Getting Organized

August is ALWAYS a busy month for me, and for my family.
Wedding anniversaries, birthdays, death anniversaries, the start of a new school year (my youngest brother is a freshman in college right now)...
Last year, the busy-ness reached new heights with the added baby shower for my nephew (and I missed it because in August of last year, I was hiking through the mountains of eastern Uganda, which you can read all about here, but that is beside the point).
Also, it marked the first time I ever went to the emergency room because something was wrong with me.

Me and a couple of friends outside Temple Bar in Dublin, the day after
I got out of the hospital. You can read more about my overseas hospital
experiences here and here.

This year, August will mark my move back to Flagstaff as I prepare to finish my bachelor's degree in history.
What will I do with that?
Ah - that's a question for another blog.
Because I will be moving, however, and because I packed up all of my belongings before I left on my world adventure last year, I wanted to go through what I own so I know what I have.
It led me to bring a box in from the storage shed in the back yard that has been there for years (the box), which contained (amongst other things) the first draft of the first novel I ever wrote that was not fan fiction, and the first draft of one of my first novellas.
Both are projects I've started editing, then stopped, then started again, then stopped again...

Well, it's time for the vicious start/stop cycle to come to a stop.
I am turning over a new leaf, and getting more organized as I move forward with the process of editing and revising.
As I reach a point with each project where I believe it is "publishable," I will start a blog which I will share with you (explanation forthcoming).
And I will chronicle the process of turning over my new leaf and "getting organized" right here - ideally in weekly installments, but possibly biweekly or triweekly.
I like to call it the "Getting Organized" series.
Hopefully, it helps you as much as I believe it will help me.

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Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now, that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

[Five Minute Friday] Purpose

Fiber bars, strewn along the side of the road. There had to be at least a dozen of them, still in their wrappers and completely unopened. No box in sight. Really? That's about the reaction my younger sister and I had when we stumbled on them on our early morning run. Really? along with disgusted sighs about the wastefulness of it. These were the expensive ones, not a generic store brand that kind of tastes and kind of looks the same sometimes. So, when we weren't keeping an eye out for their box, we speculated about what had happened. And wondered how many more we were going to see before the end of our run. "Maybe they took one bite and thought they were gross," my sister said. "So they threw them out because they didn't want them anymore." I let out one of those disgusted sighs and nodded along with her theory. "Yeah, or they got in a huge fight, and threw them out in a fit of rage." "That's a possibility." And

How to Make Sure Your Book Review Request Does NOT Get Deleted

I've been hesitant to write this post. That is due, in large part, to how angry I get some days after reading book review requests. I curse, I rant, I snark. My cat will tell you it's not a pretty sight. But I also feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about what it is that makes me feel those feelings AND how to not stir them up. I'm not the only reviewer that gets frustrated when I see certain things in my emails from authors looking for a review. And I know I'm not the only one who gets triggered enough to ignore or delete those messages. I never feel good about doing it. It's just that I'm hitting the proverbial wall here and I want to hit it a little less often. So if you're an author looking for loving advice on how to approach reviewers (especially this one), read on. Review Requests I Always Delete Before I get into what to do, I wanted to take a minute to look at what not to do (and how I handle it). Want to know what immedi

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