When Seasons aren't Seasonal #MFRWAuthor

HOT HOT

On Easter Sunday I had to leave the Agility practice area after ten minutes because it was so oppressively hot. Practice time shifted from 10 AM to 8:30 AM since summer was obviously here. The next weekend it was damp and chilly and no thank you I’ll stay home this Sunday. The weekend after that I watched snow pile up around my new plantings. After that Easter Sunday I washed my heavier sleeping sweats and put them in totes to store for the next few months. Back out they came since these are also my go to writing clothes.

Welcome to Spring in New Mexico.

Kinda Cold

Why am I blathering on about climate anomalies? Don’t we all from time to time have to deal with weather oddities? Of course we do. Since we generally know at least a few days in advance we can prepare by opening or closing windows, and by wardrobe awareness. This time of year I keep my furnace turned very low but not completely off, to maintain at least minimal comfort in the house. All these adjustments address immediate needs and can be handled pretty much in the moment. The same as we can adjust our writing to reflect a new plot idea, a new turn of phrase.
The early spring, after a milder winter, followed the pattern of no real pattern one becomes accustomed to in the Southwest high desert. One deals with it by being flexible, prepared with a wide range of clothing options.Yes there is a parallel to our writing world. We dress to the immediate need, not automatically to the calendar. In that same fashion, we write, or should be writing, the story we need to share. Not the story we think people might want to be reading in six months and certainly not the story people are reading now. That would be similar to pulling out your bikinis (yours, not mine, I gave up on those a long time ago) because by glory the calendar says May even if the sky says gotcha and do you want snow or hail or both? We can’t know for sure purple aliens in chain mail will still be popular by the time our book is done. And do we really want to write about chain mail purple aliens?
Write your book. Not anyone else’s.
BICHOK, y’all

Pretty Much Perfect

Mona Karel, list moderator

Mona Karel is the writing alter ego for Monica Stoner, who gave up life in Southern California to

retire with her husband to New Mexico. Not a great sacrifice except between the sunsets, the gardens, and the Salukis it's harder than ever to find time to write! Her Stormhaven series is set in New Mexico, telling about strong men and the women who understand them. A Question of Faith

It's Retweet Day with #MFRWauthor and #MFRWorg

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg

Once the tweet has been posted, click the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy the link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on the second Wednesday of the month and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ... (three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you an easy way to find and count how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on Twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Any more than this and Twitter might believe it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x

Join us at #MFRWauthor and #MFRWorg It's Author Retweet Day

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg

Once the tweet has been posted, click the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy the link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on the second Wednesday of the month and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ... (three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you an easy way to find and count how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on Twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Any more than this and Twitter might believe it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x

5 Tips to Avoid Author Burnout @kayelleallen #writertips #amwriting #MFRWauthor

Burnout: Melt, break, or become otherwise unusable. If you've experienced burnout, you know how hard it is on the mind, body, and spirit. No simple process can eliminate it, but even little things can help. 

Burnout is dangerous.

When writers get it, they stop writing. Teachers stop teaching. Mothers stop mothering. Wives stop... well, being wifey. Avoid burnout if possible. If you've got it, deal with it. Here are five things you might not have considered.

Put off decisions.

Rather than say "no" say "I'll think about it." Then write it down, so that your mind isn't busy trying to remember. When burned out, the mind stops being able to focus, so we put off doing things because we don't have the energy or ability to decide. We stress when we have unmade decisions. Listen to your body. Allow yourself the freedom to put off making a decision until you've rested. Write it down and then come back to it later.

Permit yourself to take a break.

Notice that I didn't say "take a break." I said to "permit yourself to do it." One of the reasons we don't fully rest is that we feel guilty for taking time off. When you get away from the computer, or your job, or your family, or whatever is burning you out, let yourself relax. Give yourself mental permission for that break. You'll feel better than if you walk away but then mentally pace until you can get back to your desk.

Put things in order.

Straighten your desk. Make your bed. Fold the towels and put them away. Sweep the kitchen. Wipe down one shelf of the refrigerator. Doing mundane tasks that make your environment neater, cleaner, and more organized can free your mind for other tasks. When you're folding laundry, your mind isn't focused on the task, yet you are accomplishing something important.

Purchase something you've wanted but normally wouldn't have bought.

Not talking about a diamond bracelet, although if you can afford it and want it, then why not? I'm talking about some little thing that you would get as a impulse gift for a friend that you might not indulge in for yourself. I bet when you read that line you thought of something right away. Why not let yourself have it? You deserve a goodie.

Pay attention to something insignificant.

Pet a kitten and notice the underlying stripes in its fur. Feed a goldfish and watch it swim. Toss a ball for a toddler and watch how their legs move when they run. Unwrap a straw and look at the way the paper is fastened around it. These things are minute details, but each has meaning in its own way. Doing this can give your mind the kind of break it needs to think about other things.

Want another source of ideas on handling burnout? I was inspired recently by a blog called The Freedom Experiment. There were many articles on self care. One of them inspired this post.

How do you avoid burnout? Share it in the comments.

---

Kayelle Allen, author of unstoppable heroes and warriors who purr
https://bit.ly/kayelle-books
Twitter https://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Facebook https://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author

Sign Up NOW! #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge

It's WEEK 13 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "My Greatest Weakness"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

If any MFRW author participating in the challenge is interested in taking on the role of coordinating the weekly post, please let me know in the comments. The blog is seeking experienced blogger users to assist in the management of our blogs.

Sign Up Now.