It’s June 24th and I have 10,000 words to go on the Christmas Romance Novella. It’s just a first draft, so I have permission (from myself) to not make every line perfect. I’m getting down the main story line and fleshing out the characters and their motivations. This morning, my daughter read for two hours while I wrote for two hours and now we’re preparing for a Gilmore Girls marathon.
Hoping to do the same tomorrow!
I’m on retreat this week and cranking out the teacher/Christmas romance. Think of warm, balmy salt air of Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i plus a school where some of the teachers know what they’re doing and some are lost in school hell. Add mutual attraction and just a bit of stress from administration. Let me know your title ideas!
I’m writing another school teacher romance. Write what you know, they say. I gotta tell you, it rolls right out of my fingers. The scenarios, the kids, the teacher’s stress levels…
Maybe I should do a kids book set in a school- something funny. Like Andrew Clements.
But the easiest way to procrastinate from the book I’m working on is to think of a new project to start or a new genre to explore.
I will finish this book- the Christmas Romance.
#amwriting
It’s the season of blogging and paid writing.
I’m writing for Boomwriter.com as a teacher of writing:
and I was invited to join Originality by Design a blog of artists, writers, and creative thinkers.
If you’ve been reading my blog for long, you know how important I think writer’s groups are. Here is my blog .
I’m also writing for Studies Weekly, where I write teacher’s guides, questions and content.
If that’s not enough…I’m also writing for the Dept of Education, writing items for standardized testing. Yikes!
And still teaching full time.
Christmas has been over for more than a week, I almost have it all cleaned up and put away. We’re focusing on the new year and moving forward.
One of the ways I’m moving forward is by working on a novella length Christmas romance that my dear friend Jacquolyn Mcmurray and I are hoping to publish as a “duet” in November. (A duet is when there are two authors and two stories in one volume.)
I’ve been dreaming and daydreaming, the story brewing in my head. This is unusual for me. I guess I usually have so much in my head, there’s not time, space or energy for the characters to bounce around in there. But, winter break means getting up late and long walks.
One character: I’m thinking of a young man who graduated from college and moved to Hawai’i to teach for two years with Teach for America. He planned it for several years and saw it as a peace corps experience. But after only a month or two, he is so worn down and homesick, he’s thinking of leaving during winter break. What or who will help him through Christmas? Will he stay and persevere or leave, with no self-respect remaining? We’ll see….
(I don’t know yet either!)
I’m praying for a wondrous new year where God uses me in every way possible, including in this Christmas romance.
I’m praying for you too.
Aloha!
This is Nick Vujicic, author of eight books, college graduate, husband and father of four. I recently saw him speak in Hilo. What an amazing person! He has some great videos on youtube and I’m reading Life Without Limits now.
I’m thinking more about hiking these days. The Hawai’i Volcano National Park close to my house that I’ve been hiking in for many years has been closed since May 5. This loss makes me pine for the trails there.
I’m thinking more about the Appalachian Trail too. I hiked about 200 miles in 2000 and a smaller section in the 1990’s. Now I realize how long ago those hikes were. I want to get in backpacking shape and do a weeklong section in the summer of 2019.
Especially since I’m not a spring chicken any longer, I need to plan and prepare. Equipment will need to be added to the budgeting, children need to be invited, prepped or otherwise engaged during the hike, the husband needs to be shaped up or otherwise engaged, and I need to be ready. People will need to be assured that I will be safe or accompanied by a safe partner. Expectations need to be mentally prepared.
Compared to all of that, writing is easy. I already have the equipment, my family is used to my monthly retreats, I’ve been getting in shape for years and my writing partner is the perfect blend of a mentor, no-nonsense boss, and best friend.
Even though I don’t really do bucket lists, this year I have two things I really want to do.
#1 Backpack a section of the Appalachian trail
#2 Publish a novel with a nationally known publisher
Trying to be a better teacher
Get it done right the FIRST time!
"It was daisies for love...we did that too"
Design | Publishing | Photography | Art
Bringing books to life
Romance from the Hawaiian Islands and beyond.
