Key to Happiness

I was bit by a happy bug.  Alright, so it wasn't a bug at all Jen nominated me for the How to be Happy meme that is sweeping the internet.  I knew I had to do this one.  It's fun and we all need a little more happiness in our lives. 

This was actually quite hard. There are a lot of things that make me happy but mostly  I believe happiness is a choice.  Bad things happen, yes, but it's our choice how we deal with them.


So here are my top ways to be happy.

1. My family.  My husband is the nicest, most perceptive person.  He really understands and supports me.  Watching my children explore the world always helps me realize what life is about.  

2. Helping others.  I was once told "if you're feeling sorry for yourself, it's because you're thinking of yourself"  Focusing on others helps me keep my life in perspective.

3. Chocolate.  Need I say more?

4.  Books.  They keep me sane in a crazy world.

5. Friends.  Both real life, and on line.




So tell me, what makes you happy?

Motivation

I have a deadline coming up this summer.  It's made me look at where I am and where I want to go with this MS.  Last week I even sat down and wrote a few plot points in  a time line.

No!  Of course I wasn't plotting.  This was entirely different.  I maintain my status as a pantster. 

Really.  No plotting at all.

*cough* Anyway....

How do you motivate yourself?  If you have a deadline or a goal and you really need to get working what do you do?  Do you have a special routine to get in the writing mood?  Do you work on a reward or punishment system?  I know each writer is different an there are many ways so I've been wondering, how do you do it?

To dialogue or not to dialogue

I once toyed with the idea of writing a novel without using any dialogue.  No really.  Anyone else ever think of trying that?  At the time I disliked and feared dialogue.  It was hard, it was clunky, everyone sounded the same, it was impossible.

I no longer feel like that.  I can't say exactly when my feelings changed but now I really like dialogue. I've even received compliments on it. (Hmmm, maybe I should write a book that's all dialouge......okay, not really)  I know practice had a lot to do with the change.  Also, finding a story and characters I was passionate about. When I loved the characters, when I knew them, it was easy to know what they would say and how they would say it.

Of course, study and craft research helped too.

Durring the A-Z challenge (so it maybe went unnoticed by a lot of people)  there was a three part series on dialogue over at The Blabbermouth. Here is the first part, second, and third. I found it a fun and interesting read.  And even though I don't hate dialogue anymore, there's always room for improvement.

Post A-Z

Hey everyone!  Survive April?  Have a nice break since then?  Anyone celebrate Star Wars Day or the Cinco De Mayo?  I've noticed the blogosphere has been a little quiet this last week.  I know I was taking a little break. It was the first A-Z I participated in and I enjoyed it!  I'm very glad I prescheduled my posts as April turned into a horrible month.  I wasn't able to visit as many blogs as I wanted and I know I missed returning some comments but I enjoyed every blog I did visit. Thanks for sharing your A-Z journey with me.

During April I recieved a few blog awards. First I want to say thanks to the people who thought of me.  Jan Morrison, Sarah Chafin, and Suze. I truly appreciate being nominated for these.  I'm not going to answer each of the sets of questions but I'll answer a few from each set.





If you could do whatever you wanted (money no object) how would you spend your time?
Honestly probably not much different than now, though there would just be less cleaning and more travel.  

Fave midnight snack?
 Nothing.  I can't eat late at night or I get really bad heartburn.  Pain is not my favorite midnight snack.

Naughty or nice?
Nice.  And I never fall for the bad boys, in life or in books.  


Its raining, not just a drizzle, but a full downpour, you have nothing planned for the day.  What do you do?
Depends do I have kids?  If the kids are with me I try desperately to entertain them while keeping their energy in check so we don't all go bonkers or end up in the hospital.  If the kids are elsewhere I cuddle up with a snack and book or my laptop and listen to the rain. 

Do you prefer to read a book that focus's on a action filled plot or a character based one?
 Character based.


If you could have any meal for dinner tonight, anywhere in the world, what would you have?
Something I didn't cook, though I'm feeling in the mood for Chinese.  

 Who are your influences?
The biggest influences on my life are my parents.  They're the best and they're always there to help or just offer a sympathetic ear when I need. 

 Have you ever had a recurring (sleeping) dream? If so, care to share it?
Frequently, too many to list here.  Sometimes I'll have the same dream every night for a week then never have it again.  Sometimes I'll have the same dream years and years later.  

 What was the first name of the first person you kissed/who kissed you?
The Engineer was the first (and only) person I ever kissed.  Once you find the right one there's no need to look around.  Plus I was very shy growing up. 



 We'll get back to some regularly scheduled posting sometimes soon.  Probably.  :)

Z is for Zero

There are zero letters of the alphabet left.  Thanks for taking this journey with me. 

Y is for Yes

Yes I will keep writing.  I will keep trying.  I will continue to query this book and others until, someday I receive a YES! Because there is no other option. 

X is for....

I got nothing.  Have a happy day off.