You may have noticed…or not, that I’ve been somewhat absent this year. It’s been a year of dramatic change, which isn’t over yet, and we’re now ten months into our year of Milo. Milo being our two-year-old grandson, that we unexpectedly stayed in California to spend time with. You should know that every time I say his name, or write it, I smile. Yes, I’m smiling now.
I thought I’d get at least some writing done this year, you know, in the early morning hours, or maybe late at night, like I did when our three boys were young, but it hasn’t worked like. Well, I did write one short story #DumpsterFireLove, while recovering from my tummy tuck (yes, I did this) in October, and Love & Mud Puddles, a Christmas romcom, was released in November, but beyond that, while my intentions were good, these months have truly been all about Milo (smiling). And nothing could have made me happier.
And nothing could have been better for me!
Writer’s can’t just sit behind their desk conjuring words out of thin air, we have to experience life in order to write about it. Spending time with a toddler again, seeing his sense of wonder at every new thing…which is nearly everything, because, well, he’s two, has brought back my own sense of wonder. His joy when he sees purple flowers, a big yellow school bus, or a pinecone has reminded me to see the things that are right in front of me, and his little arms around my neck, nose kisses, and sweet pats on the back have softened my heart, and reminded me what the world should be. What I want it to be for him.
I’ve had new experiences apart from Milo (smiling). Preparing for a move to what feels like a whole new world, the Arizona desert, a personal transformation that is not yet complete, and a year of living in an apartment…which I had only done for one year previously, the year I was eighteen.
My last day taking care of Milo, at least regularly, will be May 25th. I’ll be having one more surgery, (two knee replacements and a tummy tuck over the last 3 years so far) one I’ve wanted for a long time, then after recovery, Hunky Hubby will be retiring, and we’ll be off to Arizona where I’ll be settling into a new life, writing, and living for video chats and occasional visits with Milo (teary eyed smiling).
What will I be writing? I plan on finishing…at long last…my 1920’s novel, and maybe writing a little Route 66 romcom series. In the meantime, I’m treasuring these last days with Milo, purple flowers and pinecones (we collect them).
Would love to catch up with all of you! What have I missed this year? Tell me in the comments…or message me!
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been on our radar for years, and on our fiction radar for decades. But since OpenAI opened its doors for anyone and everyone to try out ChatGPT six months ago, it seems AI has exploded across the world and across industries.
If you haven’t played with it yet, you might be wondering — what can an author do with it anyway? (Besides ask it to write a book for you, which would actually take about as much work as writing it yourself to come up with something really good and not generic-sounding.) Turns out, there are lots of things.
The free version of ChatGPT can do a lot, but don’t expect it to “get it right” on the first try. You need to understand how to ask it questions to get the best answers. And you need to know enough about the topic to know when it got something a little (or a lot) wrong, or when its answer is just too generic to be useful. The newer paid version is already miles ahead of the free one, but you still need to understand how to ask your questions.
I’m going to be showing my group coaching clients how to use the free ChatGPT for brainstorming, how it’s different from “Googling” something, and the specific and helpful ways it can make your writing life easier. And more fun!
If you’ve used it, what do you feel it has done well or poorly? If you haven’t used it, what makes you want to try it or makes you shy away from it?
Award winning author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature, but her true passion is the much happier world of romance fiction. Though her roots are in the Midwest, after six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California where she shares a midcentury home with two furry four-legged girls and keeps a dependable stash of lollipops for the munchkins in her life.
She is the author of several Regency romances, including the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best winner, Rosalyn’s Ring. She is hard at work on her next series of Regency romances, but loves to hear from readers!
In addition to Quarter Days, Alina’s quarterly column’s on A Slice of Orange, you can visit her at:
Well, I have a “new” book out this month—rather, a re-release of a book that was first published in 2018, and I was invited to participate in a chat this week on Writerspace for authors with new books out!
And it is rather new. The title and cover are both new, at least. It’s part of my K-9 Ranch Rescue series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, and its original title was SECOND CHANCE SOLDIER. Now, it’s THE SOLDIER’S K-9 MISSION, and I love the new cover—because it’s got a couple of K-9s on it. They’re part of the story, so that works. But Harlequin is apparently republishing lots of books to emphasize the dogs in them. My other K-9 Ranch Rescue book TRAINED TO PROTECT was also republished recently with a new cover. The former one had a K-9 on it, but the new cover really emphasizes the dog and the fact he’s in a K-9 unit.
New books? Not exactly. But I love the new covers, and the one’s new title, thanks to the emphasis on the dogs! I suspect that the idea is to make sure readers know about the dogs in the books. Gee, I guess I’m not the only dog lover out there! I sure enjoy writing stories containing dogs and also reading others’ books with dogs in them.
Do you enjoy writing, or reading, books with dogs in them? Do you have any other themes that are your favorites?
Do you enjoy writing, or reading, books with dogs in them? Do you have any other themes that are your favorites?
Happy May.
Yes, I’m going to say it . . . I can’t believe it’s already May. The year is almost half over and I still have things from the first quarter I need to do.
Okay, so I’m going off course with this post and talk about a subject we as authors are guilty of not doing . . . self-care . . . wellness. I don’t know about you, but I am slowly moving back into society after three years of isolation. I still wear a mask. No judging. I happen to be highly allergic . . . grass, watermelon, horse hair, peanuts, cats, some dogs, dust…the list goes on. The other reason I’m still masked up, I’ve been undergoing some dental work and don’t want to catch anything before my next procedure..
Thanks to COVID, I have neglected myself. My beauty or maintenance regime has been very inconsistent. Prior to COVID, I went to the salon regularly. My hands, feet and hair were always on point. I worked out five days a week between 60 and 90 minutes per day.
As we are on the back end of the pandemic, I got a revelation. I need to take regular breaks. I also realized, haven’t been good about my self-care. I did a self-check and was shocked how easy it was for me fall back into some of my old habits. Not getting enough sleep was at the top of my list. When I don’t get enough rest, my thinking is cloudy and clear and my writing makes no sense.
So how am I going to resolve this? With baby steps.
First off, if I were to go all in with a major wellness change, I think I’d freak out. I really want to rest from all work for three consecutive days a month. Then I want to break the late night television binge. I have been hooked on Perry Mason reruns as well as the new HBO version. These two shows have kept up beyond my sleep time. The next thing, I want to do is gym five days a week for an hour per day. Third, I want to eliminate junk.
Believe it or not, the easiest thing on this list to do is eliminate junk food. Telling my body no to junk food was easy. Telling my body to go to bed earlier wasn’t. Here’s the weird part, my body clock still wants to get up at it’s designated time regardless of when I got into bed..
What does all of this have to do with self-care/wellness? If we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t count on anyone else to do it for us. The main reason for self-care is to live better . . . get stronger . . . get healthy.
If you haven’t already, I challenge you to start a wellness plan and or journal. Pencil in three day breaks every quarter. Remember, on these breaks you aren’t allowed to do anything work related. Then I want you to adjust or evaluate your sleep schedule. I won’t ask how many are on a regular sleep schedule, because we’re writers. We write when the muse speaks, but let’s train the muse to visit us during the day so we don’t have to be up late..
Next on the list, cut back on the junk food. Do I really need to explain this to you? You know junk food isn’t the healthiest option. However, the occasional hamburger and fries sort of just hit the spot. If you aren’t working out, get a plan. Start out with a brisk walk a few times a week. Then add some strength training. Trust me on the strength training. You need all the strength you can get to set up your book tables at signing events.
These few changes will help you stay healthy and wise. Trust me, your brain will welcome the opportunity to recharge.
Here’s to a new healthy second half of the year.
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When faced with a darkened doorstep, think before you walk through.
More info →Not all fairy tales are as they appear.
More info →A Slice of Orange is an affiliate with some of the booksellers listed on this website, including Barnes & Nobel, Books A Million, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords. This means A Slice of Orange may earn a small advertising fee from sales made through the links used on this website. There are reminders of these affiliate links on the pages for individual books.
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