My horse anthology is coming together.

I have extended the deadline for submissions. If you have a horse story to tell, please e-mail me at mobiledeelight@gmail.com. The story has to be true, with creative license of course.

Right now, I have submissions from all over the world. I also have two big name authors who have submitted, many published authors, and some beginners. If you write a story, I will edit it. The stories vary from riding fence on an ornery Shetland pony at age six in Colorado, to a soon to be submitted story of a Lipizzan who survived 17 years of the war in Croatia.

I am in touch with the Save the Wild Horse Foundation and 100% of the royalties are going to them. Presently, I am having a cover contest, so any artists out there, submit a cover design by mid Feb. to mobiledeelight@gmail.com. I want you on my team. The title of the book is The Horse He Rode In On.

I was only going to bring it out as a Kindle book, but I've been contacted by Xenophon Press who does horse books about classical riding. The publisher contacted me to collaborate and bring the anthology out in print.

I will keep you posted to its progress. Right now, I am compiling the stories into one long manuscript. I'm also printing them out and hand editing them. I'm so excited, that I can hardly contain myself on some days.

Needless to say, my other writing projects are on hold for the time being. I still have a goal to bring out three psychological suspense novels in October of 2013.

Here is the web page of Xenophon Press. http://shop.xenophonpress.com/

One of Us Must Die!

After my workshop with an agent, I've been on fire for my novel One of Us Must Die! My agent that I was assigned to for critiquing my first ten pages, Gina Panettieri, immediately spotted what the opening needed to help the reader become more emotionally involved with the protagonist. I am amazed that in such a short time frame, her astute observation quickly remedied some issues that needed to be addressed in order to make the protagonist and her actions more believable. Between the workshop and her feedback, I am on fire rewriting this novel.

I can't speak highly enough of the Writers' Digest Online University. I learned so much. It lasted for three days and taught me so much. I recommend this to any serious writers. I get notices in my e-mail for workshops and webinars. They are well worth the money and the time invested in them.

Dee Jordan

A call to submission

I'm looking for horse enthusiasts who have a story to tell about one of their horses. I am doing a nonfiction anthology geared toward adults titled The Horse He Rode In On. I want show the good, the bad, and the ugly of owning a horse. If you are interested e-mail me Dee Jordan at mobiledeelight@gmail.com. I will send you the submission guidelines. Thank you,

Dee

One of Us Must Die!

Lee Thames escapes from a mental hospital after she blabbed to her shrink that she wanted to kill Joe, her ex-husband. Over a five-hour period, she wanders through the house thinking of what turned her against him. Things remind her of her past from childhood trauma, her first husband and their open marriage, to Joe who was a serial cheater. This caused Lee to try taking her life many times. She remembers the Joe she fell in love with, her soul mate, and wonders how everything so wonderful turned so bad. After taking her sleeping meds, where she forgets what she does while under the influence, she plans the perfect murder. The fact that she has two alter personalities, Nancy and Dee Dee egging her on doesn't help the situation. Will she succeed in committing the perfect murder and get away with it?

I'm a little down

I'd finished my second book, She MUST Go! It has been through many drafts, and even an editor  edited it one time. My second editor has me basically rewriting the story. My protagonist is not likable enough at this time. I really need to work on his characterizations and personality. I'll start back on it April 1, 2012.

Right now, I'm reading Hooked by Les Edgerton for the second time. I'm teaching a class and we will use the book as a textbook. I am writing my own syllabus and curriculum, and I'm about to run out of time. Then after I finish that, I'm working on polishing a story for the Baldwin County Writers' Contest. So, I feel like I meet myself coming out the door.

Spring has sprung in Alabama. I have spider's wort, Lorapelum, and yellow water irises blooming. I'm tired from the previous week and the next two are going to be worse. My garden looks horrible and I just don't have the time to work in it this year. My daughter helped me make a schedule to stay on to get everything done.

Besides writing, I am doing chair yoga on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Boy, has it helped with my flexibility and balance! This is a brief check in and I hope all had a happy St. Patrick's Day. I did!

An update on my life's journey

I'm 62 and have not had  my daughter living with me since she was 15. She was accepted into the Alabama Math and Science School down in Mobile, which was a residential school. I lived about 2 hours away from her. We talked every night via chat. After high school, she went to South, so again, I was only 2 hours away from her. Her dad and I split up in 2003. I moved to Mobile and built my own house in 2004. Teddee still lived on her own in an apartment. We talked on the phone just about daily. She married in 2006, so, the contact with her slowed down, but we were able to see each other once a week. She is looking for a better paying job in Atlanta. That is quite a drive from here. I hope we'll chat on Facebook. I hope she'll call me once a week. Seeing her is going to be limited. This is how life should be. It's healthy for both of us. But, I can't lie and say that it won't affect me. I will really miss her, but I understand her reasons for leaving completely.

I feel like a champion...albeit, a tired one!

I've spent the past two days listening to international motivational speaker Buddy Bell tell us how "helps" is a ministry mandated in the Bible. Serving coffee to people has as much impact on a person's life as the big jobs seen around most churches. The gifts of prophecy, healing, etc....are all fine but the mandate of the gift of helps is also a calling for each of us. We all can do something to help our fellow man or woman. We all can do something from something as simple as a smile to a hug, to a prayer to fixing a meal, to visiting in the hospital, to dropping a "I'm thinking of you card"....to make someone's life richer and better. This is what life is about. Helping. What do you all think?

Todays little surprise

A tiny, and I mean TINY mini-iris bloomed out by my front tree. What a deelight! The iris is my favorite flower and something that I collect. There are irises all over my home. I may try to press this wonderful little beauty and put it between pieces of glass to hang on my wall. My 2007 first iris of the year. I also have Virginia Creeper blooming in my back yard, inspite of my galloping dogs...my two BIG Doberman pinschers. Today, I look at my very cluttered office and know I really need to clean and organize and throw away junk and file the important stuff. I also need to hose off my back porch....a fine covering of reddish brown dust from the dirt stirred up by the dogs playing. And yet, I am in a book that calls me too. I think I'll go read for a little while then when enegized after lunch, will attempt to wash off the porch. Later today, I'll start on the office...God I hate doing stuff like that, but so love the finished product. I'm reading Night Ride Home, an excellent book. Yesterday, I sent out my short story, "Three In One" for a contest sponsored by Arts & Letters. I can't write until I rid myself of all of this clutter....so, I HAVE to face the inevitible soon.