According to the polls I put up on my blog back at the end of 2013, it appears y’all would enjoy hearing more writing updates and thoughts of mine. Therefore, that’s what you’re going to get today. (Anyone feel like throwing a party and indulging in sugar-free jolly ranchers with me?)

What I’ve done so far this year:

*Co-authored a kids book with my adopted parents, which included amassing tons of information about the Ice Age which I’d previously been ignorant of. Just think giant sloths (2,000 pounds), armadillo-like creatures the size of cars (Glyptodon’s)  and deer with horns sticking out of their noses. So yes, it was a very educational and lovely time. Not to mention that it was like -10 degrees and we were working on a book about the Ice Age. How much more perfect can it get? (Note: my adopted parents did the research, I just helped with the writing. They know a lot of info, so it’s all good.)

*Wrote the first AK book. Which, AK stands for Action Kids. Sound interesting? I hope so, because that’s one of my big projects for the year and if you want updates… 🙂 It’s a “new” series I’m working on that I’ve actually been planning for about three and a half years now.

There are six main characters, all between the ages of 9-12. My goal is to provide uplifting, fun and entertaining ways for kids to learn success principles. Yea for becoming who God created you to be! Anywho, it’s exciting, and tiring, and amazing and all that other stuff. The book is only about 10,500 words long and it’s going to have cartoon-like illustrations in it. It’s going to be wonderful. I currently have the book off to some beta readers who will hopefully (nicely) tell me what issues and problems I need to correct before sending it off to my editor. My editor and I are in kind of a time crunch situation, which is why I worked such a crazy-amount of hours on the book in the last two weeks.

Also, I’m pretty sure that I’ve found the illustrator for the book, which is an answer to prayer and quite a bit of searching which left me going aggggg. Or something like that anyway.

*Entered a writing contest that only had 107 words, but somehow those 107 words took up a lot of time with all the many (many, many, many) re-writes. We should hear back from the contest this week. There were 204 entries, though, peoples!

*Working on the When Life Hands You Lymes book, which actually hasn’t gotten nearly enough plotting done because I was busy with the AK book. And I’m still learning who Madalyn is. I’ve known forever what her story is, but learning who the character is, that’s a whole new problem… Which is why I’m hoping to work a lot on her plot this week which will hopefully do away with the rambling and most likely start her story over again. Sorry peoples. At least you’re getting to know who she is along with me, which was kinda my idea in the first place. Really. Kinda. Maybe.

So that’s my year so far. Not too much, until you realize that it’s only fourteen days into 2014. I wrote one kids book and co-authored another during the first ten days of this year. It was a busy time for me. It still is a busy time for me. But I like busy. And I am trying to learn to be balanced and not do to much; I turn my computer and Internet off on Sundays now, that counts for something, right? Plus, I’m working on reading more, which seems like a good thing. Oh yes, and I taught my little bro how to play Settlers of Catan last night. And he beat me! But see, I take time out for games with my family. That’s a good thing. 😉

He was blue. I was red. He had the longest road, and largest army. Way to go, Moses!

How do y’all stay balanced?
What have you been up to recently?