OBSERVATIONS

I have been very observant in the last few weeks.

Having a very high blood pressure makes you take notice of small things.

Not that I want to do that but I've been trying to find out the cause.

1. I learned that I am a high energy person. 
With high blood pressure sometimes that high energy is not a good thing. 

2. I learned that I breath slower when I'm stressed. 
Most people breath rapidly during a stressful period. For some reason I like to be different.

3. I learned that I write the best erotic/sexual scenes when I'm stressed.
Hmmm, is that a good thing or a bad thing.

4. I learned that I like mystery and thriller novels.
Yep, I am a staunch book reader and now I'm widening my book reading library.

5. I learned that no matter how small my house is, I'll always have books.
Yep, now re-working those tiny house plans because I need space for my books.

6. I learned that people that SAY they are in your corner and who SAY they will support you, don't.
Yes, this was one of the hardest lessons to learn. 

If you aren't going to support that local author, or that friend, stop saying you will. We don't need to hear it. We would rather know it.

See the difference is that everyone wants to feel like they can do something. If you can't do something, you can't do it. But when you say, out loud, that you will. Now that is where the problem lies.

You have backed yourself into a corner. Stop saying what you think they want to hear and just say what they need to hear.

"Yes, I'd like to buy that book but I don't really have time to read." "Yes, I'd like to donate but really don't have any money." "Yes, I'd like to come but I really just want to stay home and relax".

See, it's not that hard. 

Observe what people say and then act accordingly. 

That's what I do now and it's leading to less stress for me.

WHAT EXACTLY AM I?

A lot of you have questions about my last blog post. I intend to answer all of your questions here.

So you want to know what am I? What do I do? Why am I doing it? and How does it all work?

First, I'm a 51 year old woman who has 5 children and 9 grandchildren. (With a set of twins on the way for a grand total of 11) Yay me!

Second, I am a future, tiny mobile home owner. Tiny House on Wheels as some of you know it or like +HGTV says, Tiny House Big Living.

Third, I am a woman with two men in my life that love me unconditionally and whom I love with all of me.

Fourth, I am not crazy, stupid, going through a phase, wasting money, waiting on someone to save me or marry me and I am not desperate.

Fifth, I am an author, speaker, talk show host and motivator of all things in the writing world.

I am living my life like it is golden. And yes, that is a Jill Scott song. Get it on ITunes and really listen to the words.

I have decided that after having cancer, having survived starting over at 45 and managing the 'new' dating world; that I deserve to live my life like I WANT TO.

Not according to the 'world's' standards but by my own standards.

I don't tell you how to run your family, business or life so I am not asking permission from anyone to run mine.

I am happy. I am content and what makes me happy is not what would make anyone else happy.

If you can't be happy for me, please don't be sad for me. I am doing just fine because...

I am living my life like it is GOLDEN.

WHY AM I GOING TINY?

I have gotten this question a lot of times and I give a very short answer.

Today; I am going to give you the longer answer. 

The reason I am going tiny is because my needs in life have changed. I have reached my milestone age. I turned 50 in 2016 and started rethinking my life. 

A health issue reared it's ugly head and I had to re-think a lot of things that I took for granted. 

I stepped down from an amazing job for Intrigue Publishing because my health needed all of my attention.

Lucky for me; I had two men in my life that took excellent care of me and gave me the courage to take life by the horns and fight it until I won.

I had been researching tiny houses since 2015 when I stumbled across the show Tiny House Big Living.

I was like a child wanting for Santa. Every week, I altered my schedule to make sure that I was home to see the entire episode. 

This new 'movement' as it was called, caught my attention.

If you have seen my small 'reading room' you all know that I like small spaces. That space is no bigger than 3x4 sq feet. I love this room and stay in it most of the time. 

The size of my home will be 8 x 24. This model is owned by Regina in Florida. This will be similar to the one I get. 

Regina's 24 foot tiny home

My other reason for going tiny? Financial gain. I have paid cash for a small plot of land. I will pay cash for my tiny house. I will not have a mortgage. I will pay for my land taxes once a year. I will not pay for water because I have well water. The only 'utility' I will have is electric and now I am thinking of trying to use solar power. 

Another reason for going tiny is that I can travel with it. Did I mention that the tiny house will have wheels? YES! Do you feel that excitement? All I need is a truck to haul it. Wait; no I don't. All I need is a +U-Haul  that will tow something that is 12,000 lbs. 

So my reason for going tiny is simple. I want to enjoy life. I want to be able to take a trip whenever I want to. I want to live stress free and going tiny makes perfect sense, for me.

Could you go tiny? Leave a comment and let me know.

REJECTION IS A GOOD THING

Rejection isn’t something that anyone likes to go through.

Being a published author, I worry about rejection.

Rejection from a publisher, an editor or from readers.

How do you overcome the fear?

By saying to yourself: I will be better for it.

Yes, rejection serves a purpose. 

It allows us to remember that we are humans and make mistakes. It reminds us that we are not perfect, no matter how hard we try to be. It also reminds us that we have to, correction, we MUST continue to get better in our writing.

Readers are not going to allow authors to sit back and push through mundane work. Publishers aren’t going to let authors think that don’t need improvement and if you have a good editor; they will make sure that they are pushing you to bring out the best words you have.

Yes, Rejection is hard but it is necessary.

So don’t just sit there crying because you have gotten another rejection (or your first rejection).

Dust yourself off, pick up that pen, paper, Notebook, computer or IPad and begin the rewriting process. 

Trust me, you will be glad that you did.

WRITING WHILE WORKING

That is the dreaded 3 W curse.

If you are an author or writer AND you work a full time job than you know what I am talking about.

Working while writing or maybe its the other way around, writing while working is very hard to do.

Why? Because you know you need to write but you are sitting at your desk at work.The choice is hard. Or is it?

For me, it's not. I simply close my door for 30 minutes and I write. I hate that this thing called a full time job gets in my way at times but I have to still pay bills until I take that leap of faith. side note: I'm taking that leap in December.

Some people waste a lot of time gazing off into the world or surfing the internet while working. Yes, I have been doing the same thing. However, I learned recently that while those things are very fun I could be doing something else.

I could be writing.

So when I have the urge to surf, gaze or wander aimlessly around in my head listening to the birds tweet or the crickets chirp, I pull up my trust WORD document and begin typing a new scene.

It didn't happen overnight, trust me. It took days of retraining my brain to go into the creative side instead of the lazy side. It took days of me forcing myself to sit down in my chair instead of just looking for someone to talk to and it took days of me aimlessly playing solitaire on the computer to say, hey you...you are a writer; now get to writing.

So what are you doing that is stopping you from using that creative side of your brain? and whatever it is; try redirecting it so that you can finish that novel sitting in your computer just waiting for you to finish it.