Do you ever have one of those days – maybe every day – where it seems like you go and go and go and finally at 8 or 9 or 10 o’clock at night you realize that you haven’t sat down, except maybe to go to the bathroom or in the car for a few minutes to run a quick errand? It seems to me like I’ve been having a lot of those days lately. (Yes, I did just get back from vacation and yes, I was on my feet all day – going, doing, seeing. It was exhausting.)
I don’t know where the time goes every day, but it seems like every time I look at the clock an hour or six have gone by and I’m still on my feet doing this or that. Now I didn’t think running an inn was going to be a walk in the park, but neither did I expect that there’d be more days than not that I rarely have a chance to actually sit down. I even have help now and it still seems like I’m on my feet all day long. Always something to do.
I have an awesome front porch complete with swing, a cozy back porch with comfy furniture, a front balcony with a gorgeous view of the sunset and a back veranda that’s peaceful and private, yet I rarely sit in any of those places. It’s a tragedy really with cooler weather creeping in, too. Those spaces are wasted on me.
Well, not any more. We all need a little more front porch sitting if you ask me. And I for one intend to utilize those places more in the future.
I’ve decided that from now until the end of the year, I’m going to try to take a few minutes every single day to simply sit. Sitting has great benefits (in my opinion). A forced slowing of movement accompanied by some deep breaths to purge the hurry out of my system. I may even close my eyes and just listen to, feel, smell my surroundings. A new perspective for a few minutes.
Some of my cyber (and real) friends, blog about great places they go and visit, hikes they take, sunsets at the lake, wildflowers in bloom, which I always enjoy reading about. I’m always envious that they have found the time to go out and do what they love. I’ve decided to be more like them and I’m starting by simply slowing down. By slowing down I’ll be able to focus on peace and beautiful places and enriching my life more with the free gift called nature. Perhaps I don’t need to rush about all the time. Hmmmm.
So, who’s with me? Who’s going to carve out a few minutes every day to slow down and just enjoy being alive? Let’s all try to remind ourselves to sit (or get up and move around if you sit all day), relax, take a few quiet moments to reflect on your day or simply enjoy being alive okay? Come on gang! We can do this.
Word of the day: Felucca
Fun fact about me: My feet hurt all the time. A result of being on my feet all the time no doubt.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, September 2017. Photos courtesy of Google Images.
Exercise is not my favorite activity. I know it’s a necessary evil and I know there are great benefits to be had from daily partaking in this event. But, I don’t like it. Over the years I’ve tried to find a form of exercise that I enjoy. 
The one thing I hate, probably more than anything else in the world, is lying and liars. I hate being lied to. I hate hearing other people telling lies. Lies are ugly, hurtful and sometimes, dangerous. And lies are never necessary with me. I’m a nice person, just tell me the truth. I can handle it. 
My heart is heavy and I am saddened as I write this blog. Sometimes blogging material comes easily and quickly, other times I have to coax it out of nowhere or dig it out of bedrock. This week I had lots of things I wanted to blog about, but my spirit kept taking a beating and I didn’t have the emotional strength to post those things. I generally try to avoid controversy and I always try to take the high road. So, I guess that’s what I’ve decided to do by tackling more important issues – self-worth and ignoring haters. 
How often have you heard the expression: It’s just like riding a bike? Something you used to do – and overall, do well – then you stop doing it, then you do it again. The concept is that you can just pick up right where you left off and still know how to do it. Like riding a bike. Right? Wrong. 
How To Help A Starving Author
Posted in anthology, authors, awards, beach, blogging, Family, Fiction, Free book, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, Paranormal, resolutions, romance, short story, social media, success, writers, writing, tagged authors, blog comments, book reviews, books, bookstore, e-readers, Free book, gifts, GoodReads, helping authors, Kindle, masterpieces, read books, reading, shop window, writing, writing process on February 20, 2017| 16 Comments »
Lots of people think authors live a glamorous life; sitting in a beach chair, toes in the sand, large floppy hat, cool beverage with little umbrella in the glass with a laptop or tablet on their lap, just tap, tap, tapping away on the keys until – BAM – 90,000 words later, a best-selling masterpiece appears. The next day someone slaps a gorgeous glossy cover on it and plasters it all over the Barnes & Noble front window.
Then, after several hours of tap, tap, tapping, said author dons oversized dark glasses and some sparkly flip flop sandals, gets into their luxury sports car and dashes off to some posh restaurant for lunch with their editor, agent, and some movie producer from Hollywood to discuss the details of turning your latest masterpiece into a Hollywood blockbuster.
Spoiler alert – that NEVER happens. Oh sure, JK Rowling probably does that NOW, but not when she first started. Steven King is a household name and James Patterson’s name gets tossed around a lot on movie sets and such, but seriously, that didn’t happen overnight.
So, how did it happen? I’ll tell you – I have no idea. Believe me, I wish I did. I wish I knew what secret, besides hard work and perseverance would shoot me straight up that ladder to the beach chair in the sun because God knows I would love love to dig my toesies into some white sand right about now. Not to mention that little umbrella drink.
Here’s what I do know, those people spent many, many long days and sleepless nights fussing over the right words, the parts they deleted and maybe shouldn’t have, the opening scenes that should work but for some reason don’t, a reviewers harsh comment, hours of endless re-writing.
In other words, they worked hard and they didn’t quit. They didn’t let disappointment ruin their vision.
And, despite how it seems to authors most days, they didn’t reach a certain level of fame alone. What? You’re saying others helped along the way? Absolutely. A lot of people probably helped and didn’t even know they helped. Strangers can help strangers. Readers can help writers. Here’s how:
Buy books, read books, talk about awesome books.
A great way to take it up a notch, is to leave a review. It’s easy, it’s free, it doesn’t take that long, and it goes a long way in helping authors’ careers. Here’s a few places where you can leave a review: https://www.goodreads.com/; https://www.amazon.com/; or http://allreaders.com/.
Go to book signings if you can and BUY THE BOOK, even if you gift it to someone else.
Spread the word on social media. A “like,” a “share,” a comment, helps boost that author’s visibility. It seems trivial, but like election time, every vote matters. (Please don’t make this political people. God knows we don’t want to go there again.)
You in turn can help the author of the book I gifted to you by posting a review and I strongly encourage you to do so. I’m acting on good faith here that you will leave a review. If you do not wish to write a review and post it on any or all of the sites I listed above, please let me know if the comments. (Caveat: If you absolutely hate the book I gift you, please do NOT leave a bad review. An honest review yes, but not a scathing one.) Remember, the purpose of this week’s blog is to help each other out. I’m helping readers, you’re helping writers.
That’s it. Easy peasy. You can pass the word to your friends if they want a free book all they have to do is leave a comment and their e-mail address. I’ll do the rest.
So, thanks in advance to all who post a comment and enjoy your books!
How do you help starving authors? Do you routinely leave reviews? Do you attend book signings? Do you have an e-reader?
Word of Day: Acroter
Fun fact about me: I have 3 e-readers but I prefer paper books.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, February 2017. Photos courtesy Google Images.
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