APPRECIATE LIFE

As a creative person, we sometimes get caught up in the business of life. Here's a TED video from Louie Schwartzberg that will help you get back to what's important. Please take a moment to view it and rejuvenate yourself.

TED video

Just a quick note for my friends - if you have wanted to read MY SECRET MOTHER: an adoptee speaks to the girls who went away, and didn't want to pay $4.99, then go to Smashwords now and get it for 75% off!

here's the link

The sale ends March 10.

WELCOME TO THE RESOLUTION

Here we are again - another year past and another year ahead. If you had spent one hour per day everyday during the past year writing 500 words, you would have written 182,500 words or about 2 average size novels. Yes, you can argue with that stat but instead, go write your 500 words.
I don't particularly like the word "resolution" and prefer the word "intention" because I think it is stronger. So, I guess that means it's time for this year's New Years Intentions:

1. I intend to write 500 words per day
2. I intend to take at least 2 vacations (but I'll write my 500 words)
3. I intend to belly laugh at least once per day
4. I intend to stop having "seconds" (notice I didn't say desserts)
5. I intend to shake hands less and hug more
6. I intend to dream bigger
7. I intend to go to bed earlier
8. I intend to "unsubscribe" from more sites than I "subscribe" to
9. I intend to seek happiness in every situation
10. I intend to see possibility instead of impossibility
11. I intend to listen more actively and talk less frequently (unless being paid for it)
12. I intend to create life rather than watch it pass
13. I intend to take a few minutes first thing every day to read something inspiring 
14. I intend to listen to my "gut" more and follow its path
15. I intend to spend more time with people and businesses who support me, and less...
16. I intend to make 2012 the springboard to my best life

If you would like to share, I would like to post it, or perhaps you will use the comment section to list your one, most important New Year's Intention and please feel free to share these thoughts with others. It's easy to use the buttons below to send it to your friends.

WRITERS GROUPS

I had an inquiry from an author the other day about two things: first he wanted to contact someone about editing his new novel and he was also looking to find a group of like-minded writers who would get together and critique each others work. Isn't it funny how things just "pop up" when we are thinking about them?
I had been thinking about the solitary life of a writer who spends countless hours with nothing but her thoughts and a keyboard when someone reached out to me with a lovely note. I had recently published My Secret Mother and a reader sent me a copy of a review she had posted which opened up a whole new world to me.
I have loved everything about books since the first moment I smelled them in my first visit to the public library and I find that I have spent most of my life gravitating to people and circumstances where books are a central theme. I love nothing more than hearing about a new book or author from someone who has read them and sharing my latest find with them.
The review of my own book had been posted on an online site called "Goodreads." Naturally, I clicked on the link to read this five star rating and then started looking around. Truth be told, I had heard about Goodreads before and I am sure I made a note of the address in a notebook somewhere but had not taken the time to search it out. All I can say is, "Wow!" This a book lovers dream come true (shhh, I was thinking about another phrase with the word "dream" in it for you erotica writers out there, but don't tell anyone). Most writers are, in the first place, readers. I know there are lots of book clubs around but maybe you don't belong to one. How about a book club with 5,000,000 members who are passionate about reading and sharing?
Anyway, needless to say, I joined, invited a few friends to join me and now I am inviting you to take a look - here's my profile page, set up your own, ask me to be a friend - I will - and then start looking for more contacts, book recommendations and ratings. I have found some great reads and some new authors (some of whom are now friends) and am having a fabulous time connecting with people just like you - book lovers.
To bring this all together, we all need feedback from people who are objective and knowledgeable whether we are budding authors or just interested readers. I was able to connect the young man from the first paragraph with a great local editor who also meets with a group of other writers. But, what a wonderful time to be alive for authors and readers when we can connect with people from around the world to discover new books, new writers and new opportunities to literally (pun intended) expand our horizons.

THE STORY OF OUR LIVES

It is the morning of 9/11, 2011 and I have been watching the coverage of the moving ceremonies in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pa. It would be inappropriate to use this anniversary for any kind of self-promotion but it does bring home the fact that in every life, or death, there is a story. Almost 3,000 people lost their hopes, dreams and futures in that single act of terrorism but their life lives on in the memories of their families and friends. Every life, even yours and mine, is worth preserving and it is up to you and I to do that very thing.
Let's not forget those people who follow us who will be interested in our dreams and may be inspired by our stories. Please, tell your story, tell the story of your ancestors, friends, teachers and people who influenced the events of your life.
Let us not forget.

INSPIRATION

Inspiration is that deeper part of our spirit that emerges when we give ourselves permission to live our dreams