Just one.

I’m running behind today. Okay, truth is that is the normal state of my days.

I think I try to pack more into each day than is possible. Maybe I should pack my days using those Space Bags. You know. The ones where you use the vacuum cleaner to suck out all the air and scrunch everything up for storage.

That would be nice to do with not only my days, but the mess of my desk.

That’s as far off the path I was setting, that I wish to go.

Anyway, I was going to post just one little reason for joining a writers group.

Encouragement.

That’s it. Encouragement.

Yesterday I met with my monthly writers group and we went over the stuff we brought. I left very encouraged as a writer.

In part it’s because of the commonality of us all. We each have a desire for words and a desire to use those words to share the passions that Jesus placed in us.

And it is also because of the great feedback I got on my writing. By that I mean help to improve it.

So if you’re not part of a critique group. Find one. If you can’t find one, make one.

Okay. I’m a writer. And oddly enough, I appear to be human.

This duplicity often times leads to stress and frustration. The writer in me wants to write frequently and repeatedly. Yet the human in me often finds the storms of life troubling and burdensome to the body, mind, and soul. When that happens the writer just can’t seem to think clearly enough to string more than a couple of semi-coherent words into more than mere pixels on the screen.

That’s where I’ve been during the last several weeks. Stressful things happening in my own life and the life of my church family.

The writer wants to write, but the human that finds it necessary to eat, live, and breathe needs to scrape together some pennies. Not only that, but being a warm body with a pulse means there is a need to work in fields that God asks me to tend with my time and hands.

The good thing about these times, these storms, is that they are fodder for the writer to draw upon when the writing time is available.

That said, I guess there really isn’t a duplicity at work here.

I’ve been reading from Psalms almost every day and I so love that book because it so sings of being a human in love with the Lord God, a human fallen in nature, struggling in life under all kinds of pressures and stress, but still able to recognize and praise God.

I try to start my mornings with those scriptures. I take the date, for example today is the 5th, and I read that Psalm. Then I add 30 to that number and read that Psalm which would be 35. Add 30 and read 65, and so forth until I’ve worked through the entire book.

It’s a wonderful way to start the day.

Well, I’ve got some time, so I’m going to try and write for the next hour or so.

Until next time.

Greetings. I’ve got two updates. One on the novel and one on the software WordWeb, I mentioned in this post several days ago.

Oh, and here’s a picture of my favorite writing nook at my local Panera. It’s secluded enough to give some privacy and has a nice place to plug my laptop in. Plus it gives me a good view of people coming and going which I love because I can scribble notes for character reference when it comes to creating other people to populate my works. And best of all, the AC doesn’t freeze me out. The other location I sometimes sit at when this one isn’t available is right under a vent and it gets cold there quick.

Now, the update on my novel, Sins of Our Fathers. I mentioned somewhere, either in the eMail updates or on the site here, that I submitted a proposal to Tyndale. Well, I heard from the acquisitions editor last week and it was decided that it would be a hard sell to their market. She said my writing, the pacing, and the dialog were all good. So I’m waiting at the moment to see what decision Strang will make and I’m considering sending it to B&H Books as I just received in the mail an advance copy of Shade, by John B. Olson, and it looks to me have some content and intensity that is similar to my novel.

The second item on the free software, WordWeb. I’ve been using it and I like it. It’s quick and works as far as I can tell in pretty much every program where there are words that you may need to look up. I’ve used it in Word and FireFox without any trouble. So give it a shot. You may find you like it too.

Cheers.

One of my spots for writing at Panera. The only problem here is that when the Air Condition kicks in because it can get real cold.

Therefore I usually bring a jacket or sweater.

Someone stole my favorite spot. Hopefully, I’ll get it next time.

This morning I clicked over to my eMail and my brother sent me a link to some software that looks like it might be pretty helpful.

Plus it’s free, and as any starving artist knows, free is good

The software is:

WordWeb

I haven’t tried it out so I don’t know how good it is, but one of the nice aspects to it is that one doesn’t need to be connected to the Internet to use it.

If you try it out let me know how good it is. I do have a synonym software program installed that I use regularly. It would be nice to have the definition and antonym capability, too, so I may try it out eventually myself.

Who am I kidding? I will be installing it and giving it a look see.

Okay, so you’re probably wondering just what kind of pics can one have of a writing adventure?

Well… these kind:

I guess if you are breathing then you likely know that life is full of difficulty and frustration.

Of course if you don’t know this then you are one of three types of people.

1. Born with a platinum spoon in your mouth and never in want.
2. Insane - ie. detached from reality.
3. Dead.

I do suppose you could be two or maybe three of those as well.

Either way it’s pretty safe for me to write that the majority of us deal with frustrations and difficulties all the time.

My question is, how do you deal with them in your life? When at work? Or at home?

There’s a number of pretty large frustrations hammering at me in my life right now and I find them distracting from writing. And part of those frustrations is the hope I have for my novel, Sins of Our Fathers.

The Scripture say:

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Pr 13:12 NIV)

At what point does the heart become sick? How long must hope be deferred?

More importantly, how does one tighten the belt and strive on with what one considers their talent and calling when it appears that the belt is as tight as it can get without cutting off the circulation to half the body?

I think one of the keys is supportive friends and family.

Another of course is sheer will. The emotions can rage but the head must slap them down and say, “Get to work.”

How about you? Any thoughts on these questions? This sort of situation?

Some days I wrestle with writing.

Other days writing wrestles with me.

Either match is acceptable to me. Because it means I’m working at writing. What is unacceptable is not writing.

Lately too much obstructs my entrance into the ring of battle.

But that is life. And the benefit is that life makes us writers stronger and more agile when we can step into the wrestling ring.

Something I hope to do within an hour when I escape to one of my favorite writing rings, Panera Bread!

Chow.

Update:
Tonight I am the one doing the wrestling. :-8

Well, I just upgrade the WordPress software that allows me to create this blog. Woo-Whoo!

It went rather smoothly. A fact that scares me. In fact I realized half way through the upgrade process that I failed to deactivate all my plugins! That worried me since I couldn’t go back and do it at that point in the game.

Thankfully, when I fired it up everything seemed to work correctly. Whew…

If you find any quirks let me know.

It is April FIRST–no foolin’–, time for the FIRST Day Blog Tour! (Join our alliance! Click the button!) The FIRST day of every month we will feature an author and his/her latest book’s FIRST chapter!

and his book:

Ryan Watters and the King’s Sword
Creation House (May 2008)

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