Welcome to May!

CampNaNoWriMo is finished! I'm a bit behind on sharing how it went only because the weather has been so nice. Until today. Apparently since we didn't get enough rain in April we get it now. But summer is coming, and I'm praying this year will be great. It will be great. I am so thankful for energy to spare after work, and the use of my hands without hindrance or pain. I'm grateful for walks in the evening and the desire to bake, garden, write and do all the things I love again. I am so thankful for Godly friends and family who have surrounded me with prayers.
Beyond this, I have so much to share!

I made it well over my goal of 15,000 words, somewhere into 17,000 and I am very happy with that!

Ember is growing slowly but steadily, but I've reached a point where some details need to be mapped out, so I'm exploring the Scrivener software and loving how easy it is to create folders and subfolders. Everything is right there and I don't have to leave the page! This is both very convenient and a great time-saver because then I'm not wandering off on rabbit trails through Pinterest and Facebook since I don't need to flip between the 'net and my files. My favorite part of story-telling is world-building, and this software is wonderful for that. I used to have multiple files in my documents, and pictures saved on Pinterest, but now I can have them all in one place. World-building is a complicated and delicate process that requires a lot of thought and observation, with some research, and the creation of "rules" and functions. (This, among other reasons, is why I am not a short-story teller unless it's a novella or similar of an already created world of mine. I won't take the time to create something if I can't explore all possibilities, and why use up grand ideas for something so small??? ;D )

I haven't used Scrivener for long and I've not used it for anything complicated yet. (Though I did just play around a bit with the name generator on it this week, what fun that is!) If you are interested in it, please feel free to message me through Facebook (or comment below). I have won a coupon for it through NaNoWriMo and as I was shared a code from another writer friend, I would love to pass it on before the code expires.

I have also done a thing which scares me half to death and also makes me very excited at the same time.
I have registered for Realm Makers! Wow! I can't believe I just said that!

I've prayed about it for two years and it is actually happening! Realm Makers is a Christian Speculative Fiction writer's conference held annually. Christian fiction has really exploded in recent years, thanks to social media and other influences (we might be able to happily blame Lewis and Tolkien for that, though Tolkien was not as intentional and people mistakenly give him too much credit for it). What used to be available was something like Amish Romance/ soft romance and other "Inspirational" literature but now we have more variety than ever before. Personally, I'm very happy about this because as a voracious fantasty-novel reader, I always found it very difficult to acquire good, wholesome fantasy literature when I was younger. The Christian Fiction market was seriously lacking, and so I never actually read any Christian Fiction at all. In a way, I think this taught me how to self-edit while reading which can be a good thing, but is not for everyone. It is my hope that by getting the word out about the Spec Fic genre, other Christians can find well-written books that share a good message in a creative way. I would like other readers who, like me, enjoy deeper literature with dimensional worlds, characters, and lots of adventure to have such books easily available to them. Literature is a wonderful way to teach us about empathy, consequences, and to think deeper about simple questions. I'm really excited to be able to attend this conference with supportive friends!

Soon I will share my Spring Have-Read list, but I didn't want to drop a huge single blog post on you this month after missing an entire month. I am so happy to that I have been able to read a little more again. I hope you're all enjoying your Spring!

P.S.: y'all should check out Speyer's Farm Market. Part of the reason I'm behind on blog posts is because I've been outside gardening, and Speyer's is my favorite place to shop for flowers. #1 Their plants are excellent quality, always healthy, well manicured (I would know, I have worked there, and we plucked and pinched and groomed those babies to perfection) and hardy! #2 Great prices! Speyer's has competitive prices, especially considering that the quality of the product that you buy there is top notch. Bob and Karen personally select and maintain each plant and each produce item. #3 You can have choices! I once decided to shop at a very popular flower market that many people had suggested to me, and I was a little disappointed that they flats are arranged quite differently so that you can't select as much variety as you like. The little plastic trays that are connected to one another came in larger quantities. I prefer purchasing the flower trays in smaller quantities, in threes or fours, rather than sixes. It allows me more options in plant type and color, and, frankly, I feel this is more cost efficient for me, too. #4 They are very accomodating! I have personally witnessed employees going out of their way on a very busy day to find or retrieve an item for a customer that requires either a trip several greenhouses over or out to the field to pick it.
So there is my little rant about Speyer's. :)