Attitude is Everything
November 12, 2023 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Attitude, Denise M. Colby, encouragementWhy is attitude everything when it comes to our writing? Because it is our own choice what our attitude will be. And if it isn’t great, we have the choice to change it.
How we react to feedback or the different set-backs on our writing journey can make a difference. I have had plenty of negative feedback, disappointments, “where do I go from here” moments. But I’ve also encountered encouragement that has helped me pick myself up off the floor and get back at it.
In some ways, my writing journey has been a great life lesson of growth for me.
And I want to encourage you in your writing journey.
Change your attitude
My word this is year is change. One definition of change is to become different; be altered or modified. I also love the definition to replace with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better. For me, attitude was part of the change I wanted to make this year in how I approached my health, my time, and my writing.
Writing is such a mental game
Attitude becomes a philosophy – if you think negatively, you will be negative. If you think positive, you’ll be more positive.
If you think you can’t do it, you won’t.
When you think you can, you will keep moving forward and not let the negativity stop you. Our attitudes in every little step will allow us to keep moving forward.
Be willing to learn and accept feedback
Write and write some more
Try and try again.
Don’t give up.
Denise M. Colby loves to write words to encourage, enrich, and engage with others. You can find similar encouraging posts on A Slice of Orange such as meeting writing goals or when your confidence wavers, and on her own website denisemcolby.com , including a blog post about Moments of Encouragement. She also loves to write about her word of the year and share quotes that include that specific word in them. Each word builds a new layer in her writing journey (and her life). In 2022, her word was Work. This year, her word is change.
I was a Doughnut Dolly…another tale from my wayward youth for Veterans Day by Jina Bacarr
November 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as Army, Soughnut Dolly, Veterans Day, womens fiction
I love this fabulous painting outside the Salvation Army Building in Tulare, CA re: the photographer © Karinoza – Dreamstime.com
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I was a doughnut dolly.
Back in the day, I served with the U.S. Army Special Services in Livorno, Italy. My job was to make coffee and play pool with the troops, set up entertainment and gourmet restaurant tours.
And make cookies.
I whipped up hundreds and hundreds of cookies. Chocolate chip.
And doughnuts, too. I got help from the mess hall sergeant, a bespectacled guy from the Midwest who let me commandeer his big pots and huge ovens. Along with my Italian liaison, Maria, we’d cook up hot doughnuts and top them with powdered sugar we got from the PX, a sweet favorite with the boys.
Those were the days.
So on this Veterans Day I think about all the Doughnut Dollies who help bring our servicemen and women a touch of home.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize the amazing effect my time with the service affected me. I had some difficult times, like being assaulted on the street by a thug and my pants ripped, also in an elevator (story for another time), but I had some heartbreaking and soulful times, too.
Like the sisterly bond I developed with another American girl on base that lasted far beyound my time there, the wonderful Italians I worked with who took me in like I was family and taught me about music and photography and how to properly eat pizza.
I drew on these experiences when I started a series of historical novels set in Wartime Paris about the brave women who fought in the French Resistance.
An actress, a parfumier, a Philly debutante and my latest, SISTERS AT WAR.
On this Veteans Day, I want thank the brave servicemen and women who have served our country. If you were stationed in Livorno and dropped by the service club once up a time and saw a girl with long hair from California handing you a cup of coffee, it was me.
Jina
PS — For fun, I put on my old uniform with U.S. Army Service Clubs patch.
I lost the hat years ago somewhere in Italy.
Who are the Beaufort Sisters?
They’re beautiful
They’re smart
They’re dangerous
They’re at war with the Nazis… and each other.
How to Do a Year in Review by Kitty Bucholtz
November 9, 2023 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as business of writing, Goal Setting, It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, Planning
One thing we hear a lot of this time of year when we talk about annual planning is that we need to do a “year in review.” We’re told to make note of what worked this past year, what was more difficult than expected, and to decide what we’ll continue in the next year and what we’ll stop.
But what’s the best way to look at it?
If I sit here and think for a few seconds, I would say this past year has been tremendously difficult. (Just shy of “It sucked!”)
If I think about it for a minute, I remember than I got to travel three times this year – three times more than I have since the Covid pandemic began. That’s a win! But the rest of my life still sucked.
But if I get something to write with (pen and paper, computer file, phone note) and close my eyes and try to go through my whole year, looking at my calendar as well, I see something entirely different.
The root of my financial troubles was me not leaving any savings for slow months, but putting every dollar I earned against my credit card balance. Cash flow trouble. Something I can avoid in the future now that I understand it from first-hand experience. (It seemed like such a good idea to pay down my credit card as fast as possible…unless you get to a month where you don’t have enough for even the minimum payment. Oops.) While the short-term results were painful, the lesson learned for the future was invaluable.
My health was another big stressor this year. While I knew that I was learning how to heal from burnout the last few years, I hadn’t fully realized the impact of peri menopause in addition. I started out the year practically homicidal. But I was put on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) in mid-February and my symptoms quickly evened out. I wasn’t 100% back to myself, but at 80-95% (depending on the day), it was a huge relief!
Unfortunately, that 5-20% still bothered me with brain fog and fatigue, feeling like I couldn’t keep two thoughts in my head half the time. That doubled the amount of time it took me to do client work and my own work, which made me feel like I was getting further and further behind every month. Then after my half marathon, I caught a terrible respiratory infection that knocked me out for a couple weeks. A few weeks later, I caught Covid for the first time.
While between them it felt like I lost a good two months in trying to get healthy again, that time also made me think about how I’m living my life without much white space right now. That’s not what I want. I’ve had a half-finished puzzle on the table for a couple months because I keep telling myself I don’t have time to play right now. What’s that about? That’s something I want to actively plan to change next year.
These are only a few of things I came up with when I spent more than one minute thinking about the year. Turns out, there were a lot of good things in my business and personal life in 2023. In addition, of course, to a lot of lessons learned, and a lot of unfortunate things I couldn’t do much about. But once I could see these things written out, I could start seeing a much clearer picture of what the year truly was like.
That allowed me to start a list of what I wanted to change (quite a few things) in 2024, what I wanted to do more of, and a few things I needed to cut way back on. When I start my annual planning for the new year, I’m going to take this new, more complete, list and look at if from the standpoint of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). I’ll also compare my bigger life goals against the year – am I living my life with purpose and loving everyone as much as I can?
So how about your year in review? Can you take longer than a few minutes and really think it all through, write it down and take a solid look at it? I think you’ll find some really helpful information to make next year better.
And I bet you see a bunch of things to remind you that this past year was even better than what you remember!
I hope you take the time. It’s worth it.
Neetu Malik: Featured Author
November 7, 2023 by Neetu Malik in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured Author of the Month, Neetu Malik, Poet's Day, poetry
Neetu Malik’s poetry is an expression of life’s rhythms and the beat of the human spirit. She draws upon diverse multicultural experiences and observations across three continents in which she has lived. She has contributed to The Australia Times Poetry Magazine, October Hill Magazine, Prachya Review, among others. Her poems have appeared in The Poetic Bond Anthology V and VI published by Willowdown Books, UK, NY Literary Magazine’s Tears Anthology and Poetic Imagination Anthology (Canada).
Her poem, “Soaring Flames”, was awarded First-Place by the NY Literary Magazine (2017). She has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, 2019 for her poem “Sacred Figs” published by Kallisto Gaia Press in their Ocotillo Review in May, 2018.
Neetu lives in Pennsylvania, USA.
You can find Neetu’s poetry in these volumes.
Hover on the cover for buy links. Click on the cover for more information.
CONFERENCE PREP Part Three
November 5, 2023 by Tracy Reed in category WritingHappy Fall. We’re almost with my series Conference Prep.
I have done quite a few pop ups and sales events in addition to book signings and I’ve learned a few things about Event Design.
I come from an event planning and boutique owner background. I realize I am at a slight advantage because design is part of my day-to-day. But what I’m suggesting anyone can do.
When I do an event, if possible I get as much information in advance as possible about my space. Currently, I’m an unknown author. By that I mean, at present there aren’t a lot of readers actively seeking me out at events. Some day soon that will change, but my event design mindset won’t.
Here’s how I prepare my table or space for book signings. It’s very important I stay on brand. In my other business, fuchsia, black and white are my brand colors. I carried those colors over to my author world. I like flowers especially pink peonies, pink roses, hydrangea and Casablanca lilies. A staple to my table is a huge arrangement of assorted pink silk flowers. The vase with the flowers is about 3’ tall. This is an attention getter and events. Most women like flowers so when they see the flowers, readers are quick to come see if they’re real. Once they get to my table, it allows me to introduce them to my author world.
I research design ideas and once I settle on a look, I test it out. I want to see how long it will take me to set it up and tear it down. When I set up my table, I’m arranging everything so I can see how it looks to the reader walking by or stopping to purchase. I want to see if they can reach for something without knocking anything down. I utilize every inch of the tabletop for display.
I handle my sales and book signing at a small collapsible table I hide behind my sign.
I use small signs with trope cards, series order, prices, newsletter sign up and any other information I need posted. I scatter loose swag on the table and use glass bowls for saleable swag. Stacks of postcards are placed near their respective books. I also use a plain tablecloth in one of my signature colors.
My design For Steamy Lit, was beautiful if I say so myself. However, I wouldn’t have done this design if I had to fly to an event because there were a lot of elements. A tall vase with flowers, gigantic pink and cream flowers attached to the front of the tablecloth, risers, a small table and my retractable sign. The flowers on the tablecloth looked like they had fallen from the vase of flowers. This was an elaborate design which required a couple of hours to assemble.
This design can be modified for a travel event by eliminating the flowers on the front of the tablecloth and the small table. Instead of silk flowers, I recommend purchasing fresh flower and later use as a giveaway or thank you to the event host. I could pack the silk flowers and trick up a vase, but I would prefer to use an extra suitcase for books to sell, plus the ones I bought.
Funny story. At Steamy Lit, I had broken down all my empty boxes and put them next to my table. The cleaning people thought they were trash and took them. Thank God, I’d sold books so I didn’t need those boxes.
There are exceptions to every rule. Now if your signing space is limited, I suggest you stay as close to your brand as possible. Maybe instead of a tall vase of flowers, get a small one and a floral garland. Use a tabletop retractable sign and possibly a table banner. Print a price list and had it to readers or put it in a frame. Still stumped for a design idea…visit Pinterest. Set up a board with looks you like and when the time comes, you’ll be set to shine and hopefully, gain new readers and sales.
To sum up. Make your signing space representative of your brand.
