Westover's Leftovers- Really?

In the URL of my blog you will see "Westovers Leftovers" in the title and I've had a few questions about why I use the simplistic rhyme on my Blog, so I thought I'd answer. Here it goes...

I was in the 6th grade and the world was my oyster. I was a bit of a trouble maker in class but when the it came time to elect a student body President, I thought, "why not run myself?". If elected I would ensure that chocolate pudding was served at every lunch and recess would be extended an extra 5 minutes. It sounded great, but then it came time to campaign and I had no experience in this area so I turned to my parents for their expertise. Big mistake.

I was told that the first thing I needed was a catchy slogan and it was suggested that I use this gem, "Reach for the stars with Westovers Leftovers." Despite the disgusting image that was conjured in my mind of flesh on a stick, reaching towards the sky, I had no better idea so I used it.

The second thing I needed was advertisement. Afterall, how would people know about my wonderfully catchy slogan unless I told them about it? My parents had an idea. Why not advertise during recess by writing the slogan on a sandwich board (like the picture above). The concept was simple, but brilliant, so I did it.

A couple of days before the election I took the sandwich board to school, with my awesome slogan colored brightly on the front and back, and wore it around at recess. I've got to admit, people noticed, but in hindsight, I don't know that it was the kind of possitive attention I was looking for. In any case, I rode the "Westover's Leftovers" horse as far as I could, but in the end, I was not elected student body president. It was their loss...no extra pudding or recess time. What were they thinking?

"Westover's Leftovers" has become a kind of embarrassing badge of honor, so I give it a place of honor on my blog. The end.

Defensive Tactics Drawing

Sign up to follow my blog and you will be entered to win a free copy of Defensive Tactics. The drawing will be held on August 15th.

Scroll down further on the blog to find a book synopsis and the link to order at Amazon.com

Thank you for your support.

Steve

The Tomato Plant "Problem"

We plant and nourish tomato plants with the hope and expectation that one day, the plant will begin to bear fruit. We look forward to eating them fresh, or canning salsa, or making delicious spaghetti sauce, but sometimes we are not prepared to harvest the fruit of our labors.

Before we know it, 1 plant can be overloaded with fruit, and if we have multiple plants, we find ourselves swimming in tomatos with no idea what to do with all of them. In some cases we allow the bugs to creep in and gnaw at our fruit, or we allow them to drop to the ground and rot. When we planted, we liked the idea of having tomatos, and we value the fruit, but we find ourselves unprepared to harvest our crop.

Sometimes our lives are like tomato plants. We begin a project, or two, or three, not knowing when we will see the fruit, but then, all at once, the fruit appears and we don't know how to manage it. We know we don't want to see the fruit we labored for, rot on the ground, or be destroyed by insects, but we don't feel we have the strength, or time, or patience, or ability to harvest all the fruit.

This summer, I have experienced the tomato plant "probelm".

Here's the rundown... 1-Last Fall, I accepted the assignment of serving as President of our local Optimist Club, scheduling activities and fund raisers that benefit the youth of the community. It's a wonderful activity, but the busiest time for the club is late spring/early summer. 2-For a couple of years my wife and I have been attempting to sell our home and acreage to buy a larger home with a smaller acreage. Finally, in Mid-June it was time to paint the new house and move in. 3-Also, I have been writing a couple of novels and as it turns out, in late spring it was time to re-edit and get my first book ready for Summer release. 4-In late spring I agreed to coach my son's baseball team and then a few weeks later 5-I was called to be a Bishop of the brand new Far West Ward. And now that we've been in our home for 2 weeks, 6-it is time to have family start arriving for visits throughout the summer.

Each of these tomatos is a blessing in my life, and individually are not difficult to manage, but I wasn't prepared to receive all of them at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but I did feel overwhelmed and wondered how I would possibly find time to harvest all the fruit without it going bad.

What's the moral of this story? 1. Plan ahead and don't overcommit. 2. If you do find yourself with the tomato "problem", put your head down and get to work. The busy tomato season will end eventually, but in the mean time, its time to work hard, spend the time to make sure all commitments are met and the fruit is harvested. 3. Remember that each tomato is a blessing, not a "problem".

Defensive Tactics- Available for Pre-sale on Amazon

In a world of corruption and moral relativism, how far will you go to protect the ones you love?

Paul Stephens has it all--a wonderful job at the FBI, a potential new girlfriend, Emily, and a great apartment. Even when Jimmy, a friend from his past, unepectedly ends up on his couch, Paul manages to keep it together, despite Jimmy's eccentric ways and sudden interest in Emily. But when a plan to arrest a corrupt judge puts Emily's life in danger, Paul is forced to make decisions that put everything on the line. And with Jimmy along for the ride, anything can happen as they race to save Emily.

Full of suspense, action, and surprises, Defensive Tactics navigates the maze of burgeoning relationships and the rigors of investigation to ultimately show just how much the bonds of friendship can endure.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=steve+westover%2C+defensive+tactics

Defensive Tactics- Available Now

Defensive Tactics is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com

The Writing Process- Part Two- The Story

Whether it's Dr. Seuss with his silly rhymes, or Brandon Mull writing about magical places, or Stephen King telling a frightening tale that will make it just a little bit harder to sleep at night, one critical need remains constant through genre and stylistic approach; the ability to tell a compelling story. Grisham and Twain, Hemmingway and Faulkner all persist as reader favorites, not because of the way they conjugate verbs or punctuate their sentences, but rather, people love them because of the stories they tell.

Sometimes authors get so excited about writing in first or third person, or using free-indirect discourse, or making their sentences longer, or shorter, or making the language of characters distinct with crazy dialects, that they forget their main purpose in writing a story; the story. Sure, we want to know the characters, their strengths and weaknesses and we want to know about their surroundings, their thought processes and motivations, but all of those things, as interesting as they may be, should be included in the writing as a way to advance the story.

The individual components of a story are not all-important in and of themselves. For example, amazing rims on a car, or new spark plugs may be great, but only insofar as they increase the value of the car, and make it go. Great rims don't mean much if the car is stuck in the driveway. Likewise, a beautifully constructed sentence won't have much value if it detracts from the mood or rhythm of the story.

Have you ever felt that the author was simply writing to impress himself, or is so enthralled about writing chapters and chapters about the sewer system of Paris that you've totally lost interest in the redemptive story? I have. By focusing on the reader, instead of the author, the author has an opportunity to stretch beyond his own comfort level and create something for others to enjoy, not merely pages to be tolerated as a sidetrack back to the story.

Hopefully an author's "ideal reader" is not himself. If it is, he will probably be enthralled with his own work, but will not likely expand his audience very far.

Focus on the story. Make the words count. Use literary tools to help you succeed in telling a compelling story. But remember, the simple act of using literary tools does not make writing successful, the story does.

The "Ideal Reader"

Throughout his book On Writing, Stephen King often refers to the "ideal reader". What is the "ideal reader"? you ask. Let me explain.

The ideal reader is the person you are thinking about when you are writing. On my first book, Defensive Tactics, my wife Mica was my ideal reader. As I was writing, I found myself asking, "What will Mica think of that", or I would imagine her laughing at a particular joke or scene. I was writing for her appreciation and to her sensibilities as she was representative of the general audience I was attempting to appeal to.

On my second book, Crater Lake: Quest for the Prison Key, my ideal reader was my 11 year old daughter. Crater Lake was written for a different audience in general, but just like on the first, I found myself wondering, what will Lindsay think about this or that, and I wrote scenes that I knew she would appreciate. What will scare Lindsay? When I figured it out, I wrote it. What will make her laugh and what will she think is dorky. I tried to avoid the dorky.

Even though my ideal reader was different for these two books, the concept is the same. I couldn't wait for them to read what I had written for them and ultimately, when I was finished, I listened to their feedback and made some corrections where I had miscalculated.

Thinking of someone you know well and respect, and what their reactions will be to certain content, can help guide you in the writing process. It places the focus on the reader, instead of the author. What the reader enjoys and finds funny, or frightening, or exciting and cool, is much more important than writing something that only I find interesting.

Defensive Tactics- Cover

Defensive Tactics is a story of struggle and escape from forces seeking to destroy.

Years after a family tragedy left him emotionally scarred, Jimmy finds himself in a desparate situation so he turns to an old friend. Paul is an up and coming FBI Agent and agrees to help Jimmy, but almost immediately regrets it when Jimmy starts making a play for his girlfriend, who is also an Agent in the Kansas City Field Office.

As Jimmy and Paul struggle to become true friends, they are pulled into Emily's undercover assignment aimed at bringing down a corrupt federal judge. The assignment turns out to be more dangerous, and more difficult than Emily first anticipated, forcing her to decide how far she is willing to bend morally, to see her mission through. As the three new friends fight to protect each other and overcome conspiracies of organized crime, they must evaluate who they really are, and who God wants them to be.

On Writing- Review

Stephen King is an amazing story teller. Even when he is telling stories about writing and the lessons he has learned. On Writing, is a funny, entertaining and insightful book about honing the craft of writing that every writer, or aspiring writer, should read.

The first lesson I learned from On Writing is this, Don't Overplan your writing. What does this mean, you ask? Let me explain.

Stephen King writes because he loves to, but he also writes because he is disciplined. He has a writing schedule he keeps, and when he's not writing, he's reading, or watching TV and movies, all which help to spur his imagination. One of his pet peeves, and mine, is watching a movie or reading a book that is predictable. Maybe we identify the killer in the first scene. Maybe it is so obvious what the hero is going to do, we can just put the book down or turn off the show because there is no use in finishing. Why is so much of our entertainment so predictable? Because the writers follow the same patterns. They plan what will happen, and then write to meet that plan. Unfortunately, readers and even TV watchers are often too smart for this.

Stephen King was once asked "How come your books are so unpredictable"? He answered, "Because when I write them, I don't know what's going to happen next. If I (as the writer) don't know what will happen next, how can the reader?"

Writing needs to be a natural progression. Scenes need to unfold and characters need to develop organically, just as they do in real life. Now, every writer's process is different, and that is good, but it is hard to argue with the success Stephen King has enjoyed.

Most often, he begins his writing with a question, or a situation and then lets the writing unfold from there. For example, he might ask the question, "What would happen if a famous writer was trapped with a psychotic fan?" From that, he wrote Misery. Or, "How would a man who was wrongly imprisoned, reclaim his life and find joy again?" The answer, is The Shawshank Redemption.

We often need a blueprint, to keep us on track, but we shouldn't overplan every aspect of our story, or characters. Things become too predictable that way, and what fun is reading a 300 page book that you've figured out by page 20?

Wrong Number- Review

Wrong Number is a fun, quick read. I recommend it, and also recommend the review at the link below.

http://cedarfortauthors.blogspot.com/2010/05/wrong-number-by-rachelle-j-christensen.html

The Writing Process- Part 1

Every writer has their own process for finding material to write about, and even the physical process of writing itself. Some have a muse, or a picture they look to for inspiration, while others find interest in mundane daily activities. Some writers type on a laptop, sitting on their favorite chair or at a quiet desk, or scribble on pads of paper and then later reassemble their thoughts. No matter what process the writer employs, or the inspiration the writer may seek, the most important thing for a writer to do, is write.

A writer should write. Kind of a no brainer, right? It is, but just like other "no brainers", sometimes we fail to do the basic, simple things, like saying our prayers, getting the oil changed, or balancing the checkbook. We know we should, but we find other things to fill our time, or we simply fail to plan our time wisely.

The first thing every writer should do, is schedule time to write. Yes, this is basic. But we lead busy lives, coaching baseball and serving in our church and community. We want to spend time with our family and of course, most of us need to work full-time. Should I write in the morning or at night? On my lunch break? How much time should I alot? Whatever time works best for you, schedule it, and be diligent in sticking to that schedule.

We write because we love it. We want to express ourselves. We find satisfaction in creating something new. We write to magnify our talents. We write because we are curious to see where the story leads. Whatever the reason is, if you are a writer, or hope to be a writer, or just want to try it out, write...write...write. Its a "no brainer".

Kansas City Temple- Groundbreaking

On Saturday May, 8 2010, my family and I were blessed to attend the ground breaking ceremony for the new Kansas City Area Temple. Elder Rasband, Senior President of the Quorums of the Seventy presided at the event.

It was a cool and windy day and the children didn't necessarily appreciate all the dirt and cold, but 30 years from now, they will be able to tell their children they were at the groundbreaking for the first Temple in the Kansas City Metro area. Then, they will remember what a momentous day it was and how blessed they were to attend.

Now, we look forward to the Temple Dedication in a couple of years and hope to be blessed with tickets to attend there as well.

Far West Ward- 1st Meetings

On Sunday, May 2nd, the Far West Ward met together for the first time. To my knowledge, a congregation at Far West has not been organized since the saints were forced to flee in late 1838. For many, the creation of this new Ward is the fullfillment of a dream and an answer to prayer.

It was a wonderful day. Many members had a chance to bear testimony during fast and testimony meeting, and during a joint Priesthood/Relief Society/Young Men/Young Women meeting, we were able to discuss hopes and dreams for the Ward.

As we embark on building a Ward from the ground up, it is wonderful to know, that as long as we do things in the Lord's way, we can make our Ward family into something special. We are limited only by ourselves: our willingness to spend time and effort in accomplishing the missions of the church as we strive to become a Zion people.

Creation of the Far West Ward

When Heavenly Father calls any of us to serve within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he places in us great trust. He knows our capabilities but even more importantly he understands our hearts and desires. He blesses us with opportunities to stretch and grow as we mold our lives and become the kind of people he wants us to become.

On Sunday, April 18th, 2010 I was sustained as the Bishop of a brand new ward at Far West Missouri. It is always exciting to receive a confirmation that Heavenly Father is pleased with our efforts and testimony, and in this case, it is also very exciting to have the opportunity to organize a new ward from scratch. To my knowledge, there has not been a ward at Far West since the saints were expelled from Far West in 1838. This fact alone makes this new ward historic. But for our ward to become what our Heavenly Father desires, we must strive to become a Zion people.

"The Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart and one mind, and they dwealt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them." (Moses 7:18)

That is what our Father expects from us.

More important than where the ward is located, is who we are as a people. We all have the opportunity to stretch and grow to become what our Father wants us to be. As we dedicate ourselves to righteous living and service, as we express our love for the Savior and testify through our service, as we strenthen our families and our youth, we will progress towards being a Zion people.

These are exciting times. As always, our first priority should be upon growing our testimonies of the Savior and serving others, as he would have us do.

Escape from the Dark

After a long process of writing, editing and a lot of hoping, I have received an offer to have my first novel published.

Escape from the Dark should be out by the end of the year.

After agreeing to help a friend from his past, FBI agent Paul Stephens questions the wisdom of allowing Jimmy into his life and introducing him to Emily. Jimmy is intrigued by Emily’s beauty and poise, and he is not hindered by thoughts of loyalty or propriety as he pursues Paul’s girl.

As a recent transplant to the Kansas City FBI Field Office, Emily is assigned to a taskforce aimed at bringing down a corrupt Federal Judge. Thrown together amid the turmoil of Emily’s new undercover assignment, the three friends face intense emotional, spiritual and physical challenges. As they struggle to navigate through burgeoning relationships and the rigors of the investigation, their bond of friendship strengthens, as they become the people they truly want to be.