A Novel Idea

Writing is my passion (like you didn’t already know that, lol) but even though I love writing in all forms and genres be it:

 Poetry,

Fiction,

Fantasy (my specialty)

 Essays,

Reports,

Short stories,

Novels…

You get it.

I kind of favor one genre in one form.

    You remember earlier in March/April when I challenged myself to write 20 short stories in 2 months (see The Once Upon a Time Challenge to relive that adventure)? Well, I must say, after writing only short stories for that whole time I realized something very important:

                                                 I crave novels!               

Lol, it’s amazing how exhausting it can be to corral all those details and all that emotion, to not give 3 or 4 different plots to a story on the risk of making it too long to be called “short”. It’s like when you played hide-and-seek as a kid, and you hid someplace really small and you crouched there for a really long time until your arms and legs just wanted to s-t-r-e-t-c-h! 

That’s what my creativity has been longing for, a nice good stretch,

And I think it’s time

                                           to return

to the area

of my genre expertise.

    Before I started The Challenge, I had just finished the rough draft of my fourth novel ~ which I’m writing in a series ~ and I think it’s finally time to return to that.

    A novel is a completely different beast from a short story, but tis one with which I’m quite familiar. Ranging between 50,000-100,000+ words, novels can cover any topic, from any point of view, with any character!

It’s not restricted like the short story.

You can just go and go and go and write and write and the story itself, as long as it’s cohesive with

 adventure,

                                                    plot,

                                                  risk,

drama

and excitement,

can just continue on and on…

Alright, lol, maybe not like that but you get the idea. The novel is a glorified short story and, man, I love the wiggle room!

    The place between “Once Upon a Time” and “The End” is where anything can happen (and if it’s one of my pieces ‘anything’ most often does!). So, I think completing this novel is the next step in my journey. What journey? The ultimate journey, of a teen seeking her ambitious dream! Who knows where it’ll take us…

A Luminous Truth about You

There is an inner light in you, I can see it shining from here, brighter than the sun and the moon, lighter than air, it uplifts the spirits of everyone everywhere J

Picture This!

Heyu! Alright, time for a little known fact about me:

I always have a camera on me!

     Whether it’s my phone or my little digital camera, I love photography and cinematography and think it’s high time to share some of these other Passions with y’all! So if you scroll down to the bottom of your screen I've posted some of the pictures I’ve been snapping lately (they’re the neatest things I keep spying everywhere)…

J Naturally-occurring smiley-faces J

Yah, I’m serious! You wouldn’t believe where these things pop up! Outside, inside, in yogurt (yep, yogurt, who knew), even on the highway. And it all started with one of my dog’s muddy paw prints.

    Reminders to keep smiling are everywhere if you look hard enough. So why don't you take a minute to laugh a little and check it out!

A Truth in a Can

You can. You have the strength, the ability, and the talent to do what it is you dream. You can. You have the power, the heart and the might to swim upstream. You can. No matter what anyone else thinks, know you can do whatever it is you want to. So prove the doubters wrong! Show them that you’re strong! Cause whatever it is, whatever you do, you can, just by being you. J

Two Elves and a Mountain

Once upon a time, there was a great King in a great land who wanted to move a mountain, which was blocking His view of the sunrise. So He chose two young, strong elves to complete the task of moving said mountain.
    But when their first day of work dawned, the elves found themselves standing in a field staring up at the mountain which they were supposed to move. While one elf was very hopeful they could complete the task, the other was intimidated and doubted himself and his abilities to overcome this mountainous problem.
    “How does He expect us to move a mountain?” The doubtful one huffed. “Just look at that thing!”
    “We can do it.” Said the hopeful one confidently.  
    “I don’t see how.” The doubtful one grumbled. “It’s far too big and I’m far too small. Our King is out of his mind.”
    Looking over at his friend, the hopeful one pointed to the distant mountain and asked, “Can you pick that up?”
    “Not a chance,” the doubtful one shook his head.
    Bending down, the hopeful one plucked up a pebble from the leaves at their feet.
    “But can you pick this up?” He handed the pebble to the doubtful elf.
    “Well, yes, but this is a pebble. That is a mountain. And I’m just an elf.”
    “How do you move a mountain?”
    The doubtful one threw up his hands. “That’s what I’ve been asking!”
    The hopeful one smiled. “Mountains are made up of pebbles.”
    The doubtful one paused and looked at first his comrade, then the mountain, then the pebble in his palm.
   “Even though we can’t pick up the whole mountain,” continued the hopeful elf, “we can pick up the pebbles…”
    “So what?” Scoffed the confused, doubtful one.
    “So, we’ll move the mountain, one pebble at a time.”
    Looking up at the giant mountain towering above them, the doubtful elf laughed. “That could take a lifetime! How long does our King expect this to take?”
    The hopeful one shrugged nonchalantly and just grinned, “Take that up with Him.”
Copyright 2011

In life, when we’re faced with mountainous problems that block our sunrise, we can either stare at the mountain and be shrunk in its shadow or move it bit by bit. The same goes for our dreams. If you have a dream, like mine, which is as ambitious as moving a mountain, you start small and begin by picking up pebbles, doing what you can at the moment to get you from where you are to where you want to be. Eventually, your mountain will have moved and again you’ll see the sunrise.

J

    He replied, “Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:20

OH YAH, I'M BACK!

    In the saddle that is.

    Yep, the human body is just amazing. Two weeks ago I couldn't really walk (on account of two sprained ankles... yah, both. See One Step at a Time) but today I was able to swing myself onto Lightning's back :)

Praise the Lord!

   
There's just something about horses,

the altitude of being up so high

and the adrenaline of being seated

 on one of the most powerful forces on earth.

The sky looks bluer

and the grass is just so green.

You're not really a part of earth

and Heaven seems just so close!

 It's the ultimate peace, the place of serenity

It's where two hearts converge and two souls unite.

Weightless, a step away from flight.

You're Untouchable by Gravity, Worries and Strife...

Ah, tis the cowgirl's life!

A Galactic Truth about You

You glow with the energy of a thousand suns,
Your smile reflects the moon.
Meteorite, you light up the night,
Your laugh is a stellar tune.
An intergalactic marvel,
Shining like nebulae.
Stargazing, you’re amazing,
You’ve gone supernova!
Although the stars outnumber a zillion,
You, yes you, are still one in a million!
Cause like comets, clouds and constellations swirled,
You, my friend, are out of this world!

Adieu, Atlantis

I was both excited and awestricken as I watched the final mission of Cape Canaveral, shuttle Atlantis, launch this morning. What a historic moment, indeed! As the countdown began, I found myself thinking about of all those who've gone before; all the brave men and women who have journeyed to and from space, and as Atlantis finally launched, rising into the atmosphere, I smile as those four beautiful lives embark for the last time, carrying the dreams of a nation into orbit.

    Lord, please protect the crew on the shuttle Atlantis, keep them safe, bless their efforts on their journey and watch over their families here on Earth.  

Adieu Atlantis, and God bless!

One Step at a Time

Heyu,

Whew, what a week! It was one of those… we all have them… when anything that could happen did, all at once! That’s why my posts haven’t been real consistent lately :)  

  Also, I’ve been laid up with some minor injuries (I just have a knack for being accident prone) and, although I’m ok, it’s been a little difficult this past week or so to get really anything done, LOL!

  But like I said on Facebook: we will adapt and overcome!

  Actually, this became a good thing; my adversity was the inspiration for this post…

   Isn’t it funny how it’s easier to talk the talk, than walk the walk? That’s one of the things I’ve learned this week (not because I can’t actually walk too well, that’s beside the point) but I also realized that the saying is true; you really do have to practice what you preach.

  Y’all know the story of my neck injury and the medical struggles I’ve dealt with all my life (see Four Reasonsto read how Jesus healed me). Well, you would think that after all I’ve been through two little sprained ankles (yah, I twisted both, I’m just special that way) wouldn’t be too big a deal. But I feel I should admit that it did scare me a little to go see the doctor about this.

  Like I said when I mentioned I fell off of Lightning again (Cowgirl Up) you have to just dust off your jeans and get back on. I went to the doctor earlier this week and had X-rays taken and thank the Lord nothing’s broken, it’s just a bad sprain, but the whole excursion was a bit of a boat-rocker for me; it dredged up a lot of unwelcome memories and forgotten fears.

  Everyone feels fear, it’s natural and human. But fear shouldn’t keep you from doing something that you want (or in my case had) to do. I figured this out when I was sitting on the examining table -- which is the last place on this whole wide green earth I ever want to be. I was sitting there, swinging my legs, staring at all the things about a doctor’s office that make me lightheaded, and I’ll tell you what: I felt less like a brave knight and more like an unarmed elf facing down a giant. My MP3 player couldn’t go loud enough, and I was looking for the nearest exit I could get to, when I remembered what it says in Philippians:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Even though I found this easier said than done, I realized I had to trust that scripture and I thought: Ok, Lord, I know You think I can to do this, but You’re gonna have to give me the bravery cause I can’t do this without You.

  And you know what?

  Everything went so smoothly, and the doctors and nurses were all so nice, that by the time we left, the peace of God really had filled me and there was no room for fear!

  I think, sometimes, God asks us to endure hardships so He can show us how strong we really are.

  Through this whole… um, lovely?… endeavor I learned that if you let God take control He can take something broken and make it beautiful, because He promises to never give us anything more than we can handle.

  So there ya go, that’s what’s been going on in my life, just a little slice of wisdom from my picnic basket of experiences. My feet are healing nicely now, and if my Mom has her way I’ll be duct taped to the couch for a while, so we’ll just see what a couple hours on my computer brings us (I know you can’t see it but I’m wiggling my eyebrows in a sly, devious sort of way). ;)

Hey, just curious:

Have you ever had to face a fear and in the end

everything turned out fine because of it?

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

    Oh boy, I’m so excited! Isn't this exciting? This is so exciting! Independence Day has always been the peak of the summer for me and it’s probably my favorite holiday, most likely because so many happy memories are linked to it. It’s… it’s… oh how do I describe it? Hold on… its like:

Running through the grass barefoot, picking blackberries and making pie,

sitting on a hillside watching man-made stars explode like supernova

painting patriotic feelings across the sky.

Its warm summer breezes combing your hair, playing kickball with your friends,

and having picnics with mAmA's mAcAroni sAlAd  and NAnA's bAked beAns.

It’s the time to celebrate that school has ended and summer has officially begun,

 to thank God that He’s brought us here from where we started from.

Its clear blue skies fading with sunset colors while the sun sinks, burning, into a cobalt ocean, the flaming sky anticipating night to begin and the festivities to ignite.

It’s running around a dark backyard with a sparkler in both hands, the sparks nipping the backs of your wrists; and throwing poppers in the driveway to watch them detonate.

Its cartwheels and trampolines, a good book and a hammock swinging,

shooting hoops in your driveway and playing catch on the beach.

But most of all its spending time with Family and Friends coming together

 to celebrate something which unites us all as one…

    That’s what The 4^th of July is to me. It’s the gateway to summertime, the beginning of the fun… and it’s my absolutely positively favorite time of year!

    So let’s go have some running-barefooted-eating-blackberry-pie-warm-breezes-blowing-sparkler-burning-fireworks-exploding fun, y’all!

May God bless your day, and our wonderful nation!

&

HAPPY 4^TH OF JULY!