September IWSG

How do you find the time to write in your busy day?

At the moment I'm not writing, but I used to find time to write late at night, when everyone was asleep. Also, weekends used to be my most creative time:) I don't have much of a social life, so that's why weekends worked for me. 

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I'm a little sad today. Due to health reasons, I'm taking a break from writing until I feel better. It scares me. I don't like the idea of not writing. But in truth, I haven't been writing anyway. 

I can't help but wonder, if I take a break from writing, am I still a writer? The answer is I don't know. I have to take this break. I'm getting professional help for my depression and I can't pretend I'm not ill anymore. 

I hope my post doesn't get anyone down today. Wishing you all lots of beauty in your lives and happiness. Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement. 

The Insecure Writers Support Group was created by the talented Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh so that writers can share their insecurities and/or encourage others who need support with their own. You can visit Alex Here, or if you want to join us in discussing our insecurities on the first Wednesday of each month, you are welcome to join by going Here.

Piper Morgan Blog Tour

I would like to welcome the awesome Stephanie Faris to my blog. Come on, don't her book covers just shout "read me?" Hoping you sell lots of books, Stephanie. 

7 Ways to Find Time to Read

by Stephanie Faris

As I write this, I’m laughing at the irony. Just moments ago, I read a few pages in the current book I’m reading and felt guilty with every word. How could I set aside even five minutes to read when I have so much to do?

But I do. I try to read a little every day, even when life is super crazy. Here are a few ways you can squeeze writing into your busy schedule.

·         Dedicated Time—The best option is to simply set aside “reading time” every day. My mom does this just before bed. Some people read during their lunch break or while eating dinner (if they live alone). Find a time that will be easy to stick to each day.

·         Multitask—Before my treadmill died, I used to read while walking every day. You can also squeeze in reading time while blow drying your hair or waiting in the pick-up lane at your child’s school.

·         App It—There are times when you’ll wish you had your book on hand. If you read on your Kindle, there’s an easy way to do that. Download the Kindle app for your phone. When you’re stuck in the waiting room at the doctor’s office or waiting in line at the post office, you can pull up your app and go to the last page you read on your Kindle.

·         Set a Daily Goal—You don’t have to read 100 pages a day. Simply tell yourself that you’re going to read a chapter a day or 20-50 pages. Whatever works for you. Over time, those small daily pages add up.

·         Learn Speed Reading—I’ve never taken a speed-reading class, but I know people who have…and they can power through a book! These small techniques can help you get through your pages much faster.

·         Audiobooks—When I commuted to an office every day, audiobooks got me through rush-hour traffic. I actually started looking forward to my “alone time” every morning, where I’d sip a cup of coffee and listen to the latest bestseller. If you can’t afford an app like Audible, you can likely get audiobooks free from your library’s website.

·         Cut Something Else—If you need extra time in the day, the best thing to do is eliminate something. Find an area where you’re wasting time—such as arguing with people about the presidential election on Facebook—and channel that energy into reducing your to-read pile.

These tips may not be the magic fix you’re looking for, but hopefully they’ll help you think twice when you say you don’t have time to read. Everyone can likely find at least 15 extra minutes a day to read, but if you can set aside an hour or more and relax, you’ll likely be happier and healthier.

Blurb

When Piper Morgan has to move to a new town, she is sad to leave behind her friends, but excited for a new adventure. She is determined to have fun, be brave and find new friends.

In Piper Morgan Joins the Circus, Piper learns her mom’s new job will be with the Big Top Circus. She can’t wait to learn all about life under the big top, see all the cool animals, and meet the Little Explorers, the other kids who travel with the show. She’s even more excited to learn that she gets to be a part of the Little Explorers and help them end each show with a routine to get the audience on their feet and dancing along!

In Piper Morgan in Charge, Piper’s mom takes a job in the local elementary school principal’s office. Piper is excited for a new school and new friends—and is thrilled when she is made an “office helper.” But there is one girl who seems determined to prove she is a better helper—and she just so happens to be the principal’s daughter. Can Piper figure out how to handle being the new girl in town once more?

Stephanie Faris knew she wanted to be an author from a very young age. In fact, her mother often told her to stop reading so much and go outside and play with the other kids. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in broadcast journalism, she somehow found herself working in information technology. But she never stopped writing.

Stephanie is the Simon & Schuster author of 30 Days of No Gossip and 25 Roses. When she isn’t crafting fiction, she writes for a variety of online websites on the topics of business, technology, and her favorite subject of all—fashion. She lives in Nashville with her husband, a sales executive. 

Links:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram
Amazon

The road to recovery continues

I had my appointment with my rheumatologist yesterday and didn't get the news I wanted. He can't give me a diagnosis, but he thinks it is chronic pain. The good news is that it's not arthritis. Yay. Though, having been on various medications for the past few months hasn't been fun. Got new meds yesterday again, which has me feeling groggy today. It is supposed to pass in a day or two. But he wants me to exercise to combat the depression.

Personally, I didn't feel he was very sympathetic. My brother said I was just being a baby. How do you exercise when you can barely summon the courage to take a shower? I don't like people thinking of me as lazy. I'm not. I just lack the energy and will to do most things.

So, I'm feeling very frustrated. I feel like I'm never going to know what the heck is wrong with my hands that are forever sore and aching. I'm afraid I'll have to be stuck with the pain forever. But my doctor wants me to exercise my hands too.

Have any of you ever gone through something like this?

Making things a bit easier for me

Thank you so much for the amazing support during this month's IWSG post. Your kind words always provide comfort and inspiration.

A week or two ago the awesome Pat Garcia nominated me for the Liebster Award. As always, I felt very honored. But I haven't taken up the task of answering any of the questions Pat has set aside for me and because of this reason, I don't think I can accept this award. Sorry to disappoint you, Pat. I just don't feel up to it.

And for that exact reason, I won't be accepting any other blogging awards, or partaking in any other blog hops aside for the IWSG. I have decided to make things easier for me. I don't want to take on anything and not be able to see it through. Sorry if I'm disappointing anyone.

Some good news though. I wrote 1900 words today. It was great! I think breaking my writing up into smaller sessions helped today.

I hope all is going well with you my blogging friends. Let me know in the comments.

Into the darkness I go again (IWSG)

IWSG Question: What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?

My  Answer: The first story I wrote was a love story of a misfit high school girl making friends with the new, but fast becoming popular boy. I was in high school at the time and was channeling my own feelings of not belonging. However, before I went off to college I destroyed all my written works, thinking of them as childish things that were of no value. After all, I was going to be a serious person. Sad,right? I was so uptight back then:)

Moving on to my insecurity . . . I feel rather frustrated. More with myself than anything else. Even though I have gotten some writing done and slowly finding myself getting back into a type of schedule, I'm still not as motivated as I once was. I want to do so much, but when I wake up in the mornings, I feel depressed and my mood is so dark and it pushes my creativity into dormancy. Just when I think I'm free of those feelings, they come back just when I'm ready to move on. I've blamed laziness and procrastination, but I just can't get out of this funk. 

I will be seeing my specialist, with regards to the pain and discomfort in my hands this month again. Hopefully I can get him to refer me to someone that can help with my depression. Hopefully then I can go back to my writing life and become sane again. Right now, all this lack of hope and desire to write is driving me crazy. This isn't who I am. Sorry that this post is so heavy. 

The Insecure Writers Support Group was created by the talented Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh so that writers can share their insecurities and/or encourage others who need support with their own. You can visit Alex Here, or if you want to join us in discussing our insecurities on the first Wednesday of each month, you are welcome to join by going Here.

I get distracted easily

When it comes to my writing, I like to think that I'm cool, calm and collected. I take my time. I don't rush the experience. That's all fine and well, but that attitude has done nothing but made me lazy.

For the past couple of months I told myself "Don't worry, you will get to your writing. Finish binge watching old Sex and the City episodes. You will get to writing, eventually." Do you know what? I didn't get any writing done.

Unfortunately, I'm  not one of those writers, if left on their own, that will just keep on working on their novel when there's a TV close by. Just like with food I gravitate towards burgers, pizza and soda. The bad stuff, I guess.

So in order for me to stop picking the wrong things (writing wise), I've decided to go back to a writing schedule. I had one before. However, I've never been able to use a schedule for blogging. I'm just random like that.

Discipline has worked for  me before, so hopefully, it will work for me again. In my defense, burgers are great and can I help that there are so many great movies and series out there to watch? A girl gets distracted . . .

Because I like a challenge

I am thirty years old and I’m not financially independent. While I do get the regular “Why aren’t you married yet? You’re not getting any younger,” comment, I couldn’t care less about getting married. I’m more shocked at the fact that I’ve only ever lived with my family (holidays don’t count) and that after thirty years, I’m still financially dependent on them. Shocking right? Do you know the weird part? Even if I had the money, I would still be living with my family. They’re also my best friends. Not many people get me in the real world, in person. So, I hang on tight to the few that do:)

I’ve never had jobs that earned so much that I could survive on my own salary and the one job that made living alone possible, back in 2013, wasn’t the kind of job I could do long term. When my boss told me to “Do as I say, or you won’t be working here long,” I handed in my resignation and mentally told him to shove his job where the sun didn’t shine. Then my brother came to the rescue of course. Since then I did little things here and there to get an income but I haven’t been able to hold down any other job. Pathetic I know.

So, because I’m such a loser, I thought I would start, from today on, to make becoming “financially independent” my new life goal. I love being a writer. But I don’t want my fiction to be the reason to make money. I want it to be the fun part. I thus have to come up with another means of income. Several actually. I’m embarrassed to mention it, but I’ve actually signed up to various online survey sites and they offer cash, or shopping vouchers in exchange. Of course there’s a payout threshold, but it’s one form of income. So, I just have to figure out another few too.

I’ve always wanted to write freelance. Though, I have been warned about how tough it is out there. I understand, but, most people also warned me that publishing a book is almost impossible and I actually did do it, even after years of struggling, but I did it and hope to do so again. A challenge doesn’t scare me anymore. To prove it, I bought a website for my freelance business. You can check it out here and tell me what you think. Yep, that is my real name. Though, that is another post. 

Because struggling to write fiction isn’t difficult enough, I will add struggling for financial independence to my “to do” list from now on. Stay tuned if you want a good laugh. I’m rather excited about it. The worst that could happen is that I stay broke, right?

How long did it take you to become financially independent? Got any advice for me?