What's up with me, BTP?

Well don't fall over. Yes, it's me. And I'm online. At least for today and tomorrow. Then life gets crazy again.

I don't have any one thing to write a post about, but I thought I'd let you know what's going on. Here goes...

The Gift

We came home last night (we were away for 4 days) to find a mailer tube on our front doorstep. It was addressed to Big Toe People! How thrilling. Yes, it was the fruits of "The Make-It Game" or the pay it forward game. Click here and look at the first work of art...it's now mine, thanks to the generosity and talent of Rojobe. My husband and I love it. Rojobe did it while traveling in China. It's going to go beautifully in our "Japanese dining room" (named that way for the dining table, but the rest of the room is Japanese, Korean and Chinese art). I wish we could have Rojobe and his lovely wife to dinner so they could enjoy his work in our home. What an amazing gift we've received!!!

The Kitten

My dogs and I came home from our morning exercise walk to find a tiny little newborn kitten in our front yard. Its eyes weren't even open. I thought it was dead at first. Because our dogs are cat chasers, I got them inside as quickly as I could...but not before they sniffed it. The kitten responded to our dogs as if it were looking for its mom. I skipped pilates to figure out what to do. I put it in a cardboard box with an old Tshirt from our rag pile. I gave it a sushi dish of milk. It was too young to eat on its own. It cried a lot while I got ready for work, and my extreme-cat-chaser, Midori, was worried. She hopped up on the bed and sat over the baby as if to take care of it. When it cried a lot, Midori whimpered. Oh, I can't wait to have children of my own. Midori is such a good nanny dog. There was no cat chaser in her at all, just compassion. On my way to work, I tried to drop the kitten at our vet's. I thought they'd take in a helpless one like this. They wouldn't take the kitten. I understand that now. But I was on my way to work and couldn't hang out long enough for them to teach me how to do the every-three-hours feeding and how to help it go potty?!?! They said they'd keep it just today until I got off work, then teach me those skills, and then I'm on my own. I'd like to throttle the owner of the pregnant cat! Instead, I guess I'll go door-to-door in the neighborhood to try to figure out whose cat it was and possibly find this kitten a home. It can't live with us...first, because I'm about to start every-other-day drives to civilization and won't be able to give it regular feedings and secondly because Steve and I and his entire side of the family are allergic to cats. Kitteh needs a home. It's so cute...a teeny little gray tabby that can rest easily in my hand.

The Absentee Xangan

Yes, that's the other item I need to tell you guys. I'm going to be woefully behind on your lives. Starting Wed/Thurs, I'm supposed to expect to drive up and down to the doctor in civilization to have my fertility monitored closely. Yes. I will be gone a lot and listening to a ton of audio books.

Kids & Fireworks

We had a wonderful 4th of July with one of my brothers, his wife and two little boys (the kids who look like Japanese anime). I'm not really into fireworks. I actually cried at a DC fireworks display when I was in college because I realized how much money went into it and how many homeless people there were in DC. I now know that there's no price to national morale, but I never really recovered a love of fireworks since then. But. We saw an amazing fireworks show on that trip. Try watching something like that with a 3yr old and a 1yr old and you'd love it too. I love seeing the world through little eyes!

The Tortilla Chips

I can't believe I'm going to tell this story, but here goes. Friday night, I went to the WalMart grocery store with my sister-in-law. They live in a lake district with lots of camp grounds and lake houses and such (my bro is a park ranger). The store was really picked over. Go figure, the Friday night before everyone's 4th of July celebration. Mmy sister in law wanted a package of ground pork sausage for one of our breakfasts. She had trouble finding it until she noticed a huge refrigerator case, nearly empty, with 2 packages of pork sausage left. Now repeat that experience for half the grocery list. So later in the shopping, my sister in law got inspired to make homemade salsa. Yum. I offered to hunt up some of the ingredients for her, and she sent me to get the tortilla chips. There's 1 brand my brother and she like, so she told me the name and I went on my quest. I searched the chip aisle back and forth a few times. Nuthin'. Then I spotted it. In a nearly-empty section, there was one bag. It was on the top shelf. Way at the back. Now I'm tall, but I could barely reach the top shelf, let alone the back of that shelf. But I had to have that bag. My brother's salsa is too important to go without. I noticed the shelves looked really solid, so I tested it to be sure it was firm. It was strong, so up I went onto the second-from-bottom shelf. The bag of chips was so far back on the shelf that I had to lean across the top shelf before my fingertips reached it. With the front of the wire/metal shelf in my armpit, I got a grasp on the corner of the bag. Just at that very moment, the shelf I was standing on gave way. Yes, I fell. The wire shelf scraped the heck out of my armpit...like skinning your knee except it's not my knee. There was only one person in that aisle when it happened. She was a pretty little blonde lady who pretended like she didn't see a thing. I felt like such a fool...I should have seen that coming! I walked quicklly with my head down and the chips in hand until I found my sister in law. I was SO embarrassed, but darn proud of those chips!

Rain

We had rain last week. So much that my boss sent me home early. I thought it was so lovely when I pulled into our driveway that I got out and took pictures of the crepe myrtle archway in the rain.

So...is there anything up in your life that you'd like to tell me about? Comment here or tag me with a post.

Writers' Conference Write-Up

The 2009 Writers' League of Texas Agents Conference in Austin, Texas was money and time well spent.

I haven't had a chance to reflect or recover my energy from everything, but how about some off-the-cuff impressions?
 
It was so nice to wear fashionable, business-casual clothes for once. There's just no reason to look professional in the town where I live or at my workplace (we wear jeans and hiking boots).

It was nice to interact with other writers and to encourage one another. I met a few writers whose story lines were inspirational. Some of the seminar sessions were that good as well.

 
I was a real wall-flower on Friday at the conference happy hour. I met a really nice person and just stuck with her. Occasionally, others would join us, but we basically just stuck together.
 
Saturday, I was much more comfortable and decided to go for it. I talked to nearly every agent I set out to talk to, and each one told me to submit my work to them. It's not a manuscript request, but solicited submissions have much more chance in being reviewed closely than UNsolicited work. That, in itself, was a success.

The agent I interviewed with was a real sweetheart. Her name is Katharine Sands. I'm so glad that she was my first pitch because she was friendly and encouraging. I froze in the first moments because I was expecting to deliver a few memorized lines about my novel and, instead, she asked me some questions. In my nervous state, that threw me off. But she was so kind and that helped. At the end of the interview, I felt like I'd made a friend. She asked me to submit my work to her. That's not a manuscript request; it's a requested submission. That's a major step up from sending unsolicited submissions, but it's not a book deal [yet]. My gut told me that she was asking everyone for their submission, but I still felt encouraged enough to then pitch to every agent I'd targeted before the conference. I'm grateful to her for that. So grateful that I asked to take a photo with her at the cocktail party on Saturday.

Katharine also recommended a book that is similar to mine called The Perfect Manhattan. I can't wait to check it out.

The keynote speaker on Saturday seemed like a bit of a waste of time. He was funny, and that entertained us while we ate. But his opinions didn't inform me of anything I wanted to know. His point was that no one can predict the future of publishing in any accurate way. At least that's what I got out of it. Here's a picture of him speaking, and a shot of the Writers' League of Texas logo...I love their logo (fountain pen with a lone star). The luncheon was great, though. I sat with some ladies who taught me a few things I didn't know, and the food was superb and healthy.

I had a neat God-incident that's actually funny. Friday, I'd just been in a seminar by Katharine Sands about pitching (selling/presenting) your work. She told a few stories about meeting an agent in the bathroom or the elevator and having a mini-conversation that leads to a book deal. I went to the bathroom, and it was deserted except for this lady who looked like one of the agents' profile photos I'd seen in our program. So I started a conversation with her. Soon, it was like talking to a close girlfriend. Somehow it came up that we both wrote books, that we both were Christians, and she asked me to pray for her. I said I'd do so right on the spot, so we just held hands and prayed for each other then and there. We were going to exchange cards, but she couldn't find hers. I said not to worry because I'd see her some time over the weekend. She asked, "Are you moving to Austin?" I said no. She looked perplexed, so I said I'd see her around the conference. "Conference? What conference? Honey, I'm on my way to Kansas City." Turned out she might have written a book that isn't published yet, but she had nothing to do with the conference and wasn't an agent! God just had us cross paths for that prayer time.
 
I met other Christians like Brit and Lydia in the photo below, who aren't writing for a Christian market. Some told me of some Christian agents who would help me with that. I got their names and contact info. I also found out that there is an author, Ann Lamott, who is sold in Christian stores who writes in my style of realism (aka not whitewashing dialogue or events). I'm going to get at least one of the Lamott books to see what they are like and possibly try to find out who her publisher and agents are.

 
I got some interesting info on the business of publication, on royalties, contracts, and how the financial end works.
 
I learned that I can't have a sound track to my novel. It's nearly impossible. That threw me for a moment, but then I had an epiphany on how to keep the music as a part of my novel without having an actual soundtrack sold with the book. I ran my idea by the attorney/agent who informed me about the legalities of it, and he said my idea would work.
 
And I figured out how to shorten my book. Basically, publishers won't do a book as long as mine, especially in the chick lit market. But now I have some vision on how to shorten it and I'm itching to get to that rewrite. Oh, and it's taboo to use the term "chick lit" now...you have to call it "women's fiction."
 
I'll be sending several agents my work, so I'll be really busy for a while.
 
There's no telling whether I actually met my agent this weekend or whether God is just going to use the connections I've made. Either way, I'm very grateful to have gone. I came home aching and exhausted, but pumped full of useful information and hope.

F

The F on my computer keyboard is sticking.

Half the time, I have to go back and insert the F later. It's really slowing me down.

It's making me crazy.

I just had to eFFin' vent.

Darn F.

Dreaming of Single Girl Angst

On Friday, I flew to Virginia to spend the weekend with my parents. My mom helped me keep it a surprise for my dad’s 75^th birthday. We managed to pull it off. Boy, was he surprised!!! We had a great time. I returned on Sunday. Too short, but all good.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, I had a dream that stuck with me.

I was single in the dream, with the same single girl angst that I had for many years. I was anxious to connect with a soul mate of the best friend type, to find someone to spend the rest of my life with. Someone who wanted to share his life fully and to always share the same life path. Not to complete me the way Jesus does, but still give a man-woman sort of completion. I longed for shared experience at the soul level. I was a restless girl until I met Steve, always with a small amount of angst at the soul level, but happy and independent on the surface.

In the dream, I found myself living alone, away from family, in a quaint small town. I had just quit my job/career. I would never have done this in real life, but in the dream I’d quit without a back up plan.

I was aimless.

I was pressing into God, hoping he’d show me a job or career that was fulfilling. I needed something to do.

During that aimless joblessness, a young man came to the little town. He was fresh out of veterinarian school. Our local vet had died or moved and left an empty vet clinic and a void in the town’s need for veterinary care. The young vet went to work setting up shop in the abandoned clinic.

It was a nice clinic. There were some veterinary supplies just left in a jumble, so the young man set to work doing an inventory to see what was there and what he’d need. The clinic had been empty for months, so it needed a lot of cleaning.

Without thinking, I knew I wanted to be a part of this. I had $60,000 to my name and I decided to put it all towards re-opening this vet clinic. I wanted to partner with this young man in business.

Without a conversation with him, I just showed up to help. I helped him clean and inventory. I had no idea if he’d want me for a business partner. I had no idea if he would choose me to be his secretary/receptionist/vet tech. It was such a small town and small practice that it only needed two people to run. I wanted to be that second person, but I had no idea if he’d choose me. I felt that little insecurity because we hadn’t talked out any arrangements, but I knew to just keep at it.

We didn’t talk much as we worked. We just shared comfortable silences and smiles in the shared labor. It was a sunny clinic with lots of white and pale blue. We’d sit side-by-side on the reception counter when we took breaks, just feeling our muscles ache and smiling at our progress. He never questioned my presence, but neither did he invite me to be a more permanent part of it. I knew I needed to tell him my idea, but I felt shy.

Hope grew in me. It wasn’t just hope for a vocation and a business, but hope for a future with this man who felt so comfortable to be around.

After a few days of comfortable silence and hard labor, we didn’t climb the reception counter for a break. We lay down on the floor near each other, silent, cleaning supplies strewn near us on the cool floor. Then I woke up from the dream. I’d been laying next to him on that cool floor, playing with his hair.

When I woke up, I was horrified. How could I, a happily married woman, be dreaming the angst of a single girl?! I was mad at myself for having hoped for a future with this young vet in the dream. I was mad at myself for having played with his hair.

I could still feel the tingle of his fine, sandy brown hair on my fingers.

Wait.

I knew that feel.

It was Steve! That was Steve’s hair! That was Steve in the dream, the young vet. That was me in that dream, had life taken a different path.

It was time to rejoice because, in that instant, God showed me something amazing. What he showed me was that He brought Steve and me together. He did it. He worked with us, just as we were. And no matter what decisions we’d made along the way, he still would have brought us together.

It doesn’t matter that Steve is a pilot. He could have been a vet. Or anything else. And it doesn’t matter that I chose to be a teacher. I could have been a lawyer or a secretary or a vet tech. God still would have brought Steve and me together. It was his plan.

Monday night, after dinner, Steve and I were sitting on the couch in comfortable silence. I asked him, “Steve, did you ever want to be a vet when you were younger?”

“Yes,” he said.

I smiled and told him about the dream.

To all the single people out there: DON’T STRESS. There’s no decision you can make or path you can choose that will thwart God’s plans for you. His plans are good. They are loving and life giving. Relax. You’re in His hands!

Practicing My Pitch for Big Toes in Heaven [Re-Edited]

Big Toes in Heaven is a 188,000 word character-driven novel for single women who love fashion, wish to find love, value their friends and careers, and might just wonder about God once in a while. Its characters are twenty-three and learn to navigate the world in the Washington, DC area. They cuss, drink and discuss who they have, have not, and would like to sleep with.  They are “Big Toe People”…people who have less than the idiomatic “one foot in heaven.” But there’s hope in that their big toe is what human beings use for balance; it’s a start. Yoli, Paulina, Ria, Karyn and Ashley discover they have more people on their side and more resources than they realized.

These ladies have huge differences in life experience -- from Ashley who has never made an adult decision, to Yoli who tends to get a bit wild, to Karyn who has "been there, done that"--

and in faith -- like Karyn's view of Christians as hypocrites, Ria's devout Catholicism, and Paulina's fledgeling faith that has caused a rift between her and her iconic porn star parents.

Big Toes in Heaven is Chasing Harry Winston (by the same author of The Devil Wears Prada) meets The Purpose Driven Life. It is Sex in the City for women of conscience...because a couple of these girls discover boundary-setting in their love lives and how to find their own fulfillment beyond that of having a man.

Together, these ladies learn to navigate adulthood, careers, sex, and the residual effects of how they were raised. 

Though Big Toes in Heaven has a Christian perspective, I believe it fits the values of any major worldview. It's just that writing from my own Christian worldview came most naturally. My goal as a writer is to encourage single women, to entertain them and help them see their lives as fulfilling adventures of friendships and spiritual enlightenment. Chick lit is likely my niche because I was single until my late 30's; I write from experience. I lived my single days with humor, mishaps and adventure...it unfolded like a series of chick novels. My undergraduate degree from George Mason University was in English with a writing concentration. My Masters Degree in Education is from the same school and was focused on Secondary English. Teaching literature, writing, and research for seven years strengthened my skill as a writer.

Meet the girls:

Yoli Paulina Karyn

Ashley  Ria

If the above was all you had to go by, would you want to read the manuscript? Any suggestions on how to make this a sharper sell? (Seriously, I'd love some constructive criticism)