The Writing Journey: Patience

I started this blog in February 2012 as a way to document my writing journey. Since then, I've blogged about all the amazing writers I've met (online and in person), the retreats and conferences I've attended, the stories I've written, and the day I signed with my wonderful agent, Mary Keeley, from Books & Such Literary Agency. I've shared personal struggles and victories, and I've talked about how this pursuit has affected my faith, my family, and my friendships. I've celebrated over being a semi-finalist, and finalist, in writing contests, and I've talked about receiving rejections when the answer has been no.

Now that I've been on this journey for a couple of years, I often have people ask if my books are published. I get a lot of questions about the process, and the time it takes to get published by a traditional publisher. I thought it would be fun to share where I'm currently at on this writing journey.

Very few people get their first, or second, manuscript published. I don't know the statistics, but I've talked with many friends, and read many blog posts by agents and editors. Pursuing publication is all about patience and persistence. And then more patience, and more persistence. If you're not a patient person, you will do one of two things: 1) self-publish your brilliant novel, or 2) learn how to be patient.

I have completed three full-length novels. I write historical romance and my stories are all about 100,000 words long. It takes me about three months to write the first draft, with about two-three weeks of intense research and plotting beforehand. After my first draft is finished, I take a couple of weeks to revise and polish it, then I send it off to my critique partners. They are very good at reading my manuscript and returning it within a couple weeks. After I go through and make the changes they've suggested, I send the story to my beta readers. This is a group of about ten ladies who are readers, and not necessarily writers. After I get their notes, I make more changes, and then have one more read-through before I send the manuscript to my agent.

Along with the manuscript, I also send a book proposal and a five page synopsis. My agent will read the manuscript and give me feedback, which I will use to make further changes to the story. After all my editing is done, my agent then submits the manuscript to publishing houses.

Here's where everything is out of my hands and the waiting really begins. There is a rhythm to the publishing world. There are seasons and times when publishing houses are actively acquiring new authors, and times when they are not. I trust my agent to send my manuscript at the right time. This might be right away, or it might be a month or two after I get it to her.

If an editor becomes interested in my story, she will then need to take it through all the different stages at her publishing house before she could offer a contract. This will require more patience! I have a rough idea of what this would entail, though I've never been through the process. She would present the story to other editors to read, then the marketing team would see it. After the marketing team punches in some numbers, she would then bring the story to a publishing board meeting where she would have to "sell" the book idea to the board members who would then vote yes or no. If the vote is yes, she would write a contract, which would then be sent to my agent and the negotiation would take place. If all of this is done, the story would then go through numerous rounds of editing and the book would be on shelves about a year later.

Where am I at right now? Currently, I am waiting to hear back from my beta readers on my third story. In the next couple of weeks I will send my manuscript to my agent and wait to hear her feedback. In the meantime, I am working on other writing opportunities my agent has presented.

Patience. Persistence.

Your Turn! If you're not a writer, does this process surprise you? If you're a published author, what surprised you most about the process? If you're not published, where are you on the journey?
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Today I'm a guest on the Inspy Romance Blog! I'm talking about finding romance in the midst of parenting. You can find it here.

A Book Review: The Waiting

Last week I read the Books & Such blog and one of the agents, Janet Kobobel Grant, wrote about a special book project she has been working on for a little over a year. The blog post is titled "Not Every Book Follows the Standard Path to Publication" and it examines one book in particular: The Waiting: The True Story of a Lost Child, a Lifetime of Longing, and a Miracle for a Mother Who Never Gave Up.

As Janet described the unusual path this book took to publication, I became fascinated by the subject matter. When Janet gave a brief synopsis of the book, I immediately went to Amazon and purchased my own copy. I knew I wanted to get a hard copy, so I could pass it along to friends, because without even reading this story, I knew it would be one I'd want to share.

And I was right. Not only do I want to share my copy, but I want to encourage every person I know to buy their own. The Waiting is a non-fiction book that reads like a fictional novel--but it's even more powerful, because it's completely true.

The story chronicles the life of Minka DeYoung Disbrow who grew up on the plains of South Dakota, a shy and innocent farm girl who, at the age of sixteen, was accosted by a stranger at a picnic. For a young girl who still believed the stork delivered babies, she was shocked to discover she was pregnant.

Her parents sent her to the House of Mercy to deliver the baby. Minka was to have the baby, and then come home and pretend as if nothing had happened. But, for Minka, no amount of pretending would allow her to forget her sweet baby, Betty Jane. She knew the baby went to a minister and his wife, but that was little solace for the years of pain.

The book follows Minka's life through the Great Depression, WWII, getting married, giving birth to another daughter (eighteen years after the first), as well as a son. We see Minka as a hardworking wife, mother, landlady, daycare provider, and employee who traverses the country, and eventually ends up in California. We see her hardships and her joys, and our hearts are woven around this amazing, courageous woman.

For almost thirty years, Minka wrote letters to the ladies at the House of Mercy, and to her sweet baby, Betty Jane. She sent money and gifts when she could, and never forgot their kindness to her.

For seventy-seven years, Minka would mourn the loss of her baby girl. But on the day of her baby's seventy-seventh birthday, when Minka was ninety-four, she would ask God to allow her to see her daughter, at least once.

The very same day, back in South Dakota, a judge opened Betty Jane's adoption record, at the request of a woman named Ruth Lee--once known as sweet baby, Betty Jane. The adoption file contained over a hundred letters from Minka. And Ruth soon discovered Minka was still alive.

Ruth (Baby Betty Jane) and Minka during their reunion

My heart broke for Minka, and when her dream is finally realized, after seventy-seven years of waiting, I wept. I've never cried like that while reading a book before. This is a powerful love story, not only between a mother and a daughter, but between God and His people. We see the hand of God woven into every little detail, and it's truly remarkable.

Your Turn: Have you read The Waiting yet?

What's New?

I feel like I need to crack my knuckled and wiggle my fingers a bit to get my hands working on this blog post! It's been much too long since I've updated my blog.

Here's a brief list of all the things that have kept me busy this past month.

1. Homeschooling. We're only a few weeks away from completing our first year of homeschooling our oldest daughter! This makes me very excited. I'm excited that we're almost done, but I'm also excited that the year went so well. We're already planning for next year!

Our oldest doing her school work. We use Switched On
Schoolhouse, a fun computer-based curriculum.

2. Writing My Novel. I finished my third novel on April 13th, just shy of three months after I started it. I try to write during the winter when my husband is home (he has a landscaping business). During the summer we have a lot of activities planned and it wouldn't work for me to write with such intensity. My story already went through the hands of my writing critique partners, and is now with my beta readers. I hope to get it to my agent in the coming weeks.

I spent hours pouring over a local newspaper doing research
for my current novel set in 1927 when Lindbergh came home!
I don't know what I enjoy more: researching or writing! This
photo was taken at the Morrison County Historical Society.

3. Children's Activities. Piano, violin, dance lessons, basketball, AWANA, MOPS, and ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education), filled my winter calendar. All of these are wrapping up for the summer, and a few we have officially "graduated" from. It's bitter-sweet to close a chapter in life. I will miss MOPS and ECFE, but I'm excited for all the new adventures to come. This summer we have lots of fun activities planned. Now that the boys are four, I feel like we can have a bit more freedom to explore Minnesota and start going places I wouldn't have dared to go when they were younger. :)

My husband was one of the coaches for our
daughters' basketball team.

4. The Boys Turned Four! Speaking of the boys, we celebrated their fourth birthday on March 29th! That's a pretty huge milestone in our family. It was also the one year anniversary of signing with my agent. Lots of things to celebrate that day.

My boys turned 4!!!!

5. Judging for the Carol Awards. This year I was asked to be one of the judges for the prestigious Carol Award given during the ACFW Conference in September. The Carol Award is for published Christian fiction. It's been so much fun discovering new authors! I had never read any of their stories before (though I know who they are). I feel like I'm also a winner because I now have three new authors I want to follow.

6. Reading for Pleasure. I also have read a few books for pleasure! Pleasure, I tell you. :) Now that I write, I don't read nearly as much as I'd like--and probably not nearly as much as I should. One of the books I'm currently reading is the second novel by my friend Melissa Tagg. Her book is called Here to Stay and it's a wonderful story. Melissa captures the heart of a small town with perfection. Her hero is Blake Hunziker, who made his appearance in Melissa's first novel, Made to Last.

Isn't this cover adorable? I love it. :)

7. Spring Clean-Up. Now that the snow has finally melted, we've been busy in the yard and house! Cleaning up feels so good after a long winter. We've also had two fires down by the river already, and we're looking forward to many more.

Our first family fire--which meant our first s'mores of the season.

These are the activities that have kept the Meyer family busy this spring! I'm looking forward to spending more time on my blog this summer, and I'll be sure to update as my book moves through all the various stages of its journey.

Your Turn! I'd love to hear what has kept you busy this spring. Any fun plans for the summer?

Book Review: A Sensible Arrangement

I now have the pleasure of being on the Bethany House Publisher's review team. The first book I've chosen to review is A Sensible Arrangement, by Tracie Peterson. This is Tracie's 100th book! I'm writing number three and that feels like a big accomplishment--but a hundred?!?! Congratulations to Tracie on this amazing milestone.

I've read many of Tracie's books and I'm a big fan of hers. She's a well-known, well-loved author in the Christian writing community, and for good reason. Tracie's books are engaging, thoughtful, and full of romance. She also has the ability to weave in spiritual truths that stay with the reader long after the last sentence has been read.

I wasn't disappointed in A Sensible Arrangement. The story has a feisty heroine who is independent, courageous, and compassionate. She's flawed, as we all are, but in a way that is redeemable and relatable. The hero is brave, strong, and honorable. He's also flawed, but in a way that leaves us cheering for him until the final page.

Marty Olson leaves her past behind in Texas to marry a stranger from a newspaper advertisement. She was widowed four years before, and no longer desires to live the life of a rancher. She will marry in name only, as both she and the groom are eager to keep the marriage as more of a business venture.

Jake Wythe is managing a bank in Denver, but longs to return to his ranching roots in Texas. His boss insists a man in his position should be married, so Jake advertises for a Lone Star Bride to come fill the part. He is disillusioned with marriage, and only wants a wife to be a companion and to attend the necessary social obligations of her position until he's saved enough money to return to Texas.

But when Marty arrives in Denver, their sensible marriage arrangement might not work the way they had hoped.

This book has a strong plot, is easy to read, has enjoyable characters, and has a thread of suspense that kept me turning the pages. The story is set in the opulent neighborhoods of Denver in the 1890s, with a hint of Texas woven in. I thought the book would end in a predictable way, but it didn't turn out like I had imagined at all!

My only complaint is that I didn't feel the hero or heroine had very strong goals. They responded to the circumstances around them, but neither one had a significant noble quest. Marty becomes involved with the orphans, and tries to help find them a home, but that isn't a very important thread in the story, and only feels like a secondary goal. Other than that, I felt that the characters were well developed, and the story was believable.

It's the first in the Lone Star Bride series, so I didn't feel like it had a clean ending, though most of the main story threads were tied nicely by the last page. I was left with a few unanswered questions, so I'm eager to read the next book in this series.

Overall, the book was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone.

This book is available on April 1st from Bethany House Publishers. You can find it here.

Your Turn: Have you read any books by Tracie Peterson? Which one is your favorite?

Frozen Party Ideas

When Frozen arrived in the theater, my girls went crazy for Olaf, Elsa, and Anna. We went to the theater twice to see the movie, which is something I don't believe I've ever done for another film.

 

My girls watched Frozen clips on YouTube and memorized almost the entire soundtrack (much to my husband's chagrin). Our three year old twin boys were even singing Let it Go and Do You Want to Build a Snowman.

 

About a week before the DVD released, some of our neighbor girls were over and they were all talking about the movie. In a spur of the moment decision, I told the girls to plan on coming to our house the Friday after the DVD released for a Frozen Party. I was met with a round of cheers!

 

I'm a busy mom (aren't we all?), so I wanted to do something fun, yet stress-free. Here are just a few ideas to get your own mind turning for your Frozen Party.

 

 

Before the girls arrived, I draped some blue tulle in the dining room. Nothing fancy (or expensive), but enough to set the mood.

 

 

As the girls arrived and put their slumber party gear in the family room, I offered to do Elsa and Anna hairstyles, depending on their hair length and preference. I forgot to snap some pictures, but you can see some of their hair styles in the photo below. One chose not to have her hair done, and that was fine too.

 



 



After everyone's hair was styled, it was time for supper. I decided to serve "frozen" (a.k.a. "easy") food for the party. Frozen pizza (baked, of course),  frozen Orange Julius (recipe at the bottom), and frozen yogurt. I also threw in some fresh fruit so I didn't feel completely terrible about the junk food.

 

 

The Orange Julius didn't come until later, when it was time to watch the movie. I also served popcorn--because the girls informed me you can't watch a movie without popcorn.

An Orange Julius mustache.

After the pizza, we played some games. Remember, this is all super easy. I was the only adult at the party (my hubby took our boys to Grandma's house). All of this was fun and simple to prep.

First, I divided the girls into two teams and then gave them two bags of marshmallows and toothpicks to build their own Frozen castles! Some were even making little Olaf snowmen for their castles. 

After the castles were built, we played a guessing game. I taped a character on each of their backs and they had to figure out who they were by asking the other girls yes and no questions. This got loud and there were many giggles. Here's a link to the Frozen characters.

Next, they each got a white balloon and they blew it up, then they could make their own Olaf snowman with a Magic Marker. :) It was fun to see what they came up with.

 

None of the activities were competitive, but I did buy some Frozen toys from Wal Mart for a $1 a piece. We had eleven girls, so I bought twelve, just in case. We played the dice game to win the prizes. The girls sat in a circle and I put all the prizes in the middle. Then two plates were sent around the circle with two dice on each plate. When a girl rolled doubles, she picked a prize from the center. After all the prizes were collected (each girl had one), I played In Summer, which lasted for two minutes. If the girls wanted, they could roll again, and if they got doubles, they could swap their prize for someone else's prize. You could keep going until the song stopped. This was fun and caused even more giggles.

 

Just a few of the prizes. We also had yo-yos, a dry-erase
marker board, and some sketch pads.

After the food, games, and prizes, it was time for the main event! The girls cuddled up in their pajamas and blankets and took over my family room to watch their favorite movie, Frozen.

I had a good time and I enjoyed watching my daughters laugh with their friends. We could have done a Frozen trivia, but some of the girls hadn't seen the film yet, and I didn't want them to feel left out.

 

This was a simple, fun, and inexpensive party, but I know they'll always remember it.

 

Your Turn: What are some fun ideas you have for a Frozen Party?

Orange Julius Recipe:
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk, low fat is okay
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 ice cubes

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, except ice cubes, in blender.
Blend 1-2 minutes, adding ice cubes one at a time, until smooth.

A Busy Season

I started this blog two years ago and I was faithful to post three times a week, without fail, for over a year and a half. Until this last fall.

As I sat down and contemplated why my blog has fallen to the bottom of my priority list, I've realized it was pushed there because I added one more thing to my already busy schedule: homeschooling.

We have two daughters (ages 9 and 7) and twin boys who will be 4 at the end of this month. I was homeschooled when I was younger, and it was always my dream to homeschool our children. After the boys were born (when our oldest was in Kindergarten), I realized I wouldn't be able to homeschool at that time. We put our oldest in a private school, followed by our second daughter last year.

I still wanted to homeschool, and I found a great curriculum that started in 3rd grade, so we decided to keep our children in their private school until they enter 3rd grade, and then we'd start homeschooling. This year our oldest entered 3rd grade.

It's been a great experience and I'm very happy we made the decision. Our second daughter will remain in the private school next year for 2nd grade, and then she'll start homeschooling in 3rd grade, as well. The year she starts homeschooling our boys will enter Kindergarten at the private school.

This has worked well for our family--but it's required me to sacrifice in other areas, including this blog.

I will keep blogging when I can, but it's not at the top of my priority list for this season in my life. I am writing a new novel set in 1927, and when I'm not homeschooling, I am researching or writing. Thankfully my hubby's work is seasonal, so he's home during the winter and that allows me to still write.

I hope to have my first draft of my new story finished by the beginning of April. I'll work on edits and revisions for the month of April and hopefully send it off to my agent by the beginning of May. At that time (if this winter ever ends), my hubby will be going back to work, my daughter will be finishing up her first year of homeschool, and I will take the summer off from writing. I'm hoping to rekindle my blog at that time and get back to my blogging schedule.

Thank you for being a faithful reader! As my schedule allows, I'll be back with fun posts. I have some friends who are releasing books this spring and I hope to host them here and offer some great giveaways. I'll also post periodically about my story's progress. (I am having so much fun writing this book!)

Enjoy these fleeting days of winter! :)

Your turn: Is this a busy season of life for you? What have you had to give up to follow a dream?

Our Owl Curtain

I tend to love elegant, old-fashioned décor. Bead board wainscoting, eyelet lace, and Craftsman style furniture are at the top of my list. While I enjoy the convenience of modern living, I'm always attempting to recreate the nostalgia of a bygone era in my decorating.

Last week I decided it was time to buy a new shower curtain. The one I had before was a white, eyelet lace curtain, but it had became stained from dirty little hands and feet over the years.

I went to the store, fully intending to replace it with a similar style curtain--until my eyes fell on the owl curtain above. It came with some fun little owl accessories and made me smile. But, more than that, it made me think of my oldest daughter. She loves owls.

As I put the shower curtain back on the shelf and continued to look for an elegant option, I couldn't stop thinking about how much my daughter would love to have an owl shower curtain. I went back to it three times, before I finally put it in my shopping cart.

It occurred to me that my children's opinions need to be validated. At the moment, I share this bathroom with my children (until our master bath is finished), so I'm only one of five people who uses it. Why should I be the only one who decides what we look at in there?

I'm not advocating that our children should take over the decision-making process, but I'm becoming very aware that my children are growing up and forming their own likes and dislikes. I want to find areas where I can let them express their individuality in a safe way--and more than that, I want to celebrate each of them for the way God made them unique.

The shower curtain is a small gesture that will make a lasting impact in my daughter's life. I put the curtain up to surprise her, and when she saw it, her eyes lit up and she squealed. I often tell her she's a valuable part of our family, and her opinion matters to me, but this was proof that I mean what I say.

Styles will come and go, but my daughter's heart will last a lifetime. I would have loved to buy another elegant shower curtain, but, for me, knowing my daughter smiles every time she sees her owls is far more important.

Your Turn: When you were younger, did you help decorate your home? What's your current style?