Work in Progress -- the Next Generation

The Book Formerly Known as Work in Progress now goes by another name -- Submitted. Yep, that's right -- it winged its way out of my hands this morning. So now my attention immediately shifts to my next project (not because I'm on a deadline, but because I'm compulsive and can't help myself).

Back in 2003, I was exhausted. I had spent two years researching and writing "Nothing to Regret" and "Strength to Endure," and the historical details I uncovered while looking at the atomic bomb, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the internment camps and then the concentration camps in Europe wore me out. While only a tenth of those details made it into the final books, I had seen enough to age me a decade. Needing to write something lighter for just a little while, I wrote "Faith Beyond Fear," which is a suspense/romance/mystery/comedy.

I ran it past Willard Boyd Gardner, not only an author but former SWAT, and he gave me some great tips on police procedure and phraseology. As I went in to make those changes, I noticed about 24,000 other things that needed to be changed as well (darn that continual progression thing) and so now I'm going into rewrite mode. I think it should only take me eight weeks, but we'll see how that pans out.

Now, this book was written in 2003. I've learned so much since then, and I was curious -- just how badly does this old book stink? I ran some searches on this manuscript and this is what I discovered:

Current Word Count: 46,763
Times I used the word "that": 585
Times I used the word "was": 550
Times I used the word "suddenly": 13
Times I used the word "the": 3,121
Times I used the word "eyes": 71
Times I used a semicolon: 72

It would appear that my work is cut out for me. I'll post my count after I'm done weeding and we'll see how we do. Be prepared for lots of virtual editing workshops coming out of this book.

fhgicnchhiu

I wish to start a movement across Blogland. Down with word verification!

I don't know if I'm just exceptionally stupid, or if there's something wrong with my eyes, or if I'm incapable of typing nonsense words. Whatever the reason, I can't seem to type in those letters in the correct order to save my life.

(You might argue that being able to type in those letters never would save my life. But when you're as addicted to the Internet and blogging as I am, you'll immediately recognize the urgency of being able to post comments and agree with me.)

It's bad enough that they want you to put in completely incomprehensible words, like "gnufu" and "hyuaknci." No -- then they have to squish them all together and put them in italics. After you fail the first test, they pat you on the head and call you stupid, and give you another chance. I never realized an automated computer response could be so patronizing.

I've taken the word verification off my site, and so far, nothing terrible has happened to me. Is anyone else brave enough to give it a try?

Memorial Day

My childhood is punctuated by trips to the cemetery on Memorial Day. My mom's family is buried in Logan, while my dad's is down in San Juan County. Logan being much closer, we'd head there, leaving flowers on the graves of my mom's mom, grandmother, great-grandparents, and the baby my parents lost before the rest of us were born. Now my grandpa, great-aunt, and a cousin are buried there too. Memorial Day has always been a time for us to think about our relatives who have gone before us.

Over the past few years, though, the holiday has taken on new meaning for me. The more I study and learn about the wars and conflicts we've faced as a nation, the more I respect and appreciate those men and women who have given their lives in defense of our country. Reading the accounts of their lives and their heroic deeds has made it impossible for me to think of Veteran's Day as just another holiday, and Memorial Day takes on new meaning as well.

There are two songs that come to my mind as I think about the celebrations tomorrow. First, to honor my ancestors, "They, the Builders of the Nation." And, to honor our departed heroes, our national anthem. Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

The Tools of the Trade

There are certain items that I use all the time and keep right here on my desk. Lip balm, finger nail clippers, a glass of water or water bottle, a notebook and pen -- all of these are tools of the trade and without them, my productivity would be severely curtailed. You'll find that your tools are different, depending on your needs, but some things are basic and standard.

I'm on and off the Internet frequently throughout the day. As I'm writing blogs for Families.com, I hop online to remind myself what the hero's name was in the movie I'm blogging. Or to find the name of the author of the book I'm reviewing. Or to find out when it was first published. Then I go online to post it, and while there I hunt down links from other sites to enrich the blog.

When I'm writing, I use the Internet extensively to back up facts, to find out what day of the week March 21st, 1965 was (it was a Sunday) and to get ideas for character names. (I like going to baby names sites for that one.)

And right now, I'm posting this blog, online.

I would say that I average two-four hours a day online. And, up until yesterday, I was doing all of that with dial-up. But yesterday -- ah, beautiful yesterday!! We got Comcast.

Now I'm still doing all the same work I usually do, but it's taking me less time. I've posted four blogs for Families.com, I'm writing to you now, I've done scads of laundry, got school done, finished reading a book, did my dishes -- it's been a good day. Did having Comcast help me get all that done? Well, no, not directly. It didn't do my dishes, for instance. But having power in one area of my life has made me feel more powerful in others.

Yes, having better internet is a tool of the trade for me. I think I'll hang on to it.

Sprecken Vu What?

I do not speak German. I speak a smattering of Spanish, a little bit of Russian, and I can pull off a pretty decent Pig Latin, given a minute to think about it. But I do not speak German, with the exception of being able to count to four, which I learned from the beer drinking song in "The Student Prince," a favorite old movie of mine.

Somehow or another, the settings on our Internet got changed to allow for German. (Okay, I know how it happened -- my husband did it.) Google took that to mean that it should display everything in German. Which I don't speak.

I spent about three hours last night fuming at my husband, thinking he'd purposely told the computer to function in German. When he got up, I immediately told him to fix it, to find that he'd set it to allow for German, not to run everything in German. I forgave him and felt bad for some of the mean things I'd been thinking.

The point to this long ramble? Don't mess with my computer. Just don't do it.

A Scouting We Will Go . . .

It was a good night for the Pinkston family. Our oldest son Ammon earned his Wolf badge and received it at Pack Meeting. Our Cubmaster painted his face in the traditional manner of Cub Scouts getting badges, and it was a lot of fun. Now he's working on his electives to earn more arrow points (he got his gold arrow tonight) and we're also going to get the World Conservation Award. Go, Ammon!

Additional news from the Den -- two of my other boys got their Wolf badges as well. That's half the den down, and half to go!

Get Your Hairy Body Behind Me, Distraction!

I guess May is going to be a month of "Look At Your Life, Tristi!" church lessons. Hey, that's fabulous! Every time I look at my life, I learn a whole lot in the process. It's not always pretty, but it's educational.

Today we were talking about temptation and how it comes from a very real source. We also discussed how a good person won't immediately succumb to a large sin right off the bat, but the adversary will sneak in a little at a time with little tiny sins, and once he gets us to partake of those, he can then start tempting us with larger things. This put me right in mind of a quote from Neil A. Maxwell, who said something along the lines of, (and I paraphrase) one of Satan's biggest tools is distraction. If he can get us too busy doing good things to do the great things, then he can keep us distracted from really accomplishing those things we're supposed to be accomplishing. Oh, boy, does that hit home for me!

I'm one of those that gets distracted by doing good things. I'll have a to-do list, and at the end of the day, find that only half of it got done because I was so busy doing good somewhere else. And I'll find that I didn't get my scriptures read or my prayers said because I was so busy doing laundry and reading to my kids. It's not that laundry and reading aren't good -- they're excellent. But if I'm not attending to my spiritual growth, the rest isn't as important.

So that's my goal for this week -- to concentrate on getting the most important things done, and to stop getting distracted. I know it's easier blogged than done. I'll let you know how it goes.

Potty Training at the Pinkstons

I have four children. A daughter and three sons. Three are potty trained, and the youngest is still in diapers. He will be for some time to come.

Let me explain.

When my daughter came along, I tried training her at two. That's a nice, respectable age, right? Well, she just couldn't understand it, so I backed off and waited. Two and a half? No dice. Three? A little closer, but it wasn't until she was three and a half and I was armed with a huge bag of bribes from the dollar store that we finally accomplished the task.

Son #1. This child would not potty train no matter what I did. I had myself very well trained to march him into the bathroom every half hour, but if I was even five minutes late, he'd have an accident. I was losing my mind. My health was suffering because of the intense emotional struggles I was having with him. Finally my doctor said to me, "What are you doing right now that is causing you so much stress?"

"Potty training," I said.

"You go home and put that child in a diaper and don't even think about it for a year," he told me. "Your health is going downhill fast."

I went home, put the child in a diaper, and didn't think about it for a year. Well, we had some interesting conversations with well-meaning relatives who couldn't believe that he was three and in a diaper, but they couldn't know what a relief it was for me to delay the argument. My severe headaches went away the minute that diaper went on him. (You have to understand, this is my most strong-willed child and if he doesn't want to do something, he will not do it. Period.)

Later on, when the time was right, we tried again. It was still hard, but nothing like the try before.

Son #2. I decided that with this child, I was going to wait until he was good and ready. I left him in a diaper until he was three and a half. Then I went to the store and got a potty chair, handed it to him, and said, "This is yours." He played with it for about an hour, looked at the box, saw the child on the box sitting on the chair, pulled down his pants, went, and has been dry ever since.

Now I have a two and a half year old. I know that other children in his peer group are starting to train, and that's marvelous for them. But my kids seem to need more time, for whatever reason. It's not worth it to me to spend every minute of every day watching the clock, fearing that we'll have a puddle. If it means enduring comments from relatives, that's what I'll do. I'm waiting until he's ready, and I won't train him a minute before. It's not worth the agony. It's just not.

The Death of a Semi-colon

I grew up reading Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson-Burnett, Gene Stratton-Porter, and many other authors with long names. Because of this, my writing style is a little old-fashioned. I enjoy complex sentence structures which make perfect sense with the proper use of a semi-colon.

But, alas and alack, today's modern style has veered away from the semi-colon. The em-dash is now all the rage. Editors and publishers are encouraging us to do away with as many semi-colons as possible. I feel like we should have a funeral for this, my most beloved of all punctuation marks.

I can do it -- I really can. (Did you see that? I ordinarily would have put a semi-colon right there, and instead, I did a dash.) My friend Erin Klingler has been reading my WIP this week and has helped me quite a bit, despite my grumbling and complaining. I shall conquer this!

Just like overcoming my overuse of "that" and "was," soon the avoidance of a semi-colon will become second nature. You may hear some sniffles and sobs along the way, but it's all for the greater good.

I asked my husband last night what his favorite punctuation mark is. He said the semi-colon. That, folks, is true love.

What Was That You Said About Readers?

I am right on track with my goal of submitting my work in progress on June 1st. I need to put a couple more chapters on the end and insert a few things here and there throughout, but beyond that, we're good to go.

As usual, I've had people read the book for me before I submit. It's an essential part of the process -- what one person will miss, another one will see. For example, I've been a published author since 2002. The book I'm currently finishing up is my 6th completed novel. However, it was not until I had Annette Lyon read for me on my most recent completion that I learned I have a tendency to overuse the word "was." Ordinarily one of those invisible words, when you've got fifteen of them on one page, that's a bit much. By working on eliminating my "was" usage, I also pulled myself out of a passive voice.

On my WIP, one of my readers was Danyelle Ferguson. She pointed out my overuse of the word "that." Again, a word we think is invisible, until we're swamped with them. As I went through and took out unneccessary "that"s, I also picked up on a tendency to use the expression "at that moment" too much.

No one had ever pointed out these two weaknesses to me before. Annette and Danyelle had never read for me before. They were the ones I needed to show me those problem areas.

So get people to read for you. Ask new people to join your reader crew from time to time so you get a broader range of viewpoints. It will only help you in the end.

Online Banking

I spent about twenty minutes in line at the post office today. Because of the hike in postage rates, everyone was dashing out to get more stamps. The way everyone is conducting their business online, it's not a surprise that the post office is having to raise their rates to stay afloat. I myself enjoy communicating and shopping online. But what I absolutely do not like is online banking, and so I continue to buy stamps.

It's not that I think online banking is a bad idea. I actually like the concept. But in practice -- no, no, no.

Let me walk you through the process and allow you to feel the love right along with me.

First, you set up an online password with your bank. It has to be really long and really complicated. It can't be something simple like "Chocolatelover." No, it has to have a numeral in there too. So you try again: "Chocolatelover1." Not only has that been taken, but the computer says it's not complicated enough. A hacker will break through that in a flash.

So you try again. "Chocolate1lover1." No, still too easy. "1Chocolate1Lover1?" No dice.

So then you get really funky. What about "ILCACGE247?" That was created by taking the first letters of "I love chocolate and can't get enough 24/7." Okay! You've finally found a password that no one else has, and the computer thinks it's hard enough. You're all set. You can pay your bills!

Happy as a little clam, you go to the website of your first bill to set up an account with them that will allow you to pay them directly. But they want a password too, and they really recommend that you use a different password than you used at your bank. So you go through the whole process again. "Moneyspender" is taken, "abcdefg1234567" isn't hard enough, and so you get really funky again. How about "bvcxzasdfg12345?" That's the bottom row of the keyboard from right to left, then the second row from left to right, and then the numbers from the row above that. Yes!! Victory is yours!! After fifteen minutes of trying every combination under the sun, you have finally created one that the computer likes!!

You are now ready to start paying your bills online. That is, you can now pay that one bill online. You have to go set up accounts with every debtor you have to set it up. That will take you a couple of hours at least, depending on how many bills you have. And then comes the trickiest part of all -- what were those passwords again?

See, you're told not to write them down where someone could find them. You can't jot them on a Post-it and stick it to your screen, for instance. So how are you supposed to remember which funky password goes to which account?

Yes, the postage rate has gone up again. Yes, it's going to cost me even more to send my bill payments through the mail. But until I can remember which account can only be accessed by inputting "titbwitwwainj," (Tristi is the best writer in the whole wide world and I'm not joking) I'll keep buying stamps.

Nothing to Snicker About

Okay, so, I'm out running errands this afternoon and I realize I haven't had breakfast or lunch. (Could that be the reason I'm so grumpy? We'll open that for debate later.) I grab a Snickers off the impulse buying rack and add it to my purchases. Once in the car, I open the wrapper and take a nice, big bite.

Something's not quite right. I fish around in my mouth and pull out a stick. Yup, you read me right - a stick. I look at the rest of the candy bar. Sure enough, the other half of the stick is still in the bar. I broke it right in half when I bit into it.

The rest of my bite went into the sack. I came home, showed my husband (it's always good to have a witness) and called the number on the back of the bar. They're having me mail them the rest of the bar, the wrapper, and the stick. I'm sure it will be a fun surprise when they realize that part of that stick has been in my mouth. I wouldn't want to have their job, dissecting saliva-covered bits of food from all over the world . . .

But I digress.

They're also going to send me a bunch of coupons for free products. That's nice. But I hope they are good for a variety of different candy bars -- I don't think I'll be in the mood for a Snickers for quite a while.

My Thoughts on Forgiveness

Every so often, a lesson at Church will hit me in a certain way and I'll think about it for hours or days afterward. I know that's what today's lesson on forgiveness is going to be like for me.

As we discussed forgiveness and how vital it is, I raised my hand and shared some things I have had the chance to learn through my own experiences. Since you weren't there, I'll share them here as well.

1. I used to think that in order to forgive someone, they would have to come to me and sincerely apologize. Then I could forgive them. But you know what -- that rarely happens. Much of the time, the people who hurt us the most never will apologize. We need to forgive them even if they don't seem the slightest bit sorry. We forgive because it's good for us, not because it's good for them.

2. I also used to think that forgiving someone meant that I was fine with what they had done to me. "Oh, that's okay, you can hit me over the head any time!" That's not how it is. Forgiveness means that we choose not to carry the hurt around with us any longer. It does not mean that we agree with the act that caused the rift.

3. I have heard several comments that indicate that when we have forgiven someone, we should trust them again. That's not true. Depending on what they did to you, and how often, and on their repentance, there are times when you should not make yourself vulnerable to that person again. If you know that every time you go out to lunch with them, they are going to hurt you, you don't have to keep going to lunch with them. Forgiveness does not mean giving them additional opportunities to hurt you; it means that you'll stop dwelling on the times in the past that they hurt you.

I've heard some "all-knowing" persons spout their opinion that if someone offends us, it's our fault for taking offense in the first place. Well, if someone slaps you, is it your fault if your face stings for a few minutes? Of course not, and the same works for a verbal slap. My inital reaction to someone's hurtful words are instananeous and out of my control. However, it's my secondary reaction over which I have total control. Do I slap back? Do I walk away? Do I call all my friends on the phone and spread the story? Or do I take it to my Heavenly Father and let Him lift the burden from me? Hurt feelings are natural and normal. If someone says something very unkind to you, it's normal to feel a little hurt. But it's what you do then that determines your level of accountability. When we hold on to these grudges and allow them to fester, we then suffer so much more than we did when the slap, whether physical or verbal, occurred.

Scentiments

I spend so much time talking about myself that sometimes I think I've told you something, only to discover I haven't. One such oversight would be in telling you about my home business, which is called "Scentiments." I have my own line of hand lotion, facial moisturizers, liquid face wash, facial scrub, bath salts, body spritz, and lip balm. I make them myself, using high quality natural ingredients, and they are quite fabulous, if I do say so myself. You can check out the entire product line here.

I first became interested in doing this when some ladies came to our church building to teach us how to make similar products. I gave it a try, and I was intrigued. I hit the Internet and hunted up some recipes, and got the stuff to try it out. After working with the recipes for a little while to get them just the way I wanted them, I realized I was addicted. The most fun part for me is making the products, and I soon had more lip balm than I could ever use in a lifetime, and wanted to make more. So it was then I decided I'd better start my own business to sell my wares or we'd have to get a shed just to hold all my creations in.

I've been in business for just under a year and a half, and I'm having a ton of fun. I do take some orders through my website, but I find that most of my business comes through boutiques I do several times a year. I also move a respectable amount of product through friends and family placing phone orders.

My two best-selling items are my Mango Mango hand lotion and my Buttercream lip balm. They're both quite fabulous, if I do say so myself!

So now you've been told a bit about my business. Now I'm thinking . . . is there anything else you don't know about me?

Further Evidence that I am Weird

You all know I'm weird. No mystery there. But I'm going to offer you further evidence of this. Why? I don't know. Probably because I'm weird.

I get hair splinters in my feet. That's right -- strands of hair on the floor go into my feet just like splinters. I'll feel a sharp stab and then lots of pain when I step, and upon investigation, discover a piece of hair in my foot. So I get the tweezers, grab the end of the hair, and pull it out.

This is made worse by three things:

1. I like to run around the house barefoot. I have no idea why -- you'd think that with this strange sensitivity, I'd wear socks or shoes. Nope -- I'm a barefoot girl.

2. My hair is really thick and I shed a lot. Every time I wash my hair, I have to clean out the drain, and I go in to the salon three times a year specifically to have them go at me with thinning shears. This means there is a lot of hair on the floor for me to step on.

3. My 8-year-old son's hair is really stiff. And I cut it myself. So every time I cut it, I have to carefully sweep up, lest I get tons of hairs in my feet. However, it is impossible to get every single bit of hair up off the floor.

And why have I chosen today to write about this? You see, I cut my son's hair the other night. And I'm running around barefoot. Yep, you got it -- I pulled a hair out of my foot about ten minutes ago.

Mooching Off Your Mama (Or, is it okay to promote myself?)

I apologize for falling off the wagon when it comes to blogging writer tips. My life has become insane lately and, well, so have I. But now I’m coming out of semi-retirement to answer some of the questions I am asked the most frequently by aspiring authors. One of the main concerns seems to be – how do I promote myself without coming across as pushy? What if my family and friends think I’m trying to “sell” them something?

Promotion is a necessary part of any business. If you were a waitress, you’d be asked to talk up the daily specials. If you worked in a movie theater, you’d be asked which movies you thought were best. Free enterprise is a blessing – consumers have the opportunity to choose between scads of products and service providers. But living in a free enterprise society means that you need to find ways to attract the eye of the consumer, to explain to them why they should go with your company and not someone else’s.

Interestingly, we find it easier to talk about our jobs than we do about our writing. That’s most likely because we have more of a personal stake in our writing. But in a case like that, shouldn’t the writing be the thing we talk about? We’re taught to be humble. Doesn’t that mean we shouldn’t talk about ourselves? Well, what about the scriptures that refer to burying your talents in the ground and putting your light under a bushel so no one can see it? Humility does not mean that we never share our talents with others. Humility means that we recognize the Source of those talents and never cease to give thanks for the help and guidance that comes from that Source.

And as far as your family and friends go – let me ask you a question. How does any business get off the ground? You start with the people you know. Then they spread the word to people you don’t know, who also spread the word outward. Without this system, which is called “networking,” you would never be able to get the message about your business circulated. You have to start with people you know. If you only talked to strangers (and you know you were taught not to do that) you’d soon make a friend out of that stranger. Oh, no! Now you know them, and you don’t want them to think you’re “selling,” so they’re off limits too. Do you see the logic in this?

Let me put this another way. Let’s say you work at a bookstore and a book comes in that you know your sister will love. You call her on the phone and tell her to come down and look it over. That’s selling, isn’t it? What’s the difference between telling her about someone else’s book and telling her about yours?

“But I just can’t do it,” you say. “I can’t mooch off my friends and family that way.”

Mooch? Mooch? Do you or do you not believe that you have created a product that is just as good as what is currently being sold in the stores? And it’s not like you’re holding a gun to their heads, demanding that they buy your book. You are informing them that you have one, and you let them take it from there. You can even send them a postcard with all that information on it, and let them come to you in awe and wonder. But hiding your light under a bushel is not humility. To neglect to use the talents God gave you is a waste of your time here on earth.

I honestly believe that one of the traps Satan lays for us is one of false humility. He tells us that being pleased with our accomplishments is prideful, and that we should never mention them. He tells us that our talents are nothing special, and we should never use them publicly or someone will think we’re getting a big head. He tells us that to take joy in something we’ve created means that we think we’re better than everyone else, and that we’d better stop it, right now. Please remember that Satan takes the truth and he twists it to his own advantage. If he can stop us from using our talents, he can stop us from utilizing those talents in the building up of the Kingdom.

One last thought – Satan also desires to destroy our self-esteem. When we are firmly rooted in who we are, and what we can accomplish, we become a bow in the quiver of the Lord. If Satan can keep us off balance, make us doubt our divine heritage, make us second-guess everything we do, wondering if it’s good enough or if someone will judge us for it, he gets us so tied up in knots that we can’t concentrate on what we came here to do. Then when the time comes to go into battle, we’re off in the corner chasing our tails. We have been told countless times in the Scriptures that we are God’s children, that He has a plan for us, that we do have talents that we should use for His glory, that we should be thankful for them and indeed, thankful in all things. We are told that we have a divine destiny. And yet all it takes is one little whisper of, “They’ll think you’re showing off,” spoken in our susceptible ears, and we’re sucked back down in the mire of self-doubt, unable to be the people God created us to be.

I encourage you to understand and appreciate the Source of your talent. Don’t be afraid to let it shine – it was lit from On High. When someone asks about your writing, open your mouth and tell them. If they chance to buy a copy, that’s great! If they don’t, their loss, oh well. But don’t act like you’ve done something of which you need to be ashamed. You have talent – now go out there and use it!

May 4th, 1970

Whenever you spend months on end researching a historical event or writing a character, you come to feel a connection to that event and that character. This year I've spent a lot of time researching the Kent State Shootings which took place on May 4th, 1970, on the campus of Kent State in Ohio.

The students on the campus were upset about Nixon's invasion of Cambodia, and had been holding rallies and demonstrations to share their feelings. The mayor of Kent felt that things were getting out of control, and called in the National Guard, with the permission of the Governor of the state. When the Guard arrived, they found the ROTC building on fire, another act of protest.

A rally had been planned for May 4th, but the college banned it. Feeling this was unconstitutional, the students met anyway, to find the Guard present, armed with rifles and bayonets. The students were told to disperse, and they did, going up over a hill from the common area where they had been gathering and down onto the football field. The Guard followed them, their bayonets in position. When the students had gone as far as they could, coming up against the fence of the field, they turned to see the Guard kneeling midway across the field, aiming at them.

Some of the students had gravel in their pockets and threw it at the Guard, demanding that they leave. Other students were upset and crying, trying to disperse as they had been told to do, but unable to. After a few minutes, the Guardsmen stood and walked back up to the top of the hill, but as they reached the crest, they turned and shot into the crowd, a barrage that lasted 13 seconds. Four students were killed, and nine were wounded. One of the slain students was not even present at the rally; she was walking to class, and got caught in the rain of bullets.

There are those who say the Guard feared for their lives and acted appropriately. Then there are those like me who have spent hours researching the situation and say, it was a senseless murder.

To the families of the slain and to the survivors: I'm thinking about you today.

The End of an Era

It's with no small measure of nostalgia that I write this blog. You see, yesterday was the end of an era.

I'm a member of a group of published LDS authors called "LDStorymakers." A few years back one of our members, Linda Paulson Adams, came to us with a problem. Her publisher had gone bankrupt right in the middle of her series, and she wasn't able to find another company who wanted to take her on in the middle of a project. She had screaming fans demanding the next installment, and no way to appease them. After some careful consideration, BJ Rowley, the brains behind the entire outfit, came up with an idea:

What if we formed our own publishing company to produce Linda's book? Thirteen of us thought that was a tremendous idea and we formed a sub-group called "LDStorymakers, Inc." Since that time, we published not only Linda's second book, but "Writing Secrets" and "Publishing Secrets," which have been very helpful to aspiring authors in giving them the information they need to get published. We produced "Fool's Gold" for Shirley Bahlmann, "Mysterious Ways" for BJ Rowley, and "The CTR series" for Lisa J. Peck. We had such a good time!

But, as most things do, our time has come to an end. We accomplished what we set out to do, and then some. Not only have Linda's fans gotten their wish, but we've had a whole lot of fun in the process. We all learned so much about typesetting, advertising, editing, and producing a book from the other side of the fence. Our friendships were strengthened (and sometimes tested) and we're now a closer group than we were before.

As we close the doors on our publishing arm, I can look back on the experience as one of the most educational of our lives. I know I'll never look at the publishing of a book the same way. I almost think that all authors should go through this kind of experience so they can fully understand the process. I can't say I'll miss the hours of intensive editing, but I will miss seeing our logo on the spine of a book when it's all over and knowing that I got to contribute in a very valid, very real way to something pretty dang cool.

More Notes about Blogland

A while back, I wrote a blog called "Adventures in Blogland." I posted it in hopes of encouraging you to enter the blogosphere and explore the delights of the Internet community in a safe, fun, and fulfilling way. I'm delighted to note that many of you have joined me on my bandwagon and I hope to see many more of you soon.

As I continue to drop helpful hints about Blogland, there are some refining points I'd like to make.

1. After you've posted your blog, you'll have the opportunity to view it and see if it looks the way you want it to. Please take that opportunity to make sure that you have no typos and that everything is spaced the way you want it. Your blog is a marketing tool. You want it to look professional. If a reader comes onto your blog and finds misspelled words all through it, they aren't going to be impressed.

2. Do put a list of links down the side of your blog. This will give your readers a glimpse into the sites you enjoy and they'll get an idea of who you are by the blog company you keep.

3. Don't forget to trot around and leave notes on other blogs. Very often, the owner of that blog or one of their readers will follow your link back to you and you'll obtain a new reader. I've even made some Internet friends this way. (Hi, Internet friends!!)

Don't forget to have fun with your blog and to update it regularly. People who visit blogs check back with their favorites on a daily basis. Reward them for their patronage.