Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 66

Weekend Roundup

Quiet weekend, which I’m good with. My favorite part was getting videos of my grandson, Turbo. He was playing with a friend, and they were so cute together. Both are 3. But at one point she hugged Turbo, who made some kind of mild protest I didn’t really catch on the video.

The sweet little girl said, “Sorry.”

Turbo respond, “It was so much hugs.”

I cracked up. Then later, Turbo hugged her. 3 year olds are adorable sometimes.

Otherwise, my weekend was the usual stuff; cleaning, errands, cooking, walking with Maggie, and writing. The book is developing, but wow, I was pulling some quotes to send to Carla (my assistant) and talk about messy. The pages are just brimming with typos, missing words and general nonsense that even I can’t make heads or tails of. I convinced the Wing Slayer Hunters are putting in that gibberish in there just to screw with me.

Seriously. They’re devious like that.

But that’s okay, my general rule is:

The first draft is a disgusting mess with glimmers of hope that a story is possible.

The second draft shows signs of story structure, character development and a plot arc.

The third draft is a freaking miracle that might be publishable

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! Did you all hear the whoosh as another week zoomed by? Okay let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

We’ve been cleaning carpets. Ugh. Okay, here’s the thing, after the last time my daughter-in-law loaned us her carpet cleaner, I was gonna buy one so we could do this as needed in a logical and consistent way, instead of this frenzied all-at-once way.  It was a solid plan and I put a carpet cleaner in my cart on Amazon cart. Then…Cheap Jen woke up and deleted it from my cart. Two years later, we borrowed the carpet cleaner again, and Holy Disgust Balls. We had to do some rooms twice, I don’t mean we went over the carpet back and forth twice, I mean full clean, let dry and do it all over again twice. As I’m writing this on Thursday, all I have left to do is the three easy bedrooms upstairs which I can do in an hour or two. We left the easy rooms for last.I’ve put Cheap Jen in time out until she agrees we need to buy a carpet cleaner with no more cheap-ass shenanigan’s.Yesterday, I went to Starbucks, and ordered something new, an iced honey oatmilk latter. OMG LOVE!!! I meant to get it hot, but they gave it to me iced, and I thought, why not? I really liked it. I’m still buzzing from the caffeine though Still doing yoga, but doing it Wednesday after a marathon cleaning day may not have been my brightest idea. My joints did a bunch of Wizard of Oz Tin Man squeaks and squawks. However I got through the practice without injury. I could use a quart or two of some oil laced with ibuprofen into my joints though I’m getting some words down too. I’ve passed the 100 page mark story wise. Those are pages I consider workable. Brace yourselves for this tidbit of crazy: I actually have 349 pages in the file. I have even more in another cut file. Some of the extra 250 pages I will use at least snippets of, the rest will get cut. It’s insane, but it’s how I work. The Wing Slayer Hunter world is expanding with every book, and I’m evidently here only to tell the story. When I try to actually control things, the hunters stand back and watch me write myself into a corner, then laugh.

That’s my five random things, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Who Cares About Morning Routines?

I don’t know why anyone cares, but here’s what my morning routine looks like.

5:30 a.m, I’m always awake. Always. Sometimes I’m awake at 4;30am but I stay in bed until he coffeemaker goes off.

5:30 – 6:30 a.m: I sit with Maggie on the couch, have coffee, and either read, check email, do some editing or watch videos. It’s usually my only “downtime” during the daylight hours and I’ve learned to enjoy it.

6:30 – 7:30 a.m: Shower and walk Maggie.

7:30-8:00 a.m: Make breakfast–usually boring oatmeal with blueberries, organic almond butter and cinnamon. Or I have yogurt, fruit and a piece of toast with almond butter. FYI I love sliced apples dipped in yogurt. I feel that not enough people know this is delicious

ARE YOU BOARD YET??? I mean all that above is true and my day goes on nonstop from there, but why does it matter? It doesn’t. But all over the internet, “successful” people are telling us their morning routines as if it were life-changing information.

As my adorable and very bright 3 year old grandson would say, “That’s so silly.”

The only morning routine that matters is the one that works for YOU. Copying someone else’s morning routine by making the same exact green juice they choke down each day won’t suddenly make you super successful. But it will also make you sad that you didn’t slice up fresh, crisp apples and dip them in smooth creamy Yoplait yogurt instead. Trust me, it’s much better then pureed spinach. Anyway, morning routines are, at best, a structure in which to manage your time to achieve all your goals. If you want to tone up and drop weight, then sure, structuring in time for exercise and a healthy breakfast makes sense–but only if it’s doable for you. Not everyone is a morning person. Some people can barely find their way out of bed to the coffeemaker. They’d be downright dangerous on a treadmill before noon.

We all look for shortcuts, but in the end, what matters is focusing on our goals, and figuring out how to take steps each day to get there in a way that works for us. Maybe shutting off the internet and doing the thing–exercise, or in my case, writing–is the real tool that will get us to success.

And back to my routine for a moment, I’m more a morning person by nature, and I tend to do a fair amount of things in the the day. Partly that’s because I’m a card-carrying control freak and I can’t live in chaos. I know this about myself, so I structure my days in a way that keeps my life running somewhat smoothly and doesn’t drain too much of my energy. Doing that then frees up brain space, and energy, for creativity. I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis, and have learned through experience how to maximize my limited energy. But all this is just what works for me.

Other folks can thrive on chaos. I’ve seen it and marveled at it. I’m actually in awe of people who can do it. If they tried to live my structured life, it would suck the joy and creativity right out of them in about three hours. My morning routine is not just useless to them, its actually damaging. And the reverse is true; if I tried to live their lives, I’d be too anxious and tired to be creative.

That’s all okay. Know yourself, know your goals, and go do it!

Okay, tell me about your days. Do you like structure or do you thrive on being a free spirit who embraces a little chaos?

The post Who Cares About Morning Routines? first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

Fun weekend! Saturday I worked, and since it was a decent writing day, I call that fun.

Sunday was all about…

Turbo! His parents dropped him off at 10am. We dug in dirt, played in the hot tub (pictured above), ran up and down stairs a gazillion times, played endless games of trucks, took Maggie for a walk, and had homemade chocoate cookies. We wore him out and he fell asleep five minutes after we put him in the car for the ride home. Our daughter-in-law grilled steaks for dinner too. Totally fun day but no words got written. Turbo takes a village, LOL! He’s sweet, well behaved and is a ball of constantly moving energy.

Today it’s back to the world of sexy, demanding Wing Slayers. I have a long ways to go, but I’m finally hitting a stride…which will take a headlong slide into a wall again at some point But for now, I’m strapping in and typing!

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! Sheesh, I don’t know how time is going by so fast! Okay, let’s dive into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

Top of the news for me is that Wednesday we went to play with Turbo. He was a blast from the moment we walked in When we had to leave, he was said and said, “I don’t want you to leave.” Priceless.How many of you bet on Maggie winning the mini hunger strike???? You all win! She’s back to getting wet food in her morning kibble just how she likes it. There’s a reason we call her Princess AKA Princess P.I.A.Maggie’s other nicknames include Magalicious, Pupperoni, Love Bug and Pumpkin Face.  The last one is probably the weirdest, LOL. It’s one of those names that just happened for silly reasons and stuck.I am not a fan of cleaning. However I’m a huge fan of a clean house. The dilemma is real. So is the body aches from cleaning Back to Turbo, he’s coming over Sunday. His parents will make the hour drive out to drop him off, then return home to tackle some spring cleaning and we’ll take him home later that day. I told Maggie Turbo is coming over–her ears went up and she looked at the front door. I felt bad since she didn’t understand I didn’t mean that minute. If Maggie sees us getting ready for company (like getting out Turbo’s toys), she sits at the door and waits. It’s cute like that, but not cute that I teased her days before Turbo was actually coming over.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Help Me Break My Reading Slump

So I read a big paranormal romance trilogy and then burned out badly. Since then, I’ve read a book or two, but I keep getting distracted.

FYI, my distractions are podcasts about cults (it’s a weird fascination) and business, elite gymnastics, cake decorating videos and veterinarian shows, all of which I watch on the same Kindle that I read books on

But I’m looking for a killer romance…I mean hot, sexy, can’t-put-it-down. I must break this slump!

If you know a good romance, please shout it out!

The post Help Me Break My Reading Slump first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

A Day To Remember Our Heroes in the U.S.

I believe…

I remember with respect and gratitude all the souls who served and lost their lives. They paid a steep price.

I remember that fighting is not a solution. It’s a last resort with an unbearable cost.

I remember that the brave didn’t start the wars…they finished them with their blood, sweat, tears and sometimes, their lives.

Thank you to all who served. And to those who died…

I remember.

 

The post A Day To Remember Our Heroes in the U.S. first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! Time to share five random things about our week:

Wizard has been getting out of grocery shopping. I’m very sulky about it. I LOATHE grocery shopping. Next week, I’m making him go with me.I ordered my glasses five weeks ago and still waiting. The office finally called me yesterday to tell me there was a problem. You think? Sorry, is my annoyed sarcasm showing? I’m more annoyed that they brushed me off twice when I called to inquire about the glasses, than the fact that they ran into a problem. Anyhow the problem is they are supposedly having trouble cutting the lenses, and the lab will call them back soon with an update…we’ll see what happens.I’m working a lot this week and wish I had more pages to show for it. But I’m logging the hours and efforts, so the rest will come, it always does. Side note: Having to thread Ram and Ginny’s storylines in to this book along with Eli and Savi’s is crazymaking. I’m pretty sure the Wing Slayer Hunters stay awake nights plotting ways to melt my brain in some kind of twisted revenge for making them work so hard to get their Happily Ever Afters.I’m writing this Thursday afternoon right before Wizard and I leave for dinner out. We’d originally planner to go out for Mother’s Day, but Wizard had an allergy attack so we’re finally getting around to actually going. We are both looking forward to going out.In the column of good things I do for myself, I’m still doing Yoga. It’s helping me destress, and I think it improves my sleep slightly. In the things only good for my mental health–I bought dark chocolate covered almonds. But I haven’t opened them yet

That’s my five now I’d love to hear yours.  I hope everyone in the states has a great Memorial Day Weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Jen’s Wednesday Wisdom

Selling Motivation is pretty big business these days.  You’ve probably heard all the big time gurus who’ve made millions off selling motivation: Tony Robbins, Rachel Hollis, Dave Ramsey and a quite a few others. There’s a whole slew of folks out there happy to sell us motivation. They’ll offer an online class, personal coaching sessions, workshops or expensive multi-day conference.

They swear they can motivate us to fix our body, health, job, marriage or finances in five easy steps.

We can buy motivation anywhere these days. Seriously, motivation is big business. If you’re not convinced, take a look at the diet and fitness industry. Motivation is HUMONGOUS there.

Motivation is selling a dream to the buyer while enriching the seller. That’s all fine. Motivation is a great way to jump start a project, or help us keep believing in ourselves, or sometimes, or just give us a kick in the backside. Motivational events are also great places to network with people who have similar goals.

But you know what Motivation gurus can’t sell us?

Internal Drive. We either have it for our dream goals or we don’t. It’s internal, meaning its derived from our mind/body/spirit, not from an external source. Internal Drive is the fire in our belly to do the steps to achieve our goal no matter what.

Even when it’s boring.

Even when it feels overwhelming and impossible.

Even when we make mistakes, fail and have to start over again and again.

Internal Drive will push us. Internal Drive is the voice in our head that nags us back to the project, the voice that wakes us in the night, demanding we figure out the answer to the problem.

Motivation fades away.

Internal Drive won’t let up until we finish.

So sure, when we need a small push to get over a hump,  or to network with a community who have similar goals as us, motivational gurus or groups can be helpful. They may even be worth the investment.

But when we want the staying power to achieve long-term success, we need to look inside ourselves for internal motivation.

The post Jen’s Wednesday Wisdom first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

It was a great weekend! Middle and his wife came over for his birthday. Youngest and his wife came too. It was great to see them, and of course, we missed oldest, his wife and Turbo, but they had another commitment. We had beef and chicken fajitas, rice, watermelon and lemon pound cake with ice cream for dessert. I had way too much food, but that just means we have a few days worth of meals, which was exactly what I intended

Maggie also had fun, sure that her brothers and sisters-in-law came over just to play with her, pet her, and feed her special treats.

Then after a truly non-stop week, Sunday I was finally able to catch my breath. I wrote some pages, and Maggie and I went on a long walk on a beautiful sunny day with just a breeze I also began working on putting together some promo stuff for Carla (my assistant) that I’ve been promising her for a week

Today I’m back to working on Primal Magic, I’m still in the first quarter, but it’s getting there. I’m working in my crazy zig zag approach. I’m going to try this week to practice fiercely guarding my writing time and not letting anything other the flames or blood distract distract me.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.