Katie Ganshert Archives - Page 70 of 93

10 Unhealthy Ways to Wait

Posted on October 5, 2009November 7, 2011 by Katie Ganshert

1. Check email every five minutes.

2. Stare at laptop, thinking, “Maybe I should check my email.”

3. Read through the first page of EVERY book on your bookshelf to see if the first page of your manuscript can compete.

4. Cyber-stalk any agents and/or editors you submitted your work to.

5. Open up the emails you ALREADY sent to the agents and editors to make sure there aren’t any mistakes (this serves absolutely no purpose, since the email’s already been sent).

6. Open up the emails you already sent to the agent/editors to make sure you sent them to the right address.

7. Drink caffeinated beverages. This does nothing to alleviate the erratic state of mind that comes with waiting.

8. Eat half a pan of brownies. This also does nothing to alleviate the erratic state of mind that comes with waiting.

9. Wish pieces of your life away….this is very sad. Time is priceless. We can’t get it back.

10. Do nothing. Just sit and think things like, “I wonder if so-and-so has opened my email yet.” Or, “How do I know my email didn’t get shuffled to the spam folder?”

Not that I’ve done any of these. Of course not….

Please join me on Wednesday, when I discuss healthy ways to pass the waiting.

Question to Ponder: What are some unhealthy habits you’ve developed while waiting for your dreams to come true?removetweetmeme

3 C’s – It’s Friday!

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Katie Ganshert

Cares:
I submitted Beneath a Velvet Sky to a few people yesterday. Eeek!

In the spirit of Follow Friday, allow me to suggest stopping by Nicole Baart’s blog. She is one of my favorite authors. She writes literary fiction for Tyndale. Her prose are amazing, her stories gripping, and her blog lots of fun. She discusses everything from her writing, to her family, to excellent food recipes. Plus, she’s an Iowa girl, just like me.

Concerns:
I’m sitting here, racking my brain for a concern….. I got nuthin‘.

Celebrations:
See concerns

Yesterday, one of my short stories, Goodbye Gavin, was published in CFOM’s October issue. I’m planning on making it into a full-length novel. Disclaimer: Although the short story ends on a sad note, the novel won’t. So all you HEA’s out there, no worries. This isn’t the end of Gavin and Melodi. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations on this brisk Friday morning?removetweetmeme

Gifts

Posted on September 28, 2009November 7, 2011 by Katie Ganshert

If somebody gave you a gift, would you hide it?

If somebody gave you a gift, would you talk about how silly it is?

If somebody gave you a gift, would you pretend you created it yourself?

If somebody gave you a gift, would you throw it away?

I remember opening my presents on Christmas Eve as a kid. I remember tearing open my gifts and delighting in whatever it was that my parents or my Aunt Peggy had given me. I cherished my gifts. I thanked the giver. I shared them with my cousins. I played with them. I took care of them. I didn’t put them in a box and bury them in my closet. I didn’t tell my cousins how inadequate the gift was. I didn’t brag about the craftsmanship as if I’d made the gift myself. And I most certainly never threw any away.

I think this is obvious to all of us.

God’s given me a passion and a gift for telling stories. He gave this to me. He created me, formed me in my mother’s womb, with this gift in mind. And yet sometimes I hide my writing from others. And sometimes I tell myself I’m lousy, or I’m no good, or my dreams of being a writer are just silly. Sometimes I get prideful, as if the stories I write are my own. As if I could do all this without God’s hand guiding my steps. And sometimes I want to throw in the towel.

God gives all of us gifts. Whether it’s the gift of writing, singing, teaching, dancing, building, acting, healing, praying, cooking…. Whatever it is, they are gifts from God. He gave them to us so that we might delight in them, share them, take care of them, and use them to offer hope and encouragement in a world stumbling in the dark.

There’s no shame, and there’s no pride, in saying, “I’m a good writer.” Not if the glory goes to the One who made me this way.

Question to Ponder: What gift has God given you?

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