My Accounting: BIAM

If you've been on writing blogs at all this month, you've probably heard all about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Last year I signed up for it and wrote maybe a couple thousand words. Maybe. I had high hopes, but I was in the middle of editing, so it just didn't happen. This year I knew better. I was releasing a book on Nov. 1, so other than promotion, I was good there. The thing was, I was probably a third into my next book and I didn't want to start from scratch as NaNo rules stipulate.

So I found a program that would work for me. ANWA (American Night Writers Association) was running BIAM (Book in a Month) where you could set your own goal (instead of NaNo's 50K) and work on a previously started project. Perfect!

This year I wrote a total of 36,076 words. Not bad, considering I started at just over 30K. So I doubled my book, filling in most of the major scenes. I know my word count will go up as I edit because by the end, I knew a lot more about my characters than I did when I started, so I have more details to fill in--and an entire subplot I didn't think about until two days ago.

Why did it work so well for me this year? First off, I was in the perfect position to need a new book. Second, there was so much support from my other writer friends, whether they were doing NaNo or BIAM, it was great to be accountable and report my daily word count as well as hear how everyone else was doing.

So tomorrow starts December--time to take a deep breath, get out of a writer's frenzy, and prepare for editing and filling in holes. But at least now I have something to work with.

I am Thankful...

What I am thankful for this year:

1. My family. They truly are wonderful.
2. My friends. They are, too.
3. My faith. I would be lost without it.
4. My health. And the health of my children. A new endocrinologist, medicine and insurance.
5. Jobs, house, community. (Trying to make sure this list doesn't get too long!)
6. The opportunity to go to the mountains and a quiet cabin for Thanksgiving.
7. Fall leaves, Christmas songs in the grocery store, cooler weather, and the memory of snowfalls without the slush.
8. The ability to run. I guess I'm an endorphin junky.
9. High speed Internet :) And music--all kinds. And good food. (It's hard to keep it to 10.)
10. Finally having my book out, getting some great reviews, and having people buy it! And working on the next book and finding out I still enjoy writing.

This is such a short list of the blessings God has given me, and I know I could never list them all. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Interview with RaShelle Workman, Author of Exiled

Maria: Hi, RaShelle, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to appear on my blog. Congrats on your new book.

RaShelle:  Thanks, Maria. Right backatcha. I’m glad to be here.

Maria: So tell me a little about the process you went through to publish.

RaShelle: Getting EXILED out for everyone’s reading pleasure *giggles* took lots and lots of editing. Rewriting. Praying. And finding the right people to release with – Christine Bryant and Ali Cross.

Maria: That sure sounds like a lot of work!

RaShelle: It was, but it’s been awesome. I’ve received emails from fans requesting copies of my book from Malaysia to Japan to Canada to Africa! - which is totally cool and makes writing all the more fun for me. 

Maria: You have such a beautiful cover for Exiled, and it’s even won some acclaim. Would you like to tell us about it? Who designed it and how?

RaShelle: EXILED has won a Cover War or two. It’s been fun.

As for how the cover came into being, I wanted something special, but I wasn’t sure what until I saw it. When I found the picture of the girl with butterflies in her hair, I KNEW that was it.  Then I submitted the pic to the genius, Steven Novak, and he ran with it.

Maria: Why butterflies? Does it represent something particular? 

RaShelle: The butterflies represent Venus and her peoples’ metamorphosis. At the age of sixteen, they transform into immortals, just as a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.  The butterflies on the cover are “captured” in worlds, which represents her exile, or being trapped on Earth.

Maria: Tell us a little more about your book.

RaShelle: Quite simply, it’s about an alien princess (Venus) born to lead and the arrogant boy (Michael) born to love her.

Now does it work out that way… well, you’ll have to read it to find out. LOL

Maria: The premise sounds quite interesting. Where did you get the inspiration for it?

RaShelle: I LOVE romance – first and foremost. And I’ve always believed we aren’t alone in the Universe. I’ve also always believed that there would be “others” (aliens) who would look like us (cuz, why not). So I had this idea for several years about a guy from another planet who is sent to Earth to destroy the inhabitants so that his people could take over. Over the years it developed into EXILED (book 1), BEGUILED (book 2) and DOVETAILED (book 3).

Maria: I especially love the boots!

RaShelle: So do I. I really want a pair. I dreamed the boots! And know someone who knows someone who may be able to make the boots happen. If it does, I’ll let you know.

Maria: Ooh! Please do! One of my favorite things to find out about authors is…what their writing process is and if they have a particular quirk. What do you do when you’re writing? Do you munch on M&Ms, have a glass of Gatorade on hand, keep your puppy asleep on your toes, listen to rap?

RaShelle: I am a big-time planner. So once the planning is done, I just sit down and type and type and type.

Maria: You sound very dedicated. Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?

RaShelle:  Mmmm, I hope they enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing. I hope it makes them happy and think and ponder and… have a blast!

Maria: Good luck! It’s a great book and I know anyone who reads it will enjoy it immensely.

RaShelle:  Awwww, thanks Maria.

If I've piqued your interest, here are some links to get you a closer look:

RaShelle Workman's Blog

All e-Book Versions

Kindle Version

Nook Version

And if that wasn't enough to get you interested, try watching the trailer:

My Therapy Session with "Dr." Shelly Brown

You know, being a writer, I'm tormented by the voices in my head, but fortunately there's someone out there that takes the plight of authors seriously and that is Shelly Brown.

Take a peek at my therapy hour (AKA interview about Nourish & Strengthen) on her hilarious blog! I had a lot of fun working with her--and you'll find, it's a fun spin on an interview. Thanks, Shelly!

Diabetes: Would You Want to Know?

Today is World Diabetes Day. With four out of five people in my household living with type 1 diabetes, I think about it a lot. Dinners always end with, "How much insulin should I take?" or "Did everyone remember to take insulin?" I always smile when my 17-year-old son, the only one with a functioning pancreas, answers "yes" to that question. Yesterday, he had fun figuring out how much insulin his little brother should take for Sunday dinner (not an easy thing to figure out sometimes) and I thought he guessed pretty well. Maybe if he knows enough about it, he won't have to have that challenge in his life. But surely if he does, he will be prepared.

But in thinking about him, the only one of my three children who doesn't have it, I wonder about this trial I heard on the radio--a public service announcement by Nick Jonas.  When the first of my children was diagnosed, I was asked if we wanted to have the other two screened to find out if they had a higher chance of developing the disease within the next ten years. My first question was, "Can it be prevented?" When they told me no, I decided I didn't want to know if they couldn't do anything about it. And three years later the next one was diagnosed.

But now it sounds like there are some trials going on to prevent the development of type 1 diabetes. So I have to re-evaluate my decision. Do I want to know if he will develop it? Can it be prevented? Would being a part of the trial cause or speed up the onset? If I don't do anything and he develops diabetes, will I forever wonder if I could have prevented it?

Do any of you have any experience with this? Any advice?

Nourish & Strengthen Review by Melissa Lemon

I wanted to let you know about a review of my novel, Nourish & Strengthen. I think Melissa Lemon summed it up quite well and I appreciate her thoughts on it. To tell the truth, I was a little afraid when I read the first line and thought, "This is either really bad or pretty good..." It sure got my heart beating fast!

Thanks, Melissa, for taking the time to read and review it! Glad to know you enjoyed Nourish & Strengthen. I can't wait to read your book now. It sounds fascinating!

BIAM and Losing My Balance

Last year I signed up for NaNo. And failed. Terribly. This year, I decided I'd better be a little more realistic. With a book launch keeping me busy and a half-finished first draft of my second novel to finish, I didn't want to follow the rules of Nano. Instead I decided to take the BIAM challenge. I'm doing okay. Getting more words every day. But the biggest thing is that I'm writing and LOVING it! I started using Scrivener and I feel so free. I'm not tied to a strict linear process anymore, but writing whichever scene strikes me at the time. I hope I don't live to regret it, since some of the scenes I'm writing I don't even know where they will end up in the outline, but I think I'll use them. I hope Scrivener works out and that I don't lose everything.

However, there's a slight problem with doing BIAM. I found yesterday, that I'm spending every possible second writing and not taking care of the daily things I need to--like checking my calendar. Didn't realize it was the 2nd Tuesday and missed an important meeting. I'm pretty sure I need to go to the grocery store, but I don't want to check because I don't want to be held responsible to do so. And the biggest--I signed up to do a blog hop and missed the deadline because somehow I thought it was the next day. Ugh.

Anyway, I am late, but I am finally announcing the winner of my Nourish & Strengthen Book Launch Giveaway...

The Winner Is...ASHLEIGH!!

I hope you love the books you receive: Nourish & Strengthen...by me:) and Called To Serve Again by Jeffrey Olsen!!

Congrats and I'll contact you :)

Thanks to everyone who participated. Now back to writing......

Diabetic Service Dogs

Since it's National Diabetes Awareness Month, I've been doing a little poking around the internet (not too much because there's so much out there and it could eat up all my time) about diabetes. I know a little about the disease--my husband and I and two of our three children have type 1 diabetes and both my parents are type 2--but I can always learn more.

I'd heard about service dogs for type 1 diabetics, and thought I'd read up on it a little. These great dogs are trained to recognize swift changes in blood sugar and alert the owner of these changes to prevent loss of consciousness and other complications. It's amazing how they're trained to notice not only when it's going up or down, but when it is under a certain number or over another. What I really like is that they will wake the owner when this happens during the night. I admit, my kids seem to be pretty good at recognizing hypoglycemia (lows) on their own during the day (great excuse to get food) but I worry they won't be able to drag themselves out of sleep during the night when those crazy food dreams start--the way my body at least, tries to alert me of low blood sugar during the night. It looks like service dogs are a great help for diabetic families. I think I'd especially get one if I had a baby or toddler with diabetes since they can't recognize the feelings or communicate them well enough on their own.

I'm thinking it'd be great to get a service dog/ running partner. That's when I have the hardest time "feeling" the highs and lows--or at least differentiating between running fatigue because I'm out of shape or because I have low blood sugar. To have a dog that could run with me and be able to help me do that would be awesome!! Now if I could only get a service dog to sniff out when my son hasn't finished his homework....

If you'd like to read more about service dogs for diabetics, Dogs4Diabetics seems to be one of the bigger trainers. Also, check out the article "Could a Dog Save Your Life" or the article about the girl and dog in the above picture.

Oh, and one more thing...my Book Launch Giveaway is going on for two more days. Check this out to enter.

What They're Saying About Nourish & Strengthen

In case you're looking for some news about how Nourish & Strengthen is resonating with readers, check out a few of these reviews/ links:

• Jenny Moore's blog: The Write Stuff
• Carolyn Frank's blog:  Frankly Creative
• Amazon Reviews
• Smashwords Review

My thanks to everyone who's reviewed it so far. There are many more to come. And by the way, my giveaway contest is still underway, just scroll down!

Book Launch and Giveaway! for Nourish & Strengthen

Welcome to the virtual launch of two new LDS novels: Nourish & Strengthen by Maria Hoagland (me!) and Called to Serve Again by Jeffrey Olsen.

To celebrate, Jeff and I are each giving away a copy of our books--so on this blog, one lucky winner will win the bundle pack of my book and Jeff's. And I'm pretty sure on his blog, you can sign up to win there, too.

To win on my blog is simple:
1. You must live in the United States. (Sorry, I do love my international readers, but I can't do the shipping, unless you want an ebook.)
2. For one chance in the hat, be a Follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post.
3. For another chance, "Like" my Facebook page.
4. For more chances to win--blog, tweet, or Facebook about my book, Nourish & Strengthen.
5. In the comment section of this post, tell me how many times your name should be entered (we're on the honor code here).

The contest will run through Nov. 7 when I will post the winner. Please make sure I can get in touch with you so I can get a mailing address for your prize.

Now go out and spread the word about Nourish & Strengthen and Called to Serve Again. Let others know how excited you are to read these books. Copies are now for sale: in paperback or ebook, and on Amazon.com. And if you liked Nourish & Strengthen, I'd love to be nominated for a Whitney Award :)

Thanks and happy reading!