All right, I'm going to be posting here my progress writing a nonfiction book using Shawn's methodology, as outlined in his course Wordsmith Academy. It's supposed to be finished in 6 weeks. Because of the holidays and other potential interruptions, as well as many other projects that I'm simultaneously doing, it might take me longer than 6 weeks, though I will try my best to stick to the schedule. That said, I am having a bit of a health issue too, and I do not want to compromise my health. I have written and published nonfiction books before, notably "Hypoglycemia for Dummies" and "The Encyclopedia of Hepatitis C and Other Liver Diseases." I have also written newspaper columns, articles, essays, poems, and short stories. I have been working on a YA (Young Adult) sci-fi urban fantasy novel.

One problem I have never had is a lack of ideas. I'm bubbling with them! So the issue I have is that I have lots of ideas for books. Even as I work on one, I get more and more ideas for other books. What do I do? How shall I approach this? @Shawn Helgerson or @Yvette Muhammad -- who have, or are, writing a book(s) -- or anyone else -- do you have any suggestions?

In my book, I Have Decided, I decided not to break it into chapters because the phases I talk about are more like movements that need to happen simultaneously. This morning I finished writing Movement 3. I’m very pleased with how it came out and I wanted to share it with you guys: Movement 3: Develop Inner Knowing ## The Voice Beneath the Noise Jesus told a parable about ten bridesmaids waiting for a wedding. In that time and place, weddings worked differently than they do now. The bridegroom would travel to the bride's village to claim his wife and bring her back to his home for the wedding feast. But travel was unpredictable. No Uber. No Google Maps. No cell phones to text "running 20 minutes late." Sometimes the bridegroom arrived in the afternoon. Sometimes late at night. Sometimes not until the next day. The bridesmaids' job was to be ready whenever he arrived. They would light the path with oil lamps, leading the way through the village to the bride's home, then accompanying the wedding party to the feast. But if your lamp went out while you were waiting—if you ran out of oil—you couldn't light the path. You couldn't fulfill your role. You'd miss the wedding entirely. So Jesus told this story: Ten bridesmaids are waiting for the bridegroom. Five are wise—they brought extra oil for their lamps. Five are foolish—they didn't. The bridegroom delays. Hours pass. Everyone falls asleep. At midnight, someone shouts: "The bridegroom is coming!" The wise bridesmaids trim their lamps. They have oil. They're ready. The foolish ones realize their lamps have gone out. They panic and run to buy more oil. While they're gone, the bridegroom arrives. The wedding party forms. The wise bridesmaids light the path. Everyone goes in to the feast. When the foolish bridesmaids return with their fresh oil, the door is shut. "Too late." ## WHAT THIS PARABLE ISN'T ABOUT I grew up in evangelical churches where this parable was used as a warning about the rapture. If you didn't believe in Jesus the right way, if you weren't saved according to the proper formula, Christ would return and you'd be left behind. The door would shut. You'd be damned.

I have decided to experiment by using Shawn's course Wordsmith Academy to complete a nonfiction book in about 6 weeks, as noted in my previous post. Specifically, I will be working on a memoir about my late cat Lydia, which should be a novella-length book. The book will be titled, "Lydia’s Lantern what a little blind cat taught me about light." In going through the course, I encountered the first two questions that I need to answer first: Why am I writing this book? I’m writing this book because my late cat Lydia—blind, albino, hearing-impaired, and quietly extraordinary—left an imprint on me that I still don’t fully understand. She arrived during an incredibly difficult period of my life, a time when I was raw and weary, and somehow this vulnerable little creature became a source of comfort and unexpected transformation. I feel compelled to follow the thread she left behind, to discover what she awakened in me, and to memorialize her in a way that honors the truth of our connection. What do I want this book to do in the world? I want readers to feel as if they’ve stepped into a fairy tale that happens to be real. Not a story that preaches or teaches, but one that feels enchanted—where a small, unlikely guide enters a human life and quietly shifts its orbit. My hope is that readers will feel the wonder of encountering a creature who becomes more than a pet: a mirror, a mystery, a catalyst. I want the book to awaken that soft, forgotten place in people where magic still lives and where love can transform us in ways we don’t expect. I may change my mind, but I intend to start posting the draft on Substack. Assuming I can even use it -- I have had some technical challenges lately -- all on their end. Still waiting for them to fix the bug. This is going to be my Substack About Page: About Lydia’s Lantern what a little blind cat taught me about light There are moments in a life when the ordinary world falls away. For me, that moment came in the form of a little blind, albino, hearing-impaired cat named Lydia.

It’s been about two weeks since I started seriously doing this work. As you know, I’m a federal employee during the government shutdown, still required to work, but not receiving a paycheck. So, this is helping me learn the lessons in The Abundance Experiment. Here’s a list of unexpected things that have happened: - New Jersey gives a tax refund each year and I wasn’t sure when it would arrive. A check for $1,500 came the day after I maxed out my credit cards and spent the last dollar in my checking account. I literally never went a day without resources - the timing was absolutely perfect. - The next day, I got an extra check from the tax refund program for an additional $564.. - A couple of days later, I got a call from my mortgage company asking if I would like to refinance my home at a lower rate which would save me $124 a month, and if I do it now, I wouldn’t have to make my November or December mortgage payments - saving me almost $4,000 over the next couple months coming up to the holidays. - I won a contest from Grant Stone Shoes (high quality shoes are my hobby) and got some free shoe cream and a cool shoe brush. - I started working with my Virtual Assistant, @Tunde Muili who has some amazing ideas, great focus and energy, and is really moving things forward. - I got a message from a cousin that she read and loved my book, In A Little While which is fantastic because she’s exactly the demographic I’m aiming for - evangelicals who love Christianity but who’ve wanted to leave but don’t because they love the faith, but see how toxic the American church has become. Who knows where THAT could lead. - Kelly and I had a major breakthrough in our financial relationship - we’re communicating much more openly and honestly which is a HUGE stress relief. - When I sat down to pay my monthly bills, I didn’t hesitate, didn’t get anxiety, and actually felt a bubble of joy with each payment. It was NUTS! I’ve never felt like that when paying a bill before. I was actually anxious to sit down and pay my bills and it was FUN!