...Thresa Stone!

Thresa, please send me your mailing address to kelli [at] kelliestes [dot] com.

Thank you to everyone who left a comment. And thank you to Jane Porter for visiting and sharing with us your memories of ranch life. It was fun to learn about this side of you!

For anyone who didn't win, be sure to stop by your local bookstore and pick up a copy of SHE'S GONE COUNTRY!

It is my honor to welcome author Jane Porter today as our guest blogger! Jane is generously giving away one copy of her newest release, She's Gone Country, to one lucky reader. To enter the contest (open only to U.S. and Canada residents) all you have to do is leave a comment below and you're entered! The contest closes Sunday (8/29) at midnight PST. The winner will be announced Monday morning.

About She's Gone Country:
Shey Darcy, a 39-year-old former top model for Vogue and Sports Illustrated led a charmed life in New York City with a handsome photographer husband until the day he announced he'd fallen in love with someone else. Left to pick up the pieces of her once happy world, Shey decides to move back home to Texas with her three teenage sons. Life on the family ranch, however, brings with it a whole new host of dramas starting with differences of opinion with her staunch Southern Baptist mother, her rugged but overprotective brothers, and daily battles with her three sons who are also struggling to find themselves. Add to the mix Shey's ex-crush, Dane Kelly, a national bullriding champ and she's got her hands full. It doesn't take long before Shey realizes that in order to reinvent herself, she must let go of an uncertain future and a broken past, to find happiness—and maybe love—in the present.

Now, here's Jane Porter!

----------------------------------------

I feel like I’ve been waiting years to write SHE'S GONE COUNTRY. Most people don't know it, but I’m a country girl at heart. I love the West. I love cowboys. And I love country western music.

One of my best friends growing up was a rancher’s daughter and she showed animals at the county fair and wore cowboy boots and tight Wranglers with a massive silver heart belt buckle everywhere. At my high school we had the usual jocks, nerds, troublemakers, and then we also had the goat ropers. The goat ropers were the country kids like my friend Cyndi who drove trucks and El Caminos and didn't like being in the city.

So it was inevitable that I'd eventually write about ranches and cowboys and beautiful blonde girls in tight denims and battered cowboy boots. But it wasn’t just because my good friends were country kids. It's in the genes, too. My mom’s dad was Texan. A very tough Texan. And although he moved to California to start his own construction company in the late '40s, he relaxed by working one of his three cattle ranches, doing what cowboys and ranchers do--riding horses, rounding up cattle, building fences.

My grandfather ended up dying in a tragic accident on one of our ranches and after his death, two of the ranches were sold but my grandmother kept Parkfield because it had been my grandfather’s favorite and it was probably the most beautiful.

The Parkfield ranch is 40 miles east of Paso Robles in California’s coastal foothills and was a two and a half hour drive from my childhood home in Visalia. Growing up we spent a lot of time on the ranch. My parents slept on the fold out bed in the bunkhouse and we kids got the bunk beds in the one bedroom. Dinner was grilling outside. Breakfast was pancakes. And showers were short because all of our water came from the well pumped by a battered old windmill.

Clearly it wasn’t a fancy ranch, but we weren’t fancy people and we were there for the rustic life—the horses, the hikes, the nightly campfires where we’d sing songs, tell ghost stories and roast marshmallows.

The Parkfield ranch is still in the family and I’m hoping to take my three boys there this Fall. And I think once we get there my boys will have as much fun hiding in the empty silos, climbing on the corrals and cattle shoots, and jumping off the hay bales as I did. And if they don’t? Shame on them for not being country boys.

----------------------------------------

Thank you, Jane!

She's Gone Country is a truly moving story that I loved and I know you will, too. Don't forget to leave a comment to enter to win a free copy!

I’m thrilled to announce an upcoming special guest here on my blog. Author Jane Porter will be here next Monday, August 23rd, to dish with us about her latest women’s fiction, She’s Gone Country, as well as her thoughts on country life. Not only that but she’ll be giving away a copy of her book to one lucky reader!

She’s Gone Country hits bookstores next Monday, August 23rd, but I had the opportunity to read an advance copy and can tell you it is a fabulous book. Jane’s voice and writing style are easy and approachable and make for a quick read, yet her subject matter and conflicts are weighty with full impact on your emotions. In She’s Gone Country, the heroine, Shey Darcy, has moved back home to the Texas ranch she grew up on after splitting with her husband who has announced he is gay. With Shey are her three teenage sons who each has varying feelings about their parents’ new lives as well as living in Texas versus their native New York. Not only does Shey have to deal with the problems this brings, but one son suffers from serious depression which accounts for some heart-wrenching scenes. Shey is also struggling with her own self-identity. She misses the person she used to be, not necessarily the A-list top model she was, but the person who laughed a lot and felt comfortable in her own skin. Added to all of this is the presence of her girlhood crush, national bull-riding champ Dane Kelly, who still has a firm hold on her heart even though her brothers (Dane’s former best friends) no longer speak to him.

As a mom of boys, I strongly connected with Shey’s struggle to let her boys learn to stand alone on their journeys to becoming men. As a woman I connected with Shey’s struggle to balance her different roles as mom, sister, daughter and lover with her own needs to be happy. As a country-girl (I grew up on a cattle feedlot surrounded by apple orchards) I connected with Shey’s rediscovery of her roots. Shey is a deep, caring, complex character whom any woman can relate and cheer for through the entire story.

Only one person will win the free copy Jane’s giving away here on my blog, but I highly encourage the rest of you to go to your local bookstore on Monday to pick up a copy of She's Gone Country.

Check back here on Monday to see what Jane has to say and to enter the contest. Note: the contest is open to US and Canada residents only. While you’re waiting, learn more about Jane Porter and her books at her website and blog www.janeporter.com.

See you Monday!

I fully and proudly admit that I was one of those die-hard LOST fans who watched every show religiously and often spent hours on the blogs and boards reading viewers' theories on what the heck was going on in order to organize my thoughts on what the heck was going on with the show. I loved the questions that piled on top of each other and the intertwined backstories and sidestories of the characters. I loved every single thing about the show, even the unanswered questions because, to me, the story was too much like the twists and turns of real life to be able to be tied up with a neat bow at the end. The only thing that disappointed me about the show was that it ended. The only other show I've felt this way about was Firefly, but that's a topic for another day.

Whether you agree with me about LOST or not, I strongly encourage you to go here to read agent Nathan Bransford's blog about LOST and how it was an accurate reflection of our society over the last decade, or at least the six years LOST was on the air. He makes an excellent and thought-provoking point. Check it out!

In the book I’m working on now I have a heroine who, at the time the book starts, is living in Seattle in 1886. What’s unique about her situation is that she is a young Chinese woman living in a pioneer town amidst the turmoil of anti-Chinese sentiment.

I am not Chinese, nor have I ever visited China, so in order to try to understand my heroine, and do her story justice, I’ve been doing extensive reading on topics like Chinese history, Chinese settlers in America, Chinese embroidery. I’ve read books and memoirs about Chinese women and I visited Seattle’s Chinatown and the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. It was at the museum that I spotted a notice on a flyer about an upcoming dinner featuring Seattle food anthropologist and cultural specialist, Maxine Chan, who would guide guests through a dinner authentic to what was eaten by Chinese American pioneers in – get this – the 1880s. If that isn’t serendipity, I don’t know what is.

To be honest, I was very nervous to attend the dinner. I pictured myself the only person not of Chinese ethnicity sitting at a table surrounded by people wondering what the heck I’m doing there. I was so wrong! My fellow dinner guests made me feel quite welcome and one woman in particular, Shirlaine, shared stories with me of her grandmothers who were both Chinese Americans in the late 1800s. She also gave me a list of books I should check out in doing my research. Thank you, Shirlaine!

I feel a great responsibility to tell a historically accurate story of the Chinese American experience in the 1880s and I know that no matter how much research I do, I will probably make errors. I’m trying hard not to let the weight of that responsibility keep me from writing at all. I have a story that needs to be told, albeit fiction, and I’ll do my best to make it an accurate reflection of reality. At least this dinner will help me get the food right!

The dinner consisted of 9 courses, each explained by Maxine Chan as they were brought out. Our first course was a sweetmeat plate. On it were peanuts in the shell, Chinese coconut candy (that I must make a trip to Uwijimaya to stock up on!), Haw Flakes (made from crabapples, the flavor resembling sweet and hardened fruit leather), preserved plums (sweeter than a regular dried plum with the added flavor of anise), preserved olives (seedless, chewy and very sweet), and dried watermelon seeds (black ones that tasted like anise and red ones that were quite tasty – a regular seed flavor).


Our second course was a soup made from honey date (good for your lungs), dried Chinese greens, sugar cane, carrot, and probably some other ingredients I couldn’t identify. It was delicious.


The third course was a chicken boiled in water with ginger and garlic, served with a condiment made from diced ginger, green onions, salt and oil. It was also delicious and, as Maxine explained, helps balance the body (always a good thing). Chinese railroad workers were often paid once a week with a whole chicken and this dish was something they often made.



The fourth course was Preserved Pummelo Peel with Pork which was my favorite dish of the night. Apparently, Chinese would eat pummelo for New Year’s then use what was left over for a dish such as this. It is impossible to make this dish anymore because the pummelos we see in the grocery store today are just grapefruits on steroids. A true pummelo, according to Maxine, had a different flavor, the flesh was whiter, the oils in the rind different. She used the last of her own private stash for this dish and told us we may have eaten the last one ever, as she’s been on an unsuccessful search for the last three years to find real pummelos.


The fifth course was a steamed egg dish which was like a custard but salty. To me it tasted like very soft, flat scrambled eggs that had too much salt added.


The sixth course, and the star of the evening, was the Pigs Feet. I knew going in that this wouldn’t be my favorite dish but I was determined to taste everything. I wasn’t prepared for all the tube-looking things that had to be arteries or tendons or something. Some were an inch wide! I took a tube-free bite and, I’m not afraid to admit, had to swallow fast and take a chaser of tea. The flavor is hard to describe (not good) and the texture is incredibly chewy.


The seventh course was a spinach dish with white bean curd. Maxine said she would have preferred to serve watercress, but couldn’t find any that was fresh enough. The spinach was good, especially when mixed with rice.


The eighth course was steamed fish with preserved olives. These olives (and the ones on the sweetmeat plate) are not like olives we usually see. These aren’t from the Mediterranean and their flavor is a bit different. They added so much salt to the fish that I had to scrape them off in order to eat the fish. Maybe with rice it would have balanced it a bit more. The olives were also from Maxine’s personal stash and unavailable today.


The ninth course was a good old apple pie with a flaky crust and delicious filling. Apparently, apples were favored by Chinese Americans because they kept well in the root cellar and could be dried and made into many dishes. Delicious!


The first half of dinner we drank chrysanthemum tea which is reputedly good for eyesight and regulates blood flow. The second half of dinner we drank another tea with a name I didn’t catch (started with a P) that was good for digestion. Both were tasty.

None of the dishes had cornstarch or MSG. Although cornstarch was invented in 1847, its intended use was for starching laundry. Even though it is edible, pioneers didn’t buy it to cook with because it wasn’t worth taking up space in the wagon on the hours-long trip from the market.

All of these dishes came from the Toisan region of China (in the Southeastern part of the country) as most early immigrants to America were from that region.

You may have noticed there was no beef on the menu. Only the high end, rich folks ate beef at that time. Most families only had a pig, or if space was limited, they raised only chickens or ducks.

To see more pictures and description of the event, go to: http://db.wingluke.org/tourblog.?p=321

Over the past year I’ve been collecting recipes that use little or no sugar and I’ve been learning how to substitute healthy alternatives in recipes that call for sugar. I’m constantly looking for new recipes so if you have one you think I’d like, please send it my way or type it in the comments below so everyone can see it!


Here is a recipe that is based on one I found in a cookbook, but that I’ve tweaked so much it barely resembles the original. As you’ll notice, the only sweetener in the recipe is unsweetened applesauce, vanilla extract and almond extract. If sugar isn’t an issue for you, feel free to add honey, maple syrup, or the real, processed white stuff. You’ll notice this isn’t a low-fat granola with all of the nuts, but keep in mind they are the healthy, unsaturated fats. I’ve found that I can eat a moderate portion of healthy fats and still lose weight, as long as I’m cutting out sugar. I’ve also found that this granola is one of the only things I can ever eat for breakfast if I don’t want to spend my entire afternoon scrounging for snacks and fighting mental slumps during my writing times. The complex carbs and proteins in this recipe keep me going all morning and help keep my blood sugar levels under control throughout the day. I hope you try it.


Kelli’s Healthy Granola

4 ½ cups oats (not the quick-cook kind)
1 cup unsalted cashews
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup unsalted peanuts
½ cup flax seeds
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup canola oil
1 Tbl almond extract
1 Tbl vanilla extract
1 Tbl cinnamon

Note: Feel free to substitute any of your choice of nuts, seeds, or dried fruits you like. Try to stick to the unsalted, raw variations if you can. I’ve also tried using coconut extract and dried unsweetened coconut, which is delicious!

Preheat oven to 300°F. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, nuts and seeds. In a small bowl combine the applesauce, oil, extracts and cinnamon with a whisk. Pour over the nut mixture and mix all together until everything is moistened. Line a large cookie sheet (with low sides) with parchment paper or Silpat, or spray with canola cooking spray. Spread the granola mixture evenly over the baking sheet and bake on middle rack of oven 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10-12 minutes. Let cool before serving.

To serve: Eat the granola as you would cereal, in a bowl with milk. It is delicious topped with diced apple, fresh blueberries, strawberries, banana, or any fruit you like! Or, top it with some plain yogurt and fruit. Enjoy!

I saw it last year and was horrified, then it disappeared for months and I was able to move on with my life. But then, this morning, I saw it again and the old feelings returned. I’m shocked, appalled, disappointed, infuriated.

What could possibly have this effect on me? You’re going to think I’m being silly, but stick with me and I’ll explain it to you. It’s those commercials telling us that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is fine for us, in moderation.

What?!!!! How could HFCS be fine for our bodies? It’s a man-made sugar. It is highly concentrated fructose made from corn. I think humans benefit greatly by reducing all sugar intake (including foods that act like sugar such as pasta and white rice), but I’ll keep this discussion to HFCS.

First, let’s address the commercial’s comment “…in moderation.” This, to me, implies that we have complete control over our HFCS intake. That we’re only eating it when we choose to pick up a popsicle or ice cream made with it. This isn’t the case at all. If you are eating foods purchased from a grocery store aisle, you are most likely eating HFCS. It is in everything, and I mean everything. That whole-grain bread you bought to start off your new year right? Read the ingredients list. Yep, there’s HFCS. What about that dollop of mayo or mustard you put on your turkey sandwich? Yep, HFCS is there, too. The heart-healthy high fiber breakfast cereal? Yep. HFCS is everywhere, in everything, and I’m disgusted by our food manufacturers for doing that to us. I’m also disgusted with our government for not doing something to control the manufacturers and I’m disgusted with our medical profession who throws drugs at the problems of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease rather than addressing the actual cause of the problem in the first place – the food we’re eating!

So why is HFCS so bad? Let me give you some highlights (research notes can be found in the books “You On A Diet” by Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz and “Sugar Shock” by Connie Bennett):

• Foods and beverages sweetened with HFCS don’t raise our blood glucose levels like regular sugar does, which means our insulin production (what removes the glucose from the blood, turning it into energy for our bodies) is not stimulated.

• HFCS-containing foods and beverages don’t trigger the body’s satiety signals and thus, we eat/drink more than we normally would have which equals extra calories consumed.

• Fructose fails to trigger the usual hormone responses that turn down appetite and increase metabolic rate (= we eat more and gain weight).

• When fructose is ingested it goes directly to the liver where it is more prone than glucose to being metabolized and converted into fat and, therefore, raises triglyceride levels for many hours after consumption.

• Studies have found that long-term fructose consumption can raise LDL (the bad cholesterol) levels, which could lead to cardiovascular disease.

• HFCS may trick the body’s metabolism due to its ability to raise uric acid. High levels of uric acid causes lower levels of nitric oxide, which leads to poor glucose metabolism, which, in turn, increases one’s risk of metabolic syndrome.

• In one study, mice were given fructose-sweetened water and soft drinks. They found that the mice ate less food, and thus consumed less overall calories, and yet they gained significantly more body fat (90 percent!) than mice consuming plain water.

• How is fructose (corn-derived sweetener) different from regular sucrose (sugar-derived)? First of all, HFCS is 40% sweeter than sugar. HFCS is not from fruit but is a starch; it does not exist in nature (it is chemically refined to an artificial hydrocarbon) and therefore is not recognized by the body like sucrose is (thus, it is not converted to blood glucose).

Why is HFCS in everything? Money. Pure and simple. Sugar costs 30 cents a pound (and remember, it’s not as sweet so more is needed) while HFCS costs about 10 cents a pound.

Why am I so worked up over all of this? It’s simple. Two members of my family have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the last year and I just found out I am Insulin Resistant. I have no doubt the HFCS prevalent in the American diet is to blame.

If you’re interested in learning even more about how the Corn industry (among others) is ruining our health, I encourage you to watch the documentary “FOOD, INC.” It will open your eyes, as it has mine.

We aren’t helpless, though. Every time we put food into our mouths and every time we purchase food at a market, we are voting on the kind of food we want our manufacturers to provide for us. There are plenty of alternatives, if you look for them, to foods with HFCS. Choose foods made without high fructose corn syrup and make your vote heard.

And, just in case you haven’t figured it out by now, high-fructose corn syrup is NOT okay, in moderation or otherwise.

Like many of you, I’m caught up in Christmas preparations and loving every minute of it. One thing I tell myself I’m not going to succumb to every year, yet every year I do, is baking and candy making. If goodies are lying around, I’ll eat the bulk of them so it’s best to keep them out of the house. One cookie I can never say no to, however, is my Christmas favorite, Almond Butter Sticks. I’ll share the recipe with you so you, too, can delight in these sinful, buttery, sugary, almond cookies. I got the recipe from my mom and don’t know where she got the recipe from, or I’d give that person their proper credit. If you decide to make these, make sure your kitchen isn’t too warm and, once the cookies are baked, be prepared for the platter to empty quickly. Note: they are also delicious straight out of the freezer. If anyone wants to experiment and try other flavors of extract other than almond, let me know what you thought of the results. I’ve wondered how coconut extract would be in these but it’s hard to veer from a tried and true favorite. Enjoy!

Almond Butter Sticks

1 cup Butter or Margarine
8 ounces Cream Cheese
2 ¼ cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon Salt
-----
1 cup Sugar (plus more if needed)
4 teaspoons almond extract
-----
Mix the first five ingredients together and roll out on a flat surface into a large rectangle. Mix sugar and almond extract together, pat onto half of the rectangle. Fold the dough over to cover the sugar and roll out again. Repeat until all of the sugar is used up (five or six times). Once all the sugar is incorporated into the dough, roll again into a rectangle, cut into strips and bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. We like to sprinkle on red or green sugar sprinkles before baking to make the cookies look more festive.

Remember William Hung, the guy who became popular in 2004 for his audition on American Idol with the song “She Bangs”? Remember how he belted out the song, full of enthusiasm and pride when, clearly, his talent just wasn’t there? Remember how you felt when you watched his performance and thought something along the lines of, “Bless his heart, he’s trying”?

There are days when I feel like I’m the publishing industry equivalent of William Hung. I’m doing my best, but are people laughing at me? I’m writing my books, giving each one my full effort and, like the saying goes, my blood, sweat and tears. Some writers refer to their books as their babies, and I can understand that. I give each book months of my life. Writing takes me away from my husband and kids. It forces me to choose between getting the words down on the page each day, or spending time with friends, volunteering with the PTA, grocery shopping. But I do it because I need to write my stories. I yearn to positively impact a reader’s life like countless books have done for my life. I give each book I write my all and I send it out into the world to agents, editors and (gulp!) contests.

It was feedback from one particular contest that recently made me feel like I’m fooling myself thinking I have talent when really I should toss my laptop out the window. The judges comments were so scathing I felt like closing all my window blinds, turning off the porch light and hiding out from the world because, really, all my friends and family must be lying to me out of love as William Hung’s family must have lied to him. These well-meaning individuals tell us we are talented and have a real chance at fulfilling our dreams in our chosen careers, when really, we don’t.

Or do we?

I don’t know what William’s dream is, but maybe it was to be on the Today Show. He did that. Maybe it was to perform onstage in front of thousands of viewers with backup dancers performing behind him. He did that, too. Maybe he just wants to sing. He’s still doing that.

As for me, my dream is to become a published author. I want to see my name on a book on the bookstore shelves and know that someone somewhere is reading it and connecting to the story and characters I created. I dream of receiving letters telling me how my book helped, in some small way, the reader to get through her day. I don’t need to be a New York Times Bestseller (though that would be nice) and I don’t need to be the next Nora Roberts (though that would be doubly nice). I just want to write great books that get published and distributed to readers who emotionally connect with my stories and tell their friends about them.

So, I’ve decided to ignore that one judge’s comments and focus on all the positive feedback I’ve received from others. If you see me on the book shelf someday, please pick me up and, if you must, think, “Bless her heart, she never gave up.” Then, go buy it.

Whew! The Emerald City Writers’ Conference is over for one more year. After spending the past year working as the registration chair for the conference I can tell you one thing for sure: I will never again take a conference for granted. This conference was for 250 attendees and I was working my behind off for months gathering registration information, tracking meal choices, allergies, editor and agent requests, costs, payments, emails, badge names, raffle ticket orders, etc. And then I was responsible for printing badges, meal cards, allergy cards, labels, and assembling everything into registration packets. I can only imagine the amount of work involved for larger conferences. Huge kudos to Lesa Dragon and the rest of the 2009 ECWC conference committee!

Because I was so wiped out from the conference I was eagerly looking forward to the following weekend when I planned a weekend getaway with my husband to celebrate our wedding anniversary in downtown Seattle. It started great, with doughnuts at Lola (Heavenly! Served with mascarpone cheese and fresh marionberry jam) and dinner at Assaggio (I had eggplant parmesan that was perfection on a plate and has since created a craving I need to satisfy soon!). And then the sickness hit. Rather than dining out, shopping, and hitting a comedy club or the theater, we called room service and laid in bed most of the weekend – and not in a good way.

So now that those two weekends are over (thankfully) I can turn my attention back to writing and submitting. And pumpkin patches and trick-or-treating and roasting turkey and eventually Jingle Bells and Dear Santa letters. The year is going to be over soon and I have big goals to accomplish first. I need to get my latest book, The Truth About Dares, sent out to the professionals who’ve requested it, and queries sent to others. I need to start plotting my next book and start writing. Lots to do.

What about you? What are you working on right now? How do you juggle all the demands and surprises of life?

Something interesting has happened to me lately. I’ve finally discovered the holy grail of time management. Wanna know the secret? Compartmentalization. Yep. No joke.

Compartmentalization means putting the various demands on your time and attention into different compartments of your day and letting nothing, not even thoughts, interfere. For me this means I decide what compartment of the day is for writing and I don’t worry about any other thing I “should” be doing. For two hours every morning, I write. Period. I don’t schedule appointments or playdates, I don’t clean the kitchen and I don’t let mommy-guilt kick in and convince me I should be playing with my boys. It’s my writing time.

When writing time is over, then I can set aside my manuscript, synopsis, query, or whatever I’m working on and go about my day. When I’m with my kids I am now with them, not thinking about how I should be writing. Likewise, when I’m writing, I’m not thinking about how I should be with my kids. Each has it’s time in my day and I can feel happy about the time I devote to both.

Sure, you might be thinking, but what about those of us who have to work a full-time job? It’s no different really. In fact, you’re already doing it, to some degree. The time you spend at your day-job is the compartment of time that you devote to that job. You aren’t worrying about your kids or your writing at that time because you are present in that moment, doing your job the best you know how. When you go home, you probably devote those three hours or whatever you have to dinner and family. After the kids are in bed, the next compartment of time is devoted to your spouse, your writing, or your mental health (reading a book, watching TV). You have already started compartmentalizing your day. Maybe all you need to do to find time to write is to shuffle responsibilities around or ask for help from family members. If you can’t find a compartment of time for writing during the week, maybe Saturday afternoons are your writing compartments. That counts, too.

My challenge to you is to take a hard look at your day. Figure out if you can change things around, set a schedule, and stick with it. Your kids and family will learn to respect your time (because you teach them to respect it. It may take a little while, but they will learn and you will get your time). When you’re feeling like skipping writing one day, don’t. Just do it. Don’t think about it, just sit down and do it. You’re going to feel so much better when you’re finished.

Naturally, this advice can be applied to anything: a side business, a hobby such as scrapbooking or painting. Sleeping. Reading. Volunteering at your favorite charity. Decide what matters in your life and give that a compartment of your time. Let everything else go.

So now you’re probably wondering what compartmentalizing your day has to do with writing faster. When you have a devoted amount of time every single day, and you know you can’t do anything else but write during this time, you will start producing more pages. You won’t have people, thoughts, or other demands pulling you out of your writing. You are fully present in this time.

You’ll be happier, more efficient, and if you’re like me, you’ll have another finished book to sell. Happy writing!

If you’ve been checking this blog recently you’ve probably noticed I’ve been strangely absent. Thank you for not giving up on me! You see, I’ve been struggling with the whole concept of this blog and what it should be, how I should portray my author brand, how to make my blog interesting and unique… I’ve also been struggling with time. While I love supporting my local RWA chapter, I must admit that volunteering to be the Registration Chair for our upcoming conference has been extensively time consuming. Oh, and did I mention I’ve been writing? Like a mad woman. Work on my book must come first, before conference work, before blogging. As of right now I’m polishing my book, a women’s fiction novel titled THE TRUTH ABOUT DARES, and hope to get it out the door to agents and editors by the end of this month.

On a personal note, I’ve also sent my oldest child off to first grade which was much more emotionally-trying than I expected. It’s the first time he’s in all-day school and I miss him. I worry about him on the bus (will he make friends or sit lonely by himself?), and I worry about him at school (will the big kids pick on him during recess?). I know this is exactly what should be happening in his life and it’s a great experience for both of us, but I’m still having growing pains. This coming week I send my baby off to preschool. I’m hoping I’ll feel a sense of freedom as I dash to the coffee shop to get in a couple hours of uninterrupted writing, but I know I’ll probably be fighting tears that first day. Or two.

So, keep checking back, my friends. I promise to return soon on a regular basis. I’m playing with some ideas on how to make this blog better, or at least different (in a good way). I’d love your feedback as I feel my way through these changes. I’ve been blogging for 2 ½ years, yet I find I’m still learning what works and what doesn’t. And, I’m learning to trust my own voice here just as I had to learn to trust it in my books.

Life is all about learning, after all…

(If you're wondering about this picture, it's of an old weathered boat we found on a sand spit coming into Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.)

The winner of our GIVING UP THE V contest is:

Sonya Cassing

Sonya, if you could email your address to kelli at kelliestes dot com, we'll get the book to you right away. Thanks for playing and congratulations!

I'm so excited for this next release from my friend, Serena Robar. Leave a comment below and you'll be entered to win a free copy!

About GIVING UP THE V:

What’s So Wrong With Waiting?

Spencer Davis just turned sixteen. But unlike most hormonal teenagers who seem obsessed with sex — like her entire crew of friends — Spencer just doesn’t get it. She’d rather wait for the right guy and the right moment. But that moment may be arriving sooner than she’d thought.

Enter Benjamin Hopkins, a new transfer student who seems to have his eyes on our V-card-carrying heroine. He’s gorgeous, funny, suave, athletic, and capable of making Spencer’s knees wobble with a single glance. Spencer has never felt this way about anyone before, but is Ben truly V-worthy?

“This novel stands out for its thorough, no-holds-barred discussion of sex in its many forms—from the ugly to the beautiful.” -Publishers Weekly 6/8/09

About Serena Robar:
I spent my school days addicted to reading romances. Historical. Regencies. Old West, Native American. Pirate. The list goes on. I would tuck a Romance in my open science book and pretend to be following along with class when I was really lost in a fantasy world of happily ever after. Though my knowledge of mitochondria is woefully limited, I can boast a vast array of trivia about the pirate trade of the 16th century, American pioneer life and Regency etiquette of the Ton.

My reading habits have improved much and I still read when I should be doing laundry, making dinner and/or any household chores (we order a lot of pizza). In fact, when I discover a new author I will read their entire backlist non-stop. Literally. I won’t do anything else but read. Addiction is a dangerous thing.

I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and three children. Between reading and juggling family, I am hard at work writing. It’s my secret hope that my books will find there way inside text books, sparking the imagination and talent of the next generation of writers. My apologies to teachers everywhere.

Serena is also giving it away for free (the only time Momma would approve): Sign up for her newsletter here, and you are entered to win one of the books she is giving away every day in the month of June. Enter once and you are in the running to win a book every day the entire month of June.

Leave a comment below and you'll be entered in my contest, which ends Sunday, June 21st. Then, after you leave a comment below, double your chances of winning by heading over to Serena's site to win one there! Good luck!

*Contest only open to US and Canada

This morning I sent my six-year-old son off to school in tears because he was scared to go on his class field trip without me as a chaperon. My heart ached all day thinking about him, worrying about him, hoping he was happy at that moment. This is a scene we've lived through many times in his short life. He's a sensitive little guy with a heart so tender I can't help but want to shield him from the blows of this world. But I know he needs to start standing on his own two feet and finding strength from inside himself rather than from me or the favorite blanket he still clings to at home.

Talking with a friend today about her one-month-old baby, I realized that during all those oh-so-incredibly-long nights when I felt I was the only one awake with one of my own babies, the link between me and my child was tightening and strengthening. What my friend doesn't know is that while parenting will get a lot easier as her daughter grows up and sleeps through the night, in other ways it's going to get so much harder. It's torture to hold a crying infant and not know how to calm her screams and it's still torture when she's older and feeling pain from the world that she'll be able to do nothing about.

My sister's oldest is graduating from high school this weekend. For weeks, months even, she thought she was doing just fine, taking his leaving in stride. But today, when someone asked her how she feels about her baby graduating and moving away, she realized that this very morning she made his last school lunch…and she burst into tears.

Parenting is like that, I guess. Just when you become strong in one area, like comforting an infant or sending a kid off on a new school adventure, a new stage comes along to take your feet out from under you.

Will it ever ease? When my kids are adults living on their own, will this tug in my heart that connects me to them and their pain ever go away?

In one aspect, I hope so. In another, I never want it to go away no matter how painful it is – because having that connection is the greatest thing in the world.