I sent 60 pages of my revised novel to a high school friend. She was actually in my sister's class but you know how that goes. She is going to be a published author soon. She recently submitted her manuscript to her agent and things are moving along. I read a few pages of her book on her blog and can't wait to read it entirely. I am excited! I hope it brings her great success.

I want to go through my book again which I have almost memorized, lol! I have to make a few more changes. Then I will start querying again. My goal for next weekend is to query at least ten agents for both my middle grade fiction and my adult novel. I won't get my blessings if I don't put in the work.

I am watching some basketball now because I need a break from reading. I have to get ready for a busy work week too. I will try to edit as the week goes along so I can be ready for the weekend. For now, I am going to spend the rest of my Sunday relaxing. Four o'clock in the morning comes faster than you know. Have a great week!

I am doing the final editing on the final editing of my adult novel. I will hopefully be done over the weekend if I can fit it in between the other things I have to do. I am trying to familiarize myself with commercial real estate. I have just started focusing on it at work. It is a new venture and I am excited about it.

I am eager to learn so I bought a book to read. I will check it out over the next few days and hopefully it will soak in. However, in the meantime I will get this book done so that I can start querying again. I have to query for it to get published because right now I don't want to self-pubish. I can't send it out if it is not ready. So, my weekend goal is to get 'er done! Wish me luck!!

Today I set writing goals like every other day. I have been doing well completing them. I've been getting things done that I need to do. I spent hours editing yesterday and was so excited to do my final editing today. But when I went to do so I could not find my work anywhere on my computer. I searched and searched and never found what I had done yesterday. Luckily I found another copy of my work. There was a ten page difference from what I did yesterday.

I have no idea what happened to my copy especially when I know that I saved it more than once yesterday. I was angry at first but happy that I found the earlier version. It just made my work harder in that I had to incorporate the new changes with the old. Ten pages may not seem like a lot but it is when there are changes throughout.

I am going to save it in three differences places tonight and email it to myself. I usually email it to myself and forgot yesterday. I kind of miss my little Brother Word Processor because it never let me down. I love my computer too but I have had more problems with it than I ever had with my measly word processor. Actually, I never had a problem with my word processor which carried me through undergradute school and two different graduate programs.

I say all of this to say that I did not reach my goals today but hopefully will tomorrow. I also wanted to know, where is my word processor? Please, give it back!

Today I worked on my completed adult novel. Well, I thought it was completed until I started to query. I received a few rejections as expected. When an agent suggested I edit it because there was too much backstory, I took a closer look at my work. I sat down and typed a few more pages adding action from the very first page. It sounds better but there are some places that I need to go through to make sure I haven't repeated the same information. As soon as I am done, I want to start sending out my query letters again. I am not against self-publishing but want to try this route first.

I have begun to do the same to my middlegrade book. I want to catch the reader from page one especially since it is a kid. I hate when I have to get thirty pages into a book to understand what the hell is going on. There have been some books that I couldn't buy a clue to understand. I had no clue what was going on until the end. It has happened to me more than once and even with some amazing authors.

I have a list of agents who I am going to query. I know my day will come. Like anything else, I must be patient. I have already"claimed" that it would be coming to fruition so now I have to do my part.

My friend is progressing well and I have prayed and prayed. I will continue to pray. But now it is my job to leave it with God. It is time to get back to the issue at hand, writing. Today I am going to work on my MG book. It is about a young boy who experiences the trials and tribulations of growing up in an urban neighborhood. He has dreams to become something great but so many things stand in his way. I thought of following him through his journey year after year until he becomes high school age. I have not finalized that yet. However, I have walked with him through his third grade school year.

In addition, I am going to work on my adult fiction piece which is complete at over 80,000 words. I have been sending out query letters for this one. There was one agent who was very helpful and stated that I needed to add more because there was too much backstory. I did some editing and I think she was right. It sounds even better than before!


Today I hope to be rather productive and get as much writing done as I possibly can. This weekend I will go to the post office and send out some more packages. I won't reach my goal of getting published if I sit idle. I mean, I can do that once my books are flying off the shelves and I am living in my lake house thinking of more ideas to bring to life!

I thanked Him in advance!

This morning when I hopped out of the shower I was crying. On my way to my doctor's appointment the tears continued to roll down my face. Before I got out of the car, I thanked God in advance for saving her young meaningful life. I even said, "Let it be me, Lord." Yes, my life is worth something but I don't have small children. I don't want to die or even be sick. But I would trade places if I could and that is exactly what I offered. As I sat in the waiting room, I continued to cry quietly.

I just received a call that my friend is going to be moved to another floor and will no longer be in the ICU. The bleeding on her brain has stopped and she is more responsive. A miracle? I don't know but I am grateful. There will be changes in her life because her vision is impaired and the doctor says it may take a year for full recovery. But she will have a life and that is what matters. A life to spend with her three small children, family and friends.

My heart is still broken and I will worry some. But I have stopped crying and hopefully I won't have to cry for her anymore. Thank God and I will continue to pray that she has a speedy, successful recovery.

Lack of understanding.

In the past few months I've been on an emotional roller coaster. My neighbor and friend was diagnosed with leukemia. She is 34 with two small children. My friend, a 52 year old mother of three, passed away from breast cancer two weeks ago. Another friend, 32 year old mother of three (2 two-year old twins and a newborn), had a stroke last night.

I have known God all of my life. I have never questioned Him but I have to admit that I don't understand what is going on around me. It frightens me! My friend with leukemia almost passed away last year due to complications with her pregnancy. She survived only to be diagnosed a year later with leukemia. My friend with the newborn was sent home last week after her delivery feeling fine and then she has a stroke.

So many teens or unfit parents fare successfully without incident. Their bodies suffer more stress related to age or substance abuse but they come out fine. The mother of fourteen walked away unscathed after having eight children successfully. I don't question God but I sure can't comprehend why bad things happen to good people. Pardon the cliche but I don't.

My neighbor is currently in remission but still undergoing chemotherapy treatment. My other friend is in stable condition but her prognosis is unclear. My heart is heavy. My mind weary. The pain is overwhelming. This post is not to question God. I just needed to express my lack of understanding and hope to one day comprehend.

I will help as much as I can without complaint. I will continue to pray. I will see each day as a blessing and continue to live my life to the fullest. I am thankful for each day that I have with my family and friends. I will not take one second of my life for granted as I have truly witnessed how it can change in an instant!

Snow Day!

I haven't been writing for the past few days because I have a bad cold. We are supposed to get 10 or more inches of snow tonight. I never believe it until I see the snow coming down. So many forecasts are wrong and you prepare for nothing. I am looking for a snow day so that I can get some work done around the house, write and get some real estate stuff completed.

I am eager to walk this journey finding my work published. It will come I know but I have such a desire burning within me that I have to keep reminding myself to have patience. I don't want to run and self-publish. I would rather find an agent and do it that way so that I can get as much exposure as I desire. In due time, I know.

Patience is just hard to come by right now.....