Attending Online Church Service

Since the pandemic many churches, are holding online services. Though some churches have made the decision to open back up for regular service, my family will continue viewing church from our home for the foreseeable future.


We love attending church online. Before COVID-19, we watched online services when we weren’t feeling our best or if it was raining. We try to be consistent with the time that we watch our church service. During service, we disengage from other devices and activities. My son uses his notepad to draw and take notes from the service. After church, we each go around the room discussing what we learned. It’s done in a fun way, and my son loves teaching us new things. Following each church service, my son reads two chapters from his children’s bible.

Spread the Message

During this time, many people are looking for a message of hope and faith. Some days I re-post messages and scriptures in my Instagram story.

A favorite scripture that I read today:
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 11:2

First Sunday Ready

My church does communion the first Sunday of the month. My family has our juice and crackers ready to receive communion. My son hasn’t been baptized yet, but he is learning the hymns. I love that the songs that I learned as a child are still being sung in church.

Grateful

I’m thankful that churches can go Live and share their message from various social media platforms. When I need to hear a word (bible based sermon), I can watch my church or discover new ministries.


xo

Lamesha

Black Restaurant Week

A few days ago, #713day trended on Twitter. Houstonians have claimed July 13th (7-13) as one of our celebration days since 713 is one of Houston’s zip codes.


When celebrating everything Houston, many will think of our talented stars like Beyoncé, Simone Biles, Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Solange, Loretta Devine, and Megan Thee Stallion. The accomplishments of our sports teams, noted scholars and scientists (STEM), and writers. The prayers from our religious leaders. Houston traditions – the way we speak, dress, relax, and support one another. All the fun we have at Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, block parties, and all the good food at our cookouts. In addition to the delicious meals prepared in our homes, I can also attest to the great food at our restaurants.

Restaurants

I have not felt comfortable dining in because of COVID-19, but I have ordered takeout many times from my favorite restaurants. Many restaurants have offered family meal packs. Some of these deals have so much food that my family has enough food for either the next day’s dinner or lunch.

Black Restaurant Week

It’s Black restaurant week in Houston. Since I have started food blogging, I have learned of more Black-owned restaurants from other foodies. Our city has a great selection of Black owned restaurants offering everything from breakfast food to soul food. Check my food blog Dining with Lamesha for recipes and restaurants.

What are some of your favorite Black-owned restaurants?

Xo

Lamesha

Plans for Revising

When I finished the first draft of Book 0, an author told me to take one month off before diving into edits. One month turned into six months before I looked at my book. This go round I am only taking one week off.

300 + Comments

While drafting my book, I added over three hundred comments to my word file. When revising, I will first address the notes that require an extensive amount of research. Once I get in a zone of writing, I don’t want to break for long periods of time to research a topic. I will not consider this draft complete until all comments and notes that I’ve made have been addressed.

I recommend adding notes/comments to your work while drafting. This will help you stay in the flow of writing and not waste time.

Read

I will read this book from start to finish. Though some scenes I may remember more clearly than others, I will not skip reading over it. Whatever doesn’t work, will get cut.

Reading my manuscript aloud will help me catch common errors.

Word Count

The first draft of #LameshaJuniorNovel is 109, 302 words. I plan to get this word count under 100,000 words in this first revision. If I can cut more words than my goal, that would be more than awesome. If not, I will attack that later.

It’s important to get the word count down to the recommended range for my genre.

Love

My goal is to love and know my characters more. I expect their story to be clearer.

Feedback

Hopefully, this draft will be ready for someone else to read.

What’s a tip you have for revising your manuscript?

Xo
Lamesha

I Finished the First Draft

A few years ago, I took several online writing classes. In one of my classes, my teacher told us to think of each day that we wrote as adding a link to a chain. “Don’t break the chain,” she said. She learned of this thought process from another group of writers. 

Lamesha Junior in 2019


This message helped me challenge myself to write every day for seven days. Declaring this goal publicly, added more pressure than I expected. I found myself in a negative space. What if I don’t make my goal? Will I look like I’m all talk, no action? What if I I end up rushing to finish and the quality of my work goes down?

Well, it’s been seven days and… I finished the first draft. Yay! If I could do a toe touch to show my excitement, I would. 

Three Tips to Finish a First Draft

Positive Vibes Only

After I expressed every negative thing that could happen, I moved from  that space. I told myself that I would finish the first draft. Achieving my goal was the only option.


Pacing

I paced myself. After a day, I calculated how many hours I needed to allot each day to finish my manuscript. I scheduled in those hours each day. 


Listen to Your Heart

I love writing. I love my characters. It was beyond time for their raw story to be finished. So I wrote from my heart and stayed focused on my characters.

On to the Next

I’m looking forward to starting draft two. What’s one tip you have for revising your manuscript?

xo
Lamesha

Voting During a Pandemic

Today was election day for the Texas Primary Runoff Election. After seeing news reports of long lines without adequate social distancing and stories of voter suppression, I wasn’t sure of what to expect.

The first polling location we drove to had suddenly closed due to COVID-19 regulations. There was a white sign outside of the building that gave two other polling locations. Only a few voters were inside when I entered the second polling location. Social distancing was being practiced and everyone had on masks. The recommended six feet distance was not marked off with tape, but people tried to give everyone space.

In addition to wearing a mask, the poll worker who took my license also wore gloves. When it was time to sign my name, there were two separate stacks of pens. I was instructed to take a pen from the clean stack. I did not initially see the labeling determining which pens were clean and those that had been used. After signing my name, I was given voting instructions and a Q-tip to use as a stylus while voting on the machine. After my ballot was recorded, I grabbed the I Voted Sticker and was out the door. I used my own hand sanitizer when I exited the building and washed my hands as soon as I made it home.

Overall, I felt the new changes were appropriate for voting during a pandemic. There was one large container of hand sanitizer at the poll worker’s table. In November, I hope there will be more hand sanitizer available. I also hope there will be no cases of voter suppression and that everyone will be able to peacefully and safely exercise their right to vote.


What has your experience been like while voting during the pandemic?


Xo

Lamesha

Why I Start My Day with Prayer

I wasn‘t sure how it happened, but this was a dangerous habit.

Each morning, I’d slap the nightstand, eyes barely opened, searching for my phone. I would read the trending topics on Twitter, check what some of the blogs and influencers posted on Instagram, and see updates from my Facebook friends.

As a Christian, I know that God is supposed to be the center of my life. Living a life that is pleasing to Him should be my daily goal. So why did I do all those tasks before I thanked Jesus for waking me up?

I noticed that I started to have trouble expressing my thoughts because I was so focused on what everyone else was doing and thinking. I could not get to a place where I didn’t show gratitude to God daily.

I had to get my priorities in order. I started by expressing to God how much I loved Him. I thanked Him for my life, my family, my health, all of my blessings. I thanked Him for waking me and my family up.

Each morning, I strive to start the day with a prayer of thanks and ask God to lead my day. A simple prayer followed by reading a scripture or chapter in the Bible has given me a clearer outlook.

Here are 4 of my favorite scriptures

“Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
— ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22:37-39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
— ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

““Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.””
— ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:22-25‬ ‭NIV‬‬


What is your favorite scripture? What are you thankful for?

xo

Lamesha

What I Learned from Writing a Short Story

Lamesha Junior photographed by TwoLees Photography in 2016

In 2016, I contributed a short story to the anthology, The Ex Chronicles. This book contains twenty short stories that reflect on the challenging relationships between family, friends, or lovers.

Fool Me Once synopsis

Jayla was overjoyed to reconnect with her childhood bestie, Keona. But when Keona uncovers information that could catapult her career, will she betray Jayla?

What I Learned

As a new writer, completing an 80,000+ word novel can sometimes seem like a huge task. But finishing a short story showed me that I could complete a manuscript. A short story will still have a beginning, middle, and ending. This work must also undergo revisions to ensure the best story is produced. Also, short stories must be confined to a certain word count.

Some authors have taken their short stories and expanded them into a novel. Readers who enjoyed the previous work can appreciate more background information about the characters. The author could also add additional characters and possibly change parts of the plot to tell the best story.

The biggest plus of publishing my short story was meeting other writers. I have supported the writing of my sister scribes and have enjoyed reading some of their work.

I wrote a script for “Fool Me Once.” I have also created new projects (not related to “Fool Me Once”). I have written two short stories, Book 0, and I’m almost finished with the first draft of #LameshaJuniorNovel.

Do you enjoy reading short stories?


Xo

Lamesha

First Draft Critic

A few weeks ago, I tweeted, “I know everything that is supposed to happen in this scene. So why am I struggling to write it?”

I’ve encountered this situation several times. When I have a scene mapped out but can’t seem to execute it, usually I am being too critical of my ideas.

Overthinking

A first draft doesn’t have to be flawless. Sometimes I put unnecessary pressure on my writing. Though I know my work will undergo revisions, I trip about the simplest things. I have wasted time trying to find the right name for a fictional restaurant. I could easily add a comment to fix this in the next draft. I also get lost in wondering whether my work will be accepted.

The truth is unfinished work can’t receive critique. There have been days when I spent an excessive amount of time questioning my work. What if this isn’t the right scene? What if someone doesn’t get what I wrote? What if I will be over the word count?

I’ve learned to stop overthinking, breathe, and just write. Embrace the delete button.

If I write something and it doesn’t work, I can always delete those words. Eliminate that chapter, divorce those thoughts. It’s not easy, y’all. But I am learning to write the scene as I see it while remembering that I can always come back and make necessary changes.

Question


What challenges have you encountered while writing?

xo

Lamesha

Choosing to Write

Back in 2009, I decided that I wanted to write a novel. My friends were surprised because I have a MS degree in Mathematics . They expected me to stick with a STEM career. But when I make a firm professional decision, I stick with it.

Lamesha Junior photographed by TwoLees Photography in 2016

I was among the group of I want to write a novel but haven’t written one single word on a draft for several years. I transferred from this group and had a completed draft in 2015. While completing that draft, I took online writing courses and read books from various genres.


After completing my draft, I didn’t realize how many revisions and edits authors completed before the book goes to press. In grad school, my research advisor had me rewrite my MS thesis so many times that I was tired of reading it. I had almost memorized the pages and would recite information about wavelets and differential equations while rolling my eyes.


But I don’t feel that way about my novel. Each day I work on my novel, I fall more in love with my characters. I see growth in my writing and the development of my story. I am committed to writing this book and getting published.

Questions:


Writers: When did you decide that you wanted to be a writer?

Readers: What makes you fall in love with a book?


xo

Lamesha

Writing Q&A

In today’s blog, I have answered ten questions I regularly receive about my writing. Let me know if you have any additional questions that you would like answered.

1. How long have I been writing?

I started writing poetry in elementary school. For a while, I wanted to become a poet. After obtaining my MS in mathematics, I wanted to write mathematics handbooks. I might revisit these goals one day.

2. When did I decide that I wanted to write a book?

I’ve wanted to write a novel since 2009. I wrote my first chapter of Book 0 several years ago. Book 0 is my completed novel that I’ve shelved. More details about Book 0 can be found in another blog. My current writing project is called #LameshaJuniorNovel. I have written over 95,000 words on this book. It is contemporary women’s fiction and the main character is a Black woman.

3. What are my favorite genres to read?

Women’s fiction, romance, suspense, and literary.

4. Do I prefer to write in the morning or night?

I don’t have a preference. I write whenever I have time and my writing schedule varies each day.

5. Has my writing been published?

I contributed a short story to the anthology, The Ex Chronicles (Brown Girls Books) in 2016. “Fool Me Once” was about two childhood friends reconnecting after several years.

6. How often do I read?

Every day

7. Have I taken writing classes?

Yes! I’ve taken online classes from several authors that I admire. I also read craft books.

8. What would I tell someone that wants to write?

That’s a whole blog post. The basic version is to start writing, read a lot, and never give up on yourself.

9. What’s my reading goal for 2020?

In 2019, I mostly read contemporary women’s fiction. I want to read other genres this year.


10. What’s my writing goal for 2020?

Finish #LameshaJuniorNovel

Questions

Do you have any additional questions that you would like for me to answer?