Project 365: 5/365

Project 365: Photo Edition - Next on the To-Read List



Project 365: Video Edition - Movie Snack

Project 365: 4/365

Project 365: Photo Edition - "Veggies"



Project 365: Video Edition - Chess

Project 365: 3/365

Project 365: Photo Edition - Rings



Project 365: Video Edition - The Slide

Project 365: 2/365

Project 365: Photo Edition - Purple Glow



Project 365: Video Edition - Falling

Young Writers Mentoring

Young Writers Mentoring is a one-on-one relationship between an experienced author and a young writer (ages 10-18). We will take a chosen manuscript and work through it together in a personal critique group environment.

As we hit trouble areas, we will address those and further develop writing skills as well as the story itself. In this way, the young writer can improve in specific challenge areas and skip over what she has already mastered.

If no manuscript is available or after the manuscript has been fully critiqued, we may work on writing and perfecting short stories to build a fiction arsenal.

The primary goal is to help the young writer get her writing skills above average so she will stand out among the masses of would-be authors. We'll get a strong manuscript finalized, and perhaps some good, strong short stories written. At that point, we walk through the process of writing a query letter and submission to publishers.

Meetings are held via Skype so we can talk and work together freely. Those living in the Colorado area may contact me to discuss in-person mentor meetings.

The fee for Young Writers Mentoring is $35 per 1-hour session and includes:

• 2-way conversation time during the hour
• editorial/writing/submission instruction
• writing critiques (# of words covered per session is dependent on skill level)
• writing assignments/prompts for short stories (if desired)
• up to 5 emails per week to address specific questions or concerns (not to exceed 30 minutes per week)

I will come to each session fully prepared, having read whatever we are going to be working on, ready to discuss and instruct.

This is a great option for homeschoolers who are looking to supplement their English curriculum or for young writers who seek to be published in the future.

Project 365: 1/365

Project 365: Photo Edition - First Snowman of the Year



Because I can't leave well enough alone and because I am intrigued by the possibilities of taking a video a day, I decided to proceed doing a video AND a photo a day. After all, they are different mediums and produce different artistic results. We'll see how this progresses and if I drive myself crazy in the process. So here we go...

Project 365: Video Edition - Happy New Year!

Project 365 Video Edition?

I know I should have posted this a week ago to get proper feedback, but you know how the holidays go. :oP

Let me know: videos or pictures?

Upcoming Project 365: 2010

In 2008, I learned about this thing called Project 365. It is basically a challenge to take a photo every day for a year so that you can look back on your life that year and remember all those little things that were important to you. A little note from the info page:

Imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned… (Often we find it hard to remember what we did just yesterday or even last night, let alone a whole year ago!)

Your year-long photo album will be an amazing way to document your travels and accomplishments, your haircuts and relationships. Time moves surprisingly fast.

I completed the project in 2008 and found it an excellent challenge. Not only was it a great discipline (taking a picture/blogging everyday) and a super way to widen my photographic prowess, it has been so much to fun to look at all the pictures from 2008 and remember moments that usually disappear through the transom of our minds.

Because 2008 was such a great experience, I tried to do it again in 2009. However, I found that two years in a row of this demanding project was too much to bear and fizzled out after 50 days. This is definitely an every-other-year type of thing for me. (Though a few Project 365ers I started following in 2008 are still going strong--you go, guys!)

Once again, I'm going to try not to post pictures of my kids here because I am always posting pictures of them on my personal blog. But I'm not going to say I never will because, well, they're a big part of my life, so they are bound to appear here at some point.

I'll do my best to update at least every couple days (if not every day) with new pictures. Feel free to comment because that's what keeps me going! Thanks!

And if you're doing Project 365, please let me know--I would love to follow your progress as well.

Christmas Home Tour Video

A month or so ago, Angela Hunt asked a writers' loop if anyone would be interested in sharing their Christmas decorations with readers. My friend Donita K. Paul agreed, then on Sunday night, she called and said, "I'm in a pickle!" Apparently, the video needed to be done by Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m., and for some reason, it wasn't happening.

Her son-in-law recorded the videos, and I stopped by her house on Monday evening to record the audio. That night, I spliced together the video clips and overlaid Donita's voice, plus some Christmas music.

A New Book to Flaunt

One of the perks of winning NaNoWriMo this year is that winning wrimos may receive a free proof copy of their book through CreateSpace.com, a self-publishing company. While I'm adamantly opposed to self-publishing my own novels, I don't see any harm in printing a single copy of one of my novels for the...well, novelty of it.

There's no way in the Devil's household that I would EVER allow this self-published book on the market. NO WAY. (If I do, someone really needs to slap me silly.) But this will be fun to hold in my hands.

Because my NaNo novels are utterly unpublishable, I decided to submit the first novel I'd ever written. It was previously titled The Visitors, but I have subsequently decided that the title was too boring. New title and the book cover I designed: