Fellowship, And Why I Need It
Mood:  chatty
Today I attended a baby shower with lots of friends I had not seen in almost a year. What fun! We played those silly baby shower games, and ate lots of delicious foods that have more carbs than I care to consider, and caught up on all the news with everyone. They were all happy for my recent writing news, and I was thrilled to hear about everything going on in their lives. As I drove home I realized how much I had missed these people without even knowing it.

I believe God made us to have fellowship. He wants us to have fellowship with Him, of course, but He also built in each of us a need for friendship with other human beings. Friends enrich our lives. They delight us with the variety of their lifestyle and opinions and personalities. And they amaze us when we discover their similarities to us, even though they may live vastly different lives. There is a special brand of love I have just for my friends, a different love than I have for my children or my husband or my sisters or parents - but it is no less a part of what forms the foundation of my happiness in life. I am so thankful for my friends - for those I saw today, and for others I know across this country, and even the world.

Almost Contract! WOO HOO!
Mood:  celebratory
Today I had the best e-mail in the world! It was from the publisher who has been considering my manuscript for two months, and it informed me that he was preparing a contract for review by the executive committee!!! Pending their approval, the contract will be forwarded to me for review. This means I have ALMOST SOLD MY FIRST NOVEL!!! WOO HOO!

Now I have begun to prayerfully consider finding an agent. I have discovered that finding an agent is nearly as difficult (and as important) as finding a publisher. This is the person who will promote my work as though it were her own, who will represent my interests during contract negotiations, who will present my future books to the publishing industry. It's like getting married! I'm trying to find a partner for an important aspect of my life! Please join me in prayer as I search for the right person.

Besides that, I've been working hard on an "audition" packet to send to a daily devotional magazine who hires staff writers. They gave me 3 scriptures to read and pray about, and I am to submit a devotional article for each one. I have written two of them, and they were FUN! It's amazing the things God will show us when we ask for His wisdom!

I've had several off-line comments on my website lately. I think my mother has been sending the address out to her contacts, and I'm grateful. I appreciate all of you checking in, and joining your prayers with mine. Since I pray every day for any person who reads anything I have written, that means I pray for YOU. May God bless you richly.

Boy Dirt, And Other Thoughts
Mood:  happy
I'm still in residence in the Kentucky house, and yesterday Ted rejoined me. He's been here almost twenty-four hours, and already the house is starting to take on that Lived In Look. Not that Ted is unclean in any way -- in fact, for most of our marriage he was much cleaner than me. But now that the kids are out of the house and there's no one else to blame it on, I've become the clutter police. And Ted leaves a trail of clutter in his wake.

Let me show you: There's his tee shirt hanging over the back of his kitchen chair. His computer case is sitting on the floor beside the desk. His note papers are piled on top of my printer. Three pairs of his shoes (three!), some with socks stuffed in them, are sitting in the bedroom floor. His honey jar sits on the counter beside the coffee pot, along with the dirty spoon and coffee cup - literally right on top of the dishwasher. His motorcycle magazine is on the floor beside the toilet. His toothbrush and comb are sitting beside the sink instead of in the drawer where I put them. And there are toothpaste speckles on the faucet.

I call it Boy Dirt. It's not dirt like Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen leaves in his wake, but it's still evidence that Ted has passed this way. And you know what? I've missed him so much these past two weeks, I'm happy to have the Boy Dirt cluttering my house!

Within two hours of arriving home Ted had both cars fixed! (See my earlier post to read about my frustration with the cars.) And so far today he has fixed the gas grill, cleaned out the pile of dead leaves beneath the shrubs, worked on one of the motorcycles, and is now recharging the A/C in the car I drive. He's amazing, he really is.

So what's a little Boy Dirt?

The Illiad Has Been Hollywoodized In TROY
I have seen the movie Troy and really enjoyed it. (Yes, there are some inappropriate parts -- I closed my eyes.) It reminded me of how much I loved Greek mythology, but I certainly didn't remember some of the things in the movie happening in The Iliad. Rather than slog through Homer again, someone recommended Rosemary Sutcliff's Black Ships Before Troy (see my website for a review) and I finished it the other day. As I suspected, Troy was Hollywoodized. Some of the most notable differences between the movie and the "real" myths are:

The siege of Troy went on for over ten years. In that time, Helen grew disgusted with Paris (and can we blame her???), and wanted to go back to her husband and daughter.

Instead of Paris acting like a wimp during single combat with Menelaus, the goddess Aphrodite actually snatched him away from the fight and transported him to safety in the palace. But when Hector came in from the battlefield to find him, he found Paris all clean and refreshed and relaxing instead of rushing back to the battle, so he really was a self-centered jerk after all. MUCH moreso than the movie depicted.

The tension between Achilles and Agamemnon was real enough. And it actually was over a female temple servant. But she wasn't related to the King Priam - she was a slave. After a while Agamemnon apologized to Achilles and offered to give her back, and Achilles didn't want her anymore. After a LONG time when he did take her back (but only to appease Agamemnon and so his honor could be upheld and he could get back to the fighting), he ignored her. She was one of the women who ended up taking care of his dead body.

Ajax (the great big Greek warrior) played a much bigger role than the movie showed. He was as active as Achilles and Odysseus.

Hector did NOT kill Menelaus. In fact, Menelaus actually was one of the survivors, and Helen ended up going back to him very happily when Troy fell. She and Odysseus were friends from way back. It almost sounded like she became more of a captive inside Troy than a refugee.

This is sad. When Troy fell, Hector's wife was taken as a slave of one of the Myrmidons (Achilles' group), and his baby son was thrown off the ramparts and killed. In fact, ALL of Troy was taken or destroyed, and only Helen escaped.

Achilles actually sent Patroclus out in his armor to lead his men! Hector did kill him, and then stripped his armor and took it back to Troy. And Achilles had Patroclus' ashes put in a golden cup and buried it in a shrine, and left orders that when he died the cup should be dug up and his ashes mingled with Patroclus. (Hmmmm. And now we know why he didn't want the slave girl back.)

Paris did kill Achilles, but it was with an arrow shot from atop the battlements during a battle when Achilles was fighting down below. So he wasn't inside the horse at all.

And then the Greeks went and hired their own archer, who shot Paris with a poisoned arrow. And it grazed his hand and he got sick and died of arrow-poisoning. And the woman he had deserted to go kidnap Helen could have saved him, but she was still ticked off at him so she didn't help him. (And it serves him right, if you ask me.)

The movie left out the Amazon women, who came to help Troy. But they all got killed by the Greeks.

The movie left out all the intervention of the gods and goddesses, but there was a lot.

Thought you might be interested in the REAL story! (Uh, so to speak!)

What did you think of the movie? Leave a comment!

All Is Well Once Again
Mood:  a-ok
I have a lot to be thankful for. First, I'm thankful that my stepfather has an extra car! Thanks to him, I am mobile once again. There are still two dead cars in my garage (confused? see my last post!), but Ted comes back on Friday and I'm confident he'll have them both running in no time.

I'm also thankful for writing friends. On Monday I spent four delightful hours with a new friend. I met Ruth Seamands online - we're both members of a Christian writer's organization. Ruth is a wonderful Christian woman, a retired missionary and a writer, and comes from a big family full of writers and pastors. When we realized that our houses are only about 20 miles apart, she invited me over to "talk writing." We had a great time chatting and getting acquainted, and then her sister Rene showed up. Rene played the piano and we all sang along! Then Ruth announced that she was treating us to lunch. We arrived at the dining room of her charming little retirement village, and discovered that she had reserved a private room and invited her daughter Sheila, and her brother- and sister-in-law David and Helen! It was a joy meeting Sheila, and since David Seamands is something of a legend in these parts (and actually his fame spreads much farther than central Kentucky!), I was thrilled to meet him and his wife as well. We had a wonderful time, and they all made me feel like part of the family. I can't tell you how full of joy my heart was as I drove away from spending time with that wonderful lady.

Ruth must have inspired me - I've spent the past two days working on my latest novel, and also found time to come up with a shorter article today.

One other piece of news. Yesterday I was asked to become the moderator of the CWFI Critique Forum, where I've been a member for a few months. I am really excited about this, and am looking forward to building participation in this wonderfully tight-knit group. Life is good!

How about you? Any comments? Click on "Post Your Comment" and leave me a message. I'd love to hear from you.

Thunderstorms And Car Problems
Mood:  accident prone
Did you ever have One Of Those Days? I'm having one.

Ted is back in Utah for a couple of weeks and what happens? Car trouble. I got up yesterday to a dead car. The garage said the battery was dead, so I bought a new one. Today I dressed for church, got in the car and Guess What? Yep - dead as a doornail. (So much for spending $70 for a new battery!) I do have another car here - Ted's little MGB. But the top is down, and it's tricky to put up. Thunderstorms are predicted every day until Wednesday, so I dare not take it far.

But if I'm going to stay at home waiting for better weather, I need a few things. So I waited for a time when the sky looked like it might stay relatively clear for an hour or so, then jumped in the MGB to make a quick grocery run.

I got to the end of my street, pulled out into a busy intersection and the MGB died!!! Dead, right there in the intersection! I managed to roll backward out of the intersection. I called Ted (thank God for cell phones!) and yelled at him for being in Utah while I'm having all these problems, and then called AAA. Then I raised the hood and sat in the convertible for thirty minutes, eyeing a dark cloud that might be heading my way and trying to smile when people pull over to ask, "Do you need help?" when what I really wanted to do was snap, "Do I LOOK like I've got everything under control here????"

As AAA pulled up, I got out of the car to talk to the wrecker driver. As I did, a bee flew up my shirt and stung me on the back! The guy stood at a distance and watched my wild dance to get the nasty little insect out. He must have been thinking, "Why do I get all the crazies?"

He brought me and the little car home, put it right back in the garage beside the other dead car, and left.

So here I sit -- trapped in the house with four dozen Snickerdoodles I baked yesterday to take to church. (There were four dozen plus eight, but we can't have an uneven number, can we?!)

On the bright side, I am now 85 pages into my new novel and since I can't go anywhere I have no excuse not to work on it!

Have you ever had a day like this? I'd love to hear about it. Or you can just tell me how sorry you are that I'm having this day, and how happy you are that it's happening to me and not to you. Or you can just laugh. Whatever.

To leave a comment, click on "post your comment" below.

Thanks, and God Bless!

What Do You Think?
Mood:  happy
If you have a comment about my website or an article you've read, or if you just want to leave a message for me, I'd love to hear it! Post your comment here. Click on the "Post Your Comment" link below.