I is for Inspired

Inspiration can come in many shapes and sizes.   All of the contributors to Mormon Mommy Writers, and our commenter constantly inspire me.  In General Conference, the speakers inspired me to do be and be better.  I especially pondered some statements in Elder Uchtdorf's talk "The Merciful Obtain Mercy."

I will never understand the pettiness of others and how sometimes people attempt to build themselves up by tearing others down.  This is why I am so inspired by the community here at MMW.  From all I have observed within the LDS writing community, there is a system to build each other up with no need to tear down others.  Someone else's success is not to be envied. It is something to celebrate.  Personally, I enjoy passing along all the great novels I have been lucky to read.

Keep cheering each other on, and showing the world that the best way to build oneself up is to support all those around you.  

 If you would not be forgotten, 

as soon as you are dead and rotten,
either write things worth reading, 

or do things worth the writing.

Benjamin Franklin

H is for Heaven

Me in my heaven sitting about 2 feet away from literary agent Jeff Kleinman. I totally stole this photo from Jason Wright's facebook page. Thanks, Jason! ;-)

...because that's what I was in when I attended the One Day Someday Writing Workshop over the weekend! Imagine this:

- 20 aspiring writers

- 1 New York Times bestselling author

- 1 very well-respected literary agent from New York City

- 1 editor from Shadow Mountain publishing

- 1 public relations executive (he's the guy you call to book your appearances on the Today show when your book hits the top of the charts)

- 6 hours to pick the brains of all of the above.

Each gave us a few words of advice and then let us have at them with questions and even, in the case of the editor, our book PITCHES!

Shut the front door, right?

The group was small enough that we all got our questions answered, and the agent's Q&A started to run into our lunch time so he suggested we all just trot on over to the Glory Days Grill (across the street) and grab lunch together so we could keep on chatting. So yes, on Saturday I had lunch with a literary agent. For reals.

Here are a few of the juiciest tidbits I picked up from these literary rock stars:

Jason F. Wright, New York Times bestselling author:

- Keep a writing journal handy to "capture the flash"; a handheld audio recorder is also a great tool for those driving-in-the-car or middle-of-the-night inspirations.

- You can grow into your writing, but you can't be taught to have a great idea. If you have a great idea, trust in it. The writing can be learned.

- Pour some concrete. If you just keep going back over what you've already written again and again you will not only be stuck in one place but you will make yourself crazy. Your WIP is like a sidewalk- each day try to lay a little more fresh concrete on your work.

Jeff Kleinman, agent for Folio Literary Management, LLC:

- If you're looking for an agent, find books that are like yours, written by first-time authors like you. Check the acknowledgements page and find out who their agent is. In your query to the agent, mention the book and the author and let them know that you've got something similar.

- While you're waiting to hear back from agents, DO something. Enter writing contests, win awards, get published in magazines or online- anything to build your credentials.

- Agents and publishers are desperate for great books; the problem is that most books come to them before they're ready.

- Get critiques from people you don't know- as many as possible- have them draw a horizontal line in the text anytime their mind wanders. That will help you discover where you're losing your audience.

Chris Schoebinger, editor for Shadow Mountain Publishing:

- Know the market, know what's selling and what's been "done" (ex: the market is saturated with vampire books and dystopian novels- they are on their way out at the moment)

- It's all about timing - sometimes it's as simple as whether or not the editor or agent has had lunch before they read your manuscript. Sometimes you might have ended up in a pile of manuscripts with premises nearly identical to yours. Keep trying until your manuscript ends up in the right hands at the right time.

- Dreams do come true. A high school student was in attendance at this workshop, pitched his idea to this editor and the editor was intrigued. He asked him to send him what he's got! How awesome is that?? Lesson learned: take advantage of every opportunity. Know your book, know how to sell it in an elevator (45 seconds or less!).

Matt Birch, of Matt Birch Consulting (PR firm):

- Know the "So what?" of your book. Why should people care about it? What makes it something special?

- Find where your audience hangs out. Blogs, forums, etc. Get your book out there!

- Social media is your friend. Facebook is a great way of reminding people about you and your books on a daily basis (Jason Wright is a great example of this).

- You're never done marketing your book- you can't get it out there TOO much!

Later that day my husband asked me what I thought was the most important thing I learned at the workshop. I realized that for me, the biggest thing was seeing that agents, publishers, and famous authors are all just people doing a job. There's no magical fairy dust sprinkled on any of it- success is the result of hard work and good timing. Something about spending that time with those incredibly helpful people made me realize that my dream of being published is well within reach. I personally feel I have what it takes to succeed and I know that if I put in the work, eventually it will pay off. Here's another "H" word for you: HOPE!

Over the next few weeks I will go more into depth on some of the things I learned (there was SO much!) and I will share how I've worked them into my plans for my WIPs. Also, I am thrilled to announce that Jason F. Wright has agreed to a Mormon Mommy Writers interview AND he gave me a signed hardback copy of his newest book, The Wedding Letters, for me to give away to one lucky MMW follower! Do you have a question you'd like Jason to answer for you? Leave me a comment and I'll try to include it in my interview!

Stick-to-it-iveness

Have any of you ever tried to grow grass from seed? In our yard we have a small patch of grass and the rest is dirt and rocks. It's not even good soil, it's just desert sand. But my husband and I thought, if a small patch of grass can grow, we can get grass to grow on the rest. So I picked up a bag of grass seed and decided to give it a try. I laid the seed, watered with some Miracle Grow, and said a little prayer of hope that something would grow. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high because our environment isn't the greatest for growing anything. Everything seemed to be against my little grass seeds. The puppy discovered that with all the watering I was doing to keep the seeds moist, it made the ground nice and soft, better for digging. Little children also think mud is fun and could not stay out of the yard no matter how many times they were told not to go over there. The birds soon discovered the seeds and have made regular trips to our yard for snacks. The worst hindrance for the poor little seeds were the wind storms. Near hurricane force winds brought in a cold front with temperatures dropping close to freezing. I thought for sure that none of the grass seeds could survive all this. But I held onto that small bit of hope that something would grow, and I diligently watered the yard twice a day.

After about 3 weeks of this, I was out watering one morning and noticed that there were small blades of green poking up through the dirt. I got so excited! I started to look closer at the dirt as the water sprinkled over it. Then, I saw some more, and over in the corner more! It isn't much, just a few blades here and there, but there IS grass growing! A few of those seeds were able to hold on and take root. Through all the wind, the trampling feet and paws, the cold temperatures, and even the birds pecking around for something to eat. These little seeds survived!

I couldn't help but think of how like our lives this little scenario is. How many little things in our lives try to dig us up, trample us under, or blow us away in the wind before we can grow strong roots. But if we hold tight to the things we have and know are true, and soak up the living waters of our Savior, we can survive anything! How many times have missionaries come home sad, and feeling like they have failed because they only baptized one or two people. But even that one soul is special to Christ. Just as my few little grass seeds will grow and flourish and go to seed if given continuous nourishment, that one soul can turn to many as they share the Gospel with their friends and family. Through generations this one soul will blossom into many. D&C 18:10,15,16

As you look out over our yard now, you see several patches of new grass growing. So why did the seed grow in some areas and not in others? I noticed that the areas where the grass is growing are the low spots in the yard where the water puddles. As the water flowed over the dirt, it carried the loose seeds with it to these puddles, where the water stayed and it gave them the atmosphere they needed to survive.

We can be like these little seeds. We have been taught to stand in holy places, where we will be surrounded by good influences and where the spirit can dwell. If we do, we will be fed and strengthened. I worry sometimes about raising my children in this world where it seems there are so few holy places left. It strengthens my desire to make my home that holy place, where my children (and anyone else who comes into my home) can be at peace and be spiritually fed. I don't want my home to be a spot of ground that may receive some moisture every other day or so only to dry up, lose that ability to stand firm against the strong winds that blow all around it. I want our home to be a puddle!

G is for Gardening with Caleb Warnock

As a mom, I struggle to find a balance with my time, skill , and money. None of which seem to be abundant. I want to provide healthy nutritious meals for my girls. But with my husband currently unemployed, my budget tends to lend itself more to Dino nuggets than fresh fruits and veggies. If only I knew the secrets of my Mormon ancestors. Well, what do you know, there’s a book for that.

Caleb Warnock does nothing by half measures. He’s a teacher, an author, and a gardening master. He combines all of these together in his national bestselling book, The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers.
        
This Saturday So What is brought to you by the letter G and the number 2. That’s because it’s a 2 part interview with Gardening Guru, Caleb Warnock. After reading G is for Garderning, hop on over to my blog to read Part 2, G is for Writing Guru.

This week I sat down with Caleb and this is the gist of what he had to say.

Betsy: So first off, where the heck did the gardening come from? Natural green thumb since birth or something you discovered later in life?

Caleb: My great-grandparents had huge, gorgeous gardens. As a child I loved to visit and we would gather eggs and pick raspberries and eat all the vegetables we collected for dinner. And then there was their root cellar. That was really neat. Growing up, I just figured that everybody’s grandparents lived like that.

Betsy: What do you think are the 5 biggest gardening mistakes?

Caleb: 1. Choosing the wrong crops for the season length you have in your location.
          2. Spending money on stuff you don’t need like expensive fertilizers, a drip system or fancy grow boxes.
          3. Not knowing the difference between a family garden and a hobby garden. The point of a family garden is to be economical and efficient. A family garden might not look (or cost) like Martha Stewart’s, but when done right, it will put food on the table.
          4. Not planting the things your family will actually eat. Like planting more zucchini than you could ever possibly use. It doesn’t matter if it’s easy to grow if no one in your family will ever eat it. Beginning gardeners especially tend to get discouraged if they grow things their family doesn’t want to eat.
          5. Going too big, too soon. You might think you can “make” the kids water and weed, but by the end of the summer you’ll be doing most of it yourself. Be prepared for that.

Betsy: What does living self-sufficiently mean? For me, that means doing my own grocery shopping. Why should I care?

Caleb: Not everyone does care, and that’s okay. But with the economy collapsing in 2008, a lot of people are really struggling to stretch their money. Sometimes there aren’t a lot of ways you can “give yourself a raise.” The mortgage, the car payment, insurance -- all pretty fixed. But if you can grow some of your own food, you can cut your grocery budget. Most families with kids spend between $400 and $1,000 a month at the grocery store and eating out. If you can cut that by a quarter, or half, that’s real money. If you do decide to live self sufficiently, you can have better tasting  and healthier food at a fraction of the cost. You can literally save hundreds of dollars a month from the grocery store and eating out. If you are willing to put in the work, you will have money saved and give yourself a raise in other areas.

Betsy: So can anybody do this? Or do you need to live on a farm?

Caleb: If you want to do it, you can, no matter where you live. I’ve gardened everywhere I’ve lived. I’ve grown lettuce in pots in the windows of BYU student housing. I grew a garden as a newly married in married housing, in a condo, and now we have an acre and a half. I’ve used community gardens, or sectioned a little piece of bare ground behind an apartment complex. You can do it. Start in the summer and have at least part of one meal a day, or a week, be from your garden. You can start simple and move up. Now, we try to eat at least part of one meal a day that comes from our property. And on some days, we eat three meals a day from our property -- garden veggie omelets, soup, roasted vegetables.

Betsy: After reading your book, my mom calls you, “The Chicken Whisperer”. I understand you’ve had a number of chicken consults recently.

Caleb: Someone called me last week, sure that their chicken had gone blind overnight. It hadn’t. It was just focused on brooding on the eggs in the nest. But it’s not just chickens. I get emails on everything. Yesterday I got an email with pictures of someone’s grapevine. They were sure there was something wrong with it. There has been so much knowledge lost from our pioneer ancestors. I can’t get to everyone’s questions, although I am much more likely to answer emails if they mention they’ve bought my book. They guilt me into it.

Betsy:  So is this book just a how-to gardening book?

Caleb: Definitely not. It’s how families can eat self-sufficiently 365 days of the year. And forgotten knowledge. For example, 93 percent of seeds found in garden catalogs in the U.S.  in 1903 are now extinct.

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So tighten your belt and buck up your courage and give gardening a try. I’m going to start small with strawberry pots and squash. No chickens just yet. Caleb Warnock’s book, The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers, is available here at Amazon.com,  as well as Utah Costco stores, Deseret Book, and Seagull. His next book, The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast: Breads, Pancakes, Waffles, Cinnamon Rolls and Muffins, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

And as I’ve already said, Caleb is not just a gardener. He is also an amazing Writing Guru, and pretty much the main reason I’ve got three book contracts. Yep, Caleb taught me most everything I know. Pick up a few tips and hop on over to Part 2 of this interview- G is for Writing Guru


betsyschow.blogspot.com
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F is for Friends and Family

It's been a roller coaster of a week. As most of you know, we recently moved from Utah to Oklahoma for family reasons. And it's been a great move. But Monday, one of my husband's friends died back in UT and he wants nothing more than to be back there, supporting their mutual friends and receiving a shoulder to lean on in return. The funeral is today, so it's been especially hard.

In today's post, I want to honor friends--and family, who are usually our first friends. I say usually because family relationships are complicated and tricky. Family relationships taught me it was possible to love someone and hate them at the same time. They also taught me that you can become incredibly close to some members of your family, but with others you will never feel a bond closer than mutual peace. While you still love them because of who they are in your life. Complicated.

In this post, I'm simply going to call them all friends. It will save time.

Some friends you will never shake from your life no matter what you do, or don't do. I have one like that. We left OK 12 years ago, and I left behind a wonderful friend. We had spotty contact over the years, but when we moved back it was like I'd never left. She's awesome like that.

There are friends back in UT I never want to lose. My friend, Rebecca, who spent the latter half of 2011 battling breast cancer. My friends Karen and Karen--one an awesome, loving, giving author and the other an awesome, loving, giving home-schooling mom and walking partner. Jennifer, the mother of a little girl I'm never going to be able to completely let go. Briana, a fun-loving, sassy mother of twin boys who will melt your heart if you get too close. Then there are the friends I left behind in AZ when I moved away from my childhood home. The list goes on.

Interestingly, I've found that the more pieces of my heart I leave behind, the more my heart is able to grow and swell and let in someone new. This is huge for someone who used to be so boxed in to her personal space she didn't let anyone in. Back then, loving meant hurting. Pain.

I've apparently grown a lot since then. I can credit that to Bryan, my husband of 16 years and my very BEST friend.

There's one more friend I want to mention. This is a person I met because she was dating my brother-in-law, but we both quickly realized we'd be friends even if that relationship didn't work out. Thankfully it did, because I've never seen either of them happier than when they are together. But I have a stake in her that reaches beyond family. She is a sister of my heart. And she's going to be there forever. This is Mel. And because this is a writer blog I'm going to share with you the link to my personal BLOG so you can see what Mel and I are up to. And choose to be part of it, if you like fun, books, and prizes. :)

Hug a friend today. You'll be better for it.

E is for End

…in which we reach The End.

The end of a story.

The end of a revision.

The end of a journey.

The end is a scary place to be. Perhaps that’s why sailors pre-Columbus era were so afraid of the edge of the earth. Perhaps that’s why death seems to many like a terrifying event. We fear the end, even when we know that good lies beyond it.

Interestingly enough, in reading, we find the opposite. As readers we often race to reach the end, desperate to learn how the story plays out, desperate for closure to the story we’ve internalized. Putting even more pressure on the author to deliver. Putting more pressure on the end.

I’ve thought about this quite deeply the last few days. I’m reaching the end of a current WIP, and really struggling. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what is holding me back. I know where the story is going, so it isn’t writer’s block. I feel like I’ve got a good grasp on my characters, I’ve spent the whole story getting to know them.

And then I watched this scene from the Disney spin of Rapunzel, Tangled (2009), where Flynn and Rapunzel are out on the lake in a boat, waiting for the floating lanterns to light up the night sky.

A worried look crosses Rapunzel’s face, and she says, “I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?”

Flynn replies, “It will be.”

But Rapunzel isn’t convinced. “And what if it is? What do I do then?”

Flynn smiles softly and says, “Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.”

I know now what’s holding me back. I’m afraid of the end.

Fellow authors - do not fear the end, because there never really is one. There will always be more revisions for our stories, always more stories to tell. And regardless of one’s views of death, the stories we write live on, long after we are gone.

Once you’ve persevered, pushed yourself beyond the limit, and given that story your all, there is no more satisfying feeling than reaching the final page, and writing…

The End.

D is for Darn Good Book!

This A to Z challenge has challenged me from the beginning, if only because I had a book review scheduled for today and had to make "D" fit into a title that would make sense. But as I thought on it, several came to mind, though I settled on the one you see above.

The book is Motherhood Matters by Connie E. Sokol. This book came at the most opportune time. It is small, barely over 100 pages, with small entries, usually no longer than two or three pages. But with titles like "Love Them When They're Unlovable" and "Mother Moments" and "Sacrifice is Sanctifying", they're references for when the situation calls for it. It's for those days when you have to go hide in your bathroom and breath deep breaths and remember that motherhood is a divine calling that I signed up for, dang it! In those same brief moments of collecting yourself, you can pick this up, flip to the one that applies and remind yourself why Motherhood Matters. With personal stories, quotes from general apostles and prophets, and scriptural references, these readable snippets uplift and illuminate the reasons why this is something I chose to do.

So as you're contemplating gifts for Mother's Day next month, you might want to get a copy for yourself, then send one to all your friends, sisters, and mothers. Because even if they're a grandma empty nester now, they'll still laugh at the memories these stories invoke. You might also conveniently leave it where your husband can see it, with today's applicable essay marked, with a brief note saying, "This was my day today. Do not ask when dinner will be ready."

C is for Characters

Characters and the need for realistic and memorable characters has been on my mind a lot recently.   My manuscript has been on hold for a while because I haven't quite figured out one of my supporting characters.  His actions play a BIG part in entire novel.  And I don't understand all of what makes him tick. 

Because of my struggle, I have turned back to a book that I have put aside for way too long.  It is from the series Elements of Fiction Writing.  The instructional book is written by one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card,  and it is titled Characters & Viewpoint.  He is very insightful on how to distinguish your characters from others in the slush pile, as well as, how to develop characters your readers will love, or love to hate. 

If you are like me and you are looking to sharpen up your characters and their motivations get your hands on a copy and I'm sure you will not be sorry.

B is for BOOKS!

image source: 3ftdeep.com

Thanks once again to Mandi for supporting me in the last Manuscript in Motion Monday last week! She did a great post on her blog about what blogging means to her as a fledgling writer. Good stuff!

This month at MMW we are participating in the A to Z blogging challenge. If you'd like to find out more about what that is, check out the button at the top of the page.

Today is the second day of April, so I've got the letter B...and B is for BOOKS!

Books are important to me because I am an osmosis kind of creator.

What does that mean, you ask?

Well, take my paper crafting, for example. Whenever I need to create a pretty card for a friend, I find that the best method is to look through paper crafting magazines or blogs and get inspiration. When I "get inspiration", I don't usually find an idea that I like and use it as a template; rather, I look through the beautiful photos and just let the creativity kind of sink in. I put the magazines away and then get to work. My subconscious seems to absorb the inspiration through some kind of osmosis and it translates into my own language of creativity.

I've discovered that the same method works for me as a writer. I am a new writer, so I am still discovering my "voice", my writing style, and even my genre. The best way for me to explore these things is to read a lot. When I read, I do it for the enjoyment of the experience but I also keep my writer's hat on. I can see how the things I'm reading influence what I'm writing and how I'm writing.

Here's an example: in high school I kept a regular journal, and I recently came across a journal entry I had written right after reading a Jane Austen novel. I wrote it as kind of a joke to myself, but it was interesting to see how easily the flowery antiquated language came to me after I had been immersed in it for so long. My brain was in Austen-mode!

You know the saying, "You are what you eat?" Well, I think we could say, "You write what you read."

If you need to find a good book to inspire your creativity but you need some literary guidance, here are some of my favorite ways to find my next inspiration:

Goodreads.com - Don't you hate it when a friend asks for a good book recommendation and you know you've read some good stuff within the last couple of years but for the life of you you just can't remember what it is? This site gives you an account where you can keep track of everything you read AND you can see what your friends have read, are reading, and what they thought of it! I'm always peeking at my friends' lists for new recommendations.

Good Clean Reads - This is a great blog by an LDS lady who actually has a rating system for all the books she reads. She rates them based on the sex, violence, and profanity content, and her ratings are pretty specific so you can trust that you're not going to pick up something you'll have to put right back down again (don't you hate that?). And for those of us outside LDS Land (aka, Utah or other places that carry LDS authors in their libraries), she does a lot of popular fiction. This blog is actually where I discovered The Hunger Games years- yes, years- ago!

What Should I Read Next? - From their website: "Enter a book you like and the site will analyse our huge database of real readers' favorite books to provide book recommendations and suggestions for what to read next." I have not personally used this site (well, I've entered some books but haven't read the recommendations yet) but it looks interesting. Anyone else given this one a try?

The New MMW Website - This is a work in progress, but it sounds like Nikki has some exciting things in store for us when it comes to helping us choose good, uplifting books. This site will be an opportunity for us to support authors who are striving toward our goal of "changing the world one book at a time." Check out her post about this awesome new project here: Boldly Announcing Our Goals, and find out how you can help us achieve this.

Do you think what you read influences what you write? How do you find good books to keep you going?

Allegories , Apostles, and the Atonement

This month the MMW Blog is participating in an A-Z challenge.  We’re still new to the blogging community so this took us off guard a bit.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am not good at making decisions, let alone making decisions quickly.  So last night when I realized we needed to write about a topic starting with “a” I was a little flustered.  Ashley and I had already written a post and I had no idea what we could write on.  There are so many good “a” word topics, how could we choose with such short notice.  This is the sort of thing that could take weeks to decide!  Just kidding. No really, it could really take that long to make a decision.  ;)  Ashley thought that we could write on the Atonement since Easter is next week.  I was thinking we could write about apostles, since conference was this weekend.  What to do, what to do…  Then as I was watching conference this morning, well, afternoon for us eastern shore folks, it came to me.  We could write about both those things and keep the theme of our original post idea! (However, we’re going to make you wait until next week to hear about the “Allegory of the Grass Seed.”)  How is this possible you ask?  Let me explain, for the post we had written earlier this week Ashley had been pondering on the idea of the allegory of the olive tree found in Jacob 5 and relating it to an experience she has had.  As we were writing this experience it reminded me of some other allegories found in the Matt. 13, Mark4, and Luke 8.  Then as I listened to President Monson speak at the end of this morning’s session he told a story from his youth, a story about toy boats.  Almost anyone who watches conference will tell you they love President Monson’s stories.  I feel like it’s part of what makes it so fun to listen to him.  But as I sat listening I realized that the apostles of today are still teaching us in the same way that Christ taught so many years ago.  The telling of stories and relating them to our lives makes not just gospel principles, but any life lesson, more applicable to our lives.  They simplify and give life and reason to ideas.  They allow us to picture and make use of this given knowledge. 

The apostles of our church are truly inspired.  I believe they have been given the gift and knowledge of how to teach the people of our church and of the world, and they do it just as Christ did when He lived on earth.  It makes me truly grateful for our apostles and for our prophet. 

I know that many people as they watch conference will find a theme in many of the talks.  I have felt this way plenty of times.  This time I have felt that many of the talks spoke of or related to the Atonement.  This may just be because as of late I have found a new appreciation for the Atonement.  Not just in my life, but the lives of loved ones.  I have found a deeper love for my Savior and His sacrifice for each of us.  There is such comfort in knowing that at the end of the day even when I feel like a failure as a mother or wife, even when I have made mistakes, missed opportunities, or feel like I just want to give up I know that I have a Savior, a brother, a friend waiting to hear my woes and help me overcome the difficulties of this life.  I have a redeemer who has given me a way to start again and better myself. 

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.