Winner and Wonders

First off, it's time to announce the winner of The Little House That Stood DVD giveaway! And the winner is...

Jen!

(Chosen via the List Randomizer.) Congratulations, Jen! An e-mail has been sent to you, so be sure to check your inbox!

And in case you missed it, you can read my review of The Little House That Stood HERE. Thanks again to Propeller for providing my review copy and the giveaway copy!

Wonders

According to Dictionary.com, one definition for a "wonder" is: miraculous deed or event; remarkable phenomenon

I feel like I've been blessed with a lot of wonders in my life, recently!

(Consider this a sort of update on my life, as well as an explanation for my lack of posts recently. There have been some, but yes, I've missed the devotional posts the last couple of weeks - again! *sigh*)

Speedbo

Let's start with Speedbo! If you've been around here for a while, you might remember that I tried to participate in this writing challenge last March. I only logged 7,500 words last time. (It was something, but far from the goal of finishing my WIP!)

Well, I'm participating in the challenge again this year (learn more about Speedbo 2013 HERE, or by clicking the badge in the sidebar). I didn't post about it at the beginning of the month - I mean, let's wait and see if I make some progress before I go embarrassing myself on my blog again, right?? But lo and behold, despite the late start (March 3rd instead of March 1st), I've so far managed to log more than my entire month's effort last year - I've added 9,326 words to my WIP!

I really feel so much more motivation this time around. I think part of that is the added life experience of the past year - like I needed to mature a little bit more before I was ready to finish the story, maybe? I'm really feeling the drive to complete Bleeding Heart now and share it with others (but more on that in a minute!).

Another part of the motivation comes from my Twitter friends. Have you ever done a #1K1Hr? It's where you join with one or more other writers in trying to write 1,000 words in an hour. It's a bit competitive, but mostly it's just fun to know you're not alone in your dreams! If you're a writer and you haven't yet "followed" me on Twitter, I'd love to connect with you there and log some words together!

So, I'm steadily moving along, coming to the end of my second manuscript. You can follow my progress via the StoryToolz widget in the sidebar (under "Current WIP"). My goal was to add another 30,000 words to what I had, but if I don't quite make that but I still finish the first draft of my story, I'll be happy. =)

Bleeding Heart

I hope to have a lot more to say about my WIP in the coming months! I don't want this to be another "Speedbo 2012 incident," where I state a big dream and I don't follow through right away on it. But God's timing and will is best, so if this doesn't come through like I'm planning, I hope you'll forgive my impulsiveness in sharing this dream with you here.

For right now, there are a lot of things coming together that make me hope that perhaps I can share Bleeding Heart with you sooner rather than later! Editing, cover design, endorsements, early readers, etc. - I've been sending out lots of e-mails lately, and I've been blessedly overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of blogging/author friends!! My goal? To self-publish Bleeding Heart, perhaps by August, Lord willing and the creek don't rise! (That could be too optimistic - but hey! I'm enjoying the positive feeling in this moment.)

Be looking for more information about Bleeding Heart and my possible self-publishing endeavors in the next few months!

Editing Through the Seasons

One last note is that I've been blessed with some interest in my freelance editing business, Editing Through the Seasons. I'm hard at work with a client right now, and I am really enjoying working with her! You might get to "meet" her here on the blog, as well as some other dear writer friends who have helped me jump-start my business, during my 3rd blogoversary celebration, coming at the end of March! 

My schedule prior to having a client was a little lax, at best (think: sleeping in a lot). So now with my own writing project this month and a client to assist, I am learning how to make better use of my days. Things are going well, but I'm still trying to find a good balance, as I've obviously been kind of scarce blogging, and I haven't been getting much review reading done. So please bear with me as I take baby steps into this new season of my "career." =)

Well, I think I've dragged this post out long enough, don't you? I hope you don't mind all of the info dumping - and I hope I won't disappoint ya'll if things don't work out the way I'm hoping they will (regarding my writing projects)! But God is good! And feeling this passion for writing again, this excitement for editing, and this joy in the gift of friendship - well, I'm truly grateful for big and "little wonders"! (Cue "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas from Meet the Robinsons; such a great song and movie!)

(Music video from YouTube.)