Keep it Clean Kids!

I think this post has the potential to not only help authors, but anyone who wants to do other activities in addition to keeping a pretty clean house. Keeping my house clean and working takes a ton of time, so anything to help make the process more efficient is fantastic. The faster the house is clean, the more time I have to write. I'm learning that maintenance is key!

My two kiddos are old enough now, that they can help. Yep, they actually help. A month or so ago, I created, and taped on a wall, a routine they can follow every day. They get to put a sticker on for each completed task. I'm a gold star kind of person, I think most people especially kids love a sticker reward! I posted my routine chart on Facebook today, and a couple friends wanted a copy. I figured if there are two people it could help, there are probably more people who need something like it!

Many parts of my routine come from the website flylady.net. You can check out swish and swipe there (bathroom maintenance, quick wipe of the counters and a swish in the toilet with a toilet brush.) She's got lots of great ideas, I do some of them. The form I use is in Excel on my Mac. Make it personal for you, or for your kids. I'll share what I have for myself another time. It started as a paper, now it's in my phone calendar. Anyway, here's my kiddos chart. I write their name on the top of their chart:

Daily Routine and Chores for Kids

Now, don't expect perfection from yourself or your kids! Keep a good attitude and make a game of it. "Let's see how many stickers we can get today!" After a month, my kids took action today to see how many they could get. They even worked ahead to the afternoon piano practice. Be patient and know that a little at a time creates good habits, which in the end produce a clean, or at least more clean home, and more time to write.

Take a Sick Day!

Last week was rough. That’s it, just rough. I had a great start, but my week got hacked! I was so sick I could not get out of bed, seriously. The thought came to me that I should pick up my laptop and type away as I lay in bed. What a great use of my down time! Due to my aching and nausea, I had a realization. I should take time to get well. Relax, take care, and get well. What a concept!

 

Am I less motivated to reach my goals? No. If I were clocking in and out of a job, would I have gone to work last week? No. I would have taken the time off that I needed to get well, and then checked back in this morning. Done and done. This week would have been loaded with extra work from missing last week. Yep, that’s there for me too. I’ve got some catching up to do.

 

If you find there’s been a legitimate reason that’s delayed your writing, don’t give up or give yourself a mega guilt trip about not reaching your goals! I am not a failure because I got sick. I would fail only if I stopped. I am currently behind the goals I set for myself, but watchout! This week is gonna rock, and I will catch right up and get back on track, now that I can get out of bed. What a blessing to be able to work.

Just Me and 6,000 Rats Review

I absolutely adore children's books! I found a fun, slyly educational book today in my local library. It's called, Just Me and 6,000 Rats, and the subtitle is, a tale of conjunctions. It's by Rick Walton, illustrated by Mike Gordon and Carl Gordon.

This book is about a little boy who goes to the big city for the first time. Apparently where he comes from its normal to have 6,000 rats. They play tourist in the city. They go out to see the attractions, and before you turn each page, there's a conjunction to connect the story to the next page.

The 6,000 rats are the key. Without them, this story would not be entertaining at all! The text is subtlety hilarious and the illustrations are charming, witty and creative. I had some good chuckles over this book!

Maybe I will write that silly grammar book I thought of after all! If you want to write a book, go read books! Get inspired! See what works and what doesn't. If nothing else, it's enjoyable!

Inspiration

  It seems inspiration is everywhere. Today while I was working on my toilet monster story, I looked out the window at a little squirrel scattering about on my neighbor's roof. Squirrels are funny little creatures, and this one was no exception. It looked nice and healthy; ready for a long winter. I wondered if it was the same squirrel who raided my sunflowers upside down a month ago, then I remembered a story idea I had written down involving a squirrel. Watching the squirrel spurred some thoughts about the possible characteristics of the squirrel in my story idea.

  Having my own children spurs ideas as well. Oh the things they do! What better way to get into the child's point of view than a 12 hour day, 365 days a year observation? Though, I'm not always looking for a story.

  I was on a bike ride with my son yesterday, and he wondered aloud why the lines coming down from the telephone pole to the ground were shaped the way they were. He noticed they weren't going at their normal angle to make a triangle between the pole, line and ground. At first I was surprised he even noticed something like that. I hadn't even noticed it was there, really, so I looked, and I saw from his perspective and asked in my own head why. The wires had been pushed out so it looked more like half of a house drawn by a child. It only took a fraction of a second in my adult mind to figure out why, but it was asking that I found significant. "Oh," he said, "It's so people can go under it on the sidewalk." And off he rode.

  I suppose what I'm getting at is, if you need an idea, or if you have writer's block, open your eyes. Look outside yourself. Look from a different perspective. I'm beginning to find that there's plenty of ideas out there, you just have to be paying attention in order to catch on to it. Sometimes we learn from participation, and sometimes we learn from being quiet. Be an observer. Be quiet for a while and just watch, listen, feel and be inspired.

So Sad...Or Not

I heard back from the greeting card publisher, and sadly they did not accept my card ideas. It's too bad. Hmmm. Maybe it's a good thing. I'm refocusing to the Toilet Monster and New King stories. I have limited amounts of time to dedicate to writing, so it's probably a good thing not to split it too many ways. When I need a break from stories, or when I feel inspired I'll still write my card ideas and submit them occasionally, but I've decided I don't want it to be a main focus. I'm excited to move forward with my stories, I'm excited with where they were going. I thought I was done with the Toilet Monster, but it told me otherwise. It's in a complete rewrite, and I'm loving where it's going. That's all for now friends. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

And the Winner is?!

My last post was about the greeting card ideas I sent out to a publisher. I was told a final decision would be made by mid-June. Maybe their running late? Maybe my ideas were so hot that they called in their international greeting card gurus to clammer over them. Unlikely, but just maybe.

I e-mailed the editor today to find out the final decision. I have questions running in my mind like, have they not told me because my card ideas weren't accepted? Should I have e-mailed sooner? Would that have put me on their radar more? Maybe this whole thing is a scam and all greeting card companies take all the submissions and print them as their own idea. I mean, who would know? I'm not going to be scanning their shelves for my ideas just incase they stole them. Unlikely, but just maybe.

On another note, I've really got to start writing again. I've acheived much on the home front, and some things, like my piano playing has gotten so much better. The dedicated time for writing though is still a challenge. They say if  you want something enough, it's not so hard, you just get it done. I don't think that's quite true. There's some truth there, but not the whole truth, is it?

Occupation? Greeting Card Author

Well, not yet! I just submitted my very first greeting card idea!!!!

I'm super excited about the prospect of being a writer of greeting cards. Hmm, what would my title be? Greeting Card Author? Greeting Card Writer? Conveyor of Relationship Strengthening Ideas? When I was growing up I thought about that sort of thing. Ditties, poems, sentiments, silly and clever hahas. When asked, "So, what do you do?" I would love to reply, "I am a mother of two, and an author of children's stories, novels, and greeting cards." Yep, I'd like all of those in my repertoire, how fun!

There are many greeting card companies. For my first submission, I chose one that fits my witty side. If you are thinking you might want to submit all those clever ideas you have, just do a good Internet search and find a company that has cards that fit your style. There are many types; funny, naughty, sentimental, Christian, and there are even a couple of web sites that you can create your cards, and customers can order your designs, have them printed, and sent out by the host company. The largest companies seem to have staff writers instead of free-lance. For the companies that accept free-lance work, some companies want the ideas sent snail mail, and some are e-mailed. Some have a minimum number of ideas that must be sent together. Just make sure you follow the company's guidelines (usually found on their website) to make sure your ideas would fit what that company does. In all my experience...well, that's what I've learned so far.

I'll let you know how it goes!