#1
One of the best blog posts for writers I read this week was on Anne R. Allen’s Blog. The post is called The 10 Commandments of Highly Productive Professional Writers. In addition to the “you must write and you must write a lot” lessons, there are so many links to follow that one could easily spend a whole day with Anne’s post and the excellent places she sends us to be educated, inspired, and motivated.
#2
It has been along time since I missed the Northern Colorado Writers Conference, but I had to give it up this year. As a result, I missed the Friday and Saturday workshops and networking opportunities, as well as the Friday night dinner and the annual creative team’s video entertainment. I had two cameo appearances in that video, darn it.
Anyway, I’m hoping that video is eventually posted on the NCW website or You Tube so I can share it here. I look pretty funny behind bars…
#3
Now that my foot and knee problem schedule is all changed, I considered jumping into the 2015 A to Z Blog Challenge at the last minute. And then I reconsidered. I had already opted out, so why not do something different this year.
And that might be Camp NaNoWriMo.
I have two more days to decide.
#4
Of course, there’s also the new website/blog going live in April. We’ll be migrating the posts from this blog to the new site sometime the week of April 6th. Hopefully that will go without a hitch. Still, I might need a little time for tweaking, adding lists and bio and other stuff.
What the heck. For April and May I have all the time I need to do all those things.
#5
And read. Lots of time to read. I just ordered two more books I didn’t need because I had an old gift card to use up. My choices were Mosquitoland, a YA novel by David Arnold and Tides of Maritinia, a sci fi novel by Warren Hammond.
I’m an addict. How else can I explain buying more books when I have hundreds of unread novels and nonfiction books already?
#6
And watch movies. This week I saw Gone Girl and This is Where I Leave You. Spent almost three hours today watching The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I’m into the new season of House of Cards. And on and on….
#7
And write blog posts. And play on social media. And watch my dear husband do all my chores and serve my meals with good humor while I sit here and take full advantage of the doctor’s orders to keep my foot off the floor, preferably elevated on pillows.
It may sound a little boring if your life is super fast-paced these days, but sometimes we want to slow down and can’t seem to make it happen. I think I received a gift in an odd and temporarily painful way. There are parts of this “slowdown” I’m enjoying a lot.
I hope I can keep my schedule under better control after this experience, Eileen.
As soon as you’re back on your feet you might wish you still had them up 🙂 Just don’t take on more than you’re ready for.
I love Anne R. Allen’s posts! She and Ruth always say it like it is. One of the best blogs for writers out there.
Can’t wait to see the changes for yours! Feel better soon.
I’ll check out Patrick’s books, too, Madeline. Thanks for the tip. I’ve been reading a lot of YA novels and finding great writing and clever plot lines. And then I start wondering if I could write one of those…
Oh, I so love the idea of slowing down! I have no idea when my husband and I will be really and truly be able to do that. Sigh. I’m sorry you’re having to do it the way you are, but it sounds like you’re making the most of it.
I’ve got Mosquitoland on my TBR list, too. I recently read The Breach by Patrick Lee – I don’t read a lot of thrillers but this is my second one of his and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
No, Jemi, there are easier ways to make us slow down and regroup.
So true, Patricia. And I just went over to our library website and put another book on hold. I’m out of control.
Thanks for those kind words, Dean. I’m looking forward to the site. Change is good. Keeps us on our toes.
So missed you at the NCW Conference. Your cameos are priceless
I enjoy Ruth’s blogs, but haven’t read that one yet.
Looking forward to your new site and all the juicy goodness you bring to the writer world.
Keep mending (and writing) well.
Glad you’re following doctors’ orders! I know how tedious that is from my own experiences, but you’ll be so glad you did when it’s all over! I’m glad to hear somebody else goes out and buys more books when there’s no conceivable way I can possibly live long enough to read all the ones I have stacked all over the place!! It’s a real addiction!!
Slowing down a bit sounds awesome right about now – but I don’t want to get my knee done to do it! 🙂 Enjoy your time and those new books 🙂
Susan, being grounded is not always a bad thing. I know how much work writing conferences and conventions are, so it looks like you’re a whole lot busier than I am.
Except for not doing A to Z and the knee thing, your life sounds like mine. I am going to and helping with our state-wide writing conference in May.
I’m even impressing myself, Kay. I might actually get an old manuscript submitted in April. It’s one I’ve been dithering about for months…
Good to read you are in good spirits. I’m impressed with how much you’re getting done.
Hi Elizabeth. I think the cost will be worth it. I remember how much time it took to set up my original (and very amateur) website (which hardly ever got an update), so this seemed the smart way to go.
Hope your foot is better soon! I think you’re right about unexpected gifts. Sometimes a set-back like this is really a blessing in disguise.
I paid someone to migrate me from Blogger, too. I *might* have been able to do it myself. But I *might* have made a huge mess…
Thanks, E.J. I am pretty excited about the move. It’s long overdue.
Wishing you a quick recovery, Patricia! And good luck on the move to your new website. Exciting! 🙂
I’ll have to check that post from Anne. I usually see most of hers but missed that one.
Margot, it hasn’t been all that bad — although I am a bit disappointed I can’t even use the exercise bike for many weeks. I’m trying to eat less and eat healthy to compensate, but a totally sedentary lifestyle is not good for our physical health (even though excellent for my mental health).
I do sort of, Alex, but using this extra time to actually write something new may win. We’ll see.
Karen and Mason, I just didn’t want to take the time and go through the frustration to do all the setup and the transfer myself. A friend is starting a new website design company so I hired her. From what I’ve seen so far, it looks like she’s giving me exactly what I want, so if the blog content transfer goes okay, I’m going to be a very happy camper. She’s setting it up so I can do my own tweaking and maintenance. I’m thrilled to be making the change so I can get rid of that old website I created myself. Having everything in one place will be very nice.
There’s no way I’d say what you have planned (or thinking of doing) is boring. Looking forward to your blog changes. I’ve often thought about making changes on my blog but it scares me that I’d probably mess everything up so it stays the same.
How are you migrating your blog, Pat? Are you doing it yourself? Looking forward to seeing it. I believe we get physical issues sometimes when we need to slow down and don’t listen. Something good usually comes from the slow down.
House of Cards – awesome show.
Jump into the Challenge. You know you want to.
Pat – I’m really looking forward to seeing what you’ll be doing with the blog changes. And I think you’re right that sometimes it’s good to slow down and go at a different pace for a bit. Thanks too for sharing that link to Anne’s blog; I’ll be interested in seeing what she has to say.