From Tears to Triumph has a website!

From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope just came out of the interior book designing stage. YEAH!

Ted Witt, from Pretty Road Press did a phenomenal job on the design. All "widows and orphans" are accounted for, page numbers placed, font type and size selected, headers in, and pictures in the back of the book.

I'll be blogging from the website from now on, so click on over and I'll see you there!
www.lindabelloruiz.com

Hugs and blessings! Linda

P.S. PRE-ORDERED, SPECIALLY-FOR-YOU-PRICED BOOKS ARE BEING OFFERED ON THE WEBSITE UNTIL JULY 31st. GET YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY AT A DISCOUNT NOW.

www.lindabelloruiz.com


From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope is being published by Mariah Publishing; www.mariahpublishing.com

Book Cover Revealed!

Book cover revealed!

I’m so excited to show off the cover for “From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope.” The cover was designed by illustrator, Yoko Matsu, and the typography was created by Sam Duncan. I highly recommend both of these young ladies.

The back cover reads:

 During the summer of 1970, nineteen-year-old Linda stops on the way home from work to talk to a tall, handsome stranger on a San Francisco street corner. That chance meeting changes the course of her life. Linda’s compassionate, gripping, and soul-searching memoir tells the story of her remarkable journey from crushed dreams to the creation of a house of Hope.

Her desperate cry for help brings a spiritual awakening, a two-year life-molding adventure with the controversial Children of God commune, and her decision to escape.

By the age of twenty-two, disillusioned but not defeated, Linda follows a tug on her heart and a voice in her head and moves to Costa Rica, where with faith, defiance, and courage she advocates for runaways, street girls and underage prostitutes.  Read her story of tears turned to triumph.

  

From Tears to Triumph will be published (Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise) this summer, by Mariah Publishing.

     The book will be available:

From my website: www.lindabelloruiz.com,

At Mariah Publishing: www.mariahpublishing.com,

On Amazon and Barnes and Noble (including e-reading downloads)

Through emailing me: lmbelloruiz@yahoo.com

I will let you know when it’s ready . . . so excited!

    What do you think? Do you like it? Do you have questions? Those of you who have been following my writing journey know that it's been THREE YEARS since I set out to put my story on paper. I'm so glad to see the finish line straight ahead!

It Takes a Village...to write and publish a book

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

     If someone had told me three years ago when I started writing my memoir, it would take this long to write, edit, polish, rewrite, edit, rewrite and edit some more, I wouldn’t have believed them. I’d have said, “Oh, not me … I can do it faster!” 

     NOT.

     I’ve pretty much completed my work with Linda Joy Myers, from the National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW). She played a valuable role in coaching, teaching, editing and encouraging me for nearly a year. As I entered her last edits into the manuscript at 4:00 pm on April 28th, I emailed her to say, “I’m done!”

     NOT.

     She kindly emailed back, saying I wasn’t “done.”  In fact, she said I now need to find a line-editor to go through the manuscript again. Yes, AGAIN—to see if there are any grammar problems, misplaced comma’s, em-dashes, elipses out of place…” (And, yes, I now know what em-dashes and elipses are!)

     I about fell off my chair. “THERE’S MORE???”

     YES. 

     So here’s where I am in the process. 

Ø The manuscript (which by the way grew from 86,000 words to 107,000 words during this last year), is in the hands of a New York editor. YES! A New York editor.

Ø My nephew Ric and his company, Superior Website Services, are creating my website—at the family discount rate, thank goodness.  I will let you know when the website is up and running.

Ø My writing friend, Quentin, told me about his fabulous illustrator, Yoko, and she will be working with me to design the front and back covers of the book.

Ø Through a local ad, I found a man who restores pictures and he now has my 37-year-old pictures and newspaper articles from The House of Hope, and is getting them ready so I can include them in the back of the book.

Ø And two friends of mine are reading the manuscript checking for flow, pace, and overall interest.

     Who would have thought all of this went into getting a book written, edited and published?

     There’s more. Although I’ve been encouraged by several professionals to seek an agent and through an agent find a traditional publisher, I’ve decided not to follow that route, at least not right now. From my research, I’ve learned agents seldom agree to represent a new, unknown author who has little or no social media platform—meaning thousands and hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, FB followers, Blog followers, etc.

     And that’s okay—heart-breaking, but okay.

     The good thing is that in today’s digital world there are lots of ways to get a manuscript published and that’s what I’m researching right now, with the help of my writing buddy, Leo and others.

     Stay tuned. From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope is nearing completion! And yes, “It takes a village,” to write, edit, and publish. 

     What are your experiences in this journey of writing? Send me an email or post a comment. I would love to hear your story.

("It takes a village" picture from cps.regis.edu)

The next step for “From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope.

After nearly three years of daily feeling, thinking, praying, writing and editing I sent my “baby” to my writing coach, Linda Joy Myers (NAMW) for a complete examination. When she’s through reviewing the 418-page, 104,000-word manuscript, I’ll be one big step closer to the end project ─ a book in my hands (and hopefully yours). I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is bright and shiny, and yet scary.

As you know, this has all been new to me. When I started out to write this memoir nearly three years ago, I really thought it would be relatively easy. I mean, after all, it’s a true story and all I needed to do was put my memories onto the written page.

RIGHT, but WRONG.

Each “memory” comes with a feeling and I had to dig deep and hard to surface the feelings and events surrounding the memories. And sometimes I didn't WANT to remember certain events and the associated feelings--it was gut wrenching. That’s called memoir writing. It’s different than fiction.

In writing fiction, the author uses their imagination and creativity to bolster the story percolating in their mind. In memoir writing you need to write the truth or as close to the truth as you can possibly get…and since I don’t have every conversation and event from all those years ago embedded in my memory bank, I need to relate how it most likely happened, staying true to the story. 

The journals, cassette tapes and letter to my parents that I have had in hand during the process, have been incredibly valuable. It wasn’t always easy, but it’s been so worth the journey.

Stay tuned. And thank YOU for joining me in your hearts and prayers during the last three years!  

(Photo by Ciarán Ryan)

Waiting to Give Birth

 

From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope

 

I definitely see a correlation between waiting for a book to be published and waiting for a child to be born.

 

I've been in Santa Rosa this week with my 21-year-old daughter, Patricia, as we wait for her contractions to start and for her first child, Laila, to come into the world. In those moments when I'm not hanging out with Patricia, bonding, laughing, shopping, walking and planning, I'm on my laptop editing and polishing the final chapters of my book.

 

I started seeing a correlation. 

* Laila is overdue. We all feel she "should have been here by now."

* I expected to have my book finished and published by now…"it feels like it's overdue."

* Every morning I receive calls, emails and text messages from loved ones asking, "Is there a baby yet?"

* Frequently on my Facebook page or in conversations with friends I hear, "Isn't the book ready yet?"

* Patricia is listening to others and researching natural ways to speed up the birthing process--with no luck. As her doctor says, "The baby will come when she's ready."

* I've also looked for ways to "hurry up" the editing and polishing process...but the experts tell me to, "slow down."  

 

We both have to be patient and let the creative process happen.

 

* Patricia and Melchor’s baby has a beautiful name.  They thought about names for months, trying out different ones, and then came up with “Laila Daniley.”

* I’ve thought about names for my book for years. At first it was, “Dear Mom and Dad.” Then it became, “Dear Mom and Dad, Please Send Money,” followed by “House of Hope, Love Without Borders,” and then Unstoppable, My Journey to The House of Hope. The most recent book title is, “From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope.

 

And so it continues. There is no hurrying up the process.  I do believe that what is worth having is worth working on and waiting for… but even so…hurry up already, Laila!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLEANING AND PERCOLATING

                 

UNSTOPPABLE, MY JOURNEY TO THE HOUSE OF HOPE continues to occupy my heart, mind and time. I’ve been “cleaning” and “percolating” in preparation for publishing. As I read through the manuscript, I find words, phrases, paragraphs and whole chapters that although interesting, seem to slow the pace of the story, or aren’t relevant.

Some of these paragraphs and chapters (like when the FBI came knocking when I was sixteen, looking for my boyfriend who’d escaped from jail), will be in the back of the book under “excerpts.”   That’s the cleaning that’s been occupying my time.

Then there’s the percolating. My mind and memory run hot as I ruminate over a word or sentence while walking down the street or trying to fall asleep at night─and a new, better, more concise word or sentence will pour forth, begging to be substituted for said less-concise word or sentence. 

Yes, this is the life of an author. I didn’t know this when I started, but here I am, some ten chapters from the end of the arduous editing process.

A new writing friend, Quentin, has read two of the three-part manuscript. Here is his humorous (but oh, too true) summation:

       

Recipe for a Life…..take one teen-age girl, give her red-hair, excess weight, add a dash of naiveté, and a spoonful of Christian teaching, shake and blend and empty into a street mold in San Francisco, leaving it unprotected until it jells into the first layer.

Next inject a filling of college courses with a syringe to induce a modicum of self-respect, add one boyfriend who sells drugs, be offered a rewarding summer internship as a street hooker working for boyfriend, allow brain to expand like the big-bang to the point of intelligence where internship is summarily turned down, discard empty boyfriend container, mix in a potpourri of doe-eyed religious friends, stir brains slowly until partially curdled.

Carefully pour this malleable cerebrum into a rigid religious cult mold and bake 24/7 until you produce the “I-obey-without-question” second layer.

Saturate layer with a spicy bottle of Spanish language, move concoction 4,000 miles to an open air taco oven deep within Mexico, move dish to different Mexican cities adding local corn and vegetables to fashion the fruitcake-like third layer while praying fanatically and gathering acolytes to help you carry the unique cake of experience-forged-resolve.

Eventually cut a teeny-tiny wedge from the triple layer, feed it to the new Costa Rican President to remind him of his conscience and that God is watching and ask for money to distribute the almost finished layered product, being certain not to disclose individual ingredients of the multi-layer cake, to said President, turn down government offer and move forward looking for guidance to finally co-found and direct The House of Hope for the wayward, adding lavish frosting, sprinkles and candles.

       Win well-earned awards and praise. Reflect often on recipe missteps by gazing into a mirror using the words…what the heck was I thinking?

Hola from Mexico. Thanks to each and every one of you who have supported me in my writing over the last two and a half years. I appreciate you! 

A well-written book needs fresh ingredients: flavor, spice, nutrients, color. Scenes need to be palatable, visual, enticing. That is what I've been doing over the last couple of years. Learning to write well. Learning to have the right ingredients in my Memoir.

Unstoppable is divided into three main parts and the first two are DONE and ready to be published. I’m here in Mexico polishing the third section.

The book title continues to evolve. The newest one is, “Unstoppable: Rebellion, Renewal & Redemption, My Journey to The House of Hope.”  

This title ties into my three-part true-life story. Part one of the memoir is “Rebellion” (my early years), part two “Renewal” (my Children of God years) and part three “Redemption” (the House of Hope years).

Over the next few weeks, I'd like to invite each of you to write part of a scene from Unstoppable.  I’ll start the paragraph and let you fill in how you think it ended or should end. 

Here we go:

#1 (scene from chapter 1) :  "…Just then, the jail door opened and three angry-looking policemen shoved the missing six commune brothers, including Watchman, our leader, into the cell. Two of the boys had bruised faces and swollen eyes. 

“What happened?” Peter asked.

“You won’t believe it,” Watchman said, finding a place to sit in the cell. “Twenty-five policemen showed up at the house, broke through the front and back doors, and tore the house apart. They questioned all of us and beat up Joshua and Matthew.”

I watched his face flush with anger while his voice remained calm, even, controlled.

“Why? What do they think we’ve done?” I asked in disbelief.

 The first shades of fear shuddered through me.

“They were looking for drugs,” Watchman said. “They kept shouting something about ‘hippies and drogas.’”

“Drugs? We’re just young people here in Mexico helping other young people,” Mayra said. “That’s not a crime, is it?”

Suddenly, the overhead light bulb that had struggled to illuminate our area flickered and died out, leaving us in semi-darkness. The moon, peeking through two small windows near the ceiling, provided a sliver of light..."

Now your turn…Complete the scene from your imagination by writing it as a comment. I'll publish your responses on the blog. Enjoy!

Chapter One

My writing journey continues as I polish scene after scene, chapter after chapter of my manuscript, Unstoppable. My Journey to the House of Hope. I am honored to be working with Linda Joy Myers from the National Association on Memoir Writers (NAMW). Her coaching is making me dig deeper into memory  and I am learning to write vivid scenes, not just "the facts." Scenes that will allow you, the reader to see, smell, hear and feel with me. Below is what may be the first part of Chapter One. I say "may be" because the writing is not over until it's in hardback. I'm looking for a chapter that will hook the reader (you) into wanting to read more.  Please check out this beginning and tell me what you think. I  look forward to hearing your comments. Thank you!  Linda   

CHAPTER I

October 19, 1972

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m in jail. We were arrested last night after singing to a big crowd in the town square here in Merida, Mexico. After our last song we talked to the teenagers gathered in the plaza and then walked back to our vans, laughing and talking. We were suddenly surrounded by armed policemen who ordered us into the vans and drove us here to the jail.

I’m sitting on a filthy, cold, concrete floor in a small, narrow holding area with three other girls. We’re outside a jail cell occupied by six brothers from our commune. The drunk-tank is on my right. It reeks of alcohol, urine and vomit. We don’t know why the police arrested us or how long we will be here. I have to use the bathroom, but there is only one toilet and it is out in the open.

                                  Your daughter, Linda

“Mayra, are you awake?” I whispered. “I need you to hold up this newspaper for privacy while I use the bathroom.”

“Mayra’s asleep,” Esther whispered back. “I’ll go with you, I need to go too.”

Toilet duties completed, we lay back down and tried to sleep. I took in short, shallow breaths to avoid inhaling the fetid air around me. A symphony of snores from the drunk-tank broke through moments of silence. The old newspapers, my bed for the night, offered no cushioning on the damp cement floor.

I didn’t feel fear, just confusion as to why we’d been arrested——and I wondered when the police would let us go. Mayra, Esther and Sarah, my commune sisters, huddled nearby, equally uncomfortable.

 

UNSTOPPABLE

A Journey to Hope

A couple of months ago, I completed a thorough punctuation and grammar review with my book doctor, Sue Clark. Shortly thereafter, I interviewed with a small, indie publisher on the phone and she asked me to email her my manuscript for review and possible publication.  I didn’t.

Why? Because a small, jittery feeling inside me said, “You’re not ready.”  Aghast, I responded, “Not ready? I spent one whole year writing non-stop.  Then I spent a year editing and revising.  Friends, groups and family read parts of the manuscript and suggested changes, which I made. How could I not be ready?”

Thus is the life of a writer.

Truth is, I could submit my manuscript to a variety of POD (printing on demand) companies today, pay the required fees and have a book in my hand, and yours, within a four to six week time period.

However my small, jittery, inner voice convinced me that, with some work, the manuscript can become a much better product.  I listened to that voice.

Linda Joy Meyer, President of the National Association of Memoir Writers (www.namw.com), assessed the manuscript, encouraged me to make some pivotal changes, and is now my memoir writing coach. Through her coaching, I am adding depth to the story. 

It’s like a tree. Every manuscript should have a big tree in it. Mine does. Each tree should have tree limbs, branches and leaves.  Mine does. However, my tree needed more branches and lots more leaves.   While I’m adding a few more branches and lots more leaves to my tree, I’ve also submitted the manuscript, chapter by chapter to a local, Inspire Christian Writers, critique group.  Their input has been incredibly valuable. 

How much longer? Well, I’m learning to admire all the writers in the world who have finally published a quality book. I now know how difficult a process it is. I must admit I was very naïve. Linda Joy Meyer thinks we can be done earliest by November (if I’m diligent) and latest by mid-January.

I’ve been told by professionals not to “marry” my book title, just “date” it. Right now, I’m dating a new title…”UNSTOPPABLE. My Journey to Hope.”

What is your experience with writing? Were you as naïve as me?  Did you expect writing and publishing to be fast and easy? Do you like the title I'm dating?

Prologue

Prologue

House of Hope, Love Without Borders

 

May, 1986

The thin, twenty-one-year-old girl walked down the stairs from the plane now sitting on the tarmac at the Tijuana Airport. I watched her make her way uncertainly toward the airport terminal, shoulders slumped and her head down. When she reached the double-glass doors, she raised her head to scan the crowd. As soon as she saw me her face lit up with a smile. I ran to her and gathered her in my arms for a long, warm embrace. It had been seven years since I’d seen her—she’d been fourteen at the time. Now, she was grown up, but still so very small.

 “Bienvenida, mi hija, welcome. I’m so glad you’re here,” I said as I took in her deep brown eyes and bony physique. “Are you ready to do this?”

I had spent ten years trying to get her from Costa Rica and finally she had arrived. I couldn’t help but see the tiny little girl who’d been given to me by her father when she was just eleven. I’d been working in Costa Rica, at the House of Hope, for nearly a year by then. In another lifetime.

“I’m scared,” she answered. “What happens if we get caught? Will I get sent back?” She looked around furtively, as if expecting someone to take her away.

“I don’t want to think about that,” I answered.

I walked her to the parked car where my three friends, Jasper, Jenna and Ceci waited.  

“She’ll sit in the back next to me, “I said. “Ceci, you sit on her left side. Jasper will drive and Jenna will be in the front passenger seat. Let’s go.”

We left the Tijuana Airport and drove north to the U.S. border station. I held Ana Cecilia’s trembling hand. We were all nervous. Back in Costa Rica, so many years ago, I’d promised to never leave her. But I had. I didn’t want to lose her again.

I took a deep breath, willing my heart to beat normally. “Va estar bien, it will be okay,” I said, to assure her and myself.

Five cars were ahead of us as we neared the border guard’s booth. We’d timed our border passing for rush hour traffic, expecting the guards to be less attentive. As we got close, each of us prayed silently that we would be allowed to pass over the border without being detained.  

Continued....soon 

House of Hope: Love Without Borders (new title)

     I will confess that I wanted to keep, "Dear Mom and Dad, Please Send Money," as the book's title. I really did. So many of you encouraged me to do so. But every professional involved in the editing and publishing process with me, has counseled me to change the name.  So here it is: HOUSE OF HOPE, Love Without Borders. You'll understand the new title once you begin reading the book. 

     And...I have changed the Prologue. The original prologue has me sitting in a Mexican jail writing home to my parents: "Dear Mom and Dad, I'm in jail.." The new prologue has me breaking the law to rescue a young girl.  As soon as I hear back from the San Francisco attorney, who I have consulted with (to make sure I won't be arrested for admitting to my crime in a memoir), I'll share that with you...

     Trust me that the name change is a good one. It changes the focus from "me" to the girls in Costa Rica who found safety and love at the House of Hope. And, although the book does start out with me and my life choices, it really does end up being about them.

     I know what you're thinking..."WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET THIS THING PUBLISHED?"  According to my new "Editing Coach," I could go ahead and self-publish now and be fine. But...with a little bit of rework, tightening some of the scenes, the manuscript will be more readily accepted by an agent for traditional publishing...or, if I chose self-publishing at the end, YOU will enjoy reading it even more so, with these few final changes.

     So...bear with me. Writing is a process. I just finished reading, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand -- an excellent, excellent book.  I highly recommend it. It took her seven years to write that masterpiece! Wow.  Mine has only taken two years so far.  And...no...I won't take seven years to complete this.  I PROMISE!
    

     What's your experience with writing? How long did it take you from conception to completion?

Suggested Book Titles -- What's YOUR favorite?

Thank you for your book title suggestions. I'm going to list them here. Tell me which one(s) you like the best:

1) The Crux in the Road
2) Crossroads
3) God Wanted Me in the Red Light Zone
4) Forever Changed
5) Journey
6) Linda -- Lived and written by Linda Bello-Ruiz
7) My Life's Journey to Jesus
8) Hard Knocks to Harmony
9) Rebellis to Caritis
10) Journey from the Redwoods
11) Finding My Way Home
12) Faith Brought Me Back
13) Am I Leaving My Mark on the World?
14) Up from the Street
15) Different: My Journey of Choices, Consequences and Change
16) Against the Wind
17) Now and Forever
18) Dear Mom and Dad
19) Misplaced Love
20) A Spiritual Journey Down The Path of Life Choices
21) A Spiritual Journey Through Life Choices
22) Journey Through Life Choices
23) A Touch of Kindness in the Underworld

24) A small seed moves mountains

24) Light in a dark place

25) Seed planted in drought time

26) Love Beyond Boundaries

27) Love Without Bounderies

28) Many of you suggested I keep "Dear Mom and Dad, Please Send Money

If YOUR suggested title is not listed, please resubmit via a comment here, a post on my Facebook page or via email at: lmbelloruiz@yahoo.com

Thank you everybody!

NAME THE BOOK CONTEST

Synopsis

DEAR MOM AND DAD, PLEASE SEND MONEY

by

Linda Bello-Ruiz

I grew up among vineyards and green rolling hills in Northern California. On high school graduation night, June 1969, I moved to San Francisco to work for the summer. There, I met Raymond. My life changed forever. Misplaced love and lust turned into drugs and degradation. In June, 1971, I was again in San Francisco. This time I was hiding from Raymond, deeply depressed, fearing for my life and contemplating suicide.

Chance, or divine intervention, brought me together with a group of young Christians. I didn’t like Jesus people, so I resisted their message of hope and redemption. However, five hours later I became a new person with a new name and a new family -- the revolutionary Children of God. Some called us radical and evil. Parents stormed our communes to kidnap their children. Blind obedience to my leaders propelled me to Mexico and then Central America. There, I awoke from a spiritual sleep and began to question the dictates of our leader, Moses David Berg. I planned my escape and, with help from my parents, returned home to California.

            God had different plans for me. Months later I was back in Costa Rica, and had joined forces with a Catholic Priest and an American Missionary. Together, we established Costa Rica’s first Christian halfway house for street girls and under-aged prostitutes.  At the age of twenty-three I found myself playing mother, teacher and counselor to rebellious teenage girls just a few years younger than I was.  Our hearts became entwined. All of my bad life choices became meaningful. I understood these girls. God's Spirit was at work. Their lives and mine were forever changed.  

Next Step -- Publication

Linda Caridad, Ana Cecilia and Marielos
The House of Hope, 1975

                                     Publishing

I am so blessed to have gotten this far in my writing journey. The manuscript is now ready for publication. There are many avenues to publication but I will explain the three that I think I understand.

1) Vanity Press - Vanity Press of self-publishing means I send my manuscript to a printing company and pay them to print copies of my book. There is no oversight, no reading of the manuscript. It is fast and affordable.

2) Printing on Demand (POD) - This is where I contact publishers who print on demand and see if they want to publish my book.  Some read the manuscript and some do not.  I would only go with those who take the time to read the manuscript.  I then work with them to create the book cover, choose font and type size, etc.  I pay for their setup services. They publish the number of books I request and sell them back to me at a discount price. I market the book and sell it to you, your friends and the rest of the world.

3) Traditional Publishing - This type of publishing is what most people think of when they see a published book. They assume every book was published by a big name publisher (i.e. Bantam Press, Harper Collins, Thomas Publishing.)

Wrong. A very select few authors get published this way.  And, it's usually well-known names: presidents, Hollywood stars, famous authors, new authors who have become a household name because of their story (i.e. Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Duggard.)

The process to get published via traditional publishing starts with finding a publisher who represents your genre.  My "genre"  is Memoirs, Christian Memoirs, Women Authors.  Some accept manuscripts from unknown, new authors, but most don't.  Some require the author to go through an agent who will represent the author (in this case "Me".) The agent accepts certain manuscripts within their particular genre and will use their expertise to find a publisher.  The author may or may not be paid an advance based on expected sales and then royalties.

I am starting with the traditional publishing avenue and am right now looking for an agent to represent Dear Mom and Dad, Please Send Money.  I have an agent in mind and have prepared a query - which is like a cover letter.  The job of the query is to convince her to read my manuscript.

What is YOUR experience with publishing?

I'm getting closer!

Well, I'm almost there. I've spent the last two months living here in paradise (Barra de Navidad, Mexico), enjoying the sunshine, blue skies and awesome nightly sunsets over the palm trees. I have edited the 441 page manuscript (it keeps growing!) for the upteenth time and submitted it to my "Book Doctor," Sue Clark.  She is now reading it in its entirety, at one sitting, checking for flow and any unforeseen errors. She'll return the manuscript to me once I'm back in California next week. Together she and I will review her suggestions for any further edits which I will make.  THEN it goes to an agent or publisher. My goal for publishing Dear Mom and Dad, Please Send Money, continues to be June, 2012. That is two years start to finish of my writing journey.
     I learned something about printing pages of a manuscript (or any document) that I want to share with you. My writing buddy, Leo, up there in Lincoln sent me the Staples (business supply store) online copy and printing center link which I dutifully followed. There I found a very easy, convenient way to upload my manuscript (I first saved it as a PDF file).  I chose the paper quality and other options (black ink, one sided, no binding), hit enter and then paid with my credit card. Within a few hours Staples Online Print Service had printed my manuscript and mailed it to Sue's house. The charge was less than $50.00. Now THAT was easy. I'm sending the website in case YOU ever need printing services.
http://www.staplescopyandprint.ca/PrintOnline.aspx
  
    Have an awesome day, week, month. I'll keep you posted. 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

2012 has arrived and I am pleased to have arrived with it -- alive and well. My wishes go out to each of you, that you will have an awesome 2012 and that your every goal will come to fruition.

My goal in 2012 is to see "Dear Mom and Dad, Please Send Money," published and in your hands. That's my goal and my prayer.

I have just finished a full editing of all 425 pages with Literary Agent, Sue Clark.  I will take those 425 pages with me to Mexico and fix every dot, comma, gerund (whatever that is) and adverb that she has marked.

When I return from Mexico in mid-March she will do another read-through start to finish -- this time looking for any needed content change.  I will make those changes I agree with and then the manuscript goes off to an agent or publisher.

I am both excited and nervous. Yes, nervous. What if the reader doesn't like my story? Then what? What if, after all this time and effort, the book flops?  That is a fear every writer has had at least once and maybe lots and lots of times.  More so for the "newbe" writer like me.

Well, that may happen. I can't control that --  beyond doing my very, very best in what I have written. I will leave the rest of it in God's hands (and yours).  My memoir is God's story as much as mine.

I am reading a very good book called, "Messy Spirituality -- God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People," by Michael Yaconelli.  His book describes my journey with Jesus -- Messy. Imperfect. Always Struggling. Wanting to do right, and not always succeeding. He, through his words, has reminded me that it's okay to not be perfect.  We can't be perfect. My Memoir has lots of my imperfections in it.  Jesus loves me anyway...will you?

Question: Do you struggle, thinking you have to be perfect or more perfect, or always get it right?

Have a Child, Plant a tree, Write a book

Have a Child, Plant a tree, Write a book

Earlier this week, I stopped by to visit my friend Chato here in Barra de Navidad. His family took care of my sister Marsha when she and her family became ill while visiting Barra back in 1966. Chato wasn’t home so I sat at the kitchen table and visited with his wife, Marta. We chatted and drank cold coconut milk.

Marta comes from the city of Colima which is some two hours from Barra. She is one of eight children. When Marta was young, her mother told her, “Make your mark on the world. Have a child, plant a tree and write a book.” Her mother had only a first grade education, but taught herself to read and write. She didn’t write an official “book,” but she did write letters to her children for each momentous event in their lives. After her death, one of the children gathered her letters from each of the siblings and bound them into a book. In a sense then, Marta’s mother had posthumously created a “book” and fulfilled the last of her adage. She had born eight children, had planted many trees on their land and had written a book.

Marta’s mother’s words touched me.

Have a child. To that I would add --“or adopt a child, or mentor a child.” I believe her mother would agree with those additions.

Plant a tree. Lord knows we need more trees in this world. They are life sustaining and produce the air we breathe. They soothe the soul. They give shade and provide a resting place for birds and small animals. They provide grandeur for us to look at and enjoy.

Write a book. Don’t we all have a story to tell? It could be as simple as keeping a journal, writing a blog, treasuring a shoe box full of love letters, or looking at cards given to us by family and friends. Expressing ourselves through writing is a joy.

For days I have thought about these wise words. They have caused me to look at my own life and take inventory. Will I have left any of these “marks?”

Have a child. I am grateful for my four children; five counting Ana Cecilia who I adopted in Costa Rica many years ago. And the young girls I mentored at the House of Hope in Costa Rica became mine as well. I am grateful to God for allowing me to “have a child” -- in fact, many of them.

Plant a tree. Hank and I have planted twelve palm trees at my home here in Mexico. They have grown tall and strong and I frequently admire them from the hammock in our back yard. They bring me a sense of peace and tropical tranquility.

Write a book. I am putting the finishing touches on Dear Mom and Dad, Please Send Money, my first book. I pray God opens a way for the book to be published so that some of my memories can be shared with family and friends.

Comments: What are your thoughts on the statement, “Make your mark on the world: have a child, plant a tree and write a book?”