Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will be encouraged, uplifted, entertained, and informed as you read my blog throughout this season of my life.

My goal for this blog is to post at least once a week, God willing. There will be a variety of topics: writing updates, excerpts from my work in progress, reflections on current events, ramblings about what is on my mind, and whatever else God lays on my heart.

To start my blog off, I would like to share a little about my most exciting project for this year. I started writing a Western story of unknown length about a year and a half ago. I wrote one pathetic rough draft and let it sit and stew for probably over six months. In Fall 2012, I picked it up again and started slowly working on a major rewrite.

Toward the end of November, a dear friend of mine told me about a contest being hosted by Women of Faith and WestBow Press. I decided to give it a try. [insert tongue-in-cheek humor and sarcasm]All I needed to do was finish my manuscript by January 31, 2013. Only about 40,000 quality words in two months needing little editing. [humor and sarcasm can now leave]

With my (very) rough draft, I had a basic outline of where I wanted to go with my book. The only major thing I wanted to do was change the ending to be more realistic.

December and January were spent frantically writing and rewriting. My short novella turned into a long novella and I sent the manuscript in with four days to spare.

I am currently editing the book even more to make it better. January 31, 2013, A Mighty Fortress stood strong at 42,930 words. After editing just four chapters, I now have over 48,000 words. My novella is quickly turning into a novel. ^_^

During my frantic time of writing, I also found out about another contest hosted by Injoy Publications, Inc. and submitted my book to that contest as well. I did not win the Women of Faith contest, however, I am a semi-finalist for the Injoy Publications contest. I am still waiting for the final results. Because of the Women of Faith contest, I also have a foot in the door at WestBow Press should I choose to publish through them.

To learn more about my works in progress, please visit my “Works in Progress” page. For now, I will leave you with a short excerpt from A Mighty Fortress.

Joshua soon discovered how hard it was to harvest wheat on an empty stomach. The day was hot and close, and Joshua was soon drenched in sweat. Since Matthew was unable to afford a new threshing machine, they worked the old fashioned way: with scythes. Joshua preferred scythes anyway. Even on hot days like today he liked the rhythmic motion of swinging the scythe back and forth, back and forth. It was soothing work, though hard.

Today, he still found it soothing, but less so than usual. His stomach was tight and empty. He hoped Ruth would make good on her promise to bring him something to eat. At least they had a bucket of water at the edge of the field. He glanced at Matthew without breaking his rhythm. Surely Matthew must be feeling the hunger pangs, too. Joshua sighed. He knew his brother’s stubbornness too well. Matthew would never quit until it was all done or he collapsed in exhaustion.

Get your thoughts onto something other than your stomach, he scolded himself. Bible verses. That should work. He started quoting Bible verses in rhythm to his scythe. A grin started to appear on his face as he worked on putting the verses to simple tunes. He could get used to this.