I've moved

Just a quick note to let you know I've moved this blog over to my new website. Catch up with me there, and drop me a line to let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you!

SuperGuestStar

Drop by writer Ian Healy's blog for my guest post on showing v. telling. Can you find my typo? (unless he's fixed it for me by now) :).

Contract!!

I'm excited to say I signed with Written World Communications for my historical novel, CHILDREN OF LIGHT! The book is tentatively scheduled for a November release.

Check back in for more details and more information about the novel.

Uh, yeah . . .

I'm still here. Really, I am.

Okay, so I've left off writing the Bad Mom column. You can still find it archived on the New Christian Voices website. Though I enjoyed writing some 70-80 columns and various articles for NCV, I no longer had the time to devote to it if I wanted to get my fiction in shape.

It was enormous fun adding rich historical detail to Children of Light. Especially enlightening were the pig butchering videos I watched on YouTube. :) But it's finished now, and sent off to my agent, Terry Burns of Hartline Literary, who will tell me if, indeed, it's good to go.

And I learned something along the way . . . besides how to butcher a pig, that is. I learned that I LOVE writing historicals. I love the research. I love bringing another time period to life. I've dabbled in writing contemporary stories, and will likely finish another manuscript in the near future. But, dadgummit, I'd forgotten how fun writing historicals is for me.

That is all. Carry on.

Iron Gall Ink

That's what I worried over at 1:15 this morning. "I'll come to bed when I figure out what iron gall ink smells like," I told my husband.

After weeks of introspection, prayer and rest, I've decided to rework my novel "Children of Light." I wasn't going to do it. I'd finished with it, have an agent shopping it, and felt ready to move on.

But the truth is that I've had consistent critique that highlights a few major weaknesses in the manuscript. I think it's a really great story. A compelling tale. And it deserves to be told right.

So I'm delving back into the middle ages--the 13th century to be precise--and I'm having a grand time doing it.

I'm also slowing down my freelance work. Yes, I'm still writing Bad Mom, and that's fun, too, but I know that for right now, historical fiction is where my heart lies.

Did I find out what iron gall ink smells like? Not really. Bitter was as close as I got. But I'm not finished yet. :)

Sirius Satellite Radio Interview

I know I'm a little late with this news, but last Tuesday, May 26, I was interviewed on FamilyNet's "Mornings with Lorri and Larry" Sirius Satellite Radio program. For about another week you can still catch the podcast of my interview, which focused on my humorous parenting column, Bad Mom. Click here to find the podcast link. From there, you'll need to click on the small pink "itunes" button.

Why Start Twittering?

I've been on the social networking site Twitter for some time now, and am only beginning to get active. To be honest, it's challenging for this busy mom, teacher and writer to stay on top of everything as I transition to full time freelance work. And the freelance work is an effort to sustain my fiction-writing habit.

So, what's the point of Twittering?

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Inc., lays out the reasons very nicely in his blog.

In short, I like that Twittering gives you an opportunity to rub shoulders with people all over the world who 1) think like you do, or 2) don't think like you do. Either is great. And you can share tips, funnies, insights and frustrations in 140-character bites. In this fast-paced world, that's a bonus.

If you decide to become a Tweeter, you can follow me here. Be sure to check out my humorous Bad Mom column on the subject of Twittering.