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Spring Fun

April 29, 2007 0 comments

The spring weather has finally arrived! I'm so happy it's more like spring now. For the past few weeks here in Southern Illinois, it has felt more like winter than spring. Well, this weekend the long-awaited spring temperatures decided to shine, and my husband, kids and I took advantage of the beautiful weather. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, we played croquet in the yard. We all had a ball! In fact, it was so nice to play games outdoors rather than indoors. During the winter months, we usually spend our weekends at the kitchen table playing board games, but in the spring and summer, we try to do more yard games. We are getting ready to fix the camper up so we can do more fishing and camping as well. The kids already said they're ready to go fishing and I am too.

It's a shame y'all couldn't have joined us this weekend for the fun, but since you couldn't be here, I'll just share a few pictures with you instead. Oh yes, and the pictures with the kids on the ground… they're searching the grass for four-leaf clovers. :) I guess you could say this is another game my husband cooked up for them. Once my husband beat us in a game of croquet, I had to go start supper so we decided to quit for the day. However, the kids began complaining there was nothing to do so my husband told them he'd give them a quarter for every four-leaf clover they could find. Well, that quarter put them searching for the four-leaf clovers in no time. While we were inside, my husband told me that game keeps kids busy for hours, and on top of keeping them busy, you know where they are. It wasn't five minutes and my youngest son earned his first quarter. He was so happy he went back to the same spot and searched again so he could earn another quarter. About 10 minutes later, he returned and earned his second quarter. Needlesstosay, he nor the other two found any more four-leaf clovers after that. I was beginning to wonder and actually hoping they'd find a lot just to see how many quarters hubby could give out before the well ran dry…LOL…

Enjoy the pictures! I have to go now to write an article that is due tomorrow.


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Changes to Coffee Break for Writers E-zine

April 27, 2007 0 comments

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Good news! As of today, Coffee Break for Writers has increased the amount we pay writers for their articles. Now the pay for unpublished articles will be $15 and reprints $10. In addition to a small increase in pay, we will now send the e-zine on a monthly (the 7th of every month) basis instead of a biweekly basis. The next edition will arrive in subscribers' e-mail inboxes on May 7.

If you haven't subscribed to our free e-zine yet, you may do so here. Every month we bring you well-paying markets, writing and publishing news, writing, word or grammar tips, unique articles and more.

Do you write articles and like to be paid for your hard work? Click here to read our writers guidelines and send us your submissions. Here's a few tips to help increase your chance of acceptance:

  • Read and follow the guidelines to a T.
  • Let your article set for a day and then edit it with a fresh set of eyes.
  • Don't submit articles full of spelling and grammar mistakes.
  • Make sure your articles are written using AP Style Rules.
  • Study back issues to learn our style. Back issues are available upon request via e-mail. There is also no charge for back issues.
Never give up on your dreams -- work toward them,

Misti Sandefur

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Updating and Submitting…

April 26, 2007 0 comments

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I've been working on the second edition of "On the Net Resource Guide for Writers." I'm ready to get this done and published so I can get back to the true passion: romances and inspirational fictions. I'm now checking all the Web sites for dead links so I can remove those resources, if they're no longer on the Web. My next task to tackle will be the dreaded index. I can't express enough how much I despise creating the indexes. However, I am grateful that the biggest parts of the indexes have already been created and all I have to do now is update the page numbers. I believe Microsoft Word makes this process easier, but I'll have to read the help file to remember how it's done.

There's still quite a bit left to do, but if I set my mind to it, I can finish it and then start seeking out the publishers. Of course, once I get to this point, you can be sure I'll probably rant about any rejections that fill my inbox. ;)

In addition to working on "On the Net Resource Guide for Writers," I've also been writing queries for some article ideas. Once I write the query, I search for appropriate markets for that article and submit. I'll be sure to let you know when I get an acceptance, as well as where the article will be published. The articles are for writers and I'm sure many of you writers will find them helpful. Well, at least I hope you do. I can tell you one of them deals with understanding contracts. In fact, this one is educating me each time I do my research. So, not only am I going to teach you, but I'm teaching myself in the process. Yes, some things I already know, but when I do research for things I want to know more about I find new, helpful information. Who knows, I may even end up with more than one article by the time I'm through researching this one. How? Simple, the new information could spark more ideas and the more ideas the more money I earn. Unfortunately, though, most of what I earn goes towards bills. :(

I believe I'll let you get back to what you were doing while I go and curl up next to hubby in bed. Until next time, take care of yourself and God bless.

Never give up on your dreams -- work toward them,

Misti Sandefur

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Ahhhh… Men!...

April 23, 2007 0 comments

Okay, ladies, be honest… don't men just make you want to scream at times? Tonight my hubby not only made me want to scream, but he also made me want to prove a point. And to be honest, I'm still contemplating whether to do what I'd like to do in order to prove a point. You see, he had the nerve to accuse me of not doing anything around the house. Oh boy! Yes, I held my tongue to avoid a feud, but the whole time I was biting my tongue a thought was going through my head, and I'll reveal that thought soon, but for the moment, let me tell you what happened. Well, that is if you're up to listening. ;)

It all started when he asked me if I had washed socks yet. I kindly told him I had not gotten to them yet, but I said I would get to them tomorrow. I do avoid the laundry as much as possible, because every time I wash a load of clothes I have to set on top of the drain, which is in the middle of my living room floor (we live in a basement house). The reason I have to set by the drain is because it leaks each time I do laundry. The washer backs up through the drain, and if I don't set and wait for the rinse cycle so I can suck up the water in the shop vac, then it floods my living room. The washer goes through two rinse cycles so I have to wait for the first cycle, catch the water and then hurry, drag the shop vac full of water out the door, and dump the water so I can catch the second rinse cycle. Needlesstosay, I've had to do this for a year now and it's getting old! Therefore, when he asked me if I washed the socks yet and I replied no, I also told him to check the hamper of clean clothes to see if he had a pair in there for tomorrow. Well, this got him fired up even more and he blurted out that I was lazy and didn't do a damn thing around here! Now, I will admit I hate folding laundry and putting the clothes away, so most of the time the clean clothes stay in the hamper or on the couch. However, I do try to keep the dishes washed (the dishwasher is a lifesaver) and the house clean.

Many writers say they can't find the time to keep their house clean, and I admit there's been a couple times I get a little behind on housework (mainly the dusting), but I'm the type of person that can't stand to live in a messy house, so I keep it as clean as I possibly can. No, it's not spotless, but it's clean. In addition to all that, I manage to try to have supper ready for him when he gets home from work, at 5:00 p.m. (CDT). I write my update for Soaps.com and usually have it written and live by 4:00 p.m. (CDT). Just as soon as I finish my update for Soaps.com, I head for the kitchen to start supper. I do understand he works harder than I do because he's a heavy equipment mechanic, and he works outdoors through the heat and cold temperatures. I can't for the life of me get him to understand just because I work at the desk I too need help at times, though. Of course, I guess since he's a "man," he'll never get it.

As I said earlier, I didn't want to start a big fight so I held my tongue, but the more he bitched I felt the need to defend myself so I retorted, "You're telling me I don't do anything around here. Don't you get supper every evening? Does this look like a mess to you?" I asked, waving my arms in reference to the living room, which is clean. "Yes," he replied. Well, that was a shocker! And with that I added, "Well, why don't you fix anything around here then? Maybe if you fixed the drain, you would have clean socks." He didn't reply. Instead, a few minutes later he kissed me goodnight and told me he loved me.

After he went to bed, I couldn't help but be a little bothered by the fact that he would call me lazy. I even mowed the yard for him this weekend, and what does he offer to help me with? Well, most of the time… nothing. I take out the trash. I load and unload the dishwasher. I cook the supper… I could go and on, but enough said. Since I was and still am a bit frustrated, I thought to myself, what if I show him lazy. I could take a couple days off and not have any supper ready for him when he gets home. Plus, I could let the dirty dishes pile up in the sink and in the living room, leave the trash lying around on the tables, etc. Hmm, I wonder what he'd say then. Maybe he would think twice next time, before he accuses me of not doing anything. The problem is, though, I'm not sure I could stand to let my house get that bad, and I would be the one to clean it all up later. Although, just to see the look on his face a few days later might be worth the suffering. What do you think, ladies? Do you have any better ideas?

If you made it this far, then I thank you for listening to me rant. At least I feel a little better now that I've gotten it off my chest…LOL… I think I'll get back to writing. Lord knows there's work waiting.

Never give up on your dreams -- work toward them,
Misti Sandefur

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Reality TV Musings

April 18, 2007 0 comments


American Idol - Top 7


Getting ready to see Shrek 3

Tonight I tuned into one of my favorite Reality TV shows, American Idol. I've enjoyed this show since it first aired on TV. It's so nice to see television help talented people get the recognition they deserve! If it weren't for American Idol, some of these talented folks may have gone unnoticed for a long time. My favorites this year are Melinda Doolittle, LaKisa Jones and Blake Lewis. It wouldn't surprise me if they make the final three. It also won't surprise me if Melinda wins the whole thing. Melinda may seem shy, but she has a voice to die for! I applaud FOX on their efforts to help so many talented people get the recognition they so deserve.


Idols enjoying Shrek 3


Oh no, LaKisa and Blake in the bottom 3 :(

Now, only if they could come up with a reality TV show to help us writers get noticed. ;) Of course, I understand the shows have to be entertaining to keep the ratings, and I expect there's not a whole lot you can do with writers to make a reality show about them interesting. However, I do have a few ideas that may or may not work. On The Apprentice, they make it interesting by giving the applicants tasks to perform. So, what if they created a reality TV show for writers that also assigned tasks, but the tasks could be writing tasks. They could air us working on our tasks (brainstorming, researching, etc.), and then, they could post our completed writing tasks on the Internet for America to read, review and vote on the ones they like best. The writer with the lowest votes leaves, and in the end, just like American Idol, the writer who receives the most votes and lasts throughout the entire show is the winner. I'm just throwing ideas out there. Besides, who knows, maybe someone out there in the television industry will consider it. And if that happens to be you, I'll be your first contestant. :) Deal? What do you all think, America? Would you watch? Cast your vote and let me know. Better yet, after you vote, if you have any ideas of your own, leave your comment and let me know what your ideas are. Oh yes, also comment and let me know who your favorite American Idol is, and who you think will win this year?


LaKisa in the bottom 2 :(


Sanjaya Malakar's final performance.
Phew, Lakisa's safe! :)

Never give up on your dreams -- work toward them,

Misti Sandefur
Enter to Win an Autographed Copy of "Help From Above"


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When Tragedy Strikes…

April 17, 2007 0 comments

Today I was so busy with my writing that I had no idea what had happened at Virginia Tech until my husband returned home from work. During supper, he asked me if I'd heard or read anything about the shooting at Virginia Tech today, and I looked at him in shock and replied, "No, I have been so busy today I haven't had a chance to read through all the press releases." He began to reveal to me what he had heard, and later, I sat down to catch up on the news for today. When I read and heard about the shooting in Virginia, my heart went out to each and everyone involved. At times, while watching Dateline, I found myself wiping away tears. They not only discussed today's shooting, but they also talked about the shooting at Heath High School in 1998. The Heath High School shooting was too close to home for me, because I live close to where that tragedy struck.

Each time I hear about a school shooting I always have a fear and begin to worry about my own children. In fact, I can remember feeling the fear parents fear when they hear of any kind of threatening activity at their child's school. I remember this because not too long ago I received a phone call from my mother. I answered the phone and the first thing she asked was have I been watching the TV. When I told her I had not, she reported that there has been a bomb threat at the school. Not only did I fear for my children at the time, but also I remember feeling sick, and my stomach dropped. It didn't take her long to ease my mind by telling me that everyone from the school was moved to safe location at the time, but the fear never really went away until I knew for certain that my kids were safe.

After she reported the news to me, I immediately phoned my ex-husband to see if he needed me to go pick up the kids, because mom had told me all parents were being asked to pick their kids up from the location they were taken. He assured me he had already taken care of it and they were home. Talk about a relief!

Fortunately, the bomb threat that day was just that, because no bombs were found, but after watching the story unfold about Virginia Tech, I thought back to that day with my children, because in one of the reports they said Virginia Tech had been receiving bomb threats that turned out to be nothing. I'm not certain if there's any truth to that or not, but it makes a parent think and worry. The way things are going in the world now-a-days I'm sure every parent worries about sending their child off to school. Anymore, every time the TV interrupts programming with breaking news my stomach drops and my heart beats faster. There is a little relief when I know my kids are safe, but I always feel for the parents who may be told their child is not, and I start to pray for those families. So, today, my heart and my prayers go out to all the families in Virginia that lost their loved ones as well as to the students, injured and everyone else involved. God bless you all!

Hugs and best wishes,

Misti Sandefur
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Pondering About "On the Net"…

April 9, 2007 1 comments

For the past week, I have been pondering hard about my non-fiction book, "On the Net Resource Guide for Writers." I still plan to publish the second edition, but I am seriously thinking about stopping after this edition, and I'll explain why…

You see, I mainly write -- and enjoy writing -- romance and inspirational fiction. Back when I created and published the very first edition of "On the Net," I wanted to try my hand at something new, and I wanted to help writers by giving them a resource guide to the Internet. Don't get me wrong, I still want to help writers, and I do still help writers through my free e-zine for writers, answering their questions and etc., but I have found that I can't write all these other books I have started due to the amount of work involved in keeping "On the Net," updated. Since I enjoy writing romance and inspirational fiction more than anything, after the second edition of "On the Net," I will be selling all rights to the book. In fact, I'll probably sell all rights to the second edition. Yes, like everything I write, it is copyrighted, but if the right publisher, agent or etc. offers me a reasonable sum for all rights to the book, then I will sell it to them so I can get back to my true passions: romance and inspirational fiction. Not only will they be getting all rights to the book, but I will also hand over all the information I have that I use to create each edition (the resources, contact information, etc.). So, if you're reading this, and you think you would be -- or know someone who might be -- interested in purchasing all rights to this book, then don't hesitate to contact me for information. The first edition has done fairly well, and my e-mail box stays filled with requests from writers anxiously waiting for the arrival of the next, updated edition. Before all rights are sold, I will compose a contract that will have to be signed. This will be done to protect both the buyer and me.

I can hardly wait to get back to writing what I love and enjoy the most, and I'm sure all you writers out there understand where I'm coming from. When I started this project, I thought I could handle an edition every other year, but I soon discovered that between my freelance writing projects, and my other books-in-progress, I just couldn't handle it all. Therefore, I had to make some choices, and I chose the ones that I love best: writing romance, inspirational fiction and freelance writing (articles, television recaps and short fiction stories).

Well, now that I've gotten that off my chest I feel better. I just hope I don't regret it later, but I honestly don't think I will, because, as I have discovered, my forte isn't non-fiction. But hey, we don't know unless we give it a try, right? Happy Easter & God bless!

Never give up on your dreams -- work toward them,

Misti Sandefur
Enter to Win an Autographed Copy of "Help From Above"


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Surprise Mom!

April 4, 2007 0 comments

Well, spring is finally here, and unfortunately, so are the spring thunderstorms. My husband promised the kids he would fix their go-cart once the weather got warmer. The weather has been warm since he told them that, but the rain and storms have put a damper on the plans to fix the go-cart.

Finally, a warm day arrived! However, it rained the night before, but my husband was determined to keep his promise, so he braved the wet yard and fixed the go-cart. The kids helped him work on it and were excited once they finally got to drive it around the yard. The excitement ended the next day when something else went wrong with the go-cart.

Later that day, since they didn't have the go-cart to ride anymore, they decided to entertain themselves in a different way. Well, at least my oldest son did. It was April Fools day, and they had been pulling all kinds of pranks on me that day. In fact, they pulled so many that I quit believing them. My daughter came in and announced that "Bubby" found a mud hole, and she said he was covered in mud. Thinking it was another April Fool's prank I said, "Yeah, right," and she replied, "No, Mom, it's not a prank. He really is covered in mud." I told her to send him in so I could see for myself. She wasn't fooling! When he came to the door, indeed, he was covered in mud! I couldn't help but laugh at him, but I did wonder how on earth he got that muddy from a little mudhole. I soon found my answer when I stepped out the door and discovered my daughter with the waterhose, making the area in the yard where my husband got stuck with the mower even muddier. I then ordered her to shut the water off before she made the yard look even worse. After she obeyed my orders, I grabbed my camera from the house to snap a picture of my muddy son (see pic above). After taking his picture, I sprayed the worst of the mud off him with the waterhose, before letting him in the house. Once we got the worst off, he jumped in the shower to get the rest off. We're only young once, right? Therefore, I seen no harm in letting him be a boy and have fun. Besides, I couldn't scold him after I laughed about the whole ordeal.


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