Measuring Things by Merrillee Whren

 

As you can see from the image above, today is National Tape Measure Day. I'm not here just to talk about tape measures, but I did find interesting information about tape measures. On July 14, 1868 Alvin J. Fellows received a patent for "Improvement in Tape Measures." He made life easier for many occupations that use measurements, such as carpenters, seamtresses, or electricians. The retractable tape measure improved on the previous bulky tape measures that didn't fit in a pocket.

But I wanted to talk about another kind of measurement. Word Count. That's a measurement for authors. Word processing programs give an exact word count for what I am writing. When I began writing with the thought of publication in mind, I discovered that many publishers want a certain word count, especially category romance publishers such as Harlequin. 

I started writing a story on a typewriter and thankfully we got a portable computer, or I believe I would never have finished a novel. I was always a terrible typist, and a computer word processing program freed me to make mistakes and easily go back and correct them. The early word processing program I used didn't give word count. I could only estimate the word count using a formula that I barely remember, something about counting words on ten lines and then multiplying them by something. I could also estimate the word count by having twenty-five lines on a page with a certain kind of font. Usually that gave me an estimate of 250 words per page. 

When I finally started using a word processing program that gave me actual word count, I discovered that the estimates were off by quite a bit. Now I look at the word count in the corner to see how many words I have written each day. Sometimes it's disappointing when I don't write as many words as I intended to write. Other days I'm thrilled that I exceeded my planned word count for the day.

Like people who began using the new and improved tape measure, I love having the exact word count at my disposal every day. I recently finished writing my Puppies for Christmas novella. It came in at  38942 words. It is now in the hands of my editor, and if the past is any predictor, she will have me trim a few words. The novella will come out in November as part of the Puppies for Christmas promotion from some of the authors from Sweet Romance Reads.  

Who can resist two cute kids and a dog? They are working hard as matchmakers for their widower dad, but it's Christmas time, a time of year that makes him sad. So they have to work extra hard.

What is something that makes your life easier? A tape measure, a new appliance, or a new gadget of some kind?

Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty-plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page and sign up for her newsletter.

National Stop Bullying Day by Merrillee Whren

Usually I try to blog about something fun, and in the past on October 14, I have posted photos of desserts because it's also National Dessert Day. But today's blog is on a more serious note. Many years ago, I was an elementary school teacher. So I witnessed how bullying could affect some of my students. Every year it seemed as though one or two children in my class were bullied. 

In 2009, many years after I stopped teaching, a group of students from St. Stanislaus Kostka in Michigan City, Indiana, made the second Wednesday of October National Stop Bullying Day. You can read more about the day at this link. It is a sad thing to be bullied, and bullying is also bad for the person doing the bullying. I think it is a tough situation to handle. Awareness is a starting place.

I have a novella in the Puppies for Christmas. The little boy in the story is the victim of bullying. I don't want you to think the story is a downer. It has its lighthearted moments as well, but it does highlight an issue that is a problem for children and even adults. 

     When elementary school teacher Sedona Welch sets a goal to lose fifteen pounds, she doesn’t expect to barter her tutoring services in exchange for personal training, especially with a handsome personal trainer.

     Cody Dunn has all he can deal with taking care of his eight-year-old nephew, Mason. Cody finds an ally in Sedona as she helps him negotiate the guardianship of this troubled boy. But he doesn’t anticipate his nephew’s love for a cute little puppy or his own attraction to Sedona.

     Can well-meaning friends, a little boy, and a puppy help this reluctant couple find love at Christmas?

Have you ever been the victim of bullying or know someone who was bullied? How did you handle it?

Be sure to check out all the novellas in the Puppies for Christmas. They are all 99 cents. So get your copies now! You can find them at these links.

Oct 1st-Beneath Northern Lights by Lyn Cote

Oct 8th-Mistletoe Puppy by Roxanne Rustand

Oct 15th-Christmas Redemption by Laura Scott

Oct 22nd-Puppy Love and Jingle Bells by Merrillee Whren

Oct 29th-Joy Comes to Bedford Falls by Susan Aylworth

Nov 5th-A Christmas Puppy to Cherish by Josie Riviera

Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty-plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page and sign up for her newsletter.

 

Puppy Love by Milou Koenings

Is there anything as sweet as puppy love? And I do mean puppy as in doggy. I've always been a little bemused by those people who talk about their pets as if they were children. In fact, it's been a long time since I've had a pet and when I did, I always favored cats. When it came to dogs, we'd had two when I was growing up and they were huge: a great dane and Russian wolfhound. Little yappy doggies? Ugh — no thanks.

And then three weeks ago, my youngest daughter walked in with a puppy.

I was so not ready for a pet. We have kids to take care of, including two with very intensive special needs. Who needs anything else to take care of? Now, this tenderhearted child has come home with stray cats before, which we've duly found other homes for. But a young puppy? And not even a great dane puppy that would grow into my idea of "real" dog. Buddy is Chihuahua-dorkie mix—he's tiny!

But this little bundle was two months old and already on his fourth home by the time he was carried through our door. How could I not feel sorry for him, being shuffled off from one person to another—all of them teenagers who had no concept how to take care of a dog.

"If we can offer him a good home, which he's never had, don't we have an obligation to do that?" my daughter asked, pointedly quoting my own words back at me. I was talking about children, not dogs, I retorted, but that didn't get me very far.

It's been a hard year for our family. We lost several people we loved dearly in a terrible car accident this summer and everyone is still grieving and trying to adjust. When Buddy came, it was the first time I felt a spark of joy stir again among the kids. He's been delicious and funny with every one of them. And I'm not going to lie — ending the evening by collapsing on the couch and having a puppy jump up next to me and lie there happily chewing away on his toy feels pretty sweet and, dare I say it, healing.

Looks like Buddy is here to stay.

So here he is, the newest member of our family. Not only is he the sweetest dog I ever met, but he is frighteningly smart. And he doesn't bark — except to say Amen when we say Grace. Which I admit is a little weird... who taught him that?

I'm glad to introduce Buddy to you, because now that I'm spending most of my writing hours with a little furry bundle curled up on my lap, with his head resting on the desk between my hands as I type, I strongly suspect you might spot him in one of my next tales.

Christmas Tales and Celebrations!

Speaking of tales, make sure to mark your calendars for the Sweet Romance Reads Xmas Party, coming to Facebook on December 6.  Fun, games and giveaways galore!

Milou Koenings is a USA Today bestselling author. She writes romance because, like chocolate, stories with a happy ending bring more joy into the world and so make it a better place.

Her other Green Pines sweet romances, I Love You Three, Reclaiming Home, The Kampala Peppermint Twist and Sweet Blizzard are available on Amazon,  Amazon.uk, iBooks, Nook, Kobo and all your favorite e-book retailers.








Sign up for her newsletter, so you'll be first to know about new releases!

And don’t forget to sign up for the Sweet Romance Reads newsletter. Scroll down the right side of our blog and enter your email address under Newsletter Signup. And come join us in the Facebook Sweet Romance Reads Cafe , where we get to know each other and every so often we have the greatest parties!