Tomorrow is August 1st and we must kiss July goodbye. If you look at the countdown counter in the margin you'll see that August 1, 2009 is a big day for me. Only it seems like it will never get here.
I don't think anything takes longer than publishing a book - except maybe the nine month wait to have a baby. Giving birth to a book takes far longer. The only similarites are that you are very excited and must think of a good name/title for that baby/book. Fortunately babies don't need any marketing - they just appear and become overnight bestsellers, so to speak. Most books do not. And that is why publishing takes time. Everything has to be just right. You must give a reader every incentive to pick up your book. Beginning with the title. And then the cover, etc. It really boils down to dollars which has nothing to do with why I write. But it's a business, after all.
If I was more ambitious and less busy I would start a support group for writers who are waiting for that first book to come out. But I've never been a groupie so this is not really appealing (I used to cry when I had to go to Brownie meetings as a kid). Lots of writers go to conferences and join critique groups but I'm not sure about this either. However, there is one conference in Hawaii that sounds good to me. But anywhere warm sounds good to me right now as it is 50 degrees here and raining!
So when I get impatient - or you get impatient waiting for something big to happen - it's really helpful to keep our minds on Ecclesiastes 3 - "There is a time appointed for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven - a time to give birth and a time to die ... a time to weep and a time to laugh ... a time to mourn and a time to dance ... a time to be silent and a time to speak ..."
Even a time to publish and a time to wait to be published. I'm finding I like His timetable much better than mine anyway.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
wanted: one violin teacher
Recently we had to say goodbye to Ms. Helena, Paul's violin teacher, as she moved to Seattle. It's a good move for her as she will be able to play with the Seattle symphony and not commute to concerts like she was doing. For us it means sticking the violin in the closet or trying to find another teacher. As you can guess, there are few classical violinists in the big woods. Paul thinks he would like to make the leap and fiddle - just like on Hee Haw. I know I wouldn't have a problem finding a fiddle teacher in Kentucky but here ... hmmm. Paul has all the moves down to play fiddle - he likes to play fast and he holds his violin in a lazy, drooping, fiddling wannabe way which earned him no points with Helena. So this might work.
Only 7 more days till Kentucky! I will be taking my laptop as this is sort of a working vacation. I'll be visiting some interesting places - at least from a historical perspective. Can't wait!
God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us.
Psalm 67:1
Only 7 more days till Kentucky! I will be taking my laptop as this is sort of a working vacation. I'll be visiting some interesting places - at least from a historical perspective. Can't wait!
God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us.
Psalm 67:1
Monday, July 28, 2008
the ultimate b.l.t.
Yesterday we had one of those old-fashioned Sunday suppers that make you feel good inside and out. Ham, pinto beans, new potatoes, ripe tomatoes, sweet onions, cornbread, and deviled eggs. I was going to make coleslaw but didn't. Randy sat down and said it reminded him of the days when I liked to cook! I still like to cook - but I like to write more.
Sadly, I have a small stack of cooking magazines I never seem to get around to reading so I rely on those old tried and true recipes. Like this one. But beware - you might never be able to eat a plain old B.L.T. again. At least Randy won't.
Shrimp B.L.T. with Chipotle Mayonaise
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. peeled and cleaned raw jumbo shrimp
6 slices bacon
1/2 cup mayo
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
4 slices sourdough bread
1 ripe avacado
4 slices tomato
2 lettuce leaves
Combine 1/2 tsp. garlic, oil, sherry, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in resealable plastic bag. Add shrimp and shake to coat evenly. Marinate 15 minutes.
Fry bacon till crisp and drain on paper towels.
Combine mayo with 1/2 tsp. minced garlic and chipotle; set aside.
Drain shrimp and saute' in hot skillet over high heat till slightly pink and opaque, 2-3 minutes
Toast bread. Spread each slice with 1 tablespoon chipotle mayo. Divide shrimp between 2 slices. Place two tomato slices and avacado slices on top of bacon and top with lettuce. Cover with remaining bread slices. Cut in half and serve.
Serves 4 (or 2 hungry people). If you don't like the heat, only add 1/2 a chipotle pepper. I don't like sourdough bread (Randy does) so any rustic type Italian bread will do. This is a great summer sandwich when the tomatoes and avacados are really ripe. Enjoy!
Sadly, I have a small stack of cooking magazines I never seem to get around to reading so I rely on those old tried and true recipes. Like this one. But beware - you might never be able to eat a plain old B.L.T. again. At least Randy won't.
Shrimp B.L.T. with Chipotle Mayonaise
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. peeled and cleaned raw jumbo shrimp
6 slices bacon
1/2 cup mayo
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
4 slices sourdough bread
1 ripe avacado
4 slices tomato
2 lettuce leaves
Combine 1/2 tsp. garlic, oil, sherry, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in resealable plastic bag. Add shrimp and shake to coat evenly. Marinate 15 minutes.
Fry bacon till crisp and drain on paper towels.
Combine mayo with 1/2 tsp. minced garlic and chipotle; set aside.
Drain shrimp and saute' in hot skillet over high heat till slightly pink and opaque, 2-3 minutes
Toast bread. Spread each slice with 1 tablespoon chipotle mayo. Divide shrimp between 2 slices. Place two tomato slices and avacado slices on top of bacon and top with lettuce. Cover with remaining bread slices. Cut in half and serve.
Serves 4 (or 2 hungry people). If you don't like the heat, only add 1/2 a chipotle pepper. I don't like sourdough bread (Randy does) so any rustic type Italian bread will do. This is a great summer sandwich when the tomatoes and avacados are really ripe. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
historical fiction
There are so many kinds of fiction being written today but my kind boils down to good old-fashioned historical fiction. My husband likes to call it hysterical fiction and really, when you think about what happens in a good novel, he's not far off the mark. I've heard that a writer spends the first half of a novel getting a character up a tree, and then the last half of the novel getting that character down.
That really means you must create all kinds of conflict and problems for your characters and yet, at book's end, at least within the world of Christian fiction, your story must be "emotionally satisfying." The secular market doesn't operate with this same criteria except perhaps in the romance market.
I wouldn't want to write a romance as the parameters for doing so are so narrow. Your hero and heroine usually meet within the first few pages and then dance around for the rest of the book. With historical fiction, you can do a great many more things. I like to write a romance within historical fiction - without it a book would be flat, I think. And I like to have a happy ending - something life doesn't guarantee any of us. But at least in my imagination there is always a good outcome.
But there are real risks in writing historical fiction. You have to do lots of homework. And be true to the language of that time period. I have a wonderful (big) dictionary that tells me when words came into being - actual dates. I rely on this heavily. Recently I used the word "floozy" in this third book and then struck it out as my dictionary told me its birthdate was 1911. My time period is late 18th-century. So I resorted to "Jezebel" instead - a wonderfully safe substitute as it is Hebrew and so old the date isn't even listed.
I recently read that historical fiction has a shelf life three times longer than a contemporary novel. Maybe that makes all the hard work worthwhile. Hope you're reading a great historical work today. Here's one worth picking up - Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan.
Happy reading.
That really means you must create all kinds of conflict and problems for your characters and yet, at book's end, at least within the world of Christian fiction, your story must be "emotionally satisfying." The secular market doesn't operate with this same criteria except perhaps in the romance market.
I wouldn't want to write a romance as the parameters for doing so are so narrow. Your hero and heroine usually meet within the first few pages and then dance around for the rest of the book. With historical fiction, you can do a great many more things. I like to write a romance within historical fiction - without it a book would be flat, I think. And I like to have a happy ending - something life doesn't guarantee any of us. But at least in my imagination there is always a good outcome.
But there are real risks in writing historical fiction. You have to do lots of homework. And be true to the language of that time period. I have a wonderful (big) dictionary that tells me when words came into being - actual dates. I rely on this heavily. Recently I used the word "floozy" in this third book and then struck it out as my dictionary told me its birthdate was 1911. My time period is late 18th-century. So I resorted to "Jezebel" instead - a wonderfully safe substitute as it is Hebrew and so old the date isn't even listed.
I recently read that historical fiction has a shelf life three times longer than a contemporary novel. Maybe that makes all the hard work worthwhile. Hope you're reading a great historical work today. Here's one worth picking up - Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan.
Happy reading.
Friday, July 25, 2008
kentucky countdown
Yahoo - I leave for Kentucky in just 13 days! I'm taking a night flight from Seattle to North Carolina and then to Lexington. For nine heavenly days I get to drive by Cracker Barrel (there's no such thing here) and get hot and sweaty and have one bad hair day after another and sit on my folk's front porch and stock up on grits which I've been out of for some time.
I have all these wonderful plans and would even love to climb the Pinnacle but last time I went in the heat of summer with Reba Fothergill of Berea, Ky. we got lost (wonder what Daniel Boone would think of that?)! And Reba, being one very gracious southern lady, turned to me on that sweltering trail and told me that if she had to get lost she couldn't imagine being lost with anyone she liked better. I'll always love her for that. By the way, we forgot to take water along and might have even been hiking in high heels for all that I remember!
The good thing is that the airlines have curtailed your luggage limit so I can't stuff my suitcase and bring it back to Washington. I have a terrible hankering for Cracker Barrel giftshops - every item on the shelves practically jumps up and shouts at me to buy it for family and friends (and myself). So there's no doing any of that this time.
I do need to visit the Log House in Berea and get a dogwood bracelet. Last time there I purchased a little dogwood ring like the one I had as a little girl which I lost long ago.
While I'm gone the boys are going to camp for the first time and Randy will be working, as usual. The first of the garden will be coming in about then so when I get back I have to start canning. And getting ready for school. And editing that 2nd book again. But for 9 days I won't have to think of those things and just be with family.
In the 18th-century there were two sayings about Kentucky, one of which is still heard today:
Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place.
What's all the buzzel about Kaintuck?
I have all these wonderful plans and would even love to climb the Pinnacle but last time I went in the heat of summer with Reba Fothergill of Berea, Ky. we got lost (wonder what Daniel Boone would think of that?)! And Reba, being one very gracious southern lady, turned to me on that sweltering trail and told me that if she had to get lost she couldn't imagine being lost with anyone she liked better. I'll always love her for that. By the way, we forgot to take water along and might have even been hiking in high heels for all that I remember!
The good thing is that the airlines have curtailed your luggage limit so I can't stuff my suitcase and bring it back to Washington. I have a terrible hankering for Cracker Barrel giftshops - every item on the shelves practically jumps up and shouts at me to buy it for family and friends (and myself). So there's no doing any of that this time.
I do need to visit the Log House in Berea and get a dogwood bracelet. Last time there I purchased a little dogwood ring like the one I had as a little girl which I lost long ago.
While I'm gone the boys are going to camp for the first time and Randy will be working, as usual. The first of the garden will be coming in about then so when I get back I have to start canning. And getting ready for school. And editing that 2nd book again. But for 9 days I won't have to think of those things and just be with family.
In the 18th-century there were two sayings about Kentucky, one of which is still heard today:
Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place.
What's all the buzzel about Kaintuck?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
writing sacrifices
If I could give one piece of writing advice it would be this - guard your time. A few years ago I did a Bible Study by Elisabeth George in which time was treated as a gift - every minute. She actually teaches women to be organized. It was no accident that I took this study! Afterwards I began to evaluate my time and how I was spending it, just like I evaluated how we were spending our income. When you're on a budget you forego that meal out or that extra trip to town or that second Starbucks.
When I got serious about writing (well, I've always been serious about it) - but when the rubber met the road, so to speak, I began to make sacrifices. I stopped talking on the phone. I quit reading the newspaper. I became very particular about what books I read. I stopped surfing the internet. My schedule got very tight and I said no to lots of things. I even checked out books from the library online so the library staff could pull them off the shelves for me and have them waiting at the front desk which saved me the time of looking for them myself. This is available to everyone!
I'm finding this blog takes some time but perhaps it serves a purpose - mainly to help someone else. I have learned so much but have so much still to learn. I'm still wrestling with the homeschooling end of things. Homeschooling took a hit last year when I was knee-deep in this publishing journey. It's back to school for us September 2nd and I'm not sure how that will look this year with two more books to submit. But it can be done if you guard your time and get organized. And pray!
When I got serious about writing (well, I've always been serious about it) - but when the rubber met the road, so to speak, I began to make sacrifices. I stopped talking on the phone. I quit reading the newspaper. I became very particular about what books I read. I stopped surfing the internet. My schedule got very tight and I said no to lots of things. I even checked out books from the library online so the library staff could pull them off the shelves for me and have them waiting at the front desk which saved me the time of looking for them myself. This is available to everyone!
I'm finding this blog takes some time but perhaps it serves a purpose - mainly to help someone else. I have learned so much but have so much still to learn. I'm still wrestling with the homeschooling end of things. Homeschooling took a hit last year when I was knee-deep in this publishing journey. It's back to school for us September 2nd and I'm not sure how that will look this year with two more books to submit. But it can be done if you guard your time and get organized. And pray!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
jumping for joy
Last year was so difficult I don't think I saw a dry day. More on that tomorrow. But this year has been one delight after another. Maybe today wouldn't be so sweet if yesterday hadn't been so sour. And speaking of things that delight my heart (coming straight from His hand) is the new website my brother, Chris, has created.
I really do believe he can add "web designer" to his list of credits. He was still working on it at 3 am this morning but here it is - laurafrantz.org. Lots of folks pay to have web designers create a website for them but he did it for me and I didn't even ask him too! And I just love it!
Check out the wonderful old photo and overlay of trees! And then go on to the next two pages and you'll see my boys (Randy, too) and lots of other neat stuff. I wrote the welcome and history part but Chris did all the rest. Thank you, Chris!!! When I saw it I really was jumping for joy!
Hope you enjoy looking. Better go call Mom and tell her to log on. More tomorrow. Happy Wednesday!
I really do believe he can add "web designer" to his list of credits. He was still working on it at 3 am this morning but here it is - laurafrantz.org. Lots of folks pay to have web designers create a website for them but he did it for me and I didn't even ask him too! And I just love it!
Check out the wonderful old photo and overlay of trees! And then go on to the next two pages and you'll see my boys (Randy, too) and lots of other neat stuff. I wrote the welcome and history part but Chris did all the rest. Thank you, Chris!!! When I saw it I really was jumping for joy!
Hope you enjoy looking. Better go call Mom and tell her to log on. More tomorrow. Happy Wednesday!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
if you're ever in Washington...
If you're ever in Washington state please plan your trip around the last week in July. The weather is usually sunny and warm by then and if you wander down to the waterfront you'll be a part of the best ever summer event in Port Angeles - the Sand Sculpture Festival. Sand sculpture is big art, I guess, and the folks who sculpt fly in from as far away as Europe and South Africa to enter the competition and see who can create the best and biggest sand creations. Dump truck loads of sand are brought in to the beach downtown and then the fun begins!
Last year the winner created a massive mountain with a castle on top and a pirate lagoon at the bottom with caves and sailing ships and mermaids and other intricate things out of mere sand. This year a Kentucky sculptor will be here - actually, all the sculptors are here right now and you can watch them work all week long culminating in the festival starting this weekend. The boys and I hope to go in Friday and admire all that transitory beauty. It is a real treat for your imagination! But soon after, the local kids get to run down to the beach and demolish all that wonderful work. I always hate that part. All that work is fleeting. All that beauty is fleeting. And winning first place is also fleeting.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time." Ecclesiastes 3:11
This helps me handle the fleeting part. I think it's both peculiar and wonderful that the only thing we have that is not fleeting is Him. And heaven won't have one fleeting moment! Something to think about as I look at all that sand. Hallelujah.
Last year the winner created a massive mountain with a castle on top and a pirate lagoon at the bottom with caves and sailing ships and mermaids and other intricate things out of mere sand. This year a Kentucky sculptor will be here - actually, all the sculptors are here right now and you can watch them work all week long culminating in the festival starting this weekend. The boys and I hope to go in Friday and admire all that transitory beauty. It is a real treat for your imagination! But soon after, the local kids get to run down to the beach and demolish all that wonderful work. I always hate that part. All that work is fleeting. All that beauty is fleeting. And winning first place is also fleeting.
"He has made everything beautiful in its time." Ecclesiastes 3:11
This helps me handle the fleeting part. I think it's both peculiar and wonderful that the only thing we have that is not fleeting is Him. And heaven won't have one fleeting moment! Something to think about as I look at all that sand. Hallelujah.
Monday, July 21, 2008
waterpark recovery
We are recovering from the waterpark. The trip was full of delightful things - sunny weather, a beautiful drive around the Sound, Starbucks, dippin dots, a side trip to the new Cabela's store which has a mountain in the middle of it with real stuffed wolves and polar bears and antelope and myriad other critters atop it. Wyatt and Paul loved the waterfalls and underwater viewing windows of big trout and other fish. Wow!
The boys enjoyed the new waterpark and so did we. But it's an amazing example of American excess. How do you explain to your kids that it's a blessing for Americans to have such abundance and yet it's really not okay?
I kept thinking of something our pastor said - that we're the only nation on earth that has mulitple aisles of dog/cat food. He's gone on a lot of mission trips. I think America should take more missions trips. I bet waterpark attendance would decline among other things.
So now we're back home and back to reality. Back to those books!
The boys enjoyed the new waterpark and so did we. But it's an amazing example of American excess. How do you explain to your kids that it's a blessing for Americans to have such abundance and yet it's really not okay?
I kept thinking of something our pastor said - that we're the only nation on earth that has mulitple aisles of dog/cat food. He's gone on a lot of mission trips. I think America should take more missions trips. I bet waterpark attendance would decline among other things.
So now we're back home and back to reality. Back to those books!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
leaving that laptop behind ...
The boys are up early stuffing their backpacks full of clothes, food, gum, jerky, action figures, transformers, stuffed animals and those unstuffed (our new kitten) and everything else that shouldn't be brought on a weekend getaway. We're heading to a place called Grand Mound (about 3 hours away). No, it isn't historic - it's a waterpark. I think I'd be a little more excited if it had to do with Indian bones/burial sites. And true to rainy Washington state, it is an indoor waterpark. Somehow I'm ashamed to even admit this! But it's foggy and 50 degrees this morning so the weather is cooperating.
It will be a wrench to leave my laptop behind but I never take it on vacation (at least the two we've taken). Maybe I'll just sneak a book in my bag - but which one? Luckily this indoor waterpark has a Starbucks and Pizza Hut and other fun stuff. There's a ride called the tornado tube that shoots you out at top speed in a raft. Somehow this makes my stomach churn and I'm not there yet. I'm no swimmer! I don't even like to get wet!
This third book has hooked me badly. Wish now I hadn't started it as I've muddied the waters by crafting 70 pages, falling in love with my hero, liking my protaganist, and now have to say goodbye for awhile and get back to book 2 which I've entitled "Many Winters I Have Waited" which will never ever fly with my publisher. This third book I've tentatively titled "An Inward Grace" from the Psalms. That doesn't sound very reader friendly either but it reflects the story. I never thought I'd be one of those writers that juggled several books at a time and I don't want to be. I think you must lose something by switching around so much and juggling characters. You need to be all there for the one story for an extended time. You can't microwave depth or feeling (or good books). At least that's how I work (unless the Lord wills otherwise!). That's how I've been writing for forty some years - one story at a time.
I am a galley slave to pen and ink. Honore de Balzac (1799-1850)
It will be a wrench to leave my laptop behind but I never take it on vacation (at least the two we've taken). Maybe I'll just sneak a book in my bag - but which one? Luckily this indoor waterpark has a Starbucks and Pizza Hut and other fun stuff. There's a ride called the tornado tube that shoots you out at top speed in a raft. Somehow this makes my stomach churn and I'm not there yet. I'm no swimmer! I don't even like to get wet!
This third book has hooked me badly. Wish now I hadn't started it as I've muddied the waters by crafting 70 pages, falling in love with my hero, liking my protaganist, and now have to say goodbye for awhile and get back to book 2 which I've entitled "Many Winters I Have Waited" which will never ever fly with my publisher. This third book I've tentatively titled "An Inward Grace" from the Psalms. That doesn't sound very reader friendly either but it reflects the story. I never thought I'd be one of those writers that juggled several books at a time and I don't want to be. I think you must lose something by switching around so much and juggling characters. You need to be all there for the one story for an extended time. You can't microwave depth or feeling (or good books). At least that's how I work (unless the Lord wills otherwise!). That's how I've been writing for forty some years - one story at a time.
I am a galley slave to pen and ink. Honore de Balzac (1799-1850)
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