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Surprises Turned Into Awesomeness

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Happy 2013 Everyone!

Welcome back! New year, fresh start, and all that fun jazz.


Kleenex
for all the runny/
sniffly noses!

I hope that so far 2013 is treating you right, although I understand a few folks out there have been fighting off icky illness stuff, and my thoughts and prayers are with them. Offspring has sinus infection, so I feel your pain. I've had allergies (again), but I'm doing all right otherwise (thank you, God!)

My Holidays are not over, yet. The Christmas Season ends on Epiphany, so my decorations are staying up through January 6th. I know some folks go back to work or have their teen aged able-bodied children help them take stuff down while they're at home, but in general, I beg of you, please leave those decorations up through January 6th, if you possibly can! We rush through things at such a great rate these days, taking time to be grateful and to count our blessings is important. As a Christian, it's a good reminder to me that Christ came for all people (from poor Shepherds to rich wise men).

I spent a good portion of the week before Christmas working on my YA novel, Dream Weaver. I'm pleased to announce (to those who hadn't read my Facebook status) that it's written! I'm in the editing process to get it ready for my critique partner and beta reader (and any other critique-ers I end up asking to have a peek at it) so that I can start getting it out. This story started out as a challenge to myself--one my Critique Partner was unaware she had issued. Tess once said to me "I think you should write YA..." she went on to describe WHY she thought I should and I thought "Naahhh. I like to read it, but every time I write it, it doesn't work."

However, one day I sitting in front of my computer and I thought "Well, why not give it a shot? See if you could do it. You don't have to tell anyone and you could use it as a way to keep ideas flowing when you're having trouble with your main projects." So, I pulled up a story idea I had started on but hadn't completely hashed out and converted it. I figured the whole thing would make a good SIDE project. Yeah, it didn't STAY a side project. LOL

I had wanted to complete it by Christmas, but I managed to get it done the day after.

So now I'm editing it, and getting ready to get back to some of my other projects, which were always main projects!

Dream Weaver will have a sequel--I don't know about any other stories after the sequel and the series is called Immortal Dreams.

Oh, by the way, the unintentional challenge is the reason Dream Weaver is dedicated to Tess St. John, my critique partner.
We'll see what happens next with it!

I'm waiting to hear from my publisher on editing and the next steps for Surreal, but I will let you know what's up when I have information I can share about it. Thank you so much for all your support on Surreal's journey. Monroe (the hero of Surreal) is also pleased & grateful by the support (which, it isn't always easy to impress him!) The ornament that represents him is still high up on my Christmas tree watching over me and my family and all the festivities until after January 6th when it'll have to be put away until next Christmas Season.

Did you have any surprises that turned into a box of awesomeness this Season?

Have A Wonderful Wednesday!
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Comments

Ciara Gold said…
First of all, congrats on completing another ms. Feels good, doesn't it. Let us know when Surreal is published!
Wednesday, 02 January, 2013
Anonymous said…
YAY for Tess for starting you on the path of writing a YA! YAY for Surreal & Monroe!

No surprises that turned into a box of awesomeness... other than getting a HDTV from my parents and getting a puppy calendar from my aunt.

So excited for you and your writings!!!
Wednesday, 02 January, 2013
Bethany said…
Ciara,

Totally felt good! LOL I think DREAM WEAVER took less time to write than SURREAL, but the original draft of SURREAL was much longer than DREAM WEAVER (I cut SURREAL's word count WAY DOWN before submitting). I will let know when SURREAL is/or will be available. Right now, I'm waiting to find that out, myself LOL. Thank you for dropping by and commenting. :-)
Wednesday, 02 January, 2013
Bethany said…
Anonymous,

I wish you had left your first name! I can't decide if you're someone I know or a newbie. (Although, you sound like someone I know quite well!) :-)

Thank you for all the cheers! They are much appreciated.

If HDTV and Puppy Calendars make you happy, then they STILL count as boxes of awesomeness even if they didn't start out as surprises (I should've clarified that in the blog post).

Thank you for dropping by and commenting :-)
Wednesday, 02 January, 2013
Tonette Joyce said…
As always,I wish you health and happiness ...and a SUCCESSFUL 2013!
You know my tree and all decorations are up through Epiphany, at least.
Congrats on finishing yet another story.It is amazing how one can start writing something and it takes on a life of its own, right?Re-writing is a sign of a professional.The best laid PLOTS of mouses and keyboards, huh?LOL!
Wednesday, 02 January, 2013
Bethany said…
Tonette,

You are a Box Of Awesomeness in and of yourself. I'm always delighted to see your comments and you've been such a faithful follower/commenter of this blog, so I give you a round of applause!

Thank you for your wishes--I wish you the very same! And you're right about writing/editing. A professional polishes his or her work to get it ready for the public eye.

Thank you, as always, for dropping by and commenting. Have a fantastic 2013 :-)
Wednesday, 02 January, 2013
Meb Bryant said…
Congratulations on your recent accomplishments. Keep up the good work and keep the Christmas decorations up AT LEAST thru the sixth...maybe even into February..so the rest of us don't feel so lazy.
Thursday, 03 January, 2013
Bethany said…
Meb,

Thank you so much! I don't think we'll keep the Christmas decorations up through FEBRUARY (sorry) but at LEAST through the 6th of January.

Thank you for dropping by and commenting :-)
Thursday, 03 January, 2013
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