THE APPEAL OF CIGARS

When I decided to try a cigar, I was blown away at how ''creamy'' it felt in my mouth. 

Since that first puff, I had to learn all I needed to know about cigars and why people love them so much.

Surprisingly, I have found a lot of women are enjoying a great stick (cigar) and it has really opened my eyes to what people think and why people indulge in cigars.

Cigars are not a habit; it's a hobby. A hobby that takes time 

Cigars are not something for the faint of heart. It is for the person who wants a new level of relaxation.

It is for the person who wants to enjoy at least 45 minutes of quiet time, alone with their thoughts. 

Do you have the dedication to unwind, unplug and just BE?

Why 45 minutes?

Cigars are different sizes. They are:

Petit Corona	4 1/2	40 to 42
Corona	5 1/2 to 6	42 to 44
Panatela	5 1/2 to 6 1/2	34 to 38
Lonsdale	6 1/2	40 to 42
Lancero	7 to 7 1/2	38 to 40
Churchill	6 1/2 to 7	46 to 48
Robusto	4 1/2 to 5 1/2	48 to 52
Toro	6 to 6 1/2	48 to 50
Presidente	7 to 8 1/2	52 to 60
Gigante	>6	>60

The smaller ones are about 45 minutes in smoke time. The larger, anything over 5.5, is about an hour to an hour in a half. 

In the times we live in; who can actually put their phone down for 5 minutes; let alone 45 minutes. 

After smoking my first cigar, which was actually a cigarillo. Yes, that is actually the name of it. 

A cigarillo is a smaller cigar; about an inch in diameter and only takes about 15 minutes to smoke, but it is the same concept. Unplug, Unwind and Just Be.

More about cigarillo's in another post. 

Getting to know all that I can about cigars, I began what I normally do. 

I hit the internet and YouTube. 

Boy did I find out a lot of information. There are some amazing women who own cigar lounges, cigar products and who have taken on the male driven industry and come up with a cigar line.

This ride that I am on right now is amazing, won't you join me.

Please follow this journey and you will know more about the cigar industry and the people who are in in.

WHEN TALKING GETS YOU IN TROUBLE

While I am a great talker, I'd like to think of myself as a better writer. I talk because I can't live without talking; well no one can really.

But I have found out that I am a great talker. I was told last week that I am a "great interviewer" and "you are so good at this, why aren't you doing it full time." 

Who knew?

I knew I could write and that will be another blog but who knew I was also a great interviewer. Not my words but a guests.

So being the talker that I am; I always ask questions hoping that the answer is one that I want to hear. I was once told, just ask and all they can do is say no. So I asked. I asked this great novelist to be on my show and he said YES.

Wait, what? Yes...what am I suppose to do now? I didn't expect a YES! So I do what I do when I'm unsure; I go shopping!

Shopping for shoes! That is what calms me when I'm stressed. And trust me, I was instantly stressed. How else did I talk this great novelist into being on my show? 

So as I shopped I found some great shoes and it came to me! I'll just ask questions that I want to know and I became very confident in that moment. I got some really cute shoes and some really great questions came to mind.

So I hope you caught the interview with R.L. Stine and if not...please check it out here. R.L Stine Interview

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

I ask myself this question all the time when the day ends and I'm still left with to many things on my "to do" list.

But...the salvation is: Time to roll those clocks back! Yippee I love this time of year..that means I get one more hour to get that to do list done.

I get one more hour to work outside getting those fall shrubs ready for the winter and one more hour to get that garage cleaned out.

That also means I have one more hour to stay up and catch that TV show that I always missed but can watch on the DVR.  That means that I have one more hour to relax before the sleep fairy invades my brain and takes hold of me and one more hour to play with the grandson who is the joy in my life.

Wait..but that means I also have one more hour to get some writing done, do some editing and create the next year's marketing budget and plan. I can also plan more time for the radio show and finish up novels three and four.

What..wait..what just happened. How is it 10 pm already? All of this time and I didn't get half of the things done, even with the extra hour.

So again; I'm left asking the question:

Where did the time go?

I AM EVERYWHERE YOU SHOULD BE

Where are you?

That is what I find myself asking whenever I am at an event and I am the only author there. I have been to wine tasting, grand openings, dinners, networking events and at least 6 out of the last 10 times, I was the ONLY author in attendance.

Why aren't I seeing more authors? You must know that this is the way that you make connections. This is the way that you get new readers, this is the way that you meet some people that can help you along in your journey.

Why aren't I see more authors at event's given BY authors? These are also the events that you need to be at. Supporting another author is also a way to make more connections to readers that might not know the genre that you write or maybe they may be the leader of a book club and want more local authors to come and chat with their members.

Why aren't I see more of you at these types of events? Why aren't I seeing more authors at event's like +MaliceDomesticConference or +LoveIsMurder or +Thrillerfest or +MDC3. These are all conferences or conventions that gather lots of readers and very few authors.

So again, Why aren't I seeing more of you at these events?

I'VE GONE AND DONE IT NOW!

Well, if you know me than you know that I have always wanted to be a talk show host. What you didn't know that? Then where have YOU been?

At the C3 conference I talked about how I wanted to do it and another author in the audience yelled out, "then why don't you?"

Hmm, well she was right. Why hadn't I done it. She was right. I had been talking about it forever! I had a new computer that had the capability to create great videos. I had great friends who would love the chance to sit down and talk to me and I had the personality to carry a 'show".

So I did it! I went and did it! I dragged a friend, ok, well not quite dragged but nagged him enough that he agreed to be my guinea, I mean my first guest on my show. Now the name of the show is The BSW Show because I do everything with BSW.

I sat down with my little sad bunch of flowers, a small table and two folding chairs and started talking.

+Austin Camacho was gracious in granting me an interview. The room was dimly lit and I talked a little to fast but my first 'show' is now on Youtube.

Click here, The BSW Show is live and hoping that you don't judge it to harshly....remember, I have a low budget right now and it will get better.

At least next time, it will be better lighting and the flowers won't be so small. So tell me what you think and be kind....

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

The holiday season is fast ending but I have had a fantastic time enjoying the most wonderful time of the year.

My I Pod has had +Christmas Town music in it since December 1st. My +Christmas Forest and village has been bringing delight to many people who passed through my home and my Christmas cheer has been unstoppable.

Atlas, the season is drawing to a close but I hope you made great memories. I made some great memories with some new friends from the +DMV Weekenders, to a new wife of a special friend to spending some great quality time with my grandchildren and my children.

It doesn't matter what gifts were under the tree; what mattered is that the family was together and together we watched Christmas classics like; +Charlie Brown Christmas and +The Grinch and +National Lampoons Christmas and my new favorite +ELF

All of the laughter and the jokes and the gifts and the decorations will forever be captured in my memory and will live on through photos and videos.

Take this time to make sure that you tell the ones you love how wonderful this time of year was for you and make sure that you make the new year a memorable one.

IN THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END...

Today while many of us have Veteran's Day off, I am spending my long weekend in Las Vegas. I couldn't let this moment pass without blogging. Oh, don't worry, these adventures will be a blog post later this month, with pictures. I wanted to talk a little bit about what is going on this month.

November is National Novel Writing Month, better known as Nanowrimo. If you don’t know what this is, it is the month of November dedicated to writers all over the hemisphere.

It challenges them to write a novel in 30 days.  Their website, http://nanowrimo.org gives you plenty of encouragement, tools, forums, blogs and contacts. They even have a place to find other Nano’ers near you to keep you motivated.

I have never participated because I have three books in progress but I do track my progress because I use this month to push me to finish up projects. Most of my projects end in November because I use the same concept.

For thirty days, I plop myself in my small office (pictured to right) and have my glass of wine beside me, my Ipod playing and I type until my hands get tired. Thirty days to finish up my novel is a great incentive. Now, this concept isn't for everyone but isn't the purpose of Nano Wrimo to encourage the author in us to get moving to finish our works in progress.

If you don’t finish your novel by November 30^th,  don’t fret. Go over what you have done. You never know you may be  closer to finish than you think.

There is one rule that all authors should practice:  don’t edit your writing while you are writing.

That is the biggest reason we authors never finish. You need to write and write and write until your words don’t come. Then you begin the process of editing and rewriting. This is when you will find those things that don’t need to be in there but you will also find things that need to be added.

Use this National Novel Writing Month as your tool to finish up your novel.

Are you participating in Nanowrimo? Or are you using this as a tool to move you along in your writing?