We have walls!

No really, look!

They have the stairs and the top of this floor/bottom of the next floor on, also. This week should see the second story go up. Then a roof! Miracle.  I'm so excited to have a house.

Break away

I'm afraid life has piled up on me a little. I'll be around but won't be posting regularly until after the new year. I wish you all the best in whatever you are pursing and that your year ends on a positive note.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much in my life to be grateful for. Stress sometimes tries to swallow me whole and make me forget but I try each day to spend some time just being thankful. This week is a good week for reminding us to take is slow and celebrate the holidays for the right reasons.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I'll see you next week!

Duality

Do you ever feel that as an author you’re divided? That there are two opposing sides of you? The guilt and the elation, the pride and the despair in your writing? 

As I traveled to the Surrey International Writers Conference I was a hot mess. When I arrived in Canada and went through customs I was asked several times what the nature of my visit was, business or pleasure. I felt like yelling ‘both!’ then giggling hysterically. I refrained, however, and sedately told them ‘business.’ 

It was a rush. I was legitimate! I was a writer, going to a conference! It was very validating. Yet, at the same time I felt a fraud. I had to stop myself from explaining to them that it really was business. No, really, how could they even question it. When no one actually had. The second time they asked I almost answered pleasure, because how could someone like me actually be considered a ‘real’ writer. I had too many rejections for that. Then I remembered how many published, award winning, NYT best-selling authors say they feel like a fraud. And it was back to validation.

I was getting a head rush from the mood swings. What other career can cause such swift and extreme changes? But I think we need both sides of the coin. The fear in our failings keeps us working harder, keeps us trying to improve. The belief in ourselves as ‘real’ writers keeps us going through the rejections.

Or maybe I’m just legitimately crazy.  

Vote and house

Go. Vote.

I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. You have to choose that for yourselves. Pick the person you think gives us the best future. Yes, I know it’s hard this election. I personally don’t see a bright future with either candidate. 

But vote. 

We are so fortunate to live in a country where we do get to vote, where we can have a say in our leaders. Not everyone gets that privilege. Don’t waste it. 

Vote.

In other news I have an update on our house.  We've been working fire mitigation. We had to cut down another 50-60 trees. So we've been taking this

and making it into this

Yes, those piles are all new. And that's just the start. 

The best news of all is this

We have foundation!  It's nice to have something finally happening.

Surrey

Happy Halloween!

The last couple weeks have been crazy, but the good news is they finally started the foundation of our house!  I won’t bore you with the excruciating details of our struggle with the county over paperwork but we’re finally on the way. 

I mentioned last time that I was getting ready to go to the Surrey International Writers Conference. I went, it was amazing, and now I’m trying to fit back into regular life. If you want a great overview of the rollercoaster that is a trip to Surrey, Rose has a great one. There's another great summary here.

I’ll probably be talking about Surrey on and off for, well, forever. I’m a convert. For me, it was very validating as a writer. It was also amazing to meet so many people who have the same goals, who are going through the same struggles. I was very impressed with how friendly and supportive everyone was. The classes were well taught and varied. There was always an option, something I needed to learn. More frequently, there were multiple classes I wanted and it was torture to decide. I had numerous agents and writers tell me how different Surrey is from other conferences, in all the best ways. I’ll definitely be returning. And I'd love to see you there!