Sabrina's Blog

The husband of a blogger friend( Morgan Shamy ) put together a list of 30 things to do 30 times each for his 30th birthday. I like the idea, but have personalized it for myself. I have created a list of 30 goals I would like to accomplish by my 30th birthday on September 28th, 2012. Keep in mind that these are in no particular order and include goals that I set for myself in January of this year. If I have already accomplished them, they are in BOLD . Finish writing Book 1 Write first third of Book 2's 1st draft Submit Book 1 to an agent or editor Write 30 emails of gratitude Participate in a 5K for a worthy cause-Hot Mamas Run in September Read at least 1/2 if not entire Christian Bible Volunteer at my church Tithe at least $10 each Sunday at church, if not more Reach 100 followers or more on my blog Reach 5,000 pageviews on my blo g Sign up for (2) platform building campaigns Reach 200 members in my writing group Volunteer to Shepherd at  OWFI Explain Lent to ...

After a fabulous hour spent praising God, I find myself revived and ready to conquer another week of writing and revising on my WIP. By Sunday morning, each week, I find that I need the uplifting atmosphere, music, and fellow Christians coming together to worship God, that church gives me. Sure, I pray and read my bible during the week, but there is just something about joining others in praise that eliminates the self-doubts I experience from time to time as a writer as well as in other aspects of my life. Doubt is part of human nature. It is what the devil, dark forces, evil uses to exploit our weaknesses. This weakness of human nature is seen even in the not-so-human characters in my WIP. In honor of celebrating the refreshed feeling I experience each week by praising God at church, I thought I'd share a brief scene from my WIP. It seems humans aren't the only beings that struggle with faith, hope, and duty.  Here, Ailith beseeches Ruark to accept that wh...

A dream has come true for a fellow blogger, Facebook, and campaign friend, Jessica Therrien. Her first book, Oppression , is published and for sale. As I congratulate her, I also find myself wistful. She was me not so long ago. I can only imagine her giddiness at this so long dreamed of accomplishment. And her nervousness as she obsessively watches the sales statistics. The closer I get to having my WIP finished and ready to submit, the more nervous I get. Questions circle around in my head like a never-ending carousel. How many times will I be rejected before I finally meet that agent and then editor that will like my work? How long will it take? Is my WIP even good enough? Though I tell myself to quit being ridiculous, the doubts continue. Then I see someone like me succeed. And I know...It will happen! Maybe not the first submission, or the tenth, but eventually, like my friend Jessica, I will be published. I won't quit writing, revising, and studying this wonderful c...

Today I get to participate in Challenge #1  of Rachael Harrie's 4th Writer's Platform Building Campaign. I am so excited. Here is the challenge and then my response to it: Write a short story/ flash fiction  story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count.   If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do  one or more  of these: end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count) include the word "orange" in the story write in the same genre you normally write make your story 200 words exactly! I decided to use the characters from my current work-in-progress. I did it in exactly 200 words in my genre using both the beginning and end sentence. Enjoy. Elusive Escape by Sabrina A. Fish Shadows crept along the wall, inky ...

Feeling a little over-extended today. I know, I know. I do this to myself...but still. I might have accidentally scheduled lunch and bought tickets to a musical for my grandma's birthday on Saturday, completely forgetting that my writer's club meeting is on Saturday and I had planned to lunch with them after. Luckily, lunch with Gram isn't until noon, so I can go sit with my group and have a tea until I need to travel the few blocks to the Museum Cafe to have lunch with my Gram. Whew! Then I forgot until yesterday that I am supposed to meet with my critique group on Sunday. I still need to read and critique my four group member's chapters. Thank goodness they are all good writers and it isn't hard to fly through their material. The agenda for Saturday's meeting needs to be typed, ink to print certificates out for the raffle needs to be bought, fliers need to be taken to a nearby college advertising our group, AND I still need to get an update on my writing g...

I gave my blog a facelift! What do you think? On facebook, a friend pointed me to  Cute n Cool Blog Stuff . Itkupilli has the cutest designs for backgrounds, buttons, and banners. To add icing to the cake, she posts a few for other bloggers to use for free. If you like the shabby chic style of my blog's new look, go check her out.  Don't forget to let me know what you think about my blog's new look!

I logged on this afternoon to find that I've been tagged by a fellow campaigner to answer 11 questions and then tag others with 11 of my own questions. Ah,  Hildred , How I wanted to bang my head on the computer when I saw that you tagged me to answer these questions AND then make up my own. I always go blank when trying to come up with my own random questions like this. I do, however, appreciate the shout out. *grin* Your answers to your own set of questions cracked me up by the way! 1. What is the single most annoying trope that makes you want to claw your eyes out? I actually annoy myself with one that I have to repeatedly edit OVER and OVER. I have no idea why, but to me anything evil is associated with being cold, icy, frigid, etc. When I first started writing, I would use it TOO much, for example:  Now, though I don't use it as much, it still finds its way into my writing on occasion. And I groan each time. I have no idea why. 2. If you could alter history a...

Studying the faded picture on the cover of the book, Sara inhaled the unique smell of aged paper and leather that permeated every nook and cranny of her grandmother’s library. She relished the rough texture of the cover under her fingers as she traced the two girls sitting atop a lion. The odd half human/ half goat creatures holding branches to frame the children and lion had caught her attention as she perused the shelves of books. Opening the cover to find the first page, Sara lost herself in the magical world of Narnia created by C. S. Lewis. As the adventures of the four siblings progressed, a small flame flared to life. Sara fell in love.  Worlds opened up within her. A passion was born. Her life would never be the same. With one book, a desire for a future of creating with words bloomed insider her. As writers, this simple love story may seem familiar. The book that triggered your own love of words may be different, but the event is the same. Reading a...

Mom called today. As soon as I heard her voice practically sing "hello", I cringed in guilt. The guilt became even heavier as she continued to say, "I looked in my phone and realized the last time I spoke to you was on the 1st, so I thought I'd call and see how you were doing." Sorry, Mom! I used to be a master at juggling a zillion different obligations. Running my mommy group, being a mom, being a wife, being a good friend, calling my mom, sister, and gram, cleaning my house, grocery shopping and other errands, paying bills, balancing the check book, etc, etc, etc. Since I started writing? Let's just say, I am preoccupied. *grin* I know my writer friends understand. Now I find myself thinking about my characters rather than calling my mother. I play in my made up world and forget about that load of wet laundry sitting in the washer. I sit before my computer, brainstorming how I can improve this or that scene, rather than getting out to meet my girlfr...

I decided to try a new adventure(as if I needed another one, righ?!). I joined  Rachel Harrie  's Writer's Platform Building Campaign. I learned about it through a friend and cannot wait to meet others who are like me, i.e. new writer, blogger, social bug, etc. It is always nice to make friends with others who understand the mad journey your on and that is my main goal, though being able to help others newer than me as some of my mentors have helped me would be even better! This is Rachel Harrie's 4th Campaign and I cannot wait to participate in a challenge or two, and possibly win a prize.

This last year and a half has been full of new lessons learned. When I began to write this first novel of mine, it did not take me long to realize that I needed some type of reference book to help me out. I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA in Political Science. In case you weren't aware, this degree does not provide you with the things you need to know in order to write an amazing fantasy novel. *grin* An academic paper on socialism versus democracy, not a problem. So I began to search around. In an old issue of Writer's Digest Magazine donated by one of the generous members of my writing group, I discovered a section called the Writer's Digest Shop. In it was a list of recommended reference books they thought every writer should have for 'Novel Success'. So I went to my local Barnes and Noble and I bought one. I chose  Plot versus Character by Jeff Gerke  and I have not been disappointed.  In the writing world, one of the biggest deba...

A friend posted this short video clip on his Facebook page in honor of Superbowl Sunday. While I am looking forward to the game, I did not think of the Superbowl when I watched it. I thought of my journey as a writer and aspiring author. When the arduous process that is completing a novel begins to get us down, reminders like Yoda's lesson here to Luke Skywalker can remind us not to give in to a 'cannot be done' attitude. Do. Or do not. There is no try. ~Yoda, Star Wars, Episode V

Found this and thought I'd share it with my blog followers. Someday I will use this as an excuse to travel the world. I want to see each one of these beautiful books stores.  So lovely. The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores In The World This one is one of my favorites. It is the  Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, Argentina.    Which one did you like the best? Leave a comment and let me know.