Momma read King James--I read NIV

I am excited to have found a website for Christian bloggers which allows guest posts and had writing prompts. Today's prompt asked which version of the Bible do you read and why? I have 8 versions. This helps sometimes jog my creativity when I'm writing devotionals. The one I read most and take with me to church is the NIV. I like the language and am used to it. It was quite a transition though. I grew up with a King James Bible. It is what both my parents read. I have Daddy's in a shadow bow and I donated Mom's to Braille Institute. Although I know Braille I can't actually read the raised dots--my fingers aren't sensitive enough. Where was I-- ah yes transitions. They can be tough to make. I had and memorized scripture from my King James until I was a fresman in high school. Then our youth group was introduced to something called Bible Quizzing and a few of us formed a team. We were told to use NIV and John McCollum, our coach and dear family friend bought me one. I still have it even though it's falling apart. I remember there were 4 types of questions. Quote the verse, finish the verse, answer a question, and quote the reference. (I'm not sure about that last one--it's been a few years.) Most of the time we were in a book of the Bible I hadn't previously done memorization from or I could have easily slipped back into KJ mode. I recently spent alot of time in the King James for my devotional project. It was hearing Mom reading her Bible that sparked the idea so it seemed fitting. It was also easier as a user of the Strong's Concordance to find words because his concordance is based on the King James. I still like it and understand it. And if there's an obscure word I check the verse out in the NIV. I liked being in the King James--it felt like going home again. But to answer the question simply. I read the NIV the most because the language is easy to understand and sometimes in class at church I read out loud. The Bible needs to be understood so that's why I take my NIV.

Out On A Whim

If you follow my status updates on Facebook, and I know you all follow me religiously--LOL, then you know that I posted the other day, "The worst they can do is say no." Now I'm not so sure. I entered a proposal writing contest without even a rough draft of the book done, just an outline. What can I say, it was a whim. I started working on the book and it feels like it's taking a different direction than what I proposed. While I think it is better than what was proposed I wonder if I have to write what I proposed if the powers that be say, "Yes." So if the rule is that I have to write what I proposed then maybe the worst they can say is, "Yes." Don't get me wrong I'll still jump at the opportunity and write to the assignment I've given myself but I think it'll be a tough project to reign in. Writing can be like that. As a writer you want to harness it and have it heel but sometimes you gotta let that dog off the leash to romp and play. Ya I've got dogs on the mind. Strudel is the Seeing Eye Dog in the novel I started writing in 2009. That's another concern of mine. Maybe I'm not a novel writier. Or maybe it's tough because I've got characters based on my family but with a good deal of fiction thrown in. NaNoWriMo was a whim afterall. I hope it's not an indicator of how well I do with whims. Only time will tell if this latest whim turns into something whimsical or a whammy. I'll keep you posted.

Inkless Writing Tool

I feel like I'm between conferences right now, still riding high from the National Writer's Conference in San Diego a couple weeks ago and preparing for the OCCWF conference http://www.occwf.org/ at the end of this month. In fact as I prepare for the next one I still have to use my prize from the last one. I've got my proposal page set up and will be uploading the devotional later today. But back to yesterday. I was suppossed to blog but got busy doing inventory for the conference. One of the things I needed to do was check to see that the pens worked. Face it, pens in storage can dry out. In fact there's one brand I'll be recommending we don't get again. None of the pens left in the box worked and they all had caps. My mother never would have had this problem. Her writing tool was a stylus which is a small tool with a wooden handle and metal end. The end is about the size but not the sharpness of a picture hanging nail. Occasionally it got dull so she'd sharpen it (but not too sharp) on the porch step. Those little styluses last. I still have one Mom used in college. She left me a couple others she'd bought along the way which I use in jewelry making. To Braille on metal requires a hammer and I can't imagine using Mom's college stylus for that. A stylus may not run out of ink but they can get lost which explains the spares. The handles on the newer one are longer and chunkier too and I bought one a few years ago that is plastic and has a saddle shape. This is for user comfort. I keep Mom's, now my styluses in a container on a shelf. In this house there is one more hazard, especially for the wooden handled ones. We have a dog that eats pencils. I can't write Braille quickly enough to use it in my writing. Imagine if I could though. As long as I had paper I wouldn't have my thoughts interrrupeted because the pen ran out of ink or the computer crashed. And no ink smudges on my left pinky.