...absolutely beautiful]

~Studies show that after wild hogs are established on a property, it's necessary to remove 80 percent of that population ever year to maintain the beginning population level. Hogs reproduce RAPIDLY.

~one man in the Cumberland Mountains of Alabama, near the TN state line, while hunting for whitetail deer, heard a grunting noise and thought he'd found himself a bear. When he realized it was a feral hog, he shot it. It was 700 pounds!!!!! Thank goodness for tree stands...

BTW, hunters are making some pretty pennies in the effort to curb the population. Matt wishes he lived in the Southeast or California...Hawaii. We don't have such a hog problem in the midwest, yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm lucky. Alot of my male characters are earthier, down-home country boys. I'm never at a loss for subject matter. It's never a dull moment around here, especially when Matt's around. :)

Where is the HEA?

I actually stopped reading a book this week. The disappointment was a tad overwhelming because this book started off AWESOME! Like, dance-in-the-kitchen-til-the-morning-light AWESOME. The hero was an agent...the heroine was his computer geek, couldn't-run-things-without-her, right-hand lady. Scene one, dinner party with an assassination threat. Heroine gets pulled into the field. She is going to accompany the hero as his date. The decision was a bit compulsive, but he needed someone and of course, she was there. She's trained physically... Anyhoo. VERY exciting. Hero gets attacked...shot in the chest actually...and the heroine (who didn't actually run that far away when he told her to) sees the attacker going in for the head shot. So what does she do? She kicks ass. In the scuffle, the shooter gets shot.

Scene two: At the hospital. Shooter is in surgery. Hero is in ER. He was wearing Kevlar (of course!) He hears a woman's voice. Low and behold, it's the traitorous B who almost killed him. Her son is the shooter...and guess what? It's the hero's son, too!!!! [wow, when I write it out like this, it sounds awfully cheesy] There is a confrontation in which psycho B threatens the hero (she's off the deep end, btw), but the heroine jumps in at this point and says, No. I shot your son.

There's stuff hitting fans everywhere...and the hero knows only one thing. He has to put the heroine into hiding.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! [end of round one]

We've got a sagging middle here. I swear, I was so excited about the opening of this book. Remember now, this is all research. Any books I read [usually], I tend to study. So, I asked myself, how did the author lose me? And this is what I figured out...in this instance.

I always knew the heroine loved the hero. She'd maintained a professional distance, but her internal gave her away. This isn't necessarily a problem. Most women are more in tune with their emotions. It wasn't too far into the story, maybe a third of the way, when the hero internally admitted love for the heroine. When they 'got together' at about two-thirds of the way through the book... I couldn't get that excitement back.

They had their Happily Ever After!

Sure, there were still bad guys on the loose, but the hideaway was known only to the hero. Not even his best friend or family knew where they were. Also, the bunker had a room FILLED with computers, but the heroine [the computer EXPERT!] never even went in there. Didn't do anything during the time they were there to help find out who had hacked into the company's system. Why not?

I had to stop reading...the final straw was when the heroine went into the cave of this bunker/hideaway and...for the THIRD TIME!, mentioned the stalagmites--or was is stalactites? Seriously, she said that in her head THREE times. To me, the stinks of author intrusion. As if she didn't have the time or wherewithal to look it up...and so, made the heroine an idiot. Because, if you were curious about something, wouldn't you go to that computer room on the other side of the bunker and LOOK IT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sheesh.

Stalagmites: rising from the floor.
Stalactites: hanging from the ceiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a point to this... Oh right. I have a tendency to do this. AVOID CONFLICT, especially in the relationships I conjure up. It's in direct relationship to reading books where I groan at the stupid reasons people have conflict, BUT I read just as many books with good conflict. So, I'm going to make sure my book doesn't resemble this one....

How about you? Do you get tired of the conflict in a romance? What do you do in your writing to avoid such conflict?

Monday Goals

Okay, I've been slacking for a couple of weeks, as is obvious from my blogging...
It's been a study of PROCRASTINATION. So, I decided to set a goal for myself for this week.

1) Submit chapter THIRTEEN for decimation. Ack. Actually, the chapters not THAT bad, I'm just afraid for the pacing...and losing my audience.

2) Finish the rewrite for THIRTEEN and submit it for a beta read

As a matter of fact, I may submit both for a quick beta read before I ask for crits. :P So...

1) Finish rewrite for THIRTEEN
2) submit THIRTEENS
3) decide what to do with THIRTEEN

Hopefully, this won't take all week.
Beyond that, it's back to editing and revising and submitting chapters.

For Matt

who actually reads my blog...even if it is because I subscribed him, then got into his email and confirmed it. Hahahaha.

It's St. Valentine's Day tomorrow, and I'm so thankful for Matt.

Matt and GiGi on New Year's Eve, 07

Matt and his brothers, John and EJ, holding Thomas

Okay, well... I've got nothing of the two of us!

Bugger. I'll have to rope the kids into getting us.

I'm pretty sappy and he'll groan to hear it, but I always think of him when I hear the Brad Paisley song, She's Everything...okay it's only like two lines that remind me of him, but the whole darn song is so romantic that I get all mushy inside listening to it.

She's the giver I wish I could be... Matt is so generous. Half the time, I'm like, WHAT? You're giving more money away? And he pats the air with his hands and says, It's fine. Don't worry about it, while I choke. LOL I wish I could be that way.

...and Matt totally steals the covers!!

Thanks for stopping in on my Sap Blog.

Have a great weekend.

Who can Review?

Can you?
I heard some talk on this topic about reviews... so, what makes a reviewer? What makes a critic? Is it experience? Schooling? Longevity?

I review books. Bottom line is my opinion. I don't think that really changes if a reviewer works for the New York Times. Maybe because they work for the NYT their reviews are more widely read or accepted, but the bottom line is still their opinion. Two people, equally read, equally educated could have two completely different opinions about an apparent 'classic' book...or where to find the best steak in Chicago.

*shrug*

People are only going to follow a reviewer if they find that their tastes are similar.

Announcements

The winners were announced for the Pitch contest. ALthough I did not final, I was glad to see that one of my Critique Partners did! Chelle Sandell. A lovely woman who definitely deserved it.

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The Girls on Books Review blog is hosting our first Author of the Month. Penelope Holt. Plus! Any comment this month is a chance to win a copy of Penelope Holt's debut novel, The Painter's Gift.

Sean, Learning Letters

Sean looks for the letter B on the fridge. Notice, he says, 'Oh,' then looks in the leap frog magnet base, because he had left it there before I started taping, but I moved it. Sorry about all the background noise! I really, just don't hear it anymore. Hahahaha. Enjoy!