Having Realistic Goals

I've been setting myself up for failure, and I just now realized it.

My life is full with wonderful pleasures, and there's hardly a spare moment to sit and breathe. My baby dinosaur (i.e., my baby girl who roars like a dinosaur) is happily roaring next to me as I type, her little feet and toes playing on my arm. I am content, happy, and fulfilled.

And every evening when the kids have gone to bed and I have an hour to myself, I write.

I'm currently working on the third book to the Perilous series (can I get a "yay!"?), a book I had set a goal to finish by the end of September. My plan was to write 3000 words every night.

And each night for the past week, I've written between 50-300.

I can't reach that goal of 3000, and I've been beating myself up for it. Instead of blaming myself, I've decided to blame the goal. It's too high. If I'm struggling to reach 500, how can I do 3000?

So I'm changing my goal to 500. That's lofty for me. It's not a lot, but it's more than what I've been doing. It's a reach. And I can do it. And I will reward myself generously for doing so.

The bottom line is, I think having a realistic goal will help me more in the long run than having one I consistently fail at. Who knows? I just might write more than that from time to time.

Self-esteem goes a long way, baby.

What are you working on? How do you feel about your goals?

My Gift to You

Deliverer is finally available!

This book, a novella told from the point-of-view of the villain from Perilous, is my gift to you. If you are already a fan of the Perilous series, hopefully you will be delighted to learn the unexpected story behind The Hand. If you've never read any of the Perilous series, this should be a great introduction.

The book is only available via Amazon for Kindle. There will be no print book. Deliverer is just for fun, just for your reading pleasure and to expound on the background of the series.

And for the next three days, it's free. So click on the cover to go directly to the download page, and enjoy!

Bathing your Cell Phone

It turns out, folks, that smart phones aren't meant to take a bath. I'm not sure how you're supposed to clean them behind the ears, but dumping water on them isn't the way to do it. As my children learned the hard way.

Luckily for the phone (and the children), the rice trick actually works. The sad, cracked phone that isn't up for an upgrade until November is functioning again. It rings. It dials. I hear people and they hear me. But it's got one weird little quirk: other than ringing, the sound doesn't work. No texting choo-choo. No Pandora. No Netflix (the children are saddest about this). No clickety-clack when typing.

(Those aren't my phones. I had a hard time taking a picture of my phone with my phone, so this is generic. I guess I could've used my husband's phone but I didn't think of it before he left for work.)

Weird, huh?

I'll take it.

Keep your phones dry... all it takes is a few drops and you'll have to watch Netflix with subtitles.

Of mushrooms and sushi

My whole life, I've hated mushrooms. No matter how they were prepared, I didn't like them. 

But anytime I put a food item in front of my child, I always make them taste it, even if they know they don't like it. Because you never know when that might change. 

Well I have to live what I preach, right? So I've always made myself try any mushroom dish that's put in front of me. I still never liked them. 

Until one day I did. 

I remember the day. My husband and I were out to lunch for our seventh anniversary. I was 30 years old. I ordered a chef salad and it came with raw mushrooms. I tried one, just like I always do. 

And to my surprise, I liked it. 

Now I can't get enough of those funny little fungi. 

My BFF couldn't stand sushi. But she kept at it. A year later, it's one of her favorite foods too. Yum!

The moral of the story is: just because you didn't like it once doesn't mean you will always dislike it. 

Do you have anything you like now that you didn't use to?

Better Late than Never

Wow, I can't believe it's been more than a month since my last blog post. Can we say, "dead blog"?

But I really dropped the ball on Friday. I was supposed to participate in a blog tour for Marlene Bateman's new book, Motive for Murder. And guess what? I forgot. So here it is.

It's a beautiful cover with an intriguing title. But what's it really about?

Meet Erica Coleman—a gifted and quirky private investigator with an OCD-like passion for neatness and symmetry, a penchant for cooking, (ten terrific recipes are included), and a weakness for chocolate.

Erica imagined that her trip to Florida would be a slice of heaven—a chance to get away from it all and catch up with her best friend, Wendy. But one day into her vacation, all hope of fun in the sun is dashed when she stumbles, literally, over a dead man on Wendy’s driveway. With police closing in on her friend as their main suspect, Erica must find the real killer before Wendy ends up behind bars.

With Erica’s skill, solving the mystery should be a piece of cake but then a second homicide-attempt hits close to home and generates a whole new list of suspects. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, a murderer is on the prowl, and no one is above suspicion.

As the plot thickens, it appears Erica may have bitten off more than she can chew, but she forges on, sifting through mounting evidence until she hones in on the killer who has a surprising motive for murder. With a dash of romance and some surprising twists, this thrilling mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

Want it? Get it here! Or just go there to find more information about it!

Prioritizing

I am actually on my computer blogging. Blogging from my computer. Folks, this is monumental. Don't expect it to last. I woke up late for a class today and had a spastic adrenaline rush that's carrying me right now. I'm sure I'll crash in about half an hour.

But there's been something on my mind for about two months (the amount of time I've been unable to write, thanks to the sweet time-consuming new addition in our household). And that's about prioritizing my author time.

I'm not talking about prioritizing between marketing and writing (though that's a great topic for another day). I'm talking about prioritizing my writing.

I have a fantastic idea for a new book series I want to write. And another idea for a book trilogy that I think would be awesome. I actually sat down and started to outline this series.

Then someone mentioned my books that are currently published and how they are hoping for more installments. And I realized, "This boat is sailing. If I want on it, I need to do it now."

People are reading my published books, and they want more. They're involved with the characters, wrapped up in their lives, and are eager to gobble up more adventures with them. If I don't capitalize on this, I miss out. I lose interest and readers. So what I really need to do is write more books for my current publications before I move on to the other shiny, beautiful projects.

With that in mind, here's what you can expect from me in the future:
A novella from the Point of View of my antagonist from Perilous (very very soon)
A third book involving the characters from Perilous
Several more books about Jayne and her crazy lemon smell

I wish I could give you a better timeline but... you know.

Are your priorities straight? What are you working on?

Book to benefit tornado victims

Even though the Oklahoma tornado is all over the news right now, those who have been affected by previous disasters shouldn't be forgotten. And so I'm very   excited to share with you the cover to my nonfiction book about the Joplin tornado and its victims. 

Though the book doesn't come out for another year, this is my contribution to those affected by the tornado. they are still in recovery, two years later. This is a benefit book, a fundraiser. The profits will go to relief funds and those who contributed their stories. 

The more books I sell, the more Joplin will be helped. So now my job is to select the right charitable groups and start getting press attention. 

You can help too! Start spreading the word and remember that while our lives move on, those affected by the tragedies will bear the burden for years to come. Don't forget them!