The Wait is Over

So…it’s been a while since I’ve posted. From my experience as a mom of 15+ years, we mothers seem to go from one busy season to the next busier season as our children grow, and my blog has taken a backseat to other priorities. But I thought I’d take a quick moment to share with you the latest in the life of this author.

As most of you know, last year, I entered my debut novel, Tinsel in a Tangle, in five different contests, and the last of which finally announced its winners a couple of weeks ago. Overall, my book baby did very well, as it finaled in the Selah Awards 2018 for First Novel, and The Wishing Shelf Awards 2018 for Young Adult Novel; and it won in the Royal Dragonfly Awards 2018 for Best Holiday Novel, and in the Literary Classics Awards 2018 for Best Holiday Novel and Best First Book.

This past weekend, Literary Classics held an award banquet for their winners in Rapid City, South Dakota. As it was “just” a nine-hour drive from our home, Hubby and I figured we’d take our daughters on a road trip. Of course, we had to visit Mount Rushmore and drive through Bear Country. 😉

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I met some wonderful fellow authors while there, and learned a lot about what it means to promote oneself, as opposed to promoting one’s book, as many of these authors have a magnetic way about themselves that draws people to them…and ultimately to their books. I envy (in a good way) their seeming inhibitions when it comes to the promotional & marketing aspect a writer must handle these days, and I pray I can take some of what I witnessed and apply it to my own writing career moving forward.

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So what’s next for me as an author? At the end of this month, I’ll be teaching a class on creative writing to a group of grade school students here in Helena, focusing on infusing life into our characters–and how that, in turn, helps with description and “show, don’t tell” in the narrative. I’m also still plodding my way through my sequel’s second draft, a frustration for me as I’d hoped to be on to draft #3 by now. But God has gently reminded me that writing is not my only calling in life, and my roles as wife and mother require as much–if not more–purposeful (and cheerful) attention right now. 😀

On that note, I will leave you with a few more shameless pics and go switch out the laundry–haha! I hope all you creatives out there are rocking it in your individual crafts!

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