We Wrote a Book...

The Journey of Writing Books

I happened to walk by the television during the announcement of the Best Supporting Actress category for the 2023 Academy Awards as my hubby had just serendipitously switched it on. I paused, wondering who would win, and when Jamie Lee Curtis’s name was announced, I smiled knowing she’d earned her acting chops throughout years of peaks and valleys slogging it through the entertainment industry. Then, I listened to her speech, and something deep inside of me resonated with her. She rattled off a list of names having to do with the award-winning movie, raised the golden statue, and yelled, “We won an Oscar!”, then she mentioned her family, and repeated, “We won an Oscar!”. This speech continued on with colleagues and fans of her movie genres until the actress finished off with her parents, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, both accomplished actors in their own right, and shouted, “We won an Oscar!”

Then it hit me. What Jamie Lee Curtis said would apply to anyone who worked hard, and put in the time and effort to accomplish a huge dream or goal. Being in the Olympics. Making a professional sports team. Getting your paintings or photographs in a gallery. Writing and publishing a book. You saw where I was going with this, didn’t you?

What Ms. Curtis said rings true for me. It takes thousands of people to help you reap your reward…or in this case award. I’m not sure how many people (over a thousand for sure) who have helped me along in my writing career. From conception in 1995 to publication in 2012, and then again in 2015, it truly took a global village to help me make my dream of becoming a published author come true. Of course, I have more dreams in my back pocket. Completing both my young adult book series, starting another book series, reaching readers globally, and seeing my books translate into movies or a television series are but a sampling. Some of these goals will take years to accomplish through dog-eared determination, and others will rely on connecting to the right people at the right time. One never knows how fate will intervene, but it helps to be prepared and ready when that door swings open. I know what I’ll say too. “We wrote a book!” I’ll shout humbly, knowing that I was never alone in the midst of writing any of my books. Ever.

If you never got a chance to hear Jamie Lee Curtis’s speech, you can listen to it below. I promise, it’s short, but very powerful:

 If you’re a reader, did you realize how many people are involved in helping an author become published? If you’re an author, have you ever thought about how much support you’ve received over the years of your writing career? Would love to read your comments. Cheers and thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate you! 

Feeling Down? Try Thinking UP with these 9 Guidelines for Successful Living…

How do you want to be remembered at the end of your journey? If you’re like me, most of us hope for a successful life and to have made an impact on those around us. To have no regrets, to make a difference, and wipe our karma slate clean. Some manage to do this, while others fall terribly short. To achieve the success you’re looking for, here are some simple—dare I say UPSTANDING— guidelines you can put into practice every day:

Wake UP to the OPPORTUNITIES and pleasures that life offers you. Always seek out the silver lining that forms around the clouds of your life. Every situation has the potential to add something to your life if you’re brave enough to seek it out.

Dress UP your face with a SMILE. It’s the best exchange of positive energy around! A smile will allow others to be welcomed into your life. So go on and get cracking!

Button UP your mouth. There is a reason why you’ve been given two ears and one mouth. We’re meant to LISTEN more than we speak.

Stand UP for what you BELIEVE in. Be a person of principles and live them. Don’t let others control how you act or what you believe. Be true to yourself. A person of principle will always have more long term impact and a positive influence.

Look UP and set your sights HIGHER. Never be content to wallow in mediocrity. People who set a higher standard of excellence also experience a heightened sense of being alive.

Reach UP and strive for higher goals and bigger DREAMS. Your dreams and goals will provide you with a passion and the motivation to excel.

Lift UP and ENCOURAGE others by helping them feel CONFIDENT in themselves. A positive word or kind act to someone down in the dumps could uplift them immediately. Remember that real success comes with the help of others.

Give it UP and leave the past behind. The past is not the FUTURE unless you make it so. Stop being afraid of failure, or making a mistake, or of what others may, or may not think. Life is way too short for that. We cannot live in the past, we must always be moving ahead.

Gear UP and get excited! Be ENTHUSIASTIC! People love to be around those who show excitement for life. Besides, I believe it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said, “Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm.” True that, Ralph!

I hope these guidelines will SERVE you well. Thank you for reading my blog. If you have time, please leave a comment and share what you do to keep UP. Cheers!

6 Steps to Bolster your Self-Esteem…

Set Big Goals! I’m not kidding. Make plans to carry out how you’re going to achieve your humongous goals. This is so important. Think about it. If you’re going on a trip, you enter all the info in your GPS or purchase a map to mark out your destination. Businesses need business plans or the bank manager will look at you sideways when you come asking for a loan. What’s the difference when it comes to planning out your life goals?

Mark down your Values and Ideals! Set your big goals based on your values and ideals. Don’t make your goals to easy to achieve, instead aim high, and the higher the better. For example, some authors I know (me included) would love their novel or novel series to be turned into a movie. Or some authors would love to sign with a traditional publishing company, while others would rather go it alone on the self-publishing route. A word of caution—know thyself—don’t set your goals so far out of reach that you give up before you even get started.

Measure your Successes! This is so important. Define what the standard is for YOU, and no one else. Understand your strengths and weaknesses, and use both to help you accomplish your goals. Form alliances with other like-minded individuals or groups and delegate when necessary.

Stop comparing yourself to others! This is so hard NOT to do. But if you continually compare your successes to other people’s successes you’ll find that there’s always one person doing better than you. Better sales. Better book covers. Better stories. Better life. STOP IT! Your plans are not their plans. Stick to YOUR plan, and keep positive. The best thing you can do for yourself is to develop a positive mental attitude, and keep moving forward with purpose.

Recognize your Accomplishments! When someone you admire pats you on the back, don’t shrug it off. Take it. Embrace it. It’s good for you. People have a habit of fluffing off compliments, especially when they’ve earned it. So my take advice and savor that pat on the back for a job well done. Besides, it’s good for us to stand in the spotlight—it makes us shine all the more brighter!

Reward yourself! This is the icing on the cake. Make sure you select a reward that is consistent with the goal you have just achieved. Signed a book deal? Go out for supper to celebrate or buy those beautiful shoes you keep passing in the store window. Graduated university?  Car keys please! You get the idea. When I have a book release, I usually reward myself with an expensive bottle of cognac and a cigar (and I don’t smoke!). Go figure.

So, how do you bolster your self-esteem? Love to hear your voices…

Developing a Positive Mental Attitude: Part Two

Last week I gave you the first thirteen building blocks on how you develop a positive mental attitude (PMA). If you’ve missed Part One of Developing a Positive Mental Attitude, please click HERE to read over the post. If you haven’t, then let’s continue on…

14. Comprehend that no one can hurt your feelings, make you angry, or frighten you without your full cooperation and consent.

15. Perceive that self-pity is an insidious destroyer of self-reliance. Believe that you are the one person on whom you can and should depend on at all times.

16. Relate to every circumstance in your life as something that has happened for the best, for it may be that your saddest experience will bring you your greatest assets if you give time a chance to mellow your distress.

17. Divert an urge for control over others. Channel that energy into better control over yourself.

18. Occupy your mind with doing what you want to do so that no time will be left for it to stray to the things you do not want to do.

19. Attune your mind to attract the things and situations you desire by expressing in a daily prayer your gratitude for what you already have.

20. Demand a reasonable amount of dividends from life every day, instead of waiting to receive them.

21. Live in the style that suits your physical and spiritual requirements. Don’t waste time keeping up with the Joneses!

22. Refuse to heed anyone’s advice – unless that person is willing to give you satisfactory evidence of the soundness of his or her counsel.

23. Discern that personal power does not come from the possession of material things alone.

24. Exert yourself so that you keep your body in shape – your body like your mind – must be kept active to remain positive.

25. Reinforce the habit of tolerance, and keep an open mind on all subjects and toward all people no matter what their race or creed.

26. Admit that love is the best medication for your body and your soul. Love changes the entire chemistry of your body and conditions it for the expression of a positive mental attitude. By far, the best way to receive love is to give it!

Remember, you can achieve success in anything you do! Next week’s post will conclude with the final building blocks on how to develop a positive mental attitude. Cheers!

Developing a Positive Mental Attitude: Part One

To survive as a full-time author, I believe it’s necessary to develop a positive mental attitude (PMA) to get you through the humps and hurdles that every writer meets in today’s new publishing paradigm. Say what you will, but nothing great has ever been achieved without PMA. One of my personal pacesetters and all-time mentors is Napoleon Hill, who once said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” Amazing insight from a man born in the rugged mountains of Southwest Virginia in 1883 in a one room cabin!

So how do you develop a PMA to make life pay off on your own terms? The following thirty-nine building blocks were taken from Napoleon Hill’s book, Keys to Success: The 17 Principles of Personal Achievement. Read on…

1. Recognize that your mental attitude is the only thing over which you – and only you – have complete control, and exercise that control.
2. Realize that every adversity, sorrow, setback, or defeat, whether or not you caused to happen, contains the seed of an equivalent benefit which you can nurture into a blessing that soars above the disaster that brought it.
3. Clear your mind of any influence which does not support a positive mental attitude.
4. Find out what you want most in life and go after it.
5. Select the person, who in your opinion, is the finest person in all the world, past or present. Make him or her your pacesetter for the rest of your life, emulating him or her in every way possible.
6. Determine what kind of resources you need, and set up a plan for acquiring them based on the idea of not too much, not too little.
7. Form a habit of saying or doing something every day  which will make someone else feel better. (Also known as doing a random act of kindness). Remember, one good deed will keep old man gloom away!
8. Make yourself understand that what whips you isn’t defeat, but your mental attitude toward it. Train yourself to look for the seed of equivalent benefit in every disappointment you face.
9. Ascertain what you like best to do, and do it as a labor of love with your heart and soul. Don’t let boredom or brooding get you down!
10. Understand that often when you have searched in vain for a solution to a problem, you can find it by helping someone else solve his or her problem.
11. Take a complete inventory of every asset you possess. You’ll discover that your greatest asset is a sound mind with which you can shape your destiny.
12. Acknowledge that the space you occupy in this world is in exact ratio to the quantity and quality of the service you render for the benefit of others, plus the mental attitude in which you render it.
13. Break bad habits. Do this one at a time. Show yourself who is boss. If you need help, get it. Don’t let your pride master you!

I’ve broken these building blocks to developing a positive mental attitude into three parts. Please join me next week when we continue our journey to success!