I currently have two manuscripts for which I am seeking placement:

It Takes Two examines the importance of a man in a boy's life. What happens when a woman doesn’t think she needs a man to help raise her son? And when the man next door is just as certain that she’s wrong? The manuscript is targeted at 50,000 words and is nearly complete. It is Inspirational in theme.

All I Want for Christmas is a Millionaire is a humorous Inspirational in which a gold-digging woman discovers true love and true faith with her apartment building's handyman. The manuscript is 67,000 words and complete.

My current work-in-progress is entitled Writer's Block, a "sweet" humorous story of a best-selling author and a ditzy groupie (or so it seems) who are accidently marooned together during a snowstorm. The manuscript is targeted at 70,000 words. I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, and Writer's Block is my project. For those unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, it’s the National Novel Writing Month and takes place in November. The idea is that you write a 50,000 word novel in one month. Yes, really. You completely forgo quality and instead focus on quantity. While this might sound stupid, I can assure you that the problem most wanna-be writers have is applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair and just pounding the keyboard. NaNoWritMo provides the motivation to do that. You can always go back and add quality later, after you’ve done your quantity.

My article "Paying Dues" is posted on Long and Short Reviews (here).

My article "I Don't Like Writing" is posted on The Romance Studio (here).

I’ve become a huge Paul Potts fan. To find out who he is and why I find him incredible, view these two YouTube links: (here) and (here)

Here's a super neat YouTube video clip of Emmy Rossum singing Think of Me from Phantom of the Opera. Man, can this woman sing!

We have a twenty-acre parcel for sale nearby! We're a family-friendly neighborhood with plenty of elbow room and gorgeous views. The land has lots of pasture as well as some old-growth trees surrounding a half-acre pond. Click on the link for photos and information.

I had what I'm calling a “Road to Damascus” moment about a year ago.

It happened while I was visiting a friend. She had a Bible on her coffee table. In a moment of idleness, I opened a page and randomly plopped a finger on some text. I ended up in Romans 12:6-8, which reads:

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

Uh oh.

Coincidence? I don’t think so. I had to ask myself, what is my Gift? The answer is obvious: writing. Next question: was I using my gift to serve God? Answer: nope. Not even close.

Okay, this called for a change of focus in my fiction writing. For quite awahile I've been moving away from writing Contemporary romances anyway. I just hadn’t attributed this loss of interest to any Divine nudges. But here was the kick in the pants I needed to start using my Gift to serve God.

So my writing is now shifting toward Inspirational or at least Sweet (wholesome) romance. Hopefully God will find my Gift more pleasing from now on!