Woman of Faith...

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Please come to the front office. Woman of Faith...your Father is here with your lunch.

That's kind of what I feel like right now. Embarrassed because all my classmates are looking at me funny, a few are snickering, and my good friends will say, I'm not laughing AT you, I'm laughing WITH you. I forgot my lunch. I would rather my father not have brought my lunch to school at all. How embarrassing! As I walk down the hall, he's standing there by the office door holding that brown bag up and waving it a little. As if I might not recognize the lunch I made this morning. Or as if I don't know I left it on the counter when I walked out the door. I quickly look behind me, to make sure no one is there, relieved when I find the hall empty.

I'm taking my writer's hat off...again. It's possible you think I'm crazy by now. Or perhaps you have stopped following my blog because it's too unpredictable!! If that's the case, you aren't reading this anyway...so I move on. :D

I struggle with Christmas every year. Keeping this time of year joyful and peaceful has become a trial. First it was so easy when the kids were little. No one complained. No one had lists... every year, it gets a little tougher to hold onto the true meaning.

This year feels like a crisis. With a teenager and an almost teenager, there are times I feel like cancelling Christmas. I even thought of this great idea to encourage goodness and kindness by having the kids earn Christmas points throughout the year[next year]. Not a punishment where they would be taken away if they were bad. Just complete a reward system. Simple Acts of Kindness. Helping one another. We can do these things...and be naughty on occasion. So this seems the answer! My kids must EARN what I spend my hard-earned money on.

But then I hear someone say...Christmas is about giving. God gave us Christ. We didn't deserve Christ. Or deserve the sacrifice he made for us. We were already a broken race. Humans hurting humans. We did not have perfection. Our gift from God is life eternal. This is the true meaning of Christmas. This is why I will set aside all the ugly that keeps popping up. If we are to love as Christ loved, then we should be able to show love even when we want to rip people's heads off instead. Christmas can be [will be] peaceful because I do not have to worry about how good my kids have been. There is no list of naughty or nice. There is only Love. I love them.

In light of the tragedy in Newton, CT. I have so many thoughts on love, on children, on consequences. Sometimes, it's hard to realize that if my children were to leave this earth, they would not recognize that I love them. Punishment must come with the gentle hand of teaching and love. Love your children unconditionally. Do not let them think that they must earn your love by being good.

That lunch up there? It's Love. It's the eye-opening reminder that I am not perfect but my Father loves me anyway.

Now that I've Christianed all your asses...
Enjoy the coming weekend!
With Love,
Bethanne

Sunday Summation

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Another week closer to my Lord's birthday.
I'm sitting at my desk with not quite all my Christmas shopping done.

But I don't even care...
There are too many more important things to be worried about...to be THANKFUL for than to worry that everyone has X number of presents. Or that they're going to be happy. Maybe being happy isn't really the final answer.

Today, I enjoy life and my family.

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 ...in writing. I write. And edit. :P

December 14, 2012 -- A point in Time

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Today, 26 people were killed at an elementary school in Connecticut, 18 of them children. I have to write that down...hold it close to my heart...make sure it's there for the years to come when I decide to look back on life. I can only imagine the heartache. It's not possible to write, in fiction, the sadness people are feeling today, and I keep having this urge to go get my kids from school.

Two parts make a killer--the mind and the weapon.
It's okay to admit that you want a change...I admit, I want a change [no, not Obama]. If that means gun laws, I'm willing to go along. This is not a revelation for me. It's just bone-weary sadness over the tragedy that has struck our nation once again. Something has to give. Something has to change...

I know the answer. Any Christian knows the answer. Unfortunately, the world does not know the answer. So instead we will continue to try to moralize the law. It's impossible, of course. Changing the laws will not fix that 20 year old's mind. The laws will not heal a killer, nor will the laws make guns disappear.


Today I was called an Asshole.
It bothered me a good bit.

After the lengthy, bullshit election year, I have to admit, being called an asshole was like icing on the cake. I want to bite back. I want to shut the world up and tell them all to mind their own F-ing business. I want a nice deserted island where I don't have to deal with people at all...ever, even if they are sort of family.



I want to know how a young man can shoot a gun 26 times...and no one stops him. How? How does this happen? How can this country survive in this divided state. It is true that a tragedy like this is merely a symptom. I fear what our country will go through in the after-math of this tragedy.

I grieve for the families...
I pray for peace.
With love,
Bethanne

Tuesday? Really?

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Where are the days going? :P :D I'm now deep in revisions for One Heartbeat in the Darkness. When I stop working, I wonder if I should self-publish this or send it to a publisher. The ever present debate. I'm all geared up to self-publish, though... got my budget set up, an editor waiting in the wings, and a cover artist to die for!! So, i should really get back to work. :D Needed to pop in and say hi. Hi! Christmas is almost here, and despite a few rocky moments at the get-go, my spirit is at peace. Phew! Advent is this great time of year and should be enjoyed for what it is...expectation and waiting and anticipation. Some stress is good for you. And this is one of those contemplations--a good stress. Hope you're all doing well, getting your Christmas shopping done, and enjoying the wait. Love you, Bethanne

Dangerous December

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With a title like that, you might think I hate Christmas or abhor Santa... I have my issues with what Christmas has become in the last fifty years, but no, this post is not about the holidays!!!

Today, I prepare myself to let go of the laptop for at least two weeks. This comes at an awful time. I'm editing a novella for a January release. I'm waiting to hear from a publisher in regards to two submissions. I have work to do! 

And now I must brace myself. Work at my desktop is terrifying. It's slow. It's unpredictable. It has no internet backup ability. It's a good ten years old and the usual methods--dropbox and google drive--will not download to the computer. IE will not update and has become obsolete. I have to use Mozilla or Chrome. Chrome does not like the archaic functions of my desktop and often refuses to do the normal tasks.

With the help of my PCer, Silke, I am tasking the computer to back up--automatically--to a flashdrive. I don't know how this is going to work. I hope it works. It should work. My fingers are crossed. 

Never again will I work without back up. So this is my plan. Set up task on computer, and every night, email work completed for that day to myself. It's either that, or wait.

Wish me luck...

Sunday Summation

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I'm feeling festive on my blog again. If you get a chance, come on by and enjoy the new look. It's winter and Christmas! I also changed up my sidebars. I like a wider post, so that I'm not moving my eyes back and forth so much, so I got rid of the right sidebar. I minimized the Blog Archive to a drop down menu in order to clean things up and shoved all the review and publisher buttons to the bottom of the page. On the top, in the side bar, I've got what I'm working on...in case you're interested. And below that, my pages. Feel free to pop around, read my bio, etc. I will eventually add a blurb for everything I'm working on... Further down I've posted the cover image and a link for 'What I'm reading now'.

I'll have you know that I spent 4.5 hours on Saturday AT THE STORES. Goodwill, ARC Thrift, Walmart...I also had Game Stop on my list. I had my two older children with me so I made sure we got into some of the Christmas lists for the younger boys. I was not going to waste this time! I still didn't get what I went out for, which was concert dress uniforms for those two. :(  Will have to go back out today. YUCK. BUT, it does feel good to have a few things finished.

In writing, I'm doing revisions on my Angel book...which will be coming out in January. :D Yippee!
Keep an eye out for more news about that after the New Year.

Enjoy this new week.
Keep the faith.
With Love,
Bethanne

TGIF

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So much has happened in a month.

I wrote a complete novel...one that is exciting. I look forward to the New Year when I pull that out and start a few revisions--get it right, so to speak. Though I edit as I go along [there's no help for it, really], I still have a few things to look at.

I began revisions on a manuscript I will be publishing in January. ...yes, you can find editors who aren't scheduling edits four or five months in advance. Don't forget, it never hurts to ask[unless it does and then maybe you just need a new editor...]. I had an editor once who told me she was going to edit a ms mid SEPTEMBER. She was done in the first half of May. So yeah, sometimes they can squeeze you in. You just never know.

Christmas is on the way...

I need to get to shopping. Booo. I really dislike this time of year and look forward to January.
I'm a mild-mannered Scrooge. I love bringing Christ to Christmas, everything else can take a flying leap.

Enjoy the weekend, friends.
With Love,
Bethanne


Awesome Romance Novels

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If you don't know...or can't figure it out, I like romance novels. It's why I follow blogs like, Awesome Romance Novels. I get to see what's new, what's good. Not a review site, it merely features books...by all different authors. Some new releases, some out for a while, mysteries, paranormals, contemporaries...

Today, Awesome Romance Novels is featuring my novel, For Love or Duty.

I will never make a fortune, but I appreciate blogs like this... because it's all about exposure, exposure, exposure!

Enjoy the weekend friends!
And if you're like me and completely DREAD Christmas...
let's get together and drink the thoughts of shopping and making kids happy away. Shall we?
With Love,
Bethanne

30,269 Words

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Will I reach 50K?
I'm trying, but I do see that I'm coming to the end of the story.
I'm in that life-is-good, maybe-we-can-make-this-thing-between-us work phase. You know that two minutes about 2/3 of the way through the movie when they play a lot of music and show happiness.

Don't worry. It gets all messed up again in the Black Moment so that we can really appreciate the Happily Ever After. :D

Still writing!
What about you? How are you going to spend your Holiday Week? or Day!?
With Love,
Bethanne

Another one bites the dust...

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A long time ago, Unions had a place in our world.
Today, not so much...

Thanks to the largely unreasonable efforts of another Union to demand more, Hostess Cakes has shut its doors. No more Twinkies... no more Ding Dongs. I mean, DING DONGS! A company that can name a cake Ding Dong should be allowed, well... anything.

Hostess Goes Out of Business

This is a familiar story in our country. The steel mills, Wheeling Pitt, in the Ohio Valley. Gone. Why? Because people are dumb. And they suck donkey winky. No one just wants to work. No one is grateful for work... they want more, more, more. Then they hire some stupid idiot to come in and "negotiate" for them, and when that doesn't go well, they strike.

WELL, TRY STRIKING NOW, YOU DUMBASSES! Or better yet...would you like a job? I hear McDonald's is hiring...

Cheers, to Hostess for not giving in to the demands.
Sad, for everyone else who really like eating the cake that was rumored to be able to survive a nuclear blast and armegeddon.

Enjoy this coming Holiday Week.
With Love,
Bethanne


Sunday Summations

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There is only one thing to speak of today...

Since October first I have written every day for at least 2 hours. When November hit and my goal increased by 30K I started doing closer to 3 or 4. Only one thing has become EXTREMELY apparent to me. ONE!

I would KILL for a desktop computer that ran as well as my laptop. I don't use my desktop because it's a dinosaur. The kids use it, but it is soooo slow. And it's so out-dated, it doesn't load new programs or update the programs it has. Everyday it gets worse!!

Aaand, back to the ONE THING. My neck and back are sore. Laptops suck because you're basically looking at your hands the entire time you type. And if you want to keep your back straight and a nice angle at your elbows, your head is down. Which is where the subtle neck strain comes in. This isn't like whiplash...


But I think after a month and a half...I would give anything to be able to work at the desk top with a screen at face level. That's the new goal. :D

Election Day

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I've been pretty quiet about elections this year. I think I posted once that I appreciated a SECRET BALLOT, that was my one token comment about how much advertising and talk was going on....

Then this morning I saw one more photo and comment about how Women's Rights were at stake in this election. So, I'm finally stepping out a little to state my frustration and confusion over this issue.

In my humble yet valid and American opinion, there is only one issue this year. MONEY.

This election is about economics and MONEY. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.

Will I vote pro-life, yes. Would I vote pro-life if Obama was Pro-life? No. No, I would not. Maybe that makes me a bad Catholic. I don't know...

I keep seeing debates and agruments over the issue of Abortion. Why?
Let me put this to you straight...

Women have had the right to Abortion since 1973. That isn't going to change in the next four years, even if Romney gets voted in. Sorry, just not going to happen. So...where are women losing rights?

Birth control? Not going anywhere. Still be available to the entire country, even if Romney becomes president.

MONEY! Our country is swirling the drain. It can not afford to pay for people's rights. I don't understand how this isn't obvious, how this isn't what's front and center in people's minds. We have rights, intrinsic and granted. Our government shouldn't pay for them and neither should my tax dollars.

This is the issue.

NOT Women's Rights.
There. Phew. I had my say...which my husband may come around and ask me to remove because he really hates the internet and think it's nobody's business.

Day Five of Nano

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Still writing.
Actually got out of the house yesterday and stopped in at a bookstore that was having a Write In. Boy, was it quiet there!

There's only one thing I'm worried about... at the writing forum I belong to online, they have Daily Challenges. Nothing extensive, just a quick 5 min or less task. For example, describe your antagonist in 1 or 2 sentences.

So far, those daily tasks have made me question one thing...

How good is this story! LOL :D Ack!

When they asked me to describe the antagonist, I sat for a minute and thought, "Do I even have an antagonist?" When they asked about the protagonists goal, and I wrote, "Sam returns home to raise her daughter in the peace and quiet of her small town home."

...and then I yawned! hahaha.

We shall see. there is plenty of tension for this young lady...and of course there is Morgan. Who looks a little like Jude Law, only bigger, a little beefier, and probably a little hairier, because I think guys should have body hair! At least a little, for crying out loud!