Barbies, Cartoons and Mad Libs, oh my! Oh, yeah, and a book.

I was a child of the 80’s. Thus, Saturday mornings found me and my sister crowding in front of our TV, sneaking our hands into the bag of powder sugar donuts and watching cartoons. One we always watched together was Jem and the Holograms. On one particular episode…I can’t remember which one…Jem’s boyfriend, Rio shouts to another man, “Que pasa, Louis!”

My sister and I thought this sounded so funny, as we were not used to hearing people speak Spanish, and for days afterward we would shout right out of the blue, “Que pasa, Louis!”

What could this have to do with homeschool, writing, books or any of the other things on this blog? Well…ahem, probably nothing. Except, when I remembered I hadn’t talked about my writing, lately, I remembered hearing that while watching Jem.

Speaking of watching TV with my sister, I also remember taking turns. If I would watch He Man with her, she would watch one of my favorite’s with me. There was no such thing as more than one TV in the house. We shared it. The best part was if one of us didn’t like the cartoon on at the time, we could still enjoy the confections from the donut bag.

Again, what does this have to do with anything? Answer: I don’t know yet.

When TV got boring, my sister and I would either go outside to play in the yard or pull out all our barbies. And, lemme tell y’all, we had barbies. Lots of them. Nurse Barbie, astronaut Barbie, Barbie of Barbie and the Rockers, lots of Ken dolls who always lost their shorts, and let’s not forget the Jem and the Hologram dolls. We had a barbie waterbed, barbie mansion, barbie cars barbie clothes galore and imaginations that kept us busy for hours. As we grew older, our friends would come over and play barbies with us. I remember staying up all night during a sleep over, because we were still playing barbies.

Today, when my youngest asks me to play pretend with her Shopkins or My Little Pony, she always wants me to start the game. She doesn’t like to play with her sister, because she says I have a better imagination. I can’t help but think that it all stems from those days of playing pretend with my own sister. Comes in handy when I need ideas for my stories, too.

Finally, I got to the topic of this blog. Or, have I?

One of the things my children and I love to do is Mad Libs. It teaches those essential language arts skills, builds vocabulary, stretches imaginations and provides afternoons filled with laughter. The other day, we put the books away and did Mad Libs almost all afternoon. One of them stuck with me, as it was just that funny.

“Part of the body, Mom,” my daughter said.

“Lip,” I replied.

“Okay, Sis, now a noun.”

“Cat,” my other daughter said.

When it was all said and done, the sentence read like this: “The prince took her by the lip and said, ‘May I have this cat?’”

Another Mad Lib, which was a shortened version of The Night Before Christmas, had St. Faith instead of St. Nick, ‘up the chimney he fell’, and…my favorite…1,229 tiny unicorns, instead of 8 tiny reindeer.

I suppose my point to all this, is a love of words and an active imagination are necessary when writing fiction. They also help get me through some tough days as a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her children.

So, as February comes to a close, get your barbies out. Then, grab a bag of Donuts and a video of Jem and the Holograms, and let your imagination run wild. After that, find someone to do Mad Libs with, because it’s no fun doing them alone. Smile often, but laugh even more, and be sure to check out my friend’s new book, “A Brother’s Love” now available on Amazon.

When Cody finds out his brother, Joey is going to be sent away to a camp for blind kids, he does everything in his power to stop it. Then, he realizes his brother is going to be okay without him, and that it’s okay to learn new things.

This book is funny and teaches a lesson at the same time. There is nothing quite like a brother's love, and Anita's book is one you won't want to miss.

And God Said...

Remember the account of creation in Genesis? “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” verse 1 says. Verses 2 and 3 go on to say, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

If you keep on reading that chapter, you will find that God said a lot of things. He spoke light into existence, He spoke and dry land appeared. He spoke and the water brought forth living creatures after its kind, and so on.

Why do I bring this up? Do I not know that many disagree? I bring it up, because it reminds me, I do have something to blog about. I do have something to say.

Ever had one of those days? Y’all know I homeschool. Well, today was one of those days. Struggled to get the girls out of bed, struggled to get them to get finished with breakfast and brush their teeth. Swam upstream just to get them to pay attention during Bible reading. Threatened to keep their electronics unless they worked to complete the math assignment. No, I wouldn’t let them do language arts in their dad’s recliner. Yes, handwriting matters. Yes, you have to take a shower, whether you go to youth tonight or not. Talk about an uphill battle. With all that going on, plus writing on my book and obsessing over how my document looks, I kept thinking, “What on earth do I have to blog about? I might be passionate about writing, reading and homeschooling, but I felt empty. How can I entertain or inspire you, when I need inspired?

Then, the Lord reminded me how He spoke and light was created. Reading His word speaks life into me. All I need to do is be a vessel He can work through.

My children managed to get themselves ready for youth this evening. The laundry is all done and put away. The 11-year-old washed the dishes without complaining. The school day is over, and we manage to keep from yelling at one another. The man of the house came home early from work and said he would cook the dinner. To all this I have only one thing to say: “The Lord is good. His mercy endureth for ever and ever through all generations. So, I will stand up and sing praise hallelujah, for I know the Lord is good.”

Okay, so it was more than one thing, but this day was successful, because He spoke life into it. Miracles still happen, and I am living proof.

Next time you start thinking you have nothing you could possibly give, remember how the first day of creation began. God said, “Let there be light.” And, there was light. Amen?

Did you know I am on Facebook? Yep. Come on over to facebook.com/sjwellsauthor and like my page.

God bless, and be sure to come back, as I try and post once a week. See you next time. Same bat time, same bat channel. LOL 

Random Thoughts on a Valentine's Day

Okay, so I tried to think of something profound to say about love. After all, it is Valentine's Day and social media is buzzing with pics of lovy-dovey sayings and gifts. Nothing came to me, though. I started to feel discouraged, but then I remembered all that has been accomplished so far today in my home. I worked on my book I am writing, both girls have had their showers, we read Bible together, both girls finished their math assignments and got all correct, the laundry is clean and dry, Valentine cards are ready for the party at youth tonight, and the Lord reminded me through His word this morning, He will never leave me nor forsake me. So, instead of profound thoughts on love, here is a list of random thoughts running around in my head today.

1. I really need to come up with a title for this WIP I’m working on. Calling it by the hero and heroine’s names doesn’t quite fit, especially when their are 2 heroes and 2 heroines.
2. The only reason I wish I could go out to eat or have dinner delivered to me is so I won’t have to clean up afterward.
3. I’m thankful for naps, and I’m hoping I get time for one this afternoon before my man comes home from work.
4. Proud homeschool mom moment: When my girls found out they needed 40 Valentine’s Day cards for their party this evening and only had 32 in their boxes, they got creative and made extras using their imaginations. Who needs money for extra cards, when you have creativity?
5. The clean laundry on my bed won’t put itself away.
6. No greater joy than laughing with your children and giving and receiving hugs and kisses.
7. Haagen Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice cream would be an excellent Valentine’s present.
8. The Lord is gracious and merciful and better to me than I deserve.
9. Wondering if 103,421 words and counting is too much for one book.
10. Love is sharing your power cord, so the 9-year-old can play on her laptop.
11. Too much Facebook makes me stupid.
12. I really need to post this article so I won’t miss my nap.
13. So blessed to have such good friends.
14. Stepping out of one’s comfort zone is hard but so worth it.

Happy Valentine's Day. See you next Tuesday. <3

The Power of the Written Word

While working on a blog post for my other blog, adkinsandwells.blogspot.com, I realized, anew, just how important words can be. They can bring life. They can tare down. They can change your mood. They can hurt your feelings. Words are powerful.

The subject of that blog post is homeschool. Why do I, obstacles I face and how I overcome. I knew what I wanted to say, but when it came time to write my reasons down, I struggled. It’s one thing to think something; clearly another to put it into words. Now that the article is written, my thoughts, beliefs and values concerning homeschooling seem more solid, valid, real. Before, they were just ideas. Now, they are facts. Which brings me to another writing subject.

What makes a good fiction writer? In my humble opinion, a good fiction writer is one who can make you believe what is not real. If you study history, you might know that the first woman to graduate medical school did so in the middle of the nineteenth century. If you aren’t a student of history, then a good writer could convince you that women have been practicing medicine for centuries before that. As an example, I read a book once whose characters had bionic implants. The author wrote like a scientist, and I’m still not convinced it all was fiction. :-)

The trick is to blur enough fact with fiction to create a whole new world. My novel, “A Moment in Time" is a work of fiction. The castle in the book, Glenrevan does not exist outside the pages of that story. I went online and looked up a few names of Scottish castles, played around with the spelling of things and settled on Glenrevan. Sounds authentic, doesn’t it? That’s what I think makes a good writer, someone who can use their words to create something new.

I keep a diary. When daily life gets a little too crazy, I go write in it. When my thoughts are all written down, I relax and can put those frustrations into perspective, because they are no longer in my head; they are real and on paper…figuratively, anyway.

Well, I’m slowing down, ideas aren’t coming to me as fast, and my mind is wandering. About time to stop all this writing and find something to eat. :-)

Happy Tuesday and be sure and come over to facebook.com/sjwellsauthor and like my page.