When I was back in AZ over the Christmas and New Year holidays, somehow we managed to eek in several rounds of our favorite game: Boggle!

If you’re unfamiliar with Boggle, what rock have you been hiding under? Just kidding. It’s a timed word-search game, the object being to find as many words as possible in 3 minutes–and here’s the clincher–that no one else finds. Sounds simple enough,especially for a writer, right?

Wrong!

I have NEVER won a single round, let alone a game. It’s like I can’t get enough of being beaten by my big brother Micah, who I don’t think has read a book since Lord of the Rings in junior high. He definitely hasn’t read my book. But that’s a post for another day. 🙂

Somehow my computer genius of a brother always seems to wallop the rest of the family. And he even does it without some of our more creative words, ie: gnu: a wildebeest, or nug: one of Pauly Shore’s favorite words. (I, myself, prefer stretching the limits of the English language when playing Boggle. After all, I do it to the rules of spelling and grammar in my writing.) No, Micah simply sees things on the Boggle board that I don’t. I’ll proudly announce my “money-maker” at 5 letters long and worth 2 points-“sweet.” Micah will then calmly say that he has that one too, and he also has “sweeten”, “sweeter”, and “sweetener.”

So I decided that I was tired of losing to Micah, and I was going to make some changes to the game so that even if I didn’t win, at least I wouldn’t lose to Micah. Enter Jacob, also known as J-dawg or JJ. He may have only been two-months-old at our last match, but I had a solid plan to use him to bring down his dad. It was fool-proof. All I had to do was suggest we break out the game when Jacob was awake and needy and then get Micah to hold him.

And J-dawg did his job perfectly. He was the cutest handicap ever!

My plan had only one error. I miscalculated the margin by which Micah usually wins. Turns out that the couple of points J-dawg possibly cost him didn’t even come close to making him even with the rest of us. Micah still beat me by at least 3 points a round.

I’ll need a new plan of sabotage for my next trip home. Until then … -LJ

Am I the only one that thinks I might have a very mixed-up filing system? See, on my computer, I have a folder in My Documents titled “books.” And in that folder is every story note or idea I’ve had since college. There must be over a hundred documents in there, just taunting me to organize them. I have about 12 “final” drafts of Kenzie’s story–all saved by date. And of course I have the new book I’m working on.

But what does one do with files for chick-lit-Amish-girl-YA-with-an-historical-twist ideas?

Actually that’s five individual ideas right there. But still … how can I keep my folder’s organized so when I’m looking for notes on Kenzie, they’re handy instead of stuck between the camp ground mystery and random names I liked for characters back in 1998? Ugh. Organization is not my strong point. If you have a brilliant idea leave me a comment.

I can use any suggestions. It can’t get any worse. Until next time, I’ll be lost between every imaginable document belonging to “books.”  And don’t even get me started on the “shorts” folder. -LJ

Greetings and welcome to I Write About Love and Such.

I’m delighted that you’re visiting my online home, and I hope that you’ll come back frequently. To help you navigate your way through the posts to come, allow me to present …

The Cast of (Frequent) Characters:

Liz Johnson – I’ll be your host on this tour through my life and my publishing journey. I’m a sometimes writer, an infrequent jogger, a full-time publicist, and always loved by God. I live in Colorado Springs, CO and have a novel scheduled to release in July 2009 from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense.

Amy – My coworker and housemate, who frequently gets me hooked on new TV shows, goes ice skating with me, and has the world’s worst–and by that I mean, best–puns.

Mom and Dad – Also known as Twila and Don. They live in Arizona in the same city where I grew up.

Hannah – My sister, who makes fun of me for using words like “delightful” and “lovely” in every-day speech, but I love her anyway. She’s married to John and is the mom to 2 of my beautiful nieces.

Micah – My computer wizard of a brother. (Seriously … Amy calls him Micah the Awesome because he literally set up our wireless network from 1100 miles away.) He and his wife Beth are the parents of a little girl and boy.

Jess – My Monday night writing buddy and coworker. She keeps me writing at least once a week and makes me laugh at least a couple times a day. She also gets me on board with under-appreciated movies and TV shows like Pushing Daisies, which I’m going to miss terribly.

Katie and Stephanie – I first became acquainted with these sisters when Katie, a coworker, asked if I’d like to join them in hunting for a quality singles group at our church. Then they invited me over to watch Veronica Mars on dvd. Over 60 episodes later, and these ladies have become awesome friends.

My Mr. Right – I haven’t met him yet … I don’t think. But I hope to … soon.