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New blog address

I have a new blog! I'll keep this one around for a little while in case anyone is interested in looking at the archives, but I'll be making all posts on the new one from now on.

This is just wrong

Bus Driver Accused of Stranding 6-Year-Old

I can't believe someone would even consider doing that, but sadly enough this isn't the first time it's happened. This part really steamed me: "Gilbraith said the boy was upset, but it didn't affect her decision because "6-year-olds get upset if a leaf falls."" Her statements in her defense mean nothing, IMO. There's no defense for leaving a small child to fend for himself.

Something funny

This made me laugh like crazy--as much from the comentary as the menu items... NOT for kids, though.

Personal Victory

I haven't mentioned this here before, so as not to bore anyone to tears, but for the first time in 12 years I'm back in school. Yep, I'm now officially a college student...again, but that's a whole different story. I took my first exam today and I got 100%. Phew. Now I'm off to do some more studying before I sit down to do some more work on OZ.

New contest

Morning, everyone. Just a few quick things for now. This month's contest is posted on my website, so be sure and take a look. Also, the latest issue of my newsletter is available at my newsletter Yahoo group.

Goals and a little news

If anyone's been watching the meter in the sidebar, you've noticed the red line is getting a little longer--but only half as fast as I've been shooting for. Have I reached my goals any day this week? No. But that's okay. It's been a busy week for me, and I managed to add almost 100 pages to OZ. The big goal is looking less and less possible, though, after missing the little goals all week. 90k by next Friday. Think I can do it? I suppose it depends on how much sleep I want to get. *g* And for the news: I just signed contracts on 4 new books for Samhain Publishing. They're all connected to Reality Check, so I'm pretty excited to get started with writing them. :) I'm going to be doing website updates this week, so I'll try to get some blurbs up on the coming soon page.

The writer's journey

On Monday I took a short trip to my hometown, about an hour's drive from where I live now, and it got me thinking. There were so many things that had changed in the past seven years since I've lived there. More buildings had been added downtown, and some others had been updated with more modern exteriors. Roads had been expanded. New parking lots had been put in. But for everything that had changed, there were things that stayed the same. The historic landmarks remain unchanged. The bakery where we used to get our bread on Sunday mornings still sits at the end of Main Street, unchanged in the midst of all the new growth. The harbor looks exactly as it did seven years ago, when I used to sit out on my porch with the kids so they could watch the boats coming and going across the street. So though the town has been modernizing, the foundation of it remains the same. As writers, we go through a similar process. At the start of our writing, we discover the core foundation of our unique talents--our voice. As the years pass, we learn and grow. We read articles, we find critique partners, we take advise from rejection letters, and go to meetings and conferences. We take a little bit from each of these things and apply them to our writing, so our writing grows consistently smoother and tighter, and gets better and better. But even with the new growth, the foundation remains the same. The writer's voice is still there, even through all the tweaking and honing. The essence of your uniqueness doesn't change. This journey is an endless one. There will always be new ways to learn and grow, but don't grow so much that you lose your voice. Use them to make your voice stronger.