This is a picture of Pam and I at the beach near San Francisco. This has nothing to do with this post, but I am putting it up anyway. Somehow, in every picture, her hair looks perfect and mine is...less than perfect. Oh well.

I attended a writers conference with Julene at UVU a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun, and quite informative. They had a panel of editors there who answered questions and offered general information on publishing. One of them pointed out that when querying an agent or editor, you should have a professional email address. That never occurred to me. I thought that smirky19@excite.com (coincidentally created when I was 19) would be just fine. So, I created a new email address today. It's perfectly boring, but I'll get over it.

The conference also inspired me to write. I have a set a five page goal for myself. I am not allowed to sleep until I have written five pages. I am also not allowed to revise until I have written five pages. (Naturally revision will be required if I am writing five pages a day.) (I am already thinking about scenes that need revision even as I write this blog. Luckily, the manuscript is tucked safely away at home where I can't get to it.)

So the plan is to finish a rough draft of Writer's Block this month, and have a few people critique it for me. While they critique, I shall work on my second book. (Technically my third, but the first one needs too much work to count...) I plan to join the craziness that is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and attempt to finish The Close Enough Hero in one month. I'll probably have to spend the next few months revising it, but it's a start!

Aspiring Author

It's Sunday, General Conference week. I am at work, taking Israel calls. (Which means that I am actually playing on the Internet or chatting with my co-workers. No one calls on Sunday.) I was looking at my old blog, and I realized that I have completely forgotten the password. So! I am creating a new one! Hopefully I can update this one a little bit more.

I remember telling Natalie once that I couldn't keep my blog updated because no one would be interested in reading it. I don't have any cute kids to post pictures of. (Though I have the most adorable nieces and nephews!) She told me that I travel a lot, and that should make for an interesting blog. I don't know.

This is a picture of me in Merlin's cave. (Tintagel, England. The birthplace of King Arthur!) Hurray!

Katie and I are texting back and forth right now. We're doing a biggest loser competition to see who can lose the most weight for Pam's wedding. Everyone is putting in twenty dollars, and whoever loses the most weight gets the money. (Based off of body percentage, of course.) Luckily I had a really naughty weekend, so my starting weight is more than it should be. Hooray for Bachelorette parties! (My co-worker is trying to tell me that peanut m&ms aren't diet food. I disagree. With 5 grams of protein and low sodium, how are they NOT?)