The Writer who counts her Blessings. The Reader who reads Charles Dickens.

 You know how thanksgiving is all about the food, and getting together. Mostly cooking for days and then hoping it turns out good. Well I think Christmas is all about the gifts. I mean all the advertisements and such that try and get you to buy. Your so busy trying to find the perfect gift you forget the price, you buy whatever is left. Or you are one of those people who shop the day after Thanksgiving and hope they don't get killed shopping for socks! It is so funny to me the complete polar opposites Thanksgiving and Christmas become. Yet they were both formed to give thanks for you blessings and your families, our freedoms. I am so glad there is still sanity in my house, we generally make our Christmas gifts, and I only buy things for the kids. It has become a tradition for me to make ornaments of some shape or form for the grownups in my family. I love the symbolism of the ornaments an how they represent special times, and memories in our lives. I am a sucker for cheesy Christmas movies too, and I have to have a real tree!! I know I am weird...

 As a Writer, it is all about the details and describing that perfect person, that perfect place, and the perfect scene and sometimes it is difficult. I mean right now, I have a vision for this scene and I cannot seem to create it on paper, so then I will look for visual aids. Sometimes I find them sometimes I don't. It is a process like this when creating anything. So I guess my traditions of making ornaments is like writing a book. Its a process and its different and unique each time. So I look forward to see what my family thinks about what I have created. So even my gifts are all about the details..

 The Reader me is always reading wonderful stories of hope during this season. My kids and I always chose to children from the giving tree and purchase gifts for them another one of my traditions...Christmas is that amazing time when people give more of themselves and help others I love it..Reminds me of my favorite Christmas movie and book. A Christmas Carol..Dickens has been a favorite of mine for years and years. I love his stories. I hear a lot of stuff about the man, but all I know is the stories. So if you have never read his book it is one that should be read!! Scrooge learns that giving is way better then receiving..He is amazing at his details, smells, sounds, you feel as if you are in the story! I aspire to this. Its amazing.

Quotes above and below are some of my favorites. Enjoy.

 ~I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens

I agree Mr.Dickens, Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed holiday season.

 ~Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)
PS I have three query letters ready to be sent out in January, cross your fingers for me..

The Writer who is Thankful... The Reader who is in search of Thanksgiving recipes?

 It is amazing to me that as I get older, I am still learning each day. I enjoy the challenge of learning new things each day. I have been doing this lately with recipes and trying new ingredients and different tastes. My family has enjoyed this too. All of them except my 10 year old son he is less then thrilled with new stuff but he has been trying it. I used butternut squash with a pork chop recipe it turned out yummy. Heres the link to that recipe by the way:

 http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/quick-easy-pork-recipes

This Thanksgiving was no exception. I am the oldest of three. I have always had a certain responsibility when it comes to holidays and in recent years it usually means I host the events at my house and everybody comes...So when holidays arise it is hectic.  This year was no exception. I was hosting and in charge of making the main meal! In the past it has been my house, I am the host and everybody else brings the food. I just show up usually because I am working at the hospital. So I have been spoiled I guess! I have made a turkey before but never for other people at a large event. I was very stressed. I was sure I would mess it up and everyone would be talking about the mess up till I die. My family is great that way. Reminding you in subtle ways forever, like the time at Christmas when the flue on the fireplace was closed and started a fire not knowing this and caught the wreath above it on fire!! Lol, I can laugh about this now. I am happy to say I didn't burn the turkey!!! No fires either!!!  So I learned that with faith and a good recipe food turns out very good.

 My most interesting thought while as the READER looking though all the cookbooks and websites. Was how a recipe is like a good novel. You have all these ingredients and temperature, and you make it and have faith it will turn out good. I think this is what in essence what writers do. We add all the ingredients, and after we try the recipe once, the next time we make it we change it to our tastes, or add other ingredients we like, and the recipe becomes ours. A good story is something that you read and you love. As the WRITER I am always thinking well if I wrote this story I would have added more to this, or taken this out. It is like doctoring a recipe. So I am still working on the recipe that I think will work best for my finished novel and I am creating a new one with my second  book.

  So I am very thankful for my family that keeps me grounded and my husband who gets me to laugh a lot when I am stressed. I am grateful for my friends who keep reading my ramblings and my future friends that will read my stories. Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone. Hope you have much to be thankful for, and many blessings to reflect upon.

Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)

The Writer who's never been to a critique group before?

 So I may be the only writer on the planet who has never been to a critique group. I was trying to figure out why I had never been critiqued. My result I have been living in my story, and its characters for so long (10+ years) I forgot to ask what other people thought. Does anyone else have this problem? Every project I enter into is a complete immersive experience and I forget all else lol. I either have an all or nothing button. I use with everything in my life. There is not medium button.
I started editing my book and I have to stop myself from over editing. It is very hard. I worry I do not have enough, and then I worry I have to much so it is a precarious ledge I find myself on.

So when I went to a critique it was just to see what it was all about, and it was very interesting. I was intrigued by all these people and there amazing ideas and stories. So many different ages of writers too, There were retirees, college students, moms, teachers, college professors, and me just a working gal. It was also an affirmation for the Writer me, that I am not too old to chase this dream, I am not too old to get this book published. The moderator is actually a publisher and an editor so her experience is going to be so great too. The best part for the Reader me, it was fifteen books being read simultaneously  in two hours, it was awesome. I was thoroughly impressed by how the group was organized and run. Each person critiqued two pieces in a group of fifteen. Each person got assigned different books each week so there's lots of variety.  There is memoirs, short stories, children's, science fiction, young adult, romance, humor, and action adventure in this group. I cannot wait to go back in December. Unfortunately I can only go this group once a month. In my rotation at the hospital I only get one Tuesday off a month, this  group meets every Tues morning. So my stuff has not been evaluated yet. It will be next month though. I will have to keep you posted as to how that goes. I took most of last month off from my reading and my writing, I was a little burnt out I admit. We had a lot of family activities as well.

 Writer me, has been doing some study this month on the psychological aspects of characters.Characterization etc. I found a wonderful book at the library called: Breathing life into your Characters. How to give your characters Emotional, and Psychological depth. By author Rachel Ballon PhD... I was so wonderful in fact I bought my very own copy. I will have to keep you all updated on how that book goes and how this pertains to my new Character in my second book. Reader me is working on an 8 book series I just got from the library. It is action/thriller/romance which is what my second book in progress is. So its also research at least that is what I tell myself lol.

In reference to what I was reading, this last month. I didn't read much but my kids were reading a lot of the R.L.Stine Goosebumps series, and it reminded me of a favorite author I read when I was just 13-15. Christopher Pike, his scary young adults books were just what I needed when I went through my goth, and black period. I wore only black and read only horror Frankenstein, Bram Stokers Dracula, and numerous other titles. He was a wonderful author that focused on high school students and murders in small towns. They were fantastic. In the spirit of Halloween and last month. Here is the link to his page: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherPikeBooks
http://christopherpikefanclub.com

Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)

Research and Real life!

 As a mother and wife, I find myself constantly pulled in ten thousand directions, I always seem to put others before myself. I chose to do other things for them. Then my research on agents, or I miss critique meetings because my children are sick. I wonder sometimes if I will ever have time to complete my personal goals, like published novel, or college degree. Both things, I have consistently put off because I put family first. it is something at a young age I was taught to do.

My mom (whom I have a great relationship with now) walked out on my dad and us kids. Myself age 13, My sister age 7, and my brother age 6. So at the tender age of 13 I had to take on the responsibility of the household duties and my siblings with no help! I didn't know how to do laundry or cooking? My mom never taught me those things. I am not sure why. I taught myself, and I learned quick and I have always been the fixer and the planner. I am very good at helping others, I fall short when it comes to myself though.

 It is a lengthy story, but at its heart is the most profound thing.
 My mom spent her life taking care of my dad, us kids, the neighbor kids, daycare kids, in church daycare. She gave up her chance at a college degree, and good job with a cosmetic company (one she adored) to marry my dad. She was only 19. She an my father didn't communicate at all. My mom would think my dad could read her non-verbal signals (as we know men are not mind readers, neither are we) My mom spent her free time writing, she is one of my biggest inspirations to write. She was a fantastic poet, and writer. She told us stories, each day she would pick out a random word in the dictionary and we would learn its definition. It was amazing. I could see the light in her eyes an the excitement. It was contagious. She even had one of her stories published. She won a writing contest too. She was so excited she told my dad. He was UN-impressed. My mom was crushed. She stopped sending her writing out, and she stopped telling us stories. She gave up. She was so hurt, but she never told my dad. She still hasn't published her stories. I am trying to encourage her too. Its a challenge she has convinced herself she is no good and won't even try. I am working on it. =)

 Mind you my dad was not perfect, I still wonder if she would have explained how much that meant to her, would his reaction have been the same? Why do I talk about this. Well in my own life I have seen many similarities to my mom and me. I find myself drifting away from my goals. Doing all for others and not myself. It is my husband that shakes me out of this funk and encourages me to pursue this dream. I am so lucky to have that.

My first year of college I told my dad I wanted to major in English. My dad told me that writing was not a job. That English teachers are a dime a dozen, and I needed to get a real job? I was crushed by that statement,so I changed my degree to Business in response to this. I respected my dad and thought he was right. I learned he was very wrong at least for me. I listened to the egotistical male teachers talk about business as if they were the kings. Everything was done only one way. It was so frustrating for me, my creative mind was screaming get me out of here. So I dropped business. I returned to English, with a minor in History. It was a great move for me. I loved school again and was learning everything I could. Still have not finished that degree, I am very close and, returning to school hopefully the winter term. Moral to this is I need to get moving on my goals.

My reading this week has included a lot of publishing, and agent books, as well as the writers market. My research brain is tired. I am making sure to educate myself with this business decision, my agent and my book.

 I am reminded of one of the first series books I read at the age of 13. The Little House on the Prairie series, I also loved the television show when I was a kid. Wonderful stories. Wonderful family. My love of history and creative imagination loved these.

Here is a link to learn more about the Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder

A wonderful read for any little girl, and great intro to series books!

The list of books (thanks to Wikipedia):

Little House books

The eight "original" Little House books, were published by Harper and Brothers with illustrations by Helen Sewell (the first three) or by Sewell and Mildred Boyle.

• Little House in the Big Woods (1932) – named to the inaugural Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list in 1958
• Farmer Boy (1933) – about Almanzo Wilder growing up in New York
• Little House on the Prairie (1935)
• On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)^[b]
• By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)^[b]
• The Long Winter (1940)^[b]
• Little Town on the Prairie (1941)^[b]
• These Happy Golden Years (1943)^[b]

The writer whose dream to finish her novel has become reality!

Reading has been my thing since I was my son(10) and daughters (13) age. I was  one of the anti-social kids who always had her nose in a book. If you read my previous blog I also read in part to block myself from the bullies, and the snobs I went to school with. I equipped myself with learning anything an everything! My Mom used to pick a word from the dictionary and we would learn its meaning. So cool. Also nerdy,lol..

 I felt that knowledge was power. As a kid we never had a lot of money so we would spend our summers, and weekends at the library. It is one of the best memories I have. Libraries are the best invention next to hot water heaters as far as I am concerned lol..

 At Age 10  I wrote my first story. A women in the civil war, and it was 30 pages long. I still have it. I have since added lots of history to it, and changed it. That is one of my many books I want to write. So this is just one of those stepping stones to get published.  I do have two short stories that I published,  on amazon so its a start. 

One of the authors I started reading when my son was a newborn was; Debbie Macomber, She was a mom too, that wrote when her kids were young, and ended up sending out a manuscript and she used her last $ to do it. She was such and inspiration to me. I got to meet her in 2001, she was as lovely as I thought she would be, and so nice.  So she is the author I am selecting this time to highlight.

http://www.debbiemacomber.com, the first book I read of hers was 

~Lonesome Cowboy; it is a Texas series set in a small town. Similar to her Cedar Cove series. All her books are heartwarming an charming. Filled with great little towns, everyone wants to live in. So I hope you will check her out. She has inspried me a "nobody" to go for this dream and live it.

When I started this blog I was excited about my accomplishment. I had finished my novel. It took me 10 years and three months to write it. This book has changed so much since I started. I think is my sixth version.Those have all been stepping stones, and many stairs, I have climbed to get to this point. I think that life is always a work in progress. A journey and its moves in all directions, and sometimes not the ones you plan. That may seem like a long time, but in those ten years, I went to college, moved states, had two children. Worked in retail mostly, and watched several of the stores I had worked for close. I have had so many lows, and so many highs in that time. Yet I feel like this is a brand new start, and exciting challenge. I was unable to go to the critique due to family illness, but as soon as I go I will post my observations and what we are reading. Happy reading, dreaming, and writing! Jess

The writer who reads to escape bullies!

I saw this quote and thought about how this writing journey of mine began. I was in the fifth grade and I was going to a snobby Christian school, my family was the one of the most poor families in the school, we were allowed to go at a discount because my dad did maintenance on the building, and drove the church van. The constant bullies were the rich girls who had dimaond earrings and frosted hairdos at ages 10 and 13? It was crazy to me. They would bully me on field trips because I didn't have trendy clothes, I didn't have diamonds. I looked at them like they were aliens and continued to read my books. Series books were my favorite because I knew the character  I loved would be back. Little house on the praire, Nancy Drew of course. In high school the Sweet Valley High series, and Christopher Pike.

My absolute favorite was a series called Mandie; by Lois Gladys Leppard. It is a little known fact that she wrote her first Mandie; book the Secret tunnel, when she was just eleven years old. Her character was the same age as me and I felt like Mandie and I were best friends. So in response to the bullies whom I ignored. I retreated from people, and social interactions Instead of being negative I turned it into a positive. I volunteered in my English teachers class after school, and the library during school. I sat with little kids in the library and helped them pronounce words. I even sometime recommended stuff to moms. It was here in these two rooms that I discovered my love of reading and the want to write a story that meant something. My English teacher used to give us a word of the day then we would have to define it and write a paragraph about this word. I thrived in this environment I yearned for it. I was the most amazing experience I can remember. Knowledge defiantly has power. So even though I was picked on, I found something that I loved. Reading, and learning.

I have put this dream off for many years, but I have always written stories. I have never shown them to anyone outside family. So this next step will be a huge one for me. I am going to a critique class next week. We shall see what the group thinks of my first baby. I am including a link to the Mandie website if you have any girls looking for a great young girl series. Also Lois's biography. I will try an highlight a different author with each posting, and explain how they inspired me to my completed novel.
~Moral to this is sometimes when bad things happen, in my case bullies. You can chose to make it a positive and it will propel you forward into another direction entirely and it may become what you have always been looking for. =)

Thanks for stopping by! Jess

~Lois Gladys Leppard is the ever-popular and prolific writer of Mandie Books. She has also been a professional singer, actress, and playwright. Lois studied at the New York School of Music and the Voice Beautiful Institute in New York under Glenn Morris Starkie. Additionally, she and her two sisters, Sibyl and Louise, sang professionally as the Larke Sisters and appeared in the operetta Bohemian Girl and were presented at Carnegie Hall. As a drama student, she was in the group that organized The Little Theater in her home town. She has written several plays and was employed with Columbia Pictures.

She wrote the first Mandie book, Mandie and The Secret Tunnel, when she was eleven years old. However, the book was not published until many years later.
http://www.mandie.com

The elusive novel finished, what now?

It has been a huge dream of mine to create a novel, it is a book I have been working on for over ten years. Last month I wrote the last paragraph! I am astonished. I mean you have a goal for a very long time you never think your going to achieve it. I put if off so many times because I was a mom, and a wife and working all the time. However I never let that dream fade even when people I love told me, "writing a book is not a real job." "Its a fairytale Jess, not real." I have listened to the naysayers for years. Sometimes I actually listened to them. Now I am stepping away from the past and reaching for the future which is publishing my novel. I hope this blog will serve as a resource to others who are on the same path as me, ones who have this dream, and want to complete it. This is step one. I hope you will follow me all the way.

www.facebook.com/authorJessicaPOwen
 Thanks for reading this. Jessica