Lydia Howe's Blog, page 56

12 - Action Kids Book Release

12 Days!
After a lot of hard work, I can finally say that I'm feeling fairly confident that I'll be able to get everything in line that needs to be ready for this book release to come off smoothly and I'll even be able to enjoy it. Exciting right? 
I've been sending out galoamzoes of emails, writing author bios, formatting, exploring character developments, updating my stuff, getting surprises ready, ordering giveaways, getting set up on Goodreads (I just about did a happy dance while singing Jingle Bells for joy when I got the email saying I was accepted as a Goodreads author!), finalizing various things, talking on the phone, trying to get business cards... Wwoooosssssssshhhhhhhhhh. Yes, I've been busy. 
By the way, if you want to get random updates throughout the day you can check out my Twitter page, Google+ profile and Facebook. 


12 Days...Since today marks 12 days until the release of the first book in the Action Kids series, here are 12 things you're likely to find in my computer bag:
1. My computer2. My computer cord3. A notebook4. Pens5. Notecards 6. Envelopes with stamps7. Sugar-free hard candy8. Notes people have given me that are special to me9. A little bit of money10. A book or two11. Wrappers 12. A harddrive 
I carry my computer bag around a lot. Kinda like a briefcase and purse combined. So now it's YOUR turn. If you feel so inclined, you can either write a post (and link it back to this one) where you talk about 12 things that you have in your backpack/briefcase/purse/computer bag and leave a link in the comments section. Or, just leave your list in the comment section. 
Everyone who participates during the next two weeks will be entered into a drawing for their chance to receive one of the very first signed copies of the Action Kids book!

13 Days - Action Kids Book Release

Thirteen Days! 
Here I am, sitting in my writing chair, listening to happy music, drinking coffee and writing a blog update about my soon to be released book. Pretty amazing, right? Oh, plus I have a whole flock of stuffed animals looking at me so it doesn't get much better than that. 
Of course there are some logistical, formatting and time issues I'm working with that are kinda maybe stressful, buuutttt I'm working on keeping an upbeat attitude and it's helping.  

13 Days...Since today marks 13 days until the release of the first book in the Action Kids series, here are 13 things I like to eat:

1. Pickled green beans 2. Apples with peanut butter3. Caesar salads 4. French fries with hotdogs cut up on top (a Peruvian dish)5. Sugar-free Butter pecan ice cream6. Broccoli and cauliflower with butter and salt7. Noodles8. Frozen grapes9. Chapati (an African flat bread)10. Cupcakes11. Mixed veggies with cheese12. Stuffed grape leaves (a Middle Eastern dish)13. Cheesecake 

***Now it's YOUR turn! If you feel so inclined, you can either write a post (and link it back to this one) where you talk about 13 things that you like to eat and leave a link in the comments section. Or, just leave your list in the comment section. Everyone who participates during the next two weeks will be entered into a drawing for their chance to receive one of the very first signed copies of the Action Kids book!

14 Days - Action Kids Book Release

Two weeks!
Today marks the wonderful beginning of the countdown leading to the happy release of my first Action Kids book. Yes, y'all can scream and jump around and randomly hug whoever may happen to be nearby. It's exciting.
Fourteen days. 
Exciting, right? Again, you're welcome to express your joy out loud. No need to be solemn about such a wonderful occasion.
When my first book was released, I did a countdown which was tons of fun, so I thought I'd incorporate the same concept into the release of my Action Kids book. Which means, if everything goes as planned, you'll be getting a countdown post every day for the next two weeks. People! This is going to be a stupendous amount of fun, just sayin'. It's going to be amazing. I might slip in some normal posts, too, if the right ideas grip me. 
What will these countdown posts include? 1) A picture of some random thing with the number of days left until the book release. Fourteen random candies for example. 2) A fun list corresponding with the number of days left until the release of my lovely little book. 3) The option for you to help me celebrate by joining in and using the same topic as my list to create a list on your blog or Facebook to get people excited about this book release. Because excitement is good. I'm excited about this and I want the world to join in with the merry-making celebration. The more, the merrier, right? 

14 Days...
Since today marks 14 days until the release of the first book in the Action Kids series, here are 14 things I'm super excited about: 
1. Books! 2. Drinking hot tea and coffee while working on my writing3. A family get-together next month4. Visiting friends for Thanksgiving 5. Walking in the brisk air6. My end-of-the-month review7. Savoring each moment 8. Sharing the first book in the Action Kids series with y'all 9. Holding my Action Kids book in my very own hands10. All the surprises I have for y'all surrounding the release of the book11. Listening to music while working on my writing12. Writing in general13. Sending a finished copy of my book to my editor 14. Hearing back from people who read the Action Kids book 

***Now it's YOUR turn! If you feel so inclined, you can either write a post (and link it back to this one) where you talk about 14 things that you're excited about and leave a link in the comments section. Or, just leave your list in the comment section. Everyone who participates during the next two weeks will be entered into a drawing for their chance to receive one of the very first signed copies of the Action Kids book! 

When Life Hands You Lymes #43

Hey everyone! Welcome to the 43rd segment of my fictional story When Life Hands You Lymes. In this segment Madalyn is trying to think of things she's thankful for, so I figured I would give it a try too; because like Madalyn I have practiced thinking of things I'm thankful for, especially during those long days when I was sick. 
So I set my timer on my phone and then tried to think of 25 things I was thankful for as fast as I could, typing them out as I went. The only problem was, if I had thought about it before I started my timer, I wouldn't let myself use it. For instance, I thought, I can say I'm thankful for my family and my dog, and... So, I couldn't use any of those things and it made it a bit harder. Anyway, I got 28 things in 59 seconds, so I thought that was pretty cool. :) 
Alright, that was random, but I thought it would be cool to show that Madalyn is doing something that I've done quite often. Now, onto today's segment: 


My day with Katie and Darrick was one for the books. Or at least that’s what Grandma would say. I’m not totally sure what that means, but I know it’s a good thing. After breakfast we headed out to a hiking trail our family enjoys and hiked until almost lunch time, then after lunch we went to an out-door concert I had been wanting to go to ever since I found out about it the week school let out. By the time we arrived back home that evening I was tired but thrilled to the tips of my toes.  That night I wasn’t able to sleep again, but I was too happy to get upset. Instead I nestled down in my blanket, put my phone brightness on the dimmest setting and texted Jason who was up late studying.  Texting with Jason is pretty cool. I know of a lot of older brothers, especially ones who are in college, who don’t take time to hang out with their little sisters, but Jason has never been like that. He always makes me feel like I’m the most important person in the world when I’m around him. I’m able to tell him stuff that I don’t feel like telling anyone else.  Grandma is always pestering Jason about when he’s going to get a girlfriend. Even though he’s only 22 Grandma thinks he needs to settle down and get married. I guess that has something to do with Grandpa and Grandma getting married when they were 18 and 19. I can’t imagine getting married that young. That would mean I had only two years before I needed to get married. Crazy. I know it works for some people, but I’m not one of them.  And Jason? Jason is too focused on his schooling to get married right now. At times I wish I was half as focused on my schooling as Jason and Katie are on theirs (Katie does courses on-line), but when I said something about that to Mom, she laughed. “You’re doing just fine in school Maddie, and besides, with all the time and energy you spend on your music, I think your brain would burst if you tried to be any more focused on anything.” Since Mom values education pretty highly, I was content with her answer.  By the time 3:00 rolls around, I’m getting antsy. Jason has signed off for the night and I’m left staring at my blank ceiling, or what I can see of it anyway in the dull glow of starlight. I guess it’s just You and me awake now, God. I sigh. It’s not very cool being awake all hours of the night. Can’t I go back to a normal sleep schedule?  I gave a little laugh, remembering all the times I’d prayed as a kid that God would convince my parents to let me stay up later than my usual bed time. I guess I’m just never content, am I? That thought brought a frown to my face. Wrinkling my nose, I thought about it. I felt pretty content with my possessions, but since I had basically everything a girl could want, that didn’t mean much, did it? I want to be happy, but really, it’s hard to be when I’m sleep deprived. Oh, great, and now I was giving myself an excuse.  Sorry, God. Then, just because I knew it would be good for me, especially when I really didn’t want to, I decided to make a list of 25 things I was happy for. The first few things came pretty quickly. Music, Family, Harmony, A fun day with Katie and Darrick. Then I slowed down. My house. My room. Friends. By the time I got to my 25th thing I was thankful for, I was thoroughly ashamed of myself. How in the world could it take me so long to come up with 25 things I was thankful for? Was I really so used to taking everything for granted? By the time I finally fell asleep, I was determined to be more thankful. 

Flickers

Have you ever lit a match? I did. Just now. I have a mulled cider candle sitting next to my writing chair and I like it burning when I'm in my room. The little strip on my match box is wearing out and I had to strike my match three times before it slowly got a small fire and then burst into flame. 
That's kinda like writing. Often times I'll get a little story idea here, and another one there, then another random one a while later. On their own they aren't much and some go into the trash folder and are never resurrected, other ideas burst into flame. 

I remember a few years back when I would go around asking my family and friends for ideas I could use in a book. At this stage in my life I have so many ideas coming at me it's almost a fight for me to decide which ones to work on because I like so many of them. 

I don't know if I'll ever have another time in my life when story ideas are hard to come by, but for now I'm just enjoying the bonfire of ideas living in me. Will I ever get them all written about? Most likely not. Does that bother me? Not a bit. 
What about you? Are you a writer? Do you have an over-abundance of stories? What do you do with them? 

23 Before 23

Well, this year I actually started trying writing my 23 before 23 list on my birthday instead of waiting for several months to begin it, so I'm feeling a lot more confident about accomplishing these challenges. *cue excitement*

I've actually already gotten a good start on 5, 8, 10, 13, and19, so that feels pretty cool.

You can check out my previous Birthday Challenges if you feel so inclined, and, if you have your own birthday challenge, I'd be delighted to hear about it!

1. Read 23 Non-fiction books

2. Write 1,000 words for 23 days in a row

3. Write 23,000 words in one week

4. Write 23 book reviews

5. Track all the money I spend for 23 days

6. Walk 23 miles in one week

7. Write a card a day for 23 days

8. Track all the money I spend for 23 weeks

9. Memorize 23 verses

10. Listen to the book of Eph. 23 times

11. Read the Proverb of the day 3 months (not in a row)

12. Write a list of the next day, 23 days in a row (not counting weekends)

13. Go to bed before 10:30 23 times (not in a row)

14. Get up at (or before) 6:15 23 days in a row

15. No texting for 23 days (not in a row)

16. Crack the whip 23 times in a row

17. Reach 100,000 words on WLHYL

18. Send/give gifts to 13 random people

19. Stay off of sugar 23 days in a row

20. Write a list of 500 things I'm thankful for

21. Fill up a physical journal

22. Make 5 blankets for a pregnancy center (or something like that)

23. Write monthly reviews on my blog within 5 days of the end of the month whenever internet is available

***
Which one of these challenges seems like the hardest to you? Which one would you be most likely to have on your own list? 

Nieces and Nephews

Last week I had a wonderful and exhausting! time with my oldest sister and her family. It's been a while since I've spent so much concentrated time with lots of little children (six children eleven and under) and I was left with the great-overwhelming-amazed-respectful-just-how-in-the-world-? feeling for my sister and my mom before her and everyone else who raises a family. 

The children had a delightful time playing with my rat, who I must say, did remarkably well and never even tried to bite anyone. There were several occasions where I had to take away 'rat holding privileges' and just let them pet her because they were prone grabbing a bit too much for my little rat's safety. 

They have two new-ish litters of puppies that were so cute. Often times in the afternoon we would bring a couple of the puppies into the house and sit around petting them and holding them. Sadly they wouldn't hold still enough for good pictures, but I tried... 

All of the children have amazing story telling skills. I was blown away (as always) while listening to them. One day I told my sister and oldest niece a story that probably took about thirty seconds. I listened in total astonishment that evening as my niece turned it into a five minute story, complete with describing facial expressions. 
My five-year-old nephew adds descriptions such as "it was a little blue plastic trash can" and "with a bended piece of wire" to his stories. Even my niece who isn't quite two and doesn't talk much uses a dramatic tone of voice when we ask her a question and she shakes her head saying "I don't knoooowww." 

Every evening I got to go out with my second oldest niece, delightfully nick-named "Lydia Jr." to milk their goat. I had a splendid time listening to her gushing stories, advanced vocabulary and descriptive sentences. (She's nine and regularly uses words like anguish, dismay, terrified, delighted, amused, and bliss.) 
When Lydia Jr. was younger her family lived in South America. I went to visit them when she was almost three (after not seeing her since she was a newborn) and one of the first things my sister (her mom) said was "Lydia, she is so much like you!" since then we have been amazed at all the similarities. 
Take for instance my habit of naming everything. I haven't done that in front of my nieces and nephews, yet when I was there some stink bugs rode into the house on the clothes I took off the clothesline so I asked Lydia Jr. to take them outside and she picked them up and said "This one is Stinky, and this one is Stinker and this one is Stink-et..."

***
What about you? Do you have nieces and nephews? Are any of them like you? 

When Life Hands You Lymes #42

Happy Friday, everyone! Welcome to the 42nd segment of my fictional story, When Life Hands You Lymes. This is a little bit of a shorter segment (just as long as they used to be, though!), but hopefully I'll be back to longer WLHYL posts next week. I hope you have a great weekend!

“Of course you can.” I turn and give Katie a grin, “I mean, you don’t mind if he tags along, do you?”  “Since I don’t have any idea of what we’re doing or where we are going, do you really expect me to answer that?” Katie put her hands on her hips. “We’d better be getting something to eat first thing because I’m not sure how much more of your weirdness I can take on an empty stomach.”  “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or feel bad for you.” I turn to Darrick. “What would you say?”  “I’m just plain impressed.” Darrick gives me a high five. “Way to go.”  “So, what are the plans?” Katie asked again after we were in Harmony with the top off and the windows all down.  I put my Jeep in reverse and back out of my garage. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” I know Katie can’t stand not knowing what’s going on, so I figure it will be good for her to just have to go with the flow. Plus, something deep down inside me thinks it will be nice to have them not going on for a change. I hate not knowing each night if I’m going to be able to sleep or waking up each morning not knowing how I’ll feel throughout the day. Even though today is going to be a fun day, maybe the uncertainties will make Katie a little bit more sympathetic to my plight.  We drive along without talking much, the wind blowing is loud enough we’d have to yell to be heard so I just turn on some music instead. Tapping the steering wheel in time to Born for this by Mandisa, I can’t keep the huge grin from off my face. I’m in my Jeep with my sibs, driving down a beautiful country road with wind blowing my hair, music blearing from my stereo and an adventure ahead of us. Life is good.  The niggling feeling starts growing up my back that this is how I had imagined my whole summer going and if it weren’t for my thyroid issues and whatever else was going on I could have been enjoying months of this, but I squashed it. There was no way I was going to let what if’s and if only’s ruin the day. This day is going to be wonderful.  Our first stop was a roadside diner that served breakfast and Katie sighed with relief when I turned off the Jeep.  “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to let us eat.” Katie unbuckled then waited for Darrick to open the door for her. Darrick is such a gentleman when he’s not playing some prank on us. “Thanks bro.” Katie swung her purse over her shoulder and then tried to straighten her hair. “You do realize your Jeep basically murders any ideals I have regarding how I look, don’t you?” She gives me a mock glare.  “Forgive me for just giving you the ride of your life.” I bow at the waist and then toss her the ball cap I had taken from her room, she’d left it on the floor of Harmony. “Put this on and no one will know the difference.”  Katie raises an eyebrow at me but complies. 

Answers

When I was a child, I thought growing up meant you'd figured out this complicated thing called Life. Adults had answers for thousands of questions I came up with, so therefore growing up meant you'd have answers, right? 
Questions. Answers. Getting older. Growing up. Maturing. They don't always go together. Not everyone who gets older has answers. Not everyone who grows taller has wisdom. Maturity doesn't mean you know everything. Not even close. 
It's a startling experience to look back at your childhood self and realize how very wrong you were. Then to look at where you are now, and wonder if ten years from now you'll realize you were just as wrong as when you were a kid. 

I like having absolutes. I like knowing what is going to happen next, what to expect. Goodness, at times I feel like having someone tell me just what to do and think and believe. That's not the way it works though, and when it is that way, something is wrong. 
We can't blindly follow human beings because every human is fallen, fallible and in one way or another, frail. Even when someone appears to have all the answers, those answers might not always be correct. It's a scary thing, this question and answers situation. 
I like questions. I've been told that asking questions is my hobby. I learn through questions. I grow through answers. I can't imagine life without them. 

Life. Growing. Learning. Trusting. I've been learning a lot this year. I've been learning about how answers aren't always right. About how grown-ups sometimes let you down. About how growing up is a part of life and needs to be embraced, no matter how I feel about it.
I've been learning about the one place where I can go to get the right answer. About how confusing the correct answer is sometimes. About how accepting an answer means trust. And about how important trust is. 

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.James 1:5

Making Characters Unique

Making a character unique is something I really struggle with. I constantly fall into the trap of creating a whole cast who blends together, or if I do achieve the desired effect of them standing on their own, they merge with characters from a different book I've written. 


Here are some of the things my editor pointed out or I noticed with my AK book:
* Almost everyone (adults and children alike) use words like "wow" and "cool" as their go-to expression
* The kids fused together in our minds because they didn't have anything to help them stand out
* They used cliché facial expressions and hand gestures 
Here are some of the ways I fixed my problems:  
* I eliminated the words "wow" and "cool" from the parent's vocabulary and then used other words for some of the kids. (For instance, one of the kids says "woah" when he thinks something is cool)
* I gave the kids unique characteristics. From the beginning the three girls were different: one was a shy book worm, one was a chatty horse lover and the narrator was a popular girl thrown into a new setting. It wasn't until several drafts into the book that I realized chatty-horse-lover and narrator both seemed a lot alike, so I had to add more dimension to the narrator so they didn't intermix in our minds
* Another way I made the characters original is by giving some of them a one-of-a-kind gesture. Such as the main character's mom pulls on the tips of her daughter's hair instead of giving hugs most of the time 
*** What about you? How do you make a character unique?