Happy Birthday Jesus

This time of year, people get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas. Yes, it's fun to get new things each year, but it's also a time to remember what Christmas is about. I think Linus put it best:

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Charlie Brown had been agonizing over the commercialization of Christmas and wasn't sure what to think. After Linus gave his speech, not only did Charlie Brown understand a little more, but hopefully the rest of the children (and all of us) did too.

And yes, Christmas is about giving and receiving, but think about God's gift to us - his only son. He gave Jesus to us without really asking - or expecting - anything in return. Even knowing what His son would have to endure throughout his lifetime, God still gave us the greatest gift of all.

So, in between playing with all the wonderful new toys - and believe me, I will be doing that too - don't forget to thank God for sending us His son so that there could be a Christmas to celebrate.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Writing Wins and "Wins"

So, I try to be a writer on occasion. I've been writing stories for a long time. Ever since high school, probably, and have been writing poetry since then as well. Granted, I have not written poetry in a long time, but I have been writing stories.
In fact, recently, I have written two different stories. One, entitled "The New World", is a short story that I entered in a contest on AuthorNation.com. Well, I just found out last night (Wednesday) that my story placed 20th out of a possible 25. And while this may not sound like a great thing, it actually is.

The original contest had all members of the website (over 1000) and the top 50 would be chosen and voted on by the members. Well, my story was chosen as one of the 50. After that, the members were given the opportunity to read and vote on each story. Well, after a month of waiting (after the voting process closed) I found out that my story got enough votes to get 20th place out of the 25 that won, so that's pretty cool.

To read the story, follow the link:

http://www.authornation.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=The-New-World---current-entry-in-Fall-Anthology-2008-contest-20717.html&Itemid=109

As for the second story I wrote, this one was for something a little more unique. Most of you have probably never heard of NaNoWriMo. It is an acronym that stands for National Novel Writing Month. The whole purpose of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 (or more) in one month. I had heard about NaNoWriMo for several years and knew people that had entered and been able to "win". I put win in quotes because there is no real winner. The whole point, like I said, is to get to 50,000 words. Those that do, are considered "winners". It is about word count and not necessarily content.

However, when I decided to participate this year, I decided that I wanted both. I wanted a story that was complete, not just a rough outline. Starting nearly a week after everyone else, I was certainly strapped for time, but I was able to survive and get a complete story that made sense and had the proper flow. My final word count was 50,184 words - and that was after editing. As part of the "winnings" I have the option to have it professionally bound, so once I finish off the complete edit, I will have that. It's 96 pages long, so it's not like I can have it available online for people to read, though I could, but it might be hard for some people to read it online rather than in their hands.

So there you have it. My two stories. Both "winners". It helps to validate my writing and make me feel better about being a writer.