What did I come up with?

Such is rather hard to explain, mostly because it feels to me as if the subject lingers just outside my mental capacity to simply and succinctly break it down. The lives of each one of us consist of a leap here, a jump there, a baby step over here… all coming together to create our identity as a Christian, a writer, a mother, a sister… you get the picture. But what was that first leap into the void of the unknown future which set you on this particular path?

In my 20′s, I learned a harsh lesson about the importance of treating others with respect and care. One of my… friends tended to treat me with harshness and criticism. I continued to keep myself in his realm of friendship because I knew the harshness of his past. Understanding and compassion were not known to him, and I tried to do my best to show him that. Later, God used my experiences with this friend to reveal to me how I treated my family and friends. The realization was hard to take, but the shock helped motivate me to seek a heart after God. To seek re-invention.

In my 30′s, God revealed another aspect of my character which needed to be broken off in order for me to find my future happiness. My heart needed to be re-made. Redefined. So many aspects of my heart and soul needed redefinition that I cannot put it to any specific words. I only remember heartache, remorse, regret, and then finally the peace of forgiveness and the calm of releasing myself to being reformed. My one prayer was for God to create in me a heart after Him.

I wanted to be a woman with His heart. I still do.

Alice & Gau from Heart of the Hinterland

And then there is the leap of my character as a writer. From my earliest memory my soul suffered a press upon it. A need. One that I put into words in the form of songs and skits or fantastical adventures with my siblings. Nothing became committed to paper, although I recall creating loose-leaf booklets of lined paper fastened by yarn and colored with crayons.

Then, when I was but sixteen, I stared down at the old typewriter my older brother borrowed from a family friend. In the mechanical whirring I heard an intense whisper of a name. The white page pulled at my imagination, bringing into my mind the life a family with desires and loves and losses similar to my own.

I scooted my chair closer to the table, my fingers resting upon those wonderfully metallic and cool keys… and leaped into the telling of Vicki Modine’s story. It was my first experience as a “pantster”, allowing the characters and the images in my imagination the freedom of telling their story.

Maree & Galen from Ace of Diamonds

Most of the time I stumbled blindly ahead, a slave to those same characters and images, but there was always another life in the story to be touched and healed. Another enemy to be rescued from themselves. The thought of stopping never entered my head, and it was then the heart of the writer blazed to life within my soul, with that first fateful dive from my chair into the reckless abandon of becoming a writer.

Twenty-four years later, I cannot imagine my life without these characters and their stories. God used them to show me my own identity, to open my heart to the possible pain and joy of others. He injected these stories so deeply into my heart that, for the first time in my life, I found a purpose. A way to touch others. A testimony. A witness.

Ahndra & Marshal from Few Words

Some days are harder than others, as is the case in anything worth undertaking, but my characters are always there patiently (and some not-so-patiently) waiting for their own leap to the page. Their own rescue. Their final rest. An introduction to happiness or peace. They afford me the opportunity to speak to people outside my small sphere of influence, and I thank God for that. If just one life is affected at all by words on a page, then my characters and their life story was worth that first, terrifying leap onto a blank page.

Some time ago I posted the current life quest the hubs and I are experiencing in regards to his employment and the location of said project. We have gone back and forth between the possibility of remaining in Eastern Washington, moving to Oregon, or elsewhere.

Two weeks ago the hubs discovered that the position he applied for in Eastern Washington had a sister project – a BIGGER sister project – in Ludington, Michigan. We did some research and both the hubs and I felt that this might be the greater opportunity for his career, so he let the rep from the company know that he would be fine with either the Washington or Michigan position.

Yesterday we received an email from the interviewing company requesting more information on his candidacy for the positions. This email included an application for employment. This means, at least what we BELIEVE it means, that he has been accepted for employment… we only don’t know yet which position will be offered to him. No offer letter yet. No call from HR or the interviewer. So, it’s back to waiting on hearing while our muscles ache to leap ahead to whatever future God has waiting for us.

I wonder which project it is…?

Tracy Krauss,

Here’s how:

1. Go to the Landing Page on Tracy’s Website
2. Buy the book at amazon.
3. Go back to the Landing Page and fill in the form with your name, email and purchase number

It’s that easy! You’ll be directed to your free gifts and all you have to do is choose which ones you want.

About the book:

An unlikely duo meet in Play It Again, a story of love, life and faith. Sparks fly when an ex-rock and roll junkie and a stuffy accountant rendezvous at a local resort, but neither are prepared for the emotional entanglements, family complications, and threat from the past that unexpectedly resurfaces. Set in the 1980s, this story brings two opposing forces together in a clash of romance and danger, while its musical undertones highlight the theme that God can turn anything into beautiful music. Play It Again is the much anticipated prequel to Tracy’s debut novel And the Beat Goes On. Find out where Mark Graham’s journey began in this, the story of his parents.

 What others are saying about PLAY IT AGAIN:

“This is one of the best contemporary novels I’ve read all year. . . Not only was it well-written, but it was edgy in that the story dared to be honest. . . I can see this touching a lot of people who have thought about God but have been afraid to move forward.”

• Michelle Sutton, author of more than a dozen inspirational novels

“This book is hot property, and grabs your interest from page one.”

• Yvonne Pat Wright, author of From Spice to Eternity

 Author bio:

Tracy Krauss is a high school teacher by profession, and a prolific author, artist, playwright and director by choice. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Saskatchewan and has gone on to teach Art, Drama and English – all the things she is passionate about. After raising four children, she and her husband now reside in beautiful Tumbler Ridge, BC where she continues to pursue all of her creative interests. Her first two books were both nominated for the ‘Indie Excellence Book Awards’ for religious fiction in 2011.

FREE STUFF:

Here’s just a sampling of the FREE e-gifts from generous supporters:

• An e-copy of Lisa Lickel’s award winning novel Meander Scar
• Sample chapters from The Promise of Deer Run by Elaine Cooper, Warring Spirits by April Gardner, and The Right Person by Stacy Padula
• Beautiful downloadable art cards by author and artist Brenda Hendricks
• A free subscription to ‘PixApple’
• You copy of Frazzled No More by Shelley Hitz
• A cool ‘Daily Scheduler’ developed by author Janalyn Voigt
• And much more!

All if you buy your copy of PLAY IT AGAIN at amazon.com on Feb. 21!  All links will be operational on the ‘Landing Page’ at www.tracykrauss.com/

DISCLAIMER: This ‘Best Seller book launch’ has been coordinated with the help of the ‘John 3:16 Marketing Network’ and many other generous supporters. The free gifts are deliverable electronically over the internet or by email by individual authors and supporters. They are not in any way associated with, nor deliverable by, amazon.com

The inspiration comes at a time when I am so close to finishing the final revision of My Fair Princess that I can almost taste it! Now I’ve been distracted by jotting down the outline for the new novel idea that I haven’t even been able to write the final three scenes. It is equally frustrating and exciting. For the most part I am trying to cut myself some slack with the interjection of the outlining due to the fact that I am a couple months ahead of schedule with the final revision. But I don’t want to lose that buffer for fear that the final revisions of The Story or Of Damsels & Dragons won’t be as cooperative.

You know what I mean?

So away I go, putting the outline and the character bio information in OneNote on my cloud to make it easier for me to access it  from work while on lunch or at home while crashing on the couch ignoring a movie or show (that’s how I focus on my writing, by giving myself something to ignore). The hubs has been instrumental in giving me some great ideas to help me flesh out the male MC, Thomas.

You want to know what I did last night? I perused Dreamstime. com seeking out the perfect model to represent the MC, blogger Mary Jensen, and the love interest Officer Thomas Rankin. I even found a representation of the MC’s friend and business partner, Matt Purcell, and a good concept image for their internet cafe, to be named later.

Now the only thing I need to do is get a title so I won’t end up calling it A Man in Uniform, and put together an initial concept cover so I can add the novel to my WIPs section. Hopefully it won’t take me too much longer to clean up the splat left behind by Inspiration’s merciless pounding of my brain.

Possible titles thus far:

• True Colors / True Blue
• The Dating Formula
• The Rankin Formula / The Rankin ‘Dating’ Formula
• Formula Breaker
• That’s the Ticket

Never Been Kissed

Has anyone ever asked you if there was a specific movie that defined who you are and where you came from? No. No one has asked me that question either, so I thought I might pose that question now. Mostly due to the fact that last night I [again] watched the one movie which comes closest to demonstrating who ‘Nona King’ was and who she has become. The movie: Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan.

Drew plays the lead role, Josie Geller, the youngest copy-editor for the Chicago Sun Times. She is 25. Josie dreams of becoming a journalist, but her boss has no confidence in her ability to go with the flow of the chaos of being an undercover journalist. You see, Josie prefers control and structure. She is a perfectionist. A geek. A pushover, really. But becoming an undercover journalist is her dream and she refuses to give up.

One day, the owner of the Sun Times decides they need to do an expose on our kids in school. He points to Josie and says that she will be enrolling at the local high school Friday. Josie is thrilled, but her boss and even her friend say that there is no way she can do it. Even her brother, played by David Arquette, says “Do you even remember high school? Remember what they called you?”

But she won’t be daunted.

"Josie Grossy"

Throughout the movie the audience receives glimpses of her tortured high-school career as ‘Josie Grossy’. Even now, as a successful 25 year old she struggles to fit in with the ‘IT’ crowd because of marching to the beat of a different drum. In fact, she cannot fit until her brother enrolls in the same high school and starts spreading popular rumors about her.

In the end, Josie gets her phenomenal story, falls in love with her English teacher, played by hottie Michael Vartan, and finally gets a ‘real’ kiss from the man of her dreams. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he whispers. “It took me forever to get here.”

“I know what you mean,” Josie replies, a soft smile speaking volumes to the challenges and pitfalls she has suffered to achieve this final, blissful moment.

Throughout this movie I am brought face-to-face with who I was while growing up, the socially awkward kid and teenager who was never afraid of being herself, even if that meant that her only friends were her siblings or few others labeled ‘freaks’ or ‘losers’. It is painful to watch her fall for the silver tongue of the popular kids who only seek to beat her down. But oh the victory to see her blossom and then realize in that shining moment what really matters… and then tell off the entire school.

As she waited those five minutes for her love to arrive and offer his forgiveness, it seemed so poignant to me. The slow, agonizing tock of that timer seemed to represent the years when life seemingly passed her by. Now her entire future will change once that timer winds to zero. Will he come? Or would she need to pick herself up from the heartache and move on yet again?

Like Josie, my man came for me and we have been happy ever since. Like Josie, writing and words are my life, enhanced and strengthened by the realizations of my life and those I love. Yes, this movie is my personification, with poignant differences of course, and it is movies such as this which motivate me onward to find the next perfect story.

What movie personifies you? Why?