"Just" a teacher.

Over 300 women were nominated for "San Diego Woman of the Year". I was honored to be one of those named a finalist. There were many women there that I was in awe of - and I'm just a teacher. I know I do much more than teach and I see myself as much more than a (math/computer science/high school) teacher. But when asked the general question "What do you do?" I say, "I'm a teacher." (And wait for the conversation to continue to share the other parts of me). The point is, as a teacher, we aren't viewed as a "mover and shaker" of society. It's not an occupation that people are "impressed" with. Sure, they're amazed that there are those of us out there that willingly "put up" or "deal" with kids (especially teenagers), but it's definitely not the same reaction that I got when I was an engineer. (Frankly, I work a heck of a lot harder as a teacher than I ever did as an engineer for A LOT less pay.) As much as I do things because it helps students and don't need outside validation to know in my heart it's the right thing for me to do, it's nice to get from time to time. A little appreciation and recognition for things you would gladly do goes a long way to recharge your heart and soul. 

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

Last month I submitted my entry into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. I was hopeful – why else would you enter in a contest unless you hope to win – but didn’t want to obsess about it. Thankfully, the following weeks after were crazy busy for me and I didn’t have time to dwell on it at all. In all honesty, I forgot about it because I was so preoccupied with all my other various commitments and activities. Then I got an email from them saying the entrants who were moving on to the next round were posted. I clicked on the link. Eventually, I got to the pdf that contained the writers who moved on. It was in alphabetical order – by first name. At first, I started scrolling down. Then I thought, this will take me forever to scroll to the “S”s. I had to suck it up and do a search for my name. So, I hit -F and typed in my first name. I’d know instantly if there were any Shirleys in the second round once I hit return. No hits would mean I didn’t make it. Any hits could mean it was me, but then again, it wouldn’t necessarily be me. One was found. It was me! I was so excited and relieved. I had to share the news… with my class. I happened to see the email when I had just assigned my class a practice problem to try on their own. I wound up interrupting that independent thinking time to share my news because I couldn’t contain myself. I saw it as a life lesson… you never know unless you try!

Worlds Collide

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted here. I really didn't mean it to be that way. School kicked into gear, I worked on finding a cover for book 2, had various board meetings (I'm on three different boards), Nobel Laureate dinner, presented at a conference, threw my neck out and couldn't move for about a week, my brother got engaged (and had an engagement party), flew to San Francisco and Washington, DC for three different things, published Winter Solstice (Book 2 of my series) and oh, the holidays were in there somewhere. Dang, no wonder I'm tired and I didn't get a chance to blog. The good news is that I juggled it all - sometimes barely - but I did.

And through it all, I wrote. Okay, maybe not here. But I did continue writing my book. Now, I'm entering in my actual busy season - science fair season. There's fall, winter, spring (which is part of science fair seasons - regional, state and international - for me) and summer. Now that I think about it, that makes is apropos that my books (thus far) are season-related.

Today is the first day of' "Falling"

Ever try to back track and figure out when things happen in a book? Sure, there might references to Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Halloween and from there you figure the date. Then if you thought about it some more, you might be able to discern that boy met girl three weeks or four months before. Heck, they might even tell you it’s the middle of January. But you every know the date from a story that doesn’t specifically state it in terms of holidays? Maybe I’m the only one who thinks that way.

Of course, as an author, I’m guilty of not explicitly stating the date to my readers. Let’s be honest… as a reader I don’t usually care. I’m more interested in who the character is or what’s happening to them. But as an author, having your timeline is important – in both story and character development. But I don’t keep it generic as a timeline. I calendar it. Literally. I have a calendar with key events or chapters noted in it. For me, my first book opens on October 12. Is that date significant to me? No, not before I started writing. But when I looked at the calendar and knew what things had to happen, and in what order, I realized that some time had to pass between events and had backtracked it all to October 12. It had to be October 12.

After a bad day, I was driving home and let my mind wander to my book. It was then, in a moment where I let go of the day-to-day stresses, that I realized it was the 12^th of October. The realization hit me that I had to be around the date that the book “started”. I knew it started in mid-October. Keep in mind, I’m not referring to when I started writing, but rather what date we begin to hear Liz talking. Once I got home, I pulled out my book calendar and found I was right. It was mid-October. In fact it was that day. It was a weird cosmic thing. My book – and characters, naturally – are so connected to me that I had that sixth sense that today was significant in my book. I just didn’t realize how.

"Falling" (printed version) - Now Available!

Today I officially approved the printed copy of "Falling". It was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. It's thrilling to know that it's now available for readers to purchase in "real" book form. But scary to think that it's available in "real" book form. It's like opening it up to the world again. Yes, it was available in Kindle format for about three months now, but that didn't make this experience any less memorable.

If you've been waiting for a printed copy, you can get it now by clicking on the "printed version" link to the right or here. If you would like a signed copy, you can contact me via email to order it directly from me.

Good reading!

“Do you have any motivation that keeps you writing?” – Asked by a former student.

My motivation isn't external. I WANT to spend time with my characters. I WANT to find out what happens next. I write every day which can be tough with my schedule and all I'm involved with. If anything else, I spend time when I go to bed think about where the story "paused" in my head. I may not get a chance to write a lot (sometimes it can be just a few lines), but it's progress. Every sentence is progress. Sometimes I'm writing frantically to get every word, action, nuance down and pages pour out. But often, it can be a paragraph or two at a time. But again, it's progress. I love my characters and at the end of the day, if I've never thought of them and what they're up to, I get very agitated and antsy. So,I guess part of my motivation is my own peace of mind and soul. I'm not writing for anyone else but me. If others like it then great (and I'm thrilled that people do). But I don't do it to please others. It's the wrong thing to do for anything.

I'm on Amazon.com!

Last night I submitted my first book "Falling" (Book #1 of the Bits and Pieces Series) to Amazon.com for publishing. The significance of clicking on "submit and publish" was not lost on me. I stared at it for a moment before clicking on it. From that point on, I held my breath. It was supposed to take 24 hours for it to be published. It was around 8:30pm on Friday, June 4, 2011.

This morning, when I woke, I checked the status and it no longer said "under review", it now read "publishing". What did that mean? I searched amazon.com for my book and there it was! Available for purchase! It was surreal. It wasn't surreal like when I saw my name on the Numb3rs official website stating I won the walk-on role. No, this time I knew what to expect because I did click on the button, but it was the realization of a dream. Part of it at least. But like anything, it's baby steps. Today I took that next step. I still can't believe I can be found on amazon.com. I've released my book for public consumption. I can't stop looking at the page - maybe because it makes it real. It's no longer "eventually it'll be there". No, it's there!

I know I've avoided mentioning character names and major plot points here. And that was conscious on my part. I think it was because I wasn't "ready" to state it to the world (regardless of who I knew would or would not be reading this). But now, my world has changed.

So... Meet Liz. I know she'd love to meet you.