Here comes June~

June National Novel Writing Month that is! 

I've got my outline mostly ready. (You never quite know about those last few chapters, if the beginning will actually take you to that ending, but it's enough to get started.) I wondered about what I should do for a long time. 

It's been in the back of my mind for months actually...what will I do for JuNoWriMo?? But an idea finally struck me that I like very much and I always try to write what I think will be the most fun for me. It's a return to my old fantasy roots, very much inspired by my Storyteller Series and various short stories I've written over the last few years. 

The working title is Troll Teeth and Other Bedtime Stories. 

Fun huh?

I always thought this was the best cover. I still love looking at it. :)

Makes me want to read Storyteller again.

Anyway, I may be a little scarce on the blog next month, but I wanted to leave all my #JuNoWriMo peeps with some wise words I recently heard from an orthodontist. Yes, a wise orthodontist. The message applies to those of my peeps who are not writing a novel in June as well. 

Here's the story~

My daughter recently got braces. If you've never had braces, you may not know how important it is to keep your teeth super clean while wearing them. If you don't, you can get lots of cavities and white spots on your teeth that will never go away. My daughter's orthodontist wants to be sure his patients understand the risks of not brushing well so he sits down with each one and has "the talk".

Now this orthodontist isn't like other dentists I've know that just lecture you. He's more of a life lesson kind of guy and this is what he said:

Effort = Success

or more exactly:

The amount of Effort = The amount of Success

It applies not only to brushing your teeth, but to a lot of things in life. The more you persist in your efforts, the more rewarded you will be, even when things get tough or boring or tedious. He called it the "messy middle". You're all excited when you start something new, but then you get to the middle and gets hard to keep going, even when you know you should. He compared it to getting through high school or college, but it made me think of writing books. 

He asked:

Have you ever heard someone say "I wish I never graduated from college"? "I wish I never graduated from high school"? or if you're a writer like me "I wish I never wrote that book and published it"? 

No, because the rewards are awesome once you've achieved your goal. But in the middle, it gets hard.

Don't quit. 

Don't even think about it.

You're a superhero.

You can do it.

Peace~