Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.26.05 After emails from friends, IMing with Heather, and lots of prayer, I think I will try to finish the suspense in the next two weeks. If God wants me to finish it, I will by His grace (I mean, two weeks? ). If He doesn’t, I’ll figure it out soon enough. And I’ll only have wasted two weeks of time. After that, no matter what happens, I’m working on the Chicklit. Actually, since I plot best while moving, I can still plot the Chicklit while I walk at work, or when I’m doing mindless things. But two weeks is it. And if God makes it clear to me before then that it’s not His will for me to write this ms, then I might start on the Chicklit sooner. I hope I prayed about this enough. Well, I can still continue to pray. Heather had a good point. My desire to finish my suspense may be mostly my Monk-ish desire to finish things, to be perfect. I need to give that up to God. Perfection is not the issue here--God’s will is. I can’t live my l...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental I just read an email from my agent. I had asked him if I should continue with my romantic suspense or go for another Chicklit, and he said he’d rather I wrote the Chicklit. So what do I do? I’ve invested so much time in my suspense, and this would be the second manuscript I’ve worked on and then abandoned in a year. I’d really like to finish something, at least to know I could do it. So far I’ve only completed the one Chicklit manuscript. I’m a bit worried I don’t have the discipline to complete another one. Or do I follow my agent’s feelings about the market? If I wrote the Chicklit, I would set it in Hawaii . I know from my own websearch that there really aren’t any Chicklits set in Hawaii , except for Sisterchicks do the Hula , which is more along the lines of Henlit. Plus there was so much editor interest in the concept of an Asian Chicklit, would I be shooting myself in the butt to not jump at the chance while it’s hot? And would I ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.25.05 I have been spending a short time in prayer before I start work on my manuscript, asking Him to cover me so that these words are His. I also read today in My Utmost for His Highest that I shouldn’t expect God to act or reveal Himself in certain ways, because He can do whatever and whenever He pleases. I’ve applied this to the spiritual thread in my manuscript. If I focus on putting in a conversion scene or repentance scene, I might be boxing Christ in, not allowing Him to lift Himself up in some other way. So I’m trying to keep myself open to allow Him to shine His light through this story in the way He chooses. I also printed out my goals and stuck them at the bottom of my computer monitor. I am not doing too badly. I won’t make my Feb 1st project goal, but I’ve been keeping up on my learning goals and my blog. I’ve at least worked on my short story for this month, although I haven’t critiqued enough pieces on Writing.com (I’m supp...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.24.05 I simply cannot feel the inclination to write, but that might be because I’m tired. I’ll eat dinner and then dive into it. Writing: Hopefully I’ll work long and hard on my manuscript tonight. :-) Diet: Okay, although I didn’t go walking today because I worked through lunch and then my supervisor called a meeting for 1pm , which I didn’t know about until 12:30pm . I was late to the meeting, which ran long, so I had to wait until afterward to gobble down my lunch. I tried to make my PT appointment but had too much work to do, so I ended up staying late to get the stuff done. I’m exhausted right now, eating dried apricots and not even feeling guilty.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.23.05 Well, I had to go into work today so I feel like half the day is gone, even though it only took about 4 hours from my afternoon. But now I have the evening to enjoy, plus my husband doesn’t have to work today so he’s home for once. Maybe we’ll watch a movie, or maybe those episodes of 24 that he hasn’t seen yet. I’m not that nuts about 24, only because the last two seasons haven’t really been that terrific--entertaining, but not edge-of-my-seat-I-must-watch-the-next-episode kind of exciting. I did see Battlestar Galactica last night (Tivo’d) with my husband. I probably annoyed him by commenting all the time, but I love watching that show. The fast-movement camera action wasn’t too bad for this episode. The characters are so rich, with so much internal and external conflict. Excellent writing. It’s so different from the original series. I think it’s better. Writing: I didn’t do my 100 words on Saturday :-( but I am very excited to co...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.21.05 I got the nicest rejection possible from Integrity Publishers. Basically saying my heroine needs more backbone, what Maass refers to as “larger than life” characteristics. Like Scarlett O’Hara, can’t get larger than life than that. After reading Maass, I’ve been realizing how my first manuscript really could use some fireworks to kick it up a notch, so Integrity’s comments aren’t that surprising to me. I’m bummed, but I’m also doing okay, honestly. The good news is that my agent didn’t dump me as the last rejection came in. He encouraged me to try something new, taking the editors’ comments into account, and assured me he’s interested in trying again. I emailed to ask him if I should continue with the Asian romantic suspense, or try another Asian chicklit. I wouldn’t mind delving into humor again, maybe with a bit of mystery woven in. But ultimately, I guess it’s what God wants me to write. I was mentioning to Sharon today t...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.20.05 I have been doing Kay Arthur’s Inductive Bible Study book “That I May Know Him,” studies in Philippians and Colossians, for my quiet times. I have been doing the section for Colossians but not getting a great deal out of it. It seems to be geared toward a new believer, and I’m not terribly excited about it. I wanted a study guide to take me through Colossians and the other study books I’ve used from that series have been pretty good. The one on Daniel was terrific. But I’ve been skipping a bit through this one, although I try not to. What’s my point? I dunno. I’ve also been reading through Psalms, which has been uplifting. And at night I’ve been going through “Streams in the Desert.” Wonderful devotional. I’ve felt very convicted by the reminders, thoughts, and life-lessons. It’s especially apt for believers struggling through a difficult time, it seems aimed toward that particular spiritual need. Work has been good. I...