Still Groundhog Day?
February 6, 2023 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as distractions, edits, recurrence, writing
It’s now the second month of 2023. Do things keep recurring to you, as they do with me—kind of an ongoing Groundhog Day, even though that was four days ago this year.
But as I’ve mentioned before, it’s another busy year for me. At the moment, I’m working on edits for two of the books I’ll have out later this year. Edit, after edit, after edit. Yes, a recurrence of edits, though they’re for different stories.
And then I have more books to write, and at the moment they’re all in series that have already begun. Yes, another similar, but different, recurrence in my writing.
Hey, though. I like them all, and that’s just the way things are for me now. Different, yet in some ways recurring.
That, plus my puppy Roxie just had her first birthday, and I love paying attention to her and our older dog Cari. Distractions from my writing? Definitely, as I’ve mentioned before. But happy ones. And delightfully recurring ones.
How about you? What recurs in your life and your writing?
~ Linda
Some of Linda’s Books
The Birthday Song(s)
January 30, 2023 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as Birthday Songs, music, writing
I often listen to music while I’m writing, and it’s nearly always to one of my two favorite college radio stations: WPRB in Princeton, NJ, or KVCU in Boulder, CO. No Spotify or Pandora for me.
The other day the DJ Dana K from WPRB decided to celebrate her birthday by playing during her two-hour show songs only from the year she was born. What a cool idea, I thought. I’d never looked back at songs that way. And since this post is the closest to my birthday month—I won’t be posting in February because my slot falls on the 30th of the month—I am going to do that look-back here.
To give the range more breadth than Dana K did, I expanded my research (thank you, Google) beyond my birth year to all years that are decades for it—so, all years that end in the same digit. I discovered, though, that, like any best-of list, what’s “best” is in the eye of the beholder. Since I don’t currently listen to top-40 radio, those that floated to the top of the online lists were not often ones I would choose to play (or remember fondly).
I did see some favorites, but many other popular hits did not register high on my interest gauge.
I was delighted to find that both “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Suede and “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone were on the list. I am a big fan of the film Guardians of the Galaxy, and those two songs are part of the much-played soundtrack. “Jolene” by Dolly Parton is on the list; I also love Jack White’s version of the song, which came out 30 years later, on the White Stripes’ Under Blackpool Lights.
“Beeswing” by Richard Thompson was not a top-40 hit on the lists, but it’s a stunning song-story on Mirror Blue by one of my favorite singer-songwriters. “Crown of Love,” from the debut album by Arcade Fire, is another on the timeline that swept me away. And I was happy to discover that “Say It Ain’t So” on Weezer‘s Blue Album fit my time parameter; the song speaks to a topic that’s personal for me.
There are many other songs I could mention. Instead, I’ll just slip on my ear buds, crank up the volume, and get back to writing my next story.
Some of Dianna’s Books
Friendly Reminder
January 15, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as be kind, new year, reminders, writing
For me, January has always felt like a clean slate. An opportunity to psych myself up for the year ahead and think about all the things I hope to accomplish.
On the contrary, January is also a time when I think back on all of the things I wasn’t able to accomplish over the past year.
Did I reach my fitness goals? Nope.
Did I tackle that home improvement project? Nope.
Did I publish my next children’s book? Nope.
I find that I always need that friendly reminder to focus more on what I did accomplish, and less on what I didn’t.
Did I make sure my children knew they were loved? Yes.
Did I keep things like family dinners despite our crazy activity schedule? Yes.
Did I raise a puppy? Yes.
Did I volunteer my time to important causes? Yes.
Did I take outdoor walks when my schedule/the weather allowed? Yes.
Did I tackle massive projects at work? Yes.
Did I start contributing to a new blog? Yes!!!
Did I write my first romance novel? Yes!
Focusing more on what I did accomplish, helps better prepare me for what I hope to accomplish in the New Year.
How can I build upon the things I that I was successful at? How will that help me accomplish the things I haven’t been successful with in the past?
Please remember to be kind to yourself. You’re doing great things and you are enough just as you are. Everything else is a bonus. 🙂
Are you an author or a writer? and my TikTok Confession by Jina Bacarr
January 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category historical fiction, Holocaust, Jina’s Book Chat, Paris novels, Writing tagged as author, Berlin, editing, Paris, World War 2, Writer, writing@jinabacarrauthor WIP woes… #booktok #authorlife #writersoftiktok #amwriting #ameditingfiction #womensfiction #booktoker @bookandtonic #writer #authorsoftiktok #heartbreakingstories #amediting edit
No, this isn’t a trick question.
It’s the challenge we ladies of the pen all face in our social media, digital, crazy, mad, mad world…
The answer is: BOTH.
The writer is me in total chaos working on an insanely difficult book about rape in France during World War II with a deadline looming. My office is a mess, I’m a mess… the manuscript, thank God, is NOT a mess but it’s not finished yet. Weaving such a trauma against the backdrop of the Nazi Occupation is the most gut-wrenching task I’ve ever faced. It’s taken me a while to get a handle on the story of two sisters and how the rape of one of them affects them both.
That’s the writer me.
—–
Now for the author me.
That’s the me writing this post because this is my chance every month to reach out to you guys and let you know what’s going on in my world. It’s how we present ourselves to the book world and at times is as just as trying and difficult as the writer me.
Hence, my TikTok confession.
I hope you enjoy my video showing me in my office drowning in research material… oh, Lord.
——–
And now for some good stuff, if I may.
My WW2 story THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN is now FREE to read in PRIME on Amazon
THE OPRHANS OF BERLIN
Meet the Landau Sisters barely surviving in Nazi Germany… and Kay Alexander, the amazing debutante from Philadelphia who will stop at nothing to save them from the Nazis in 1939 Berlin…
And of course, there’s a British pilot hero to die for…
—————
0 0 Read moreYou Can Go the Distance by Kitty Bucholtz
January 10, 2023 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as Classes, coaching, writingHappy New Year! The thing I love about mornings, Mondays, and January is that it’s a great time to start again. Today is the first full working week of the year for me and I’m excited. I’m making plans and figuring out, of the hundreds of things I want to do, how much I can get done this year and what things are most important to me.
Decades of experience shows me there’s no way I can accomplish everything, not even the most important things. 😀 So I’ve been telling myself — like when you get on or off a train in the city — to Mind the Gap. Be aware that, in addition to my Everything list, my Most Important list is too long to finish in a year. But I also want to keep training my brain to believe that I CAN do what’s necessary. Even if my conscious mind doesn’t know how to do that, my unconscious can figure out some things that will be nice surprises to me this year.
I want to help you and our other writer friends find ways to get more writing done in a less stressful way this year, too! One way I’ll do that is to reintroduce my online class, Going the Distance: Time and Project Management for Writers. Yay! I’ll post more information about it here. Let me know if you want to join us!
The other way I can help is to share a simple exercise I shared with some of my clients in December. Looking ahead at the whole year, what are the top three things you’d like to accomplish? And for each of those things, what are the top three things you can DO to achieve each item?
That’s it. Simple. Nine tasks to move you toward a satisfying conclusion to the year twelve months from now. 😀 I hope it helps you to have this simple but comprehensive view of the year, no stress, no pages and pages of detailed plans. Just nine tasks.
If you prefer a deeper dive into planning your whole year so that you get the most accomplished that you possibly can, look for details on my upcoming Going the Distance class on my blog over the next week or two! Have a fantastic day and year!
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ADVENGING THE EARL’S LADY
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