I finished my eighth book this week.

Okay, so two of them don’t “count.” I trashed my first story and am rewriting it from scratch. And the second is an historical… Out of my usual realm and entirely in need of a rewrite. But even then, I feel like I’ve accomplished something major in the two and a half years I’ve been writing.

This story took a path so different from all my others. Normally, when a story seizes control of my mind, I plug away until it’s on paper. Start to finish for most of my books is somewhere from six to nine months. (I believe I made an analogy in earlier posts of “giving birth” to stories.) Faith of the Heart took a different tack.

I started the story in my mind during Christmas Eve mass in 2006. I get ideas at the oddest times. I wrote the prologue on the way to visit my in-laws on Christmas Day. But then I got sidetracked. Seems like that was a common pattern with this story — as is the pattern with our faith in general. Perhaps the title was prophetic. I finished All the Right Reasons and Turning Thirty-Twelve. Those stories were older, and in my extraordinarily orderly (some call it obsessive-compulsive) mind, I like to finish stories in the order they’re created. So Faith waited patiently, coming out a scene at a time, jotted down in my typical green pen on the backs of racing forms or scrap paper. One of the best scenes was written as I waited to catch the plane to Dallas for RWA nationals last summer.

Then the Amazon series was born. My Critters encouraged me to finish The Reluctant Amazon for the Golden Heart contest. Faith was again put on the back burner. I finished the first Amazon book then started the second. Add a fantastic new on-line critique partner and total edits of the Murphy’s Law trilogy, and my poor Faith ended up ignored. Until I decided to send it in to two contests. And it finaled in both, and then it won the Winter Rose.

The story finally got its due, and it currently sits in the hands of my favorite beta reader. (Thanks, Kylie!) My mother — always one of the first people to read my work — thinks it is one of my best. God love her, she always makes me feel good about my writing. But the odyssey ends for this story, and I’m very pleased with the results.

What’s next? The Amazon series. And rewriting the first book. And one of the characters from All the Right Reasons keeps whispering in my ear.

Life is good right now.

Well, how about that!

I just received a call from the Winter Rose contest coordinator. Faith of the Heart won the Series Contemporary category. What a nice surprise!

I think I mentioned before that the Winter Rose was the first contest I entered. There was a mix up over scores, and I was notified I finaled when I didn’t. The coordinator was very nice about it and invited me to enter free this year to make up for the mistake. I was pretty much done contesting, but I figured — free. Might as well. So I sent in Faith of the Heart.

I’ve only entered that story in two contests. It finaled in both. I’m within about a chapter of finishing it. Now, I have plenty of motivation to do so. It really is a sweet story about an honest-to-God faith healer and an investigative reporter. My number one beta reader (love you, Mom) thinks it’s my best story yet. Of course, she’s not prejudiced or anything. I’ll write up a quick blurb about the story and get it added to my “Current Projects” page soon. Probably when the book is done.

With the exceptions of Golden Heart and PASIC’s Book of Your Heart, I am done contesting. (I can hear my Critters snorting laughs from the other three sides of Indianapolis.) Honest. Cross my heart. Just Golden Heart and BOYH. No more. Really.

But what a way to retire!

Today is Mothers Day.

I am so lucky to be associated with some absolutely amazing women. Most especially, I am blessed to know my mother, my mother-in-law, and my sister. These women set the standard for what a good mother should be. Smart. Supportive. Loving. And tough as nails when they need to be. I only hope I can emulate them.

So, to Joy, Janet, and Susan from the bottom of my heart — Happy Mothers Day!

I love May.

Spring has always been my favorite season, albeit I have suddenly developed a pollen allergy. Isn’t Zyrtec a wonderful product? I love the renewal of nature. I love the moderate temperatures. I love the fresh smells of cut grass and flowers.

Right now my neighborhood is a symphony of pink and green. My street is lined with crab apple and ash trees, both of which are blossoming. The crab apples are full of pink flowers. They only last a few weeks tops, so I try to walk by them every day, inhaling their fragrance and marveling at the color. The petals stick to my shoes and Dr. Carter’s fur. He’s not nearly as enamored of them as I am. But my little corner of the world is beautiful.

May also means graduation. That is bittersweet for me. I love my students. (Well, most of them.) And though I know they’re moving on to life, it’s always hard for me to let them go.

Teaching isn’t a popularity contest. I always tell the kids I don’t care if they like me so long as they learn. But when the time comes for them to ask a teacher to hand them their diplomas, I am always tickled by the kids who ask me. They make me feel valuable, like I’ve impacted their futures. It’s heart warming.

This year, I should be handing out twenty diplomas as I sniff back tears, whisper how proud I am of them, and hug each one. I’ll make the rounds of open houses, eat way too much cake, and settle down for a summer I hope includes finishing the three manuscripts I’m juggling.

Yes, I love May.