Camping Trip to Goblin Valley

It has been a Crazy past few weeks. We've been totally busy with work, family drama, and an awesome campout with friends.

Between the madness, I have been slowly working on another edit of my first manuscript. I went to town on changing the first chapter...again.  I also found some beta readers and they are currently enjoying the work.

I am going to add some photos of our hiking trips.  We were able to go to Goblin Valley in Utah.  It was tons of fun.

 

 

 The Three pictures above are from Goblin Valley. There were hundreds of these cool rock structures all around the park.  If you went searching, like we did, there were a bunch of small caves inside some of the far rock walls.  Two of the three pictures are caves that we found. Some deeper than others.

I wish I had more pictures of this hike that we went on. It was outside of Goblin Valley and the slot caves were simply amazing. Take a look at the next few pictures. It was really a lot of fun. 

What a great time with some great friends. We're already planning our next Camping Trip.

Aren't you glad this isn't your knee

Check out this knee injury from blocking a puck.

You can clearly see the bruising and Inflammation.

This happened as a result of a puck that hit Sami Lepisto during a hockey game a few weeks ago. He plays for the Chicago Blackhawks.

To make things even worse, Chicago was eliminated from the playoffs by the Phoenix Coyotes.

This pictures comes from a tweet that was done by Sami Lepisto himself: "This is why I shouldn't be blocking slap shots!"

Please sure to add a comment if you have had a similar injury!

StoryMakers12 and Jazz Basketball

Just like many of my writing friends - some online friends and a few new friends - I spent the weekend at StoryMakers12. There were a ton of people that I knew that went. It was surprising how different some people look from their online personality. It makes it even more fun.

There was a ton of support from local authors and publishers. There also was a good amount of national editors and agents. We got a little bit of everything. The time and energy spent on the entire conference is astounding. The writing contest, agents, classes, book fair, and a whole bunch of other things was impressive.


I think that everyone goes to a conference with goal in mind. We shoot for the stars hoping to come out with an agent or a better perspective. I've been to a few conferences and I decided to attack this one differently. I wanted to pitch but I felt that I needed to get my editing better under control. Boy was I right.

Editing is a talent that I don't have. I spent a portion of the conference learning more about what to look for and how to become a better technical writer. Better writing means less editing. I also tried to find some contacts that would be helpful. I've come to the realization that I may have to pay someone to edit a few of my manuscripts.

I was also looking for some contacts to set up a writing critique group. This was also highly successful. In addition, I met some authors who are writing very similar stories or categories as myself. We exchanged some contact info. Really, that is the key for me and this conference.

Pitching would have been great, but I am not sure my manuscript is really to that point yet. It's been a process to come to that decision. I think that I've also come to the realization, my first manuscript may be just part of the learning curve. So, this will have to be something I look closer at.

All in all - a pretty good conference.

Later on Saturday - I got a phone call from a good friend.  He had playoff Jazz basketball tickets. What a fantastic way to finish of the night.  Yea me!!

Now...off to some reading from books from the conference

Tearing something down to make it stronger

I am slowly, and I mean slowly learning that its a lot of work to get a book to the stages where someone else will want to look at it.  I've written x 2 manuscripts and in both cases I thought that I was ready to start searching for an agent. And I was. But...not because my manuscripts were ready. But that I needed to learn more about the craft of writing. I need to tear down something and hope it is better in the end.

It took me over 14 months to write my first manuscript. If you didn't know me back then, you'll be surprised to learn that I wrote over 240,000 words. It worked out a funny way that I was sending myself emails and didn't put all the pieces together until the end. I spent the next 12 months editing it down to 148,000.  I thought that I had done a good job. I started querying it. Of course I got rejected like crazy. I kept being told to cut it more.  Ouch.

While I was waiting for those rejections, I started writing my second manuscript. A medical mystery.  This time it took 5 months for around 85,000 words. I worked it, edited, and re-edited it. I am currently querying this masterpiece and am finding out that it isn't such a masterpiece after all. But, the feed back I am receiving is positive. I just need to get a good group of beta readers to trim some pieces.

I've restarted my first manuscript and really went to work on cutting and improving some of the less important things. In the end, I felt most was important, there was just a better way in telling the story. I ended up cutting another 20,000 words and am down to 125,000.  The crazy part is that I changed everything. The title of the book, the names of the character. I tried to get things moving quicker and moved some of the important finds to much sooner in the book. Some parts remained the same. I am completely excited about the changes in the book.

I am about to head off to a couple conference and really get hammered on some of my techniques and especially the first few pages. That is where I really need to get better. I need to get the audience involved much quicker and more efficient.

Writing is far from easy. Well writing well is far from easy. I am just hoping that I am on the right tract.

Besides March Madness...make sure you get a Colonscopy this Month

March is the month where we celebrate for the awareness for colorectal cancer or colon cancer. Colonoscopies are the manner that this cancer is found. Other intestinal problems can also be identified.

More than 55,000 deaths a year are attributed to colorectal cancer. And be sure to remember, this cancer affects women and men. 
Screening


The initial age of screening is 50. More than 85% of colon cancers are found in those above the age of 50. Usually there are no symptoms, at least, no initially. Blood in stool, weight loss, fatigue, and a few other symptoms can be seen.

Screening is the best preventative measure as well as the way to diagnosis cancer. This cancer affects the large bowel.

Cancer in the colon usually begins as a benign polyp. Over time, and were talking years, the polyp could potentially turn into cancer. But it is vitally important to remember that not all polyps will become cancer. That is why routine biopsies or even removal of the polyp is done during the colonoscopy, just to make sure.

The prep is often far worse than the actual procedure. Remember this. You need to avoid food for 24 hours. A medication, in liquid form, helps you get cleaned out.

A special camera is used for the procedure and it examines the colon, large and small intestines. If a polyp is found or there are some tissue that may be concerning, then a biopsy or complete removal of the polyp is easily done.

So, as for the celebration this year, try to schedule a colonoscopy if you over the age of 50 and have never had one before. Or…if it is time for a follow-up procedure.

For any other questions or concerns, contact your medical provider and get it scheduled.

You can also see an InterActive Health look at an actual colonoscopy procedure by clicking - here

Valentine's Day

This year my wife and I decided to do something different for Valentine's Day. And it made it a great day.  Of course we do the usual, cards and candy for the kids. They wake up and see them on the table and get so excited. My wife made pink pancakes and the kids loved those as well.  I was already at work, but there were leftovers and I had some pancakes this morning. They were still fantastic.

The difference this year was that she came up and met me for lunch. We went to GoodWood BBQ and had a fantastic lunch. But afterwards, we drove a block and bought each others gift. They turned out to be the same gift. This year, instead of flowers and too much chocolate, we got each other iphones.

Over the past year, our droids have been outdated and on the blitz. I would miss phone calls, texts, and messages. She was calling friends when her phone was across the room. We've been looking for the last 3 months and finally decided on the iphone.

Last night while she went to a church meeting, I spend almost 3 hours getting to know my iphone and downloading music. Today, I am much happier about our phone situation and valentine's day turned out fantastic for both of us.   Here's to hoping that your day was just as good!

It's Query Time

Well, I'm back from our vacation in Disneyland. More on that later. Two days prior to leaving, I finished another round of Editing for my WIP - Immaculate Conception. The title is growing on me more and more. I do realize, although hesitantly, that I really probably have no control over the title.

I was aiming at around 80,000 words and my final word count ended up being 87,000. The editing process was tricky, but that always seems to be the case with the editing process. Overall, the entire process has been streamlined from my first few experiences at writing and editing.

My work is now out at some beta readers and its growing close to the time to start querying. I've been researching query letters again.  Agent Query or AQ at the webaddress of http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx is a really solid resource. I've also been reviewing Query Shark - another great resource.  http://www.queryshark.blogspot.com/.

Query letters appear to be an art form. Traditional letters are typical and safe, but atypical letters can be abstract, genius, or a complete disaster. I am going to go with Traditional.  I've worked and reworked the last 2-3 weeks on the query letter and I hope that I am getting close.

This is an exciting but nervous time.  I'll let you know more as things get going.

Any guesses on this Skin Disease?

Here is a picture of a very difficult skin condition that is often fatal in infants.

It is characterized by diamond shape scales. Infants are at highest risk for infections, dehydration, and breathing difficulties.

Improvements in management and treatment have extended the lives of those with this condition.

The Answer is: Harlequin-type ichthyosis

More about Harlequin-type Ichthyosis:

This is a condition is where the skin of an infant becomes thick and scaly.

The change occurs in the keratin layer of the skin. Large and thick, diamond shaped scales, red in color, can be seen. The scaly nature of the skin causes the infant to have difficulty with movement and respiration.

It is a very rare condition.

Symptoms:

- Severe cranial and facial deformities
- Ears and nose may be absent or poorly developed
- Ectropion [Everted or outward eyelids]
- Dryness of skin
- Thickening of skin
- Large scales
- Scales can be reddish in color
- Arms, feet, fingers can also be deformed
- Polydactyly - more than the usual number of toes or fingers

Cause:

- Mutation in the gene for protein - ABCA12
- This gene helps regulate healthy skin.
- This mutation can be inherited

Areas of skin affected:

1.) Face
2.) Eyes
3.) Ears
4.) Penis
5.) Extremities
6.) Other

Risk Factors

- Increase chance for infection due to cracks in skin
- Cracked Skin
- Dehydration
- Restricted or difficulty breathing
- Difficulty controlling water loss

Treatment

. Isotretinoin [Isotrex]

- Symptomatic treatment
- Treat Dryness
- Treat Infections