Posted in Amazon.com, authors, awards, Baer House Inn, blogging, books, Fiction, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, On Solid Ground, reading, romance, words, writers, writing, tagged author interview, book distribution, book marketing, book stores, ebooks, librarians, libraries, new books, videos, Warren County-Vicksburg public library, Youtube on October 4, 2021| 10 Comments »
Most of you know that I am an author. One of the hardest parts about being an author is marketing and selling your books. Nobody tells you that when you start writing. As a newbie you focus on the mechanics of writing, proper English, not getting too bogged down with the minutia and keeping the story moving along. Designing the covers is the fun part. Editing is the tedious part. But selling and marking is the absolute hardest part.
(more…)Posted in awards, blogging, Family, friends, goals, gratitude, humor, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, motivation, positivity, resolutions, success, travel, watching tv, writing, tagged 2020 Olympics, athletes, best athletes, cheering, gold medals, gymnastics, international sports, medals, olympics, sports, Tokyo Olympics, underdogs, winners, winning athletes on August 2, 2021| 7 Comments »
I enjoy watching the Olympics, but I don’t get to see as many events as I’d like. In years past, I recorded them on my DVR but there are so many events I don’t care to watch, that it gets tiresome fast-forwarding past them to get to the good juicy events I really want to see. This go round I’ve seen almost no events, but I did catch some highlights. One constant for me is that I almost always find myself rooting for the unexpected underdog who shows up out of nowhere with overwhelmingly high scores and blows everybody else out of the water. Or wins by a nose. You know? That athlete that sneaks up on everyone who is supposed to win and steals that medal. The one nobody is watching. Yeah, that person.
(more…)Posted in awards, blogging, Family, friends, gratitude, Holidays, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, positivity, resolutions, success, writing, tagged combat, honor, Memorial Day, military, military service, never forget, patriotic, patriotism, respect, sacrifice, soldiers, ultimate sacrifice, USA, veterans on May 31, 2021| 4 Comments »
Memorial Day means different things to different people. Lots of people attribute this long weekend with the beginning of summer. For some it’s a day off work, a day to sleep in, a day to cook outside. It’s a time for camping, boating, backpacking, backyard BBQ’s and more. Some people think of it as the last days of the school year. Some people look forward to super savings with Memorial Day sales at department stores. And that’s all good. But let us NEVER forget the true importance of this holiday – that we honor the men and women of our armed forces whose sacrifices allow us to live in a (still) free country.
(more…)Posted in authors, awards, blogging, books, Fiction, friends, goals, grammar, gratitude, humor, Jansen Schmidt, motivation, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, positivity, reading, resolutions, romance, words, writers, writing, tagged 5 star review, 5 stars, awards, book awards, contests, InD'Tale Magazine, Indie authors, Indie books, novels, publishing, reader votes, reader voting, recommendations, reviews, romantic suspense, RONE, RONE award, self-published, self-publishing, stories, suspense, thriller, voting, writers on May 11, 2020| 8 Comments »
Collectively the world has suffered through a pandemic of enormous portions. For the most part, everyone has taken precautions to stop the spread of this virus. Together we have made a difference.
Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I sort of feel like a grizzly bear just waking up from a long hibernation. I’m ready to go out into the world, stretch my legs and explore. Spring is well underway here in the South and the world is full of rebirth and promise. (more…)
Posted in authors, awards, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, goals, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, mystical, redneck, romance, success, words, writers, writing, tagged book covers, characters, cults, forest, free photos, Indians, kidnapping, marketing, men, Mexicans, photos, pictures, rut, stock photos, stuck, task force, vision on March 2, 2020| 11 Comments »
Okay, the title is a little misleading. I’m not really in a rut so much as I’ve been focusing on the same thing for too long that now I can’t see the forest for the trees. Have you ever been there? It’s kind of frustrating. Here’s my problem: I need to come up with a book cover for my next book and I’ve got nothing. (more…)
Posted in authors, awards, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, goals, grammar, Jansen Schmidt, reading, romance, short story, social media, success, words, writers, writing, tagged #amwriting, #writerslife, awards, classes, cliches, computer classes, different, education, learning, membership, seminars, story tropes, tropes, unique, webinars, workshops, writing awards, writing classes, writing groups, writing organizations on October 21, 2019| 4 Comments »
As a writer I’m always challenging myself to learn new things so that I can keep things fresh in my writing. I have this fear of running out of clever new ideas or that somewhere down the road my books might end up coming out looking suspiciously like some of the other books I’d previously written. Or worse yet, like someone else’s book. This popular saying come to mind, “There are no new stories, just new ways of telling them.” I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but most people in the business of writing tend to feel that way. (more…)
Posted in April, authors, awards, blogging, books, Fiction, friends, goals, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, romance, success, words, writers, writing, tagged awards, contest, finalist, literary award, On Common Ground, please help, please vote, RONE awards, vote, vote for me, western romance, western writers, WILLA Awards, winners, winning, women writers, Women Writing the West, writing contests, writing groups on April 29, 2019| 4 Comments »
That’s right folks, I could very well be a winner in not one, but two contests. A couple of months ago, I entered my book On Common Ground in the Willa Contest. What is the Willa Contest you ask? I’ve never heard of it, you say. Well, neither had I. Here’s the blurb from the Women Writing the West (WWW) website: (more…)
Posted in awards, Barbie, blogging, camera, Christmas, dogs, Family, friends, Holidays, humor, Jansen Schmidt, sports, toys, Vicksburg, writing, tagged Barbie, bikes, children, Christmas presents, cute, funny letters, kids, letters to Santa, newspaper, presents, random, Santa, Santa Claus, sweet, Xbox on January 7, 2019| 8 Comments »
So the holiday madness is behind us and all that’s left is the clean up. Yeah, that’s the part nobody really likes. I’m the person who likes to have everything cleaned up and put away by the end of the day on January 1. It doesn’t always work out that way, but it’s my goal. Not that I’m ready for the pretty sparkling lights to go away – because I’m not – but because I usually have an entire day on January 1st with nothing pressing to do, so I undecorate before the madness of “real” life settles back in. (more…)
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