Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh . . .

My dad had a saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Well, today the good Lord must be in stitches. I had my morning all planned out . . . I'd get up around 7 a.m., spend about 1/2 hour in the "Believing God" Bible Study, then get cracking on that ms I'm loving.

I was doing really well with the Bible Study pages until the dog needed attention. Then I got hungry . . . the kind of hungry you can't just ignore until it goes away. So I had breakfast. Nothing major, just cereal. Then the dog needed to go outside again. Then my husband woke up. No way could I concentrate, so I started laundry and then went upstairs to the computer. A quick email check led to a half-hour of replies. Okay, back to ms . . . where was I? It just wasn't happening for me. After a few minutes of head-pounding, I went for my 2-miles walk, took a shower and started over.

That's one of the things I love about being a Christian. God knows that sometimes we need to wipe the slate clean. Walking does that for me and it worked today. I got back on track and managed to to get a start on Chapter Nine. Now if the dog just won't bark and no one wants lunch, if the phone doesn't ring and . . . whoops. I have to hang up that laundry : ) It's Saturday . . . such is life!

Three More Books!

It's official . . . I signed the contract and it's in the mail. I'm going to be doing three more westerns for Love Inspired Historicals. They're all spin-offs from THE MAVERICK PREACHER (February 2009) and are set in and around Denver in the late 1870s.

I'm doing the happy dance, but mostly I'm in tearful awe of what God has done with my writing. It wasn't that long ago that a very confused newbie got a phone call from an editor at Harlequin Historicals. It was kind of a pre-interview. What else did I have? How long had I been writing? The real call came a week later, the one where I heard the magic words, "We want to buy your book."

My life hasn't been the same since. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! The writing life has ups and downs--we all get rejections, even after we sell--but I've had a lot more "ups." To think these are books #10, #11 and #12. If someone had told me on January 1, 1999, the day I made the decision to FINISH a book, not just start one, that I'd be starting #10, I'd have been on my knees in shock. Back then, I didn't have a clue how to construct a novel. In some ways, I still don't. Each book is a mystery that unfolds, a gift from God that's full of surprises, twists and dry spots that make me pray.

Man oh man, I'm blessed behind words. Praise be to God for his tender grace.

Who'd Have Thought?

I've always thought of myself as a slow writer. In my first contracts, I asked for a year for each book and generally finished them in 9-10 months. That picked up to eight months and recently went down to six months for a book. I work p/t aside from writing, so I figured that was pretty good.

I don't know what happened this week--or maybe I do--but I wrote 13,000 words in 6 days. That's four full chapters, and while they're rough, they're pretty good and I know exactly where this story is going. Why the difference? I can't think of a thing except God's grace. I haven't done anything differently . . . I can't say I changed my work habits. I didn't take a week off from the day job. In fact, thiings there have been extra challenging for me.

You just never know how a book is going to come together. I've wrestled with characters, struggled with plots and gone in circles more times than I can count. I've pulled my hair out and walked in circles, mumbling to myself. I don't know why this book is coming together so easily, but I'm sure enjoying the ride!

Writing Update

I just put the finished ms for "Home Again" in the mail. This is the novella for the April 2009 Mother's Day anthology. I don't normally enjoy waiting in line at the post office, but this is the exception. For that moment, I savor the pleasure of typing "The End." It's both joyful humbling, because without God, none of this would be happening.

I've received several reader emails for The Bounty Hunter's Bride. What a pleasure! There's nothing better than hearing from readers who've been touched by a story.

Next in line is "The Christmas Dove" in The Magic of Christmas. This is a Harlequin Historical and comes out in October. Can't wait to see the cover! It should be here soon.

After that, it's back to LIH with The Maverick Preacher in February and In a Mother's Arms in April.

That's the pub schedule . . . The writing schedule's full, too : ) More on that later : )