I got up at 4 a.m. to write!!!

I just wanted to share my excitement with the world! I woke up at 4 a.m and wrote chapter one of my book! I know. I know. Big deal, right? For me this is the REAL first step of turning my dream into a reality. So it is a big deal. This means I'm really doing this. I mean - who gets up at 4 a.m. for kicks and giggles??

I will admit I'm struggling at work right now and choking back coffee. The coffee I grabbed from home tasted like swimming pool. Yuck. I will have to discuss this with my husband later. He's the coffee maker in the house. He wasn't so quick to text me back this morning. I had to dump it out the minute I walked into work. During this time, I also poured cream into my water bottle because I'm a walking zombie. And the person who used the coffee last, didn't make a new batch so I had to stand and stare into space for a good 15 minutes until the coffee finished brewing. I wonder if it's the same person who refuses to replenish the toilet paper in the women's bathroom or even the paper towels? It's really not that hard! Same with dishes. Why wouldn't you just do your own dishes instead of letting someone else do them for you? I bet that person doesn't get up at 4 a.m.

Oh yes, there could be some issues with focus today - the eyelids are heavy. Plus, it's raining. Rainy days always make me tired. And I have to play volleyball later in this mess! I'll pray for storms.

Totally thinking about taking a nap over lunch, but I also grabbed my laptop quick as I was leaving. It's cloudy today and that means I'll actually be able to see my computer screen at the park over my lunch hour.

Like they say at Caribou: Life is short. Stay awake for it!

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A week of waking up at 4 a.m.

My challenge for the week: wake up at 4 a.m. three times to write. I usually get up around 6 a.m. for work, and have realized that the only way I'm going to find time to write (this month at least) is by waking up early or going to bed late. June is our wedding month this year with August, September and October coming in a close second, third and fourth place. We only have five or six weddings, so I'm not going to complain. The summer of 12 was a bit extreme.

One of my favorite parts in my day is crawling into bed with Karl and having library hour. We both pick up a book, snuggle close and read...or I Tweet and Facebook. So I decided this means I'll be getting up early rather than going to bed late. Waking Karl up in the mornings is a veerrrry long process, so I know I won't be missed much if I sneak downstairs and write. I used to be a great morning person. I used to exercise in the mornings before work. I used to show up at work before anyone else. But, I was also 30 pounds heavier too (weird since I was working out, but not so since I was eating 3500 calories a day). They say sleep is a great weight loss tool, and I'm worried I'll pack on the weight. Lack of sleep always makes me hungry. I'm going to see how this week goes and refuse to have any food in sight until after 6 a.m.

I also have a lot on my mind.
1. We had a wedding this past weekend in Two Harbors, Minnesota! Beautiful country, but also very cold and foggy. Saturday, the day of the wedding, I woke up sick. Was it the three drinks the night before or did I catch a bug? All I know is in college I used to drink a lot more than that and could run a half marathon the next day. But I did just turn 31 last week. Could be a sign of what's to come? I was so mad at myself! I love weddings, and there I was sick in bed. Not only did I miss the family pictures, but also the genuine emotions of the day. And I also realized how lucky I am to be healthy - I sure take it for granted!

2. I have a book club tonight. We just got home from this long trip, and we have to get in the car again for a book club. I love the people. I liked the book. But I'm frustrated because again I have no time to write. By the time we get home, it'll be time to sleep!

3. I am totally missing The Bachelorette! I play volleyball on Monday nights right after work. We DVR The Bachelorette (and I say WE because Karl does watch with me). We've been so busy that I haven't even watched the first episode. I'm kind of okay with it because I didn't like Ali very much when she was on The Bachelor. Part of me thought she got exactly what she wanted. She had to cause drama to get noticed (i.e. she was way too mean to Vienna). Then she realized that Jake was a bit too geeky, emotional and feminine for her and faked her work excuse. This caused some of the viewers to feel sorry for her. Now she has her own little show. Maybe I'm wrong about her? Maybe she is wonderful. I've never met her, but sometimes I get vibes about people and I have one about her. This thinking also totally goes against the book I read for my book club - They Anatomy of Peace. I'm viewing her as an object and not as a person. Damn. I am a hypocrite.

4. Work is crazy. I was hired on as a Graphic Designer, but now am the graphic designer, web designer, marketing manager and search engine optimization project manager. Anyone who knows me understands my need to be busy, but this is a little over the top...enough to make me write about it.

5. I wish I could travel. Don't we all? My dream is to write a best seller, make enough money to write books for the rest of my life, travel and be a stay at home mom. Is that too much to ask for? Oprah and Jillian Michaels both say you can have whatever you dream. I'm going to try that.

6. We have another wedding next weekend. At least I know I won't be drinking! No more of that. Remind me I said that, okay? Remembering we have back-to-back weddings is when I decided I have to get up early to write because there is very little time on the weekends. Fingers crossed that I have Sunday to do some writing, but Karl reminded me it's Father's Day...

This leads me to the question why can't life and our dreams be easy? I guess then they wouldn't be dreams, right? And life would be somewhat boring if we always got what we wished for... I suppose I could make myself feel better by saying I'm doing "research" for my book by attending all these weddings!

I'll keep you posted how I survive waking at 4 a.m. tomorrow. Plan is: get up early and write. Go to work. Head straight to volleyball. Try to eat somewhere in the hour break I have. Play volleyball again. Read more of Heat Wave and Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies...and do it all over again on Tuesday, minus the volleyball. I might try writing over lunch too...

Cherish your health!

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Writing, rewriting and writing again…

Here I am again…writing, writing, writing. And boy, do I love it! I just wish there was more time in the day! How do writers do it with full-time jobs and kids?

So I took the advice my famous writing-assistant friend gave me, and pretty much chopped up my first synopsis – and to think I was so proud of my first attempt! But my friend’s suggestions made sense to me, plus he’s in the business for that very reason! After revising the synopsis for an entire week and two days, I now LOVE it. I think this storyline will make writing my book a whole lot easier. To me, it seems to flow a lot better and there are lot more characters, dialogue, current events/technology, action, suspense and ROMANCE!!!! I had a five-page synopsis and now I have a nine-page summary! I’m kind of impressed. This is going to help me start my outline and THEN I’ll have to start over at chapter one again! The question: how fast can I write 33 chapters? Will I find time every day to write?

I decided when I was on a walk with my husband, Karl, a couple weeks ago that I’m definitely not a person who does things just to get them done, especially the things that really matter to me. I see people who have the same routine every single day and refuse to change their ways. If only they would take a risk or chance, growth could happen! They don’t even know what they are missing! Instead nothing ever changes. I know I can’t be in that type of environment for long.

Before, my dream was to write a book and get published. Now, it’s to write a REALLY good book that I’m totally excited about and become someone. I know I am already somebody, but I recently read a short story by Mark Twain that made me think twice. I put together a newsletter four times a year for a small engineering company in New Ulm and this was in one of the articles. The story reads:

Mark Twain once described a man who died and met Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates. Knowing that Saint Peter was very wise, the man asked a question that he had wondered about throughout his life. He said “Saint Peter, I have been interested in military history for many years. Who was the greatest general of all time?”

Saint Peter quickly responded, “Oh that’s a simple question. It’s that man right over there.”

“You must be mistaken,” the man, now very perplexed. “I knew that man on earth, and was just a common laborer.”

“That’s right my friend,” assured Saint Peter. “He would have been the greatest general of all time, if he had been a general.”

EXACTLY! How will I ever know if I don’t try? I don’t want to look back and wish or regret – I want to be proud because I tried!

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A little writing advice from a friend

I have this friend from high school who I haven't really seen since...uh...high school (thank God for Facebook). I recently posted something on his wall and a couple weeks later he messaged me back. I told him I was writing a book. He told me he lives in Hollywood and is an assistant writer for Michael Dougherty, who wrote X-Men 2 and Superman Returns. Can I compete with that? I mean, this is a guy who runs into Brad Pitt, rubbed shoulders with Drew Barrymore and even got a chuckle out of George Clooney while sporting his favorite plaid pants. But all I could picture was the guy who I sat next to in high school yearbook class! Soon we were emailing back and forth and last night I had the pleasure of talking to him for 50 minutes!

I had emailed him a five page synopsis of my book. I have been feeling overwhelmed. I'm reading so many different opinions from the Internet that I don't even know what direction I'm headed in. I'm even reading that I don't even need to write the book anymore! What? Supposedly now I just need to find an agent. But that's not what I read five articles ago on a different website. I need a biography. I need an outline. I need a query letter. I need a 1-2 page synopsis. I need this and that. What about the book itself??? Hearing this totally fed into my procrastination. Ah ha! I'm almost done, I thought! TOTALLY WRONG!

My friend called me and offered his opinions, especially since he's been dealing with all the pressures himself. I appreciated what he had to say more than I think he'll ever know, and I needed to hear it. My husband, of course, is on my case about this as well. I have to WRITE the book. I have to FINISH the book.

In the words of my friend, finishing the book will be one of the greatest personal feats of my life - and I just need to suck it up, divorce the idea of developing a best seller or contacting agents - I need to WRITE!!!!!! He also suggested some ways to improve my story. Some of his words that will stick with me are remembering to stay true to myself and put my own STAMP and VOICE into this book. This book is for me. Nobody else. But me. And this will show.

The hard part will be making this book a priority. This means saying no to fun nights out, weekends away and doing things for others - all very hard for me to say NO too. The next six months will have to be about me and finishing this book. I have to do it.

So, it's back to chapter one and fixing this up. I know myself. I know I can't just do something mediocre and be proud of it. I need to put my heart and soul into it.

See you on the flip side!

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The Book Store

Today I went to one of my favorite places - Barnes and Noble. I love this place because it's full of great stories written by successful writers - hopeful writers like me, but who have actually finally made it! Of course their sales could totally take a dive, but how could they be upset? There, between all the perfectly aligned shelves, lies THEIR creation next to some of the world's best authors of all times!

I love the smell of new books and looking at the different covers and titles. There is so much creativity that goes into a book, and I'm not just talking about the whole storyline either. If the cover of the book looks totally lame, I put it down. If it draws my attention, I flip it over and start reading the synopsis. I'm one who likes bright colors, so of course if the book is hot pink, purple, bright green, it basically jumps right into my hands. It's kind of like when I design logos and graphics in my "real" job - the cover of a book must be appealing to a large audience for that genre, reflect a story, and I think the author as well.

One of the other tips my writing teacher suggested to us is that we have to continue to read. We need to stay current with other successful writers and learn all the different styles out there. It's a way to remind us how we need to write in order to get noticed. This explains why I was at Barnes and Noble today over my lunch break.

I'm in this great book club and we're reading the The Anatomy of Peace, so I had to pick that up. I'm actually excited about reading it because it's all about resolving conflict and discovering where it comes from. I'm all about that too. I could use a little peace in my life right now! I seem to be so defensive lately!!

The second book was recommended to me by a consultant I have been working with. He's taught me all I need to know about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and I find him quite brilliant. When I showed him my website, he said I needed to go out and get When in Rome. This is a story about a woman who can't quite let go of her ex boyfriend even though she's now involved with a "better" boyfriend until her ex invites her to Rome, but then her new boyfriend shows up! Sounds dramatic, juicy and AWESOME.

The third book is a book by "Richard Castle". I'm obsessed with the actual TV show Castle shown on ABC, Monday nights. I think this show is extremely clever. Castle brings in actor Nathan Fillion to play real (pen name) author Rick Castle, as one of its main characters. In the show Rick plays "himself" - an author who must follow Kate Beckett around (a hot detective who he calls Nikki Heat in his novel series). By following her around all day at work, he is able to come up with new story ideas for his novels. It's so awesome that I can read Heat Wave during the summer when all the Castle reruns are on, and feel like I'm still connected to one of my favorite shows! And I can't WAIT!!!

Do you have any awesome book suggestions? I would love to hear them! Remember to visit www.christiekoester.com

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Getting Published

I mentioned I took a writing class last month that really inspired me to get writing. It was a real cool class - I enjoyed it and was sad when it ended! The last day of my writing class, the teacher (who self-published a children's book and writes romance) listed off a bunch of tasks hopeful writers need to do to create a better chance of getting published or noticed. The list was more of a packet than anything. I felt really overwhelmed, but excited at the same time.

She mentioned paying attention to social networking sites and signing up on many of them, creating a blog and a website. All which I have completed, however, I have skipped way over Step One - the major challenge - and that is writing THE BOOK. I have it outlined. I have a brief synopsis. And I have three chapters. But I have had three chapters for a month now! I should be on chapter six or seven at the rate I'm designing websites, blogs and tweeting! Oh, and trying to stay focused at my full-time job, which is getting busier by the day!

In my mind, and I'm sure in the mind of others who want to become published, I feel like I need to find away to brush shoulders with agents and publishers. Almost like my name should be coming up in conversations at cocktail parties or other book signings. Boy, is my head in the clouds right now, or what? I feel like I need to make a solid name for myself before I even begin to propose the book idea.

To me, this getting published stuff is like applying for a job. I have always refused to send in an ordinary resume, with plain words and a common cover letter like everyone else! I want to be different. I want to stand out! More importantly, I want the job. So that is my plan when it comes to this book. My husband keeps reminding me that I need to focus on the book. He is right. I do. And I will. Right after I write another short article for Channel 5 KSTP...

Another suggestion my writing teacher had was getting published. So that was my next big step and challenge. I have been published several times in the Shakopee Valley News. There are over 20,000 people in the community of Shakopee, but do they all get the paper? I wanted even bigger. Then my friend Hoover told me about KSTP looking for community writers. And I shot off an email to them. They seemed interested and now I have my own password protected web page I log into to create stories that are published on KSTP's website!!! So exciting!!! But again, that takes away from writing my book, but at the same time, it's what I need to do...

The key is balance. And I suppose that is true to life in general. We need balance or else we start losing it. My brain is telling me that I need to get this book done as fast as I can - almost like I'm in a race against time. I'm not sure why that is either. Is it my intuition or is it just anxiety kicking in because there is so much today and I'm not really accustomed to working slow?

What I need to do is take a deep breath and open my packet and start with Step One - write and finish my book!! It has a ONE in front of it for a reason. So I'm going to try reserving one day a week for writing this book only! I'll try that and get back to you!

As for now, still dreaming BIG! Thanks for stopping by!! Don't forget to visit www.christiekoester.com!

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Website release of ChristieKoester.com

Well, here I go!!! Hello world!!! So I spent a few weeks putting together my personal website (www.christiekoester.com), which highlights myself as a writer and introduces my future book idea! I'm sure there will be some minor changes along the way, but the storyline should stay pretty consistent. I am very, very excited about this book!!! Almost as excited as I was about planning my very own wedding...!!

This whole website may sound crazy for some, but writing a book and getting it published has been and still is a dream of mine. I'm a believer that dreams do come true, especially if we are determined enough and have a lot of faith in ourselves. We just have to have the confidence to push forward. How do we know unless we try? That's my motto! I really have put a lot of thought into how I'm going to accomplish this dream. I know it's going to take A LOT of work to get published, but I also know we can just about accomplish anything we set our minds to.

I'm very grateful I have a job, but I can't help but think as I roll out of bed every morning that I was meant for so much more. Creative writing is what I love to do. More importantly who doesn't enjoy a good love story? Like I mentioned above, one of my favorite moments in life was planning our wedding. So I thought, wouldn't this make the PERFECT book? Romance! A wedding! Oh, and the best part...trying to find the perfect guy! This has my name written all over it. I read on a few of my favorite author's websites that hopeful writers need to write about subjects they are passionate about. If that's the case, I'm golden. Anyone who knows me probably would describe me as the gal who asks strangers, only seconds after meeting them, how they met their significant other. Can't help it. I love LOVE!

So anyway, I hope you enjoy my website. I hope you continue to follow me on this journey - it could be a long one, but I plan on making this work! Thanks for your support and encouragement - it makes this adventure a good one!! Please email me your comments. I would love to hear from you!

oh, and here's to dreaming big... Why not, right? What's there to lose?

Christie K

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