Monday, January 10

As We End One Year And Begin Another...

The last time you heard from me I was furiously typing away at the last chapters of UnClean. Well, I am happy to say that I did meet the goal of 50,000 words in order to score this:


And as a NaNoWriMo winner, I can purchase that cool writing software (Scrivener for Windows) for 50% off when it releases, and I receive one paperback copy of my book from Amazon's CreateSpace for free! Plus, during a "Thank Goodness It's Over" party in December, I won a year's membership to NC Writers' Network, which offers educational and networking opportunities for writers here in North Carolina.

Most importantly though, on December 13th, I wrote the final word, number 68,288, in my draft. Praise the Lord!

Some of you that know my writing life was frustrating for the majority of the year--stumbling through one project only to start over again and again. But, I am so grateful for God's grace in the last two months through the above and the encouragement of my friends and family.

And now I have the first complete original manuscript I've written in twelve years. Thank you Jesus!

So what's next?

Well, for UnClean, lots of editing and numerous drafts in preparation for ACFW's fall conference. (More on that Friday).

As for the blog? I have new plans here also. My goal is to begin posting three times a week. Beginning this week, I'll post a devotion or spiritual journey entry on Wednesdays.

Fridays' posts will be exclusively about writing--updates on my own progress, insight into the process for my encouraging friends who don't write, and helpful links for my writer friends. Several of you have asked me what the next step is now that I have a complete novel and when it'll be published, so this week's post will cover the novel writing journey from idea to publication to give you an idea of what's ahead.

Finally, Mondays will be devoted to book reviews. Sound busy enough for you? I hope so. I'm looking forward to what God has in store for 2011 and am grateful for each one of you who take the time to walk along with me!

See you Wednesday :)