A Bit of Randomness Before the Big Trip

Kimberly Derting put me onto the challenge over at Purple Clover's blog: 42,000 words by the end of July. I love the name, too. JuJu (for June and July). Isn't that clever? And now I have a new tag to differentiate this one from my last Word-A-Thon.

So I'm still doing the 15,000 before the end of school. I just need that kind of short term kick in the pants, but I'll be trying for the JuJu challenge too. And there are lots of people over there doing it. I so love being a part of a community!

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I was talking with my husband yesterday about my wrestling with the idea of being a Christian writer (as opposed to be a writer who happens to be a Christian). I was thinking maybe I should find some other Christian writer/bloggers to follow and befriend. It's that community thing, you know? All I know about publishing and books is the mainstream stuff. And most of the great people I know now are YA writers (yay you!! I love reading YA! And I think you guys are the most incredibly creative people EVER!). But shouldn't I know some people in my own genre?

Turns out, every random blog I looked at seemed very...um... not me. It's like being in high school again and trying to fit in with a different crowd. I was reminded why I didn't start out saying I wanted to write Christian fiction to begin with. I was worried I'd have to stop being me and start being someone else - speaking a different language and acting a little less...well...me.

And then my husband said the most wonderful thing. He said, "You don't have to be like them. That's your thing. You're forging a whole new path. You'll be like the Beth Moore or the Chuck Swindoll of fiction writing. And all kinds of people who didn't find the kind of writing they liked before, will find it in yours."

Okay. Best husband ever? Even if you don't know who Beth Moore of Chuck Swindoll are, you get the idea, right?

And those other friends who write Christian fiction will come more naturally, someday. Like the way I found Nicole O'Dell. Or rather, she found me. She's a MG/YA author (of course! Am I the only one who's not??), but a Christian one, and I think she's pretty cool. :)

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My coffee does not taste as good this morning. Something's off with it.

Okay, that was totally random...

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I am not fond of feminists these days. Who came up with the brilliant idea that women can have it all? Who decided we could actually do it all? You know, all those ambitious women looking at men with their high powered suits and prestigious jobs and said, "Hey, women should be able to do that too!" neglected to see that those men weren't also doing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, making three meals a day, folding load after load of laundry, helping with hours of homework, and carpooling.

No offense but trying to "do it all" is driving me crazy, not to mention sleepless. And I don't even have a full time job.

I try to view writing as my job. The kids are in school: I write. I try not to let other things interfere. I attack it with the perspective of "If I had a full time job I couldn't just not go to work because I needed to pick up milk at the store and party supplies." But sometimes, there just isn't time to write, clean the house, pick up milk and decorate for a party all in one day.

I honestly don't know how you people out there with full time jobs you actually have to go to regularly do it. I don't know how you feed your family and keep them in clean clothes and still work, let alone find time to get writing in there.

I admire you more than you can imagine.

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Now I am going to go try to get a few pages written before I pack for New York. I leave tomorrow morning!!

Next post will probably be lots of photos. And most likely a story that involves mishaps, getting lost, and dangerous subways. And possible agent stalking in the city.

You never know!