Spring!

I'm so excited.

Today is the first day of spring!

Flowers and green grass and sunny days...BLISS!

Happy Spring!

Quiet

I could tell you that the reason this blog has been quiet is that I don't have much to say, but that is rarely true. I am a person with lots to say about lots of things. (My husband knows this well).

However, I think this nasty, incredibly harsh winter has taken its toll on a lot of people. Those who have been hit with snowstorm after snowstorm and temperatures below freezing on a continuous basis know what I'm talking about.

Bottom line: I'm tired of being cold. And I know I'm not alone. People are weary of the weather, and I'm no exception. It's now affecting my mood. I'm ready for spring!

But that's not the only reason the blog has been quiet.

The other reason is that I'm searching for the quiet I used to have two or three years ago, before my husband got cable t.v. and a giant flat-screen t.v. hooked up to a powerfully loud Bose speaker. Way back when, I blogged about how quiet my life had become. I didn't watch t.v., but only had a DVD player. My house was blissfully serene. If I wanted to watch a television show, I found it on my computer and watched it at my leisure. But the t.v. certainly wasn't on 24/7.

Since my husband is a garage/car/get your hands dirty type of guy, this winter has driven him bonkers. He wants to be out in his garage working and tinkering, and he can't. (Our garage isn't heated). So he ends up spending most of his time downstairs watching t.v. And if I want to spend time with him, I end up watching t.v., too.

Which means I've become addicted to t.v. shows, the latest being Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch (which has led to an entirely new obsession with the British actor). Of course, watching t.v. or movies isn't all bad. In fact, after a very challenging day at work, I don't mind sitting in front of the t.v. for a few hours to relax. Friday nights are movie night for our family, complete with pizza and snacks, and I love being able to enjoy a movie without worrying about getting up for work in the morning.

But it's not just the noise, literally and figuratively, from the television that has started to consume me. Add the constant noise of social media to the mix - keeping up with Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, my blog, and email - and my head is about ready to explode.

It almost happened last night.

Since my daughter was sick yesterday, I worked from home, which means I sat in front of the computer all day, only on my living room couch instead of my desk. Spending that much time on the computer finally got to me and, in a dramatic departure from my normal routine, I decided to go exercise. My body simply couldn't take sitting in front of a screen anymore. It needed to move.

Later that night, I shut off my laptop and went into my bedroom. No radio playing. No t.v.  Just silence. I picked up the book I'm reading, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, and determined to focus on the story and nothing else. No getting distracted by any type of social media notification.

It was heavenly.

And I realized that my brain had become consumed with noise, and it needs to stop.

I have to believe I am not the only one who feels like this. My recent social media fast (over one weekend) showed me that I wasn't alone in feeling overwhelmed by today's technology.

So, what's the solution? I'm not sure. But I think I have to be pro-active in finding one.

Wish me luck.

It's Here!

I'm so excited to show you the cover of my upcoming book on the history of POW camps in Nebraska during World War II.

Here it is!

To say I'm excited is an understatement. The graphic designer at The History Press did an absolutely incredible job. They nailed it.

We're looking at a release date of mid-April.

So excited!

The Social Media Cleanse

Last Thursday, I'd had it with social media. I just wanted to escape, to not be constantly "in touch" with everyone. To be honest, I feel addicted to checking Twitter and Facebook statuses, and that scares me.

Plus, I have a novel to write, and social media and mindless Internet surfing is a huge time suck.

If I want to be serious about this writing career, that means I have to take a good, hard look at how I spend my time.

So on Friday, I announced that I was taking a social media break for the weekend.

When Saturday morning dawned, I resisted the impulse to check Facebook and Twitter. It wasn't easy. I use both networks to communicate with a lot of different people - my family, co-workers, fellow World War II historians, and other writers. But I also knew that if they needed to get in touch with me and it was urgent, they either had my phone number or email address.

All day yesterday, I worked on my novel. During the times when it was difficult, I wanted to click onto Facebook or Twitter, but I refused to allow myself to slip. This was novel time, not social media time. Isn't my creative process worth more than endless hours spent on social media? Absolutely.

Today was easier. Yes, I still wanted to check my Facebook and Twitter, but I didn't. Instead, I opened the Word document of my novel and got back to work.

Of course, I didn't just write this weekend. I spent time with my husband and my daughter, too. I also took a nap!

It's 6:20 on Sunday evening, and here's what I've learned:

1) I rely on Facebook and Twitter to stay current on what's happening in the world and with family and friends.

2) At first, I felt like I was letting people down by not being "available", but then I realized I was not beholden to anyone but myself. It's okay not to be available 24/7. It's okay to not know what everyone else is doing via FB or Twitter. There's a certain liberation about it.

3) I felt disconnected at first, like I was missing out. We've become so conditioned now to know everything that's going on all the time that not being plugged into our social media network is almost like falling off the grid. And frankly, that's a little sad, isn't it? But it's also the reality of our world. This isn't the days of the telegraph or the Pony Express. We're far, far from it.

4) Forbidding myself from social media freed me up to focus on my fiction. Before, when I hit a particular rough spot, I would click on my FB or Twitter and browse for awhile. Then I'd go back to my story. I'd do this several times in an hour. I realized that this is an avoidance issue. I'm avoiding working on something difficult in my story by clicking on FB or Twitter. Instead, it's better to face it and deal with it. With no social media to fall back on, I became much more focused on my novel.

5) I'm on the computer all day at work. Social media is a small part of my job, too, so I can't abandon it during the week days. BUT, I can abandon it on the weekends and survive.

My fiction is too important for me to relegate it to the sidelines like I've been doing. I've put social media before my first love - writing fiction. No more! I hope to make my weekends as free of social media as possible because my writing is worth it.

Have you ever taken
a break from social media?

Easing Back In

With the nonfiction book safely in my editor's hands, it's time to get back to the novel. I thought I could jump right back in, but it turns out it's been more of a slow process. I think it's because my brain is fried.

This month has been full of a lot of upheavals for our family, and the stress has taken a toll. In the midst of all of that, I was trying to finish a book. Now that it's done, my brain is yelling at me to just take a break. Play. Read. Watch movies. Be lazy.

Of course, the Should Committee is out in full force.

"You should be writing right now."

"You should quit being lazy and get to work."

"You should turn off the t.v. and do something productive."

I'm telling the Should Committee to take a hike.

The older I get, the more attune I become to what my body (and my brain) is trying to tell me.

And right now, it's telling me to relax.  Refuel. Re-energize.

So that's what I'm doing.

The excitement is slowly returning, and I can't wait until it's time to become immersed again in my fiction.

The moment will come. I will be patient, and I will wait.

It's Done

It's done.

The project that started over a year ago has finally been sent to my editor.

Yes, I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief.

I did it.

*fist pump*

Now it's time to clean my office. Files and books and pens and paper are scattered everywhere. And the cat has claimed a permanent spot on my reading chair!

I can't wait to get back to my novel.

And this saying below is oh-so appropriate. I went through a lot of ups and downs this past year (and this past month has been a doozy!), but I just kept on because I knew God was working with me the whole time.

SNAFUs (The Clean Kind)

There are a lot of SNAFUs when you're writing a book.

(SNAFU is military jargon. The clean version is, 'Situation Normal All Fouled Up.' I'll let you fill in the blanks on what the censored version is.)

I sent in the images to my editor. She sent back a list of images that had problems.

I panicked, got frustrated, and frantically emailed a friend for help. Said friend told me to calm down, that we'd figure it out.

Photos were finished today, sent to editor, and whew, thank goodness, they are okay.

Then comes another SNAFU.

Did a certain POW branch camp (one that was under the jurisdiction of the main POW camp) exist in this town or not?

One record says yes, another says no. The town is so miniscule that finding someone knowledgeable about said camp is like finding a cat who doesn't like its head scratched.

And then there's the indexing, which I haven't even started yet. Here's hoping there won't be any SNAFUs with this one, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few crop up.

Writing a book is like living your life, though. SNAFUs come up all the time. It's how you deal with them, how you react, how you move forward and work through them that matters, not the SNAFUs themselves.

Onward.

Another Round of Randomness!

I love doing my "random" blog posts because I don't have to think too much. Ha!

1) I can now say that I've completed the rough draft of my non-fiction book on the POW camps in Nebraska during World War II. It's been a whirlwind of a challenge. I'm very glad I decided to tackle it, but I'm also looking forward to turning it in to my publisher!

2) My family's life was thrown a very sharp curve ball last week and we've been struggling to deal with the fall-out. Being thrown into unchartered territory is never fun, but we are strong and we will get through it together.

3) I made it back to the gym on Monday. Hurrah! It's been ages since I went - in fact, it was in September, before I got hit with mono. It felt great to work out again and I hope I can keep a regular schedule this time.

4) We have a new resident at our house - a kitty named LuLu. She is black with white patches on her chest - one even looks like the Batman symbol. She was my stepson's cat, but since he is unable to have her where he's currently living, we decided to take her in until such time as he can care for her again. She is a huge cuddle bug and loves to play with our other cat, Slick. Now my cat, Kathryn, who is old and grouchy, doesn't particularly care for either of the two youngsters. At most, she tolerates them. So she hasn't been too thrilled with the new addition.

I fondly called LuLu my research intern (my other two cats are known as Research Assistants #1 and #2), but now she has been promoted to Research Assistant #3. Here she is goofing off (Slick is looking on).

5) I have to go to an open house this week for my daughter's school for next year. And it's a high school. Yes, she will be a freshman in high school next year. How has this happened? I refuse to believe I am old enough to have a daughter in high school!

6) The novel...ah, the novel. I am chomping at the bit to get back to it. I'm already trying to figure out which novel to write next and I think I'll go back to a novel I previously put aside. It's still a very strong story and with some tweaking, I am quite excited by how it will play out.

7) The next James Bond movie release date has been announced: November 2015. GAH. That is far too long to wait, but wait I must. I think Daniel Craig has reinvigorated the James Bond franchise and I look forward to seeing what he does next.

I'll leave you with this:

(You know you tried it!)

Dream Travel

Because it is SUPER cold here today - so cold that they canceled school - I've been dreaming of heading to a slightly warmer locale. I'm not a tropical gal at all, so Hawaii and anything with beaches doesn't fit my the bill for me (I know, I'm weird).

But I could certainly go for a stay in Italy with my Italian relatives. One of them posts pictures on Facebook all the time of Volpiano in the Piedmont region of northern Italy (where my grandfather's family is from) and the surrounding countryside. It looks absolutely gorgeous. Plus the food! Oh, the food...I would love to be able to have some traditional Italian dishes that I've been enjoying for years that are actually MADE in Italy.

Volpiano, Italy.

Then there's Germany. Since I'm a World War II historian, I naturally want to go here for historical purposes, but it's also a beautiful country. Just today, I connected with an 88-year-old German man who was a POW in Nebraska during WW2. I wish I could hop on a plane and go interview him.

I wouldn't mind England or Scotland or Ireland, either. But I'm not sure that they are much warmer than we are! Of course, I did hear today that it was colder in Colorado than it was in the North Pole. That's a little frightening.

I think I could easily go to the south of France. It's warmer there during the winter, isn't it? That sounds like a good idea to me...

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?

New Ventures

The new year will bring some exciting new ventures for me!

First, my non-fiction book on the World War II POW camps in Nebraska will be published this year. That's scary and exhilarating and very, very cool. I'm looking forward to that day, especially since I'm still in the midst of editing! But the end is in sight.

Second, I joined a new group blog for historical fiction writers of the twentieth century called The Modern Belles of History. We write Edwardian, World War I, World War II, the 1920s, the 1930s, etc. I'm quite excited. We plan to launch in mid-January, and there are three ways you can follow us:

1) Our blog, http://modernbellesofhistory.com/
2) Twitter @bellesofhistory
3) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bellesofhistory

And third, look for more reviews on my World War II blog, The Best of World War II. I have a lot of terrific books in my review pile and I can't wait to dive into them.

Do you have any new ventures you're planning to undertake this year?

Face-To-Face

On a whim, I emailed my critique buddy who lives here in town. Not only are we both fiction writers and critique partners, but we're good friends, too. I haven't seen her for awhile due to health problems (both of us), job challenges, her son getting married, the holidays, etc., etc. So I emailed her today to ask if she'd like to meet for coffee since I knew we both had the day off, and she was up for it.

We met at a local place and had coffee (okay, I had a diet Pepsi and a red velvet cookie - bad, I know!) and talked and talked and laughed and commiserated with each other. We talked about our jobs, our families, our faith, and of course, we talked about our writing.

Most of my writing friends are online. I'm deeply thankful for them all because writing is a solitary business. But it is also important to have writing friends off-line, too. Being able to hear the other person's voice and see them face to face is essential for knowing that we are not alone. We can put a face, a voice, a mannerism, a wave of the hand, to that person. Sure, you can Skype with someone, but really, it's not quite the same thing as meeting them in person.

We both resolved not to let so much time go by again before we reconnect. We're also planning to have a mini writing retreat of our own in the next few months. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do nothing but work on my fiction!

In Holiday News...

We had a very quiet Christmas and we will have a very quiet New Year's Eve. We don't ever go out on this night because it's far safer to stay home and it's also a lot quieter. Ha! Does that mean we're getting old? I suppose. My husband told me tonight that he will try to stay up until midnight, but since he is used to falling asleep early every night, I'm not counting on it.

Still, I plan on watching some good movies and having my annual New Year's Eve snack: Lays potato chips and French onion dip. I think I started eating this snack every New Year's Eve when I was in high school, and I've continued the tradition through the years.

Then it's back to work on Thursday! Sigh. I'm not ready. I'd much rather stay home and work on my writing projects. But in a way, it's nice to get back into a routine. I've let my eating habits sort of run by the wayside this past week and a half. Must get that back on track soon! (After the chips and dip, of course!).

Happy New Year to you and yours!