Sometimes, all it takes is one little thing, a simple, innocuous trigger that instantly transports us to another time and place. The sound of the ocean. The smell of roasting turkey. A favorite rock song. A child’s giggle.

Between one heartbeat and the next, poof, we’re somewhere else. Sometimes, these triggers catch us unaware. But other times, we can use them deliberately. Looking at a favorite photograph. Lighting scented candles. When I’m ready to write, I use music to send my brain into “writing mode.” I’ve been doing it for years, so my muse knows that when the Jazz comes on, it’s time to write.

But yesterday, I discovered something fun and unexpected: Cooking can be a trigger, too. I suddenly developed a yearning for a tropical vacation. Since that’s neither in the budget nor on the calendar right now, I took a culinary vacation, instead. Just by putting this meal together, I felt like I’d escaped to the Florida Keys or a tiny Bahamian island.

Want to join me for dinner? We’re having Island-style baked fish with Mango Salsa and yellow rice. Here’s what you’ll need.

Island-style Baked Fish

(I used Tilapia. Pick your favorite.)

Preheat oven to 325.

• Coat bottom of baking dish with non-stick spray.
•  Sprinkle blackening (or other seasoning with a kick) on both sides of the fish.
• Lightly coat top of fish with thin layer of mayonnaise.
• Sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese (or your favorite cheese)

Bake for 25 minutes or until fish flakes lightly with fork.

Mango Salsa

• 1 Mango, chopped
• 1 green onion (or ¼ cup red onion), chopped
• ¼  red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbs. lime juice
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• All-purpose seasoning to taste
• *add chopped jalapeno chile pepper, if you’d like

Mix ingredients together and chill for one hour.

Serve with rice. I used instant brown rice and added Turmeric while it cooked. That gives it a nice yellow color and nutty flavor.

Then sit back and picture yourself on a balcony overlooking the beach, sea gulls screaming overhead. Feel that sea breeze?

If you have favorite “triggers” you use to escape, I’d love to hear them.

And when you come in from your after-dinner stroll, would you do me a quick favor? The trailer for our movie, Catch of a Lifetime is up on youtube, and we’re trying to get as many “likes” and good comments as we can. Would you pop over and help us out? Many, many thanks! Here’s the link: Catch of a Lifetime.

This week, I’ve been thinking about my Mom and the impact she’s had on my life. Being a list maker, I started jotting things down and the list kept growing and growing. I know I could add hundreds more items, but I’ll stop here. Mom, this Mother’s Day, here are some of the things I’m thankful for. Love you!

Me with Mom and Omi (grandma), 1968

• Giving me life
  Holding my hand
  Giving hugs–even when I deserved a spanking
  Instilling your faith and love for God in me
  The “time out” chair
  Little notes written on the napkin in my lunch box
  Icky chores
  Showing me how to act in public
  A can of mandarin oranges every year for my birthday
  Teaching me manners
  Taking me to Sunday School and Church
  “The Look”
  Showing me how to catch fireflies
  Home perms and soup-bowl haircuts
  Teaching me right from wrong
  Popsicle stick art projects
  Sparklers on the 4th of July
  Forcing me outside to play
  Plaster of Paris projects, embroidery, sewing
  Strawberry picking
  Taking me to the library and Bookmobile
  Limits and curfews
  Halloween costumes made from curtains
  A love of surprises
  Cooking and baking lessons
  Visits to the nursing home
  Mandatory piano lessons
  Consequences
  Inviting “alone” folks for holidays
  Yard sale savvy
  Taking care of the neighbors
  Responsibility
  Recycling–before it was called that
  German food
  Making holidays special
  The courage to try new things
  Always loving me

What do you remember most about growing up? What are you grateful to Mom for this Mother’s Day?

Our home is tucked under a graceful canopy of live oak trees, which keeps the house cool and shady during blazing Florida summers. I absolutely love those trees. Except in springtime. When the oak pollen appears, every flat surface turns a sickly shade of green. My eyes itch and I battle massive headaches, fluish, achy joints and the persistent feeling that I’m one throat tickle from getting sick. I join the stampede to the drugstore antihistamine aisle and hope it rains–soon–to wash the pollen away.

Lately, though, I’ve noticed another ailment that seems to sneak in much the way oak pollen does: free-floating anxiety. One day everything is fine and the next, you’re up at night with massive headaches, a queasy, fluish feeling and a general sense that everything is sort of green in your world. I’ve talked with many people lately, all suffering the same symptoms. “I can’t put my finger on it, but I’m worried and nervous and anxious about, well…everything.”

Sound familiar? You are not alone. Anxiety hits everyone at one time or another. Like oak pollen, it usually doesn’t attack forever, but I’ve found a great way to combat it.

The Anxiety Rx: Make Two Lists.

Title one list, “Things I control.”

Call the other one, “Things I don’t control.”

Now, take a few minutes and think about what’s causing that pinched, queasy feeling in your gut. Take the first thing that pops into your head and decide which list it belongs on. Keep going until all the things worrying, nagging and giving you a headache are on one list or the other.

When you read over the list, I think you’ll be surprised how many worries are on the “Things I don’t control” list.

Next comes the hard part: let go of those things you don’t control. Decide–consciously and deliberately–that you aren’t going to worry about them any longer, since you have no say about the outcome. I take this list and mentally slip it into God’s inbox. Then, equally deliberately, I (try to) pry my fingers off the list.

My job is to deal with the things I do control: like how I treat my family, how many words I write a day, how many projects I send out, how I spend my time and money.

The other list? Not mine to stress over. Learning to let it go brings freedom and the ability to breathe deeply. Give it a try…and let me know how it goes.

Meanwhile, I’ll be outside under the live oaks, writing.

PS — My wonderful editor at Abingdon Press, Ramona Richards, wrote an article about my journey to publication. Would you take a minute to check it out? http://www.christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/buzz_track.html

I’m delighted to have Katy Lee as my guest today. Katy Lee writes “higher-purpose stories in high-speed worlds.” She is an inspirational author, speaker, home-schooling mom, and children’s ministry director, and has dedicated her life to sharing tales of love, from the greatest love story ever told to those sweet romantic stories of falling in love. Her debut novel Real Virtue is a finalist in many writing contests, and took second place in the 2011 Georgia Maggie Award of Excellence. Katy lives in Connecticut with her husband, three children, and two cats.

So please welcome Katy!

Author Katy Lee

Thank you, Connie, for inviting me to your virtual home today! I’m excited to talk about my dreams with you and your readers. What a great topic! With the release of my novel, Real Virtue, many have asked me if I have always dreamed of becoming a writer. I’m sure it’s a common question that newbie authors get a lot. After all, writing a novel is not easy, and one would have to have some type of driving force pushing them to the finish line or “The End.”

But I have to be honest … I was a reader, not a writer. This whole writing journey has been a huge surprise to me. As a child, when someone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always a mommy — never a writer. As far back as I can remember becoming a mom was the only dream I had.

And eleven years ago my dream came true. Today, I am blessed to be the mother of three wonderful children. (And I’m not just saying that. They really are great people.) But through them, God fulfilled that desire of my heart, but He also showed me that it was His dream He had for me, too.

He showed me the reason I always wanted to be a mom was because my childhood was very unpredictable. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I will tell you, like my heroine’s mom in Real Virtue, my mom was schizophrenic, and our home-life was not easy. The relationships in the home also suffered and didn’t look like the homes around us. So when I dreamed of becoming a mom, it was partly because I wanted that relationship I saw that my friends had with their moms. I didn’t understand this until I had my own children. And I definitely didn’t understand it until I knew what it meant to fully delight in the Lord.

Psalm 37:4 says to delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. But my question is who put those desires there in the first place? I believe our desires are part of the plan He has for us, and when He created us He put them in us. So once I learned that my desires for my life are the same as the ones He has for me, I began to see more than just one dream for my life. I began to see a whole slew of them.

From home schooling, to children’s ministry, to speaking at women’s events … and then to writing. It was a great awakening to all He has planned for me, and I know it’s far from over. As long as I delight in Him, and as long as I keep my eyes on Him, He will continue to fulfill the desires of my heart. He will continue to be my driving force to push on. And I love that He put these desires there in the first place, and even if they are a surprise to me, not one of them is a surprise to Him.

Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your life and dreams, Katy Lee. And for being my guest today.

Real Virtue by Katy Lee

Here’s a bit about Real Virtue:

In a virtual reality game where she can fly, someone’s aiming to take her down.

Mel Mesini is a New York City restaurateur and an avid, virtual reality world traveler. She’s risen above her misfit life and now bears a striking resemblance to her glamorous, gaming avatar. But her successful life—both online and in reality—takes a swerve the night her father is seriously injured in a hit-and-run. Mel is careened back to her judgmental hometown, where being the daughter of the town’s crazy lady had made her the outcast she was. To make matters worse, Officer Jeremy Stiles, the man whose harsh, rejecting words had cut her the deepest, is heading the investigation.

Jeremy knows he hurt Mel and attempts to make amends by finding her father’s assailant. When he realizes she’s the actual target, his plan for reconciliation turns to one of protection—whether she wants his help or not. What he wants is answers, especially about this online game she plays. Is it a harmless pastime as she says? Or is she using it to cover something up? As a faceless predator destroys the things that matter to her, Jeremy knows he’s running out of time before she loses the one thing that matters most—her real life.

If you’d like to get your hands on a copy of Katy’s book:

Real Virtue is available now in ebook from Amazon and B&N and from her publisher, Soul Mate Publishing. Paperback coming this fall!

Thank you, Connie, for having me on your blog! Readers, I love comments and would love to hear from you.

And please keep in touch with me at my website: www.KatyLeeBooks.com

You will see links for Twitter and Facebook and Goodreads. Let’s connect and get to know each other!

In my German family, the term “Stubborn German” gets tossed around a lot, sometimes in a lovey-dovey kind of way. But it’s mostly uttered through clenched teeth because said “Stubborn German” isn’t giving in and doing things our way.

Over the years, though, as I’ve pursued this dream of fiction writing, I’ve found stubborn can be a good thing, even a necessary thing. Without that deep-seated, dogged determination I find so annoying in beloved family members, I would have quit and pursued another career long ago.

Back in 2004, I thought my time had finally come. I’d been writing for about six years, had acquired towering stacks of rejection letters, but finally, finally, I sold a story–one I loved, absolutely loved. I worked with a freelance editor, Ramona Richards–who loved the story too. We smoothed out some “edgy” parts while I happily deposited the publisher’s advance check.

But several months before release, the publisher said they still had concerns about the story. Ramona and I toned it down some more. But then they said unless I changed some key elements, they couldn’t publish it. I was stunned. Ramona and I both felt that making the changes they wanted would take the heart and soul out of the story. How could I? After some serious soul-searching, I realized I couldn’t.

The contract was nixed. I was crushed.

I had an agent by then who said not to worry; we’d sell it elsewhere. Which he tried to do–for the next year. Nobody wanted Angel Falls.

As my frustration grew, he suggested I write another book. But when I sent it to him, he wasn’t sure he could sell a gator-trapping heroine to Midwestern readers. We parted amiably–he’s a great guy and a great agent–and I took up crying as a part-time job.

Family and financial issues finally forced me out of bed and I decided to try something new. I became a boat captain–and loved it! Still do. It gives me a chance to get outside on the water and provides my regular people-fix, too.

But at heart, I’m a writer. I didn’t write a word for several years. I couldn’t.

Eventually, though, the stories called me back and I decided I could take risks again. TRAPPED! is the story of my gator-trapping heroine, which I sold to The Wild Rose Press in 2008. Then in 2009, I had the chance to write the screenplay for the movie, Catch of a Lifetime, which is available now. I’ve completed several other manuscripts since then, but Angel Falls has always been the book of my heart.

In 2010, I saw that Ramona had taken a job at Abingdon Press. The same day I contacted her, she said she’d been thinking about me and Angel Falls. I was blown away…and humbled that she remembered this story after all this time. (Do you know how many manuscripts an editor reads on a regular basis??)

Another 1 1/2 years went by while she championed this story with Abingdon Press. (She’s determined, too!) Then I got an email from her that began: “I know you thought this day would never come…”

The paperwork is done and I’m thrilled to say that Angel Falls is scheduled for release in March 2013– TEN YEARS after I first started writing it.

I can’t wait to take you to Brazil and introduce you to Regina–my switchblade-toting orphanage director who will do anything to protect “her” kids. And Brooks–a big, scary burned-out Army Ranger who never wants to protect anyone again. Together these two damaged, courageous people will risk everything to save one small child–and find hope and healing along the way.

If you are discouraged today and your dreams seem impossibly out of reach, I hope this will encourage you. Never, ever, ever, EVER give up on the dreams God has planted in your heart. His timing may not be ours, but it’s always perfect.

Thanks so much for celebrating with me!

And if you have your own “stubborn” story, I’d love to hear it!

Ask any creative type what they long for, and most will say, “More time to work on my art.” I’ve always felt that same tug, that same yearning for more quiet creative time in my overscheduled life.

When I went from two captains’ jobs to one, I thought opportunity had finally come calling. I would have entire days to do nothing but put words on the page. What could be better?

I know, I know. I can hear some of you snickering. Even when I first said it out loud, echoes of other writers laughing hysterically made me quietly anxious. But I could do this, I decided. I’m a professional. I was being given the gift of time. I was determined not to squander it.

Clearly, someone did not tell the chattering voices in my head or the people around me about my plans. I found if I don’t screen calls and keep the garage door closed, I get interrupted all day. “Oh, good. You’re home.” After fifteen years of freelancing, numerous dear ones have yet to grasp that “home” doesn’t always mean, “Ready to hang out and chat.”

But of the two issues, that one is the easiest to fix. The other, the endless chatter in my head, is much harder to escape. Before you can write, you have to find a way to quiet those screaming tyrants. They change from person to person, but here are some of the chorus members that muck up my brain. First there are the doubt gremlins who say, “What? You? Write a book? Hahahahaha, that’s funny.”

Then there are the closets that demand to be cleaned, photos that must be organized right this minute, bills to be paid–and where is that money coming from anyway?–phone calls to be returned, socks to pair up, situations with family and friends that must be resolved, addressed, faced…well, you get the idea.

Focus, I’ve learned, is slippery as a wet frog and equally hard to catch. Even harder to hang onto.

But without it, nothing gets written.

Sometimes, you have to be sneaky to catch that slippery frog. You set a timer or a deadline. You free write…or, you outline. You promise yourself chocolate if you meet your word goal. You play music, put on headphones, light candles, squint at the screen.

Some days focus comes easier. Other days I’m afraid I’ll have bruises from banging my head on my desk.

But I keep trying, keep writing, keep fighting. Because somewhere past all the clutter and the fear is a story that only I can tell. And that’s worth fighting for.

How about you? How do you get a grip on focus?

We’ve all been there. After some long, tough days, relief is in sight: finally, finally things are coming together. The doctor says the new meds are working. The boss says the promotion is in the bag. The editor loves your story, the kids are doing better in school, the marriage is on solid ground. At long last, there is hope.

And then it happens. Without warning, hope is snatched away, turned on its ear, stomped into the ground. You wake up in a reality you never planned on, looking at life from a perspective that doesn’t make sense. Death, divorce, illness, loss, disappointment.

This is NOT how this is supposed to go, your heart cries. This was supposed to end well.

How do we respond? Do we give up? Or do we summon the last bits of strength and hang on to the ledge with the tips of our fingernails?

At that moment, knowing what we cling to makes all the difference. What is our hope built on? If it is people, or governments or some other institution, the sands of disappointment will slide hope out from under us.

But if the foundation of our hope is solid and real, we have a place to stand; a steady rock that will not move.

Over two thousand years ago, a group of loyal followers hit their lowest point. They’d given up everything to follow a “savior,” a man who was going to change everything. He was going to free them from Roman rule, give them a future. He’d ridden into town amidst cheering crowds, triumphant. He was what they had waited for.

But in a few short days, everything changed. He was arrested, tried and crucified. All their hopes and dreams and plans were buried with him in that tomb. They were shocked. Stunned.

What now, they cried? We thought He was the answer. He was our hope.

But in the midst of their despair, Sunday dawned. Everything changed again.

From inside the empty tomb, an angel chided them. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you?” (Luke 24:5-6, The Bible)

Hope was reborn. Resurrected. And lives today.

Springs on the Silver River

In a world that rarely makes sense, where hope is elusive, I have built my life on that foundation. I met a Savior who conquered death–and walks beside me in life. Even when I’m in the darkness of Friday, I know that Sunday is coming. He is my hope for today…and tomorrow.

As we celebrate holy week, may you be equally confident in the foundation on which you are building your life.

He is Risen! He is hope. Happy Easter!

With Easter just around the corner, there are bunnies, bunnies everywhere, and Cadbury chocolate eggs lurk in every store. They are temptation itself in colorful, foil-wrapped packages crying, “Pick me, pick me.”

Since I’m currently trying to shed my winter, ahem, insulation, I’ve deliberately shifted my attention to non-chocolate eggs and the age-old question: which came first, the chicken or the egg?

For those of us in creative endeavors, this question changes somewhat. When you start a new project, which do you focus on first: the story or the market?

There are good arguments on both sides. I remember going to a writer’s conference years ago and hearing Elaine Wright Colvin ask why a writer would spend months and even years working on something if there’s no market for it and they have no idea what they’ll do with it once it’s finished.

True.

On the other side of the debate are people like Vicki Hinze who, in her book, Writing in the Fast Lane, says she decided years ago, “I will only write stories I love.”

Also true. And that has paid off for her, big time.

I think, as with most things, the answer is a bit of both. If you write a wonderful, lyrical1000-word novel, chances are you will never sell it to a traditional publisher. It’s too long. So a smart writer makes sure his or her novel fits somewhere within acceptable market guidelines.

When you go to writer’s conferences, you hear all about the current trends. Editors, agents and industry insiders will tell you what’s “hot” right now. Every year it changes. Paranormal, suspense, historical, inspirational. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. But they are giving you a snapshot of what they’re seeing now, this minute. If you sit down to right your story, what’s “hot” may have changed by the time you mail in your submission.

A friend of mine who writes romantic suspense recently had her agent recommend that she try her hand at historicals. The idea made her break out in hives. She doesn’t read historicals, has absolutely no idea how to write one, nor does she want to know. For her to do this would be to doom herself to writing something she doesn’t love. That will make the writing drudgery and will show in the finished product

Beyond all the wisdom and all the trends, editors, agents and readers want books that grab them on page one and don’t let go. A key ingredient is the author’s passion for the story.

Certainly check the trends. Study the markets. Know the guidelines, so you’re not shooting yourself in the foot before you start.

And then sit down and write your story, the one only you can tell. Dive in and pour all your passion and excitement into this story you love.

It’ll be sweeter than a dozen Cadbury eggs.

Are you living the life you want to live? If not, why not?

In mulling this over lately, I’ve realized inertia and lack of awareness are two of the biggest roadblocks to a meaningful, productive life.

It is easy to sit on the couch and lament our current state of affairs or to trudge down well-worn paths year after year, like a plow horse wearing blinders. To achieve any kind of success, we need to first get off the couch and start paying attention.

Well-known motivational speaker Anthony Robbins said, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”

If you’re like me, you’ve heard this saying so many times it doesn’t register. So take a
minute to read it again. Now, read it once more. Let the truth of it poke into your bones far enough to make you uncomfortable, to make you squirm.

Be honest. What wall are you banging your head against? What issue are you hoping will resolve itself–with no input from you? What dream still seems impossibly far away?

Once you’ve answered those questions, courage has to step up and do battle. Knowledge without action is pretty much useless. That means change, and change is scary.

Given today’s economy, many of us have experienced the inertia/blindness affect when it comes to finances. Somehow, while we weren’t paying attention, the months got longer than the paycheck. So how do we reverse that? There are really only two options:  We either need more money coming in–or less money going out.

Option 3, which is ignoring the problem and hoping it will fix itself, has for us so far yielded nothing but frustration, tension and more gray hair than we need.

It’s time for action.

In your world, what needs to change? What’s keeping you from reaching your dreams? Be specific. Write it down.

How are you going to change it, exactly? Break it into small, measurable steps.

What’s the deadline? Set a completion date for each phase of the process and then find an accountability partner to make sure you don’t revert back to inertia. Complaining and lamenting is always easier than doing. But it doesn’t move us  forward.

My good friend and critique partner is holding my feet to the creative fire. Knowing I have to report my progress forces me to quit whining and start writing.

How about you? What changes are you making? How are you plowing through inertia?

Is there anything on earth more exciting or humbling than when a child whispers their dreams for the future in your ear? So hopeful, so thrilled; they know that whatever they dream is possible. They can be and do anything they want.

I caught a glimpse of just such hope recently. I heard 17 young children, ages 7-9, tell everyone in the auditorium their hopes for the future. Their dreams were as varied as the children themselves. Some wanted to be pilots and doctors; still others teachers and pastors and nurses.

Not such unusual dreams. Until you discover where the children come from. They hail from seven different African nations, where internal strife and war are common. Where food and medical care and hope are in short supply.

But for these 17 children, the future is bright. They laughed and sang and danced on stage with enough energy to exhaust all of us in the audience. Hope shone from every smiling face.

The African Children's Choir

These children are part of the African Children’s Choir currently touring the United States and Canada. Most of the choir children have lost one or both parents, but adoption is not the goal here. Education is.

Thanks to generous sponsors, each of the choir children will be educated all the way through college and to their dreams. The organization’s goal is “Helping Africa’s most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow.”

For more information on the African Children’s Choir or how you can help make a child’s dreams come true, please go to:  http://www.africanchildrenschoir.com.

We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can change the world for one child.