Writing Reflections

I don’t blog much about my writing. I guess because I know if I get started in that habit that I might never stop and then there’d be no boundaries left at all. I’ve read horror stories about writers who have crossed the line in the TMI category and I have been determined to avoid it. What I’ve done is essentially end up in the opposite camp. One who never blogs about writing. Aye de mi!

I’ve been doing a lot of editor/agent blog reading lately and have been filing away quite a few tidbits about the industry. It’s like a maze out there and I can say that I am feeling my way around in the dark. My agent definitely helps me out in that regard, but I am such a nerd that I find myself compelled to learn all there is to know about publishing.

I want to know about book deals, and clauses, and foreign rights, and everything….well, everything except rejections, of course. I find myself scouring the internet for any relevant piece of information.

There are a few blogs of anonymous editors that I particularly like (such as editorial anonymous and editorialass) as well as one authored by an anonymous intern. They are truly eye opening and not in the normal sense. Everything I read on publishing is devoured in seconds, but what is startling to me are the strange things some writers do to get noticed. I am at a loss for words at some of the things that writers will do to attract the attention of an agent and/or editor. I am no stranger to the feeling of desperation of wanting your work to be on display. I often get impatient with the process and find myself daydreaming about my moment of Glory (which is really God’s moment since he is the reason for my success, should I ever garner any), but good ole common sense will preclude me from ever acting on any of my non-sensical whims, if I ever had any that is.

I mean, if pregnancy can’t teach a gal to be patient then I suppose publishing can finish the job. Maybe it’s no coincidence they both begin with the letter P.

Maybe that could be my next novel….Publishing and Pregnancy: one’s a pain in the membrane, the other’s a pain in the ____.

Really, I’m joking and although you might not be laughing, I’m cracking myself up. Lol. Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t be writing comedy.

Farewell My Summer Love

Farewell….

To the great Michael Jackson
(b. August 1958-d. June 25, 2009)

He was an amazing performer and musician. He can’t be topped. He had the best selling record worldwide of all time and no one has ever come close. In this day of downloading and ripping CD’s, I doubt anyone ever will.
Michael Jackson and I go way back. Maybe not as far back as others have gone, but far enough. My first memory of MJ was when Thriller came out. I was about 5 years old and too young to watch it without getting nightmares. It took me another 5 years to gather the courage to watch it alone. I have a old memory of finding my older sister Stephanie's Thriller LP album cover and setting it up on my nightstand as a poster. My next memory is of Stephanie’s lifesize poster in her bedroom. He had on the yellow vest and had a curl. He was so cute. And more than that, the man was just plain coooool.

(His lean was waaay hot before Matrix made it hot)

In 1999, I had the opportunity to intern in France for the summer. While I was there I learned that MJ was having a benefit concert in Munich, Germany. I bought my ticket and hopped on the train and joined the thousands of fans from all over the world as we witnessed a bit of history. That concert tour was called “What More Can I Give”. There I also had the pleasure of seeing Luther Vandross perform as well. I even made a sign that had the USA flag behind the words “We Luv U 2”. I did’t want him to think his American fans had forgotten him (some people thought I meant the band U2, which was kind of frustrating. I thought the message was clear, but I guess not). Michael is the reason that I met a wonderful French girl by the name of Celine that summer. We bonded over MJ's music and she told me that she first learned English by listening to MJ's lyrics. We saw each other for the first time since 1999 in October 2007 when my family and I went to Italy. It was a wonderful reunion and I cherish the memory. This is just one example of how MJ has brought people together all over the world.

I have posters, buttons, magazines, even a wallet that I bought for about 3000 lire (which was like a dollar back then) in Italy. I have a Michael Jackson watch and plenty of T-shirts. One with the infamous tippy toe feet. That one is cool.

I have every album he’s ever made. Even those of The Jacksons and The Jackson 5. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Jackson 5 Christmas Album. It’s a tradition in my home. I played that album so much when I was little that my younger sister, Lori, caught on and now it’s a tradition in her home as well.

Words cannot express what his music has done for so many people. I guess that's why so many fans showed up at his hospital, and the Apollo, and his Neverland ranch in California. Regardless of all the other hoopla that occurred over the years, only God judge him now. But, rest assured that we’ll miss the music Mike. We’ll definitely miss the music.

Interesting Childbirth article

If you’ve read my blog and/or clicked on my links then you know I’m an advocate for natural childbirth. It’s the most effective and safest way to give birth and I’d personally rather weather the storm of labor pains than to increase my likelihood of caesarean section or worse.

Anywhoo…here is an interesting tidbit I’ve learned from Midwifeinfo.com. What do you think?

I for one am all for alternatives to epidural anesthesia. Also, if it doesn't take the pain completely away then your body can still respond to the contractions, thus allowing a mother to effectively push her baby out. This would result in fewer c-sections and less inductions (which are the devil I tell you!).

As Ms. Rooks notes in her editorial in the March 2008 edition of the journal Birth, "most U.S. women also lack access to many non-pharmacologic methods to cope with labor pain that, although less effective than epidural analgesia, provide sufficient and satisfactory pain relief to a significant proportion of the women who use them during labor." American women might be surprised to learn that "nitrous oxide is used by the majority of women in many countries
that are relatively similar to the U.S. in general socioeconomic and medical standards,” including 48 percent of the women who gave birth in Finland (2005), 46 percent of those who gave birth in New South Wales, (2004), forty-three percent of women birthing in British Columbia, (2004-5, either alone or with other agents), and fully half of all women birthing in the U.K. (2000). So what happened here, where nitrous oxide was once commonly used in hospitals around the country? Ms. Rooks faults "the evolving epidural monoculture in some hospital obstetric units" where the options for women have become, effectively, an epidural or nothing, perhaps a bit of synthetic narcotic (usually promoted by the nursing staff to get the patient through until she can have her epidural). The complete editorial, entitled "Nitrous Oxide for Pain in Labor--Why Not in the United States?" can be found in Birth, Volume 34 Issue 1 Page 3-5, March 2007.

So, we had another ultrasound this morning….

And we were blessed to find out that I am indeed having a baby boy!

His baby boy parts were very evident on the screen so I can rest assured that there will be no confusion on the day of his birth.

I am so excited because now I can go shopping!!! I truly felt like I couldn’t shop right. I will forever hold to my assertion that shopping for yellow and green isn’t nearly as fun as shopping for pink or blue. And since I have no patience whatsoever it was imperative that I find out the sex as soon as possible.

Now, I can shop in pink, size 2T for my daughter and shop in blue, all sizes for my son. Wow. My son. That’s soooo cooool! I’m so on cloud nine right now.

If you haven’t been reading my posts, the reason I knew it was a boy was only because of the name I found.

My daughter’s name is Anaiah, which means “God has answered”. She was an answer to a prayer. When I got pregnant with her, I had several boy names picked out: Isaiah, Elijah, and Micah. All biblical, but I had no true connection with the names. I also wanted a biblical name choice for a girl, so when I found Anaiah, my hubby and I quickly agreed that it would be the one.

Hubby and I both hoped for a girl, but I didn’t want to claim it because I was too nervous. He said that he knew all along.

This time around, when I found the name Mathias, which means “Gift of God”, I knew from that moment on that he was a boy. Since he was a surprise baby, he's like a present that someone knocks on your door to hand you that you never knew you always wanted. Call it coincidence if you like, but I call it FAITH. God certainly knows better than I.

I knew that the same way Anaiah’s name is a testimony to her life, Mathias’ name would be a testimony to his.
Do I have to tell you how long the 12 week wait was to find out? It felt more like 120 weeks.

Mathias, I can’t wait to introduce myself to you as your momma!