My dad served as a signalman on a ship in the Pacific during World War II. He was on duty one night when he received a message that needed to be taken to the captain immediately. The captain and most of the ship’s crew were down below, watching a movie. He was booed as he walked into the room and interrupted everyone’s good time. He ignored the comments and shouts of his fellow navy men because he knew the message was important. In fact, it would change their lives. The Japanese had surrendered.

My dad died ten years ago of cancer and the days that stir my memories of him more than any others are Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Veteran’s Day. He shared a few stories of his service, some of them were funny, some of them touching. Each of them I treasure with pride.

FOR WRITERS
Capture the stories your parents tell. You might not ever publish them, but they will make memories you can pass along to your children and grandchildren. These memories may be some of the most valuable stories you ever write.

I read once that smell more than any of our senses touches our emotions. Real estate agents know this and will place on simmer a pan of water with a stick of cinnamon in a house they are showing. Or they’ll put a sheet of cookies in the oven. Nothing makes a house feel like home more than the aroma of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

I thought about this as I held my two-week-old grandson, Drew, Thursday night and buried my face in his neck. I breathed deeply of his scent. What exactly is it? Shampoo, their breath, spit up, laundry soap? The grandpa on Everybody Loves Raymond used to smell his grandchildren, saying it was the sweet scent of youth.

Whatever the source of that unique odor, the emotions that welled up in me as I cuddled Drew will last a lifetime. I think the smell of a baby is the scent of love.

FOR WRITERS
Most writers forget to use the sense of smell when describing a setting. They are quick to add physical descriptions, maybe even sounds, but few go that extra mile and describe the aromas in their scenes. Add this dimension and you’ll engage the readers’ emotions fully.

The other day, my husband and I drove by a lot that had recently been cleared by a developer. The problem was, neither of us could remember what had stood there just a few short days before. Was it a home, an apartment building, or a business? We both were amazed at how quickly we could forget a building we passed by on a semi-regular basis.

Later it dawned on me that some of our lives are like that. We don’t make an impression on the people around us and when we move or die, no one will miss us very much. That thought took me back. Would I be remembered by my neighbors? By the people in my church? My friends? Do I stand out? Or am I just part of the background?

God has called us to love our neighbor. That means actively being a part of their lives, saying hello on the street, getting to know them, inviting them into my home. I know I fall short and have vowed to do a better job of being involved in the lives of those around me.

FOR WRITERS
Sometimes we become so focused on reaching the world with our message that we forget we have a mission to love our neighbors, our friends, our family. We pray about how we can get published, but maybe we also should pray about how God can use us to minister to the people who populate our world on a daily basis. An e-mail to a parent, a note to your spouse telling them how much they mean to you, or to your child telling them you noticed something special about them. In the long run, that could mean more than your next publishing credit.

My grandson was due April 25th and today is May 4th and he still hasn’t made his appearance. Waiting is hard, no matter what our age. His father was 10 days overdue and my husband and I joke this is payback for making us wait those 10 long, hot summer days for his arrival.

We wait for lots of things and it never gets any easier, does it? As children, we waited with expectation for Christmas, our birthday, school to get out for the summer. Now we wait for vacations, promotions, our children to come for a visit, or that call that says we got the job.

As Christians, we wait for Christ’s return. Do we wait with the same anticipation? I have to admit that I don’t. His return seems like something way off in the future and yet, we are cautioned in the Bible to be ever prepared, as a bride waits for her bridegroom.

Matthew 25:13: “Keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.”

FOR WRITERS

As writers, we submit a query letter or an article, then wait weeks to hear back. As book authors, we wait months to hear from an editor and even when we get a yes, it can be a year or more before our book sees a bookstore shelf. Waiting is part of the business. While you wait, get busy and start another project.

I ran into Jill at a going away party for a mutual friend. I hadn’t seen her for years and when I saw her over across the hors d’oeuvre table I remembered that a few years ago an e-mail had circulated asking for prayer for Jill’s son. He had cancer and was going to have a bone marrow transplant. Funny, but I couldn’t recall the outcome of that procedure. She smiled and we hugged and exchanged pleasantries. She seemed fine, but fragile, like those fancy tea cups and saucers my mother collects. A small bump and she’d break. So I asked.

“He died,” she said. “Three years ago. He was seventeen.” Her eyes became rimmed in red and the tears made them seem larger than before. “But I’m doing better now. The first year I couldn’t talk about it or leave my house, but now I’m able to get out. And I want to tell people.”

My heart swelled and felt as if it would burst through my ribs. A mother’s worst fear is to lose one of her children. How could she stand it? I asked questions, letting her talk about his illness, his last days, his death. Funny, you’d think this would make both of us feel worse, but by the end, I was filled with hope. This fine young man was a Christian and his last days were filled with his love for God and his family. He knew where he was going. Do you?

I picked out new glasses this week. The gal who helped me laid 20 pairs on the table. I tried each one on, eliminating those I didn’t like and putting the maybes in another pile. Finally, we whittled my choices down to three. I carefully tried these on again and tried to imagine wearing them for the next two years. What I wanted was a pair that would make me look 10 years younger, 20 pounds thinner, would show off my blue eyes, and match everything in my closet. No wonder the choice was difficult.

What I really wish my glasses would do is help me see more of the good qualities in my husband and fewer of the things I wish he’d change about himself. I want lenses that will make me more observant of the beauty around me instead of the worries in my heart. Lastly, I want them to help me alert to the pain in my friend’s face. When she says she’s okay, I want to see the truth, that she needs to talk about her son and she’s too embarrassed to bring him up yet again because we’ve been praying for him for two years and it seems the situation is getting worse instead of better. Do you suppose my optometrist sells a pair like that?

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Cr 13:12 KJV)

FOR WRITERS
Become more aware of the world around you by mentally describing what you see as you travel in your car. Include the five senses touch, taste, smells, sounds, and sight. Practice writing these scenes in a journal. Have fun coming up with the names for colors and the sounds a motor or a bird makes as he calls for his mate. Just as a pianist practices at the piano, writers need to practice writing.

Probably the last thing we think about when noodling over the details of our novels is the market. Yet, that’s probably the most important element if you want to get published. You can have beautiful prose, words that sing, metaphors that send shivers down an editors spine, but if your book doesn’t have an audience, it will die in the marketing meeting and never see the light of day.

Who will buy this book? the money crunchers want to know. If the editor can say 10 million women who are interested in red widgets–you have a winner.

So why not plan a plot that takes into consideration red widgets? Your main character can manufacture them, sell them in a fancy shop on Pike Street in Seattle, or be out to destroy the inventor. It’s impossible to wedge that sort of plot material after the fact, but it can liven up a novel during the planning stage.

If you do, you might have a winner.

Share with us how you’ve worked a market into your novel.

I’ve begun the arduous process of looking for an agent after mine left the business. (Sad truth; he didn’t get rich off my book sales.) It can be as hard to find an agent as it is to find a publisher, why would I even waste my time?

1. A good agent knows the market. He or she can take my novel directly to the editors who are interested in a suspense novel. I, on the other hand, can read the writer’s markets, Publisher’s Weekly, attend writer’s conferences and still only know one or two that might be right for my project.

2. An agent already has a rapport with the editors. It will take me time to develop that relationship.

3. If there is high interest in my novel, an agent can organize a bidding war between publishers. This has happened to people I know.

4. An agent will negotiate a higher advance. Mine got an unbelievable amount for my first book; something I could never have done on my own. Why is this important? If your book doesn’t do well, it may be all the money you get out of your work. I know that your book is going to be the exception and sell 100,000 copies its first four months on the market. This advise is for the rest of us.

5. An agent knows all of the ins and outs of contracts. Something small like foreign rights or film rights may seem meaningless when you’re blinded by that first book offer, but the amount of money you receive from these sales can amount to a lot of money if your book does well, or even moderately well.

6. An agent can look at your book and suggest changes that will help make your proposal stronger, thus making it more marketable.

An agent takes 15 percent of your earnings. If the above is something you feel you can take care of yourself, then my all means, do it.

WARNING: Avoid agents who want you to pay money up front.

If you have had experiences with agents, this may be a good place to share what those were. We can learn from each other.

http://www.judybodmer.com