Once upon a time I was a TRAVELER. I met amazing people and ate delicious food. All was well with my world.
And then, I started my real life.
I became a STUDENT earning a BS in Human Development and an MA in Education. I became a classroom and reading TEACHER. I met a man on the internet (When it was still gasp-worthy and new.) and became his WIFE. Shortly after that, I became a MINNESOTAN. He still owes me one for that.
But the biggest earthquake shake to my soul was becoming a MOM. The interrupted sleep. The crying. The diapers. Did I mention the lack of sleep?
But there was also the attachment, the touch, the bungee cords to my heart. Sigh.
Today my labels are woven together. Tightly. A wife of one! A Mama of three! And a brand new puggle owner! Of one, people. Just one new puppy, thankyouverymuch.
To keep me grounded and to add to the lack of sleep factor, I write.
I’m deep into my first novel and I write about that here.
I also blog about my sparks- Motherhood. Parenting. Books. Literacy. Writing. Feminism. Balance. Mojitos. And Chocolate.
1. How did you come up with the name These Little Waves for your blog?
My name Galit -pronounced Gu-leet- means little wave.
“Like a wave in the ocean, not a wave good bye.” I’ve been explaining it that way my entire life.
So the waves are me, yes. But they’re also my family, my stories, and my words.
2. Your blog posts always have a high number of comments. What is your key to success?
I build my relationship with my readers. I visit their blogs, leave comments, and tweet their work.
Blogging karma is good, bloggers are kind, and blogging friendships are built this way.
3. How do you handle commenters who make negative comments?
Privately, with my husband, I hem and haw over what to do and say.
But publicly, on my blog and through emails, I either let it be or approach it as a conversation or a dialogue starter.
Most often that’s exactly what it is.
4. How are you involved with Write On Edge?
I’m an assistant editor at Write On Edge.
As a team of seven we come up with writing prompts, share content, and secure guest posts to support our writing community.
5. What kind of writers participate in Write On Edge?
Write On Edge writers are looking to flex their writing muscles and practice their craft, and to do both within a supportive community.
6. What other blogs do you participate in?
Memes are a great way to connect with other writers.
Some of my favorites are Monday Listicles, Just Write, iPhone Photo Phun, Pour Your Heart Out, and Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.
7. Besides the blogs, what other social media do you use? Do you combine the professional and the personal?
I tweet (a lot) and use Facebook (a lot) and I do combine the professional and the personal- doing both under my real name.
I’m building connections and branding myself- which means theres nothing else to be, but me.
8. What is a puggle? Does it need to be solved?
Cute. Very cute.
A puggle is a blend of a pug and a beagle, which means that our puppy Louie is pure adorable and pure trouble.
9. What spiritual or religious traditions did you and your husband grow up with?
My husband, Jason, was raised Catholic and I was raised Jewish.
10. What are the differences in your upbringings and the upbringing you want for your own children?
We both believe that religion, spirituality, and faith are learned and want to gift our children with the chance to do just that.
We’re trying very hard to teach them that this process is long and that they don’t have to “know” or “decide” any of it right now.
11. Is it possible to separate Jewish religion from Jewish culture? Are they intertwined?
It is possible. I was raised very culturally- my family celebrated every Jewish holiday and ate every Jewish food, but we never said a prayer, went to synagogue, or talked about God.
This is quite common, but tricky to find a community to be within, though.
12. How did How to Teach Children Religion and Spirituality Without Shoving it Down Their Throats come about? What happened to it?
Oh my, that was a facetious “working title” – but I did love it.
Before I launched These Little Waves I wrote a weekly column for TC Jewfolk and was known as the Minnesota Mamaleh.
The articles that resonated with readers the most were about Jason’s and my approach to sharing our beliefs with our children without expecting them to take those beliefs on as their own.
I have a first draft written about how we did that with our young children. I needed to step away from it for a little bit, so it’s sitting and waiting for right now.
But I am extremely passionate about this topic and will dig back into it soon.
13. What is the difference between teach and indoctrinate?
To teach is to share information and let the learner interact with it and make it their own.
To indoctrinate is to say this is it, whole and complete, swallow it.
14. Have your children ever decided something was a tradition when you had never thought of it that way?
Our family is BIG on traditions- so everything from Monday morning pancakes to Friday night candles are considered traditions at our house.
15. What spiritual traditions will your family share between Thanksgiving and the New Year?
We celebrate Shabbat most Friday nights, they’re our quietest times as a family.
16. What secular traditions will your family share between Thanksgiving and the New Year?
We share all things winter- sledding, snowmen, hot chocolate, gingerbread houses.
Our Hanukkah and Christmas traditions are secular as well.
17. What is your favorite electronic or digital writing tool?
I swoon for my laptop.
18. What is your favorite non-electronic writing tool?
I love writing freehand in a notebook.
19. What is the most persistent distraction from writing?
Oh Twitter, how I love my Twitter.
20. Who shot first, Han or Greedo?
I had to ask my husband for help with this one and he ended the re-editing of the Star Wars scene explanation with, “And it looked really bad.” Hmm.
I edit my blog posts a lot. If something doesn’t read right, I smooth its edges.
But the essence or feel or meaning or character building that I put out there- that, I am wary of shifting. People notice that more than they notice what verb I choose.
And I’d hate for anyone to say, “And it looked really bad” about my changes.
AmyBeth, thank you so very much for having me here! And thank you for reading my words. I’m thrilled to meet you.
The shortlink for this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-uF
The first thing I do is to write down the ideas on paper. Nothing fancy, just an old notebook filled with bits and pieces. Normally, one of the ideas will yell at me louder than the rest. After the idea gets picked the next step is to find a working title and two main characters names, from there down it is just writing.
6) When do you use the name Milagros and when do you use Deck-Suárez?
13) Have you always considered yourself to be a writer, or was there a time in your life when you decided that is what you were?
16) What is your favorite electronic or digital writing tool?
AmyBeth Inverness 
What Now?
I've got a lot of projects eating up my time...
It’s December 3, and NaNoWriMo is behind me. The level of writing I do during November is accelerated… other things get sacrificed so that I can put more energy into writing.
But just because NaNoWriMo is over doesn’t mean I stop writing. I don’t even want to slow down, really, although that will necessarily happen. There are too many household chores—some everyday things, some seasonal—that need to get done. Dreamspinner patiently waited for me to finish NaNoWriMo and now I’m ready to continue my proofreading. The other thing on the horizon (besides the holidays, which are always busy) is that my old employer called and asked if I would come back and teach a class this Spring semester. I said yes.
In the past two days, I did write, revise, and submit a 1,600 word short story for Felt Tips, an office-supply-themed anthology of erotic stories edited by Tiffany Reisz. It’s called In the Closet, and prominently features an artificial intelligence.
I had made a note to myself back in November to submit Give Me Your Answer Do to an anthology, but the deadline for that was December 1. Also, although I love my little Steampunk Mermaids story, I need to read more Steampunk before I can do it justice. What I might do, since Synaesthesia’s last post is this coming Monday, is finish up Give Me Your Answer Do over the holidays, and then put it up one chapter at a time starting sometime in January.
I have my faith-based stories I want to finish/write… Mascots is going to be called The Sojourner’s Guide to the Galaxy. The next book will be The Chapel at the End of the Universe, and then Faith, the Universe, and Everything. If you’re a Douglas Adams fan, you get the idea. 🙂
At some point in the next few months, I need to go back and finish About Damn Time, which is supposed to be the first book in the Kingdom Come series. (Overshadow, this year’s NaNoWriMo story, is book number 2. Last Year’s NaNoWriMo would end up being something like 5 or 6.) But where my brain is, and what I want to do, is to completely pants the novel that comes after Overshadow.
In the end of Overshadow, the main character appoints a county, which is a very traditional eight way marriage. The next story would be about these eight people, focusing on just one or two. The only things I know about the story are that the FMC has been told by the seated county that she and seven specific others will be their successors, even though the seated county does not have the authority do to so. It is the White Duchess’ (the FMC in Overshadow) job to arrange noble marriages. The FMC is uncomfortable with being told that she will be a contessa, when the people telling her this have no such authority to make such a promise. But she nods and smiles and continues to do her job. When the White Duchess does indeed appoint her, but not the others, she is under pressure to refuse on principle.
If I don’t pants this story now, it won’t ever be pantsed. I’ll start overthinking it, and it will get unwieldy. I’ll spend just as much time cutting back on the unnecessary twists and I’ll lose the basic story.
In the big scheme of things, I need to send out a query letter. To do that, I need to finish About Damn Time. If I have semi-polished versions of the first three books finished when I send out a query (with ADT being as polished as it can be) I hope that I can successfully launch the books as a series.
The nice thing about writing several books all together is that minor points come up in one book that may affect another. If these changes can be made while all the books are still in the editing stage, it’s an easy adjustment. I wrote three KC stories last year during/after NaNoWriMo. Three stories this year, along with the miscellaneous ideas that come along in between, and I’m well on my way.
…if I ever send that query letter.