MONDAY MOTIVATION - Time to Tell a Story

 Good morning, everyone!

Wow!

Well, I can say first of all that last week did not go as planned. 

For starters, Bob left on Monday. From there I dove in to really making progress on clearing the studio by working through one area at a time. I managed to complete my filming area except for a shelf I need Bob to add to my shelving unit. He tried to do it before he left but the one shelf board I had wasabout 1/2" too short. In the mean time, I'm making progress elsewhere.

Yesterday, I found about 80% of my 4'x8' work table. I need it cleared for working on other areas, like cataloging the stamp sets and cutting large pieces of mat and foam core board - again, for other projects that need finished.

I also didn't get Burroughs emailed. That is tops on my list for this week. Review my contract to make sure I have dates correct, then email them a formal request for rights back. Cross your fingers because I really want to offer Somewhere Down the Line in print in time for the Ozark Creative Writers conference in October.

TIME TO TELL A STORY

I woke up this morning with the realization of why An Ozarks Homecoming is moving so slow for me. I'm so caught up in getting details correct that I've stopped giving you a STORY! The light bulb clicked on last night as I finished the last novella in Christmas at the Amish Bakeshop. When I finished The Christmas Cupcake by Loree Lough I thought, 'she told such a beautiful story'.  (No spoilers as to why since you'll learn more in Week 3 of the Author Spotlight series for this book) The sense dawned on me is that's how my first two books came about. I just told a story. 

So effective with tonight's writing sprints, I'm just going to sit with a blank page and start telling a story. I'll fix all the 'telling to showing' stuff in edits. 

Hello Kitty in honor of Sarra Cannon

Here's my Goals for the Week:

* Contact Burroughs

* Clear Sofa

* Tell the Story

That's it for my week. What is ONE THING you want to do TODAY! Tomorrow will come soon enough!

All my best

~Angela

MOTIVATION MONDAY

 

Good morning, everyone!

Another month is behind us... as well as Camp Nano. I can say without reservation that I did not meet my goal for July. I just can't write in chaos and my office/ studio has been a disaster. My goal has been to get that space organized so that I will have my peaceful writing space back. 

Since this picture was taken, I've made a new sofa cover but the area is a complete disaster at the moment. The sofa is buried beneath my sem-day job as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. That's been the project I've been working on. As I said in last week's post (or the week before) putting it out there is a great motivator. I need my space back so I hope to have reclaimed my sanctuary by next week. 

Bob leaves tomorrow - opening up my week to really dive in.

* Dedicated writing time

* August blog posts scheduled

* Continuing work on the conference items

* Following up with Burroughs

Note: I'm writing this post a couple weeks ahead. I can do that thanks to my planner. By the time this airs I hope to have heard back from my editor at Burroughs and gotten the rights back to Somewhere Down the Line. If that's the case than an additional task will be added to my list of cleaning the manuscript up (can't believe the mistakes they put back in after we'd taken them out during edits!) as well as getting my new cover ordered

That's a full week for me. What's on your agenda?  Please share in the comments below and we'll motivate each other! 

All my best

~Angela

MONDAY MOTIVATION

 

Good morning, everyone! Welcome to a new week.

The past weekend was busy but full of love and chatter. Bob and I won't have the opportunity to travel to Texas to see his Mom and her husband but I already know that my next trip to Texas will include heading for the southern part of the state - a part I've not visited before.

Bob is home for another week but he understands I have to get back to work. I'm only focusing on the things I have to do immediately. One of the things I'll focus on is what I must get scheduled for the first few days of August before Bob heads back out on the 3rd. After that I can go back to crazy hours.

This week:

* Blog posts through August 4th

* Contract with Burroughs (yes, I've still not done that task ::; sigh :::)

        That one is really important as I'd like to have hard copies to sell at the Ozark Creative Writer's                    Conference coming up October 7-9th.  I'll be presenting two sessions on blogging/ marketing                   which brings me to point #3

* Begin outline for handout and a saleable workbook for the conference

Speaking of the conference, there's still time to register as well as enter the myriad of contest categories for your chance to win awards and CASH! 

That should keep me out of trouble this week. What items are motivating you this week? Share below. Accountability is a great motivator!

All my best                                                                                                                                  ~Angela

BACK TO BUSINESS - Making Time

The weatherman says after tomorrow we will see a break in the storm thread. I hated having very little time on the computer, taking care of the absolute necessities on-line between storms. I want to get back to the regular blogging schedule, the promoting time and visiting blogs of my author friends.

Some of those author friends ask how I get so much done in a day. How do I do it all? Secret? I don't. Getting EVERYTHING I would LIKE done in a day is just impossible. I pick my battles and go from there. Some things take rank higher on my To Do list than others.

I have two real passions: music and writing. No, I don't write music. I leave that to the amazing singer/ songwriters I promote and write about. I appreciate their hard work and dedication to their craft. I am blessed to know artists from a variety of music genres. Friends like W.C. Jameson, Mike Blakely and Kelly McGuire out of Texas. Where Mike and W.C. are also talented authors as well as singer/ songwriters in the Americana music genre, Kelly has more a island flair. Think Jimmy Buffet. I network with people out of Nashville like The Bellamy Brothers and newcomer Caylen Green. Then I jump to the opposite end of the scope to the more classical talents of Maestro Steven Byess and soulful composer Sara Graef.  I haven't worked with anyone in the rock and roll area yet, so I guess that tells you where my interests fall.

I spend my 'office hours' promoting music artists, writing blog posts, visiting other blogs and working on my shorter freelance or competition pieces. My personal fiction writing time comes two hours 'outside office time'. My husband is gone three weeks then home for three weeks. Part of the reason we chose for me to follow my dream is so I could set my own schedule... one that would meld with his. I am grateful he is so supportive and understands that although he's off, doesn't mean I can be. I just try to leave 'the office' a bit 

earlier in the day when he's home. 

The other thing I've started doing is taking the weekend off! :: gasp ::: I still need to work the artsy side of my brain. The part that leads my fingers through paint medium on an art journal or to dig in the garden. You know what they say about 'all work and no play'. I love my 'job' but I need play time too.

They key to 'doing it all' is identifying the areas that are most important then finding the best way to meld them into your life. If you want to be published, you have to treat it as your job - or your second job. This truly is the profession where you get out what you put in.

I would love to hear how you make time for your passions... whatever they may be!
Creative Blessings!
Angela