Grandpa’s Blackberries

            Summers with my grandparents meant swimming at the local pool and getting in trouble for running through Grandpa’s garden. He always smelled the tomatoes on us the moment we walked through the door. He loved gardening and all of us enjoyed the benefits of it. Grandma always served fresh sliced tomatoes, green beans, and my favorite- homemade blackberry jam.

Grandpa tended his blackberry patch throughout the summer, and we were lucky if we were visiting when it was time to pick them. Grandma would send us out with a dish and we would walk to the small patch. We wrestled through the tangle of scratchy stems and picked the plumpest berries. We seemed to always come back to the house with purple tainted hands and mouths. Grandma would work her magic and jars of dark jam would line her table. Family and friends who sat around their table, which was always a happy place, would eat the jam from Grandpa’s garden smothered on fresh rolls or over buttered toast in the mornings.

                Grandpa was an American hero. He flew fighter planes in World War II and wrote love letters home to my Grandma. She still has a box of his letters addressed to his “little wife” and a few times she let my sisters and I dig through and read them. After the war, he raised a wonderful family, was a firefighter, and gave back to the community through his work at church and through the boy scouts.

                He died some years ago, but I’m reminded of him often. A few years ago, my dad gave me cuttings from Grandpa’s blackberry bushes. They were tiny little things, but get bigger and healthier every year. This summer we will have berries. I’ll take my own little girls out to the patch, give them dishes to fill, and tell them stories of their great grandpa as we eat berries from his bushes. Someday I hope the taste of blackberries will remind them of the hero who fought for his country, loved his community, and tended his family and garden with love.

One of our cuttings almost ready to blossom

A Very Special Thanks

              Whenever you read a book there is normally a place at the end for acknowledgements. The author normally says something about how this book would never come together without all the help of all these people, and then goes on to list at least a page worth of them, if not more.

                I’m not familiar with the process of actually getting the book to the book shelf yet, but it has always surprised me how many people make the acknowledgements list. Coming up with ideas and writing seem like such solitary things, right?

Over the last couple of months, I’ve begun to understand the need for an acknowledgements section. Back in March, I had a group of sixth graders volunteer to read and review my children’s novel Flame. They were incredible.

They slogged through thirty-three chapters of not so perfect writing. I was running out of time to edit and still give them enough time before the end of school to read it, so there were still mistakes and an ending that wasn’t very stellar. It takes a long time to read someone else’s work, think about how it could be better, and then write it all down, and they did it.

They wrote me all kinds of comments and thoughts that encouraged me, made me laugh, and helped me to make the story stronger.  

I really appreciated their honesty and enthusiasm. Actually, I cannot say how much their honesty helped.  One student mentioned a part being “stupid”, and although it may seem harsh, it was actually good for me to go back and go through that part. The boys said they liked it, but they needed more blood and guts to make it exciting, so yes, more battle scenes have been added! Of course, several of them mentioned that I may want to work on the ending too!

Although adults may like a book, kids really get into it. They were really excited about the characters and all had different favorites. One student “looooved” one of the male characters (this cracked me up). Another student liked the dynamics of the family because it reminded her of her own. Two of them loved one of my minor characters so much, that I’m going back through to give her some bigger moments. One student wanted me to write about a handsome funny character who just so happened to have his name (oh so funny)! Another student told me I couldn’t give away free copies, because if I did I wouldn’t make money, and if I didn’t make enough money I wouldn’t be able to keep writing stories for them to read (that student received a hug)!

I have also spent the last few months being badgered for the next story in the series and about whether or not I’m published yet. All of the badgering has pushed me to keep at the next one and get the first one out to agents!

I write children’s stories because I hope to get kids excited about reading and delight them with a story, but I never considered that the kids would give that back to me. It has been nothing but a joy and delight to work with all of them! My acknowledgements section starts here- this book would not be possible without the help of Miss Halle Frodge, Mr. Jaedan Laswell, Miss Kylie McFatridge, Miss Scout Puterbaugh, Mr. Wyatt Reyburn, and Mr. Noah Stamm.



Showing off their silly sides at our pizza party!



I also need to give a special thanks to their teacher Mrs. Richardson who made this possible! She allowed the students to read during school hours, read the book herself, and let me take up precious time in her classroom to do things like give instructions and chat with the students.

Thank you to all of you for your help!

The Imperfect Writer- Reworking the Clay

I think being a mom has trained me to not worry if everything isn’t put together. Sometimes I get so busy in the evenings that I forget to wash off my make-up, then I wake up and still forget to wash it off, and then I run around all day looking overly tired when really it’s just my mascara caked beneath my eyes. On those days, I just have to shrug and keep going. Sometimes I forget to brush my teeth, run late even if I'm up early, and I have nothing planned for dinner which results in a cereal or eggs and toast night.

So, when I am writing and it isn’t coming out right, or I can’t think of anything to say, I just make a note, brush past it, and keep going.

It amazes me how many writers think they have to have every single little word or sentence perfect before they can move on. Many of them get so hung up on perfection that their writing is left stranded. A strong wind picks up, blows the ideas away, and they will never have the chance to be captured and enjoyed.

Today my imperfect writing advice it to just write it down. That is why nanowrimo is great. It is about quantity over quality, and for writers, that can be a good thing. When you write a novel you can always go back and edit it, but if you have nothing to work with, well, then you have nothing to work with.  

Writing a novel is like working with clay. To make something beautiful, you have to start with an unattractive lump of mud. Your first manuscript may be ugly, but if you at least have something to work with, then you can spend hours molding and sculpting it into something incredible.

I write all kinds of horrendous things down, and have decided to be brave and share them with you.

In my novel Unprepped I wrote-

“My rich grandpa has a really nice house (make sure it is really nice)”

You really can’t beat that imagery. Here’s another-

(In case of emergency, read a page, wipe, and burn)

I’ve been wondering how this came to be. Unfortunately the context clues are not helpful either.

I know you are all dying to read my novel now, but I saved the best (worst?) for last-

“I laid my head bck down and tried to go babk to sleep, but thoughts kept pooping in my head and interrupting.”

First off, I use the words head and back twice in the same sentence (yes, the word I can’t seem to spell is supposed to be back). There aren’t really words for the rest of it, but I truly believe with all my heart that it was supposed to say popping…

Now that I have convinced you never to participate in nano, let me show you what happens when you rewrite/edit your work.

Original first line of Albi Wellins and the Serpent’s Key-

“Twelve-year old Albi Wellins stopped at the edge of the forest and took a deep breath.”

In my notes I wrote, “And now your reader will yawn with boredom.” I edited it one time through in January and now it says-

“Twelve-year old Albi Wellins hid behind the final tree at the edge of the forest clutching the illegal plunder to his chest.”

Okay, that edit made it a lot more interesting for my reader!

Imperfect Writing Tip #2- Keep writing friend and get that lump of clay!

This not only showcases all of my editing, but also my poor photgraphy skills.

The Imperfect Writer

The long-term goal of this blog is to connect with future readers and to encourage other writers. Having a blog is a great way to let others know how your work is coming and to meet others who love to write. I read blogs written by people who hope to get published and they offer all kinds of tips and advice on writing.

                I can’t do it. I know I should know better than to say can’t, but somehow I just can’t blog well, especially about writing tips. Whenever I try to blog, I mess it up. I suddenly contract essayitis and it comes out sounding stiff and formal like an essay an uppity professor assigned with so many rules that you feel like you’re duck taped tightly together and you can’t seem to move or breathe . Even as I’m typing this, I feel essay format trying to break through.

                Although there are many problems with my writing, the biggest thing that keeps me from giving advice about writing is that I feel unqualified. In all honesty, I really don’t know what I am doing. I don’t have the secret code on how to be a successful writer or to create the perfect world. It’s all stuff that I’m trying to figure out, and I won’t really know if I’ve done anything well until I’m signed with a publisher or find my book on the New York Times Bestseller list. That leaves me with a major problem… what in the world am I supposed to blog about?

                It finally came to me the other day. I may not be able to give the top ten ways to write a query or best advice on character building, but I can tell you all about being an imperfect writer and all of the things that come with it.

                Here goes…

                Imperfect Writing Tip # 1-  if any of you are like me and your blogging feels like a porcupine trying to put on pantyhose and you aren’t tearing it up in the right kind of way, then be encouraged, trying to find the right things to say and the right way to say them can be tough. It hasn’t clicked for me yet, but maybe if we keep at it, it will get easier along the way. Of course I don’t know this for a fact, it could very well get worse or stay the same, but that wouldn’t be a very encouraging thing to say! ;)

Writing isn't always perfect, it can be messy!

Here Comes the Rain

             “When it rains it pours”, so the saying goes. That could describe my life lately. It has been raining so much over the last month that the acres of corn fields have transformed into miles of lakes. If it keeps up, Indiana may have to change its name to the great lakes state.

                Life has been about the same- pouring down rain with scattered thunderstorms. I’m not sure, but it seems like every time I participate in Nanowrimo (you know, a whopping two times), life decides to pour. Maybe I should reconsider participating in camp in July. Okay, not really, I must do camp!

                Anyways, I don’t think I really have any followers yet, but for some reason if you have been wondering why I haven’t been posting, that is why. Life has been hectic and crazy, and writing has been the last thing on my mind.

              When life gets tough, it's not always easy to write, and that's okay. Life isn't always about writing, sometimes there are more important things. You can always come back to your writing later on, but there are some things in life that you can't come back to and redo or get another chance. My situation was like that.

                Hopefully throughout the month of May I’ll get back into the swing of things again and this blog will be filled with posts!