Happy Halloween

Can you believe it's Halloween already? The last day of October! It's already my least favorite holiday--a fake holiday at that--but today it's a wake up call! On this last day of the month, I now have sixty one days to complete my upcoming novel. Did you hear me? Sixty-one days! That's not a whole lot of time BUT I'm up for the challenge! So while my coworkers are walking around reliving their childhoods, trick or treating around the office and oohhing and ahhing at each other's costumes, I'll be pounding on the keys of my computer bringing my novel thousands of words closer to completion.

Click here for an excerpt of what's next for L.A.

Celebrate National Book Club Month

Happy National Book Club Month!

Below is an article I found on how you can celebrate this wonderful month for books! Share your suggestions!

7 Book Loving Ways to Celebrate National Book Month

By Earma Brown


 October is National Book Month, according to the National Book Foundation. For me it's a book celebration all twelve months. As you may already know or can tell, I love books! I also love to honor and celebrate authors and help aspiring authors. It's a good time to honor and celebrate the authors in your life. What ways are you going to celebrate? I've come up with a few you might consider:



1. Join a book club. It's a great way to celebrate books and your literary inclined friends. Inside a book club, you can meet new friends and fellow readers of your favorite books. Most clubs choose a new book to read and discuss each month. If you want to ramp your reading up, join a book club and read a new book each month.



2. Read as a family. Use this month as the perfect month to encourage the whole family to read. Choose one to two chapters to read aloud, even three if you're ambitious. Our family did this for many years. We came to love and treasure the special moments our reading together created for us. Reading books together as a family will ignite the imagination tuner inside each of us. Even after our kids are gone, my husband and I still read together. In recent years, we now write together. Which I believe all started with us reading together as a family.



3. Swap your books. As a group, especially a writers group or book club you can meet and swap books. Gather the books you love but haven't read in years. When you meet, swap them with each other. You can organize your book swapping with a sign-in and sign out list. Or you can use the honor system. A group of friends on a low budget decided to do this with my books for sale at a writers conference. They each purchased the main book they wanted to read. Then later they swapped with each other to read the other books in the collection.



4. Have a book party. Everyone loves an excuse to party. Have a book party! This event is good for not just authors but book clubs, writer groups and even indie publishers. Invite your book loving friends and even your (not so much) book loving friends. Most people love a good party and you never know who has a secret passion for books. Be sure to prepare tasty treats and refreshments. Have lots of books on hand for your guest to browse. Consider hosting the party at a local bookstore or library. Offer support to a local author and invite them to give a talk about their work and the value of reading. Whatever you decide about your book party; relax and have fun.



5. Buy a book for yourself. Support the literary community. This month, go purchase the book you've been planning to pick up but never got around to it. Take the time to relax and read your favorite classic. I'm reading the Jane Austen classics. O.k., I am an unashamed girly-girl. Treat yourself and buy an eReader. This month is a good time to purchase the latest iPad, Nook or Kindle. A couple of years ago, when I purchased my Kindle I read more books in one month than I used to read in a year. I now think of what book I will read this month instead of this year. When I see a book I'm interested in reading, I immediately check to see if it's on the Kindle or available in a PDF format. I've found that some of my older PDF books that haven't been specifically formatted for the eReader, read just fine on my Kindle.



6. Buy a book for a friend. I still get excited when I receive a good book as a gift. Don't you enjoy getting a good book for Christmas? Although, these days I may have read it already. Since technology has changed the accessibility of books. It seems every book I think I want to read I go get it because of the eReader technology. I mean why not if I can access it so fast and easy. Even so, consider adding a book gift for a friend to your celebration.



7. Help an aspiring author. Do you know an aspiring author friend? Encourage them in their book writing quest. Buy the book of their favorite author and gift it to them. Give the gift of the now popular eReader or an upgrade to their existing device. You can show your support by investing in their training or computer system. Purchase their seat in a writing course, online or offline.



Above all enjoy the month of celebrating books. Discover or rediscover the joy of reading. Remember, inside a book you can meet new people, visit new lands, get good training or just plain old take a pleasant journey. Happy Book Month!


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Earma_Brown


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Birthday Celebration

"Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Happy birthdaaayyy to meeee!" Happy Birthday to me!"
Wow! I really enjoyed that--singing to myself even though I'm a couple of days early. My birthday is actually this Saturday, October 15th. Ironically it's also Sweetest Day, a holiday celebrated in states across the Midwest! Even if it wasn't my birthday, I'd still be looking to this Saturday. It's the 3rd Annual Book Club Mix & Mingle sponsored by the Michigan Literary Network, but it'll be my 1st time attending. As an author and a book lover, I'm pretty darn excited!

Is this the way I really want to spend my birthday? Absolutely! I can't think of a better way, in fact. The only thing missing is my family, but I'm going to get with them later.

Side Note: My daughter bought me the cutesy shirt that reads, "Future Best-Selling Author" You know I can't wait to rock my shirt at the event!

LaCharmine   (L.A.)Jefferson,

Author of Unfinished Business, the story of one woman's addiction to the wrong man for the wrong reason & what she risks to get him out of her system for good.

Website: http://www.lajefferson.com/

My Blogs:
A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com/
Follow me on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/lajefferson

No More Excuses, Only Results

This past Saturday, October 8, I attended the monthly meeting of my beloved writers group, Motown Writers Network. I was so proud of my determination in attending the meeting--on time, at that! Go L.A.! Go L.A.! If my memory is correct, I haven't made it to one of our meetings since the early part of the year. Anyway, on to the point of this post. As is our custom at the beginning of the meetings, all in attendance introduce themselves and share their challenges & successes. For me, as I'm in the process of writing
my second novel, I found myself expressing the same challenge that I had when I was writing my first book, Unfinished Business , over 10yrs ago--writing the book!

Now that just shouldn't be the case! I know my writing mentor and Motown Writers Network founder, Sylvia Hubbard, gets tired of hearing me say the same thing. Heck! I'm getting tired of hearing me say the same thing. It's funny, though. I hear myself saying, "I've got to do so and so with the kids." "I find myself staring at the screen and not typing enough words." "Ive got a lot of outside activities that take up my free time." Blah, blah, blah. I know full well that every other writer in my circle and beyond have the same life obligations. If they can complete their manuscripts in reasonable timeframes, so should I, right? Not to compare myself to others, but I know that I can do better.

Actually, that's the whole point of attending the meetings. You can't attend and NOT be encouraged & inspired to DO better, regardless of your personal challenge. That's why my new motto for my writing life and beyond is, "No More Excuses, Only Results!

What about you? What challenges do you need to overcome?

LaCharmine Jefferson,
Author of Unfinished Business, the story of one woman's addiction to the wrong man for the wrong reason & what she risks to get him out of her system for good.

Paperback at http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/

Ebook at http://smashwords.com/books/views/40425
Website: http://www.lajefferson.com/

My Blogs:

A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com/
Twitter @lajefferson
Facebook @lajefferson