Maggie Shayne's Blog: Maggie's Coffee House Blog, page 15

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 2

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 2




I am a student of spirit, and I know beyond any doubt that thoughts are things. Thoughts, once they are thought by a thinker, have an existence all their own, on a plane where non-physical things live. We humans are the thinkers, and therefore, we are creators. Everything you have in your home began as a thought. Lights and heat and telephones and

Why I Still Believe in Santa Claus: Part 1

I still believe. I always have. There was a time when I doubted. I think I was about 11. But it didn't last long. My belief was too strong to die, and it lingers still.  So here, for any doubters, are my reasons for believing he is real and true, as real and true as we are.

This will be a multi-part blog, one post a day, from now until and including Christmas Day.
Enjoy!



Why I Still Believe

Letter to Santa Ritual

I'm reposting this from December 2012
My Annual Letter to Santa



Every year I write a letter to Santa Claus, and in it, I include all my hopes, goals and wishes for the entire coming year. It's kind of a combination New Year's Resolution-Dear Santa Letter-Spell of Manifestation. It's a ritual I hold dear. I write two versions of this letter. One, the version I often share with you here,

Go Fund Yourself

Hi, Folks! Today’s topic is business. It’s a topic I know well, since my husband and I are both successful entrepreneurs, and so are two of my daughters. It’s a topic that’s on my mind a lot lately, because every morning, when I wake up happy to be alive, get my first cuppa Joe, and sit down to read my email, I find at least one plea for money from someone’s Go Fund Me or Kickstarter campaign.

This has the tendency to put a little hiccup in my happy mood, and here’s why. It kills me to say no. It just kills me. My kids were spoiled rotten because of this flaw of mine (and all turned out GREAT, so there’s probably a blog post in that little lesson titled, YES, IT IS OKAY TO SPOIL YOUR KIDS!) But back on topic. I hate to say no, but after donating yet again this morning, I’ve decided that I’m just not going to fund any more of these, because it’s not helping the recipient in any way.

This is the wrong way to start a business. So is going to a bank with a business plan and asking for a loan. You don’t want to start your business on borrowed funds. It’s just the wrong energy. You’re in the hole, owing others, either literally owing them if you’ve borrowed money, or at least energetically indebted to your online contributors. That’s not a match for abundance energy. So you’re off track before you even begin.

I started my business by taking care of my neighbor’s horses while she went on vacation. It was a couple of miles away and most of the time I walked there, pushing a baby in a stroller, with another toddling at my side or riding piggy back. It was a lovely walk, in the summertime, and we enjoyed it immensely. The girls would play with the kittens, and I’d shovel stalls, move animals out in the morning, back in in the evening, feed them, water them, etc. I made enough money to buy my first typewriter, on which I wrote my first four novels. The fourth one was my first sale, and with the advance, I bought a computer. Onward and upward. It took many years before I was making enough to support my family, but that was because it took many years before I saw that as a possibility. I grew up in poverty, so this was a big step for me. Once I believed it could happen, it did. My daughters’ businesses took off much faster, but they had me as an example, showing them what was possible, so they didn’t have that obstacle of doubt slowing them down.

Here’s a better way to start a business than a bank loan, and a far better way than launching a campaign on Kickstarter or GoFundMe or any of the next six to ten clones that will crop up in the near future. (Because trust me, the entrepreneurs who started those things are making WAY more money than anyone who makes use of them.)

1. Dream, and don’t be afraid to dream BIG.

Don’t think small, dream as big as you can imagine.

2. Believe in your dream as surely as you you believe in Gravity

Thoughts become things. This is an absolute truth. Everything you see around you was once an idea in someone’s mind. Thoughts become things. But they’re things you cannot see unless you believe. If you don’t believe you can succeed, then you can’t. But if you do believe it, then there’s nothing that can stop you.

3. Take Inspired Action

Once you’ve imagined it and completely believe in it, once you are in tune with and aware of and alive in your dream, you will receive inspiration. Ideas will come to you, and the people, places and things you need to carry those ideas out will be drawn into your vicinity. This is the time to take action. Do the work you’re inspired to do, and do it joyfully, happily and to the absolute best of your ability, and things will begin to fall into place.

Do not dive in and start working first. The dream has to come first, then the belief, then the inspiration. Only inspired action is going to get you anywhere. Working two hours a day when you’re in tune with inspiration will produce more success that slaving ten hours a day doing something you hate.

4. Always give your customer more in value than you are asking from them in cash.

This tip is about the exchange of energy and has nothing to do with funds. Give a product that is so enjoyable, helpful, durable, so good at doing whatever it is designed to do, that the consumer feels it’s worth well more than what they paid for it, and they will come back to you again and again. Give them a product that lets them down, that disappoints, that breaks or frays or stinks on ice, they’re going to feel taken advantage of even if you only charged them a buck. And they will never come back again.

This is why my ebooks are usually priced under three dollars, and never more than five. This is why I give so many away for free. I want my readers to feel appreciated and showered in gifts and bargains, to bask in stories that move them to tears and stay with them long after they’ve finished the book, not to feel they’ve been taken for a ride or conned.

So there you have it. That’s how to start a business. It’s how everyone in my family started ours, and we are very successful. And if you’re in a job where you work for someone else, and are not exactly an entrepreneur, the same exact rules apply. My girls who are employed are having great success as well, in jobs they love, jobs that are rewarding, and that pay beautifully.

Dream. Believe. Take inspired action. Give more in value than you receive in cash. No fund raising required.

For further reading on these matters, I suggest:

CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Sanity Hacks For the Home and Those Who Live There

Life gets busier and busier, especially this time of the year. I’ve been steadily doing things to make my life a little saner, a little easier, a little more peaceful, and I’m sharing my top six with you today.

1. Unplug

I’ve renewed my dedication to unplugging from the Internet on weekends. I had tried this once before, but I backslid. This time, I was shocked how nearly impossible it was. So much communication, even among family and my closest friends, takes place online now. But limiting my online activities for the weekend gave me more time to be present in the day to day moments of real life. And that’s important. When I came back on Monday morning, my head was clearer and my to-do list, much smaller. (Not everyone can do this on weekends. But picking one or two days a week to stay offline is mentally healthy and good for your mind.)

 

 

 

 

2. Move More

Physical things have a major impact on our mental health. If you work at a desk all day, this one’s for you. Set a timer, or buy one of those new Vivo devices to tell you when it’s time to get up and move. As a writer, I can’t do the recommended “every fifteen minutes” because that’s how long it takes me to fall into the story. Interruptions at that point would be deadly to my creativity. But at least once every hour you should get up, and do some significant moving around. I mean, significant, like fifteen minutes on the elliptical, running up and down the stairs a dozen times, doing 25 sit-ups or pushups or the like.

 

 

 

3. Neatness Counts

Routine upkeep around the home can become a major task if it’s not done every day by everyone who lives there. Messes build up and pretty soon you’ve got a disaster area on your hands. Adopting simple habits like making your bed as soon as you get out of it, and loading the dishwasher after every meal take almost zero time, and make your surroundings much more pleasant. If you need inspiration, read Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley, aka “The Fly Lady.” She’s amazing. Again, these should not be done by one person, but by everyone who lives in the home. Try to instill habits in the family that will help. Tops here: insist they use closets and coat hangers instead of the floor and furniture to hold their shoes and coats (and hats and backpacks and tools and gloves and sports equipment, etc.) It’ll require frequent, loving reminders they will refer to as “nagging” at first, but it’s worth the effort. Then have a thorough cleaning once a week where everyone takes part. Changing daily habits can really make your home a neater, more pleasant place.

 

 

 

 

4. So Let it Be Written, So Let it Be Done!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be doing something, and will think to myself, “This would so much easier if I only had a ____.” Then I just go on with what I was doing and forget about it. Whether the item I was wishing for was a tiny stepladder so I can reach things in the kitchen, or a new knob for the cabinet in the bathroom, a wastepaper bag for the car, or a few more leftover containers, if it would make life easier it’s worth a few extra seconds. When this happens to me now, I stop what I’m doing and jot it down, and then I make a point to purchase the item on my very next shopping trip. (Or run straight to the computer to order it online immediately.) It’s usually simple, inexpensive things. A new drain strainer, or a saucepan to replace the one with the missing handle, a lamp for a dark corner. Simple, cheap items. I have lists posted in my bathroom, bedroom and kitchen, with pens kept nearby so I can easily stop what I’m doing and write things down as they occur to me. Then I gather up all the lists when I’m heading out and try to fill them.

 

 

 

 

5. De-Clutter Your House, De-Clutter Your Mind

Every week pick one closet, drawer, or corner where you pile your crap, and hoe it out. Be ruthless about getting rid of your stuff. If you haven’t used it in a year, you never will. If an outfit hasn’t fit you in a year, you’re due for a new one anyway. Yes, you might very well be that size again. When you are, you’ll have earned a new outfit. For motivation, read Miss Minimalist by Francine Jay. (This is a free read if you’re an Amazon Prime member.) Take clothes to the nearest donation bin. Recycle the plastic and glass and old magazines and newspapers you know perfectly well you’re not going to ever read again. Make use of your local Freecycle group. Have a lawn sale. Or just put it out front with a FREE sign attached.

Getting rid of clutter opens up the flow of energy into and around your home. You cannot bring good energy in if the place is overflowing with old, useless, musty energy. And everything is energy. So make way for the new by clearing out the old.

 

 

6. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule

Some jobs only need to be done once a month or less. For those, we mark them out ahead of time on the calendar and that way they don’t get forgotten or neglected. Adding salt to the water filter system, giving the dogs their monthly heartworm prevention med, etc. If we schedule these regular things in and write them down down, they always get done.

 

 

 

7. BONUS HACK: Take some Me-Time

It’s important to keep yourself on your own list of priorities, and right up near the top, too! On an airplane, they instruct you, in case of emergency, to put your own oxygen mask on first, before helping your seat mate into hers. This is because if you pass out while trying to help her, you’re both doomed. This works the same way in every part of life. A stressed out, tense, short tempered, overworked person is no help to anyone. In fact, everyone around such a person would absorb some of that stress energy she is giving off. Better to be a calm, happy, well adjusted, content person, because everyone around you will feel that energy too. To be that person, you have to take care of yourself first. Fifteen minutes of sitting in silence, just breathing, to start each day, or end each day, or both, is such a small gift to give yourself. You can even combine it with a long soak in a hot scented bath or a daily walk. Give this to yourself, and enter the upcoming holiday season in tip top zen mode. You’ll enjoy your life a lot more if you do!

 

 

Feedback Time!

Okay, so which of my Sanity Hacks do you agree with? Disagree with? Use regularly? Plan to try? And what are your own tips for making life easier? Readers want to know!

 

 

 

 

Scrooges

I ran into this guy yesterday. Or a reasonable facsimile of him.

Lance and I had decided that we had to venture out of our cozy nest for supplies, being that we were out of nearly everything. It takes a lot to pry us out of the nest, which is only because we’re deliriously happy here. So anyway, out we go, stopping to order snow tires for my cute little Juke on the way. We were reminded to do that by the snowflakes that started floating happily down shortly after we left home. The first measurable snow of the season!

The snow made me start to feel all Christmassy. And I found my Christmas Play List on my iPhone, plugged it into the car, and hit Play. John Denver and the Muppets’ 12 Days of Christmas (Ba DUM BUM BUM!) Reba McEntire’s holiest ever rendition of Oh Holy Night. Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone’s version of Baby it’s Cold Outside (best ever, maybe.) And I started feeling even more Christmassy.

By the time we entered the car dealership I was humming Silent Night and smiling ear to ear. Christmas season makes me feel that way. I can’t help it.

Inside, a man behind me in line, grouched most grouchily, “It’s not even Thanksgiving yet!”

It dampened my spirits not one bit. (I’m very good at not letting the fickle moods of others decide my mood for me.) However, it did make me wonder why some people seem to resent and kind of dislike the holiday time of the year. I’m Wiccan by choice, and I observe and deeply revere the spiritual symbolism of the Winter Solstice. But I also just love Christmas. I love all the elements of it that were adopted from earlier Pagan observations, the tree, the mistletoe, the big shaman in the red suit flying through the air on reindeer. (More on that later, or just buy and read When Santa Was a Shaman for all the fascinating information!) I love all the Christian symbolism of the holiday too, which hearkens back, truly, to what this holiday has always been about; the absolute promise that, even in the midst of the darkest of times, the light will return. It is never gone. It is more powerful than the dark. It is the light of hope, of love, of life, and it prevails. Beautiful. And beautiful how we’re all observing the same things and sharing each other’s symbols and loving each other.

I also love the modern, commercial aspects of today’s Christmas! The lights and decorations everywhere you look, the music and the jingle bells. The displays in every store. I love spending time thinking about and shopping for the perfect gifts for the people I love. I love making wish lists of my own! I love everything about Santa Claus, and I write him a long letter every single year. What’s not to be joyous about?

Anyway, I may be a few weeks ahead of schedule here, but I’ll tell you what, I am IN the spirit of the season, giving heartfelt thanks for my happy life, and basking in every snowflake. (Even the ones I’m slipping on while awaiting those snow tires.) And I am not going to lose this feeling until New Year’s Day, when it will begin to wane very slowly until it is replaced by my annual bout of Spring Fever when I’m counting robins, and returning geese, and red buds on the trees, and listening for the red-winged blackbirds’ mating calls.

So what do you think causes some people to be Scrooges? Aside from those who’ve suffered some heartbreaking loss and still associate the holidays with that, I think the rest of the “humbug crowd” are mostly just feeling the fear that comes from believing in lack. But that’s just my theory. What’s yours? What do you love about the winter holidays? What traditions are you looking forward to this year?

 

 

 

Halloween Announcement

What better time to announce this news than Halloween?

Years ago, when I was penning my very first vampire romance, Twilight Phantasies, and wondering who in their right mind would ever publish it, I found a book that gave me hope. There had not been a vampire romance novel ever published. Anne Rice and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and maybe Poppy Z. Brite were all writing vampire fiction, but it wasn’t romance. No one was doing this yet, at least not to my knowledge. As far as I know, the very first romance novel with a vampire lead character, was a volume I found in 1992 called Obsession by Lori Herter.

I devoured that book, and moreover, I took hope from it. Hope that maybe my own vampire romance had a chance of being published as well. And it was in 1993. By then Lori Herter had released two more novels in her series: Confession, and Possession. The fourth book was Eternity, and I didn’t know it existed until recently because it didn’t rhyme. (Interesting that I had a novel titled Eternity, as well.)

Lori Herter has been one of the authors I’ve admired throughout my entire career. It’s a shame these books are tied up contractually and not available to be purchased right now, unless you can score them used. I treasure my copies. They were ahead of their time.

Much later, I met a blindingly talented writer by the name of Christine Feehan, who told me that my Wings in the Night Series had inspired her to write a vampish series of her own, The Dark Series, also known as The Dark Carpathians. And I don’t have to tell you how that has worked out for her. She took vampire romance to the next level.

Now, all these years later, the three of us card-carrying members of a true and heartfelt mutual admiration society, who have inspired one another for so long, have teamed up to bring you an anthology that is not to be missed. We’re each writing a brand new vamp romance story for a collection we’re calling EDGE OF DARKNESS, to be released by Berkley Publishing in August 2015. And we are just so excited to be working together we can hardly stand it.

My story’s title is DEAD BY TWILIGHT and it will indeed be a part of my ongoing Wings in the Night Universe. It’s set in the new reality of my vampire world, where mankind now knows of the existence of vampires. Some of the Undead try to live openly in this new world. Others, wary of the persecution and violence often perpetrated against them, remain in hiding. Our heroine is passing as a mortal, both to keep her job as a cop on the night beat, and to help protect her own kind. But when a string of bodies turn up, dead by apparent vampire attack, she has to find the truth and stop the rogue from ruining them all. This story will introduce a brand new branch of the family, so to speak, a branch that will carry us into previously unexplored realms of the paranormal, while (as always,) pulling in some of the beloved characters from books gone by.

If you didn’t know, I’ll be co-hosting Christine’s FAN 2015 event in LaFayette, CA this coming February. This will be my second year in a row, and it’s the most fun I’ve ever had. I don’t know if it’s sold out yet, but if not, details are HERE.

For more information about the Wings in the Night and Wings in the Night: Reborn, visit www.WingsintheNight.com

 

Season of the Afterlife

The Reason for the Season
It's almost Halloween, and we're all decorating with spooks and pumpkins, orange lights and gold and yellow garlands. We're picking out costumes for our kids or ourselves, and indulging in candy corn, not because we like the taste, but because that's what you do at this time of year.

But for me, there's so much more to the season of the final harvest. It's truly all

The Brand Family: An Update

Here’s what’s up with The Brand Family!

The entire nine-book Texas Brand Series is now available in ebook formats at Amazon (worldwide,) iTunes, GooglePlay, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.

We are now hard at work re-packaging, editing and proofing the six-book Oklahoma Brand Series. Book 1 of that series, THE BRANDS WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS, is up at all ebook outlets now. Book 2 is in progress. We’ll continue releasing one Brand book per week until we have all six uploaded and available for sale in e.

Book Six of the Oklahoma Brands Series, SWEET VIDALIA BRAND, is a brand new (pardon the pun) short novel. I’m writing the final draft this week and it should be up by December 1.

We will be adding print editions of every single one of the Brand books just as soon as we finish getting the ebook versions uploaded. That will be our top task for December.

All available links for the Texas and Oklahoma Brands are going onto The Brand Family Page on this site as soon as they are live. Check back often to see the latest additions!

 

Why Life Has So Many Challenges: A Theory

I had one of my breakthrough moments last night, a note to my subconscious, delivered while I slept and all my blocks were down. It wasn't a dream, it was something I woke up knowing, which happens sometimes. 

Here's what popped into my head.

Wouldn't it be cool if, when one person did crunches, all people got washboard abs? That would be amazing. We could have one person working out and we