Category Archive

Okay, remember the *old* version of Willie Wonka? Where they’re in that gondola-looking boat run by the Oompa-Loompas?? All the psychedelic pinwheels and radical colors bursting in chaos? And there’s Willie singing that psycho song with his eyes bulging…well, that’s about how my life has felt lately. Then, I came here to check my blog (I got lost, it’d been so long since I’d visited! LOL). EEK! It’d been nearly three weeks. BAD RONIE! BAD RONIE! Okay, enough of that. I’m trying to be encouraging here. Bitterness. A simple word with two syllables and a whole lotta bad stuff wadded up inside. Things haven’t exactly been peachy for me lately, and I was getting a bit too real about it. …

I’m elated to announce my kewl friend (aka: LOUD ASIAN CHICK with a kick of Wasabi) got a three-book contract with Zondervan for her Asian Chick-lit. And I have to tell you — those stories are kick-butt hilarious!! Camy has a strong voice. Y’all are going to totally love this series. And since Camy is now rich and living high off the hog with her advance, I’m just letting y’all know you have to hit her up now for help on getting to the conference…oh, she has to buy her hubby his two-thousand dollar espresso machine first (oh–um, we hope to test that out this summer, BTW, Camy). After he has his new toy, I’m sure with her ultra-generous heart, …

CHRISTINA ANNE KEANE GRAYJuly 1, 1944 – March 12, 1996 It’s been ten years since I got the fateful call from my brother informing me that our mother, who was lying in a hospital in Dublin, Ireland, had passed on. She’d returned to ireland to spend the holidays with her family, but the day after Christmas was admitted to the terminal ward of St. Vincent’s Hospital. I spent three weeks with her when she first fell ill from non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The staff *promised* to call if she got worse. They never called. I wasn’t there when my mom took her last breath. Part of me is glad, because my mother died what I considera violent death–vomitting blood since the cancer …

Okay, gotta admit. I’m not one that normally looks for signs, but this morning, when I read the title of my devotional, I nearly did a back flip–I said NEARLY (envision a balled fist jerked down in a firm *YES!*)–when the title of the devotional read: NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME. Yeah, I know. Fleece, like the stuff lining your pillows and jackets. But hey, two nights before I’d try to write on the sequel to my space opera, but I felt like God put a hand on my shoulder and said, WAIT. HUH??? Wait? SIGH. Fine. So, I waited. The next day I fasted. Then, this morning, I wake up with THAT as my devotional. Needless to say, I …

This morning I went to take one of my college tests. For me, the drive affords me a thirty-minute reprieve from the chaos of homeschoolnig four children. LOL So, Ishut off the radio and in between my yelling at Texas drivers who are either driving 20 mph or 80mph in the rain, I prayed. Naturally, during the course of this quasi-quiet time, I prayed about my writing. My proctor’s assistant had mentioned something again about God’s timing…why do they always say that?? Yes. I Know my getting published is in **HIS** timing…but I was wrestling with it. And then I got to wondering why we wrestle. So, I prayed and asked God to…and I cringed right about here…help me embrace …

I had a breakthrough this week. Well, at least I thought I did. LOL Monday we drove up to Plano (about 45 minutes north east of where we live now) to look at a rental home. It’s a pretty home–not GREAT, but would definitely meet our needs…and that’s the thing. We NEED to move. HAVE to move–our lease is up soon and the owner of this home wants to sell. SIGH. Well, I was none too happy about it because there are so many factors to consider…like our homeschool enrichment classes and me commuting twice a week, the boys’ speech therapy, Brian if he gets into the FBI (which means another move within the next year). Anyway, on the way …

Brandilyn Collins, notorious expert of writing thrilling/chilling suspense books, let my crit bud Dineen Miller into her creepy little world. LOL Seriously…it’s a great interview. You should check it out. Robin Miller is interviewing agents who have expressed an interest in representing clients who write for the inspirational market. Run over to Robin’ s blog and see what’s happening in her world. Well, it’s been a dull week here…a strange head flu has boggled my brain and left me for dead. I’m on the mend, but I’m also trying to catch up on college work and crits. In my Bible study today, there was one of those lines that grips you by the back of your collar and dumps you …

Ever notice excitement and stress sometimes go hand in hand? Well, they did this last Friday. The Fantastic Four’s four-in-one series, Saving Wicklow, got an invite to submit more information to the publisher we pitched at the ACFW conference last September!! We were stunned–and not because we didn’t believe in our writing (cuz lemme tell ya–those are some AWESOME stories *wink*). The shock was birthed out of the fact that several people told us it would never get published. Why? Well, because none of us are book published. It’s unheard of, they said. No publisher will do it. Fortunately for us, a publisher is smart enough to see the potential of this family-based series. Here’s praying God’s best for the …

Last year, while New Orleans Mayor Nagin worked to prepare for prepared for Hurricane Rita, reporters badgered him about what went wrong during Hurricane Katrina, and how they could have better prepared, and how to prevent another Katrina. Anxoius to get on with the mobilization, General Russell Honore said he wouldn’t answer those questions and then told them, “don’t get stuck on stupid.” That’s one of my favorite phrases now because I do that in life. I get stuck on things that aren’t important–that are just plain STOOPID! For instance, lately I have been battling battles that is not battle-able (Okay, so that’s not a word, but you get the point!!). Homeschooling is one. It’s absolutely exhausting. The kids are …

My space opera Brand & Bound is my pride and joy right now. LOL I’m proud of the fact I wrote the 100k piece in roughly thirty days. I’m proud that it’s probably my strongest writing yet. Yet for half the time that I was writing it, I mourned the ending. I’d crafted a character ruled by honor, and in the end, he HAD to do the HONORABLE thing. So, it ended a bit tragically. The reaction I am getting as my dear friends critique this story is…well, volatile. LOL Granted, the piece needed an epilogue (I know, I know, Robin…it did! LOL)–so I finally wrote one. But the story ended the only way that Marco could have to retain …