Happy Birthday to me...

As a kid, I couldn't wait for my birthday. There would parties and gifts and friends and fun. And each year that past made me wonder what the next year might be.

My life spread out before me like a mystery. I dreamed of what I might become.

I wanted to be a veterinarian, until I realized you had to deal with blood.

I wanted to be superwoman, to save the world. Really I just wanted to fly and have all those cool super powers. There was no end to what superwoman could do. Except for Krypton, I would be invincible.

I wanted to be a genie, like Jeannie, pretty much for the same principle as being superwoman. Jeannie could do anything. She could get herself in and out of trouble with a snap. And it would be nice to blink and clean my room or go wherever I wanted. Homework would be a breeze, and I could live in a tiny little bottle and not be disturbed. (Unless someone capped said bottle and made me their Genie slave) I could help the world.

I wanted to be an actress. The next Doris Day, singing and dancing across the stage, my name in lights. Of course to be that, one had to know how to dance. I had the singing down, but only as long as I was alone. Put me on stage and I'd freeze like a deer in headlights. So I had to set that dream aside.

I had other aspirations like becoming an archeologist, trekking through lust jungles, uncovering lost civilizations. Had to give that up when I realized I had to go into dark tunnels. Claustrophobic as I am, I'd probably come out screaming, if I ever went in. And let's not discuss spider webs and the beasties that make them.

I wanted to be a princess, (well really queen,) so I could rule the world. And if a charming prince were thrown into the mix, that might be okay as well.

I wanted to be an astronaut and travel to the stars, float around in a tube, seek out strange new worlds and…

I wanted to be dropped off back in time and become a gunslinging cowgirl.

And I'm excited to say that I've become all those things. Okay I've managed it because as a writer. I take day trips to places the human me can never go.

Now that I'm older, I don't spend my life wondering what I'll become.

(That's not to say that I don't have some dreams, because there are still things I'd like to do. Become a best selling author. Have a book become a movie. Become a photographer. President.)

Now, I spend more time wondering what I've done and whether or not my life has amounted to anything. To any of the dreams I had for me. Any of the Dreams God had for me. Did I use my time wisely? Did I glorify my creator?

Have I left a legacy? I realize I'll probably only be a brief blurb in history, (and that could be thinking big again) but will it a kind blurb? A blurb worth mentioning?

Will the life I've lived matter in time? Will the life I've lived touch others?

Only time will tell...

Blog Hop...

I’ve been invited to participate in a “blog hop”! The assignment is to write a post that answers four specific questions about my writing, and then tag three other writers who will do the same in their blogs. Be sure to see the links at the end to their blogs–you’ll want to get to know these amazing ladies! Thank you to Dana McNeely for inviting me to be part of this.

What are you working on?  I have several irons in the fire or perhaps several stories floating around in my head, which can get a bit busy when all the characters want attention at once. But as of late,  life  has been a bit more demanding and my brain seems to be a bit on hold. Still, I'm working on Her Secret Garden, a novella, Counting Tessa, a futuristic speculative novel with time travel, with cloning, Tamed by Mercy and still trying to finish a couple other Civil War novels, From Hell to Eternity which is about Andersonville Prison and Finding Middle C, a story about a woman who loses much in the war, but begins to find life's music again.

How does your work differ from others in its genre? While the stories I write may be similar to the stories of other writers, the difference arises because I put a touch of who I am, my heart and insight, into the stories.  I try to put a new spin, or tell something in a different way, but comparisons to other writers are still made. I won't complain because sometimes that puts me in pretty good company.

Why do you write what you do?  I write what I do because the thought of the story has piqued my imagination and I want to delve into a new work and see where my characters take me. I also want to touch readers with my stories. I believe my imagination comes from God and He wants me to use it to His glory.

 How does your writing process work?  Some days my mind is firing on all cylinders. And I can sit down and write and write. I do most of my writing my hand, because I find that helps me to think the story through better. Then I put all into the computer. When I do input I do a bit of editing as well. I don’t usually start with an outline, but later on I might jot down the finer points of where the story is headed.

Tag, You’re It!

I didn't exactly tag anyone to carry on, but here are the links to others on the hop. Sometime in the next few days each of them will answer the same four questions in their respective blogs. Be sure to check out their posts. They are:

           ◦   Amory Cannon writes romantic suspense as Amryn Cross. She is in American Christian Fiction Writers’ with me. Her debut novel, Learning to Die, will release in September 2014. Amory/Amryn blogs on her website. Watch for her answers to the four questions there in the next week or so.

           ◦   Laura Hilton will post her answers at her blog. Laura and I used to be members of a critique group several years ago. I've been privileged to see her writing grow. She writes Amish fiction, and has published several novels in that genre.

            ◦   Dana McNeely is a semifinalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest in the historical category.  Watch for her answers to these questions in a few days on the Christian Writers of the West blog.

           ◦   Renee Blare I've met Renee online through American Christian Fiction Writers. she is a semifinalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest. You can find out more about her at her blog.