by Sarah | Jan 3, 2012 | Changing Tracks, The Tribe, Writing, writing tips
2011 was fairly productive for me.
In total 300,000 words were written. First drafts of the 1st 3 Tribe books were completed. Changing Tracks was rewritten & edited.
I was a featured writer on Band Back Together, with plans to write more for them.
There were ups & downs with the writing challenges I participated in, but I stretched my writing and wrote things that surprised even me.
I got ideas for stories that I never thought I would. I feared I only had one story in me, one genre. Instead I’ve reached beyond that.
My good friend Mary finally wrote and finished her first novel, and I got the pleasure of being her Alpha.
I’ve had agents take closer looks at my novel, some going all the way to asking for the full. Had a publisher give me notes and ask to see it again after a tougher-look edit.
So what’s in store for 2012? What goals am I setting for myself?
- To polish The Tribe until it shines, get that sucker out into the query world.
- To take another look at Changing Tracks. After time away I can narrow down a few flaws.
- Write something that isn’t a full length novel. A short, a flash, another article & see it published.
- To get down storyline ideas for at least one stand alone novel, & start it if possible. My penchant for series is not helping my publishing goals.
- To write. Every day that I possibly can.
- To blog. This blog gets so very neglected, and therefore so does my writing network.
- To be more disciplined. Get on a schedule & stick with it. This extends beyond writing, but includes writing.
- Write. Every day. (Yes. That does require repeating)
That’s it. I don’t call them resolutions – because I suck at those. I’m not awesome at the whole “goal” thing either, but I still have dreams and in order to get there I have to write down the path ahead of me.
Here’s to a fruitful, creative, and accomplished 2012 for all of us!
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Picture Source
by Sarah | Jan 2, 2012 | All About Erik, All About Family, All About Marriage, All About Me
[flickr id=”5255380571″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]The New Years superstition says that whatever you do on the first day of the year you do all year.
For the first day of my year I was on a (no cost) date with my husband. We used an old Eversave purchase to go to the movies and a gift card to go to my husband’s favorite restaurant (Outback). We did lay down some cash for a tip, but after smuggling in snacks & water for the movie our day was pretty cheap.
If that’s how I’m going to spend my year I say…Bring It 2012!!!
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We saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It was pretty good. Not so sure it was as good as the first but it’s been a long time since I saw the first one. There were several open ends leaving room for another movie and unanswered questions. For a more in depth review it would be better to ask Archie for a full review…he does a pretty mean movie review when you ask him too.
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I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and family! Here’s to a great, prosperous and happy New Year!!
by Sarah | Dec 12, 2011 | All About Home, Holidays
*This is a re-post from last year. These cookies are so good they demand a re-post.
I have made a LOT of cookies in my 30+ years. I’ve tasted even more.
When it comes to cutouts, it’s tricky. Too much sugar and it’s just a sugar cookie – too little and they are way too dry.
I used to think my Mom’s were the best…but they always required a ton of frosting to counteract the dryness of the cookie (sorry, Mom) – I stopped making them when I got married and moved out. My aunt’s Christmas cookies, while good – were just never right either (and it’s been so long I can’t remember why).
I tried several recipes in the 8 years I’ve been married – and for the past 3 years I’ve stuck with these. I stumbled on the recipe when I was looking for Polish cookies – and that’s what these were called. BUT, the recipe called for Anise (*gag* *hurl* Blech)…and I was definitely not down with that. So I adapted the cookies to a flavor that was much better.
Let me tell you, this is the easiest dough I have ever worked with and the flavor, when done as I adapted it, is PHENOMENAL.
****
The Best Sugar Cutouts
1c. Butter
1c. Shortening
2c. Sugar
5 Large Eggs
7c. Flour
2Tbs. Baking Powder
1/2tsp. Salt
1/2oz. Almond Extract (original recipe called for Anise, this substitution makes deliciousness)
- Cream the Butter, Sugar and Shortening until smooth and fluffy
- Stir in the eggs one at a time until incorporated
- Add almond
- Mix in the first 6 cups of flour
- From here it’s by sight/feel. Add in flour until you get a moist batter. It should seem too sticky to roll, but solid enough to hold together.
- Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. Preferably overnight.
- Once thoroughly chilled, the dough is a dream to work with. Take off a handful and put the remainder back in the fridge while you roll it out for cutting.
- Place a hunk on a floured surface and roll out for cutting (about 1/8″ thick).
- Bake for 12-15 minutes in a 350* oven.
- Frost with frosting of your choice. I love a good buttercream w/ a touch of corn syrup for shine.
- Decorate all out for your holiday fun (and for Santa’s plate).
And that’s it! The strong almond flavor gives and added touch of yum. The cookies are moist enough that you could eat them plain…but really, who wants to? Frosting is 98% of why we eat the cookies, after all…right?
I hope you enjoy them if you try them. My search for the perfect cutout has finally come to a sweet and delicious end!!
by Sarah | Dec 11, 2011 | Photography, Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Simple Things, Weekly Winners
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XS.
1. Less is More
The girls have yet to learn that when it comes to ornaments – less is more.
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2. Holiday Lights
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3. Ornaments
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4. Cup of Cheer
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5. Nativity
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A Simple Thing:
My kids looking at classic window displays like I did at their age.
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You can find more pictures over at my flickr account.
Scavenger Hunt Sunday is run by the beautiful Ashley. Head on over to see more Hunters.
by Sarah | Dec 10, 2011 | All About Kennedy, Crap, Random, WTF?
[flickr id=”6247831361″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Angel and Riley have the same amount of underwear. Riley has Dora, and Angel has Littlest Pet Shop. I made sure of this so that I would know who would need new and when and also to keep them separate since they wear the same size. It can get confusing w/ some Irish Twins in the house.
So last week I started to realize that as I did the laundry I was missing a LOT of Angel’s Littlest Pet Shop. They weren’t in the laundry, or in her room. Where could they be?
It was Archie that figured it out.
All week long instead of actually changing underwear in the morning, Angel was just putting her clean pair on top of her dirty pair. At last count she had five pairs on at one time.
Needless to say the situation has been corrected. But it was a heck of a laugh to see five pairs on underwear on that little goober.
2011 was fairly productive for me.
