Thea Atkinson's Blog, page 30
March 12, 2011
New Ogle Me Some: Stone Mary
March 9, 2011
March guest: JE Taylor
JE Taylor, author of Vengeance
Finding Time
My greatest challenge lately seems to be carving out time for writing. I have a full time "day" job in addition to being a writer and I've got two kids, one almost a teenager and the other just turned sixteen, who have a very active extra-curricular schedule. I am not alone in this quandary. Most of the authors I know do the same juggling act and struggle with the same issues.
So how do you find the time with life rushing by at ninety miles an hour?
Discipline and balance. That is the key.
It's almost like a diet – the more disciplined you are, the greater the benefits, but you shouldn't beat yourself up when you cheat with that slice of chocolate cake.
With writing, the discipline is simple. Get your butt in the chair and close down those social network sites and email and just write. Lately, those pesky and addicting social media sites have taken a toll on my productivity. However, that's the marketing lifeline to those of us who choose to venture into the small publisher space, and it can also be akin to that chocolate cake. It's a little bit of a cheat, and it may make you feel good for the moment, but if you don't watch out, you'll pay the price.
I'm still trying to find the right balance and get back into a disciplined routine.
For me that equals getting my butt in the chair and closing down those communication channels for an hour or two each night.
How do you find the right balance?
-30-
J.E. Taylor is a writer, an editor, a manuscript formatter, a mother, a wife and a business analyst, not necessarily in that order. She first sat down to seriously write in February of 2007 after her daughter asked:
"Mom, if you could do anything, what would you do?"
From that moment on, she hasn't looked back and now her writing resume includes five+ novels either published or targeted for release along with several short stories on the virtual shelves including a few within upcoming eXcessica anthologies.Ms. Taylor also moonlights as an Assistant Editor of Allegory, an online venue for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and lends a hand in formatting manuscripts for eXcessica as well as offering her services judging writing contests for various RWA chapters.She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children and during the summer months enjoys her weekends on the shore in southern Maine.
March 6, 2011
Read an Ebook Week deals from Gonzoink
Like it says, it's a week devoted to promotion of ebooks. Did you know I have a few for sale? did you know that Smashwords is offering a promotion on 3 of them? Gasp. What? You mean I can get these already low priced but wonderful books at an even cheaper price? That's unheard of.
Well, it's true! for just this week you can get a variety of Thea reads for even cheaper. Of course, you can still go to Amazon and buy them at regular price and boost my ranking. grin.
Secret Language of Crows is 50% off
Olivia needs to escape the abusive same-sex relationship she finds herself in. When her father suffers a stroke, she recognizes a chance to start fresh. The problem is in order to avoid self-destruction, Olivia must find a way to resolve her mother's suicide, her brother's addiction, and her father's need to be understood– even if it means she must delve into the darkest parts of her psyche.
One Insular Tahiti is 50% off
Luke's death has come the way he always feared it would: in the claustrophobic, underground heat of a Cape Breton coal mine. He had suspected it would end this way, had embraced it even, so while his body is buried, his soul settles into a watery existence of endless waiting.
Soon, something changes in his personal purgatory; all is not quiet the way it was when he first realized he was dead. Now a wind howls and storm seas bring waves of half remembered events from his past life that are so terrible he will do anything to avoid reliving them: images of war and abuse and of a favored brother spoiled by disease.
He needs to find a way out.
This is when he notices Astrid, a newborn fighting for her life. She isn't supposed to survive her birth, but if he can just will her to be his mother, he can save her and escape the anguish of this terrible supposed insular Tahiti.
Too late, Luke realizes that the connection that binds him to Astrid is the same inevitable battle of memories he left his purgatory to forget. Now he must endure the replay of horrific images that will ultimately change his soul and Astrid's forever.
One Insular Tahiti is a nonlinear tale of one soul's search for redemption and the lengths the human spirit will go to find peace.
Anomaly (My personal fav) is 25% off
J wants you to understand how like you he is. He worries about money, work, family: all very normal. Well, there is the tiny, very tiny, issue of what gender he is, but that's no big deal. Not really. Not when you remember how much is out there in the world to deal with.
A little thing like gender relapse is so little to contend with after all.
If only that was all.
When a bunch of thugs turn J's pleasurable pub night into a trip to the Emergency room, they also set in motion a series of events that threaten J's sobriety and well-being. It is his penchant for self-destruction and self-medication, that propel J into the stormy waters of good Samaritanism and onto a journey of self-discovery that pits him against his friends, his family, and ultimately himself.
Anomaly is a psychological tale of hope that explores the duality in all of us. See how one week can change a person for a lifetime.
March 1, 2011
#1 baby.
well, so OK, it's not THE #1, but I'm grateful anyway. Thought I'd share it before it disappeared never to be seen again. In the UK, no less. WOW. 
Unt ze winners Are:
February's taste test was fun. I ended up having to put my own blurb in because no third author could be found intrepid enough to offer it to me. ha. I lost. It's ok. That's what it's all about. Well, that and giving readers free reads and authors free promo.
And the winner for February's Taste Test is:
Blurb #3 Madness and Murder by Jenny Hilborne
This novel had 64% of the votes. Priced at 2.99 it's going out to Barry Crowther
Blurb #2 was Carliza by Joel Kirkpatrick
Blurb # 1 was Formed of Clay by Thea Atkinson
Thanks all for voting. the March Taste Test is already live over at the RATE ME SOME tab
February 24, 2011
Interview at Linda S Prather's blog
Linda is another indie writer who offers readers books via Kindle (and other platforms), and she has a blog where she interviews other indies and reviews their books. Great resource full of news and samples and well, for today, ME!
check out how she managed to blend my incoherent thoughts into something that actually looks articulate.
Then Digg, Stumble, Tweet, and FB share the hell out of it. grin
February 23, 2011
New Thea interview at Two Ends of the Pen
Oh, you gotta check it out. I was articulate and everything. Well, mostly. grin.
February 22, 2011
Devouring Kristen Lamb's Blog
You have got to visit Kristen Lamb's Blog. I mean seriously. It's the best thing I've found on writing since, well, since I learned to form the alphabet.
Go. Read. Be edified.
Also, check out her book, We Are Not Alone: the Writer's Guide to Social Media. And if you're an indie writer, then do all the things I've mentioned and you just might win a chance for her to critique the first 15pp of your novel.
You've got nothing to lose.
February 20, 2011
New Ogle Me Some: Danny MacIsaac
Creep on over to the ogle me some tab to check out a pic of Danny in musical action and listen via YouTube.com. thanks to Lynn Hemeon for videoing local musicians
February 14, 2011
Guest Blogger for mid Feb:Kaanayo Nwachukwu
THE REST OF THE POST HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO THE DISCUSS ME SOME TAB. Feel free to check it out. The comments remain here.
