Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Bloggers and ARCs


Are you a book blogger?
Do you like YA fantasy novels with a strong female MC?
Do you have the ARC of my book?
Want one??


Send me your request in the comment box below (or you can tweet your info to me) and I'll e-mail you the e-ARC that I have just for bloggers like you! :)
I'm also open to interviews and/or guest blog posts. You know, if you want me to ramble on about writing, reading, and all the other stuff that I do in my crazywonderful life. ;)

Monday, November 28, 2011

Children's Book I Wrote


I entered a children's book contest! Want to read my story? If you like it, you can vote on it! :)
If I win, my son's school library gets a year of ebooks for free!

"Sometimes My Brother Bugs Me"
by Melissa Buell

Click on the link below! 
MeeGenius! Contest

Cookies for you all! :)

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Be Thankful!


Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have all given thanks today. I know that I have SO many things to be thankful for: salvation, my husband, my sons, my family, my friends, my home, my job, and the many manifold blessings that I take for granted. Take time out today to be thankful. (I'm preaching to myself here, too!)


1 Chronicles 16:34 "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is 

good! For His mercy endures forever."

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Writing vs. Real Life


My writing life and my real life are at odds right now. I was SO excited about NaNoWriMo and totally slammed out a bunch of words in the first two weeks.

AND THEN....Real Life.

My youngest son's birthday and subsequent birthday party, Cub Scout events, Thanksgiving Feast at my older son's school...Plus all the regular stuff in my life: cooking, cleaning, laundry, picking up after two busy boys. Something has to give. And that "thing" is writing. And you know what? I'm okay with that. Really. Because I need to take care of my family first. I do sometimes feel that I NEED to write or my brain will implode. But then I remember that I need to not over exaggerate. My brain hasn't imploded yet and there have been very stressful times (final exams!) when I was not able to write. But hey! I'm not giving up on NaNoWriMo! Not at all. I'm actually writing tonight with my friend Amanda! (And taking a break to blog about it...) My life has slowed down this week because of Thanksgiving break so I get to have a breather. My word count is at 23,811 right now. (Recommended word count for right now is 36,666.) Not fantastic, I know. BUT it is more than I had when I first started! That's what I have to tell myself in order to keep going. I hope your writing is going well! Or if you're not writing, I hope your reading pile is keeping you busy. :)

Happy reading and writing!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Book 2 Updates!


Book 2 Updates!
For those of you who have asked, "When is Book 2 coming out??" I have an answer!

Soon.

Ha. No, really, it will be out early summer 2012. When I have a more concrete date, I'll let you know. :)

What else is going on with Book 2? Well, we have a name!
THE HIDDEN BLESSING
If it changes, I'll let you know. But Farrah (my editor at TLT Publishing) and I both like the name. I think it communicates what happens in the book and it follows the pattern of the first book (THE SEVENTH BLESSING) which is good to do in a series.

Here's what has happened with making Book 2:
First started writing it - April 2010
Finished it - August 2010
My own personal edits/rewrites - July 2011 (I left it alone for quite a while), August 2011.Turned it in to Farrah - August 2011
1st round of edits based on Farrah's comments - September/October 2011
2nd round of edits based on Farrah's comments - November 2011

And that's it for now! It's now time for typesetting and cover art. I'm not part of the typesetting process but I do get to have input about the cover art. I've already made a document with pics that I love and would love to have as inspiration for the cover. I'm working on my play list for the book, music that inspired me as I wrote.

Have a question or a comment? Leave it below! :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

My baby boy is turning 5 today! Happy birthday, Wyatt! We love you. :)


Thursday, November 10, 2011

NaNoWriMo: Day 10

The awesome thing (one of the awesome things) about NaNoWriMo is the accountability. I am faced with my stats everyday that I write. Or don't write. I hate to fail. It's something I'm working on but will probably never succeed at killing my hatred of failure. I was able to write A LOT today by sticking to the story, not reading the news during my break time. I ate quickly at lunch time to have more writing time, too. I'm so happy at my screen shot today!

Look at that little brown graph! Smacking down that word count! :)

I have to keep up the momentum. And remember this...



Wednesday, November 9, 2011

NaNoWriMo: Day 9


Day 9 already?!
So, NaNo is almost 1/3 of the way over. So, I should (theoretically) be 1/3 of the way through my 50,000 words. Tomorrow, I should have 16,500 words. How far am I?



I actually caught up!! I've actually gotten a lot written the last few days. Woohoo! I have two free periods while I'm subbing this week and I've been working away on the story. Just keep writing, just keep writing. That's the hardest part. Writing when I don't feel like it. Or I don't know where the story is going. I keep throwing new stuff out there, new characters, new situations. I can't stop and analyze why the characters are doing what they are doing. I just need to write. More and more and more! It probably isn't very good writing but I can go back later and work on that. The important thing is to get the thoughts down.

Monday, November 7, 2011

NaNoWriMo Day 7

I've been writing off and on since NaNoWriMo began. More off than on, unfortunately. I subbed today and had two free periods so I was able to write A LOT today! :)  Screen shot of my NaNo stats.


 Not so hot, I know. Hopefully I'll get my average up so that I can catch up and be done on time! My story has evolved a bit since I started. I'm really liking my MC. It's the first time I've written a story as a guy only. He's already been through some odd things. Odd but good. I hope it'll all come together. How is your writing going?

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Ten Year Anniversary!

Once upon a time, there was this guy.


 And there was this girl.



And they fell in love.


And got married.



Ten years and two kids later, they still like each other.



We went up to Idyllwild and stayed in a little cottage this weekend for our ten year anniversary. It was peaceful and quiet. We took some time for some silly photos. :) 





We had a nice dinner, visited a used bookstore (got a hardcover of "Emma" by Jane Austen!), gathered acorns, visited the local museum, took photos around the cottage.


I love you, Chris!
Life has been an adventure and I'm glad you're right there next to me on the journey.


 Still dancing after all these years! :)