So yes, this brings me to the seasons of writing itself. There is a difference between seasons of a writer and seasons of writing itself.

The season of writing is a turbulent one for me. What do I write? Which is going to get me to that next level? Should I write that nonfiction? Should I write the narrative memoir? To me this feels like being in a small dingy in the middle of a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean! Tossed here and there and I have no idea where I will end up.

I have a lot of things on my heart to write, but what do I choose? My season of writing right now is one of discontent. I have written three novels… that I absolutely love. But I crave more… but I have no idea what that more is? Is it the MidGrade novel I am writing now? It very well could be. My son’s are the reason I am writing this Boy’s Adventure and so I have them in mind as I write…

Once this novel is written, will the season of my writing change? No idea. But, right now, I have the desire to figure it out because discontent can be a dangerous place to be. In more ways then one.

It can also be a glorious place! People change the world because they were discontent with the circumstances around them. We have electricity, plumbing, etc, because someone had the desire to see something change.

What seasons are you in right now? Are you happy with it? If it’s a “hard” season, can you see where the good will come out of it? I hope so!

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In any event, if I don’t make goals for the week, things aren’t going to go as well as they could. Turning older takes thought and consideration. If I don’t have it written down, I just might think too much about the fact I am almost old…er.

So, goals… Yes.

• Finish my UNSEEN CHRONICLE on Good Friday events. Its a long one… I thought it would be a quick 2K story… now pushing 4 and I am not done yet. I am not sure why I didn’t expect that. We are talking major events here. I am just hoping to do it justice.
• Not think about the fact I am older… Must be on my list.
• Raise more support for Ethiopia (See that post here) because I need to turn in my first deposit on May 1st and this is totally something I feel like I need to do!
• Not think about the fact I turned in a partial and it’s on her desk now… :-0 Try to focus on something else… anything else.
• Switch up my kids book. I realized it’s missing… SOMETHING. Yah, Uber Secret here LOL YA is so hot right now you have to be else someone will snatch it up LOL
• Try to get DS7 into the doctor for allergies/asthma/RAD/RSV he struggles and he sounds like a seal today.
• Plant my garden… after the snow. Goodness, gotta love Colorado! Yes, it’s going to snow.
• Drink a lot of coffee.
• Read the third Percy Jackson book
• School with kiddos, I can’t believe it’s April already! Where did my year go?
• Make my own doctor appointment to find out what is up with the hip pain after running recently. (Old… old, old, old is going to be the answer… I am sure.)
• Not thinking about the emails I am NOT receiving regarding my partial
• And just generally have a great week…

Sounds like a good set of goals to me… and not terribly unobtainable.

*DS7 coughs barks in the background*

Time to go make that appointment…

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The question already echoes in my mind and I have only physically known I was going to Ethiopia for a week. Yet already I have been asked this question and I am sure this same one will be asked repeatedly over the course of the next nine months.

It’s an easy question to ask… but not so easy to answer because it includes a whole long story that starts when I was nine years old then travels around the globe only to find me in the chair I am today. That was the short version… here is the long.

When I was nine years old, I came home from school and told my mom that someday I was going to go to Romania as a missionary. No really, true story. I had watched Nadia at school in gym class and God spoke to me through that movie and told me I would go.

For the next few years when something would pop up about gymnastics or Romania, my ears would perk and I would remind my mom I was going to go. I think she humored me.

The year I turned 17, I was still having thoughts of Romania… but now I was “Uber Cool” and almost legal! I signed up for my last youth convention EVER as a youth group member (bitter sweet) and headed off to have the time of my life in Oakland, California with 10,000 other Northern California Teens.

Just like any teen (and most there) I was doing the social butterfly thing –flitting from place to place, talking to everyone I could– when Coco Perez got up to speak about the Mission Trip that the denomination would be sponsoring that year. In the past, it’s always been to Mexico or Central America, places I had never thought about.

I remember the moment clearly in my mind –my words traveling 90 miles a minute– when Coco said “… the iron curtain has fallen and this year our team will head to Romania.”

Needless to say, I freaked out and was the first to visit the table when the session ended.

The cool part was that all the money I needed was pulled together to the DOLLAR. That is another story that would knock your socks off if told in full… I will only tell part here.

After an offering was taken at my tiny church (to try to get the remainder of the trip cost), I was short two dollars. I told no one, because surely I could find two dollars somewhere… right? God had other plans… A little old lady rushed up to me after church and stuck money in my hand and said “Put it in your pocket, it’s not much but God wanted me to give it to you and tell you that he always provides.” Yup, it was the two dollars.

So now, I’m going to Romania! I get there and see things that I had dreamed about since I was nine. It was totally cool.

When I returned, I knew I was being called into missions. So a few years later, I attended Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Nashville TN and really felt the “missions” call strong on my life. Little would I realize the mission field I was being called to was right here in the United States on my Military installation (Husband is prior Air Force) and in my daily life. Reaching people that just needed to see that regardless they were still loved.

Cool, but not the normal “mission field” as most would know it.

Fast forward to two years ago last month. I attended a Women’s Conference with my church with Margaret Becker as the speaker. Awesome conference. Talking about her book COMING UP FOR AIR … It was amazing. Being that she is a World Vision supporter, she brought hundreds of kids with her for us to look at and think about sponsoring.

I knew I felt a tug in my heart, but could no sooner pick a child from the piles, then pick a favorite star in the sky. So I asked them to pick for me. And they chose Aliya… from Ethiopia.

At that point, God placed Aliya and Ethiopia on my heart. We write to her, she writes back. It’s really a great experience!

However, I never considered going to Ethiopia… until May 2009.

Michael Hyatt (Thomas Nelson Publishing)and his wife Gail went with a World Vision team to Ethiopia… One better. They went to Aliya’s project. My heart just burst into joyful song as I watched both Michael and Gail’s tweets from Ethiopia. My prayers went with them as I read and experienced Ethiopia through their tweets and dirty feet.

When they got back and shared their pictures, I went over and over them looking for Aliya’s face. She could have been in any of them!

It started then… God was putting the desire in my heart to go to Ethiopia.

When I volunteered for World Vision at a concert a few months ago, I was able to share my stories and letters with other possible sponsors. My heart swelled with pride as I talked about “my girl” from Ethiopia.

The desire grew.

We recently felt like we needed to find a church closer to our house and God led us to Living Way Fellowship here in Highlands Ranch, CO. The second week we attended was Missionary Sunday… and Pastor Peter Henderson mentioned Ethiopia!

The desire kept growing.

I told myself, “Goodness, wouldn’t that be cool if–” Pretend again my thoughts are interrupted here like for Romania. Because on Sunday March 21st, 2010, Pastor Peter announced that Living Way Fellowship would be going to Ethiopia.

*insert heart explosion of joy*

Are you KIDDING ME?!?! Nope, God was preparing me. He was creating that desire… and now, it’s here. And yes, it means I will get to meet Aliya face to face…

*amaz-za-zing*

When we arrive in Ethiopia, we will be working on phase two for a school/orphanage that Living way did phase 1 for. We will also be bringing supplies like vitamins, clothing and other things with us. Ministry will mainly be with the children and that makes my heart happy.

So why, oh why have I share this with you? Well because I need people to believe in this trip and sponsor me to go. The sticker price on this mission trip was enough to make me want to admit defeat and run in the opposite direction. But knowing God came through for me for Romania with that two measly dollars –and hearing that small voice that said, “Trust me…”– I knew this was something he had been preparing me to do.

The cost of this adventure will be around $4000. This includes almost $2000 in airfare and the costs of our two weeks of lodging, food, travel and supplies (along with visa costs, etc).

Still worried about the cost of this trip, but believing I was really called to go, I posted on Facebook on Sunday Night (to my Family page) that I was going, God willing, and needed 130 people to sponsor me for a one time gift of $30. Within 10 minutes… I now only need 120 people to sponsor me.

*Yah, it’s that cool*

If you want more information on how you can sponsor me, please email me. If you want to sponsor me, you can do so in two ways… Paypal with my email address or send a check made out to Living Way Fellowship (With the word Ethiopia in the memo), which then makes it tax deductible.   You can also write a check made out to me, but it won’t be tax deductible.

If you don’t, that is fine too… I just knew I needed to share.

I am going to Ethiopia!!!

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Ahem, no really. Ask around.

If you are, you may proceed.

When it’s time to have your MS critiqued for the first time, it’s hard… VERY hard to let someone read your “baby”. Not only are you afraid they will think it’s rubbish but what if they tell you it’s contrived and just like every other story?

As the writer, you need to be prepared for anything that might be handed back to you. And I do mean ANYTHING. One of the reasons you send it out to get critiqued is to make your story better, fill in any holes, take out things that don’t matter and just get feedback in general.  But, the only way to make it better is to be patient with the critique process and be open to receive whatever comes back.

Notice I said patient and open… VERY important qualities in a writer.

I critiqued for a friend a few months ago and when I handed her the “on paper” critique she stared at me like I had a third head, “Really was there this much wrong with it?” Umm, well, yes… in my eyes there was, you asked for my opinion and here it is. I took days to critique this MS and then explained to her line by line what I thought at Starbucks one day. We parted that day, she thanked me for the critique and then I never heard from her again, save an email here or there.

This had me pondering why on earth she would ask for a critique yet run with her tail between her legs when I gave the honest opinion back. One of the gaping holes I found was integral to her story line! She built the whole book up to ONE SENTENCE and I was shocked and told her so. I said, “Huge let down. You built us up for this moment and then said, ‘she did it. it happened. she moved on.’ Didn’t work for me.”

Contrary to popular belief, most writers want to see their critique partners work go to the NY Times Bestseller List. I am one of them. If I have spent time on your MS, it means I believe it to be worth the time and effort I have put into it. I felt my points were valid as far as the plot and the believability of the story. I probably wasn’t right about everything, who is… but what I had to say fell to the wayside because she wasn’t ready to hear it. She refused to believe that I was saying anything worth while.

On the flip side of the coin, recently I received a MS that had some issues I pointed out and it had me wondering if this person was going to run in the opposite direction of me. Hahaha… I already had it happen once, it could totally happen again.

However, this time the writer was open and ready to hear my opinion of the MS and what I thought worked and didn’t work. She received it and she thanked me because she indeed was “too close” to the story to see the elements that I had pointed out. THIS, my friends, makes a fabulous writer. She is ready to make herself better, ready to hear and patient to do the work. Excellent!

Accepting critiques for your work makes you a better writer. You are able to see your story from another persons perspective and really feel the story through another person.

BUT you have to do the work first. It frustrates me to offer a critique on a MS that hasn’t been combed over at least 4-5 times. And by combing over I mean, the writer has written the MS, read it and made changes, edited it and made changes, read again and maybe even one more time for good measure. And unfortunately you can tell when a MS is just hot off the “finished writing” press. Even with my own MSs… I do silly things like “its and it’s” and “then and than” things that can be found usually on the first pass through.

Now, saying all this I do not want everyone to just take what the critique partner says as the “God’s honest truth”. Read over the critque and really debate on if what the critique is saying has any merit to your story. You won’t always see eye to eye but you can not discount what anyone says. This is your audience… regardless of the genre… they can read! You can use every critique to your advantage. Even the ones that you “don’t see eye to eye” will help you as a writer. Because while they probably don’t understand your MS at all, they are offering you a different perspective that just may be what you are looking for disguised as another package.

Finally, it’s very important to find a critique partner who shares the same VIEWS on life as you. Maybe even the same writing style. This is important for many MANY reasons… MANY. Not all MS and critique partners will be a match. In fact, I have had to turn down critiquing a MS or two because I could not wrap my head around the plot… or the style of writing. Because it just wasn’t me. Now saying that, I would probably read the book once its published and feel just fine about it, but when I have my critiquing hat on it’s a different story.

I encourage all writers to find a good critique partner and really listen to EVERYTHING they have to say. They may not have it “all right” but they at least give you a broader perspective on things you maybe too focused on to see the bigger picture.

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I put on my serious face just for this occasion. *serious*

UNSEEN CHRONICLES: Some of you have noticed there is a new tab above labeled such. I am posting those as Serial Fiction now… so you can read them anytime.

I have written eight chronicles based on true stories to total close to 30,000 awesome words. Hehehe, hey, it’s my story… and yes I think it’s awesome!

I have six other story ideas which would probably bring my total up to novel length… But I think I am just going to continue posting them on here until I figure out what to do with them after they are all written. Because there really isn’t a genre for “Religious Paranormal True Stroies from an Unseen Speculative Perspective…” or maybe there is? Hummmm….

As always, if you have a story you want to share with me about the Unseen hands that helped you through a situation, let me know. It’s MUCH more fun to write for a person then a situation. Hard to explain but the three chronicles I have written recently have no personal attachment to myself and they don’t seem as exciting as the others. However, they are in the resting phase, so maybe when I read them again and edit them they will change enough that I can get super excited about them like the others. Maybe.

THE RINGS OF TIME: It’s still with Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest… I will know Thursday if I made the first cut. Their loss if I don’t. If I do… well, then I wait some more. This is a waiting game… till June. JUNE! Boy, what was I thinking? I am not the most patient of people, this is going to be a real growing time for me. (Book 1 of Mandorian Prophecies)

No querying for this yet, though the query is written and perfect (if I can be so bold Hahaha!). So if ABNA doesn’t pick it up, I can send it out to procure an agent.

THE SECRETS OF MANDOR: (Book 2) Is still being edited. I am about to give the editors email address out so he can be bugged by more then just me. Gosh, why does editing take so long? Oh yah, I know, it’s cuzz he is taking out all of my THATs.. and maybe a few JUSTs… okay and maybe one or two MOMENTS… but really. COME ON! Ahem… Yes, he is reading. *waves*

REDEMPTION: (Book 3) Title still in progress, but that’s what I am calling it… It will probably end up being a four name title like the other two… Who knows. But it’s being plotted. Well, sorta… not actively though. I write down notes here and there.

RUNAWAY CHOICES: Looking excellent… Around 52.5K words… Would be more like 53 but I had one of those nights that I hated everything I wrote and deleted it. Yes, I deleted it out of the WIP. I did save it, but its not part of this MS. I decided… errr rather my characters decided to go a different way… only AFTER I wrote the dang scene transition… I wish they would speak up MUCH earlier then they do. I mean really… 600+ words down the drain for what purpose? Still deciding.

NONFICTION STUFF: And yes, it’s stuff… plural. Hmm, what is the singular of stuff? Never mind, don’t answer that. Haha.

Umm so yah, I have some nonfiction ideas. I have actually thought about starting on a couple of them recently but haven’t stepped over that threshold yet… but I will Lord willing be stepping over soon. And maybe even sharing some exciting bits of news regarding this avenue. We will see… totally not in my hands right now.

KIDS FICTION: I also have this fantabulous idea for a boys series of books… But I have to flesh that one out with my boys And they aren’t willing participants yet… so really this shouldn’t be in the Writing Updates but more of the “Somewhere down the road when my boys are old enough to pay attention” category.

I wonder if that will ever happen…

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Running: I am almost in week four of my Couch to 5K running program. I would be further along but with sicknesses and schedules, you just have a make exceptions for every other day run programs. However, things are moving along nicely. Today, I grinned through my whole run time. It was an awesome feeling and I wasn’t even winded at the end of it. Stoked.

Kids: All alive… which is good. We have a birthday for DS8 who will then graduate to DS9… He is beside himself excited.

Fiction Writing: Screeched to a halt for a bit. There are some other things heading my way I need to take care of.

Homeschool Blog/PluggedInParents: My February article is written and ready to go up. I will definitely give you notice when it does go live.

NonFiction writing: Wow, whirlwind of a couple days full of research, brainstorming and writing. I am reminding myself, I am not in control of this and that makes me pretty confident. As of Saturday at 11:44pm, my nonfiction proposal is written and waiting for some fresh eyes (read that as: not so tired Eisley). I will put together my writing samples for the publisher tomorrow and then send it to a couple nonfiction writers (and fiction ones too, don’t feel left out) to make sure they don’t see something funky. Then Monday night… or even morning if it’s ready… it leaves on a prayer.

Sanity: In question.

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What was that? Oh, yes… someone just said: “Wow Eisley, I didn’t even know you wrote nonfiction…”

Haha, me neither.

Well, that isn’t entirely true. I have written plenty of nonfiction things devoted to my personal blog over the years (five years blogging now? Crazy!). I have had oodles of ideas run through my head on topics I feel aren’t being expressed in the right way, or just not at all. However, as a fiction writer for the time, I really hadn’t thought about it seriously enough to pitch to anyone.

Then this opportunity fell square into my lap… and when I say fell, I do mean *kerplop*… FELL. I don’t know what I can share with you right now, but I am excited and I already have my first couple ideas cooking on paper. I am beyond excited about the doors that are being opened right now…

However, I have been requested to submit a nonfiction proposal… umm by next week! I have never done a nonfiction proposal, nor researched, nor even thought of… until yesterday at 12:00noon. Now, it has become the all consuming thoughts in my brain. I woke up this morning at 3:00am thinking about the ideas. Gotta love that.

The idea rolling around my brain at 3:00am, that I came up with around 8:30pm last night, will be what my proposal is for. Still excited, I emailed some of the demographics this idea would cater to and get their feedback. I came home this afternoon with 35 emails in my box saying, “YES! I would buy that!” in some form or another. The response has been overwhelming, “I have never heard of that type of <THING> before, I would totally buy it!”

I feel like I am in a dream… an awesome bizarre dream, but a dream… Yesterday morning, I woke up as a fiction author, thinking about nonfiction down the road… I went to bed a nonfiction author (to be) with fiction on the side.

I am encouraged by the recent events and know everything happens for a reason. Hopefully, I can share all the details with you all soon!

Some of the resources I will be combing through this weekend are listed below:

If you had any other resources, let me know!

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Today, I hope to answer that question with the vast (har har har) knowledge I have gleaned from various sources and explain why it’s important that you, as an aspiring author, start working on your brand NOW instead of waiting until your book is complete. Because it all starts BEFORE the book even goes out to the agents.

First part of branding is the utmost important… You MUST have a fabulously awesome product. That is it. This comes first, and foremost… so work hard on your manuscript. Use all the blood, sweat, and tears you can handle to make it beautiful.

Next, you need to figure out what you want to communicate to your reader and what makes your brand unique.. then plow forward with it. Stick to your guns, never deviate from this path!

Never give up! Never surrender!

*ahem*

If you feel you have something new to offer the market, then create a new category for yourself. If you aren’t the first (which most of us aren’t) then set yourself apart by doing something different. Find a phrase or word that defines who you are and what you do that is unique. Then OWN IT! For example, I have chosen Ellipses… for now. I don’t know that I will continue with this brand, but because this is WHO I am, this is where I have gone.

The third idea is to grab their heart with your message. If you can get an emotional reaction from your readers, then you have them for life. They will remember the way you made them feel.

Next, you need to create and perfect your website, letterhead, profesional photos and other visual elements… and do this with equal importance! DO NOT forget physical senses of this… how you physically act around customers during a book signing. A good example for me is Lisa Mantchev (Follow her on Twitter). She has really done a great job with her branding. While I have NOT been to a book signing, her brand is VERY apparent… with cupcakes, IZZEs and sparkles. Love it! If she didn’t do this on purpose, then she is a very WISE individual, because people know this about her cupcakes, her tweets, site and book signings. All aspects of her brand communicate one solid core of message… Fun, theatre, and fairies! Her image and how she acts back those messages up.

Sixth idea is to STAND AND DELIVER! Ahem, yes… well consumers in general are pieces of work. I am one, I know this. I get disappointed and walk away from things… ALL.THE.TIME. There are too many things in this world to waste my time with something that is going to disappoint me. So when you pick your brand image… stick to it (I need to use that advice don’t I? LOL I will decide soon, I promise.) Note: If you write two different genres, you may have to take on more then one brand (along with a pseudonym). Cuzz if you write a harlequin and a YA… they don’t want you to be in the same social circle. Capisce?

The last idea is to always evaluate and make adjustments to hone your brand. And unfortunately all signs point to the fact that you won’t know you have archived the desired branding until success is evident.

Look at other people and how they brand. Almost every author (who is successful) has a brand and you can watch them and take notes. Your brand will constantly change as society changes, but if you pay close attention to how the readers are changing, you can keep your brand moving with the flow of traffic. It’s an ongoing process… not one you can be done with… ever!

And once people get wind of your brand, it will be THAT BRAND that sells your book, not the book itself.

So I challenge you to begin a branding journey.

If you have a blog… get a domain.
If you have a domain/blog… make it professional on the domain.
If you don’t have a blog… get one ASAP (then get the domain and professional appearance).

The most heart breaking thing for me to see… a great person with some great words flowing from their pen (keyboard) and then go to their website and scream in horror at the disorganized mess. I am not sure how to tell them how unprofessional their blog/site is and I don’t necessarily think its up to me to tell them. I know mine isn’t all that and a bad of chips, but it is a work in progress, I am trying to make changes to make it more professional every day.

Branding is hard… but it is rewarding when people know you by your brand and want “That new Eisley Jacobs Book”.

SIDE NOTE: Did you know that it is 100% more pleasant to look at a site with a light background and dark text? It is scientifically proven that it is easier the for the eye to read and enjoy when its dark text against a light background. And having negative space is actually complementary, your blog/site doesn’t need to be packed full of stuff. Check a few of these BIG NAMED sites and see if you agree with me…

Apple |Microsoft | Google | Michael Hyatt | St Martins Press

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