It goes back to that old cliché’ “looks can be deceiving.”

When a writer writes, it can sometimes be deceiving. We do that on purpose. We use glittery words and objectives to lead the readers astray in order to surprise them at the end of the story. Some books just aren’t worth reading if you already know how it will end, right?

Whether our words are glittery and shiny with a purpose or not, there are two types of writers. There are those who write for the glittery prose and reader reaction and there are the glamour writers. Yeah, you know the kind – the ones who have stars in their eyes.

Sometimes, we can be neither a glitter or the glamour writer. Sometimes we’re simply old fashion. Sometimes it comes from the heart, and sometimes it doesn’t matter if we have a million books in print or just one.

What really is glamour vs just one sparkly glittering book that you’ve worked so hard to create?

I write this post today, not because of anything going on in my own life, but simply because the term intrigued me. A glitter writer… coming from someone who likes to create things with paper, glue, and fabric. I like to put glitter on my creations. Up until now, I never really thought about making my words “shine” rather than just making every word count.

It all makes sense though I suppose that we would polish and present our best works for editors and agents, so why then should we not want it to shine, sparkle, and dazzle the reader?

Something to think about as I finish the last of the revisions to the current manuscript that I’ve been working on.

How about you, what have you been working on that you might need to polish and add a little glitter to?

Some of us say, “I’m a stay at home mother. I’m an accountant. I’m an artist.” And the person asking the question smiles and doesn’t bat an eye at the response. Any very well, all these responses could be true when it comes to describing myself to others. However, could you imagine if I stood there and told someone, “Well, I’m a full-time wife and mother. Part-time I work as an accountant and the other part of the time I’m a writer. And, sometimes I like to make my own hand bound books and other things.”

I think that person would stand and stare at me, if not their jaw might sag slightly. But if I were to say, “I’m a writer.” They usually give you that knowing nod and say something like “Oh, that’s nice.”

So what really constitutes being a writer?

Well, if we looked it up in a dictionary we’d find some boring sentence of explanation like:

A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, ect., especially as an occupation or profession; and author or journalist.

I kind of like this one a little better:

A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, ect., to writing.

Several years ago, when I first starting ghost writing articles for several websites, I wasn’t sure what constituted being a writer really was. Some said it was being published, some said it was just writing something…

I don’t remember where I read it, but basically it said, “If you believe you are a writer, then you are.”

When I was twelve I wrote a letter to a publisher from the inside page of a book I’d finished reading. In that letter I asked the publisher how it was that writers could go about getting their writing published. You can imagine my dismay when I received a letter back telling me they did not accept unsolicited queries. I was twelve. I didn’t even know what a query was. I just knew I’d written a story and I wanted it to turn into a book.

In the past, getting a book published was a lot like winning the lottery. Only a select few were chosen by publishing houses.

Today, getting published isn’t as simple, but the lottery chances have turned a lot more into the writer’s favor with self-publishing options. This is where many writers don’t have to ask themselves if they are writers, but struggle to know if their work is good enough to put out there. Many are just to impatient to wait several months to receive responses from agents or publishing houses. And there are those who simply don’t want to be disappointed, like a certain twelve-year-old girl who rued the day she’d show that mean ole publishing house that she would publish her book without their help.

There are many ways we can constitute ourselves as being writers. You don’t have to be published to be a writer. Perhaps your writing is private, like in a journal. Perhaps your writing is letters to others you’ve missed or wish to encourage. There is no press to represent letter writing.

There is however hope. There are groups of writers, authors, and poets. There are books on every subject imagineable and good reads yet to come. There are articles, poems, books, lists, words — all written by someone.

Being a writer is being yourself and utilizing a gift that not everyone is given.

And I suppose it is time for me to get back to doing just that.

Boy has been working really hard on his car since Christmas. What every cub scout wants – his pinewood derby car from Santa.

And this is it, after long hours of cutting, sanding, drilling, and painting. Boy calls his car “Color Flash”.  Tomorrow morning, we’ll see how fast Boy’s car can go at his Troop’s Pinewood Derby.

Bug wore her bathing suit to school this past week for Summer Day. The kids in her class participated in fun activities like wading in a small children’s pool, volleyball, and crafts. It definitely was the highlight of her week.

Bella has been working on a project at school involving Tigers. She’s been spending most of her evenings flipping through books, searching facts, and creating a poster for her first school report. I have to say I’m quite proud of her. She’s really worked hard and has been very interested in the topic of Tigers.

We’re heading to the bowling alley this weekend with Bella’s Girl Scout troop. We’ve been looking forward to it, as much as Boy has been looking forward to playing baseball this spring. Today, we officially signed Boy up to play T-ball. He was so upset until I explained that T-ball was baseball and that we all had to learn and start from somewhere.

Chad is busy playing with his new blackberry, a typical boy with a new toy!

Well, I’m off to prepare for another busy week of writing, mothering, and working.

See you tomorrow, for some inspiring finds!

This week, I’m happy to announce that we’ve got a new financial advisor in the family. Chad passed all the required tests and has gone through his training period and is now a certified financial advisor!

I also wanted to thank you all for your prayers and support these past few months while our family has been going through this career transition. I can’t tell you how apprecative we have been to have you all behind us.

I’ve also been promising you all and update on ole blue (our vintage BMW) and here she is pictured above.

As many of you know, ole blue and I haven’t gotten along since the day I drove her home. I’d like to say it’s gotten better, but the last two times I’ve driven ole blue, she’s given me grief. I took her out shopping on Christmas Eve, and her glove box handle broke. Then a few nights ago, I took her to meet my writer’s group, and her driver’s side door refused to latch and shut properly.

Unfortunately, the feeling between us is mutual.

However, as you can see from the photo, she doesn’t belong to me. And poised at her hood, Chad is very much happy to be driving ole blue around town.  If cars and men were meant to be together, like Adam giving a rib for Eve, I’d say these two match up perfectly.

Now Ole Blue spends her days in a parking garage with the other downtown cars while Chad is in his office. When you can’t catch him in the office, you can also find him blogging over at How To Get Rich.  You just might find yourself inspired spiritually and financially when you stop in and check out his blog. Do me a favor this weekend and stop over at his blog and just say hi in the comments section. It’s okay if you say I told you so.

That’s about the most major thing happening this week in our lives.

Bella’s selling Girl Scout Cookies. They’ve got a new cookie flavor this year called Savannah Smiles in. We’re hoping someday that the Girl Scouts will give their girls individual sales websites to sell cookies online as Cub Scouts do for selling Popcorn, it would make it a whole lot easier gathering cookie sales. Wishful thinking on my part, I know. But for now, she’s a real trooper going out and collecting cookie orders.

I can hear her now practicing her violin as I type today’s post, and Boy is working on his car for the upcoming Pine Wood Derby in cubscouts. Bug’s class made soup this week and next week she gets to wear her swimsuit to school for summer day!

And me, well I get stuck doing the laundry this weekend.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and we’ll see what we can whip up for Monday’s Craft Inspiration.

Writing a scene in a novel is like watching an old movie where the police are on the chase of burglar and they stop to ask, “Which way did he go?” Some characters don’t have a clue, they’re purpose is exactly that, not to know. And sometimes, they’re better off not. However, we all know that the burglar gets away in the scene. How else would we move on to the next part of the story?

Creating Cade in UNBRIDLED has been a real challenge for me lately. He’s really made me step back and take a look at my own faith walk these past few weeks. Where as, Jenny has the best intentions, she just keeps sticking her foot in her mouth and poor Sarah is still waddling around waiting to have that baby. Oops, did I say baby? Yeah, so Sarah and Michael are expecting Ethan’s baby sister or brother fairly soon in the second book and Josh is well… Josh.

So, Jenny’s just made a mess of things again, and this time I think she’s done it. Cade is madder than a steaming tea pot.

He’s not sure why he ever came to Silver Wind in the first place, let alone why he’s been sticking around for long. But even though he’s longing for home, he doesn’t know where home is.

Last week as I was finishing up the draft of a chapter, I thought for sure that I knew where was Cade’s home was, then all of a sudden he leaned in and turned the whole scene in a different direction. I guess this week, I’m the one going along for the ride!

And leaves me at the beginning question, “Which way did he go?”

Perhaps next week, Cade will draw me a map to his ending destination. But it’s the journey he takes to get there that matters, right?

Every year for the past decade I’ve made a new years resolution. Most all of us do it. Some of us don’t. And this year, I’m falling into the 1/3 of the American population that doesn’t. I’ve decided that setting a goal on Jan. 1st that I know won’t happen isn’t worth the disappointment.

So tomorrow I’ll set my goal. And tomorrow, I’ll start the steps of making it happen.

But in the mean time, I thought I would share with you something interesting that I learned today.

When you’re all contemplating your new years resolutions, 8% of you will make a resolution to fall in love this year.  In the words of the pastor of our church, “Really? You can choose to fall in love?”

Love isn’t a choice, it just happens. You can’t force it, nor should you deny it. This year, if you’re looking for love, remember to look in the right places. Be patient. I know it can be hard. I’m probably the worst one to tell you that, as I’ve been waiting for certain things to happen for years and find myself growing weary. But in those moments remember “Give careful thought to the paths for you feet and be steadfast in all your ways.” (Proverbs 4-6.)

This year I’m making some changes and I’m counting on you all to keep me steadfast on my journey.

My 2012 bring you love, laughter, and great joy.

He’s rough around the edges, but suffering from a big blow to his heart, a lot harder than any bucking horse has ever been able to throw him. Jenny’s quick wit and sassy personality has him dodging away, that is until she lands one on him and puts him flat on his back in love. Talked about being horse kicked in the heart.

So I’ve searched high and low through Google Images in order to find just the perfect model to introduce you to Cade. And here he is:

Cade Sheridan (like last week’s character look-alike, just imagine this Clay Walker – pictured below - playing the part of Cade Sheridan in my story.)

(Clay Walker photo courtesy of Curb Records.)

He’s just got the greatest smile, don’t you think?

I’m having so much fun working on this WIP. It reminds me a lot of the old days of jumping in the saddle and racing around barrels and “standing on deck” for my turn to race.

Cade Sheridan’s days of bucking bronc’s might be over, but there are plenty of other horses who need his help on the Silver Wind Equine Rescue where this book takes place. Now  if only he and Jenny can stop taking blind kicks at each other and learn to stand in the same pasture.

What do you think, will Jenny and Cade join forces and learn to get along? All I can say is that it’s sure interesting finding out. I’m thinking it just might take a wild stallion in peril to bring them together.

Today I want to introduce you to Jenny, heroine in my latest WIP – UNBRIDLED.

I know she looks a lot like Alyson Hannigan, but just image if a book was a movie, Alyson Hannigan could very easily play the part of Jenny. That’s what reading books are all about, using our imaginations and the little help for a crafty writer to picture the scenes and the characters in our minds, right?

Next Thursday I’ll introduce you to Cade, the hero in this story. And no he doesn’t look anything like John Wayne.

Have a safe and happy weekend, I’ll see you all back on Monday. Don’t forget our link party blog hop on Tuesday — Yeah, I had to get it in one more time.

Please forgive me, I’m only human. Now it’s time to move on to.. today’s post. But please note I’ve rescheduled the post for next Wednesday. Sorry to keep you waiting. Since today is December 1st I wanted to update you on the Nanowrimo results.

Drum roll….

This number is the closet I could find, but actually yesterday I ended the month with 30,704 words. I didn’t make 50,000 but I gave it my all. I’m very surprised I made it this far as prior  years I don’t think I came over 20,000, so this is an achievement for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t meet the 50,000 goal, but I did my best and I’m not finished with the novel just because National Writing Month is over. Today, I wrote. I’m writing now. I’ve added about 2,000 words since yesterday. It doesn’t sound like a lot of words, but trust me once I breakdown the month for you, you can see that being a writer doesn’t mean you always are glued to your keyboard. I’m also glued to my family, friends, and helping out in the community.

First of all, I think I’ve said this before, writing a novel is an art. It takes time. In all honesty, you can’t write a completed novel in a month. Your english teacher in High School handed back that essay two or three times before he/she accepted your final draft. That’s writing a book, except it’s a lot more words and a lot more pages.

I’m almost halfway through and I’m still writing, plotting, and amazed where the characters of this WIP is taking me. It’s like I’m the one along for the ride and I love that about storytelling. Next week, I’ll introduce you to my characters and some the cool background of the Kentucky setting this book takes place in. Lots of history in the area and never a dull moment, just like the Lower household.

This month, along with trying to type out 50,000 words, we had a holiday. But before that, I had a child with no school for a week, a family emergency, a leaky roof, article and story deadlines, friends in need, and the inability to just say “no”. If you’ve ever seen Bug’s puppy dog eye look, you wouldn’t be able to say no either to her cute little face. And three sets of puppy dog eyes… yeah.. I don’t stand a chance!!

Tomorrow is First Friday, and Saturday we’re saying hello to Santa for Bug’s school fundraiser. I’ll be back on Monday to share a simple holiday project with the kids.

If you haven’t signed up for next Tuesday’s (December 13th) blog hop, send me a line. I’d love to have you join the fun.

In the mean time, have an awesome weekend!

Many of you have laughed with me, cried with me, and just been there for a hug. Now it’s my turn to let you know how much that has all ment to me. More than words can say.

Some of you have all been on facebook these past few days sharing the things you’re thankful for, many of those things are in my heart on written in my own mental list. Those things like our spouses, our children, or family and friends. Simple things like hot chocolate, antibotics, and scribbled card that says I love you when your having a diffcult day.

I’m so thankful for all of those and more. I’m thankful for God bringing you all into my life and I hope you’ll continue to stay connected and let me know the ways I can be praying for you on this day.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The Lower Family