How did I survive before....

Do you ever wonder how you would have survived in say the middle ages? I have been doing a lot of research on that time period for my newest book endeavor and I don't think I would have made it. Especailly after cooking the other night when I realized that I would never survive with out my rice cooker

I seriously thought that and then I realized I survived just fine for the first 25 years of my life without one, but now. I don't know...For a moment I let myself feel selfish for think that, but then I decided that I am just glad that I live in a country and a time that I can be thankful for things as trivial as Rice cookers and this and this. And all the other things that I am sure I could live without, but don't really want to. So yes, I am selfish, but I am grateful that I can be selfish. So I will continue being glad every time I cook rice that I can just push the button and have it come out perfect every time.

The Calm Before The Storm and Other Random Stuff

So,many of you may have seen Alyson's blog and thought I was a nice friend for wathcing her kids for six hours so she could clean. Well, I am not that nice. I clearly had other motives behind doing so and they were purely selfish. The longer I watch her kids for her one day a week, the longer she has to watch mine for me!!! See I am pure evil, but oh it is so nice! So on Thursday while she had my kids I cleaned my house for a few hours and then got dressed and treated myslef to lunch and a few hours of relaxation here...
Oh How I love Brnes and Noble. Their Cafe has yummy Panini Sandwhiches, delighful scones and muffins, and extra large
Italian Cream Soda's. So I ate and then I plopped myself down in one of their soft cozy chairs and read the first 10 chapters of Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. AHHHH Relaxation.
Well, then came the storm, nothing bad, just a lot of being on my feet. C. graduated from Pre-school (her's ended earlier due to the college schedule) and so we had to celebrate with her. She wanted to eat at Chick-fil-A, so much fun.
Then M. had the girls on her Soccer team over for a party. We made Mini Pizzas, had lots of suggary concoctions, played games and did Karioke. Lots of fun, lots of screaming girls!
Then I watched Aly's kids so she and her hubby could have an overnight trip. They were pretty good, but going from 3 to 6 especially for an overnighter is a lot of work. H. only managed to get one extra scratch while I was in charge! I handled it very well thanks to my time at B&N. I think that coulld become a guilty habit!
On other notes. My friend Emily is starting her own jewlery business online. It is called Sass and Savvy Jewlery. Here is the link just in time for Mother's Day!

Sass and Savvy

and a photo of some of her work.

And last but not least my friend Tristi tagged me so here are 7 more facts that you might not know about me which is hard since I already did the 100 things.
1.Once at an Amish restaurant in Iowa, I fell off my chair and the guy sitting next to our table looked at me and said "I've really got them falling for me now" (I was 16.)
2.Besides B&N one of my favorite places to sit and read without a care in the world is at D's Aunts house in California. She has the most amazing, secluded private Gardens.
3. I also like waking up at her house and picking Oranges off the tree for fresh juice.
4.I secretly enjoy watching some of the shows on Disney and Nick with my kids. My favorites include...I.Carley and Phil of the Future.
5. I can't waterski, I have tried for years, but I love to Kneeboard.
6. I have a foot fettish and love having my toes pulled! (Much to my hubby's dismay)
7. I named my daughter after a character from Star Trek, My son after a character from Gilmore Girls and my other daughter after a city that was once known as the Murder Capital of the World (only cause my Hubby served a mission there!)

Research

I started reseach this week on my new book. I have been reading all about the medieval time period and it is so fasinating. I know that I should start writing, but I can't stop reading about it. I think I checked out every book in the library on that time period. I didn't do a lot of research for my first book since it was set now days. I made up some of the science stuff and my mom and I took a trip down to Kanab after I figured that might be a good town to set my book in. That was fun research because we drove around and the book fell into play. I found the house my main girl lived in, the one the cute alien boy lived in and the restaurants they would eat at.
My reseach now is so different, there is no going back to the Medieval times. I could go to Germany, but I don't think I could justify that with my hubby. SO it is books and videos for me, but it is still so fun to learn about histroy. And to read how other people use history in their writing. I just read The Other Boleyn Girl and her use of history was so sublte. I loved the way she did it. Right now I am reading Timeline by Michael Chriton. He uses histroy more out in the open since his characters are going back to live it, but it is still so fun.
After all this reading, I called Aly and we started a brainstorming session. It is always hard to do because I get in my head how I think the story should be and then she starts asking me WHy? WHy? Why? ANd I get mad and frustrated because I know she is right, I have not thought it out enough.
Shannon Hale just posted the best comment on that. She said...
One of the major hangups in writing a book is when you have an idea about what is going to happen at a certain point, and you write it, and it doesn't work. So you spend a lot of time trying to make it work. At some point during that process, I go through an existential crisis, where I have to stand back and question EVERYTHING. (See her website on my links to the right for more info, it is a fun one to check out)
I hate when that happens. You want something so much and you try to make it work, but it just doesn't. That is how AND THE SKY...was for me. I had a dream and I thought that because that was the dream that started my story going I had to put it in, but I just could not make it work. So guess what? It is not in my book.
So now I am doing a ton of research that may be for naught on this next book, but it is still so much fun to do. Well off to read more about the Age of Chivalry!

Sent Off!

Well, I sent my first 3 chapters, a full synopsis (harder to write those 2 pages than the actual book) and a short biography to the company that requested to see more. I guess all I can do is cross my fingers now. And the Sky Full of Stars is now out there on its way back east. It is exciting and frightening all at once. To think some one liked my 1 page query enough to see more is thrilling, but then I think, now they have 50 pages and what if they read it and fall asleep or just can't bear to read more? AHHHHH! They said they have a 90 day respond rate on requested material, so I guess I will just be at my wits end for the next three months! Oh well, I guess that is the life I got into when I decided to write a book. I just hope somewhere out there someone likes my characters as much as I do!

A lovely website!

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

If you teach primary or Young Womens than this a must go to web site. I discovered it about a month ago and it has been so nice in helping teach the sunbeams. There is always something fun to do or read. There are helps with every single lesson in the primary books. You just click on a book, then on the lesson you are teaching and a bunch of idea, coloring pages, projects, snacks, whatever you name it, show up. People who have done these lessons before and had success or fun can post. It is one big primary share fest. It is so nice to be able to look at and get ideas from. After my first lesson (I am thankful for the day and night) I e-mailed the lady who started this to say thank you. The kids loved turning off the lights and using different sized flash lights to be the sun, moon, and stars. The founder was so nice, she e-mailed me back and let me know about the special Sunbeams area. So once a week you can find me here, perusing the site for helpful hints, and being extremly greatful that creative people share their talents so I can teach your kids!

Writing Party

My friend Meg was here this weekend from Virginia. We met in August at the Orson Scott Card BootCamp. Last night a bunch of us writers got together. It was so fun. Get a group of writers in a room and there is never a silent moment! We played a fun game called Unspeakable Words. It is a card game where you have to spell words, but the higher your points, the more chance you have of losing your mind! What can I say, we are writers and most of us are Sci-Fi or Fantasy so we are crazy already. Then we talked about everything from writing a synopsis to getting published (There were several people there that had short stories published) so it was great to get info because although I have gotten many a rejection, finally someone wrote back and said they wanted to see more. Yeah me! I want to do a public shout out to Aly and just say thanks for the kick in the pants. I would have never gotten this far without you! Well, the evening was a blast and it was so nice to have time away from the house! (D watched the kids, what a sweetie). To all of you that were there, it was great to see you. Thanks for the fun and all the advice. All I have left to say is...WRITE ON!

My Earliest Memories

My Visiting Teacher came yesterday and gave me a very good lesson on writing our personal histories. It really got me thinking. When I first returned to writing about three years ago, I was originally going to write a book about missions for sister missionaries. So I sat out writing down every experience I could think of and then I expanded each of those into paragraphs and more. That was the easy part, organizing those into a non fiction book was not easy. That is when I learned that I am a fiction writer. But it was still good because Now I have all those experiences down, but I don't have many other things down. I started thinking what I would put in a book of my life experiences. Starting at the beginning was a logical place. I got the date I was born, the hospital, Weight, height, name...but then where did I go next. So I started thinking of my earliest memories. Not the things I know because someone told me, but pictures I can remember in my head. That was fun. Here is what I came up with. I think (judging from what I have been told) that most of these took place when I was around 4.
*Floating on a tube in a lake with my dad. (Bear Lake I think)

*Sleeping on the floor at American Fork High while my parents worked on the Pageant of the Arts.
*Flying over the North Pole and the Flight Attendant having me look out the window ( still convinced to this day that I saw Santa's work shop)
*Having to turn plane around after going out over Ocean because someone was sick (found out later it was a man having a heart attack)
*Going to the store in Germany and buying Honey Smacks.

*Going to the fair in Germany with my Opa and riding the ponies and getting a big heart shaped cookie.

*Riding a train and being very afraid because my mom told me the robbers would get me if I didn't stay right by her. (Was reminded later this was because she had me all alone and she was running a fever of about 104 and was so sick)

So I guess my earliest memories are of trips I took, and my family. It is nice to remember that, it makes me want to make sure my kids have memorable family outings as well. So what is your earliest memory?