Book Trailer - I HATCHED

After a short summer break and hosting a writer's retreat, I am back to writing/revising, making book trailers and video book reports, and homeschooling my daughter. Well, I'm also helping with canning fruits and vegetables and other farm work as well.

Today, I finished a book trailer for I HATCHED written by Jill Esbaum and illustrated by Jen Corace.

You can view it at my YouTube channel here: YouTube I HATCHED book trailer

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Psalm 24:1-2 "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it:; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters."

Wendy Henrichs WHEN ANJU LOVED BEING AN ELEPHANT trailer

Last November, I took Katie Davis' online course, Video Idiot Bootcamp.   In that last few weeks, I made my first video, a book trailer for my friend, Wendy Henrichs' book, WHEN ANJU LOVED BEING AN ELEPHANT.

If you like it, please click on the thumbs up.  If you don't, email me!

Psalm 24:1-2 "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters."

PiBoIdMo and WNFIN

Today is day four of Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) and Write Nonfiction Now (WNFIN).

I think I am up to 11 ideas and 2 titles for PiBoIdMo, but I haven't decided which PB to focus on for WNFIN.  I don't want to get behind, so I better decide today!

Many of the trees around the pond have lost their leaves and it's overcast today, but there's something about the pond that helps me write.  It's probably the calming effect of the birds, water, play of light, pretty foliage, etc. (The clouds were nice enough to part when I took this picture...)

It's also fun to watch the sheep...

Psalm 50:9-11  I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.

Hiatus

Since my last post was in October of 2011, you can see that I've been on a bit of a hiatus blogging-wise.  And it looks like that will continue for the near future.

Writing:  I am trying to finish revisions on a magazine article.  The holidays and some family challenges had brought this to a temporary halt.  Hoping to finish revisions this week so I can send it to get an expert review.  After that, I am taking an online picture book course - and I have revisions for 3 or 4 book manuscripts to work on. I hope to go to a writing conference in April in Iowa, but that's up in the air right now.

Ranching / Farming: Calving will start in about one month.  Until then, our 6 y.o. gets up around 6:30 so she can help Daddy with the chores before school.  I bought a bunch of heirloom seeds for our garden.  They'll get started in a few weeks. I'm not much of a gardener, so I'll leave that to our youngest and my husband!

Family:  Other than the above-mentioned family challenges, we've had some praises, our 6 y.o. has accepted Jesus as her Savior and will be talking to our pastor about getting baptized!

Faith:  Since November I keep getting reminded of Psalm 139. So, I'll post part of that here:

Psalm 139: 23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Spring and New Book

Spring arrived a few days early.  Yesterday, the first two calves for this year were born. Here's one of them and her mother:

We raise Shorthorn beef cattle. The best part is that both calves came on their own and my husband (or I) didn't have to "assist."

Today, I was looking at some photos of a friend of mine on Facebook. It made me think up a new picture book story! I spent the day working on the first rough draft.  This picture of my daughter (taken when she was almost three) has a part in the story:

I think I got the editing and formating revisions done for a Mennonite woman's memoir that I have worked on for about one year now. I tried to print it out but there was some "operator error" involved.  I will try again tomorrow. I need to make sure that the document will print if I put it on a disk for her. She'll find a printer who will make it into the actual book.

I've started on the book of Psalms.  Here's one of today's verses from Psalm 19:14
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."

New Picture Book

Last week ended on an up-note writing-wise.  I had researched the information for an historical fiction picture book off and on for four months. Last week, I wrote the manuscript and then, thanks to my critique partner, did some heavy editing. It's exciting having a new project to submit for the April writer's conference.  I do wish the biography I've been working on for over two years would sell!

There's an old saying, "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."  It will take more work on my part to finish the edits I need to do. Wishes won't get it done.

On another note: I helped my husband put up some of the inside pine siding in my writer's cabin.  We had to stop before finishing the ceiling because of fading daylight (the electrical isn't hooked up yet) and because of snow. Now, we will have to wait for this snow (4-6 inches predicted)  to melt and the ground to dry out again. Reason:  to hook up to the electricity and so the cabin isn't full of sawdust, my husband sets up the saw outside. We have to keep going in and out of the cabin to cut the boards. I don't want a bunch of mud in there.  After the ceiling will come the trim, then the flooring, the desktops/drawers, and the bookcases.. I'm hoping it can be finished before planting season. A woman can dream, can't she?!

Totally off-topic... is there ever just one topic in my blog? ... many people frequently say they have one word that describes their year. I've never thought about that for myself.  But this year, if I were to choose one word for myself, I would hope it would be "grounded."  I want to be grounded and purposeful in everything I do and say. It's easy to "go with the crowd" it's harder/challenging to be deliberate and focused on what your life goals are.

Hebrews 12:1-2  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."

Novel Retreat

I was tired yesterday after returning from the SCBWI-IA Novel Retreat, so I didn't blog. The retreat was a lot of fun and very informative. Didn't get a very encouraging critique of the first 10 pages of my novel, but I talked to an editor and an agent and they gave some good advice.

I am going to rework (for the nth time) my dragon picture book manuscript and submit it to the agent. Many agencies don't represent picture books, but this one does. We'll go from there. (Didn't I just say a few days ago that I was going to put the picture book on the back burner until after I had the novel finished?) Okay, call me fickle!

I forgot to take my camera to the retreat, so no pictures on this post. The retreat was at the Die Heimat Country Inn in the German Amana Colony. It would be a nice day trip for the family - it only took 2 hours to get there.

Off to work...

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.