Christene Houston's Blog: Christenehouston.com, page 10

Hide Your Crazy

Is it alarming to anyone else that I totally get her line: “Hide your crazy…” in this song? Maybe I’m not alone. Have a listen to Miranda Lambert’s latest fun:

Memorial Day

If my book doesn’t make it clear, I am a HUGE fan of our military men and women. To all those who have given the last measure of true devotion, we honor you!

Happy Memorial Day

Weekend Inspiration

So feeling this one today. There have been a lot of “Nos” in the process of writing and publishing books. Rejection is a part of life in any art form. Some love your work, some could pick it to pieces and then grind into the ground while smiling in your face. It’s just part of life. Some are builders, some are wreckers. Some say Yes! and mean no and some say NO! and gradually warm into yes.

One day I was sitting at a stoplight checking emails (I don’t do that anymore because it’s against the law – just so we’re clear) and I got the dreaded email from an Editor looking at one of my books. We had been chatting for weeks now. There was hope – she loved my book, she was sending it to outside readers, it was going to be AMAZING. The blossom of what was to come was gently unfurling in my chest. I was growing in confidence at my ability to write not just one book, but multiple books that people would love.

And then the email at the stoplight.

I remember praying… because I needed strength from above to help me process this – whatever it may be – with faith and optimism.

And then I opened the letter. And there was rejection and sadness leaking out of it. And I had to sit in the parking lot at the library for a moment to gather my heart from the ground and remember that I wasn’t just a writer, I was a Mom with a two year old intent on storytime and I had to keep it together.

Later I would read the letter to my husband, after avoiding the subject out of shear disappointment. I would cry and he would comfort me. And then I would read it again and see what I’d prayed for. In between the wreck of discouragement were beautiful words of encouragement that, if I wanted to focus on them, I would take myself from dejection to success.

There is something beautiful and freeing about NO. It means to turn, to take a new course with conviction that the one you were on is not the right path. It means moving forward and trying again because that’s the circle of life. I believe it. I believe the YES to come will be amazing and I will shake my head and thank God that He was brave enough to tell me NO even when it would break my heart.

I believe in preludes…

 

 

Sky Jumpers

I met Peggy Eddleman at the Whitney’s and we talked agents and cover art. Hers is gorgeous – check it out:

Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman

 

That cover alone has me excited to read this book. It will be out late September and since I am always on the lookout for intriguing stories for my middle grade readers, I thought I’d share with you too. Here’s what Sky Jumpers  is about:

Twelve-year-old Hope lives in White Rock, a town struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. The bombs destroyed almost everything that came before, so the skill that matters most in White Rock—sometimes it feels like the only thing that matters—is the ability to invent so that the world can regain some of what it’s lost.

But Hope is terrible at inventing and  would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb’s Breath— the deadly band of air that covers the crater the town lives in— than fail at yet another invention.

When bandits discover that White Rock has invented priceless antibiotics, they invade. The town must choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from disease in the coming months or to die fighting the bandits now. Hope and her friends, Aaren and Brock, might be the only ones who can escape through the Bomb’s Breath and make the dangerous trek over the snow-covered mountain to get help. Inventing won’t help them, but the daring and risk-taking that usually gets Hope into trouble might just save them all.

You can preorder your copy here and learn more about Peggy and her writing by visiting her blog Peggy Eddleman: Will Write for Cookies. Go check it out!

LDStorymakers Conference

Okay, so my excuse for not taking any pictures during this conference is that I was busy learning. Learning how to write a rockstar Query Letter, learning how to practice my writing, what’s essential for YA literature and my best subject yet – how to hyperventilate over giving a Pitch! I am an All Star at this one.

Seriously.

The best ever.

I don’t think there is anyone who can lose more sleep over trying to sell a book to a sweet little unassuming agent than I can.

But enough bragging.

LDStorymakers was my first conference and I just loved it. There were great people, from the table of Christene’s I met the first morning (strange but also kind of awesome)…

To the talented writers I met and learned from like James Dashner & his agent Michael Bourette who taught us that Agents are human too,

James Dashner author of Maze Runner

Tyler Whitesides (we met in the hall and he told me a creepy Vegas story and I tried to steal borrow his ARC of Book 3 in the Janitor’s series for Carter. It would have been returned, honestly.)

And amazing first class by Elana Johnson.

I met writers from all over the country and became fast friends with people just like me.

The last night was the Whitney’s. I was exhausted. My brain was throbbing from over-stuffing it. I almost stayed home. But Steve Westover was going, and I had the ticket, plus I had to eat anyway, so I went.

I was so lucky to be there. I got to fangirl over Julianne Donaldson’s double win for Edenbrooke, hold back tears during Lisa Mangum’s touching acceptance speech and rejoice with my hallway friend, Traci Hunter Abramson, when she won her first award and had to give up her dreams of becoming the next Susan Lucci.

The BEST part wasn’t the mousse cake at the end of dinner. It was sitting at a table full of accomplished women and talking craft and agents and the HOWs of this business. I felt so energized by their beauty (we were a pretty good looking table!) and talent. It was awesome!!

So thanks, LDStorymakers, for a great conference!

Weekend Inspiration

I spent the weekend with a couple who never cease to bring a smile to my face. My great Aunt and Uncle live in Provo and hosted me while I was there for a wonderful Writing Conference. Being in there home is like breathing fresh air from a mountain top. There are vistas, revelations, and a sense of warmth that you get from being so close to the sun. I love these people. When I leave I feel better – loved inside and out. We talked about silly and important things, she shared her hairspray, and one night we stayed up too late for sensible people. It was heavenly.

There is something about genuinely good souls that radiates these qualities without strings or qualifiers. I’m glad to have them in my life.

Weekend Inspiration

 

Ah…Stephen Covey knows how to put it doesn’t he?

I’m learning the art of saying NO to some things because of that burning YES.

Lately I’ve been saying YES to a new arrangement with a fellow writer and lovely friend. She sent me a message one day with a singular idea to swap babysitting so we could take turns writing. She was getting Trouble, so I worried for just a moment before flashing her out a return message with the basic jist of “Heck yeah!” written all over it.

Can I tell you how I had to prepare my head. How I had to set my phone on vibrate and only answer for her. How I had to tell my husband that between these hours on this day I am in an underground vault with no reception and absolutely unable to be reached for any reason? How I had to physically remind myself that once the clock dawned on said hours Facebook and Pinterest were enemies to my progress? How there were several nervous moments when the paper and I looked expectantly at one another, me wondering where to begin and it taunting – “Bring it!”

And like any great cheerleader, I brought it! It has been…can I say amazing or does that sound too high school? It’s been such a revelation. Writing, consistently, for hours one day. Lovely! I highly recommend it! I’m also finding more ways to write throughout the week, squeezing it in, working more efficiently on other projects so I can do more of what I want and like Stephen said, saying NO when I should and embracing more of that burning YES.

I am LOVING it. Is there something you should say yes to that will help you live more of the life you’re meant to live?

 

I Knew You Were Trouble

Of course we’ve been listening to this song… and then changing the lyrics to fit the little man in our lives who just happens to have this nickname. Ha ha! He has been so adorable lately. Still Trouble, but just the sweetest little man. I love him to pieces!

But back to the song. I don’t know why, but watching the music video filled me with such emotion! I guess as a mother I can’t listen without thinking of two little girls in my family who are the most precious things on the planet. I think of every young woman I know and how tempted we are to follow that guy who has some kind of IT factor, no matter how our inner compass is SCREAMING to run the other way. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. Sometimes we don’t. I, myself, am grateful for that inner compass that has kept me out of the worst of scenes because I was just willing to care about what it was whispering. To all my beautiful, young friends I say this: there is nothing glamorous about being used. You’re purpose is far greater. Live up to it!

Testing – testing

Have I mentioned my propensity for trying new recipes. For parties, or when guests are coming for dinner or I’m bringing something for a dinner swap? I just can’t help it! I see something that sounds delicious and I know it will be…I just feel it! The other day it was this:

Swiss Chicken by Six Sisters Stuff

Okay, so I made my Dinner Swap friend my guinea pig this time, but she wasn’t alone. I made it for us too, in my nice big slow cooker. Can I rave about how easy it was, how I had almost everything right on hand, how I swapped Swiss for Provolone and it was still mmmm-mazing? Oh my! It was so delish! It got thumbs up from all my little rascals! These lovely ladies have also published a brand new cookbook and you might need to check it out. At least hop over and grab this recipe, Pin it, eat it, and all the while think of how much you love me for giving you one more crockpot meal to keep you cool this summer. Don’t worry, I love you right back!

Weekend Inspiration

 

I used to just post the words – clear and simple. They sound so profound without embellishment…but there’s more.

There’s a busy life with the  hurtling ahead of intentions and hopes. This week we’re wrapped up preparing for Trouble’s 3rd birthday, watching Mr. Houston pack for a campout with his Boy Scout troop, listening to the discussion of a new Charter School thankfully closer to home but possibly harder to get into. Weighing, measureing…celebrating.

A thousand thoughts come screaming by while in an ordinary day. The ones that stick out remind me of what life is all about and I grasp onto them, Pin them on my wall and think about what they mean and why they stood out to me. These words and many others have been speaking to me about being authentic. About really believing that this life isn’t an accident, but a glorious dance of possibilities, disappointments and renewed hope. This season breathes it in the puff of clouds that drift across the sky and tiny furled leaves read to burst out into the sunshine.

Writing…become an author, is all about that dance. There are moments – beautiful rays of sunshine that come from a sweetly posted note on Facebook from a satisfied reader. And there are disappoinments – when everything isn’t going quite as smoothly as planned. Yet I can’t help the edge of contentment I feel to be on this journey, no matter what the road brings. I feel so blessed to be a writer in this age, with so much open to me, so many who have paved the way. I look around me and could not be happier with my company.

So I guess I hope to remind you that there is far more to this life than ease and glamour. There are hard won battles and satisfied sleep after a long day’s work. There is sweat and tears. There is peace and contentment after the storm. If you’re fighting, or battling, sweating or crying – you’re not alone, and you never, ever will be. It’s what I believe to the very center of my being. I believe it. And if today you can’t believe – just lean on me…