So many mistakes … so much time wasted. Save Thyme and Avoid Common Mistakes is the first in the Common Mistakes Series geared to help you save precious time getting that book published. I have first hand experience on making most if not all of them. With this new year upon us, my goal is to share my journey to make yours smoother and easier with quicker positive results.
The Story
Save Thyme and Avoid Common Mistakes
As I mentioned in my article, Never Give Up!, I am a writer by profession. Although I have more than 100 published articles (most of which were ghost written), my heart’s desire was in the story. I yearned to write that novel and see it published. Even though I was an experienced writer, I quickly learned that fiction writing was a totally different “animal” and I set out to garner the necessary skills.
Hidden Bloodlines
Hidden Bloodlines started as a story triggered by a stay at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. After this story brewed in my mind for two years, I decided that the time was now and I attended my first writers conference.
A Conference Mistake
I successfully pitched my story to agents and publishers during that first conference, but made my first mistake as an conference newbie — I pitched a story that wasn’t written. It was in my head, but not on paper. Every single one of the editors and agents I pitched to, wanted to see a manuscript that did not exist. By the time I wrote it, revised it (I can’t remember how many times) and had it ready, 5 years had passed. Oops — a little late for that group of agents and editors who were either with different publishing houses or made career changes.
Colorado Christian Writers Conference
During those 5 years I worked on learning the craft and developing my skills as a fiction writer — essential if you want to be taken seriously and get published. I highly recommend attending writers conferences even if that story is not written. There are workshops and sessions geared toward honing your skills. Appointments are usually available with not just editors and agents, but writers, and other writing professionals. If you want to pitch a story idea, let the agents and editors know that it’s not written yet, then get on the horn and write it. They may be interested now, but not a year from now.
Welcome L.A. Sartor as our guest today on Thyme for Writers! L.A. Sartor is a bestselling, award-winning author. She began telling stories around the age of 4 when her mother, at L.A.’s insistence, wrote them down and L.A. illustrated them. As an adult, she writes suspense and action-adventure novels with a dash of romance, and screenplays—she’s had a contracted adaptation! She lives in Colorado with her husband whom she met on a blind date. L.A. loves to travel and thinks life is an adventure and we should embrace the journey. She has a blog and a mailing list.
Burnout?
Karen, thank you so much for having me as your guest. You’ve had a great line up of writers so far, I hope I keep the trend going. ?
I thought burnout was for everyone else but me. I was on a tidal wave of producing books. Then something hit me while I was writing my seventh manuscript, Prince of Granola.
Nothing about writing intrigued me. Nothing. Not my blog, not my book. Nada.
Why? I still loved the story and my characters. I was super proud of what I’d accomplished with my writing so far.
My reaction: panic. I didn’t want to sit near my laptop, didn’t even open it for days. And when I did, I forced the writing. We all know that’s not a solution.
So, I basically ignored the dread of writing and fear of not writing, pretty sure other stress factors in my life were the cause. I couldn’t have burnout, writing was my ideal job.
Hmmm, job. More on that later.
Nevertheless, I avidly read articles on burnout or writer’s block as they appeared on my horizon; how to cope, how to push it aside, what it was. And I came to the conclusion that nope, I didn’t have burnout. I had something else. I think the word for that reasoning is denial.
Burnout? by L.A. Sartor
Months later, I faced it head on. I was experiencing burnout. And oddly acknowledging, even saying the word out loud to myself, then close friends and outward from there, made it seem fixable.
Fast forward a couple more months. Still not writing much and whining yet again to my buddy, Audra Harders, about how long it was taking me to get this blasted first draft done, she gently interrupted me and mentioned a concept. A very cool concept.
Writing in chunks.
The concept immediately hit me as right. You all know the feeling. It’s almost euphoric. Moments later my email dinged and I was gifted by her The Chunky Method Handbook by Allie Pleiter.
Immediately after opening the book—well, after I emailed a thank you to her—my anxiety began to dissipate.
And then I realized a few things. I had been writing as though it were a job. I’d retired a few years earlier and hadn’t fit in well with the retirement scheme of no schedules. So, I wrote as if it were a job instead of a gift and a joy.
I pushed through hours of computer time, knowing I had a goal and had to make it. Doing that served me well until it didn’t. I sold a lot of books, made it to #1 on Amazon, both on free and paid books and felt on top of the world…until I didn’t.
Reach Your Goals!
I knew instinctively that setting limits to my goals wasn’t me. I’m a goal oriented person. But changing my perception of goals, in this case allowing myself to write 400 words in a chunk (you learn what your chunks are), and meeting that chunk (goal) really changed me. It set me free. I was successful again when I hit my chunks and I could write as many chunks a day as I wanted. And if I didn’t, I wouldn’t beat myself up, because I knew I would another day, or even the next hour.
I started being productive, and again loving what I was doing. The concept allowed me to be … me.
Back to the job issue. I also realized is that writing isn’t a job for me. And no, I’m not a full-time writer. I don’t want to be, nor frankly, do I have to be. I am a writer who believes in her story and her characters one chunk at a time.
And believe me, the chunks add up quickly, far faster than I could have dreamed. I don’t force it, I let it flow good or bad from my fingers.
Because we all know, if it’s not written down, you can’t fix it and make it better.
Prince of Granola will be out in the spring.
Believe In Me This Christmas Morn by L.A. Sartor
LA Sartor
Love the Romance ~ Live the Adventure
Bestselling Author and Winner of the International Digital Award
Titles published:
Dare to Believe (2012)
Stone of Heaven ( 2013) Carswell Adventure Series Book One
Be Mine This Christmas Night (Holiday 2013) Star light ~ Star Bright Series Book One
Forever Yours This New Year’s Night (Holiday 2014) Star light ~ Star Bright Series Book Two
Viking Gold (July 2015) Carswell Adventure Series Book Two
Believe in Me This Christmas Morn (Holiday 2015) Star Light ~ Star Bright Series Book Three
The Prince of Granola (Coming 2018)
If writing is your passion, never give up! So many things may get in the way — time or the lack of it, discouragement, the need to earn a living, life …. The list goes on and on, especially if your goal is to be published by a traditional publisher.
Resources
The Author Toolbox
Candee Fick talked about the time issue in her article, So Little Time to Conquer this Mountain where she shares her tips and strategies in her busy life and offers a very helpful tool, The Author Toolbox. This article is about perseverance — keeping that goal in sight so that we never give up.
The Journey
As writers, we all deal with discouragement whether we are trying to get published, or are already successfully published. Our journeys may be different, but the difficulties are similar if not the same. In today’s publishing industry, the age of the ebook and ease at which someone can get published independently has changed the course of the industry.
Hidden Bloodlines
Why do we write? For me, it’s a passion for story. There is a story I can’t get out of my mind until I put it on paper. That’s how Hidden Bloodlines started — it was a story that perpetuated itself for two years before I attended my first writers conference in Estes Park, Colorado.
As an attorney and dietitian with multiple articles and one published nonfiction book, writing was my life, but my passion was fiction — a story to share. However, I quickly learned that writing fiction is a totally different “animal” than nonfiction. It is a different art and it was important that I learn the craft. Future articles will talk about this craft and how to achieve the necessary skills for success.
Thyme for Writers The Journey
For those interested in becoming published by a traditional publishing house, the road may be long and bumpy with uncertain forks. If you are not interested in the years usually involved with a traditional publisher, you may want to go the Indy way. Regardless of which avenue you choose, when you reach that publication goal , it doesn’t end. There are millions of books out there and you may ask:
“How will anyone find me?”
“Can I make a living writing?”
“How successful can I be?”
“Is it even worth it?”
Thyme for Writers will help you discern the path that’s right for you. It will hopefully answer your many questions and help you avoid time consuming mistakes. I for one made mistakes that cost me years. Keep your eyes open for future posts that will steer you clear of these mistakes and make your road smoother.
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words The Clove Principle: Puncture Your Writing with Warmth by Kathryn Ross
Welcome Kathryn Ross to Thyme for Writers. Peppermint Bits — Words Spun, Broken and Sweet is Kathryn’s third in the The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words series! What better way to bring in the Christmas season than with Kathryn’s words of wisdom…
Like a good book, the sense of smell possesses the power to whisk a person into another time and place.
Memories
Memory connects a life experience stored in the brain to our senses, ready to unleash it upon our being should we come in contact with that particular sense trigger again. We flood with remembrance as nostalgia works a spa-like treatment upon our hearts—if the memories are sweet.
Peppermint Bits—Words Spun, Broken and Sweet By Kathryn Ross
Christmas may come but once a year, yet when I smell pine and peppermint in July, I have a momentary urge to string lights and plug A Charlie Brown Christmas into the DVD player while consuming sweetness in a cup of hot chocolate stirred with the red and white swirl of a fragrant peppermint candy cane.
But, what if the scents that stir us connect to less than sweet memories? Brokenness. Heart sick moments in our lives we’d rather not return to even in the fleeting imagery of the mind. Sometimes, we don’t want our memories stirred. We don’t want to return to painful moments.
As writers, our words act like the power of scent whisking us to another time and place—both broken and sweet. We stir within our readers either a curse or a blessing. How we balance the ingredients of the words we write and the messages we convey by knowing and targeting a specific audience, determines the value our work is to those we hope to influence.
Powerful vehicles, our senses. Much like trigger words in a story. Swirled together like the red and white of a candy cane, they become effective communication tools for the writer and speaker, spun wisely.
The Blessing Comes through the Broken
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words Peppermint Bits—Words Spun, Broken and Sweet By Kathryn Ross
In the late 1800s, America was growing with European immigrants from many diverse Western cultures. Christmas was a holiday marked by all, though celebrations differed. One thing many did hold in common from the Old World was to see the pig as a symbol of good health and prosperity—something all families hoped for as the new year approached. A candy maker in Saratoga Springs, New York created a unique trinket, to bolster his sales, built on this commonality. He mixed sugar and peppermint into a bright pink concoction and poured it into small molds of a pig. Then, cleverly, he packaged it with a cloth bag, a little metal hammer, and directions for instituting a new family Christmas tradition. After the meal on Christmas day, the pig was placed into the cloth bag and hammered to broken bits. Emptying the bag onto the table, chucks of fragrant peppermint candy poured out—enough for everyone to eat and enjoy,making memories bathed in the scent of peppermint and a wish for good health and prosperity in the new year. Only in brokenness came the blessing.
The Sweetness Comes through Consumption
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words Peppermint Bits—Words Spun, Broken and Sweet By Kathryn Ross
The scent of peppermint has long been connected to Christmas celebrations. As far back as the 1670s in Germany, folkore tells us about the choirmaster petitioning a candy maker to come up with a sugar stick to keep noisy children silent in the solemn part of their worship service. The clever candy maker designed the peppermint flavored candy cane we still use today in the shape of a shepherd’s crook. He swirled the sugar mixture with red and white colors in remembrance of the blood of Jesus shed to make us all whiter than snow. Story spun with tangible stimulants for the senses spoke directly to the youthful audience it was meant to still, as they consumed the sweet. Sticky and forever connected to Christmas, we consume tons of peppermint candy cane confections each year. Only in consumption comes the sweet.
As a writer, I compose my most effective words from a place of brokenness because of the bitter, and the consumption of a sweet remedy discovered. Memories I prefer to tuck away must be stirred to the surface to remember well the sour moments in time, so I might write the way to find the sweet blessing there. For me. For my readers.
Scent, like words, heal. Medicinally, peppermint oil is used to invigorate the mind and senses. It tingles the skin with coolness, aids digestion, comforts stomach upset, and washes over one with an inspiring a sense of peace.
Do the words you write and speak do the same? Are they flavored to draw to the surface bitter things and so heal with the sweet? How can you add a dose of peppermint to your work and minister peace to your readers?
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words When Cinnamon Bark Editors Bite By Kathryn Ross
Writer-speaker, Kathryn Ross, ignites a love of literature and learning through Pageant Wagon Productions and Publishing. She writes and publishes homeschool enrichment and Christian living books for home, church, and school. Her passion is to equip women and families in developing a Family Literacy Lifestyle, producing readers and thinkers who can engage the world from a biblical worldview. She blogs and podcasts at TheWritersReverie.com and PageantWagonPublishing.com. Connect with Miss Kathy on Facebook.
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words When Cinnamon Bark Editors Bit Kathryn Ross
Writer, speaker, teacher, and enrichment artist, Kathryn Ross, sweeps readers into the story-worlds of Jane Austen, C. S. Lewis, Hannah Hurnard, Marguerite de Angeli, John Bunyan, and others, exploring powerful truths to fulfilling God’s plan for your life in her latest publication, The Gatekeeper’s Key. Discern your place and season, with encouragement to see purpose in boundaries, find comfort in trials, and gain fortitude in going forth. Short story, personal testimony, excerpts from classic literature, visual imagery, challenge questions for discussion, and journal prompts for writing assignments draw you before the Gatekeeper. It’s quite a journey—but you’re never alone. Always in His Presence, with an Invitation, a Gatekeeper, and a Key. Perhaps more than one. Purchase on Amazon or direct from Pageant Wagon Publishing.
So many events in life inspire us as writers. I would like to welcome Sheri Carmon Miller to Thyme for Writers. Chasing Genesis is how the eclipse touched this writer’s life… .
ECLIPSE August 21, 2017 Observation location: Bar Nunn, Wyoming (Rural northern edge of Casper, Wyoming) watching the eclipse from the site of an officially deactivated WWII Military airfield Eclipse reaches totality: 11:43 am
ECLIPSE August 21, 2017 Observation location: Bar Nunn, Wyoming (Rural northern edge of Casper, Wyoming) watching the eclipse from the site of an officially deactivated WWII Military airfield
Eclipse reaches totality: 11:43 am
Chasing Genesis
Thyme for Writers Chasing Genesis by Sheri Carmon Miller
Chasing Genesis, we drive across Montana and Wyoming to experience what our LORD created, in the beginning, (Genesis 1:1) when he set the sun and the moon in the sky. “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” (Genesis 1:16) We travel to see the two fantastic lights, the greater and the lesser, together, in time and space and to feel the movement of the moon, on its steady orbit, placed with precision since the birth of the universe, at the command of the LORD–for us, for our benefit. We come to be touched by the cool chill sliding around our bare ankles, that deepens into cold, as the sun’s radiance slowly diminishes.
The Eclipse
Bite by bite the moon blocks the sun, air temperature quickly dropping, as the sun’s life-giving heat no longer reaches the earth. The bright day slowly dimming… until swallowed entirely. The scene, suddenly in silhouette…surreal…a different darkness. Totality! The moon fully eclipsing the commanding, fiery, life of the sun.
Chasing Genesis by Sheri Carmon Miller Eclipse
The sun becomes a charcoal ball surrounded with a burning crown of thorns that recedes into a glowing rim. In the darkness, a 365-degree thread of luminous pink glimmers on the horizon. For an instant, total quiet– the world stilled. In total awe, humanity stands– heads tilted back, mouths slightly open. The human race, united for one perfect moment. All are focused on the heavenlies, like a motionless sea of periscopes breaking the surface of the ocean. Then the unified shouts of joy and astonishment. The wonder! I hold my arms open wide, and turn slowly, in a full circle, drawing it in. The stars come out in the black, noonday heavens. I run and hug a stranger.
I gaze into Genesis. “The heavens declare the glory of God the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)
The Eclipse
Suddenly, 2 ½ minutes later a fierce, piercing-white light, like shards of glass, shatters the darkness, stinging the blackness. “Let there be light…” (Genesis 1:3) Spectacular and jaw dropping. Instantly the light overcomes the darkness, pushing it back with a power I’ve never experienced. The dark was so big, but it was no match for the POWER of the light.
I stand in amazement, reliving the scriptures—like Doubting Thomas, who put his hand into the Lord’s wounds, to more fully understand and believe that Jesus was alive and had risen—so I stand in reverence and wonder– and believe as I experience the scriptures—alive.
For a few brief minutes—gazing so intimately into the heavenlies, I more clearly understand my life on this spinning planet. I feel one with the scriptures and the peoples of this earth, and with all that the LORD has created. The eclipse opened my eyes to just how big the LORD is and how long range his plans are, how powerful he is and how massively he loves us. He created this astounding planet specifically for us and protected the Holy Scriptures across the centuries so that we could clearly know the way to Jesus, our salvation, and our path home to heaven. The 2017 Great American Eclipse—The people poured out of the cities into the wilderness and saw the hand of God. We chased Genesis and remain in total awe from the experience.
Chasing Genesis by Sheri Carmon Miller
Sheri is published with Boulder, CO based publisher, Blue Mountain Arts (BMA), in their inspirational collection Always Follow Your Dreams, Wherever They Lead You, and has also been published in BMA’sindividual greeting card line. The Group Publishing in Loveland, CO published Sheri’s writings in the compilation of their 2012 devotional book, If I Can Do All Things ThroughChrist…Why Can’t I find My Car Keys?She recently completed a children’s manuscript, Kate and the Ladybug, An Allegory about God’s Generous Provision. Her work in progress is Cookies from God: 52 Yummy Devotional Stories for Kids. Sheri’s life verse is John 21:15-18 “…Feed my lambs…Take care of my sheep…” Sheri is passionate about promoting daily Bible reading, as the vehicle of getting to know the LORD on a ‘heart’ level, and for many years has partnered with Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, a non-denominational evangelical Christian ministry headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. She and her husband Brad, have helped facilitate whole church Bible-reading programs in Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. www.BibleJourney.net Sheri and her husband, live in Fort Collins, Colorado.
I’d like to welcome our guest today, Tracy Krauss to Thyme for Writers. Tracy is a multi-published and award winning author and playwright with several books and plays in print. She lives in Tumbler Ridge, BC with her husband of 35 years and teaches secondary school Art, Drama and English.
Tracy Krauss, Author or Conspiracy of Bones
When I first started writing over thirty years ago, I was just happy to clack away at my typewriter (yes – typewriter), dreaming of the day I’d see one of my books on a library shelf somewhere. I was in no hurry. Good thing, since it took me sixteen years to finish my first novel and another seven to finally find a publisher! Those were the days of researching at the library with a pen and paper, and filling actual (as opposed to virtual) wastebaskets with crumpled paper.
By the time I’d finally signed that first contract, this writer’s life had changed. Drastically. And in the past nine years, it hasn’t stopped changing. Although the traditional ‘agent-publisher’ route is still an option, it is no longer the only scenario. I’ve pretty much done the entire gamut – agent, traditional deals, royalties, fee for services (vanity press), and self-publishing using Create Space and Lightning Source. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages, but gone are the days of ‘just writing’. Modern authors have to be savvy business people, too.
Thyme to Write
The biggest wake-up call for me after my first book came out was learning I was expected to do 90% of my own marketing. Beyond a word document, I hardly knew my way around a computer, let alone the internet! And social media? Phth! What’s that? But… necessity is a mighty teacher, let me tell you! The learning curve is still steep at times, but it feels more like a mildly paced yet enjoyable roller–coaster than one of those horrid spin-you-around-until-you-puke rides that nobody actually likes.
What’s my point? If the call is there, you’ll stick with it no matter what. Even after 20 plus books and plays in print, I feel excited about sitting down to write. I can’t imagine a day when I will say, “That’s it. I have no more stories to tell!” It just ain’t gonna happen.
Conspiracy of Bones by Tracy Krauss
Speaking of that first book, I got the rights back to it after seven years and decided to revamp and re-publish it, and I’m giving it away on amazon absolutely free – no strings. (My way of thanking my readers.) CONSPIRACY OF BONES (formerly AND THE BEAT GOES ON) is available on amazon as an ebook for free. (Sorry – the paperback still costs money, but totally worth it!) If you’re interested, here’s the blurb:
Canadian born archaeologist Mark Graham unearths a remarkable discovery while at a dig in the mountains of Zimbabwe – pterodactyl remains and giant human bones buried together. Speculation leads to the possible existence of a mythical race known as ‘Nephilim’, a pre-flood people alleged to have descended from both gods and men.
But scepticism and sabotage delay Mark and his team as the dig site is compromised, putting their discovery – as well as Mark’s very life – in grave danger. Deceived and framed by trusted friends and colleagues, Mark struggles to safeguard his findings and protect his reputation in order to unearth the mystery behind the bones.
I’d love for you to check out any of my other novels as well. My work strikes a chord with readers looking for thought provoking, faith based, romantic suspense that is authentic and sometimes ‘edgy’. (Although not overtly, in my opinion.) All my books can be found by going to my website’s ‘Books’ page.
Thanks to Karen for having me here on Thyme for Writers.
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words The Clove Principle: Puncture Your Writing with Warmth by Kathryn Ross
In Thyme for Writers, The Clove Principle: Puncture Your Writing with Warmth is the second in the The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words series by Kathryn Ross.
Thanksgiving
The pantry, fragrant in Thanksgiving spices, overflows with all the ingredients for holiday baking. Not the least of which are the cloves necessary for flavor-filled pumpkin pie, succulent hams, and first aid should the need arise.
In fact, with diets thrown out the window in the season of family feasts and horn-o-plenty holiday entertaining, a bit of clove oil on hand, rubbed on the tummy, aids digestion and stomach upset when over-eating overtakes the merry-maker at the dinner table.
The chill in the air outside impels us to seek warm things, and clove is the spice to warm traditional dishes this time of year, as well as symbolically impart the inviting fervor of affection in gift-giving.
Victorian Times
In Victorian times, the simplicity of homemade gifts from the kitchen or treasures crafted by hand found a warm welcome. Popular gifts were aromatic pomanders made of tiny, stick-like, brown floral cloves inserted into an orange, like beads studded on a ball ornament for a tree. They, too, hung by a ribbon or nestled in a bowl, releasing the citrus scent of the fruit, mingled with the clove’s own pungent passion. A room enhanced by such fragrance stimulated the human senses, mind, and heart, inviting intimacy.
Puncture your writing with clove to inject warmth and the fragrance of human emotion into your descriptive writing.
The Clove Principle: Puncture Your Writing with Warmth By Kathryn Ross
When I write my first drafts, I’m more concerned with laying out the meat and potatoes of the work without garnished language. Facts must be represented accurately if I’m writing non-fiction; the scene must be played out if I’m writing fiction. Technical language in early drafts, though properly in place, often lack the visceral quality necessary to arrest the senses of the reader and inflame heart and mind with the story material. The select insertion of spicy words help draw out the full flavor of a manuscript.
Use the thesaurus tool in your writing program to locate quality words:
Keep the thesaurus window open throughout a writing project to have ready access.
Find descriptive words that connect to one or more of the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to engage gut responses from your reader.
Don’t overuse words—one evocative and intimate descriptor can do the job more efficiently than a handful of mediocre modifiers.
Clove adds stimulating, warm flavors to the traditional Thanksgiving menu fare, as it aids digestion when eating generous portions. Help your reader better digest your inviting words by applying The Clove Principle to your manuscripts.
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words When Cinnamon Bark Editors Bite By Kathryn Ross
Writer-speaker, Kathryn Ross, ignites a love of literature and learning through Pageant Wagon Productions and Publishing. She writes and publishes homeschool enrichment and Christian living books for home, church, and school. Her passion is to equip women and families in developing a Family Literacy Lifestyle, producing readers and thinkers who can engage the world from a biblical worldview. She blogs and podcasts at TheWritersReverie.com and PageantWagonPublishing.com. Connect with Miss Kathy on Facebook.
The Write Spice: Writing Tips for Flavorful Words When Cinnamon Bark Editors Bit Kathryn Ross
Writer, speaker, teacher, and enrichment artist, Kathryn Ross, sweeps readers into the story-worlds of Jane Austen, C. S. Lewis, Hannah Hurnard, Marguerite de Angeli, John Bunyan, and others, exploring powerful truths to fulfilling God’s plan for your life in her latest publication, The Gatekeeper’s Key. Discern your place and season, with encouragement to see purpose in boundaries, find comfort in trials, and gain fortitude in going forth. Short story, personal testimony, excerpts from classic literature, visual imagery, challenge questions for discussion, and journal prompts for writing assignments draw you before the Gatekeeper. It’s quite a journey—but you’re never alone. Always in His Presence, with an Invitation, a Gatekeeper, and a Key. Perhaps more than one. Purchase on Amazon or direct from Pageant Wagon Publishing.
Heart health requires magnesium. Not only is magnesium a major mineral required for heart function, it is also required for nerve function and acts as an aid in a significant number of enzyme reactions. This article will provide a closer look at magnesium, its sources and needs.
Magnesium: Location & Use
Heart Health Requires Magnesium
Bone is the repository for sixty percent of the body’s magnesium stores. The remainder circulates in the blood stream and works inside cells. Magnesium is used in more than 300 enzymes and within cells. Quite a few energy-yielding compounds require magnesium in order to function properly. The hormone insulin also requires magnesium. (5) (7) (8)
Magnesium Deficiency:
A magnesium deficiency creates an irregular heartbeat in humans. This may be accompanied by:
muscle pain,
weakness,
seizures, and
disorientation.
Blood Pressure: What’s Healthy – What’s Not Hypertension: The Silent Killer
The risk of cardiovascular disease is decreased by a sufficient intake of magnesium. This is a result of its ability to decrease blood pressure through dilating arteries and hindering heart rhythm abnormalities. Magnesium intake should be closely monitored with people who have cardiovascular disease, especially since they are often on diuretics that decrease magnesium levels. It is important to remember because our bodies readily store magnesium — a deficiency in this mineral develops slowly. (5) (7) (8)
Both hypertension and diabetes have been linked with decreased magnesium levels in the blood. It is unclear however, what the cause is for lower magnesium levels in diabetic or hypertensive people. Currently research is ongoing to determine magnesium’s role in the prevention and/or treatment of these diseases. (5) (7) (8)
Magnesium Needs:
Heart Health & Magnesium
The RDA for magnesium in adult women is about 310 milligrams per day and in men about 400 milligrams per day. This amount is determined by the amount the body needs in order to offset the losses incurred daily. On food and supplement labels, the Daily Value for magnesium is based on 400 milligrams. The average consumed by women is approximately 220 milligrams, whereas the average consumed by men is 320 milligrams daily. Accordingly, most adults need to improve their intake of magnesium-rich foods. (1) (2) (3) (4)
Magnesium Sources:
Nutrient Rich – Magnesium Plus
Refined grain products, common in most American diets is a very poor source of magnesium and magnesium supplements are not well-absorbed. Although animal products like meat and milk provide some magnesium, plant products are richer sources of magnesium. Some of these plant products include potatoes, squash, seeds, nuts, beans, and whole grains. (1) (2) (3) (4)
What is your favorite magnesium rich food? Do you have a recipe to share?
Christine Henderson Why Storyboards Are Great Tools for Picture Book Writers
I’d like to welcome Christine Henderson to Thyme for Writers. Christine enjoys writing about family life. Her writings have been featured in numerous anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul and Heaven Touching Earth as well as The Secret Place Devotional guide.
Why Storyboards Are Great Tools for Picture Book Writers
by Christine A. Henderson
Why Storyboards Are Great Tools for Picture Book Writers
I brought a new picture book story to my children’s writers’ group meeting and asked for their assistance in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the story. They all liked the unique plot and the characters but they thought the story was too long. For those of you who write novels, it’s probably hard to imagine that 900 words is too long to tell a story. However, these days 800 words tends to be the max length that publishers want to see.
Being inquisitive and stubborn, I really didn’t think I needed to shorten my story. Surely, new books had at least that many words or more. To test my theory, I went to my local Barnes & Nobles and picked up an assortment of new books that I thought fit my story idea concepts. Sad to say, that word count rang true. Most pages had an average of two to five lines of text with an upper end of nine words per line. The books were 24 or 32 pages with at least two of those pages either being blank or showing the publishing details and acknowledgements.
So it was back to the drawing board – literally. I had imagined a storyboard in my head with the images previously, but now I wanted to put it on paper. Not being a great artist, I drew my stick figures with a bracketed scene description below each drawing. Now I started adding the text. Once I did that, I could see what words weren’t needed because the picture showed that part of the story. It was easy to chop 100 or more words. The story hasn’t lost its plotline, but now it flows better with the images.
Another reason to do a storyboard for a picture book is to see if you have a short story, rather than a picture book. If your storyline takes place in just one or two scenes, it may not be a picture book because there aren’t enough options for illustrations. If that is the case, perhaps you could incorporate that story in a book of stories or submit it to one of the many children’s magazines who accept short stories.
Ann Gabhart is our guest today on Thyme for Writers. Ann is the bestselling author of over thirty novels, has been called a storyteller. That’s not a bad thing for somebody who grew up dreaming of being a writer. Ann’s historical novels have Kentucky backgrounds like her popular Shaker series and her new release, These Healing Hills set in Appalachia. She also writes about family life, love and sometimes mystery (as A.H. Gabhart) in small towns like her Kentucky hometown. She and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren and enjoy life out on the farm.
THYME TO THINK AND DREAM
by Ann H. Gabhart
Thyme for Writers Ann H. Gabhart, Guest
Here we are almost to November, a month of thanksgiving when we consider our blessings. At my little country church, each Sunday we take a few minutes to mention blessings. Sometimes these are what you might think of as everyday blessings. Things like sunshine and rain. Birds and flowers. A child’s smile. A good sermon. An appreciated card. Being alive. So many reasons to be thankful. A good day at work. A restful night’s sleep. Maybe a baby sleeping through the night for the first time. A new rosebush. An old rosebush blooming.
These days we’re also blessed with numerous electronic ways to be entertained. At least I think that’s a blessing. Not long ago, I came across an article about how we are swamped with electronic means to avoid the uneasy condition of being bored. You’ve seen people with a phone in their hand continually. We can watch movies and shows with the touch of a finger on various devices. We keep up with what everybody else is doing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter while sharing our own doings.
But if we continually look to some device to keep us entertained, we lose those times when our minds are just idling. Times when we might be bored. But those times might be our best daydream opportunities when our thoughts can wander while new ideas surface.
When I started writing for publication, I had two young children, so time was at a premium. That was back in the dark ages before clothes came out of the dryer ready to wear. I had to iron every week. Trust me, nothing is much more boring than pressing a pile of pants and shirts. Yet, at the same time, while my hands were busy with smoothing out wrinkles, my thoughts could take flight. I had time to think up story ideas and imagine characters I might want to meet on my writing page.
These Healing Hills by Ann H. Gabhart
Of course, you don’t have to pull out the ironing board to have quiet time for creative thoughts. How about sitting on the back deck as the sun comes up and letting your thoughts meander? For my new book, These Healing Hills, I let my mind wander right over to the Appalachian Mountains as I considered the history of the Frontier Nursing Service. Then my character, Francine, showed up to take those mountain trails to being a midwife. One thought led to another and on until soon my fingers were on the keyboard coming up with yet one more story.
A person needs quiet moments now and again and a little boredom never hurt anybody. Unless of course you grew up on a farm and made the mistake of telling your dad you were bored. Then you might find yourself out in the field picking up rocks or chopping thistles! So hope you have some restful moments this Thanksgiving season to gather your thoughts, count your blessings and come up with some great new ideas.
When Francine’s plans for her future fall apart at the close of World War II, she discovers new purpose as a nurse midwife in the beautiful Kentucky Appalachian Mountains. Will she also find healing and perhaps discover the birth of new love? RT Book Reviews says, “Gabhart’s latest historical novel intrigues, inspires and entertains. . . Humor, grace and, of course, romance give the characters life and breath, and the message of faith is gently organic and sincere.” These Healing Hills is available at bookstores or online book sites. Find more information about the story and buy links at http://www.annhgabhart.com/books/these-healing-hills/
