The Zest & Zeal of Motherhood ~ A to Z Challenge

My A to Z Challenge.  What I'm doing: OFF the CUFF ~ Basically, I'll be keeping posts short and writing about whatever moves me~themes, inspirations, causes, and silliness. I'll stick to my normal posting of Mondays & Wednesdays (possibly an occasional other day), highlighting the appropriate letter for said day. But I will visit blogs throughout the week. I am looking forward to reading your words!

So I thought I'd exit this year's A to Z Challenge with some ZESTY humor to show you that my almost twenty-one-years of motherhood has not stolen all my ZEAL. 

First up ~ The Angst of the Toilet Seat *** Set the scene: We only have three kids ages 7, 3, & 1 at the time. I'm putting 1-year-old for a nap and hear a bellow from the half bathroom. #2nd child--who's head is still too dang big for his short body--was on the toilet and leaned forward to play with his huge firetruck that he brought into the bathroom with him. His gigantic head was too heavy for him to hold up, and its weight pulled him towards the floor. Only ... um ... his 'thingy' got stuck between the toilet seat and the porcelain, stretching the freaking thing out. You should have seen it. It was bleeding, black and blue, and ... OMGosh ... try explaining that one to your pediatrician. (NOTE: Luckily for us, our pediatrician knew our 2nd child well. His mischievousness had already gotten him into so much physical trouble, he was a regular in her office. I could write a book about him alone. We dubbed him Denis the Menace.)

Second for today ~ High Aspirations  *** Mom: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" 4th child/10yr-old: "I want to be the forty-year-old creeper in the basement designing video games and living off YouTube."

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Lastly ~ Youngest Child's Broadened Mind *** Set the scene: I'm in the kitchen preparing dinner. The time is during the last presidential race. A political commercial airs. It's message is encouraging voters to head out to the polls to vote.  4th Child: Mom? Mom: What? 4th Child: Are those polls like stripper poles? 

I have many, many more Sherisms to share with you from my twenty years of motherhood. So stay tuned! It's been a pleasure sharing this year's A to Z Challenge with you. 
Until next time .... Have any interesting stories either you or your kiddos have done? 

I do have one other surprise for today, although it doesn't have to do with the A to Z. Those who know me know I LUV supporting my fellow author. A while back, I released a review for KEEP YOU FROM HARM by the talented Debra Doxer. Today is her cover release day for book II in the series. I just had to share for her. 

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To Have and to Harm (The Remedy Series) by Author Debra Doxer  Cover Design: Okay Creations  Release Day: JUNE 10TH 
 About the Book: She kept everyone from harm, except herself… Raielle’s life was shrouded in secrets. Her power was a secret and so was her past. When she came to Fort Upton, everything changed. She discovered her family, and she found the boy who would own her heart forever. But it couldn’t last. Knowing so little about her power nearly destroyed her. She had to leave and break both their hearts.
Now she’s back in California, and she doesn’t have to hide who she is anymore. But there is no relief in that because she’s drowning in regret. She knew it would take a miracle or a sin to save her, and there was no miracle. Her survival came at too high a price. She found her father, but she can’t go back to Lucas until she finds redemption. 
 She saved him. Then she left him… 
She came out of nowhere and changed him forever, then she disappeared and left him reeling. Her whole life, she never had anyone who really loved her. Until him. Did she think he wouldn’t come for her? Did she believe she wasn’t worth it? 
 Lucas leaves everything behind to follow Raielle. When he finds her, she’s a pale shadow of the girl he remembers. Her power is betraying her and so are the people around her, but one thing hasn’t changed. She selflessly wants to save the world, and he just wants to save her. 
With more secrets to uncover and dark truths to face, Raielle and Lucas must make sacrifices to be together again. But in the end, will those sacrifices bring them closer together or tear them apart? When he’s forced to make the ultimate sacrifice, will she turn her back on everything she believes in to save him again? 
~ This book is intended for mature readers due to sexual situations and strong language. ~ 
 And now, what you’ve all been waiting for!!! Debra is give away a signed set of her Remedy Series! Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Xesturgy Writing ~ A to Z Challenge

My A to Z Challenge.  What I'm doing: OFF the CUFF ~ Basically, I'll be keeping posts short and writing about whatever moves me~themes, inspirations, causes, and silliness. I'll stick to my normal posting of Mondays & Wednesdays (possibly an occasional other day), highlighting the appropriate letter for said day. But I will visit blogs throughout the week. I am looking forward to reading your words!
Xesturgy is the process of polishing, which will be applied to the act of writing for my purposes, today. NA Author Stina Lindenblatt has tagged me in this blog tour, where I'm to share my method for generating ideas, mapping out those ideas, and eventually writing those ideas down. Her first new adult contemporary romance, TELL ME WHEN, is available from Carina Press (Harlequin imprint). LET ME KNOW will be available from Carina Press on September 1st, 2014. Make sure to check them out!

My Writing Process:

What am I working on now?
I'm currently applying my critique partner's suggestions/notes to the fourth draft of my middle grade novel entitled MOTLEY EDUCATION: The Urd Saga. For the most part, the manuscript is ready to send to my agent. But I've decided to revamp the opening to the book and fix one character's purpose in the story. Of course, I still have to check for overly used words and such.

How does my book differ from others within its genre?
Motley Ed is set in a world much like our own, but the middle school is for students who hold psychic abilities as well as those who've adopted New Age beliefs such as being close to nature and the stars. Eventually, the story drifts to places and characters found in Norse Mythology, but written with a steampunk edge. My main character is a mystic/medium and her best friend manipulates matter. Neither are very good at what they do. Yet. ;-)

Why do I write what I do?

My first thought to this question is that I'm still a kid at heart. I have four children, so I've been blessed with see life at all stages through them, again. For me, the tween and teen years pose so many amazing challenges that can be explored from multiple angles. LUV that! I will never tire of spotlighting issues, desires, fears, hopes, and aspirations of this age group. The more I write for them, the more I learn about myself and the world in all its revolving changes.

How does my writing process work? 
Usually something inspires me. It could be a character's facial expression during a movie, the setting from a book I'm reading, something that happened in my local town, or an average day with my kids. Then I come up with a starting point, a middle problem, and then an ending. From their, I get to know my characters, and then ask myself questions about how they'd react to this or that in the particular story I'm working on. Some of this gets blotted into an outline, while some snippets end up on note cards. Guess you could say my Xesturgy process is a bit scattered. But eventually, I do make it shine.

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What's your writing process like?

Continue following the process of writing tour and see how others hammer out their stories.

NEXT UP ON TOUR: Crystal Collier, Kristin Smith, & Eliza Tilton.