Posted in acting, authors, beach, blogging, books, camera, Family, Fiction, friends, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, social media, travel, words, writers, writing, tagged discovering, facts, funny, funny songs, funny video, Google, learning, parody, rabbit hole, research, time suck, wasted time, Youtube on July 15, 2019| 4 Comments »
As a writer I spend copious amounts of time researching. Yes that’s right. Even though I write fiction, there are things that still have to be researched because, unless I’m writing about a completely made-up world, people are going to know if I’m not describing a person, place or thing correctly. Ergo – research.
Posted in blogging, Disney, Disney World, Family, Fiction, friends, goals, gratitude journal, health, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, social media, success, travel, vacation, Walt Disney World, writing, tagged complainers, complaining, complaints, Disney, Disney busses, Disney hotels, Facebook, parking, travel, traveling, ungrateful, whiners on May 20, 2019| 11 Comments »
I don’t like perpetual complainers. I don’t understand people who always find something to complain about. I don’t get it. Why go through life looking for the negative stuff? How depressing. How much nicer it is to see the silver lining even in the darkest places. It’s not always easy to see the positive side of things, I get that, but there is always something to be thankful for. The truth is, most of us have some challenges in our lives to deal with. But, we don’t have to harp on them. We all have good things in our lives as well. (more…)
Posted in Amazon.com, authors, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, goals, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, resolutions, short story, social media, success, writers, writing, tagged advertising, authors, books, computers, Facebook, Facebook ads, marketing, marketing plan, novel, photos, photoshop, pixels, sales, software, technology on February 11, 2019| 7 Comments »
So I’ve been spending a LOT of time lately learning how to market my book. For those of you who are not writers, let me just say that when you write “the end,” you’re only about a third of the way done with that story. Next comes rounds of editing and proofreading to get it exactly right and then comes the selling part. This is the hardest, yet most important part. After all, what good is a really good book with an amazing cover if nobody knows how to get their hands on it? (more…)
Posted in Amazon.com, authors, Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, drinks, Family, food, health, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, social media, travel, vacation, Vicksburg, words, writing, tagged Baer House, Baer House Inn, breakfast foods, camp stove, Diet Coke, guest room, honesty, innkeeper, innkeeping, napping, odd traits, parking lot, towels, wedding, weird, weird people on November 12, 2018| 8 Comments »
There’s never a dull moment here at The Baer House Inn. Guests come and guests go, some quietly, some with gusto. On several occasions in the past I’ve posted about odd behavior from guests, but just about the time I think I’ve seen it all, something new comes along that makes me scratch my head and say, “Nope, I guess I haven’t seen it all.” Here are some examples of recent unusual happenings here at the inn. (more…)
Posted in Amazon.com, authors, books, cowboys, Fiction, friends, goals, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, romance, social media, success, words, writers, writing, tagged Barnes & Noble, book launch, book signing, book trailer, debut novel, fiction, fiction writing, first book, Google Play, Kobo, Literary Titan, On Common Ground, party, romance fiction, video, Youtube on October 22, 2018| 10 Comments »
It’s finally here – almost! Launch day for my very first full-length novel On Common Ground. Some of you might be sick of seeing the cover so I won’t be posting that again, but I will be providing some helpful links for those of you who haven’t yet pre-ordered your copy. You’ve still got 2 days to pre-order. Launch day is Wednesday – 2 days from now – so go. Go now.
Here are the links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NPqohX
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2QmC60i
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2RfA0kf
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2QfmUlA
Posted in Amazon.com, authors, awards, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, Free book, friends, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, resolutions, romance, short story, social media, success, words, writers, writing, tagged authors, Barnes & Noble, Book Bub, book buying, book recommendations, book reviewers, book reviews, e-books, Good Reads, Kindle, library, new authors, recommendations, star ratings on September 24, 2018| 18 Comments »
I know a lot of folks like to read. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say, there are a lot of folks who LOVE to read. I’m one of those folks. Most writers probably are. Everyone has their favorite authors, books, series, genres, etc. Me? I like to read lots of stuff. The only things I don’t read are science fiction, horror, and books that “preach” at me about anything. (more…)
Posted in Amazon.com, Aunty Cindy, authors, blogging, books, Fiction, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, Loucinda McGary, reading, romance, short story, social media, words, writers, writing, tagged artwork, authors, book covers, book shelf, book titles, books, cover blurbs, cover design, first impression, fonts, foreboding, foreshadowing, images, judge book by its cover, mock-up, romance writers, RWA, titles on May 21, 2018| 10 Comments »
About a month ago I blogged about the importance of a good title, in relation to articles and books. A lot of that post was poking fun at embarrassing headlines from newspapers, but the point got made – how something is titled is important. Because I’m on the brink of publishing my first novel, I’m at the point where I need to start making some very important decisions about not only titles, but the items that will make or break someone’s decision to buy my book. The items that create a good first impression. The things that will make my book stand out from the rest on an already crowded shelf. (more…)
Posted in acting, authors, camera, costumes, directing, Family, Fiction, humor, Jansen Schmidt, social media, success, theater, theatre, tv, watching tv, writers, writing, tagged actors, actresses, awareness, blondes, discrimination, Hollywood, race, racial bias, sensitivity, television, tv on April 2, 2018| 6 Comments »
I’ve noticed lately a strange phenomenon when I watch TV. There are very few blondes in any of the shows I watch on a regular basis. This led to a more extensive investigation on my part. I started randomly watching shows I’ve never watched before just to see what the main characters look like. The phenomenon continued. Hardly any blondes. (more…)
Posted in acting, authors, awards, blogging, books, directing, Family, Fiction, friends, goals, grammar, Holidays, humor, Jansen Schmidt, reading, resolutions, social media, spring break, success, super powers, tv, vacation, watching tv, words, writers, writing, tagged April fools, Easter, education, Ellen DeGeneres, Ellen show, ellentube, kids, practical jokes, pranks, pranksters, school kids, spelling, spelling bee, teachers, teaching, tests, Youtube on March 26, 2018| 17 Comments »
So this year Easter falls on April Fools Day. You’ve probably all seen this meme
I’m not normally one to appreciate pranks. In fact, I usually hate them. But, this guy is brilliant.
I love his made up words. And the definitions were even better. And, the best part, he did it with a straight face.
Well folks, the story does not end there. No sirree. This guy’s video went viral and that lead to this:
I love Ellen and I love that she gave him a spelling test. So perfect.
Have you seen this video before? Do you think this guy is clever? I think he’s probably an amazing teacher. And, he’s cute to boot. Do you like pranks? Are you one to go all out for April Fools? Come on, fess up and share the details.
Word of the Day: Ethamivan
Fun fact about me: I don’t think I’ve ever played an April Fool’s joke on anyone.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, March 2018. Meme courtesy Google Images. Videos courtesy YouTube (ellentube)
