Making Changes

I post on Tuesdays over at Mormon Mommy Writers.  I had to make some confessions and I have some changes I need to make in my life.  Feel free to stop over there and read The Confessions of a Procrastinating Scatterbrain.

A Letter of Excuse(s)

Dear Blogosphere,

In regards to the issue of my unannounced extended leave of absence, I am providing the following list of very truthful responses:

1:  "I wrote you every day for a year"  but my mother kept all my witty posts hidden from you.
2:  I forgot to lick the stamp before I sent my post.
3: Zynga locked my out of blogger and made me play Cityville, Farmville, and Mafia Wars, until I collected enough reward points to buy my way out.
4:  I am actually dead and typing this from the grave.
5:  The voices in my head took a vacation and left the lights off upstairs to save electricity.

Or if none of those excuses is acceptable maybe you will believe that after finding out I was pregnant a year ago things got harder and harder to keep up with.  Then my little man was born and I got all sucked in by his super cuteness.   I mean take a look this guy is so sweet.

However, I think the first 5 excuses are most plausible.

Sincerely Amber Lynae

What is it about triangles anyway?

I read my fair share of young adult fiction.  My current  project is a young adult fantasy.  I know I'm not the only one out there who has noticed the trend for love triangles in Young Adult fiction.  How did this plot line become so trendy?  Is this the only way for authors to create tension in a love story? Is the whole idea just way overdone to make it in today's market?

I actually quite enjoyed a post over at Midnight Meditations discussing this topic.

So what are your thoughts on the love triangle?  

Take it or leave it?

The Danger of Someday

I recently watched the movie Knight and Day.  I especially liked the thought that expressed by the character named Roy Miller:  "Someday is a dangerous word."

When many people hear that I am working on my first novel, I often hear the same response.  " I would love to write a novel someday.  But if you are anything like me, you sometimes push your writing to the side because your to do list is piling up. It only takes a short time to realize that the to do list never gets shorter.  When one thing gets checked off another has taken its place.  Someday can quickly become never.

This holiday season I approached my to do list with amazing vigor.   I wanted to get everything done so that the new year could focus on my WIP that has been gathering a little too much dust.  I hemmed my drapes, I hung pictures, I cleared the boxes out of the guest room, installed the area rug and new chandelier in the dining room, and I painted the bathroom, man cave, and dining room.  I even decorated for Christmas.  The outlook for the new year was looking great.

Two days after Christmas I realize when hanging my plate rack I drilled into a drain pipe.  My beautiful antique leather walls went from looking like this:

 To looking like this.

So it was back to the home improvement store.  Patching pipes and walls, and repainting.... Then the same day the washing machine died, then a week later it was my printer.  My to do list was regrowing at a quick rate.  But it was a great reminder, that we can't find extra time for our writing.  It will never happen.  There will always be other things that we could use to justify into putting off our WIP  (especially when you have written your characters into a situation you haven't figured out how they are getting out of).  However, you and I both know- although, some of us may need reminded- that you make time for writing because it is important to you; it keeps you sane.

Don't fall into the someday trap. 

You deserve to live your someday today.

Wednesday French Inspiration: Choosing Between the Good

There is beauty all around when there's pastries to eat.

 (What? Don't tell me you don't agree?)

From doors of the Parisian boulangeries, mouthwatering smells fill the air.  One is helpless to resist the heavenly scents.  Upon enter the shop, the charm and beauty of each pastry must be properly adored.  Getting lost in the beauty of each handmade creation, it is easy to forget that you must make a choice.  Oh but how can one choose?

There are so many front running candidates to be devoured and only so many euros.  This new found heaven  mocks you.  You want some of everything.  With every breath you fall deeper under the spell the spun by the artisans.  There are just too many good things, and you know you just cannot have it all.

When surrounded by so much good it is hard to choose.  Life would be easy if every choice were black or white, but shades of gray cloud up our decisions.  Sometimes it is left to us to decided from the good, better and the best.  Whether it is choosing a pastry or which chore to check off of our to-do list, life is full of tough choices. 

How do you choose between the good in your life?

The Value of Work

Growing up I can remember doing dishes, weeding gardens, cleaning bathrooms, and cleaning my room all before I was old enough to start school.  I want my daughter to know the value of work.  I want her to know that the good things in life are earned, not handed over.

I want these things but have NO clue how to do it.  I have trouble letting her complete a chore that I know I will have to go and  repeat when she isn't watching so that it is done properly.  Little Princess is only three she will be four before the end of the year.  

What do you do to teach a 3-4 year old the value of work?  

Which chores are appropriate?  

I Can Breath Again

I haven't exactly been super active in the blogosphere recently.  You may have or may have not noticed.  But the first Trimester of pregnancy left me with little energy.  Doing anything more than watching my daughter seemed  impossible. 

Things have finally started to mellow.  Little Princess now goes to Joy School two days a week.  Of course these means that one week a month I have a teaching obligation.  But it is nice to have a few hours to myself.  I can browse my google reader and visit blogger.  And the goal is eventually to open up the document with my WIP and tackle some more writing.

While Little Princess is learning, I sit in Panera with my laptop and enjoy the peacefulness of freedom.  More than anything I just wanted to say Hello.  I am still alive here, and I have missed you all so much.  I can't wait to catch up on what is happening in your lives.