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Step into the Abyss #MFRWAuthor

Okay, it’s Indiana Jones (and isn’t Harrison Ford young??) But it does illustrate the concept of having some faith in yourself.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you look for You Tube videos concerning stepping into the abyss, you’ll find a wide range of choices. Several have to do with the space station, and have a caption:

Every second boy wants to become a cosmonaut. The profession seems romantic and dangerous.

Sorry, that’s a digression. I was amused at the idea that only a boy wants to be a cosmonaut. Seriously? Since my days of reading Andre Norton I was torn between training horses and exploring space. Neither one of which was practical but hey a girl can dream.

The point I think I’m making is, nothing in life is guaranteed. All we can do is use the gifts we’re given as best we can.
Bulbs planted will come up. Recipes attempted will be edible. And I will eventually adjust to the time change.

Eventually we'll wake up...honest

Eventually we’ll wake up…honest

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Writers…Write. And other thoughts for the New Year

I’ve known most of what I was going to write for my New Year post for a while. The intention was to think on inspirations from 2013, and how those could be applied going forward. Then I started looking for a Thomas Edison quote I’d seen recently. Edison was a brilliant man, able to apply the vast amounts of data he took in to solve problems not everyone knew existed, and his life philosophies apply just as much to writing as to inventing. Such as:

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up

The three greatest essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are: Hard Work, Stick-to-itevness and Common Sense.

Success in writing, at least the non literary writing I read, is gauged by selling books. The more books you have available to sell, the greater opportunity you give yourself for success. Simple. Sales are often, but not always, gauged on the quality of the writing but as with any endeavor, practice makes you better. Granted there is no rhyme or reason to the success of some books but the key behind those sales is…the books were written, and available.

Last year a writer I first met through dogs (which won’t surprise most who know me) was going through the loss of one of her precious dog buddies. She told me later, as she waited for the doctor to come by and ease this lovely lady on her journey, that she was at something of a loss what she could do, except: “I’m a writer…I wrote.” This is her approach to life, and I probably don’t need to add she successful in both sales and in quality.

A writer friend had her apartment burgled. She lost not only jewelry and other items but also her computer, which contained all of her many books including the WIP. Devastating. Again, a prolific, successful writer, one I admire greatly not only for her writing but also her willingness to help. Not long after the burglary, she was sharing section of her WIP on FaceBook. I told her how much I enjoyed the segment and also admired her getting anything done after her loss. And she said “Some days I only write a line or a paragraph but I have committed to writing every day.”

And as simply as that, I had my life goals re-affirmed. I am a writer. I write. I hit stalls and other demands on my time but every day, I’m writing if only a line or two. And the two tortured lonely people in my WIP thank me although they’re getting impatient for their first love scene.

When the book looms too large in my mind...

When the book looms too large in my mind…

When the idea of a full length book or even worse a series looms large in my mind, I remind myself every book is written one word at a time.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed149049.html#9oMcwbCbm5iHxTtY.99

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Fantasy vs Reality

A few years back our well dried up. We’re thinking a good spell (years) of rain that well just might come back around. A deep snow pack that’s not vaporized by hot spring wind would help a lot. While I’m at it, I’ll put in a request for a barn to hold the many horses I’d love to own, and a nice working arena.  Yep, that’s one of my fantasies.

Reality is, once a week I hitch the trailer up to my old truck and drive a few miles to the local water source. On the trailer is a 250 gallon tank, enough water to last through laundry, showers, and cleaning. Loaded with minerals but really tasty for drinking, though I fill jugs with that reverse osmosis water for coffee. Now, 250 gallons of water is one solid ton of sloshing weight. That sort of weight puts pressure on tires, and the smart thing is to keep them inflated

Yep, that's a blown tire

Yep, that’s a blown tire

properly.  Sometimes I get too backed up and think “I can get to that next time around.” Resulting in, you guessed it, a blown tire.

If this was one of the books I write and read, the day after I limped my trailer home on a wheel and a rim, a compellingly attractive but not quite handsome farmer would drop by to help, even though such a person hasn’t been seen by me, especially not at the end of a half mile private lane.  Mayhaps a Navy SEAL or a ReCon soldier would wander by while training for battle in a hostile environment. Okay, so it’s not so hostile to me but my Canadian friends think all this dry brown stuff looks strange. Dirt, guys…it’s what’s under all the green stuff in your yards. I might even have a renegade Fae prince offer to help while working out issues with his kingdom under the hill.

Alas, ends up all I have is myself.  So I had to get to it.  Don’t let it get out but I’ve changed tires on my own before.

Can this tire be patched?

Can this tire be patched?

Also changed oil, alternators and a starter. Tried changing spark plugs but that didn’t work out so well. But a single small tire? No problem.  It took an extra bit of lift to make the car jack work but the rest was slick and smooth. Soon enough I was strollinginto Wal Mart, asking if they could patch my tire. The guy, oops Sales Associate, behind the counter didn’t think so, and led me over to the shelves to show me they didn’t have the right rim.  Guess he got the memo on show don’t tell, about the same time he had a humorectomy.

I ended up getting the correct tire at another place and doing the switch out. A minor chore,

All Done

All Done

but one I could handle on my own. Which I have to admit had its own reward. Though I wouldn’t have turned down a Highlander in a summer weight kilt, especially on a breezy day.

If you don’t have any tires to change out, you might spend this weekend immersed in marketing wizardry at the MFRW Summer Camp  where you can get your head filled with a multitude of ideas on how to promote your books while reliving your youthful times at came. Virtual marsmallows are the best…all the flavor you can remember and none of the calories or tooth decay. You can get to the camp through the MFRW website, the Summer Camp Link. Hope to see you there for fun, friendship, and knowledge.

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Meet Kendra…and Get Ready for Summer Camp

I’ve mentioned MFRW once or twice (okay, obsessively) Marketing For Romance Writers helps educate and promote authors, while encouraging them to do the same for each other.  Information is shared through a discussion group plus a forum with  Coffee Time Romance ,  and they’ll be repeating the amazing Summer Camp July 14-15. Two days of non stop learning and sharing, filling your head with knowledge and answering so many questions about what to do after the book is finished. Which actually means before the book is finished since we need to be setting up our marketing plans from the beginning.  And MFRW is there to help. Block off July 14-15, stock up on easy to fix meals. Pack your virtual bags, sew name tags into your clothes and be sure to have a supply of your elixir of choice so you won’t miss a thing.

What’s this about meeting Kendra, from My Killer My Love? Kayelle Allen, founder and driving force behind MFRW, offered Kendra an interview on  Romance Lives Forever Naturally Mykhael showed up since he doesn’t like to be too far away from Kendra for too long. Being Mykhael, he sort of took over, but I think you’ll enjoy learning more about these very special people.  Meet Kendra Weiss

If you’ve been missing the recipes, don’t worry, I’ve been working on some new low carb yummies. And on May 31 I’ll be sharing something from my wicked eating days, guaranteed to make you the hit of any summer get together.

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