Editing Blessings, Part Three, by Paula Rose Michelson

When I read my September 28th blog to my husband, he had me reread, "God doesn't allow things to happen just because! He allows things to happen so we can chose! It's in the choosing that we become. And it is through changing, refining, or narrowing our choices that we know more about our self and if we're walking with God, more about Him.” Ron blessed me by calling those words "profound." I was happy to hear this comment, because I was beginning to think, as some of you might have, that "Editing Blessings" was becoming sort of a...well, you know almost a “Never ending Story.” So I’m glad to announce that in this post you will experience the blessings as I did. Three in the Godhead: Adonai (Father), Yeshua (Son), and Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). 

Although, I'm certain that you know that one must need a 'God Blessing' before we realize we've received one, I feel it important to mention, in case you, like some I've meet haven't experienced this type of blessing, which is very different from the way we might wish to be blessed, or want to bless others. This is a blessing we cannot earn and will never notice if we don't believe in God. I call my "Editing Blessing in Three Parts" a 'God Blessing' for I was in a pickle and left to my own abilities and connections had no way to solve the problem. 

When discussing a God and His blessings, I believe it best to start with the problem. And mine, I am certain you know by now, is my inability to edit. Couple that short fall with an edit that I paid for, and assumed was done correctly and which I spent more than I had to have done, and I'm certain you'll see that I needed God to step in. 

If you're wondering how I got here, an author friend recommended the editor, so I assumed her to be amazing. If this were not so, I would have found the fault mine. However, my error, and I know it was mine, was not asking the editor if she would be working with me until the edit was finished. Had I asked and heard that once I received her notes we'd be done, I might have suspected that something was wrong, and continued to look for someone who would commit to seeing the project through. At least, I hope I would have done that. Hindsight always being twenty-twenty, I don't know for sure if I would have, so it's a moot point. All I do know is that if an author friend and I had not exchanged manuscripts, mine would have been published with errors galore. Thank you Katie Mettner, for letting me know that my manuscript was not ready for publication, and for going one step further, and recommending an amazing editor who sees each project through. 

Having this editor’s name and email address, I assumed I'd soon be in editing heaven. However, wanting this fine wordsmith to understand why I need The Naomi Chronicles, Book One, Beginning Anew edited in time for a pre-Thanksgiving release, I shared that I was planning to use a certain PR firm. I was surprised when I received a response letting me know that the editor would not work on my novel, though she wanted to, because that company, unbeknownst to me, was offering to do things Amazon did not allow. Not having any idea about the guidelines Amazon posted, but planning to use Amazon's Create Space, I checked Amazon's guidelines, and discovered my relationship with the group could have disastrous consequences. This certainly didn't feel like a blessing...disengaging from what was planned, letting down people that I had come to admire was difficult. But then, not all ‘God Blessings’ are easy, ask Moses, or the Jew's who wandered for forty years, or better yet, ask Messiah how painful it was for Him to sacrifice Himself for us. 

Finally able to move forward with this editor, I had to wait my turn, just as I expected I would. However, while waiting, I discovered that she was in pain, and in the hospital. Not knowing what to do, but aware that her issue might take months to resolve, and trying to keep to my self-imposed timetable, I asked Katie if she knew another editor, and she did! This woman had not edited fiction, but she had been editing for years. I sent my manuscript to her.

While waiting to discuss the particulars, I remembered that another author friend, Jayna had gotten an amazing edit. I say that because an acquisitions editor I know, and whose opinion I trust said, "This is the best edited book I've ever received!" So trying to find the editor God wanted me to have, and having become painfully aware that my shortcomings could undermine the story Naomi had gifted me, I asked Jayna. She sent me that editor’s email, and I contacted this gentleman. 

I hope you'll see the triple blessing when I share that within twenty four hours, I received an email from both editors who were eager to help me for a very modest fee since each knew this was a reedit. Before I could choose, thanks be to God, the editor who was fist recommended let me know she was alright and beginning the edit on my book. 

If you counted the blessing within this post as I did when they occurred, I'm certain you noticed more than three. I've written about three blessing because each editor was ready to work with me, and when two were told that the one God lead me to was able to do the edit, the other two told me that if I ever need their help, all I had to do is ask.  As I complete this writing, I'm reminded of the words found in James 1:16 "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt." I believe! Do you?

 http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=when+you+ask&version1=NIV&searchtype=phrase

The Editing Blessings, Part Two, by Paula Rose Michelson

Editing for me was never a bad word. However, because of my dyslexia it was beyond my abilities. For those of you who might think I'm blowing smoke, I'll sight the short discussion Mr. Raboy had with me after my English 101, Creative Writing class ended, and I heard the "The Raboy Imperative," from this esteemed prof who'd taught me to as he put it, "...include all the elements of a story in succession such as the cow, pail, stool, milk bucket....and everything that led up to drinking the milk!" Now my prof was trying to instill in me, my need to spell and punctuate accurately.  Our verbal exchange, I call it that because we were sort of sparing, at least I was, was sort of hard on the ear. I remember him saying, "You want to be a psychologist." Then trying to suppress a laugh, he continued, "You can't even spell the word."

I had no defense, so said nothing. Time stopped. I could almost hear the seconds tick by. The tension was palatable. Finally, my friend, Ina who was standing next to me, and was a great technician of all things grammatical cleared her throat. Happy to shift our focus we both, at least in my mind's eye, turned towards her, as she said, in her quiet way, "I'll be running Paula's office, so don't worry about all of that." This was news to me especially since I was certain, Ina's husband, a doctor himself, would have loved her to work for him since that's what she'd been doing before they had children.

I was so grateful that she rescued me from this onslaught of 'ought' that it never occurred to me to find out if this issue had a medical name or if there was anything I could do to overcome. Here I was learning how to help people do exactly that. Yet, so used to the problem was I that it had become a 'Non-Issue' for me, sort of like being born a lefty, which I was, and then taught to do everything with my right hand, which the school system did so well that I'm profoundly right handed.

This was my life, and as surly as Johnny Appleseed planted those apples, I believed I was to blame for this issue. Ah! The Blame Game! Really? I did this to myself for about a nanosecond. Then I remember Frank Sinatra singing "High Hopes," and with a nod to the leader of 'The Rat Pack,' I decided to not worry but hope! Hope is a good thing because without it 'the people perish.' Yet hoping to become what I could not was a potential stumbling block. Except....get this! God doesn't allow things to happen just because! He allows things to happen so we can chose! It's in the choosing that we become. And it is through changing, refining, or narrowing our choices that we know more about our self and if we're walking with God, more about Him!

God gifted us free will. It is in this freedom that we reveal our-self to our self. Self-knowledge can be a powerful, heady experience...at least that's what I've been told. I used to believe as Alfred Adler did that each of us has some flaw that we're trying to overcome. Adler labeled this "The Inferiority Complex." Therapists who use this paradigm site such notables as a 26 year old deaf Beethoven to drive home this point. However, believing in Messiah, this is what I know now, there is another way to look at obstacles. We read in the Apostle Paul's second letter to the Corinthians 12:7, "Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh..."

I believe that each of us has at least one thorn in our flesh that 'none should boast but all would give glory to God.'

Having made peace with the 'thorn in my flesh' this dyslexia had no hold upon me. I was free! Yet? But? Have you ever noticed that God always wants to impart more? I have! Sometimes this 'more' is revealed to us quickly. Then again, we may need to travel that long and winding road before we are ready to receive the 'more' God has in store for us. I say, "The more in store," because Scripture says, in 1 Cor. 2:9, "...no eye has seen...no ear has heard...no human mind has conceived' the things that God has prepared for those who love him."

Loving God...that's what this all boils down to because we only trust those we love, who love us back, so

The Editing Blessings, Part One, by Paula Rose Michelson

Many of you have been reading this blog and know that this dyslectic author can't tell a misspelled word or a misplaced comma anymore that she...I mean, I can write anything worthwhile without it being God inspired. I know! I've tried and the truth is that left to my own resources I can misspell a word incorrectly six ways from Sunday. And punctuation, .don't even get me started on that! So given that my writing blindside is about as big as the biggest barn you've ever seen, and as high as the eagle can fly, I've discovered a few things: 

1).If a reader falls in love with your story they'll overlook the occasional opps'. 

2). If you're getting slammed because of mechanical issues look at your story. 

3). Stories with tension on every page keep readers reading. 

Have people told you they can't put it down? Or have you been told that the reader reads many books at the same time? If the latter is what you've heard then be assured that person was not captivated by your book. 

"I'm okay on all of those," you say.

Great! Then you're where I am! I say that because my books are getting rave reviews, so much so that I'm astounded. And perhaps that's why my inability to even see if an edit was done well or not is becoming an issue. 

Or maybe, and I really think this is the case, God knows it's time to stretch me again. I really do love Jeremiah 29:11, which says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to proper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope," but just now, I must admit, I don’t want be stretched! After all I've been on this writing journey with Messiah since 2007, given up a lot, and gotten...well...meet a lot of wonderful people. You know those that can't wait to help. Like the friend who wanted to read the first manuscript of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing, Books One and Two so badly that she told me her spiritual gift was editing and found very few errors but loved the books. Or the publisher whose contract read like they were going to do it all, but...

After years of prayer, work...really, really hard work and dedication, I finally realized that left on my own, I don't make good, I should say, God decisions regarding my books editing or publication! So, I finally realized that besides praying, and trying to figure out what's best...with my husband’s help of course, I need to remember the wisdom found in Proverbs 15:22, for it says, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."

Having reached the precipice I could not scale, I knew it was time to send up the S.O.S.! Now doing what Gods Word says to do sounds easy when it's read. But really adhering to the meaning IN those 11 words was anything BUT easy....

Not as I wanted…as God Willed, by Paula Rose Michelson

I have been so anxious to hone my soon to release The Naomi Chronicles, Book One, Beginning Anew that at times I felt overwhelmed!

Knowing I could not continue with this self-imposed deadline, but wishing the novel to be release in time for holiday gifting, I began to pray. Today those prayers were answered in a most unusual way, not as I wanted but as God willed. And being God almighty, I can look back and see that He already knew I was going to need to take a break and set the exact time it would occur when I filled for my copyright with the Library of Congress.

I must admit, that I’d already tried to do this by myself several times. But my particular dyslectic issues made doing what is easy for most impossible for me. Fortunately, an author of mine, Barbara Ashley, had filled electronically for her copyright, so I asked her to help me, and she did! I was delight to receive an email telling me that the office would send me the copyright in mid-September.

Since it’s almost October, I decided to call and see what was holding up the process. The man I spoke with informed me that, I would receive my copyright in another four and a half months. Disappointed? Blessed? Exceedingly!  

As I wrote this, I was praising God, and He reminded of His promise in  Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKG6M2j0Oek

Who am I that...by Paula Rose Michelson

Blogging over these last few weeks about my lack of ability to do the one thing God asked of me brought me a sense of the calling, a peace that affirmed it once again, and a steadfast belief that today would be the right time to speak of the secret shame, I felt due to my dyslexia issues, which seemed even more insurmountable now that I was called by God to write for Him.  

God knew what was going on within me...in fact, He had already set in motion five unique affirmations that I wasn't expecting but received one after another so that when I sat down to write this blog, I would be able to share that God—the God of the universe—not only cares for, but nurtures those He has called. 

We authors live or died a little each time we receive a comment, criticism, or a review is posted. Aware that my work, and having heard from several acquisitions editors, that many authors published work has errors, I knew that reading reviews could be a double edged sword. Yet for our work to succeed it must be measured. And my Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing, Books One was this weekend. 

With today's 5 Star Review, Book One of Casa de Naomi has been blessed with a total of 38 reviews, 35 of which are 5 Stars. I have savored each review, as a blessing lavishly poured out from Messiah anointing this work for His purpose.  

Here is a snippet of the wonderful review Poet, Kathy J. Snow posted this morning. "As an avid enthusiast of history, I was enthralled immediately with the beautiful arbor, Paula Rose Michelson chose to preface for "Casa de Naomi." Inviting meadows of both intriguing and vibrant voices….blessed me, allowing me a glimpse into the realm of love and respect for the Jewish faith. In absorbing the delicious "Historical Notes," I admit it gave me an appetite of anxious ~ excitement! I couldn't wait to be engulfed in the first chapter. "Casa de Naomi" already had me captive." When the reviewer spoke of my work as "artistically painting a vibrant picture" and then mentioned heartbreak, love, and miracles, I flashed back to who I had been, then forward to that higher calling in Messiah, and thought, "Who am I that God..." Suddenly, I was reminded that this isn't about who I am but who God is! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcKRJ7GjHrM

The Tension of...by Paula Rose Michelson

Not knowing is hard for everyone. Not knowing for this teenager who though deficient in the mechanics of writing had just handed in her heart was excruciating! Every day...sometimes several times a day over what was then called Christmas Vacation, I heard how foolish I had been to hand in something that wasn't going to get a passing mark. I knew what would befall me. The only question in my mind was whether I would be upbraided in class, need to sit through a parent, teacher, student meeting, be told I'd have to repeat the class, or hit the trifecta of ineptitude, and have all three.

Little did I expect towards the end of my English class on my first day back from two weeks of agony to hear the teacher call each student up, say a little something, smile at them and watch them leave. Finally it was just the two of us, and I knew what was coming. Before my name was called, I stood knees almost knocking together, and walked the few feet to the desk where I would receive, what I was certain, would be a worse onslaught of the 'why didn't you' then I'd heard from my mom.

I'd watched each student pick up their essay, and knew that the lone 8 by 5 laying there was mine. The teacher glanced away as I picked it up and looked. Before I could say a word, she said, "You know how to write, but...." She pointed to my grade. I'd never seen marks like that. Eyes glued to the red marks, I didn't know what to say. Clearing her throat, I heard her say, "If you want to write you'll learn the mechanics.

Tears of relief welling up in my eyes, I croaked, "I didn't fail?"

She laughed so that I found myself chuckling a bit too. "I can't fail you because what you wrote was true to you and touched my heart. But look," she pointed below the A+++ for story grade to the F- - - grade for punctuation, grammar, and spelling, "if you could have handed in a paper with even average mechanics, I would have entered your 'I Believe' essay in our school competition. As it is you've passed with a 'C.'

Once I'd placed the paper carefully into my binder, I began to turn towards the door intending to flee before she realized she'd made a mistake.

Stepping in front of me, she said my name, and I looked up. "That's better!" she insisted. I nodded and she added, "You are a writer...no matter whether you learn how to spell, learn the grammar rules or not...keep writing."

I left the class with a smile on my face, thought of how lovely it would be to tell my mom what my English teacher had said, and decided I'd keep this to myself because telling mom my teacher said I was a writer might lead to...yuck! more hours at the typewriter!

I do remember that as I was putting my school things away, I heard Frank Sinatra sing 'Someone to Watch Over Me.' I thought about my teacher! For the very first time, I wasn't frightened to go to English class!

In memory of my awakening to the reality that writers often lack mechanical skill, and today with the sure knowledge that God put me on the writing path that day, here's the song that has forever made this one of my cherished memories.  Enjoy!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E07b0SbWWFc

Behind the Story, by Paula Rose Michelson

One of the topics I love to speak about is "The Creative Process." Now with my third Naomi novel, Book One, Beginning Anew of The Naomi Chronicles due to release this November, I've decided to share my journey from deciding what to write to yielding complete control. If you know me, you know that it its always easy for me to do as told. Yet, I know when you read this true account, you'll see that when the blessing was there, I joyfully said, "Yes!" But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So beginning at the beginning, which is always the best place to begin, I must share that I had always been told I could weave a great yarn. In fact, there were many times when while telling about something that really happened, listeners, even family members, and those I worked with and for asked me if I was making the story up. Thin-skinned, I didn't take that as a complement at all.

While in school, I was often told that my writing was good, but my spelling and punctuation horrid! The semester that each student had to write their autobiography was torture for me because at fourteen, I could not think of anything to say that wasn't a big snooze! Every day when I returned home from school, my mom prodded me to sit at the new Remington I'd been given for Hanukkah and type my story. Talk about excruciating torture... this was it! Every page I typed was edited, retyped, and re-edited. With each page of corrections new errors occurred. Not only was any potential of creativity stifled, but I quickly learned that I wasn't going to.....

About now...knowing that the next day, Friday, my autobiography was due, I jammed my desk chair under my bedroom door knob, pushed my desk over to my bed, sat down and began to type. I'd been listening to Frankie Laine sing "I Believe." This is the song that began my writers journey. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--j7wvtOi1s