Who said research was boring?

My current wip, Rori’s Healing, features llamas, and I thought it might be fun and informative to get some hands-on experience. So Hubby and I loaded Little Man into the car and took a ride to Four Ladies & Me llama farm where owner Michael West was kind enough to show us around their family’s lovely farm. He probably felt like he answered a gazillion questions. He would be right. 

The beautiful animals were curious from the moment we drove up. Llamas tend to be social, and you can’t have just one.



I am so glad we visited. Michael shattered some misconceptions I had from earlier research. Like llamas hum when they’re happy. Not. We heard them hum, but it wasn’t because they were content. He’d called them over, and they came running, expecting food. When he didn’t deliver, they hummed, much like a cow’s moo but softer. Aren’t they handsome fellas?

I came prepared with an extra set of clothes for everybody because my research also revealed that llamas spit. Some do, but mostly at other llamas. They usually only spit at people if they were raised with extensive human handling, like in a petting zoo. These guys behaved themselves, but I did witness an alpaca spitting at a llama.

Llama mamas aren’t typically protective or nurturing, but Peaches here hardly let us get close to her two-day-old baby, which is called a cria. What a doll, right?

Little Man enjoyed hanging out on the farm.

We all had a great time and were sad to see the visit come to an end. Do you think Little Man dreamed about llamas?


Thank you, Michael West and Four Ladies and Me! 

Build it right!

Clear property: Pray 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” (Ps 127:1 NIV)


Your family is in the market for a new house. You’ve toured at least thirty houses, but none of them will work. Battling discouragement and frustration, you notice a property for sale. 

A property? You hadn’t considered building a house. Will it work? You crunch numbers and flip through floor plans to find the perfect layout. With each floor plan, you imagine sipping coffee in the kitchen and watching the kids play in the back yard, their laughter floating through the open window. Or snuggling next to your loved one in front of a toasty fire on a cold winter’s night. Finally, with a picture of the house and all the memories you’ll make firmly planted in your brain and in your heart, you’re ready to make the next move.

Whoa! Don’t swing that hammer yet. 

You have some work to do first. “What?” you ask.

Pray. 

When my husband and I considered a home-building adventure, horror stories about builders, shoddy workmanship and lawsuits frightened us. After all, the decision involved our hard-earned money. Lots of it!

With the lot for sale by the contractor, we prayed about our relationship with him and that our finished house would be a place of peace and tranquility. 

In the same way builders construct a house, writers create stories. Doesn’t it make sense to pray over our books and our writing process?

Make prayer your first step. There’s no point in moving on if you don’t ask God to be part of the process. After all, He’s the Master Builder.

Ask Him to clean out the junk, to free your mind to ideas, to unlock the creative well. To clear the land. To prepare you for the journey.

Then, do your homework. Devour tons of books written in your favored genre. Study sentence structure and dialogue; identify action beats and tags. In the same manner that you would choose a floor plan, determine which writing methods you like and practice to see what works best for you. Attend a writer’s conference. Join a writer’s organization, or several. Take online classes. Read “how-to” books. Follow blogs dedicated to offering writing tips, like Seriously Write and Seekerville.

Pray some more before you move on. You’re going to need it. 

What about you? What’s the first step in your writing process?


Join us next week as we discuss building on a firm foundation.

Troutman Branch Library Multi-Author Book Signing

Oct 11 from 5 – 7:45 pm
 
Three authors of inspirational books will discuss writing, self-publishing 
and sign books available for purchase.

Alison Pickrell
Unto the Least of These, Den of Lions, The Last Cordate, As Eagles
 
Donna L. Jones
Different Directions: How a Moment in Time Can Change One’s Life Forever
 
Dora Hiers
Journey’s End, Journey’s Edge
 
Join us at the
215 W Church Street, Troutman, NC 28166 (map)