How being thankful makes us better writers

Lately I’ve been on work overload. I’m sure many of you know the feeling. I had a deadline while getting ready for a conference and promoting my recent release. Throughout all of this, I still had to be a mom and a wife even though I’m sure there have been moments where I haven’t been the best at any of it.

I had a wake up call. A friend of mine from college has a child just a few months younger than my daughter. We were pregnant the same time and I remember discussing baby products with her over the phone. Her child has been diagnosed with brain cancer. The baby has all ready had multiple brain surgeries and will have a combination of chemo and radiation for an entire year.

I learned this horrible news just before I left town for the RWA National Conference in New York City. It was great to see my Twitter friends, meet new people and discuss and grow with my writing. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about my friend’s baby and everything that her family is going through. It made me regret all the moments when I have looked up from my desk to see my daughter smiling at me and I didn’t say anything. Don't you think the families who lost someone on September 11th would love to have another moment with whom they lost?

The truth is that we should always be thankful for what we have before we stress out about the things that would quickly fall to the side if tragedy occurred.

As soon as I returned from NYC, I was exhausted and energized to dive into my new manuscript. I know everyone says that you must get back into the routine. You must write your normal daily writing goal beginning the day you return. That was my plan. I did something different. I did write about three pages and reviewed the outline for my new project but I put playing with my daughter first. Even though I was exhausted, seeing her smile and show me her different toys gave me a surge of energy. I was thankful for my child and the fact that have the gift to work from home so I can be with her.

Now that I’ve been writing full time from home now for over a year I have developed a flow that works for me. Some days, I even manage to go over my daily writing goal while still meeting freelance demands. But I’m doing something different and I have found that it clears my mind to be more creative because I’m happy, I’m not stressed. I play with my daughter for writing breaks. I use to use my writing breaks for bottle times, meal times and let her play on the floor of my office with her toys. I love how she can entertain herself, but now I’m much more involved in playtime. I am so lucky and when I’m stressed I am going to hang onto that feeling and know that I can accomplish anything.

Using the happy energy that I get from playing with her positively affects my writing. What do you do for writing breaks? How do you harvest your energy in order to apply it to the page?

Announcements:

I want to thank ‘Writer Wellness’ author Joy E. Held for her guest post last week. Joy is a much calmer writer than I am and I always love to learn from her. Follow her blog and learn more about Joy and her book, ‘Writer Wellness.”

I have launched my official writing website. You can visit it at www.NatalieCMarkey.com Thanks to my fabulous brother for doing such a great job. Now I'm sure I'll have some new ideas after this conference :-)

Speaking of websites, Who Dares Wins Publishing has a new one. Check is out.

My non-fiction, ‘Caring for Your Special Needs Dog,’ is out. Vets will always be your first resource in pet care, but as owners, we have a lot of power in giving our dog the best possible life. It is currently selling for $2.99 with a percentage going to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine.

I’m participating, as an author in The 400 Hundred Hours to Four Hundred Days blog tour. The purpose of this is to celebrate the upcoming release of L Carroll’s second book, ‘Four Hundred Days.’ A component of this tour is a social media contest. If you are interested in winning a free book read the rules below.

The goal behind this contest is to spread the word about Four Hundred Days as far as possible to as many people as possible.

Four Hundred Days is the second book in the Lor Mandela series by L Carroll. It’s a captivating trilogy.

Win Nice Girls Does Noir by Julia Crane

To Enter:

· Tweet “Join us on the 400 Hour to @FourHundredDays blog tour (participants add your link to this contest here)

· Leave a comment with the links.

Extra entries

· Facebook about the contest. (+1 entry)

· Change your Facebook Image to the 400 Hours to Four Hundred Days blog tour button for the duration of this tour. (+3 entries)

· Change your Twitter avatar to the 400 Hours to Four Hundred Days blog tour button for the duration of this tour. (+3 entries)

· Blog about this tour. (+5 entries)

· Grab the 400 hours to Four Hundred Days button and place it your blogs sidebar. (+3 entries)

· Youtube about the 400 hours to Four Hundred Days tour. (+10 entries)

As You can find more info and the 400 Hours to Four Hundred Days blog tour button at Woven Strands

What do authors do on release day?

Between long nights of writing, endless plotting and research, all writers deserve a break when they finally get that so sought after release day. Wrong. At least that is how it was for me. With the dawn of social media came even more "jobs" that writers must do other than write. Yesterday when my non-fiction “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” came out I went to work with promotion. It is one thing to write a book but if no one reads it, then that hard work will go unappreciated.

In addition to promotion, I still have been writing. Obviously, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” is out of my hands but I’m all ready on to the next project. I’m currently revising my young adult fantasy and beginning research for the next book in my non-fiction series.

What other “jobs” do authors have? We’re also managers, accountants, janitors, etc. How do I make the time to do it all, while raising my daughter and dog Oscar, who you all have figured out by now is high-maintenance? Read my previous post on how to be your own staff.

Managing a writing business is not easy but it’s a way of life that I love and thrive on. Writing is a lifestyle, a way of life that we writers crave.

I support the idea of celebrating the milestones and victories of being an author, such as the fabulous release day. For me though, I celebrated the day my galley was in my hands. Now, I’m in full promotion mode and working on the next thing. I will say though, I did my little *happy dance* when I searched my name in Amazon and my book popped up!

What do you do or will you do to celebrate a book release? Will you celebrate on release day or when the book is out of your hands?

Announcements:

My non-fiction, “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog” published by Who Dares Wins Publishing is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A percentage of the profits go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. For more information click here.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Writing with passion: How that led to my first book

Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” We all love to write or we wouldn’t be able to handle this fast growing and crazy industry, but do you love what you write. I’m talking about if you love your writing. Most authors experience times when they don’t like their own writing, at least I hope that’s true because I’ve been there. The question is, are you writing what you love?

There is more to you then being a writer. What is it that makes you smile? What do you do when you’re not in front of the keyboard or on Twitter? For me, the answer is dogs. I have always loved dogs. I have never not had a dog in my life. Many of you put up with me talking about my dog Oscar on this blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. And that’s probably not going to change. I’m crazy about that dog. I mean, look at his picture. This is seventy-pound Oscar curled up on the couch surrounded by blankets. Maybe I should have named him Linus! Back to my point; after a conversation about dogs with Bob Mayer at one of his Warrior Writer Workshops (I highly recommend these) I decided to write a book on dogs. To be even more specific, the book is about caring for dogs with special needs, since Oscar has epilepsy.

Was it a good thing for me to take on another major writing project while still working hard on my young adult novel? I say yes. I love to write but it has been a wonderful thing to combine two loves of mine. It just feels good and I’m so happy that my first published book is about something that means so much to me (not that the YA doesn't and you'll hear why in a moment.)

For me it has been a breath of fresh air to be able to switch off from the two projects. While writing a young adult epic fantasy sometimes my head needs a break from running and designing a new world. During moments like that it was nice to switch over to work on my dog book. Both projects are completely different in tone and style. This gave me the needed break that I needed from the YA and the opportunity to hopefully really make a difference.

You can take writing about your passions to another level. I have. When writing fiction, write something that you love into the story. It will personalize it for you and keep you in love with the story. Yes, a writer can easily fall out of love with their own story after endless hours of working on it. In my YA you probably won’t be surprised to hear that Oscar has a role. Yep, I wrote in my dog. I’m an author, I can do things like that! For me, this makes the story much more exciting when I’m working on it at 2 a.m.

I know, I know. “Write a piece of me into the story? But if someone doesn’t like it then they aren’t liking a piece of me.” I once heard that concern and my answer is simple, get over it. As a writer you will not please everyone. You must have tough skin because there will be agents, publishers and readers out there that will not like your work. I accepted this before anyone looked at my work and this is why I understand the importance of making me happy. You can only control your own happiness, so write what you love. Put your happiness and anything that makes you happy into your story. Write with passion. If you do, you will be a happier writer and a better writer.

Do you write with passion? Have you written a non-fiction about an interest that you love? Do you combine your interests into your fiction? Share it in a comment below.

Announcements:

I’m excited to announce that “Caring for Your Special Needs Dog,” published by Who Dares Wins Publishing will be out a week from today, May 18! I’m really excited about this project and can’t wait to share it with you all. A percentage of profits from this book will go to The Texas A&M Foundation to the benefit of the Neurology Section, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinarian Medicine. Again, I’m following my passions.

Also, I’ve joined Facebook. You can now follow me there for announcements about my book, columns and other writing projects. Join the party and say "hi!"

If you haven't, join the Love Revolution for writers an follow the hastag created by Social Media expert Kristen Lamb, #MyWANA. This is a great way to connect with fellow writers, share information and ask questions. It can be hard to juggle writing and managing social media but we are not alone!