Feels so good to go home!

My beloved family...

        I can't say how incredibly good it was to spend time with the hubby and kids after being away for six months.  It's indescribable.  I can say I'm a little more energized, recharged.  I just sort of wind down without them after a while.  We didn't even need to do anything together for me to enjoy it.  We did, however, catch up on Season 3 of True Blood!  This picture isn't the most recent, but I love it because they are for once all looking toward the camera and smiling.  Soon, hopefully by next summer, I will be home for good...

       Before I leave the blogosphere for the evening, I wanted to share another 'thank you' to my writerly bloggies.  I found recommended often on the blogs the book On Writing by Stephen King.  The book's been out for a while, but I'd never read it until I found it, a new, shiny hardbound copy, at a thrift store for $5. Money more than well spent I say.  It's not that I didn't know already about most of the writer's toolbox he offered.  I learned most of that as well from the blogosphere.  It was his story, his writerly journey.  There were parts of it that brought tears to my eyes.  Yes, my eyes.  I don't cry over books!  It's a good read, and I also put my stamp of approval on it as a recommended read for writers.

        Some quickies on Contest & Blogfests:  Don't forget to join mine, the BLOGFEAST, on Sep 23.  Stretch the theme, be creative, and bring a bloggy appetite.  Oh yeah.  About that word count thingy... well, er... I'm having trouble with the 500 roundabout count.  Both of my potential snippets run around 600-700, so whatev.  Write what you will.  I've yet to see a Blogfest post not worth the read.

        If you're catching this post today before midnight EST, jump over and enter Brad's contest to win a complete boxed set of Charlaine Harris books that inspired the HBO series True Blood. 

        If you'd like to win some great books from Lisa and Laura while they're out on their vacay, head over to LiLa's blog every day this week for a book a day giveaways. 

        Next upcoming blogfest (that I know of at the moment anyway) is Stephanie's Haiku Blogfest on Sep 3/4.  Don't know how to haiku?  Instructions are on her site.  Anyone can do it!

        A couple of pitch/query-type contests are around.  Check out the Gate Keeper's contest by Sep 3.  And tomorrow you won't want to miss the special guest @ Operation Awesome tomorrow.  You may want to have your logline/pitch ready *just in case* something crazy happens.

        So who'd I miss?  Anyone feelin left out in the cold because yer not in my sidebar?  If it's not there, then I don't know about it yet.  Comment or shoot me an email if you've got something special coming up.  I'd be happy to win promote your blogfest/contest.  Anyone else having some good family time lately or have a great, must-have book to recommend for writers?

Sunny Side Up Today

Whew!  What a crazy last couple of weeks it’s been, thus why I’ve been blogone lately.  I’ve decided early this morning that the mood of the day shall be “optimistic.”  Why?  Because I need a little of it to keep my sanity!  And truly, if I don’t make myself look at the bright side every once in a while, I’ll spiral down into a deep pit in which I only write horror where the good guys all die at the end and the demons inherit the earth.

First on my optimism agenda, I had to address my job.  It’s only natural considering I live where I work.  I have to admit it can be pretty awesome.  Just check out the pic.  We shot over 220 rounds from our 5” gun the week we went out to sea.  Makes me proud--*tear* love you Combat Systems/Weps!  You’ll have to check out my Facebook photos for last year’s missile shoot, and any true patriot will have even the hairs at the nape of their neck saluting at that sight.  Sometimes I’m so busy complaining, I forget to remember I could never have lasted thirteen years of this without being strongly patriotic. ‘Nuff said here.

Next, my home-purchasing endeavors are beginning to pay off.  Didn't get the house we first offered on, but the second was a winner.  I am more than happy to run with it as I realized last week that it had been my #1 pick from the listings my husband sent me.  Now, if only I could actually see the home before I buy it...  Nope, not likely.  But I did see lots of great pics--5brm/3ba with a tree swing, playhouse, garden area, fire pit.  Yep, definitely something to be optimistic about.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of blog posts about perseverance and optimism when it comes to writing, and I’m really glad I’ve come across these posts because trying to become a published author is a somewhat discouraging business by nature.  The authors write from a personal place and therefore take rejection personally at times.  I really needed to see how much work is involved in crafting and marketing a worthy piece of literature.

And after much research, I’ve also concluded that agents, editors and publishers are not truly evil, but are actually on our side.  They are the buffer between the writers and the cold, hard truth of economics and technology.  They do the best they can with the resources they have.  And in return, we’ll spill our blood and guts to write as close to perfection as a writer can call it (since we all know we’re never done with our work).  Maybe, just maybe, if I learn all this at the front end, it won’t take me three years to get an agent, and that, my friends, is optimism!

So I’ve shared what I’m optimistic about.  Now, where has the optimism bug bitten you?