2010 Writing Resolutions...

I've been using my printed out first draft to start a fire and keep it burning all day long ...I just realized that it's sooooo different from my current draft due to all the edits and my writing is so much better now that I don't want anyone to read the first draft! My grandmother was in town for the holidays and took a few pages and started reading..."I can't tell what's going on, it's all over the place..." yeah...that's when I decided it was time to burn it .

Goal for 2010...finish edits by my end of March birthday and start submitting queries...and start my next book! Either the sequel to this one (The Bell Sisters Series)... or one of 5 other ideas I have stewing up in my head...

FUNNY: I told DH all my book ideas (all 6 of them, including the one I've already written) and he said, "Well, geee...no wonder you don't listen to me when I talk!"

The Great Christmas Tree Dilemma...

at the tree farm!

Ok, so we just got a fresh tree this year. For the first 7 years we used my Grandmother's old fake tree...but it shed more than any real tree could ever and I had no idea if it was full of lead or what! So we freecycled it - still had all it's pieces and it kept the tree from going in the landfill.


For the past three years we've gotten fresh trees. The first two years from a family farm - the organic tree wasn't as nice as the non-organic, but it was organic! and local! like winning the jackpot...

This year we ran out of time and went to a tree lot...in the dark...bought a tree...didn't realize the tree was spray painted until a few days later when I noticed the tree trunk was green as well...

So we can't very well compost that tree in the backyard...and it was expensive...hence the debate.

The hubby says buying a fake tree makes more $$$ sense. I say buying a real tree from a family farm is good $$$ for the local family, especially if they are raising the trees in an eco-friendly manner...

What is your take? What do you do? And how do you justify it as a good GREEN choice?

I'd love to get a plant-a-tree tree that I could plant after we use it to decorate it, but we don't have any land on which to plant it. I know there are other options...but which ones are the greenest?

Aside from having no tree at all, what do you do?

...

How Do You Celebrate this Season of Too Much???

I know how I'd like to celebrate this season of too much. Fly to Colorado, hunker down in a cabin in the snowy mountains, sip hot tea in front of a roaring fire, and cuddle with my hubby and kids.

The End!

I don't want to do the presents thing or the deck the halls thing or the running around for four straight days thing. Call me a hum-bug (my husband already does) but for me the holiday season is getting more and more stressful every year! It's getting to be too much!

Too much money. Too much waste. Too much energy. Too much!

So for me, the holidays - this season of too much - poses a challenge that I take on each and every year. How can I spread holiday cheer and enjoy this season with my family WITHOUT going overboard?

And here's what I've done so far to streamline...

• gifts for the kids ONLY - because, let's face it. Adults have jobs. Have money. They can buy whatever they whenever they want all year round.
  
  
• experience gift - last year we sent our niece to see Brittney Spears in concert. This year my nephew is going to see an NFL game. A few years ago we took all our nieces and nephews and our own kids snow tubing for a day. Memories last longer than interests in toys.
  
  
• avoid the mall like the plague!!! I'm not much of a shopper anyway, so this one suits me just fine.
  
  
• Online shopping is great when you want to find gifts that are eco-friendly, fair-trade, and made local!
  
  
• Have a holiday party with friends AFTER the holidays are over. There are so many family and work related shindigs slammed into an already crowded month. Get together with friends casually somewhere between Christmas and New Years, or after even better! There's not much chaos in January.
  
  

If anyone has other ideas, please share in the comments section! I'd love to hear how you enjoy your holidays the anti-chaotic way.

Writing During the Holidays...

Ha! Writing during the holiday season?!

It's basically impossible, if you ask me.

Every free moment you run across gets taken up with getting those holiday cards out the door, trimming the tree, wrapping presents, cooking something to bring to holiday parties and cookie exchanges...and then there are the parties themselves! Fun, totally fun. But they take up all your weekends!

So writing...gets pushed to the back-burner for a month or two. I usually write off writing for the months of November and December, pun intended. And it sucks. All I want to do is finish my second draft so I can start submitting queries. Yet, I don't want to short-change my final product by half-assin' it either, know what I mean?

However, when you don't have the time to sit down and write, edit, it's a great time to jot down notes that come to mind. Keep a tally of all the chapters you want to re-work, darlings you want to kill, to make your final draft sparkle!

I could give you a list of ideas to help you sneak in some writing time. But I think taking a break during this season of too much is good for your writing in the end. Come January you'll be so geared up and excited to write! That you will have enough stamina to last you until next October ;)

So, keep a pad of paper and pen with you always to jot down those quick thoughts and ideas. And if you find chunks of uninterrupted time to write and actually get to partake in them?! Great! Write your heart out!

But don't hurt yourself. Take it easy and save up your energy for next year ;)