Daily Habits

Being a writer is like anything else; to be good you must write everyday, even if it is only a few sentences. I try to follow a somewhat flexible schedule: check my emails, work on my writing (articles, book, blog), read/work on marketing, answer more emails, read/write. I've found that if you manage your time right, it is possible to get more done than if just doing things randomly or in order of what you think should be done. It is more difficult trying to keep on track when you work at home. It is amazing how things got done before! I feel like I hardly have any time to write now! Gotta go-12:30 and my son is home. Last day of school! Ahhh. Now I'm sure I'll get a lot done! :)

The End of School

Glorious are the days when school ends and summer begins! It is like the end to a long and tedious job that one had to finish before retiring. Now, kids will fall into that week-long slump of laziness as they try to decompress before being able to enjoy the long, sunny days! I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with my family: going camping, doing crafts, writing, exploring new places, going to the beach, and of course-football! My son is trying out for quarterback on his youth football team as they enter their summer mini-camp for two weeks. He'll find out next week! This is his 4th year in youth football and it is his passion. I look forward to it as well, as we near the beginning of the season. It will officially start in mid-July with a two-week conditioning camp (after our trip to Lake Tahoe!) and the official draft. Then it is 6 weeks of 6 consecutive days of practice, Monday-Saturdays, leading up to the regular season of games after Labor Day. The season ends in mid-November, unless the team goes to play-offs. It ends the first week or so of December with the Super Bowl. That's right, they have a championship Super Bowl, and if you are from Ohio or Texas, let me tell you--here in Santa Clarita, California we rival the two of you as far as youth football being a popular sport! So go Warrior Seminoles! Here's to a great summer and a great season!

Blessed

Everyone's healthy, things are going pretty smoothly, life is good! I have a feeling of peace and contentment today, as if God is giving me a reminder of the blessings I have. As a writer, I get the advantage of making my own schedule (apart from certain commitments I make) which means today I am able to attend my son's end of the year party and have lunch with him, then back home to work for a few hours, then play for an hour or so with him after school before he goes to football practice, then I'm off with a friend to a wine and food event at All Corked Up. Should be a fun time. They are offering tastings of Australian wines tonight (I didn't know Australia had any particular wines!); go figure! After that, I should be able to get in an hour or so of reading before bed. Yes, I make time for reading as it gets my creative juices going. Of course, I usually end up reading books about writing, but what can I say? Hope everyone has a great sunny day!

Vacation? Writer's don't take vacations!

I've been told being a writer is a gift; but as many of you know, being a writer means you come up with ideas all the time (at least I do!), you're writing all the time, and when you are not writing you are marketing! This means we don't take vacations. When we "go on vacation", we are collecting ideas for writing and working on our writing...secretly...at night! Writing isn't a 9-5 job. We are our own boss (if you don't count the publishers, editors, or readers!)and we decide our schedule, but that doesn't mean we don't think about writing. My mind constantly processes ideas that I have to write down in my notebook (I have 4 notebooks that do 4 different jobs related to my writing). These ideas don't stop just because I go to a different location and take part in activities I don't usually take part in on a daily basis! It's a good thing I love to write, otherwise this so-called gift would be considered a curse! Hey, there's an idea...a story about a writer who feels cursed because he/she can't finish a project because they are constantly being distracted by the flooding of ideas for other stories! Gee, better write it down in my Idea Notebook! (Idea #78):)

Download available!

The technical difficulties go on! Why is it people form online companies that you can't reach when you have questions?! Everything is linked to an autoresponder, including a contact us button! It is very frustrating. I contacted 2 autoresponder companies last week trying to get a download button on my site. Do you think I could get this done? Noooo; one didn't contact me in order to complete the registration process and the other gave me my html code but it didn't work! Of course, when I tried to get a hold of them I couldn't find a 'body' to respond; I only received auto response emails seeing if everything was working!!! At least I didn't pay anything out of pocket. I finally uploaded my own link so now if you go to the left of my blog page, you will see the link that says Get Your Free Download Here! Click on the url below it and it will take you to my free eBook which you can read or download and print off. Thanks for your patience and yes, there will be more eBooks coming out at later dates, as well as children's books hitting the market starting this August! Thanks for visiting and see you tomorrow!