Last week I was a guest speaker for a friend’s critique group. My talk was entitled “Step into a Writing Career with Nonfiction.” Even though I was a bit nervous, it went really well. I even had several people come up afterward to tell me about certain points I had presented that they had never considered.

Public speaking is not my strong point. I don’t feel 100% comfortable before a group of people I don’t know very well. But I know the more I practice now, the more comfortable I will be in the future when I take on speaking engagements and school visits.

But coming up with a topic to discuss can be hard. I was given the topic of nonfiction, but I had to be able to come up with my own talking points. After some prayer, I decided I needed to let my work speak for me. I would show how my choice to go after nonfiction work opened up some amazing opportunities I would never had if I only stuck to fiction.

Believe it or not, there was so much to tell that I had to consolidate my speech. I hadn’t realized just how much I had learned over the years. The only true fear I would have was making sure I got everything said within my time limit.

Do you have to give a talk or know you need to have one to offer in the future? Why not let your work speak for you? You’ll be amazed at all the material you’ll have to offer.

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As I develop in my writing career, I notice that I’ve become more passionate about certain subjects. It’s not that my passions have changed so much; it seems they are more fine-tuned. The more I write, the more I see what topics are becoming near and dear to my heart.

I’ve written a variety of genres: devotionals, fiction, nonfiction, Bible stories, early readers, etc., but I have really come to enjoy middle grade, particularly adventures and mysteries. Maybe it’s because I remember the excitement I felt as a young girl when I turned the pages of a great story, sharing in the adventures with the protagonist as she/he opened that squeaky door or entered that dark cave.

Of course, I currently don’t have any of these stories published, but that is a goal I’m tirelessly pursuing. God knows the perfect timing, even if I do not. In the meantime, I’ll follow the doors the Lord has opened up for me, which is currently early American history.

What are your writing passions?

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The other day I brought home a stack of thick books, filled with the writings and autobiographies of some of our nation’s Founding Fathers. I’m trying to get an idea of their thoughts and attitudes prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This information is necessary as I prepare study guides and school visit programs for my new book, The Declaration of Independence from A to Z.

There is an amazing amount of information for this time period. I have to be thankful for these primary sources. Some may feel I’m going too far in my research, but I don’t think so. The more eyewitness information I can use, the better. I want to do my homework so I can give a good presentation.

Don’t think you’re doing too much research. If you’re using primary sources, it’s never too much to get your information right.

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I don’t know about you, but I hate being last minute. I don’t like the flurried and flustered feelings when I’m scrambling to get something finished. Now, I’m not talking about assignments that have come in unexpectedly. To me those are little blessings from the Lord. I’m talking about knowing you have a deadline or a talk to prepare for, and you wait until the last minute to get things done.

With four kids and a husband and a writing career, my life can get pretty hectic. So I try to stay at least one step ahead of everything. If I have a talk coming up (which I do in about 3 weeks), I stay ahead by first jotting down ideas. Then when I have a few minutes at another time, I write up a rough outline. This continues, step by step, until I have my talk planned out including any handouts or props I need.

The same goes for other projects. I’m currently working on a study guide for my upcoming book, The Declaration of Independence from A to Z. I started by looking at other study guides to get an idea of format. Then I jotted down some topics I would like to cover. For games and activities, I looked online to find out how I could make my own maze, etc. Plus, I have taken several books out of the library so I can add tidbits of interesting information that I couldn’t include in the book itself. When I have finished gathering all these extras, I will put it all together.

If I waited to complete each project first and then move on to the next, I’d never get anything done, especially since some of my deadlines overlap. So I make the effort to stay a good step ahead. I find I can complete more things in a timely manner, and I can live a little stress-free.

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I like the old Boy Scout motto of always being prepared. There’s just something comforting about being ready for whatever crosses your path. The same can apply to our writing. You never know when you will be called upon to write about a particular topic, or when a last minute project drops in your lap. I’ve had the latter happen a few times this year when an editor asked me for an article here, a project there, that needed to be done within a few weeks.

Thankfully I’m a prepared researcher. I know how to find good facts online and in the library, so it’s just a matter of time before I’m digging up tidbits of information. I also have some great writers friends who I can call/e-mail with formatting questions, and my personal library is full of reference books to answer other technical questions.

Writing takes preparation. You need resources at your fingertips to get you moving along the path to a productive writing career. If you’re not prepared, take some time now to find sources that will help you be successful. Join writer’s groups both online and in-person, read books on writing and formatting, build yourself a network of fellow writers you can call for information, and know your way around research. Then you, too, will be prepared when those projects start rolling in.

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Last week my publisher e-mailed me the proofs for my upcoming book, The Declaration of Independence from A to Z. I was blown away by how awesome the pictures were. It will be a spectacular book when done, and it’s coming out in hardback! Wow!

After I calmed down from the excitement of seeing how my book is supposed to look, I seriously set about reading through the text to find any errors. I read it through once, then read through it again to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.

That’s when I noticed something. No, this couldn’t be right. I pulled out a copy of the Declaration and compared a line from the proof to the one in the document. It was wrong! But did I make this mistake? I checked my manuscript. Yes, it was my fault. I had inadvertently misquoted a vital line from the Declaration.

Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but the artist had incorporated my quote in his artwork. So my mistake had become his as well. The proofs check the text, from what I understand, not the art, so I was stressed. This was a crucial line and I had blown it. I sent off an e-mail that night and had a very restless sleep as I worried about the situation.

Thankfully, I didn’t need to worry. My contact at the publishing house felt it could be fixed. And I had even some interaction with the illustrator who told me if it couldn’t be done in house, then he could fix it. Yeah! The problem was easily resolved within a few hours.

No one told me how nerve-wracking getting a book published would be. There are so many situations that are new to me, so normal problems seem magnified in my eyes. But thankfully, with much prayer, I got through this problem and things are moving ahead. I’ll post the release date as soon as I get it.

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Today is the first day in two months that I’ve had peace and quiet as I sat in front of my laptop. Well, it’s not exactly quiet. I hear the cars on the street and the constant spin of the dryer. But there are no other voices or TV shows or blips and beeps of computer games to distract me.

You see, my kids have all gone back to school, so I have a little quiet in my day. I have been able to work on a project for a few hours without being interrupted every so many minutes to settle a dispute or answer a question.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids and I love having them around. But it is nice to be able to sit down and be productive with my writing in just a few hours instead of a few days. I used to be able to work in all kinds of noise when I first started to write, but there is something about having no one else around that keeps those thoughts clear and those ideas flowing. I guess my brain doesn’t have to compete for attention this way.

And what perfect timing, too. I have a few deadlines I have to meet in the next few weeks that need my total attention.

How’s your productivity going?

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As the release of my book The Declaration of Independence from A to Z draws near, I’ve been thinking hard of some promotional ideas. One of those is to create some short videos I can put on YouTube. I’ve already filmed and partially edited one, and I have the idea for another.

Once I get a copy of the cover, I want to make business cards and flyers that I can hand out at writer’s groups and school visits. I’m even going to have bookmarks made to hand out to the kids that will include the book’s ISBN and ordering information.

Although my book won’t be out for another 6 months or so, the time will fly by, and I must do all I can now to prepare. What are your creative promotion ideas?

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For those who have been following this blog, you will notice an obvious new look. I’m gearing up to make this appear more like an official website. There are still a few changes I want to make, and a couple of things I want to add, so stay tuned.

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I was having some issues last week with my laptop, so I took it to someone I knew who could fix it. Knowing that the chances were high that he would have to reload everything, I downloaded all my files and pictures onto flashdrive.

So when I got my computer back and went to transfer my flashdrive data back onto the laptop, I discovered that my pictures were gone. I had failed to check that everything had transferred successfully. All the photos from the Queen Anne cottage for my mystery story, and all the great firework shots for my new book promo were gone.

Of course I can go back and retake the Victorian home in the Fall when it opens again, but I will have to wait quite awhile to get those fireworks shots.

But this proved a valuable lesson. I should never assume that my data transferred correctly. I should always check and double check. Things worked out well this time, but some very valuable files could have been lost because of my carelessness.

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