Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Life Strikes Again!

This week has been nasty! My dryer went out (sniff) ok… run to my mom’s house and either use her dryer or hang stuff on the line. Then, the water heater we have been babying went out – not even lukewarm water. UMMM totally unacceptable!

After receiving some instruction, I thought, "Ok! I can handle this!" I started to drain the water heater and when I figured it was drained (i.e. no water running from the faucets) I turned off the faucet and tried to find the screwdrivers to take off the bottom piece of the “water heater containment area”. Ummm… is that water dripping, no, running? It can’t be! The water is off! I found a flashlight and looked things over in the dark recesses of the containment area. Sure enough, water is running somewhere. So, I did a quick once over through the house and not finding anything, hustled outside – waddled is probably the more appropriate term. I moved the dog kennel that was covering the crawl space opening and peered inside… RATS! Not really rats… but, that’s the G-rated word for the thoughts that flooded my mind just like the water was flooding my crawlspace! I hurriedly reached through the nasty cobwebs and turned off the water main.

In the middle of this extremely wonderful day, my phone decided to not work! The sound doesn’t work while the phone is in use. They can’t hear me and I can’t hear them. PERFECT! The sound works perfectly with all the other applications, but not the phone. Kind of important, maybe! I spent the day speaking with the kind folks at AT&T and Apple to see if we could get it sorted out. No dice! Of course, the 7-10 dropped calls made from the other cell (home) phone didn’t help matters.

Finally giving up at 4ish, I decided to escape to my mommy’s house and camp out there! Oh! And I forgot to mention the phone call I got from the bill collector that wants their bill paid by the end of the month “or else”. Yeah… Great timing!

Those breathing lessons I learned during childbirth classes are coming in really super handy today! Lamaze is taught during childbirth so that us parents can use the techniques to remain strong, cool and collected during times such as these. Well, it didn’t work for me today! I LOST IT! I swear, I’m gonna go to the nut house! I already live on the funny farm so that avenue is out...

The bright spot during my day was the e-mail I got from Kirk Shaw. He thanked me for pitching to him and informed me that my manuscript was being reviewed and that he looked forward to talking with me in the coming months. Talk about a calming influence amid all the chaos of the day!

As the day closed, my dryer is resting peacefully at the county landfill, my water heater is still dead but another one is being delivered during the night – THANKS HONEY – my Visiting Teacher’s husband is installing the new one tomorrow (technically today), my phone is still not working correctly, the bill still isn’t paid but I have a plan, and the other cell is still dropping calls.

Silver Lining – THOSE ARE YESTERDAY’S PROBLEMS! Today is a new day and I can handle today!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Writers' Conference & the week after...

I survived the LDStoryMaker’s Writers’ Conference! BootCamp was an interesting experience, to say the least. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but I did get some good things out of it. Liz Adair was our table moderator. She was excellent and gave wonderful comments and suggestions.

I waddled around between classes making new friends and contacts. My pitch session was interesting! Kirk Shaw was very accommodating to say the least. Those of you that know me really well are aware that it is sometimes extremely difficult for me to meet new people-especially if I feel that person will be judging me (or my baby). Needless to say, I was a bundle of nerves. After we got talking about my book, everything just seemed to flow. Kirk requested a full manuscript as well as a New Author’s Questionnaire. I was floating on cloud nine!

I called my husband first and told him the good news. Jay isn’t really good about expressing emotion at most things, but he was really excited for me and told me to hurry home because nothing works right without me there. When I called my sister and my mom, they actually screamed into the phone! I was standing at the back of a class (which hadn’t started yet) and I’m sure everyone could hear my mom’s scream! It was awesome – truly one of those feel-good moments!

I was able to meet one of my all-time favorite authors – Traci Hunter Abramson. She is an amazing person and very down-to-earth. She seemed very interested in me and my writing. I met numerous other authors as well – too many to count! Everyone was amazingly supportive.

When I got home, my kids mobbed me and my husband breathed an audible sigh of relief. I did a minor revision to my manuscript and finished at around three yesterday. It seemed everything ganged up on me to make it so that I wouldn’t be able to send my manuscript. Dog bites (literally), concerts, missing dinner, work and just plain life threatened to get in the way. I was very discouraged. However, after a prayer-or rather several prayers (for strength, help and finally thanks), a phone call to my sister and several deep breaths everything again fell into place and I was finally able to press send just before midnight.

I stayed awake waiting for that freak-out moment that I knew would come, but it hasn’t. Last night was the first night in I don’t know how long that I actually slept soundly, waking only once when Tank decided to adjust his sleeping arrangements in his kennel. Tank is a very small dog, weighing in at over 100 lbs (that’s not a typo) so when he moves, EVERYONE knows it. Amazingly, I feel rested and refreshed which is something that hasn’t happened for several months.

I know the review process can be lengthy-several months in fact, but I’m hoping the review committee finds my book appealing and can’t put it down. A girl can hope! Thanks to everyone who read, cheered, cried, and was THERE for me!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

LDS Story Makers Conference & Pitch

I am really excited about this opportunity! I get to go to the LDS Story Makers Writers Conference in Salt Lake City this weekend. It should be tons of fun. I'm really excited to meet a bunch of new people and learn as much as I possibly can to make my writing that much better.

I also get the opportunity to pitch my book, "A Little Push To Happiness" to Kirk Shaw, editor for Covenant Communications. This spectacular and extremely frightening event will occur Friday morning at 10:05. I'm the second pitch of the day and quite possibly the conference. I would much rather get it over with than have to sit and stew about it for hours on end while I'm supposed to be listening and learning.

I've basically decided to treat this as a job interview. I'll do my best, answer Mr. Shaw's questions and hopefully present my book in a way that he won't want to pass on it. However, if he decides to pass, I'll just start plan B which was originally plan A. I'm sure it will go great and I look forward to the opportunities this conference will provide. I only wish my sister, Niki, had been able to attend with me. I know I have my entire extended family's support as well as my friends and 'family' from facebook. Thanks for being there for me! I really need the cheering section!