Why?......

Why do I tend to forget my past jobs and work experiences?

It has been so long since I wrote a resume that I truly forget what I have done in my life!

I am writing these queries and even though I have never written a novel before, I HAVE been a spokesperson which included speaking to groups of over 3000 people. I have been involved in multimedia presentations both in front of and behind the camera. I even forgot to mention my stint as peer counselor! Oh, wait! I just remembered when Jeff and I were the youth pastors at two different churches! AAAHHH!

I am literally squealing at myself.

Here I sit pounding my head with someone else's book ~one of my favorites!~ raking myself over the coals because I just sent out 4 queries WITHOUT this information. Hahahaha WAAAAAA.

I guess if I am supposed to be represented by someone they will like me for my writing not for my previous accomplishments.

But if I'm lucky they will come here and read this and like both. ;)

More Queries Sent

My queries have been brushed up and polished. I bit the bullet and sent some more out today.
I have realized that the agent I sent to before is wonderful but my query was not!
The past few days have been spent searching for other agents to add to my Dream list and am pleased to say that there are a few more out there.
God knows where my book needs to go and to whom.
Please stand in prayer with me that the right person will read and respond soon! ~that is in His timing!~

What I have had to give up for writing

My wedding rings!!
I just got back from the Dr. and found out that writing has caused a cyst on my ring finger! Can you believe it? It is a small bump under the skin but it hurts something fierce when I wear my rings.

Talk about an excuse not to wear your wedding rings! But I want to wear them. I miss seeing them on my finger and the promise they represent.

The Dr. said that when I was writing my last book I must have had my rings on and aggravated the area. So funny!

Anyone gotten a tat on their finger? Think they can do it in Gold ink?

Update: Surgery on May 21 to have a cyst removed from my finger. Should be an easy in and out. Oh the things we are willing to do for what we love!

Another day

Today held some difficulties and some amazing moments.
I got to have dessert with my hubby after the NAVY decided that I am a non-entity without him. Gotta love the spousal support!
Went in to get a new ID card and the NAVY does things so differently! The ARMY is totally automated so you can just walk in, give them your name, smile pretty for the camera, and *bam* you have a new ID card.

Not so in the NAVY.

They still use paper! -yeah remember paper? She asked me to have my Soldier FAX a document! So much easier for him to e-mail it since the ARMY has given him the proper tools to do this. As if I can pull my Soldier out of his very important job to sign a paper stating that I am still his wife and that he is allowing me to get an ID card! So archaic!

Go ARMY beat NAVY! - hahahaha

So tomorrow I get to go to lunch with my wonderful Soldier and then he will escort me to the local ARMY post for my new ID card. He wants it to be as stress free as possible- and get some NAVY jabs in at the same time. Just wait until he tells his buddies how easy it is in the ARMY!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving hubby.

After our dessert date we sat and watched DVR'd 24 while searching for more agents to query.

Hope you had a blessed day!

UPDATE: We went to Ft. Monroe ~an ARMY Post~ and walked right in. No problems at ALL! Oh how I loved the sea of green uniforms and I even got a bit emotional when I saw the berets. Yeah, those stinkin' things just look right. -took about 3 years to grow on me. *grin*

Learning again to laugh at myself

Sometimes I can take myself way too seriously. I am attempting to rewrite my queries and man, this is difficult.

I must find a way to come across as educated, smart, witty and engaging so that the Agent will then read to the end of the page and get to the good stuff -my book.

HAhahaha!

How does the witty and engaging part get lost so easily? No comments from the peanut gallery!



So, I am taking the day off. I am going to get my new Id card. That picture is sure to humble me a bit and make me laugh!

Confirmation

We had the most wonderful service today at www.newlifeprovidence.com. The worship and fellowship were great. The sermon Pastor Dan gave was so to the point it brings tears.
We learned how God gives us safety but not comfort. At any point we are comfortable we are not learning and growing! POWERFUL!
I am reminded of the growing pains I had as a child. I used to cry so often and not be able to move. I knew that I was growing but there were times where I would have gladly stayed where I was to avoid the pain.
Today I find myself doing the same thing spiritually.
The new book I am working on is going to cause me to be very uncomfortable! It will require me to dig into my past and some difficult situations so that I can show how God carried me out of them.
I have already asked a few of my friends to pray for me during this process. I even mentioned to one of them that I don't want to go so far outside of my comfort zone! HELLO!
I know God wants to use my experiences towards His glory and to bring others hope. I know it will cause me to be uncomfortable, but I also know that it will cause me to grow. It will bring me one step closer to Him and who He is calling me to be.
So I challenge you this week, where are your comfort zones? Have you gotten so comfortable that you have stopped growing?
Blessings!

Finished the book I was reading

I will NEVER read another book by this author! It was terrible. It ended on a very sad note and it showed NO hope for a happy or even livable future.
I just don't get it!
I'm looking forward to talking about it in book club on Monday.

Update: I have been told that I was way too hasty in my decision making. Most people who LOVE this author have said that this book and it's ending are not true to her writing style. So my girlfriend gave me another one to try. Not sure when I'll get to it! I need to stuff some Janet Evanovich and other happy stories in first! -Fortify myself.

Another promise to my readers

I am reading a book at the moment for my book club. It is wonderfully written and has kept me entertained, but it is missing a huge component; a component that I feel makes or breaks a story: HOPE
The problems in this book are so true to life. The characters are broken and hurting, but that's where it ends. They have no hope that the situation will get better. (I am 3/4 of the way through this particular book and don't know how it will end, but we all have read stories that are similar, or watched movies with the same premise.)

If this blog finds you in that same situation please know that there is HOPE!

I have been studying about Hope today and praying that God will show me some insights.
What I have found is that the Bible is so full of scriptures that reference Hope and I am overwhelmed. Our hope is in God!
Is that why these characters have no hope? Is the Author without hope? Is the author without God?
So my promise lies in my Hope in God~ I will in every way attempt to share my Hope with you. It might not show up right away and you'll probably wonder if I have forgotten this promise. Rest easy, I will not forget! How could I? If I forget, each lesson God has taught me would be for nil.

If you know my story, you know that there have been many times that I should and could have given up all hope. The future looked bleak and there was no visible promise of happiness, but through it all I held on to the smallest glimmer of hope. Sometimes that glimmer was not even the size of a atom but it was there none the less.

The greatest hope I had grew out of a promise made to me when I was 7. ~ A promise that I would NEVER be left alone and EVERYTHING that had happened and would happen to me was to the eventual glory of my God.

There was and is no promise that life would be wonderful. There was no promise to free me from earthly pain. But there IS a promise that I would not be given more than I could handle. Goodness, at the time I had no idea I could handle so much! LOL!

As I take on this next writing venture, I foresee some sticky situations where some of the characters struggle- and I will struggle with them as I write their stories- but know that at all times the hand that wrote the story LONG before He gave it to me, is the one who gives all Hope and the one who is the true reward of our hope.

Blessings


I have the best song about Hope and God's promise on my playlist. It is "You Gave Me Your Promise" by Fireflight. Moving!

Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them. ~Vincent McNabb

Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark. ~George Iles

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Psalms 33:18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

A small story I wrote for a contest. The prompt: Begin and End

I opened my eyes not knowing what was going on. The screaming that had woken me wouldn’t stop. It had begun out of nowhere.
Then there was silence. Had I been dreaming?
My husband rolled over rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Hon, what was that?”
He had heard it also, so it couldn’t have been a dream.
“I’m going to check on the kids,” I said as I quickly got out of bed to make sure our children were unharmed. Both of them were safe and warm in their beds, allowing me a moment to breathe deep and say a quick prayer of thanks.
Then it started again. The screaming was blood curdling.
I ran downstairs thinking that maybe our cat had gotten into something and was hurt.
Poor Beau was lying at the bottom of the stairs, unseen until I stepped on his tail. I quickly learned that there was no way to mistake what I had heard for a cat.
I went to the back window and looked out. Our light sensor hadn’t come on so I assumed that whatever had been hurt wasn’t back there.
The screaming happened again, startling me. It sounded so close, as though I was right on top of it.
I grabbed the broom and stuck it out the door activating the sensor. Light flooded the yard confirming that the hurt or injured thing was not in my back yard.
My husband ran down the stairs, now fully awake, and carrying the bat we hid under the bed. “Did you find out what it is?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t force air past my voice box because my heart was caught in my throat. I saw my fear reflected in my husbands face and became even more afraid.
The screaming started again and I watched him take a deep breath, swallow, and step through the door; bat held high.
He walked to our 6ft high wooden fence, where the sound seemed to be coming from. I watched him pull himself up to get a look over the top. He let out a whop, making me jump and scream. He dropped to the ground and started laughing hysterically.
Had he gone crazy? Did what he saw make him hysterical.
“Jeff. Honey, are you ok? What’s wrong?” I ran to him forgetting that something horrible could be waiting just over the fence. None of that mattered if he wasn’t alright.
He attempted to calm down and breathe normally when the screaming started again and he laughed even harder.
I gripped his arm and attempted to drag him to the safety of our home.
Why, oh why didn’t I grab the cell phone? If I had called 911 when this all started, the police would be here by now.
Jeff had finally stopped laughing and pulled me into his arms. I was totally baffled and seriously thinking that he had snapped mentally.
“Honey, I want you to do something for me. I promise you it will be difficult, but it is something you need to do.” What could he need? He was so solemn.
“Okay,” I said. “Anything.”
He reached into the kitchen and grabbed one of the chairs. I watched him carry it to the fence. What was he thinking? He honestly didn’t expect ME to look at whatever was so gruesome.
I began praying hard that the Lord would help him regain his sanity.
“Honey, come over here please. Remember, you said you would do anything. I want you to stand on this chair and look into the Johnson’s yard.” He said this without any fear in his eyes. He was serious. “I promise you will be okay,”
We had been married for 7 years and I had never known him to do anything that would harm me. I had to trust him.
I put my leg on the chair when the screaming started again. I jumped and once more looked into Jeff’s eyes searching for a release from my promise. He was trying not to laugh.
Oh Lord, please help me.
I stepped up onto the chair, took a deep breath and peeked over the fence.
I searched all around and didn’t see any blood. I didn’t find a body. There was nothing to explain the noise. My eyes searched again and the moment I located the source, the screaming ended.


I was shocked to be staring into the eyes of the largest Rooster I had ever seen.


This story is based on a night 6 years ago. Our stinkin' neighbor had gotten a rooster. I had NEVER heard one for real, only in the movies. I don't know if this rooster was coo coo or if he had a weird voice, but I really was terrified when I heard it. In real life I didn't run downstairs but was able to look from my window and see this stinkin' thing sitting on top of his coop. The moon was full enough for me to see him. Yes the moon was still up. This guy liked to get up at 3:30 and crow until 10:30. No JOKE!
We ended up calling the police and the neighbors had to get rid of this guy due to city codes on animals.
I'll update you on the results. Hope you enjoyed it.
Make it a wonderful day!

Follow up: The reviews on my short story have all been positive. Can't wait until Thursday when I find out where I placed in the competition.

Quick Thoughts: Free Will

Morning All! I only have a few moments and want to tell you some of my latest thoughts.

I fell asleep last night thinking about Free Will. In my life I am waging between My Will and God's Will more than I would like to admit.
I added this trial to my book The One. There is a part where the Guardian Angels are talking about Humans and our Free Will.
Asher~ Seth's Guardian says:
“Each human is given a choice to do what is right in each situation. Free will is an interesting challenge for us Guardians. I am able to guide and protect, but ultimately it is your choice. He would never force you to do something and neither could I. Humans are just that, human. Ultimately, it is your choice.”
Then later another Guardian comments: “Human’s free will is always messing up His best laid plans.”
This morning in my quiet time, I looked further into Free Will to find out just what others feel about it.
Free Will according to Wickipedia:
The question of free will is whether, and in what sense, rational agents exercise control over their actions and decisions.

The Bible:
Dt.30:19
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life.
Joshua 24:15
Choose you this day whom ye will serve.... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Then I found this site which breaks down the different Denominations beliefs on Free will: http://christianity.about.com/od/denominationscomparison/ss/comparebeliefs2_4.htm

Those of you who know me know that I shy away from the Religious debates because I am not a theologian but a normal person who seeks knowledge of right and wrong for my life and my family.

My conclusion: When I think of Free Will, I am shocked that God would leave the MOST important decision in life (to trust, love and serve Him) up to me! Hello! Really God? Me?

It's such a good thing that I am NOT god! That decision would be one for which I would press the "DO OVER" button!

Then after my little laugh at my humanness, I am humbled that He left this decision to me. He gave me the choice to follow Him or not. What a gentleman! How often my Free will has led me into trouble. Looking back on my troubling times, I see that it was MY Free will that got me there!

When we trust in Him, we turn over our Free Will to the One who gave it to us. He allows me to grab it back in my own desperate desire to control the situations, (Were I Him, I would be laughing at my stupidity) and then He is always right there with open arms when I crawl back to him, beaten up by the results of being out of His Will.

The problem with Free Will arises when it is MY will I follow not God's.
I would love to hear your take on Free Will.

Blessings, I'm off to have lunch with a girlfriend.
Andrea

A day of thinking

Today I have spent most of the day thinking about my new book. It is so funny how many different story lines I come up with. Some of them are down right ridiculous.
My main character is going to be a tween girl who has been orphaned. The plan for twists and turns are building and wait until you meet her new guardian! So much fun.
I have also spent some time working on my Proposal. This is what an Agent takes to an Editor to sell your book. This is you and what you have written on just a few pages. For someone who can tend to be long winded (Amy stop your laughing! Jen you are right there with me!) I am having a problem getting this down nice and tight. But I have no doubt that the right words will come when the time presents itself. Being prepared isn't bad though.
I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow. I'm going to Newport News to have lunch with a girlfriend.
Blessings
Andrea

I just got an e-mail!

The Agency I sent my query to has acknowledged that they have it! Now I'm nervous, because that means that my Dream Agent will have it in their in box and could be reading it right now.

Patience is NOT one of my traits. I am constantly reminded of the song "Patience" by The Music Machine. I found the clip here:

http://www.agapelandmusic.us/MusicClips/Samples/Music_Machine/Fruit_of_the_Spirit/06-Patience_Herbert_the_Snail.mp3

We had to learn this song for a church program over 25 years ago! No matter how annoying the song may be, it is still the first thing that comes to mind when I am impatient. My poor children now know this song also because I sing it to them whenever they are impatient. How cruel am I?

A GLARING Omission

How could I omit my one true inspiration?

In my blog this morning I omitted mentioning the ONLY way I am able to get anything written.

That is with God's help!

When I am writing you will hear Christian music blaring from my play list and begging alternating with praise coming from my lips!

I believe that when we allow God to direct our paths He, in his awesome power, will do it!

Frequently, I attempt to take the reigns, but He is quick to remind me that without Him, I am nothing!

I am SO thankful that He has allowed me to work for Him. Even if I never get published, and no one but my friends know my name, His will in my life is what is done!

Please God, don't let me, my pride, and/or my stupidity ever get in the way of what YOU want to do!

The Writing Process

Morning All, I thought I would drop by and give you an idea of what it is like to write a book. At least what it is like for me. ;)

As I have mentioned before, I get my book ideas from dreams. This is not new to me at all. For my entire life I have been called a daydreamer. This was always said as though it was negative!
HA HA!

Since I was young, like 5 or 6, I would have these amazing dreams, but rarely would they come to a conclusion before I woke up. Through out the day I would finish the dream and play with it until I had worked out a story that I liked.

There were a few times that I was plagued by nightmares. Before long, I learned how to control them while still asleep, to keep the horrible from happening. Even then the dreams were not complete until I woke up and worked in a good ending.

I still remember dreaming up my wedding dress when I was only 7! I clearly remember how it looked and also remember BEGGING my parents for that Barbie dress creator! Yeah, the one that had those plates you put together and then you did an etching on top. At the time I was sure I would be a fashion designer. HA HA! When I got married over 15 years ago my wedding dress did not look anything like my dream dress. I looked for it though and if I'd had more time maybe I could have created it. Hmmm.

I used to write a few small stories based on my dreams but that ended when I grew up and got too busy to daydream as much. Life pulls us out of our daydreams and into the real world and those dreams fizzled before I would raise my head in the morning. -I wonder if that is why I never have been a morning person? I would rather stay asleep or in the near sleep where controlling dreams is easy.- I'm sure my old Psych professor would have tons to say about that!-

So back to my process. When I have an absolutely AMAZING dream, I wake up and write down the specifics right away. Then I spend about a week working through the back story- if needed- and the ending. Wait until I tell you some of the CRAZY things I had thought up for The One . Those will only be revealed when I'm famous! HA HA!

While I write, the stories play out in my mind like the dreams. Vivid and moving. Sometimes I freak out because I can't type as fast as my characters move and talk. SO frustrating. My poor family now knows that when I'm working they have to wait until I can come up for a breath, then we can chat. -Yeah, I know it's horrible and that makes me an awful mom!- We have worked out a few ground rules for all of us since I started writing. We all agree that my writing is a family venture and they are enjoying the ride. Family support is the MOST important thing they offer me. (besides love) Without either I don't think I could get through it all.

Well if you have made it down to here you must really care about how I write my stories. I'm honored! -and a little shocked!

After the story is dumped out onto the paper, I send it to a few very talented and trusted girlfriends who help me edit. They are my best buds who are able to be honest with me- At least they better be! Without them, I can't imagine what my books would look like! I type so fast, I forget about commas and proper sentence structure! Kind of like here.

Once I have edited and edited, (did I mention the editing?) then it is polished up. When that is all done, my query letter is written and it is off to an Agent.

I will gladly update you on the rest of the process, once I have an agent and am through the next step.
I hope you have a great day! I am off to work on yet another dream. It was a good one too!
One I'm pretty sure you will like.
Andrea

A promise to my future readers

I just finished reading book 2 of a series that I'm not too thrilled with but am reading because, well I'm just not made of the stuff to put a book down 1/2 way through. I'm the same way with movies. There has only been ONE movie in 34 years that I have turned off half way through.

OK you say, big deal. Get to the promise.

I Andrea Gardner, promise to NEVER leave my readers in a lurch!

The last sentence of the book I just finished reading is not even the end of the paragraph! There was NO notice that you were near the end. I went to turn the page and there were the credits! AAAHHHH!! I have put in HOURS and HOURS on this stinkin' series and now have to wait goodness only knows how long just to finish the thought! By then I will have to re-read the last chapter of book 2 just to catch up on that hanging thought! Asinine! All for what? So that I will go buy book 3! So frustrating!

I believe my readers deserve more. Yes there is always a hook to make you come back, but honestly, does an author really have to leave you on the edge of a cliff for MONTHS?

As it is, this series has been difficult for me to follow. It is a YA book and it was not originally written in English, so I have given it some leeway when it comes to sentence structure and drawing a complete picture. After all, I do speak the language it was originally written in, so the mistakes are a bit glaring to me. But that was not all. The first book of this series literally kept me guessing as to what era it was set in- up to something like page 68! Yeah! A hint about jeans, and a vehicle with an engine finally put it in the 1900's but then I had to fight for the decade. It wasn't until one of the characters answers a Cell phone -something like page 120!- that we, the reader, are let in on this colossal secret!

As a writer, my readers to feel informed. I want you to be able to easily picture yourself as one of the characters or as a fly on the wall. Shoot, you can play any part you want, but I want you to have the information that you need to put you there. I'm not talking about giving away a plot or the twist, just giving you the every day information we all deserve.

But now I must get back to my point. The ending of a book. Not always the end of a story, but it should let you put the book down and say, "Wow, that was great! I can't wait until the next one." not "WHAT! Honestly, that's how this book will end! And you're telling me I might have to wait an entire YEAR just to find out the end of the paragraph." See the difference. I would like you to have the first experience and leave the other one to someone else!


So today on April 19, 2009 I promise not to leave you in the lurch just to sell a sequel!

Here we go again

It happened again! I had the most amazing dream last night that I must make into a book. This time it is not a Romance but more of a Chick lit. This might change as it did for The One, which started out as a suspense/romance. I just don't know at the moment.
The pull to get this story out of my head and onto paper is so strong. First I need to work out my main characters and figure out more of the plot.
How greedy can I be? Here I was just thinking that in my prayers I need to beg God to give me the WHOLE story not just bits and pieces!
Yes, I will admit easily to anyone that I pray for the ideas to come to me in my dreams. I have always had extremely vivid dreams. I used to wake up and think "That would make a good book." Why oh why didn't I follow my thoughts back then?
I hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

WAAA!!

Remember how I sent my Query to my Dream Agent? Well still no word, but now I don't think I will hear back. Why, you ask?
It goes like this:

Hey hon, I'm about to send the query letter out to *insert Dream Agent*. Could you please come and make sure everything is OK?

Hon comes over and yells across the room that he is adding ONE word.

No problem. Right?!

WRONG! In adding that ONE word he also added an n. Not attached to a word, not anywhere that will change a word. BUT JUST HANGING THERE!

Don't forget I had already word checked my document and this was THE E-MAIL!

Don't forget that spell check does NOT consider a hanging n to be a problem because it stands for Noun! -What!?
Did I check it? NO
Why? Honestly, I don't know! I just hit Send before I got nervous and put it off.

So here I am. A great query with the ONE PET PEEVE Agents HATE! Spelling mistakes on a Query letter. -In Hon's world I equate it to showing up to meet the General in dress blues with tarnished awards and scuffed shoes. He'd be out of there and land on his rump!

I try to look on the good side: I only sent it to ONE agent! Thank the GOOD LORD!
But the bad side rears it's ugly head: WAAAA! I sent a messed up Query letter to my Dream Agent!

Yes, I realize that there are many other agents out there, and that I should just let it go, but I need to grieve for a few moments. (snif, snif)
Then I can get on to my other Query letters.
WAAAA!!!!

(Let me please add that if you are my Dream Agent, I am terribly sorry for the mistakes. I hope you were able to get past them and enjoyed the first part of my book. Still looking forward to hearing from you. Even if it is to tell me what a goober I was for letting that "n" hang out there! ;)

Information Overload!

Do you ever feel that there is just way toooooooooo much info out there? I enjoy being able to search for answers here on the Internet but am shocked that so much of the info contradicts each other!
In my searches there have been a few people that seem to ring true and have been so helpful.
You can see some of these blogs and sites on the right.
As a waiting to be discovered author, the groups I belong to are priceless. SinC Guppies, I love ya!
So if you also are an aspiring author, check out some of the blogs I have listed. I will update the list with new blogs as I find them and test them.
Please feel free to send me suggestions, if you find a great site that I have overlooked!

Happy Birthday Josh!

Happy 12th Birthday Bubba!
Love you!

I did it! I sent out my first Query!

Yikes! I just hit Send! I wrote my query letter, added the Prologue AND first chapter.

Then pressed send!

I have prayed about it and decided to send it first to my Dream Agent. If I don't hear back from him/her in the next few days, I will send it out to the rest of my Dream Agent List.

Praying that this will work but know that rejection is just another word for "try with someone else." -But would LOVE to work with this Agent.

Please pray along with me.
Thanks!
Andrea

I'm DONE!

YEAH!! I'm doing the happy dance here. I've finished my last polish before submitting to Agents!
I have studied up and found my top 5 dream agents. I plan to submit to them by tomorrow and then play the waiting game.
Check back to see how it goes.
Blessings!

The Final Edit

I have been working hard on my final edit.- That is until I find an agent and their editor finds more for me to polish!
In my excitement I have been spending a great deal of time researching Query letters and how to write them. Each agent requests something a little different and I am working hard to compile a list of authors I feel fit with my novel.
There have been a few that when I read their blogs or web-sites my heart soars and I daydream of what it would be like to have them as an Agent. Then there are others that I believe would work well but for one reason or another, just aren't the perfect puzzle piece.
Please pray that the Lord will direct my Queries -and my writing!
Off to finish my last few pages and start writing my Query letters.
Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!

My Book

So, I have decided to blog about being a "Soon to be published" author. (Yes the SOON is what I'm dreaming for!)
I started writing my book last November during Thanksgiving break. I was working through a few ideas and one night had a dream about a man who wakes up in a new world and sees a lady he is drawn to follow.
It took me about a week to work out the particulars and start writing. Within 3 months I was finished. Since then there have been about 3 edits and a few changes. Honestly I have loved each moment of the process.
I am totally taken by my main character Seth. He is a 20 something guy who is funny, kind, smart and just gorgeous- And I mean Jersey girl drawn out Gorgeous- He is studying to be a doctor and teaches piano and guitar. Before they died, he loved his mom and admired his father. -The kind of guy you would be THRILLED with if one of your girls fell in love and brought him home!
My secondary character is Lilli. She is a young woman who is confident and loving and just the sweetest thing. She is a nurse who works at the local school and also a very talented musician. She is about 5' 3 and has blue eyes and longish brown hair. Her smile just melts Seth. But does she love him? Is she his One?

At this moment I am working on my final edit before submission to agents. I was happy with it when I edited last time, but it needed some polishing. So...... Here I am polishing, working on my query letter and Synopsis. -Not the most fun part of writing!