LOST...

and not the TV show.

Because of the three day weekend, I've lost my way. I have about 20 million things to do this short week, so forgive me if I don't post as usual.

I'll follow the signs and get back in the groove soon.

By faith...they served

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:

who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Hebrews 11:24-34 (NKJV)

Join JW in praying for:

• The men and women in the military who serve and have served our country.
• Missionaries in difficult places.
• Tara Baird who begins her military service soon. Her blogger dad is proud of his baby girl, but understandably anxious.
• Families who have lost their loved ones and are remembering... this weekend.

Image source: Google Images

Title Attraction

He stared at me.

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but...you’re not doing it for me anymore,” I said.

“I am what I am." He tapped his toes on the floor.

“You don’t have the lure and excitement that you once had. You're making me look bad.”

"I was enough yesterday."

“In the beginning of this relationship, you were brilliant. You said what needed to be said, but I’ve found another... with a better story.” My voice had become shrill.  “You have to leave.”

“What does that even mean- with a better story?”

“Get over it, you’re a title for goodness sake and I've found a better one."

“In your mind,” Title said and stormed out.

What do blog posts, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and songs all have in common? They normally have a title.  A title should attract readers to the words you have authored and attract Internet users to your blog posts and websites. But have you given much thought on the technique of creating a good title? How is it done?

In his March 9th post, C. Patrick Schulze shares that your title should :

• Be a clue to your plot
• Sell the story to the potential reader
• Reflect the mood and meaning of your writing "your title needs to paint a picture"
• Be easy to pronounce
• Be five or less words

Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent,  recommends researching Amazon for book titles in the genre you are writing and make a list of those that attract you. Then, decide why YOU like them and why you don't. (Read more about creating a good title by clicking on her name.)

I would add to this, for bloggers, to list post titles that you think are clever and decide why they appeal to you as the reader. Did you want to read the post because of the title? What did it tell you about the post before you read it?

Elizabeth Spann Craig, who writes cozy mysteries and her blog posts on Mystery Writing is Murder wrote in  Titles and Names that she put thought into naming her first two novels by "punning Southern sayings". But, she adds that people misspoke the titles. Her new book due out July 6, Delicious and Suspicious rhymes and is, in my opinion, a delightful title. (Read her post by clicking on Titles and Names.)

Life Along the Dousinberry is my dad's latest writing. It happens to be about the adventures of a young boy who lives near a creek called the Dousinberry. The title gives a glimpse of the story.

The magazine that I wrote children's read aloud stories for in the 1980's kept none of the titles I wrote. Was it me or was it their policy? I don't know. What I do know is that my love affair with my current murder mystery title, When The Keepers of the House Tremble, is unhealthy. The title is way too long and really has nothing to do with my book. But, it's poetic and is... beautiful or something. No?

Sometimes as a writer you have to practice tough love and throw out the title and begin again. 

How do you create the titles for your writing?  Is a process? 

Hard Times

Hard times brings on weakness. A few weeks ago, I - had this conversation with - God.

Mammos, Family, and Other Ramblings

Congratulations to Jane Kennedy Sutton at Jane's Ride for winning the coffee plaque.  She blogs about writing and her journey as a writer. (Email me your address, Jane, and I will send it your way.)

Last Week and Me
Tuesday I was invited to my granddaughters grandparent day (hour).  It was a great time. After a short program, K was to read a book to myself and her other gran. She read two. There were two little girls without GPs there. So at one point the teacher told one of the little girl's to go read to me. She came over and read a couple of books -kind of. Then K was back with the card she had made to read to us. I gave her my attention. She's pretty darn perfect - just want you to know. Then the little girl who had been assigned to me put one little hand on my shoulder and pressed her cheek to mine and hugged. I'm glad the teacher sent her my way.

Then it was the boys' turn the next day. Problem was, there programs were both at the same time. No problem, those kids have many GP's. So I went to my oldest grandson's room and the other grandson had a grandfather with him. We all got to see each other in the cafeteria during refreshments. So that was good.

Thursday night, little granddaughter had a Patriotic Program. It was cute.  Dr. Lovely Daughter and I went to a local eating place after -for a bite to eat.

Speaking of the daughter, she closed on her first home this week. She is now a homeowner. We packed things Saturday. She has set up the movers for this coming Thursday. We were going to go to Silver Dollar City on Saturday, but decided to pack instead. She's needs to be ready for Thursday.  Her new house is very pretty. She will love it.

The Ruralhood (my other blog) has a new post if you're interested. It's about a tree, two children, and a near death experience titled Felling Trees. (You can access it in the sidebar.)

Next on the give-a-way list in honor of my 200th post is the Dream journal. All you have to do to enter is comment or if you prefer -email me. The drawing will be next Sunday with the announcement of the winner on Monday.

If you don't want to read about mammography then you need to stop right now, because I think mammography is funny and I wrote about it.

Fearless

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
Psalm 46:1-3 (NIV)


JW knows

The Right Time to Write

If you are a writer or a blogger or both you might feel challenged to find time to write when you have a job, a family, and take care of a household.

Even at this time in my life, I must assign myself blocks of time to write. Otherwise, I would find excuses not to write, even though I love writing. It’s a discipline and I, like many people, make excuses.

Current excuses:

• Is American Idol on?
• Should I pull weeds from my flower gardens while the sun is shining?
• Should I be spending more time with the grand kids or visiting the folks?
• Do I need to mow?

Past Excuses:

• My kids need to go to ball practice, dance class, or a school function.
• I need to fix dinner.
• I need to help with homework.
• The house needs cleaning.
• I need to sleep. (I still do)

Good news! Did you know that you can squeeze several words out of only a few minutes a day? You may be surprised what you can do in 15 minutes.

With 15 minutes you can:

• Start learning the basics of playing an instrument.
• Clear out a dishwasher and load it back.
• Read a few pages of a good novel.
• Research for your writing.
• Write a few lines of poetry.

In 15 minutes (if you can type 30 words a minute) you could write 450 words. This could be a blog entry, short story, or part of a chapter – or a love letter to yourself. I’m just saying.

You don't have to be home to write. Try writing:

• In restaurants
• In waiting rooms
• Lunch time
• Break time
• Kids napping time
• After everyone is asleep
• Before your family awakes in the morning
• Before you go to work
• While your family is watching TV
• While you are waiting on your children
• Before (and during) seminars. Not that I would ever do that

A Few Tips:

• Before you begin, have an idea or direction in mind.
• use your 15 to schedule your 15.
• Always have a notebook with you.
• Don’t edit, just write.
• If your child is feeling neglected give he or she the job of timekeeper. Set an egg timer and tell them to come back when the timer goes off. Or give them writing materials and encourage their writing.
• Find your own space where you can write and not have to put away your things when you are done.
• Remember, when it's time to take a break- take it.

Later, you might even find an hour or two hour of uninterrupted time on the weekend or late Friday night to write. Think of it as treating yourself.

I write:

• 30 – 60 minutes every morning before I go to my job, Monday through Friday but not before I get my cup of coffee.
• 30 minutes after I get home- if I have have one brain cell leftover.
• 15plus minutes at lunch.
• Saturday a couple of hours
• Sunday- whatever I can get in. This is the day that writing is not on my list to do. If I get it done -great, if not that's ok too.

Here is what I did with only 10 minutes a day for one summer. I hadn’t picked up my guitar in years. But, I wanted to play again. During my vacation one summer, I decided I would commit 10 minutes of my day every.single.day to practicing the guitar. By the end of the summer, I was playing again.

And If you feel sometimes that the Internet steals your time away from writing, use a notebook to write OR do what Elizabeth Spann Craig did – go where your internet won't work. Read here about her really cool get-a-way.

What do you do when life interrupts your writing? What’s your right time to write?

THERE IS STILL TIME TO ENTER THE GIVE AWAY FOR THE PLAQUE AND EASEL. EITHER TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS  TO ENTER YOU OR YOU CAN EMAIL ME. 

Photo source: http://quangkhoi.net/learningcenter/

Broken Hearts

Today, I've got nothing- except

Rambles

And the winner of the IWrite journal is Mary Aalgaard at Play Off the Page. Congratulations! Email me your address and I will get it in the mail!

Now for a new give-a-way gift- this cute plaque. Just tell me in the comment area you would like to enter and it's done. 

I don't have much to say today. It's hard for me to believe too.

Fiber Fair

I went Saturday to a Fiber Fair. My sister goes every year and sets up a booth with her wool product. I forgot to take photos of the event, I took some along the way, but none there. So if she took photos and posts them on her blog, I will let you know. It's always fun to listen to her tell others about her sheep and wool. Her wool is very popular.

Dad

I am going to interview my dad in the near future about his new book,  Life Along the Dousinberry: The Story of an Ozark Country Boy's Journey Through the Troubling Years of the 1940's.  I'm not sure where I will post it yet, here or The Ruralhood - or both. Dad has self-published four books. This one is my favorite because....  More about that later.

The Ruralhood
Be sure to check out Summertime Job for a Rural Girl - before it disappears next Saturday.

Later,  I am off to get a physical and I have a meeting with "The Clamp". Wish me luck.

Compassion

But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.

He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."

But the Lord replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"

Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.

Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.

But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered.

When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."

But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"

"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."

But the Lord said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" Jonah 4:1-11 NIV

Read Jonah's entire story here.

JW thinks:

If you need something to read, head on over to The Ruralhood's Saturday post for some summertime fun!

We're all a bunch of Characters

People have said to me many times throughout my life, "Teresa, you're such a character". But if you want to see a bunch of characters- observe middle school students. That's what I did last Saturday evening.

My daughter has a friend who is a Middle School drama teacher or sponsor. She invited my daughter to her MS play and my daughter invited me to go along. I’ve been to many school plays because um - I work for a school district. Sometimes, I want them to be over soon and others – I truly enjoy –seeing the potential in the players. I’m so glad I went see The Music Man and its cast of characters. L did the greatest job of directing this musical and the students did a good job too.

But the story I want to tell, the characters I found very entertaining, I observed at intermission.

I walked out of the auditorium through the double doors behind me –not the door I came in originally- which of course always confuses me since I have a delicate condition called, Directionally Challenged. I thought a smart thing to do would be to follow two MS girls since I was certain they were giggling their way in the direction of the restroom. But, right before the ramp that took us to the restroom area, a woman was guarding something and saying, “Stay over there, sorry, but someone got sick at their stomach.”

Oh yeah, “they” got sick all the way up the ramp and turning the corner.

The little gals in front of me went hysterical- or maybe that was me, in my mind.

“Oh sick,” the first girl squealed. “This is gross.”

“When does it stop?” the other girl said.

I wondered the same.

The stench reached our noses. The first girl grabbed her nose, “Oh it smells,” she whined and turned her head away and then veered toward the stomach spill.

“Watch out, don’t step in it.” The second girl pulled on the arm of her friend just in time to save her shoes.

“When will it stop?” One of the girls repeated.

Both girls started gagging. Out loud. Heartfelt. This made it worse.

“Step around it.” One girl guided the other to the restroom. Then it was over.

I wanted to laugh out loud and hold my breath at the same time, but I was afraid I would pass out, you know and fall in the.... 

The girls were interesting characters.

Sometimes, I purposely observe strangers to get ideas for characters for my writing. Other times, characters fall in my lap, like the MS girls.

I often find characters in places I visit, life's circumstances, and the dialogue that I hear. I ran into a couple of characters for my most recent short story in an elevator at a Hilton, near St. Louis. They are clever characters and not to be trusted.

Writing never leaves me. I even think about it at middle school musicals and in elevators.

Wednesday Inspired Clothing

7 pieces of must own clothing for

What's happening in SO MO?

... this and that.

New Blog Look
I am trying something new and simple with the blog. Thanks for the nice comments. I'm trying to get my blog favorites updated.  I've created an awards - slide show in the sidebar. I have other things I want to add - so bear with me.

Schedules
Posting for JW: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Posting for The Ruralhood: Saturday (Next post:  A Summertime Job for a Rural Girl)

Computer Woes
It's been a long bumpy road from the time I picked out my new laptop, bought it, had it delivered, did the updates, registered everything, loaded a few files from the old to the new - just to have its memory fail, to call the company for another to be delivered - to get IT delivered, to get the old sent back, and start the new computer stuff again. (Whew that was a long sentence.) I've been permanently copying over files from the desktop computer. I didn't know I had soooo much on my old computer. I want to wipe it and then reload it. It'll take a while.

Writing
I'm still writing. I am currently finishing two shorts. Then I need to get them sent out. I have been working on an essay. I also have been working on two books and have decided I need to choose. I'm not talented enough to work on both at the same time- even though I want to.

Revelation
My new grandchild is a …boy!!! He will be born in late August...probably...maybe. I didn’t care what gender the baby was, but it seems my poor little six-year-old granddaugther did. She was a little distraught. She loves her two older brothers very much, but she really wanted a more balanced family...you know...another girl. She told me, "I will not change his diapers."   She stayed the night with me a week ago. We did a lot of drawing and talking. She called it a sleepover. We did a couple of drawings in oil pastels. I have an apple on my kitchen wall that I did in pastels and she wanted to make one. DID I mention she is very talented and quite beautiful? I would say that about any six-year-old genus girl-child who has movie star qualities. Yes I would!!!

200 Posts
As I said before my hiatus, I've reached my 200th post. I want to give away my give-a-aways during the next few weeks. If you would like to be entered in the drawings- just tell me in the comment- "enter me" or something like that.

Here are the trinkets:

Journals - why? Because I love them.

Journal 1 - IWrite (First week drawing) Entries for drawings will be Monday-Saturday. I will tell you the next Monday who wins. You don't have to enter if you don't wish to. But, if you would like to enter, please indicate so in the comment area.

Journal 2- Dream

Little plaque- with what could be my motto.

A little ole pillow made by...me. We call it blackbird. Who's we?

$10 B&N Gift Card

I've missed being away, but I'm back!!  So what's up with you?

Mothers

Do you know a mother of faith and example? I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. II Timothy 1:5 (NIV)

Do you know a mother whose love is patient and kind and loves without self gain? Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. I Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)

Do you know a mother whose children are glad to say she is their mother? Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.  Proverbs 31:28 (NIV)

Did you know that one of the last things on the mind of the Godly Jesus when he hung dying on the cross- was his earthly mother?

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son,"

and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John 19:25-27 (NIV)

JW's thoughts:

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers reading this.
Godly examples of motherhood are often revisited as we search inward for evidence of the person we should be. Godly mothers are people whose daughters look to them for answers, whose sons never forget. Mothers influence the lives of their children (and other children) which helps shape the world.

I am glad I had the opportunity to love, nurture and watch my two children grow up to be wonderful people. I am blessed.

See a tribute to my mother at The Ruralhood.

While you are waiting...

for me to get back to blogging, go see the pretty picture at The Ruralhood. You can click the picture icon in the sidebar -there on the right. Do you see it? I think I make a very fine shadow of a person. I'm just telling you the way it is. That's all.

Ignore me and...

Please excuse...