Goal: accomplished!

There's nothing quite like setting a really hard goal, and then actually accomplishing it. I know a 10k wouldn't be very hard for quite a few people out there. But for me? It was a Big Deal. I've never really ran more than maybe 2 consecutive miles in my life before. I've done hard classes at the gym and things like that, but for some reason, running outside has always been incredibly hard for me. Part of it is my bad knee (I had major surgery when I was 16), so I used that as an excuse and never pushed myself.


Well, last weekend, I finished my first 10k -- 6.2 miles! (Actually, they messed up and it was actually 7.2 miles apparently!) Was it hard? Yes. Did I contemplate quitting during the training? A few times. But I didn't. And now I accomplished that goal, and I'm thinking about setting another, bigger one... like a half marathon. We'll see!



How many of us short-change ourselves, because we're afraid? Or don't think we can do it? Or use excuses to keep us from pushing ourselves? In the publishing world, there are going to be lots of ups and downs. (For most of us anyway.) You have to find the willpower and determination to push through the hard times, to not let your "bad knee" be the excuse that keeps you from becoming better, stronger, and accomplishing your goals. So much of anything in this life is mental--the power of our mind is immense. Believe you can, and you will. Continue to write and query and revise and write and query, and you will get that agent. (Even if it takes 2 and a half years like me!) Force yourself out of bed, push yourself on distance, on getting past the pain and exhaustion, and you'll finish that race.


I'm living proof!

Right before the last turn to the finish line! (SHH and my boys were there to support me... and document it.)

Me, my aunt DiAnne, and my mom right after the race - the 10k girls! :)

Signing my contract with my agent last April!

Running and Writing and Query Contests...

Wow, you didn't realize what you were getting into when you asked me to tell you my path to getting an agent, did you? At least there was a super cool contest at the end of it all! Wait, you didn't know about it yet?? At the end of my last post, there are details on how you could win a query critique, so go check it out and enter. (Contest is open for submissions until Friday at 12:00 pm MST, so 2:00 pm EST.)

Did you all have a nice weekend? I hope so. My little guy got his glasses last week (he's 19 months old, but he has strabismus and so this is the first step in treating it--we're hoping he won't need surgery as well, but we'll see). He looks adorable in them if I do say so myself. He wouldn't keep them on AT ALL for the first two days, so I was seriously stressing. (Also adding to the stress was the two, yes TWO, books I was doing revisions on for my agent.) I called the doctor, and they said it might take months before he'll wear them all day like he's supposed to. Fabulous, right?

Well, the next day, he wore them for a couple of hours without taking them off. Then yesterday, he kept them on for almost 6 hours - I finally took them off because he had to take a nap. Victory!

So, what did I accomplish this weekend? One book revised and sent back to agent, second book caught up to the notes I have so far from her, kitchen cleaned, bedroom cleaned (thanks hubby!), SonB wearing glasses almost all day already (woot!)...

and then I went and decided to sign up and train for a 10k in October with my mom. WHAAAA? Am I insane? Considering I have this love/hate relationship with running (in that I hate running and love it when it's over), this could be interesting. Working out at the gym? I'm all over it. But I have always wanted to be a runner, so I'm just going to force myself to do it. Okay, I don't actually HATE running, I would love it, if it didn't hurt so bad. But I'm doing this. One step at a time, one mile at a time. Pushing myself through side cramps, and bad knees, and bad weather, and anything that comes in my way. I. Can. Do. This.

Kind of like writing, isn't it?