When You're Not the Only One . . .

When You’re Not the Only One in Your Family with a Dream
by Gina Conroy

I've been thinking a lot about my personal goals, my children's dreams, and what I want my family to look like. Unfortunately, all three are often in conflict with one another at different times.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to write, and I've never doubted the calling, though I've struggled often with finding the time to pursue my dreams. I started my first novel right after I got married, then I had my first son and writing took a back seat to the demands of mothering.

I didn't know there were writing support groups like ACFW, and I didn't have writing friends to encourage me. I didn't know I could write and raise children like so many do now, though in a way I'm glad I didn't know. It allowed me to focus on my children and hold on to my dreams, knowing that one day my chance would come. So I set aside my WIP for ten years or so, had three more babies and did occasional magazine work. But my heart wanted to return to fiction.

I thought when my fourth child was two that it was finally time to start working on my own dreams of being published. Little did I know was that at the very same time God was calling me to homeschool.

What ensued there after was this stressed out mom trying to learn how to homeschool, be a good mother and write. Unfortunately, I felt like a failure on all three fronts at one time or another, somehow getting off balance at different times until my priorities became so out of whack that I had to sacrifice my writing and dreams for a season. The grieving process was real and painful. But in that grief Writer...Interrupted was birthed, and I started to interview other moms who seemed to do it all.

I grew as a mom and writer.

The other day I read something from Mary M. Byers that resonated with me.

"When you say yes to something in your life, you automatically say no to something else."

I wish I would've understood that sooner. Then maybe I wouldn't have been so anxious to move on to the next stage of my life and career. Maybe I would've savored each moment just a little longer.

Now that my kids are older and have dreams of their own, I'm trying to balance theirs with mine. It's a never ending learning curve as I adjust and evaluate just how much dream pursuit this family can handle. How much I can handle and do before I burn out.

Will there be some regrets and what ifs? Probably, but if I remember that when I'm saying NO to the pursuit of someone's dream (including my own,) I just might be saying YES to something more important!

What are you saying YES to today? And what are you willing to wait for?

Gina Conroy is president and founder of Writer...Interrupted where she mentors busy writers. Knowing how difficult it is to raise a family as well as a career, she chronicles her triumphs and trials on Defying Gravity, hoping to encourage those on a similar path. She is represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, and her first novella, Buried Deception, in the Cherry Blossom Capers Collection, releases from Barbour Publishing in January 2012. Gina loves to connect with readers on Facebook and Twitter

Buy Buried Deception in the Cherry Blossom Capers Collection

Mount Vernon archaeology intern and widow Samantha Steele wants to provide for her children without assistance from anyone. Security guard and ex-cop Nick Porter is haunted by his past and keeps his heart guarded. But when they discover an artifact at Mount Vernon is a fake, Nick and Samantha need to work together, set aside their stubbornness, and rely on each other or the results could be deadly. Will Samantha relinquish her control to a man she hardly knows? Can Nick learn to trust again? And will they both allow God to excavate their hearts so they can find new love?

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Lost Melody Zondervan (October 25, 2011) by Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith



ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Lori lives in the beautiful Ozarks with her husband Lance. Lance and Lori have three sons, three daughter-in-laws, and six wonderful grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. Lance and Lori are very involved in their church, and active in supporting mission work in Mali, West Africa.



Lori began her writing career in 1982, writing for the secular book market. In 1995, after many years of writing, Lori sensed that God was calling her to use her gift of writing to honor Him. It was at that time that Lori began writing for the Christian book market. To date, she has had over 100 books published.

Virginia Smith is the author of more than a dozen Christian novels and over fifty articles and short stories. Her books have been named finalists in the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, the American Christian Fiction Writer's Book of the Year Award, and ACFW's Carol Award.



A Certified Lay Speaker for the United Methodist Church, Ginny's messages are always well-received by a variety of audiences in conferences, retreats and churches across the country. When she isn't writing or speaking, Ginny and her husband, Ted, enjoy exploring the extremes of nature – snow skiing in the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City, motorcycle riding on the curvy roads in central Kentucky, and scuba diving in the warm waters of Mexico and the Caribbean.



ABOUT THE BOOK

The beautiful piano sitting in the corner of Jill King's apartment begs to be played. For over a year, it has sat untouched, ever since a terrible accident shattered Jill's ambition of becoming a concert pianist. The ragged scar on her left hand is a cruel and constant reminder of the death of her dream. But another dream is about to come to life---an unexpected, horrifying dream that will present Jill with a responsibility she never wanted. And choices she never wanted to make. Hundreds of lives depend on Jill's willingness to warn her small, oceanside town in Nova Scotia of a nameless, looming disaster. But doing so could cost Jill her reputation, jeopardize the political career of the man she loves, and ruin their plans for a future together. The fate of an entire community hangs in the balance as Jill wrestles with the cost of heeding one still, small voice.



If you would like to read a chapter excerpt of Lost Melody, go HERE.

Reflections on Technology and My Shopping Habits

Fifteen years ago the only cell phone I had was called a car phone and it was in my car—my company car, I might add, and the phone was for company use. I know people sometimes carried those huge, obnoxious phones, but they weren’t very convenient. And again, they were obnoxious. Not many of us carried those and we were still completely dependent on our landlines at home. If you needed to contact someone, you called and left them a message on their answering machine attached to their home phone. No cells. No texting. No nothing.

Just fifteen years ago. Wow.

Funny to think that my children don’t know anything about a time when there wasn’t 24/7 television—Disney Channel or Nick, Netflix on demand shows, DVD’s—the ability to watch a movie over and over! Or video games, and smaller versions on Nintendo DS’s—whatever they are called now. That will probably change before I hit the “publish” button on this post. And they certainly can’t remember a time when we didn’t have a personal computer, a laptop—several of them around the house. I feel so old when I think about how quickly times have changed.

Technology continues to change at even faster rates than before. These wow-times-are-changing fast reflections recently slammed me because of an experience I had while purchasing a book. Since I live in the country I purchase a lot of books, a lot of everything, from Amazon because I have their Prime membership so I get free shipping in two days. TWO DAYS. I can’t get to the store in that time on most days.

Still, I want to support the local brick and mortar stores and decided to put more effort into doing just that. I found a diet book I really wanted because I already had all the other diet books. I decided to drive into town on a day when I had time to make the thirty minute drive and purchase it form Barnes and Nobles. But, I wasn’t at all positive I wanted to buy it until I searched through the contents.

Hence, I purchased it on Kindle first so I could browse through the recipes. Was it a diet book that I could live with? Would my family enjoy the recipes? And after looking at it on my Kindle I decided that definitely yes, we would love the recipes. But cookbooks aren’t something that are all that great as an ebook—just my opinion. So. . .the drive into town to buy the book. Life, laundry, dishes, school, writing, laundry again. . .and I still hadn’t made it to town, or at least all the way across town to Barnes and Nobles. Sheesh—I could have ordered this book and had it three days ago, via Amazon Prime!

Finally, I dropped the boys off at their Royal Rangers meeting and ran a few errands. Walked into Barnes and Nobles and found one copy of the diet book I wanted. On my stroll to the counter I stopped when I noticed the price.

TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS?! Twenty-five dollars. I can’t remember when I’ve paid that much for a book. Maybe never. All this way, all this resolve so I could be supportive of my local bookstore and they can’t meet me halfway? I mean, I would be willing to buy it—MAYBE—for twenty dollars. Never mind that I can get it for 14.99 via Amazon—a whopping ten dollars less. I know, I know. . .Amazon doesn’t have the overhead. Still, ten dollars more at the bookstore.(Never mind that I had already bought it on Kindle and that plus the hard cover cost through Amazon was more than twenty-five dollars)

With a family of six, I just couldn’t swing twenty-five dollars for a diet book I probably wouldn’t really follow long enough to lose weight. On the drive back to pick up the boys from Royal Rangers, I flipped through my iPhone Apps, looking for Amazon--when I stopped at the light, that is. At the next red light, I surfed for the diet book. The one I just bought on Kindle the week before only now I want it in hard cover. And then. . .I hit buy with one click (or whatever the wording is).

Amazing that in this age of technology, I’m able to buy a book, go shopping, while driving down the road. The whole process I went through to get this book just seems surreal.

Regardless, this year I plan to do a lot of my Christmas shopping at regular stores instead of online like I've done in previous years just to support the local retailers, and I hope they will be willing to meet me halfway.

How do you plan to do your shopping this year?

Blessings,

Beth

Spotlight: Lynne Gentry and REINVENTING LEONA

I’m honored to welcome my friend Lynne Gentry, author of REINVENTING LEONA. I met Lynne at a conference several years ago through another close friend, Lisa Harris. But it wasn’t until about two years ago that I really got to know Lynne—she’s not only an incredible person, but she’s an awesome writer. Her voice is exceptional and when I feel like my writing is sagging, I’ll read Lynne’s work to give myself that nudge I need to bump things back up.

Not only does she have an incredible writing voice, she has an amazing talent for characterization, and no wonder, considering her theater background. When I can’t get a handle on my characters, I often ask Lynne and she’s quick to offer assistance. In fact, I credit her with assistance in one of my ideas that recently sold to LIS.

If you’re starting out as a writer, or even if you’re multi-published, there is always more to learn from Lynne’s blog, STAGE WRITE WITH LYNNE GENTRY.

Today, I invite you to watch this video Lynne generously shared with me on characterization.

Learn how giving secondary characters choices can up the tension in your fictional works. Etta Mae Story shares take on the choices she and her twin had to make when the new pastor's wife came to town.

http://vimeo.com/29075368

Lynne's novel, REINVENTING LEONA, is an e-book published by Tyndale, and a story which everyone who has ever attended church can relate with. Lynne's characters step off the pages of her story in a way you won't forget.

Book Blurb for REINVENTING LEONA:

Leona Harper loves being a pastor's wife. Her impressive resume touts thirty years of coaxing hot water from rusty parsonage plumbing, planning church potlucks, and standing beside her husband while members take potshots at his sermons. Except for the little tiff with her grown children, Leona feels her life is right on track with the wishes of the Almighty . . . until her husband drops dead in the pulpit.

When the church board decides to fill the Reverend's vacated position, Leona is forced to find a paying job, mend her fractured family, and tackle her fears. With life spiraling out of control, Leona might find the church members' antics comical if she weren't so completely panicked. Can the faith of an overwhelmed widow withstand the added heartache of two resentful children and several underhanded church members? If Leona can't trust God, how will she learn to trust herself?

Common Characteristics of Creative Processes

Otherwise titled Baking Bread and Writing Novels

I love baking artisan breads. That’s something you already know if you follow me on Facebook or have read a few of my blog interviews. Baking bread is a hobby I picked up early last spring. I found an article in Mother Earth News magazine that caught my attention. Other than using my bread machine, I’d never baked a loaf the “old-fashioned way.” But I tried this easy recipe and the next thing you know, I was hooked. I bought several books on various bread-baking techniques and I took off experimenting, mixing and matching the various recipes and methods. Knead or no-knead. Slow-fermentation in the refrigerator or over 12-18 hours sitting out. Sour-dough (there’s another story).

You know what I discovered? Start with flour, throw in a little yeast and enough water to make dough and voila, in a few hours you can have the aroma of a bread baking in your home with no more effort than that.

Next I found myself baking bread, trying a new recipe or perfecting an old one, when I should have been working on my deadlines. I say deadlines in the plural because I had overlapping deadlines. Two books due within a few weeks of each other.

But I found that I needed bread-making as a creative outlet—that following a recipe or concocting my own, kneading the dough into a soft ball—actually stimulated my creativity. In that way taking time away from writing to make a loaf of bread (which honestly can be time-consuming) helped me to meet my deadlines. It helped me to be more creative with my stories.

Since I’m a writer, I'm often coming up with analogies or ways that one thing is like another. (Okay, that statement just made me think of the song from Sesame Street). So, how is baking bread like writing a novel?

To write a novel you start with the most basic ingredients—a blank page and writing instrument. (computer or pen/pencil)

To bake bread you start with the most basic ingredients—flour, water, yeast.

I love that in both instances you can start with simple ingredients, bare essentials, to create something wonderful. That's how baking bread and writing a novel are the most alike.

Is that a stretch? I don’t think so. I’m considering writing a few future posts about baking bread and in some cases tying that to better writing or life in general.

I’d love to hear your thoughts—if that’s something you’d like to see.

Blog appearances this week.

I'm guest blogging over at Martha Rogers' blog today--hop over there for a chance to win a copy of Freezing Point.

Also, Janet Lee Barton interviewed me on her blog, too, and also offers another chance to win a copy of Freezing Point.

Hope you have a chance to join the discussions!

Have you seen Christians Read yet?

I recently joined with numerous other prolific writers contributing to a new blog called Christians Read.

From the Christians Read website:

A group of Christian readers who also happen to be writers. They’ve joined together to create a lively blog that focuses on three main areas:

1. During the work week, the participating authors and invited guests will blog about books and reading, devotionals, inspiring quotes and on topics of interest to Christians in their own daily lives.
2. On weekends, authors will be posting blog entries on writing--the craft, the business, and/or the writing life.
3. On weekends, guest bloggers who have scheduled a desire to post will add their entries.

Current contributing authors are:

Hannah Alexander, Julie Arduini, Elizabeth Goddard, Sarah Goebel, Kristen Heitzmann, Vicki Hinze, Michele Huey, Maureen Lang, Yvonne Lehman, Kathi Macias, Karen Moore, Yvonne Ortega, Lynette Sowell, Camy Tang

I'm posting at the Christians Read Blog today!

Stop by and join the discussion.