If you're a published author (or soon to be), you know that marketing is terribly important to the success of your book. You're fortunate to live in a time when everyone - well, almost - is at your fingertips. Use all of the virtual tools at your disposal, talk to people, ask for help, be an evangelist for your work! Read this guest post by Elle Newmark, author of The Unholy Book of Mischief at Don't Hang Up, and you'll see what I mean.
Well, maybe not so much the bird, as the means by which to cook it.
The husband and I bought an Electric Roaster five years ago. I was tired of tying up the stove when I wanted to roast a turkey, and it was an affordable solution at $30.00. Then, friends of ours bought a new house, so we gave them a roaster as a housewarming present. And then, we bought hubby's sister and brother-in-law one for Christmas.
A roaster is the type of present that the recipient either loves, or sticks in a cabinet somewhere to grow multiple layers of dust. In both cases of our giving, the roasters were big hits. As I was basting our Thanksgiving bird today, I had to smile, knowing our friends and family were making use of our gifts to them.
No matter what you had for dinner today, or how you cooked it, I hope you made lifelong memories and experienced heartwarming moments. Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday evening, my husband and I, along with a friend of ours, decided to grab dinner at a local restaurant. We thought it would be a nice way to end the day, as they had been out deer hunting for most of it. We don't typically eat out, mostly because we both love to cook. We like this restaurant, though - good food, laid back atmosphere and affordable.
I ordered a Julienne salad, and our waitress said "Oh, the cook is gonna love you." I said "Because it's easy to make?" and that's when everything started to slide downhill.
Apparently she was being facetious. When she brought our food, she went on a rant, directed at me, about how it took time to slice the ingredients for the salad, thereby pulling the cook away from all the other orders waiting to be made(there was only one other customer present at the time, and the food I ordered was offered on the menu). Well, I guess I've been disavowed of the notion that a salad is easy to make.
I had a really hard time eating. Suddenly, I lost my appetite, and any desire to stay. My husband and friend looked at each other, and then at me, with confused expressions on their faces. They asked if I wanted to go home. I told them to eat their food.
I've been thinking about this since it happened. I was embarrassed to be berated that way in public. It was incredibly rude and unprofessional. And we won't be spending our hard earned money there again.
It did teach me something, though. No matter what your job is, how you conduct yourself, moment to moment, day to day, will ultimately impact your bottom line.
I've been hesitant to talk politics here. I don't want to dissuade people from reading if they don't agree with my beliefs or affiliations. It makes no difference to me whether you are a Republican, Democrat or an Independent, please vote on Tuesday. It's your right, as our government is by and for the people.
Having said all that, I watched Barack Obama last night. I found myself on the brink of tears a few times. America is facing incredibly difficult times right now. Many of the people I know are starting to sweat. They're not sure what their future looks like and it scares them to death. I worry about them, as well as about my own family.
Every time I listen to Senator Obama, I feel myself drawn into his message of change and hope. Let's face it, hope has been scarce lately. Dogged acceptance of circumstance seems to be the current atmosphere. I think America is better than this. The last eight years have bogged us down further and further into a quagmire of fear and disappointment. Uncertainty and desperation are not good places to work from.
I think that Barack Obama has what it takes to run this country. I've read and watched as much as I can about him. If you don't share my opinion, that's okay. It's a free country, last I checked. And yes, I've read up on McCain, and Palin, and Biden.
My birthday is Election Day. I will be 39 years old. I have never looked forward to a birthday so much as this one. Not even my 21st. I want to know who our next President will be, and I want the campaigning to be over.
Last time I posted I was waiting on things. My friend who was in the hospital is okay. My book was returned. And the work was fun to do.
I tried my hand at copywriting and discovered that I really like it, I'm good at it and I'd like to do more. It's fun turning dry facts into "gotcha" copy!
I'm also back to writing query letters to publications. Some ideas have popped over the last week or so, and I want to turn them into articles.
So, I'm back on the writing train. And I'll be blogging daily again. I've missed it.
Today will be a day of waiting....
I'm waiting on a book to be returned to me. I'm waiting to hear about a friend of mine who is in the hospital. I'm waiting to hear about potential work.
So, instead of being unproductive while I wait, I'll be writing a press release for a client, formatting a book review and spending a little time on housework.
October has been a very strange month, so far.
A fellow writer friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful little boy a couple of weeks ago. Little being an understatement. You see, Simon was born at 24 weeks gestation, weighing in at 1 pound 7 ounces. In the first two weeks of his life, Simon has already undergone heart surgery to close the hole in his heart that all babies are born with, but causes issues in preemies.
Simon is a fighter, just like his mama. Mysti is amazingly strong. Instead of letting her fear and concern shut her down, she has kept on trucking. She has her priorities straight, not the least of which is her older son, Jaden. Jaden is 4 years old and he worries about his mom and his new baby brother.
If you'd like to read Simon's story, as it's written, please visit Mysti's blog, One Woman's Heart. Mysti's strength in the face of extreme adversity is a source of profound inspiration.
The Smart One by Ellen Meister is touring with Blog Stop Book Tours in August! Information is posted at the Authors On Tour page, and there's an interview with Ellen at the Author 10 Q&A page. Ellen will also be participating in Author Talks! toward the end of the month. So if you want to join in the discussion, go get the book!So... ummm... yeah, I was missing in action yesterday. I have a better excuse, though, than the dog ate my homework.
I don't know about you, but I need room to work and especially to think. With the kids home for the summer, and all the things we've needed to get done while the weather is warm, the house has not been an uncluttered, pristine expanse of comfortable space. When the clutter reaches a certain point, I start to feel as though the walls are closing in. It usually takes an interesting catalyst to kick start me into taking back my space. The catalyst showed up Sunday afternoon.
We don't have a dining room, nor do we have a kitchen nook. This means that we haven't ever had a dining table in our house. We have TV tables that we use every evening when we sit down to dinner. I've been growing ever more dissatisfied with this arrangement, especially in the last six months or so.
We decided a month ago, that if we could find a table, we'd get rid of our couch, and put a table where the couch currently sits. I found a table! The antique shop down the street had one for $25.00. It needed to be refinished, about ten hours of work between sanding and polying, but we're no strangers to hard work. It should be done by Saturday.
In order to be ready for the couch to go out, and the table to go in, I spent yesterday cleaning and re-arranging the living room. It took me most of the day, but it's done.
As of Sunday morning, I will finally have a place to have coffee with my friends. I will also be able to sit at my table to write (gasp!) longhand if I want. My kids will have space to do their homework. I'll be able to do crafts with my youngest boy. I won't have to spread the bills out on my bed when I'm doing the monthly write checks thing.
I'm so excited!
We had an absolutely amazing Memorial Day weekend. The weather was beautiful and warm. We relaxed, and played and ate way too much summertime food (burgers and brats, steaks, watermelon, lemonade, strawberry rhubarb pie and probably a gallon of orange juice). I will be taking a few bike rides and watching what I eat this week. I swear, my belly hasn't stuck out this much since I was pregnant with my youngest child.
I barely touched my computer. I did check emails with my cell phone, but other than that, for the first time in a very long time, I was unplugged. It was so nice, almost like a mini-vacation, except that we didn't leave town. The strangest thing about it is that I feel like we took a two week vacation.
Today, later on, I will be posting a review of Candles Burning by Tabitha King and Michael McDowell. And, if you get a chance, check out Jerry Waxler's blog post today at Memory Writers Network. It's well worth the read.
I spend a good chunk of my networking time at the Absolute Write Water Cooler. It's a forum for writers of all genres. I've learned so much from spending time reading in the Freelance Writers and Blogging threads. I'm forever grateful to my friends who have answered my questions and given support during my writing learning curve.
Imagine my distress the other day, when I clicked my bookmark for the site, and found myself staring at the "page not found" message. It surely had to be a server glitch, so I reloaded the page. Page... not... there.
Now, I spend an inordinate amount of time alone. I do not attend writers groups, I don't hang out in the library and the nearest Barnes and Noble is a half hour drive away. I count on being able to connect with my writer friends in a virtual medium. It's like the quilting bees of the old days. I grab my hot coffee, get comfy at my desk and absorb as much sage writing wisdom as my brain can handle.
I felt as if I'd been cut off from my dearest friends. Realizing that it wasn't the end of the world, I walked away from the computer and did other things for awhile. I have the email addresses of most of the people I talk to, and their blog URLs. I wouldn't be completely cut off even if the site entirely ceased to exist.
Later on, I clicked the bookmark again and everything was there, exactly the way it should be. Phew! The experience confirmed for me what I've suspected all along. Friendship and support are not based solely on geographical proximity. Communication is the key to building relationships, whether business or personal.
So, thank you so much my friends at AW. I value and appreciate you.
