Writer's World Blog Tour

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Okay, okay, I am finally getting to this, and I am quite excited about it. I was invited to participate in the Writers World Blog Tour by my friend Christen Krumm, whom I met at the wedding of a lifelong friend. We got to don our little black dresses together and participate as bridesmaids to our dear friend, old to me and new(er) to her. She is also a full-time blogger, wife to Andy, and mom to three adorable littles (Elsie, Drew, and "Scout").

You can read her blog post from last week here. She is in the midst of finishing her first YA fiction novel about a dystopian society in a post life-as-we-know-it-now setting. I've only gotten to read the prologue, but so far, it reveals an intense story, about a young woman pursuing true freedom in the midst of torn-apart times along with other members of their society. 

It has yet to be named, and I know she will be happy to receive suggestions, check her out, she's a great inspiration to me! She has prodded me to get me writing again since the last time I seriously pursued it was high school, and folks, that was just too long ago. So here goes...

What are you working on?

Right now, I am just focusing on this little bloggity blog. My purpose is to write about marriage and family, and some of the things I have learned in the process. Eventually I will be interviewing other women and asking them to share their advice on marriage, love, and relationships-and in a way get to tell their stories. 

Another thing that I am doing is reworking some of my old stories (from my late adolescence) and regaining inspiration, falling in love with my characters again, and placing them in a time period. 

How does your work differ from others in its genre?

Well I have always thought that I would write fiction romance. However, I have gotten away from reading them as much because of school textbooks or motivational books that I have had to read for certain courses I have taken. I still want to write fiction, and I still want to incorporate romance, but one of the things I pursue is transparency and authenticity. 

I want the message to be redemptive, but I don't necessarily want it to be overtly preachy. I would say it may be veiled in metaphors, somewhat similar to the style of C.S. Lewis in the Narnia series. 

Why do you write what you do?

I think most of what I write comes from either my experiences or the experiences of people I know. I love stories and I think everyone has one to share, whether or not they know it, or whether or not they will be the one to tell it. Most of all, I want to cultivate space for creativity and discovery, and I think what I write has the potential to do that. 

How does your writing process work?

To be honest, it isn't much of a process right now, and not as professional or intentional of some of the others I've encountered. I have started utilizing the voice memo feature on my phone to remember points of inspiration, and I usually just sit down and start writing. That is the hardest part, once I do that, the rest comes eventually. What I will be incorporating is starting with the main point I want to convey and working back through the tangles from there. 

I would like to invite a couple other young ladies to join me in this journey. I will introduce my friend, Laurén Heffer, whom I met several years ago when we both volunteered to teach 5th/6th grade girls at our church. She sadly no longer has a blog anymore, but has contributed to GUTS or (Girls Using Their Strengths). And you can read about that here.

I am excited with her as she is working through a book for young girls, teaching them to sew in story format. It will be the "Emmaline" series, and I am stoked for it, as I am sure she is. Through the process, she is cultivating her marriage to her husband John, and working on a certification program to teach cake decorating at JoAnn's! Though she is no longer blogging, you can view her previous posts and inspiration here.


Finally I would like to introduce my lovely friend, Lilah Higgins. I met her at a Bible study several years ago, and had the privilege of sharing the journey of her engagement and marriage to her husband, Zac and mommy hood to Fletcher and Elladee.  Lilah is also a contributor to GUTS, as well as one of their graphic designers, you can view some of her contributions here. She works with her husband in their own business, called Higgins Creative.You can view their work on her blog here.

Currently, Lilah is working through the first draft of her first book. It is called Insecure to Undaunted. It is a beautiful book, written in a devotional voice that is so inspiring to young wives and moms. I have had the pleasure of working with her on this project, and it is an honor to be included in a "first" like this. 

Thank you for sharing this time with me as I have introduced some of my lovely friends and their current projects. I hope you find these inspiring as you continue on your journey today!

Summer Lovin'

Summer is officially here and I couldn't be happier. As much as I love this time of year, it is easy to let boredom from an unstructured routine  lack of routine creep in and keep the time from being as fun as it can be. Now some of this won't apply to me since I am a student and for all intents and purposes don't take a "summer break," but its okay, it keeps me on track to have my degree in hand in a year and a half or so. The thing is though that my education plan is flexible and allows me short weekend trips to visit family and friends, and the ability to watch seasonal blockbusters with my man, which are wonderful by the way. 

Newport Beach, CA 2013

So to give you plenty of opportunities to maximize this fabulous season, I thought I would give you a few ideas to break it up a little bit and add a skip to your step. 

Bird's-eye view to the whole parade///

Times of late, it seems that I find myself struggling in my times with God. I have had two people in the last week ask how that is going, and one of them just a lovely stranger I met at Starbucks. Another is a good friend and knows me well... and struck the nail precisely on the head. But it seems to me that I am not the only one experiencing a challenge in this area of my life. 

It is so easy to get caught up in what has to be done in life on a daily basis, and a lot of other things demand time and priority. And since God is a gentleman, He never demands that time of us, nor does He tap His foot impatiently when we fail to fulfill those commitments and expectations. In fact, He doesn't even need it. This concept blows my religious thinking, which has been shattering for the last six or so years.