I've been meaning to post on my blog more, and thanks to Gina Perry I've been inspired to at least post on Fridays. Here's 5 ways I'm moving forward in my quest to become a published writer/illustrator:

1)Attend more workshops! September I went to our North Texas SCBWI retreat and also spent some time at The Birdhouse with my friend, Janee Trasler;  October was a workshop with Ben Clanton and tomorrow I'm attending a picture book workshop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I'm determined to learn all that I can to write a picture book that an editor falls in love with!

2)Create! I've created 4 new portfolio pieces that I'm really happy with and also reworked my logo. I've decided I want to focus on the preschool board book arena. You can check out my portfolio at www.debmeyercreative.com

3)Learn new techniques! I'm lucky that my day job allows me to work in Adobe Photoshop sometimes, and this week I also worked in Adobe InDesign laying out a brochure and also the district's holiday cards. I have used InDesign in the past, but this allowed me to refresh my memory and learn how to do more in Photoshop & InDesign.

4)It's okay to fail. I saw a video on FB about the lady who invented SPANX that said she grew up in a family that encouraged failure because if you are failing that means you are trying and going for it. Well, I received a critique for a story I submitted to an editor and it wasn't the most glowing critique, but instead of getting down and hopeless, I decided to take the comments and see how I can make it a better story. I agree it wasn't working. I'm hopeful that I can make it better and hopefully find a publisher for it.

5)I've forgiven myself for not having the confidence to follow my dream in the past. I was telling a friend the other day that I believe we have a path mapped out for us, and even though we know what it is, we can wander elsewhere. That true passion always brings us back to where we belong though. It's okay. Don't beat yourself up over the wandering. I learned a lot about myself and I became more aware of what is important in my life. :)