Finally Spring!

Here in the lovely Pacific Northwest, spring has been slow to give us any sunshine. While we are beginning to see a glimpse here and there, what we DO get lots of are flowers. Here are a couple I spotted on my way to work this morning; may they add a little color to your day, no matter how grey! :)

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"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Awakening

"Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event, is hosted by Breaking the Spine. The purpose of this event is to get bloggers to spotlight and share the books they are anticipating on being released.

This week's eagerly anticpated novel is:

The Awakening
by Jeffrey Pierce
Release date: Friday, May 13th

From the author's website:

What if everything you thought you knew was wrong?

We're taught in Sunday School that angels are benevolent beings who watch over us, who love and protect us at every turn. Yet the Revelation of John from the Christian Bible states that it is the angels who will pour out God's wrath on humanity, murdering billions of people. If you were an angel and truly loved those you watched over, could you destroy them, even if God commanded you to? 

And if you couldn't, who would God send to do the job in your place? 

Suspenseful, thrilling, and controversial, in The Awakening we find a world where nothing is quite what it seems, where the truth of spiritual reality has been distorted by millennia of folktales and mythology. While angels exist, they aren't what we believe them to be. They are the Old Ones, living among us from the time they were sent here, over 2,000 years ago, with a dark mission they chose to reject. Having fallen in love with mankind, some of the Old Ones work behind the scenes, teaching our great spiritual leaders while other immortals have entered into relationships with humankind, their angelic blood mingling with our own, manifesting in gifts widely considered to be psychic abilities and prophetic dreams. 

Seamlessly weaving Hopi, Mayan and Christian prophesies with current events and the theories of quantum physics, The Awakening is a novel of the ending of a reality, of the reclaiming of a dimension that we call home. Told from a perspective beyond the filter of mythology, the beginning of the end is shown from a non-religious perspective while embracing the spiritual origins of our own existence.

 ... The first three chapters of The Awakening are available free on Jeffrey Pierce's website, and signed copies are available, as well. I can't wait!!

K is for Kanban

I have organizational challenges. This is no great surprise to anyone who has spent any amount of time with me. I also love gadgets and systems and things, and am forever trying out the new latest and greatest way to keep my life (brain, house, what have you) in order.

The latest nifty tool I've stumbled upon is so simple it almost seems silly. I've been playing with it four a couple weeks now, and am really enjoying my personal Kanban board! What is "Kanban", you ask? Well, from the Personal Kanban website, "A kanban is a tool to visualize, organize, and complete work." Todd Clarke at GetLit (an IT blog) offers his usage of the board, complete with pictures. I love the layout he has used, and thoroughly intend to copy it.  LOL  The whiteboard I have setup at home is much simpler, but doesn't quite do the trick. 

Todd Clarke's super-cool Personal Kanban board at LeanKit Kanban

In a fantasy world, I would have a big flat-screen monitor on the wall of my office, displaying my own personal Kanban using something like the LeanKit Kanban site - and everything could be done with a few clicks of the mouse! As it is, however, I think I'll make do with my whiteboard, colored dry erase markers, and different colored sticky notes.  :)

My first guest blog - Self-Publishing 101

(Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for inviting me to post on your blog!!)

For those who don't know her yet, Elizabeth Petrillo Marcellin is another fantastic author. I will be reviewing her book, Element Keepers, here when I get the time - and it is highly recommended!

We began discussing self-publishing about a month ago, and she mentioned I should write an article helping newbies to the game... So I did! You can view my post on Elizabeth's website.

G is for Goddess, Gratitude and Elbow Grease

Several years ago, on the evening of a full moon and the summer solstice, I was hit with a sudden and burning need to proclaim my devotion to the Goddess. Standing barefoot in the moonlit night, surrounded by comfrey and ripe blackberries, I announced to the universe my promise: To pledge my life, and that of my daughters, in service to the Goddess.

Little did I know what that would mean...

Now, as a little background, I am not a religious person. Spiritual in an all-encompassing, earthy kind of way, sure - but not tied to (or particularly involved in) any one path. But for some reason, that evening, I was Called. Please feel free to substitute "God", "Energy", "Aliens", or whatever word works best for you in place of Goddess - that is just the aspect of the divine that rings truest for me!

Since that promise, I have experienced both the worst and the best life has to offer. I have been literally broken, physically and emotionally - and I have learned to heal, truly and wholly, and to love and be loved. I have discovered that the greatest of life's challenges also offer the greatest gifts - although we have to work to unwrap them, and they often need aging and the right catalyst to ripen. I have also realized what it means to "serve the Goddess" - and that it is not just a verbal promise, but a commitment to work my arse off!

Rather than saying devotionals and prayers or taking a vow of celibacy (which I did do for a time), the way I can best serve and celebrate the Goddess is by embracing my own power, beauty and wisdom - by becoming as true an embodiment of divinity as I am capable of and realizing my full potential. My girls will grow up learning to do the same, and I will do my best to help every woman I befriend discover her own divinity.

Goddess, I am incredibly grateful to you for the gifts I have been given - not least of all my husband, who is the light of my life and the sun to my moon, and my children, who are are the most precious of jewels and the shining stars in my sky. Thank you for always giving us enough, and for providing me with the raw materials to make something incredible. Thank you for the strength, beauty, compassion and wisdom you have given to me - and for showing me how to find it in every person and situation.

F is for Focus

We've been having parenting challenges with a couple of our little ones lately, primarily revolving around a lack of ability to focus and pay attention. They can be told something - instructions, a rule, or what have you - and moments later it is as if they never heard it. As you can imagine, this is rather frustrating. Admittedly, they come by it honestly... I was diagnosed with both ADD and "absent seizures" as an adolescent, and these two definitely share those tendencies!

However, I am of the opinion that behavior is learned. While they may have tendencies toward spaciness and forgetfulness, they can (and will) learn ways to deal with it - as I continue to do even today. Staying on top of things is a constant struggle for me, and I see that reflected in my girls' behavior. It's not out of any sense of laziness or malice, just a simple "Oops; I forgot!" ... But it does have real-world consequences, some of them pretty serious. As an adult, if they "forget" that they have work on a certain day, for example, that could very well be the end of their job - setting in motion a whole crazy CHAIN of consequences!

I am finding that there is no easy answer to teaching my children how to pay attention, focus and think through their actions. It is a constant process of learning (or teaching, depending on where you stand), and is different for every person. An excellent article I came across that offers some practical and effective suggestions for teaching children to focus is titled (prepare to be shocked) "Helping Children Learn to Pay Attention", by Jane M. Healy.

Many of the suggestions Dr. Healy offers are things we already do in our household. Many others are things I understand and support, and just haven't had the time to put into practice! Family martial arts and yoga have been on my "must-do" list for a long time now, for example. *laughing*

I have to wonder... Would so many kids (and grownups) have "ADD" and other focus difficulties if we didn't spend so much time indoors and plugged in?? I highly doubt it. Someday, we'll move out to the country and test that theory.  :)

E is for eBook

I don't think Jeffrey and I initially had any comprehension of how MUCH is actually involved in self-publishing and marketing your own book. It's waaaaaay more than just writing a good book and uploading the file somewhere - you have to find an editor, format it correctly (and differently for print vs. ebook), design the cover, build a website, blog, network, market, solicit reviews, design trailer videos, learn new software, panic when your computer crashes, check stats every 5 minutes, lather rinse and repeat ad nauseum... It's pretty crazy stuff!!

I'll save the gory details of most of it for another post, but here are the basics of what I've learned regarding the easy way of actually creating (and self-publishing) an ebook:

1) All eBook publishers are not equal. Most of them require completely different formatting; if you are techy or willing to take the time to learn, this is a little bit of a hassle but not the end of the world. If your tech knowledge is limited to Microsoft Office and the internet, you are best sticking to Smashwords for publishing your eBook! They will take your (properly formatted) MS Word document and run it through their "Meatgrinder", converting it to the various alternative formats - and then sending your book to multiple distribution channels! Voila. You are now selling your book at Amazon, Sony, Apple, and more - with a minimum of frustration.

2) Start your book with NO FORMATTING. None. All those lovely paragraphs you created using the tab key in Word? BAD. Consult the wonderful and free "Smashwords Style Guide" for more details.

3) Find an editor. It's easy to think you can skip this one, but trust me - no matter how wonderful your writing is, you need an editor. Check your friends & family list first to see who might qualify as a free or low-cost option; offer to bribe them with autographed copies, chocolate, booze, babysitting - whatever it takes!

4) Get your marketing started well before you actually publish your book! Create accounts on social media networks, especially Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Shelfari. Spend time there. Get to know people. Engage in useful conversation - don't just promote your book, that comes across as spammy and is a definite turnoff.

5) Publish your book to Smashwords. The process takes awhile - typically a couple of weeks to be accepted into their "Premium" category, longer if you need to fix formatting errors. Tagging your book and creating an appropriately enticing description and author bio are important, as is placing your book into the relevant categories! Give these items some thought. Also consider pricing - while some authors charge the same price as paperback novels, a majority are pricing their books at $2.99 or even $.99. There are divided schools of thought on eBook pricing; go with your gut - and check out J.A. Konrath's blog on the subject.

6) Send advance copies to reviewers! If you search the web for "indie book review", you will find a number of reviewers happy to accept your book for review. Keep in mind that not all reviews will be positive; be prepared to accept whatever they dish out with grace and good humor.

7) Announce the release of your book!! Tell friends, family, co-workers, neighbors; create and send out a quick press release to your local paper and related publications (such as Parenting Magazine for a book on "Dealing With Your Demon Child", for example); make sure a link to purchase your book (or to the book's website) is in every electronic correspondence you send out... Be the book.

8) Be grateful for the sales and reviews you get, and don't expect to quit your day job any time soon! A new self-published author typically only gets a handful of sales in the first couple months; sales increase with oodles of marketing, additional books, and sheer dumb luck.


Self-publishing is definitely a labor of love! Whether you want to make a living off writing or are just excited about the thought of seeing your book in print (albeit electronically), the world has definitely changed for writers - and the possibilities are limitless, if you are willing to put in the time and effort. But most importantly? Have fun!! Life's a game, not a race to the finish.