Writing Friends Rock!

After last Saturday I decided that I need more writing friends or I need to spend more time with the ones I already have. A few of my writing friends and I attended a book fair, which was more like a writing workshop, hosted by the Wayne County Community College. Since the event wasn't sufficiently advertised, there was literally no traffic of book lovers to meet and greet with so we authors had a lot of time to do what we love second best to writing--talking about writing!

Talking about writing with non-writers is like talking about raising kids with people who don't have any. In most cases they don't get it or they don't care.

Although I know I'm not alone in this self-publishing struggle, it's easy to fee like I am. Oftentimes I see my writing buds on twitter promoting their work or themselves and I think, "Man, they've really got it going on." Behind that I say something like, "And you just suck." Speaking of myself, of course.

However, after a couple of hours talking about everything I'm comforted that some of them feel just as frustrated as I do. None of us thought that becoming authors was going to be this much work! Most of us fantasized about landing a huge contract with a major publisher and just sitting back bringing our stories to life while the publishing company does all the work pushing the book.

Not only is the none of our lives another writer I met at this event gave me a perspective of being under contract that I'd never considered. As a self-published author I am in total control of what I do or don't do. If I were under contract with let's say Simon & Schuster, that would be far from the case. I'd be mandated to their schedule, not my own. National interviews, local interviews, book signings across the country, etc. Sounds awesome on one end but not on another.

Would I really want someone else dictating my time with my kids? I enjoy the time I'm able to give my kids outside of my regular work hours. I like taking my son to his soccer practice and soccer games. I like taking my daughter to work, picking her up, etc. All that parenting is, I want on my terms.

Next, I picked up a tip about the benefit of writing in other genres. It's helpful with your main genre. And it really is. I hadn't planned it this way but over the last few weeks I've detoured from the novel I'm working on and have been working on an essay project. Honest to goodness, as I've been working on descriptions for the essay, I've been coming up with better descriptions for the novel! Soon as I get a chance to join this writer's writers group, I'm going to add that to my already jam packed schedule.

Lastly, without dragging this post longer than it already is, also I received a suggestion for how to finally get my book on kindle. Yes, I know its as easy as 1-2-3 but I'd run into a problem with my document that had me delaying the process UNTIL my little chat with my writing buds.

The essence of this story: keep your writing friends closer than all others. They're a wealth of support and experiences that can help you AND you will help them too.




LaCharmine (L.A.) Jefferson
Author, Writer, Blogger

Website: www.lajefferson.com

Blogs by me:

L.A.'s Literary Love Life@ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com

A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com

All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com

Naturally L.A. @ http://naturallyla.wordpress.com

Surviving Work @ http://survivingmydayjob.wordpress.com

Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson

Back on the Writing Grind--Maybe Not

Two weeks ago, I was on a good writing streak. A writing everyday kind of a streak, making real progress. Then I suddenly found myself involved in planning a wedding in a very short period of time so it's easy to imagine how distracted I became. Checking out venues, orchastrating the order of ceremony, looking at dresses, planning the reception, etc. Needless to say things started getting crazy real quick. In a matter of days I realized that it was a complete waste of time opening my document up on the computer screen because I couldn't write a thing!

When the madness finally came to an end I thought I'd easily get back on track. After a couple of days, I did. I was going back over a chapter that I'd previously completed but wanted to revise because of something I'd written in a chapter further down the road. According to this article I read here Write It Sideways I wasn't writing at all. My favorite foe procrastination had reared it's ugly head, which clearly explains the frustration I've been feeling over the past week or so. Running around in circles is what I've been doing.

This article inspired me to STOP! The scene I've been working on is still not perfect--but, will it ever be? Whatever the case, it's time to move on.

Hope you find this article as helpful as I have. This looks to be a very helpful site that I'll surely be putting on my regular reading list. What do you think?

Cookies & Milk--My Writing Weekend Reward

Considering I'm participating in two weight loss challenges, cookies and milk was not the best way to reward myself but they were yummy! If you're wondering why I'm rewarding myself, let me tell you. I had a fantastic writing weekend! It all began with the Motown Writers Network monthly meeting. First meeting I've been able to get to all year. Of course, I knew exactly what I'd been missing. Networking! Knowledge! Camaraderie!

We begin every meeting with introductions. Ironically it was because of this that I attended this meeting in particular. After 3 years of being a published author I should be better at this than I am but I'm still a bit withdrawn at times. In the days before the meeting I was admonishing myself to DO BETTER! Honestly, I have more opportunity than I care to admit to telling people about myself and my work that I don't take advantage of. I knew that I couldn't get out of it if attended the meeting because Sylvia Hubbard would have none of that. I absolutely love her!

At this months meeting, there was a presentation by Stephanie Lewis on graphic design and social media for authors. Overwhelming information! I'd be typing forever if I tried to regurgitate the information this young lady provided. Let's just say, I, along with every other author needs to step up our game. Our websites need to be formatted like that of world-renowned best selling authors! We must use social media to our advantage, Tweet and Facebook the RIGHT way to find SUCCESS.

I was so amped up by the discussions with my writing peers, I skipped the trip to the mall that I planned for after the meeting and headed to the coffee shop to finish a chapter I'd been struggling with and get started on the next one! You see, that's a great purpose for belonging to a writer's group! I always leave my buds motivated to step up my game! Can't wait until next month!

LaCharmine (L.A.) Jefferson
Author, Writer, Blogger

Website: www.lajefferson.com
Blogs by me:
L.A.'s Literary Love Life@ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com
A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com
Naturally L.A. @ http://naturallyla.wordpress.com
Surviving Work @ http://survivingmydayjob.wordpress.com
Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson

Book Giveaway

Unfinished Business Book Giveaway!!!

We are just a few months away from the publication of Reconciliation to Hell and we're willing to spread some love if you're willing to spread the word...

We've started a contest; the first 50 new followers will be eligible to receive a free autographed copy of Unfinished Business and automatically be entered to win a copy of the upcoming sequel, Reconciliation to Hell.

If you would like a chance to win an autographed copy of Unfinished Business then visit both Unfinished Business and Chrystal's Corner and become a follower/member. Also leave the following message: "Reconciliation to Hell is coming." Include your email address so we can contact you.

Wait! Everybody is a winner because even if you're not one of the 4 selected winners you will still receive a special code to get an ebook edition of Unfinished Business for only $1.99. Hurry! This contest ends March 26, 2012.

LaCharmine (L.A.) Jefferson
Author, Writer, Blogger
Website: http://www.lajefferson.com/
Blogs by me:
L.A.'s Literary Love Life@ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com/
Naturally L.A. @ http://naturallyla.wordpress.com/

Follow me on Twitter @lajeffeson

Unfinished Business Reader Review

Check out this reader review then get your copy of Unfinished Business (e-book or paperback) today!

L.A. Jefferson

From: "HARRIS, NIKKI N" <nh1565@att.com>
Date: February 9, 2012 2:27:58 PM EST
To: "lajefferson1@yahoo.com" <lajefferson1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business provided an excellent storyline that kept me hooked until the end (Gotta love a surprise ending!!). The writer did a great job of feeding readers tidbits of information without spoiling the ending. Ladies, you will find the main character very easy to recognize if not in yourself then in someone you know! A Great Read that I highly recommend!

Take Care and Many Blessings Lacharmine!

Nikki Harris

L.A. Jefferson Accomplishing Goals in 2012

Accomplishing goals is not something I do well. At least not as well as I'd like to. Aside from acquiring my college degrees by the time my youngest child started elementary school, I did manage to accomplish the goal of publishing my book, albeit with no time frame in mind which explains why it was a 10yr plus project. Therein lies my challenge:  Meeting goals ON TIME. However, a change appears to be on the horizon for me. Forget that I didn't make my 12/31/2011 goal for having my manuscript complete, in recent weeks I have accomplished two important personal goals.

Posted on the wall of my cubicle at work is a to-do list that I created to keep myself on track. At the top of the list was submitting my application for the 2012 Kresge Artist Fellowship due February 1, 2012. My goal was to submit my app by Friday, January 27, 2012. True to form, I missed that date, but I was on it the day the application was due! Who knew applying for a fellowship would be so stressful??? Although I didn't submit on the day I planned, I still applaud myself for seeing the application process through, not giving up considering this would be my third opportunity to apply for the $25,000 prize since learning about this opportunity for literary artist in the metropolitan Detroit four or five years ago.

The second goal I've achieved is becoming a literacy tutor for the Detroit Public Library Adult Literacy Program. I'm a week premature in declaring myself officially but it's as good as done. The Detroit Public Library requires its tutors to complete a two day training, which for me began last Saturday and wraps up this coming Saturday.

While this second goal has little to do with my building my writing career or platform, it's even more special to me than being in the running for the fellowship. For years I've been wanting to combine my love for reading with my desire to make a difference in my community. Becoming a literacy tutor will allow me to accomplish that. Because of my busy schedule as a mother of two and author, I hadn't been able to commit to the two day training session until now. Of course, there were things that I could've done on one or both of these days. But this time I'd firmly decided that NOTHING was of greater importance the training this training.

Now all I've got to do is transfer that same level of committment to completing my novel!

Reconciliation to Hell....Summer 2012
Free Excerpt

Unplanned but Necessary Writing Break

It was the last week of 2011 and I was finally taking a full week off from my day job. Talk about a long time over do. For sure, I won't let that happen in 2012. Interestingly, I was looking so forward to the time off. Mainly because I was pretty fed up with walking into my office building everday, tired of looking at that same people, tired of the work, tired of the same back and forth trip downtown on the same expressways, tired of saying the same things to my children before and after school: Have a good day at school? and How was your day at school? Get the drift that I needed a break? Although most mom's that I work with dread being off work when their kids are on break from school, for me, their Christmas break was just what I needed. It wasn't them that I was tired of, but everything else!

Right before my vacation started, I had delusions of grandeur that I just might come close--somewhere close anyway--to getting closer to the end of my manuscript that I'd planned to finish by midnight December 31, 2011. Little did I know, I was taking a break from writing as well. A much needed break, it seems. Like I said, that wasn't the plan. It simply turned out that way.

The first two days of my vacation, I sought out rest and relaxation. Ultimate goal was to not leave the house! Goal achieved on Monday. PAUSE: Special shout out to my mom, especially, who I normally talk to everyday, for not even calling me on my first official vacation day. My cell phone didn't ring all day! Plus, neither one of my children asked to go anywhere. I think they new what mom needed, too. Tuesday, I wasn't quite as lucky. Just because my son received everything he wanted on his Christmas list, it still wasn't enough to make him want to stay behind closed doors two days in a row! At this moment, I can't recall where they actually got me to go, but it was out of the house!

A few times I pulled out my laptop to check out my manuscript in progress, my blogs, my newsletter in progress and got zilch! My head just wasn't there. Unlike other times when I'd taken time off work specifically to write, this wasn't one of those times. Instead I found it much easier to pick up a book. Lord knows I have enough unread books on my shelf. Just in time for the holidays, I started with a holiday inspired story by Kristin Hannah, Comfort & Joy, followed the latest Stephanie Plum novel Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich. Both good books that I'll post my personal reviews of shortly.

Most of 2011 I spent writing, networking, and trying to promote my book. All good things, of course. However, this past week and even before that I realized how much I've missed reading. Thank God being an avid reader is just as important to being a great writer as writing is! As such, I plan to do a whole lot more reading (audio books included) in 2012.

What are literary plans for the new year?