Rebecca H. Jamison's Blog, page 5

What I've Been Reading

I love to read, and thanks to audiobooks, I can do it while I'm driving and cleaning. Last September, I started a new policy that if I see or hear an f-word or any similar word within the first two chapters, I stop reading it. Not only do I not want my kids to hear that kind of language in our home, I don't want to hear it in my home. So I can guarantee that all the books on my list are much cleaner than average. Here are some of my favorites:



Sprig Muslin by Georgette HyerThis one's a fun Regency with tons of twists and turns.



A Heart Revealed by Josi KilpackI loved the characters in this book. I couldn't put it down and thought about it long after it ended. It's a more serious, thought-provoking Regency.


The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa MeyerI just finished the third book in this series. Not only is the world original and entertaining, I can never predict what's going to happen next.


A Most Inconvenient Marriage by Regina JenningsThis is a light, Christian historical read that takes place after the Civil War.


North and South by Elizabeth GaskellI watched this movie a few years ago and just didn't understand why everyone loved it so much. But I took my friends' advice and read the book. Now I get it. It's a little more serious than Pride and Prejudice, but it will make you feel all those kinds of emotions in a new way.

How to Write Faster

I'll admit it. I'm a very slow writer, as evidenced by the fact that it's been almost year-and-a-half since I published my last book. (I promise the next one will be good. I'm working hard to get it ready.)

But I am getting faster, and I wanted to let you know a few of the things that have helped me get my next project off to a faster start:

1. Get organized. For me that means I need to figure out the plot before I start writing. Two resources that have helped me with that are the snowflake method for outlining and Dan Wells's youtube videos on 7 point story structure. Click on the links to see for yourself. These two tools have helped me immensely this year.

2. Make sure you're excited about every scene you write. Author Rachel Aaron taught me that a key part of being able to write quickly is enthusiasm. If you're dying to get to the computer, you're more likely to write fast. Read her awesome blog post about it here. (Believe it or not, being organized also helps you to get excited about what you're going to write next.)

3. Avoid perfectionism. This is a big one for me. I've always heard that I need to quit editing myself when I draft, but it's just so hard not to. One tool that's really helped me is my Alphasmart 3000. It's a little word processor that's more like a big calculator than a laptop. I write on it when I'm drafting scenes, and then I download what I wrote into my regular computer. I'll bet you're thinking I'm crazy right now. I mean, the screen is soooo small, isn't it? Well, that's one of the benefits. You can't edit much of what you write, so you just have to keep going forward. Plus, it's cheap if you buy one used, it runs on two AA batteries, and the batteries last for months.


4. Write with Other People. Writing with my critique group helps motivate me to set deadlines for myself. We require ourselves to submit ten pages every week. Other people I know do sprints together online on facebook or twitter.

Heart Stockings

This week, I received my Deseret Book catalog in the mail. Thumbing through, I noticed that they are selling something called "heart stockings" for $9.99 each along with a little book that shares how families can start a new tradition of leaving notes and candy in each others' heart stockings. This is supposedly a great way to cheer up in the winter months.

"Hmm," I thought. "I could make those out of paper for nothing."

It took me about fifteen minutes to make eight of them and hang them up. I've made woven hearts like these before, but if you haven't, you can find simple instructions for making heart baskets, which are the same thing, on this website or this one.

Our heart stockings didn't stay empty for long. My kindergartener got right on it, filling them up with notes that he had the rest of us help him write.


The notes were pretty hilarious too.
Mine read, "To mom, I hope you have a nice Valentine's Day. And that you have a great year. And that you help me play wii on Fridays."
My oldest son's read, "Happy Valentine's Day. If you're reading this, of course you're going to think about Valentine's Day, but don't forget about the death. People die on Valentine's day."
There was also one about how disgusting real hearts would look hanging around the house.
With a bunch of boys in the house, nothing stays serious for too long. The boys responded with heart-shaped skull valentines and similarly macabre notes. It definitely kept us from feeling the winter blues today.

St. Nicholas, St. Swithin, Whatever

Years ago, I read a book about Jane Austen's Christmas celebrations, which were nowhere as elaborate as Christmas celebrations today. Somewhere in that book, the author hinted that Jane had written a poem that was something like the famous "Night Before Christmas." Since then, I have wondered about this poem and occasionally searched for it. Wouldn't it be great, I thought, if I could blog about this poem at Christmastime?
Well, I finally found said poem, and it has nothing to do with Christmas, or winter, or St. Nicolaus. It does, however, have a saint standing on a roof. The saint in question is St. Swithin, the patron saint of Winchester Cathedral, which was located near Austen's home and is also where she was laid to rest. According to legend, if it rained on St. Swithin's day (July 15), it was bound to rain for the next forty days.She wrote this poem on July 15, 1817, two days before her death, and it just goes to show that Jane had a bit more spunk than most people gave her credit for. Here she was on her death bed, and she wrote a humorous poem about horse racing.
When Winchester racesWhen Winchester races first took their beginningIt is said the good people forgot their old SaintNot applying at all for the leave of Saint SwithinAnd that William of Wykeham’s approval was faint.
The races however were fixed and determinedThe company came and the Weather was charmingThe Lords and the Ladies were satine’d and erminedAnd nobody saw any future alarming.–
But when the old Saint was informed of these doingsHe made but one Spring from his Shrine to the RoofOf the Palace which now lies so sadly in ruinsAnd then he addressed them all standing aloof.
‘Oh! subjects rebellious! Oh Venta* depravedWhen once we are buried you think we are goneBut behold me immortal! By vice you’re enslavedYou have sinned and must suffer, ten farther he said
These races and revels and dissolute measuresWith which you’re debasing a neighboring PlainLet them stand–You shall meet with your curse in your pleasuresSet off for your course, I’ll pursue with my rain.Ye cannot but know my command o’er JulyHenceforward I’ll triumph in shewing my powersShift your race as you will it shall never be dryThe curse upon Venta is July in showers–‘.
*Venta is the old Roman name for Winchester.

Christ-Centered Gifts

Jesus Christ is my hero, and this Christmas I want to celebrate him. At the beginning of the year, I read a book by Emily Freeman, in which she described one Christmas when she had each of her children pick their favorite image of Christ for a present. The picture had to be one that strengthened their testimony in some way. I thought it was a good idea, so for everyone's birthday this year, we let them choose a picture of Christ to hang on the wall, as well as a fun present.I wanted to share the pictures we chose:
My husband chose this Carl Bloch painting of the angel comforting Christ
My thirteen-year-old wanted a picture of the premortal Christ.
He chose this one by Robert T. Barrett. He sells his prints from his website,
and it was fun to contact him directly. My ten-year-old chose this picture of Elijah and the priests of Baal that shows the power of God. My youngest chose this painting of Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus by Simon Dewey. I chose a Minerva Teichert painting of Jesus with the lost lamb.



My daughter chose a nativity painting by Rembrandt My sixteen-year-old wants a picture of Jesus as a teenager.
This one is by Del Parson  My 18 year old chose this Carl Bloch painting of Christ casting out Satan

Jesus Christ is my hero, and this Christmas I want to cel...

Jesus Christ is my hero, and this Christmas I want to celebrate him. At the beginning of the year, I read a book by Emily Freeman, in which she described one Christmas when she had each of her children pick their favorite image of Christ for a present. The picture had to be one that strengthened their testimony in some way. I thought it was a good idea, so for everyone's birthday this year, we let them choose a picture of Christ to hang on the wall, as well as a fun present.I wanted to share the pictures we chose:
My husband chose this Carl Bloch painting of the angel comforting Christ
My thirteen-year-old wanted a picture of the premortal Christ.
He chose this one by Robert T. Barrett. He sells his prints from his website,
and it was fun to contact him directly. My ten-year-old chose this picture of Elijah and the priests of Baal that shows the power of God. My youngest chose this painting of Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus by Simon Dewey. I chose a Minerva Teichert painting of Jesus with the lost lamb.



My daughter chose a nativity painting by Rembrandt My sixteen-year-old wants a picture of Jesus as a teenager.
This one is by Del Parson  My 18 year old chose this Carl Bloch painting of Christ casting out Satan

Signing Saturday!

December 5 starting at 10:00 a.m., I will be selling and signing books at Sorenson Unity Center's Winter Market (south east corner of 900 West and California Ave) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Some of my fellow Austen authors will be there, as well as many local artists and crafters. I'm looking forward to doing a little shopping there myself.

Outlines, Synopses, and Plotting . . . Oh, My!

Over the years, I have struggled with plotting and outlining. And don't get me started on writing synopses. This year, I have finally managed to wrap my brain around the whole outline thing, which helped me with plotting . . . and yes even with writing a synopsis.

A year ago, I wrote an outline for the book I'm about to finish. I followed the outlining method in the book Save the Cat. My outline started out looking like this:


It was a poster divided into three acts, represented by the four rows. (Don't ask me how it makes sense to have three acts in four rows. It just does. LOL.) I eventually filled in all four rows with post-it notes, detailing scenes. It was incredibly useful, but I didn't have a good idea of how the plot worked until I watched the youtube video above of Dan Wells teaching his seven point plot structure.

There are actually five videos of Dan Wells's plotting class. I watched them all, and I took notes. Light bulbs went off in my head like never before. Finally I understood how to outline the plot. I went through the book I was writing and filled in the seven plot points with ease. The way he explained it made so much more sense than anything I'd ever heard before.

Now, as I'm finishing up my next book, I've used my seven-point-plot outline to write a synopsis, a book blurb, and a query--all within a few hours. These videos have been one of the most helpful things I've watched all year. I'm so thankful, I wanted to share. Happy late Thanksgiving!

Our Harry Potter Party

My daughter turns 20 this week, so I decided to throw her a Harry Potter party. My main motivation was that I wanted to try butterbeer. Haha. But then I got on Pinterest and found tons of other ideas. I am not a party-planner type, but I am a Harry Potter nerd, so I went all out.


We started out with a dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and butterbeer, which is a mix-up of food from Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I found the recipes here. (Yes, I also added vegies because I'm a mom, but you will note that the kids have not yet put any on their plates in this picture.)


I got this idea to hang up Hogwarts letters in front of the fireplace from buzzfeed. I figured it was a good way to use up all the extra envelops from the graduation announcements, but I added my own little twist. I addressed the letters to the partygoers and put letters or Harry Potter quotes in all the envelops.

This letter begins, "Dear Mr. Jamison, This letter is to inform you that you have been admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry because of the following magical abilities:" Then I wrote down a few of the special things about each person. It was easy to find a Hogwarts logo online. I used "Informal Roman" font.


For games, I had one of my kids dress up like a dementor. When he approached someone, they would say, "Expecto Patronum" and tell a happy memory about our birthday girl. (I think I actually made this game up on my own since it's nowhere on Pinterest. Can you believe it?)


We also played the "Wingardium Leviosa" game from this blog. You keep a balloon from hitting the floor by using your wand. This was very popular with the younger kids.


The older kids loved the "Guess your character" game. I put character names on their foreheads and had them ask yes or no questions until they figured it out. I got the idea from this blog and the list of names from Wikipedia. (We used Lavendar Brown, Cho Chang, Colin Creevey, Barty Crouch, Sr., Cedric Diggory, Vernon Dursley, Seamus Finnegan, Viktor Krum, Gilderoy Lockhart, James Potter, Severus Snape, Dolores Umbridge, Aragog, and Charlie Weasley.)

We also played a Harry Potter trivia game that I printed out here. I purposefully looked for hard questions since my kids are die-hard Harry Potter fans, and guess what? They knew almost every answer.

We made wands ahead of time, following these directions. They took longer to make than I thought, so I'm glad we started early. They were very popular with the younger kids.


I wrapped the gifts like potions, using labels I found on this site. My daughter has a good job, so she buys herself most of what she needs and wants. I just bought her some fun foods and drinks that I thought she would like.


For her birthday cake, we made and ate owl cupcakes, which I found in Family Circle magazine . Looking at this picture, you can tell why I don't have a food blog. It may not be picture perfect, but we had fun.

And now my son wants me to plan a Star Wars party for next month.

Sneak Peek at My Next Book

The working title for my next book is A Match Made in Lone Spur. (That will probably change next week. LOL.) I'm working on the ending right now. It's been so fun to write. I've included the first few pages below:
Rosie hadn’t yet met her new neighbor, but the fact that he’d hired movers instead of hauling his own pick-up loads didn’t inspire her confidence. Betty from down the road had told her—with a wink—that the new neighbor was a bachelor from the East. He’d come to Lone Spur as a change, having already backpacked through Europe, run the Boston Marathon, and swam the English Channel. Now he wanted to conquer the Wild West.
Before he bought the place, his lawyer had sent a letter, asking the other neighbors’ permission to build a small resort. Since her grandfather had started having heart trouble around that time, Rosie hadn’t thought much about it. She’d helped Grandpa sign his permission, figuring a resort could boost the local economy.
Water, though—that was a different story.
Rosie walked along the mostly empty irrigation canal with her yellow Labrador, Cheddar, at her heels until she got to the fence-line, dividing her property from her neighbor’s. She gripped her long blond ponytail before bending to slip her body in between two rows of barbed wire strung across the fence posts. Cheddar, having learned long ago not to take chances with the fence, did not follow her.
Once Rosie crested the small hill past the fence, she saw why the water level was low. Her new neighbor’s sprinkler system threw white jets across his barren fields. He was using her water—water she could never get back. Hadn’t the irrigation coordinator told her new neighbor about the schedule?Rosie quickened her pace. Five foot-seven and sturdily built, she had a body that testified of pioneer stock, but she could walk as fast in cowboy boots and Wranglers as any female health club member could jog in spandex. And now a sense of injustice propelled her to walk even faster. As she breathed in the hot desert air through her clenched teeth, she considered whether it might be better to let the police handle this. Stealing water was a serious offence.
The problem with the police, though, was that it might be hours before they took care of the problem. And Grandpa wouldn’t approve. She couldn’t risk upsetting him—not with his heart condition.
Ahead of her, Rosie caught a glimpse of her neighbor. Wearing board shorts and a T-shirt, he looked better suited for a surfing competition than for running a ranch. After a few more steps, she could also see that he wore flip-flops. Didn’t he know this was rattlesnake country?
Her neighbor pulled his screwdriver away from the irrigation pump and waved. His broad smile startled Rosie at first. She wasn’t used to seeing men her age that smiled with such confidence. At least she thought he was her age—he seemed about thirty, but he could’ve been older. He obviously hadn’t been beaten down the way most men around Lone Spur had. Desert living did that to people.Other than his confidence, Rosie supposed there wasn’t much that was extraordinary about him. He had dark brown hair and wore aviator glasses. She probably could have found ten men that looked just like him in Copper City. He didn’t look like someone who swam the English Channel and ran the Boston Marathon.
She stopped on the other side of the ditch from his irrigation pump. “You’re using my water,” she shouted.
He held a hand to his ear. “I can’t hear you.” He pointed a few yards away to a crop of cottonwood trees. “Maybe we should talk over there.”
Rosie leaped over the irrigation ditch and switched off the pump. She waited until the motor died down before she spoke. “It’s not your turn to use the water. Someone should have told you. There’s a schedule.”
He laughed—he actually laughed. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you. I’m Destry Steadman.”
She resisted the urge to turn back toward home. She still had so much to do. “I’m Rosie Curtis.”“Rosie from the water police?” He removed his sunglasses to reveal dark blue eyes almost the same shade as Rosie’s.
Rosie folded her arms, reminding herself that it wasn’t Destry’s fault she’d arrived home two hours late because of Grandpa’s doctor appointment. “Rosie, your neighbor.” He had only caused her to miss an extra half-hour of watering time. “Someone should’ve given you a copy of the schedule.”
“Someone gave me a copy, but I didn’t know it was that big of a deal.”
“It’s a big deal.” Rosie tried to control her tone. “You’re just lucky you didn’t use Brett McFerrin’s water.”
“Brett McFerrin?”
“He owns the house at the end of the lane, and he’s got at least forty pounds on you.”
Destry’s eyes widened. “You mean he’d—”
“Brett’s a nice guy, but it’s not unusual for a man to lose his temper over water rights, especially when there’s a drought.” Rosie bent to pick up Destry’s screwdriver from where it lay in a puddle of water. She wiped it on the side of her jeans and handed it to him. “I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have, but I’m in sort of a hurry right now.”
He lowered one eyelid to a half-squint. “Sorry about the water. Would it work to trade times?”
Rosie shook her head. “Thanks for offering, but you were scheduled to water earlier this afternoon. I’d be happy to trade in the future if you let me know ahead of time.”
He reached for the wallet in his back pocket. “I’ll pay you back.” A typical city dweller, he had no idea that water was more valuable than liquid gold out here. “How much do I owe you?”
Ignoring the stack of bills in his wallet, Rosie forced a smile. “You don’t owe me anything. The main thing I need is to get back to work.” She turned to walk back in the direction of Grandpa’s ranch. She didn’t have time to teach him the ropes—not with everything else she had to do. Since Grandpa’s heart trouble started, Rosie had taken on almost all the work around the ranch, and she needed to get ahead on her chores before her teaching job began again next week.
She’d reached the fence where Cheddar waited before she noticed the lap-lap-lap behind her. She turned to look at her flip-flop-clad neighbor. There was that smile again. “I thought you could use a hand,” he said. “Maybe if I help, you can get things watered faster.”