The heart will always guide you

We don't want to think about the mistakes we have made because we were foolishly following our head instead of our heart.

You know the heart is the most wonderful part of the body and yet we don't listen to it enough.

When that girl/guy comes into our lives, we want to follow our heart but in reality we are following our minds. Our minds tell us to overlook those little things that would otherwise bother us with any other person. Our minds will tell us that "he is just a messy person" when in our hearts we know, he just might be lazy.

When your mind tells you that you can't write that novel, what does your heart tell you.

If you have had that nagging pull, small ache in your chest whenever you think about picking up a pen or opening up your tablet/laptop and then you don't. That would be your heart telling you that you need to follow it.

Our heart will lead us to where we need to be. Our heart is the thing that will tell us to follow our dream, even when our mind and sometimes our friends, are telling us not to.

I listened to my heart about five years ago and now I have two published novels and working on numbers three and four. If I had listened to my head, I wouldn't have taken that step. Instead I followed my heart and I can say that I am so glad that I did.

I dare you to try it, with anything that you want to do. Follow your heart, you will be amazed.

What a weekend I had

This weekend I was at +Bay to Ocean Writers Conference for a writers conference.

As I mentioned before, well I mention it all the time; I'm always at conferences. Especially one that is right in my backyard. Ok, well technically it is not in my backyard but you know what I mean, right?

I went, knowing full well, I would see some of my new/old friends and learn a lot. What I didn't know was that I would get so much more out of it than just sitting and taking notes. I learned that I actually have a following.

I was shocked when a woman, who I didn't even know came up to me and told me that she watches my facebook moments. I call them soapbox moments.

Who knew? Well, now that I know, you can be certain that those moments will appear here! Yep, right here. And if you ever miss one, just log into facebook and find me. I'm easy to find. I'm one of the only Swangin's there that is an author. Ok, well I'm the ONLY Swangin on there that is an author, so it shouldn't be hard.

What are you waiting for? Join my blog and let the good times roll!

What to do when you can't do what you love

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you couldn’t write?

Well, I have. I had to stop writing for almost a month because I had surgery on my hand and couldn’t use it.

That was the hardest month I ever had in my life. It was as if my entire life came to a screeching halt and I had no clue what I should do.

I used that time to cry, scream and whine to my doctor about how unfair this was because he ‘knew I used my hand to type and yet he still did the surgery’. OK, I did sign off on the surgery but didn’t know that I wouldn’t be able to use my hand for over a month!

I tried everything in my power to use my hand and it just made me miserable. I tried the chicken pecking method. I tried the talk to text method and I also tried paying someone to type for me.

But nothing worked. I found that if it weren't ME typing, than the thoughts were confused and without reason. I then realized that if I couldn’t write, I couldn’t be who I am. That is the first time I went to a conference and learned all there is about being an author and found that there is much more to being an author than just writing.

It involves marketing and promotion and networking and lastly, being in front of people. Until I couldn’t use my hands to write, I didn’t know what else I could or should be doing. That month is when I attended my first conference, Bay To Ocean on the Eastern Shore in Maryland and since then I am continuously going to conferences and making myself a better author by doing more than just writing. I learned that if I couldn’t write, there was so much more that I could be doing.

I can promote myself, I can network and I can attend classes to make me a better writer.

What if you couldn’t write for a month, what would you do?