Monday, January 30, 2017

Here’s What’s Going on in My Life

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest
Matthew 11:28 (KJV)


   Blog Breaks are Worthwhile:

Late last year, I read on Jennifer Brown Banks blog, Pen and Prosper that we needed to take scheduled breaks from our blogs. Here is her thought. It's item number eight. 

            I preliminarily scheduled some for 2017. But, first, I decided to do a trial break. I chose the week of this past Christmas and included New Year’s Day. I rested and planned while I was on this ‘vacation’. I found myself rested, refreshed and ready to get back to blogging and writing.

            The rest was because of having been ill with an infection that traveled from throat to head to lungs (bronchitis) to my ears. Our son was home for Christmas weekend. His birthday was earlier this month but he didn’t want to come home again because of the bad weather we could have had (and did have.)

            The planning part of my break was to refine the process I work in order to write and post these blogs. I also have returned to my meditation collection writing project.

            Since My Break:

Last weekend, I experimented with Publisher and some of the pictures I have taken to make memes. I believe I will incorporate some into my writing project. I also emailed another blogger who had published a book last fall. I loved her photos and asked her if they were her own or did she get them online. She responded quickly and suggested a site I had not heard of.

            Lessons Learned

            When my computer crashed, I lost e-mail addresses of most of my online contacts and my passwords for most of the sites I visited. I have learned a great lesson through this.


            When I purchased my new laptop, I added an external hard drive to house the majority of my documents and files. Our son purchased one for himself when he lived with us and shared my computer. At that time I thought, “Why?” Now, I know the answer. 

   

            Great News- I Think

            On January 18, I finished my manuscript I started in 2016.  It presently has a word count of 13,557 and encompasses 125 pages. I have to do some tweaking on it. But I felt good when I typed that last section.:

             Added News:

              A group of us at church started working on a Good Friday drama. I am assisting the director in what he needs me to do. Right now, I get to write up a message for the newsletter and write a "teaser skit" to be given to stir up interest among the congregation. April 14th will be here before we know it. 



6 comments:

  1. Congrats on finishing your WIP! Nice way to start the year. After being published traditionally and waiting two years for my agent to send my book to three places, I decided I was getting too old to wait more years if I continued to write. My first book I sent in myself to Pelican as you didn't need an agent. Self-publishing is a risk but not hard at all and free, plus the money for your books is more than I was getting traditionally. The key is to have a social platform, use ads etc. I will let you know if I sell more than I did traditionally. I only sold about 450 there with a publisher and made only a little over a $100. So this is a good test for me to see what I need to do.

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    1. Terri: Thank you for the information. I would like to consider all avenues before I make my decision. Blessings on you and yours.

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  2. Wow! You have been busy even with your "breaks". I am glad you are feeling better now, and that God is blessing you with new enthusiasm for all that you are doing. This was all good information...the external hard drive sounds like a good idea that I should think about.
    Congratulations on your manuscript...looking forward to seeing what you have written. I am praying about writing a book, but not sure I can "afford" to publish due to my use of so many photographs. So this is something I need more info about. May the Lord continue to guide you and bless you as you proceed with your "projects".

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    1. Pam: Thank you for the encouraging thoughts. You might want to consider that external hard drive for your pictures. I am beginning to look at some options open for publication.

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  3. Sounds like things are moving along for you. I agree, blog breaks can be a very good thing. Enjoy the rest of the week! :)

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    1. Karen: Thank you for your thoughts. A close friend who is a prayer-ally had a new grandson born yesterday. The baby's mother had a difficult pregnancy. We are all rejoicing over this little boy. I just found out he has some issues they have to take care of, please pray, His name is Harrison.

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