Friday, January 22, 2010

Body After Baby Challenge: I'm Joining!

Ok, so I joined the challenge...I'm motivated...but do I have any goals that I'm hoping to reach? Hmm, I don't know...do I?

I should, because having goals keeps up the motivation. So, ok, goals. Think, Lia, think...

Alright, I got it!

I don't have a goal weight in mind and I already fit into my pre-baby jeans, so I think my goals are going to go beyond the norm. That's ok with me, I enjoy my freedom outside the box ;)

I think I'll organize my Body After Baby Challenge goals into two separate parts:

Goal #1: Eat Healthy Choices Only
My main goal is to eat only organic, local, fresh, whole foods all week, no matter what meal/snack, so finding it within my budget...it'll be a challenge in and of itself! But I believe eating whole healthy foods without pesticides, growth hormones, and toxic chemicals is the way to go if you want to be healthy, not just look nice.

Goal # 2: Increase Activity Level Daily

Ha! Ha! This one's going to be hard. I am a runner and usually run 2-3 times a week, 3 miles as the norm. But I haven't run since November because of some weird health issues I've been having, and they've also been keeping me from my usual active lifestyle. Sooooo.... My goal is to add either some easy activity to every day, either yoga, walking, or dancing in the living room... :) I hope to get myself back into my normal swing of things, as I love being outdoors hiking and running and just being active! I think that's one of the best things about being alive.

I'll post updates too, because I think it's important to check in and make sure what you're doing is actually working.

My main goal is to feel as good - health wise - as I did before I had kids. Having kids is really hard on your body, and I want to get back in shape so I can keep up with everything and everyone I love. This might mean taking something that I don't want to take and seeing a few more docs to figure out this mystery thing. I don't know, I'm still up in the air about it...

Every week I'll keep track of how I feel in general and decide if the food/exercise choices I've made are working or need to be tweaked a bit.


My starting point right now?
Activity level = zero
Healthy Food Choices = so far, so good
weight = I'll tell if you tell!
pre-baby jeans = still fit, don't hate me

Ok, so you asked for goals, you got goals...I'll post weekly and see how this challenge pans out for me.

;)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Creating a 10-Second Elevator Pitch for your Novel...

Creating a one sentence, 10 second pitch for your novel is attune to condensing all the flavors in a margarita pizza into one small itsy, bitsy bite. Doable, but OMG, why?!
Simple...what if you get stuck in an elevator with a pizza editor and you only have under a minute in order to pitch your pie?

Ok, so the scenario doesn't really fly, but the deal is that we as writers are supposed to condense our whole story into one sentence just in case we are called upon to pique the interest of an influential in under a minute.

So, after you write your novel, spend countless MORE hours editing and polishing it, you have to do a few more things...

The synopsis...a 4 page write up of everything that happens in a novel in case...

someone likes your query letter, which is one single paragraph that explains your entire novel, which they'll only read after they get interested in your...

ten second pitch that will appear at the beginning of your query letter or, if you happen to be caught in an elevator with an agent/editor, you blurt it out, ever so eloquently, and they want to see more...

That, IMHO, is a lot of condensing!

I thought I was going to go in that order, write the synopsis, in hopes it would help me write the query letter, in hopes it would help me write that one little sentence that was supposed to entice readers to read my story. Of course I have to admit that before, I thought it was an editor or perhaps a marketing guru who did all this junk...why on Earth did I think writers weren't the ones who did this?

So, anyway, now that we've established that we have to write one, then how? I tried out many formulas, but I think I found one that really works. You have to work with it and give it your own flare to really make it sing, but the end result will be great.

I got the idea/formula from this blog post from WOW: Women on Writing.

Here's the formula:

My story is about ___(character)_________who wants more than anything to _____(goal)_________ but can’t because ____(conflict)_______.

Extremely simple, I know, but it gets out of your head what you need to include, so you're introducing your main character, their main goal and the conflict in their way. Of course there is more to your novel. But you can't explain it all in one sentence. Hell, you can't even explain it all in a query letter!

But this isn't about query letters - yes, I'm very nervous about writing mine! hence I keep mentioning it - this is about your one sentence, ten second schpeel. Phew!...

I took a stab at it, adding my own hint of Lia'ness, and this is what I came up with for my 10 second pitch for my novel Waiting for Paint to Dry:

Matty Bell longs to rediscover her self-confidence, empowering her to pursue and enjoy the passions of her life once more, yet is held captive by her painful past until the night of her thirtieth birthday.

Actually, I'm pretty excited - stoked - that in one sentence I was able to capture my main characters dilemma and conflict while hinting to much more. I might need to tweak it a bit now that I see it again - a lot of the word "her" in one sentence. Then again, sometimes you can't get a way from something like that.

You'll have to do it eventually, so why not try it now, and share yours too!

Now all I need to do is find some elevators and start pitching...

;)




Friday, January 1, 2010

Good-Bye 2009...Hello 2010! Bringing in the New Year with Peace, Love, and Good Health!

Happy New Year!!! Hope you had a great time bringing in the new year last night :)

I don't know about you, but I was actually glad to see 2009 go. It was a mentally exhausting year for my family.

True, a lot of good things happened in the course of that year that I am thankful for. I became an Aunt two more times, a new niece in August and a new nephew in December. I love babies. Plus it gave me the opportunity to watch my beautiful sister-in-law become a mother. And a beautiful mother she is.

However, watching my wonderful mother-in-law go through chemotherapy for breast cancer, helping to take care of her almost every week from January to June (whenever she'd let me help! ;), and watching her spirit drain out of her was how we started off 2009. Thankfully she made it through, has been doing good since, and had enough hair by Christmas to do it up nice. She's a spirited high energy woman that I want around for a long time. Yes, you heard me. I like my mother-in-law!!! :) How many people can say that? I hope and pray her 2010 is a healthy one!

The year also saw some of my best days. In the beginning of July, my husband and I celebrated our ten year anniversary! And our relationship is like a fine wine...as the years pass, it keeps getting better. Then a few weeks later I got to go to sunny southern California and run on the beach every morning, eat fresh local organic food each and every day. I felt fantastic! I've been having some of my own health issues and for some reason I didn't feel them while on vacation.... Fresh food, fresh air, beautiful vistas...Think I might have to make Del Mar my home sometime soon! ;)

Then I flew back to Maryland two weeks later that July...and not even two days passed before I experienced something that I hope and pray no one ever has to experience, ever. I watched a little boy die. Finding him. Calling 911. Watching them work on him. Holding his little hand, saying good-bye...

And for no reason. It was unexpected, unexplained. It happened just like that and the only reason the doctors and examiners can come up with is unexplained natural causes. Absolute horse shit.

Although we've become even closer to his mother and father, our good friends already, due to the tragedy, I'd rather have become better friends through something else. Like going on a week long vacation together, them with their kids and us with ours. We were planning something like that. Going to do it sometime in the future, not sure when. Don't we all plan something and take forever getting around to it, simply because we think we have time?

Why did this have to happen to little Andrew? How does a two year die for no known reason? One minute he was dancing with my daughter in the living room, playing with toys, and running around the house having a good ol'time. The next minute he was tired, laid down for a nap..can't wake him up. It wasn't SIDS. He was breathing, alive. But only faintly there...then gone.

It was SUDC - Sudden Unexplained Death in a Child. I agree with Andrew's father. The acronym should really be SUCD, because that's exactly it. It sucked. I hope no one has to live through that ever ever ever ever ever... The only thing I can pray for now, for Andrew's parents, is that they find peace and love in 2010. I know it has been hard for them. I know it'll never be the same or easy ever again. Anything that will bring them some peace of mind to help them through each day is what I hope for them for their new year.

My hopes for my own 2010? That it is an uneventful year. Sorry, but I just want it to be a quiet, low key year. Sure, I'd love to see my book finish it's edits and find an agent who wants to publish it. But I'll trade all of that for a year where nothing major happens. No one gets sick. No one dies.

So...Knowing that the Universe - God - gives you what you give, I'm getting all of this off my chest now so that I can start anew. Start this year on a good note, a happy note, a positive note. And you should do the same if you have any lingering angst against 2009. I am purging my negativity towards last year in hopes for a wonderful prosperous new year. I am filling up my heart, mind, words, thoughts, and spirit, with love, good things, peace.

Here's to a wonderful 2010 for everyone ...

Good health
to all ... Peace of mind to all ... Love boundless to all

...