Yesterday I drove my sister down to Philadelphia to see a specialist. I drove through New York (around the NYC area), New Jersey, and into Pennsylvania.  My prayers were answered since we managed to avoid nearly all the rush hour traffic.  Just a few snags here and there but no where near what I anticipated.  As we passed through Langhorne then into the city proper, traffic increased. Since I grew up in southern New Jersey, I knew what to expect. Horns honking. Drivers under the impression they were the only one on the road. Pedestrians crossing the street regardless of having the light or not.  It's crazy!  But I love it.  I did find some things I didn't expect.

     As I assimilated myself into the hectic traffic, I received several blasts of the horns and a few shouts which I fortunately couldn't understand.  What surprised me was the driver who waved me into his lane as I sat with my turn signal blinking a desperate staccato for help.  Then there was the pedestrian who stepped out in front of me and scared at least two years off my life. He waved apologetically and stepped back onto the curb. 

     My sister incurred several acts of gracious behavior in a huge hospital full of thousands of strangers.  She needed to call me but the receptionist told her to go down five floors and find a phone down there.  A man behind her in line pulled out his cell phone and offered it to her.  She thanked him, called me, and turned to hand it back to him.  He was walking away to take his elderly mother to the bathroom.  My sister was dumbfounded! He just handed his cell phone to a stranger and walked away!  Wow!  

     When he returned, she thanked him again then looked around for a place to sit in the crowded waiting room.  Another man stood and offered her his seat. Surprised, she thanked him.  Later, she waited in another area for me to pick her up.  The seats were filled but a third stranger stood and offered her his seat. 

     Sometimes, we only see the harshness of human beings.  Sometimes it's difficult to find the gracious, kindness of a stranger.  But during an exasperating time for both of us, we each discovered that chivalry and kindness are not a thing of the past. 

     Sometimes when I start thinking about a storyline, the character names pop into the story without my needing to think about it.  I just start typing and the characters name themselves.  For one of my works in progress, I pictured the character but couldn't come up with a name.  So I started searching baby name websites.  I wanted the right name for the characters but I also wanted a name with a strong meaning.

     This morning I stumbled across an article on a website for writers called suite101.com. One of the articles Unusual Baby Names for Girls caught my attention.  The author lists some great unusual names but there are links to many other articles for names.  I've bookmarked the site not only for the names, but for the thousands of other articles concerning writing.  Check it out, even if your characters already have names.  You may find that one name that leads you to a brand new story.

     Enjoy the fruits of my research!

    I held my breath and hit the "send" button.  I just emailed a very detailed and lengthy book proposal to another literary agent.  It was time consuming to fill out exactly what she wanted.  Whether she accepts my book or not, it was a great experience to put all that information together.  It helped me focus on some aspects of publishing that I hadn't worked on yet. 

     Now back to work on The Matter of Faith.  It is taking some turns I hadn't anticipated.  I have the whole storyline outlined, but I didn't expect some things to come up with one of the characters.  I can't wait to see what happens next!

                I am still so excited with my Cusinart coffee grinder!  My secret pal from school gave me some great gifts throughout the year but I have to say my favorite has been the coffee grinder and a bag of Starbucks coffee beans.  The smell of that freshly ground coffee could sustain me for the day!  Sadly, my bag is almost empty.

                Throughout the school year, I have been drinking another brand which I brewed in the classroom.  I have to say that many of my students appreciated the fragrance of freshly brewed coffee first thing in the morning.  But if I purchased coffee, it was from the Dunkin’ Donuts right around the corner from my house.  I started off the school year buying a small coffee.  By October, I graduated to a medium and by Christmas it advanced to a large.  I maintained that status until March when an extra-large became inevitable. By May, I was bringing an extra-large to school and brewing my own.  One morning as I made my java run, I jokingly asked the young man what the next size up from the extra-large was.  Without missing a beat, he replied, “A box of joe.”  I laughed all the way to school.  Oh no! Not a whole box of coffee!

                For tax day in April, several companies gave away free product.  Starbucks offered free house blend coffee if you brought your own travel mug.  I dug out the largest travel mug we owned (it just happened to be a DD mug!) and left a few minutes early for school. They willingly filled the huge cup and I grinned all the way to school. I sipped on it all morning, making it last as long as possible.  By 9:30 my second period ninth grade Earth Science class seemed to be concentrating more than usual on taking notes.  Most were writing furiously while some just stared at me with that deer-in-the-headlights stare. Usually when I see that, I allow a brief side-track to give them a chance to catch up. So I launched into a sixty second gleeful explanation of my free Starbucks coffee.  One of my students raised her hand and asked, “Is it stronger than DD?” Puzzled by the question, I told her a little bit and asked why she wanted to know.  Her reply gave me giggles for days.  “Because you’re talking so fast we can’t keep up with you.”  Okay, so maybe I need to cut back on the caffeine.

                Are you a coffee drinker?  What is your favorite coffee brand? 

       I started the summer break with no real goal in mind. But last week, I started writing again and decided to set a goal to finish The Matter of Faith this summer. At first it seemed like something that would be easily accomplished. I finished Somewhere Down the Road two summers ago, so it seems feasible.  But I just calculated the reality of it and it now seems a bit daunting. In order to reach my goal, I will need to average writing 1300 words a day, 7 days a week.  That’s in addition to preparing to teach four high school science classes beginning in September, working to find an agent, reading and writing book reviews (another new goal I’ve set for myself), and just normal every-day life events.

     Okay, so now that it’s actually written down, I can face the giant. The first thing that comes to mind is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”  The next is Genesis 18:14 “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  When I looked up the reference for that verse in Genesis, I came across this verse in Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”  Wow!  That puts it in perspective!  If this is what God has for me to do, then He will do it through me.  All I have to be is willing.  Talk about a morale booster!

     Take these promises today and claim them for your own.  I would love to hear of some words of encouragement or some Scripture that has helped you achieve your goals.  Leave a comment or send me an email.

     Enjoy your day!

I have been emailing back and forth with a perspective agent, but nothing definite has happened.  I am still looking and have received several good leads from some great published writers.

I have started a Book Review page of books I am reading.  I just finished Colleen Coble's Cry In the Night.  I am now reading through C. S. Lakin's Someone to Blame. I joined a review group and received an advance reading copy from Zondervan. I will post a review as soon as I finish.

What books are you reading this summer? I'd love to find some new books to read. Leave a comment or send me a note.

A friend gave me the name of an online critique group, WritersPub. It is a free critique group for writers. I will post some of my work to see what kind of feedback I get. I'll post here if I get anything helpful, but check it out for yourself.

I joined Gather several years ago and have received some helpful feedback. On that site, I joined several writing groups. One of them gave a writing challenge each week which was a lot of fun and helped me stretch my writing wings. If you are interested in writing and publishing, I strongly suggest getting into either online groups or local groups to get feedback from strangers about your writing.

  I’ve recently joined My Book Therapy which is a group for writers and trying-to-be-writers (like me).  Every Monday evening, there is an online chat with someone in the business.  A week ago, the topic was on forming a new critique group for writing.  If you are interested, follow the link to the transcription of the chat and consider joining My Book Therapy Voices.

                I don’t understand.  Thanksgiving used to be a day to be with family, friends, or just to rest from a hectic work week.  A day to stop for a while and purposely think of the blessings God has given.

             I went grocery shopping at our local Shop Rite the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.  I enjoy grocery shopping, but I can’t really tell you why.  It was just after seven Saturday morning and only a few brave morning people like me had ventured into the maze of abundant holiday specialty foods.  I didn’t need to stand in line at the deli for twenty minutes since there was no line.  I didn’t have to wait patiently for someone to decide which brand of cereal they wanted while they stood in the middle of the aisle.  Even the music was upbeat – a great selection of Oldies. (I LOVE the Oldies!)  I found myself humming or singing quietly, feeling somewhat silly for doing so.  But only until I passed four other people doing the same thing.  Then it didn’t matter!  In a relaxed and happy mood, I approached the cashier.  Again, no line, no waiting, just a pleasant young woman with a pleasant smile.  After loading my items onto the conveyer belt, I tapped my foot to the peppy tune floating over the intercom.  Behind me, the manager was discussing the work schedule for the next week. 

            Suddenly my mood pivoted.  It was like a scene from a movie where the music stops suddenly as the needle scraps raucously across the record.  (I apologize to those of you who have no idea what a record is.  Ask someone older than you.)  I couldn’t help asking her, “Did I hear you say you’re open Thanksgiving Day?”  I was certain I hadn’t heard correctly.  She just smiled and nodded.  “Well, this is one customer who would like to protest on your behalf!  Who do I see to log a complaint?”  She just laughed, but I was completely serious.

            All the way home, I fumed.  By the time I parked the van, I couldn’t decide what angered me more – the audacity of the store to open and force employees to work, or the stupid, idiotic people who would go shopping on Thanksgiving Day.

            Has America really become that greedy?  Do people really need to shop 365 days a year?  Is there really a need to have stores open on days they should be closed?  Who has more greed – the corporations or the customers?  Now before you give me that one exception story, I already understand the idea of exceptions.  But let’s face it.  We can plan ahead and not go shopping for one day.  My family has had more Thanksgivings and Christmas’s where something was forgotten and we lived without it.  Inevitably because my father worked construction most of my life, he was paid just days before Christmas.  My parents were forced to shop almost every Christmas Eve until the last store closed.  But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever they couldn’t finish remained unfinished.  Even if stores had been opened, they would not have gone.  That’s character. 

            So I put this to you, America.  Can you not go shopping just a few days a year?  Will you consciously boycott stores open on Thanksgiving and Christmas?