EJ Axelsson (Formerly EJ Valson)'s Blog, page 3

READ, REVIEW & WIN!!!!!

Read, Review and WIN!! Buy the Occult Suspense Boxset featuring The Nostalgia Effect by EJ Valson and Mothers by Michelle Read for ONLY $0.99 and be eligible to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. 

Purchase the ebook boxset on Amazon or Smashwords and leave a review by June 15th to be eligible to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. A link to your book review must be emailed to readvalson@gmail.com by 11:59 Pacific Time 6/15/14 to be eligible. Email addresses will not be used for any purposes other than to contact the winner.

BUY, READ, REVIEW & WIN!!!!!

Buy, Read, Review and WIN!! Buy the Occult Suspense Boxset featuring The Nostalgia Effect by EJ Valson and Mothers by Michelle Read for ONLY $0.99 and be eligible to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. 

Purchase the ebook boxset on Amazon or Smashwords and leave a review by June 15th to be eligible to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. A link to your book review must be emailed to readvalson@gmail.com by 11:59 Pacific Time 6/15/14 to be eligible. Email addresses will not be used for any purposes other than to contact the winner.

Do Something Everyday! (Keeping Your Essence Intact)

This morning I woke up believing that I had an extra hour before I had to get my oldest to her dentist appointment. Shortly after 8:00 am, I received a call from the dentist’s office, asking if we were going to make it for our 8:00 appointment, because we were now five minutes late. Uggg great! 
After going through the hassle of rescheduling, reprimanding the hubby for not telling me the correct time, rushing my daughter to school before the first bell rang, heading to the grocery store with the three year old in tow, and then coming home to a house that needed to be cleaned before running out again for the little one’s swim lessons, I felt defeated, frustrated and slightly resentful. None of the tasks I had on my to-do list were a surprise, as I was prepared for the mundane duties at hand, but when things went a little awry, my mood did too.
Then, I decided to do something -- stop. I put the groceries away, took my youngest upstairs to watch a cartoon and sat down at my computer to put together an unofficial book soundtrack for The Nostalgia Effect.
In the midst of the life's daily chaos, we sometimes forget how important it is to do something, anything, that will feed and nourish our soul. Though I consider myself a pro at organizing, planning and executing whatever is handed to me in regards to family life, it is not what fulfills me at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, I love my husband (by God, I wrote a whole book about it), but I still desire that one thing that will make me feel like....well, me.
Who "me" is is ever evolving. In the last year, I have experienced a lot of changes in regards to my career and personal life. During that transition I fell in LOVE with the craft of writing and I fell in love with how it made me feel even more. When I sit down and write anything, even a paragraph, I feel like I have created something and THAT makes me feel good.
Unfortunately, between starting a new part-time job, studying for a test on a subject I am not sure I am even interested in, and schlepping the kids to various activities, my writing "career" has taken a major backseat. It's actually in the trunk and THAT makes me sad. 
BUT, there is a silver lining. Even though I have the most supportive husband who is willing to take care of the kids and do anything I ask of him, I just can't sit down and start writing. Just like with sex, I have to be "in the mood" or it will feel like a chore (sorry if that's TMI). However, just doing something creative, whether it be promoting The Nostalgia Effect, making a board on Pinterest, creating a song playlist or simply writing a paragraph in my next book, it makes me feel like I took a little time to nurture what is mine and mine alone. 
I have decided to informally commit to doing one activity each day that helps keep my "essence" intact. If I don't get to the laundry until later in the day, the bed isn't perfectly made, or the house doesn't look like an image out of Better Homes and Garden's, it's OK! 
But what's not OK is feeling stifled, resentful or unsatisfied because I didn't take just a little time to do what makes me happy. Maybe I won't be able to sit down and write a chapter for a few weeks, but just getting to write anything at all, even my blog, makes my soul happy and therefore keeps my essence intact. 
I don't think it is selfish to take some time for yourself, and you shouldn't let everyday stresses overshadow you and your needs. I hope all of you take the time to do the same and find one little act each day that will help keep your essence balanced and satisfied. After all, a better YOU is better for everyone.
Be well my friends,
EJ

Do Something Everyday! (Keeping Your Essence Intact)

This morning I woke up believing that I had an extra hour before I had to get my oldest to her dentist appointment. Shortly after 8:00 am, I received a call from the dentist’s office, asking if we were going to make it for our 8:00 appointment, because we were now five minutes late. Uggg great! 
After going through the hassle of rescheduling, reprimanding the hubby for not telling me the correct time, rushing my daughter to school before the first bell rang, heading to the grocery store with the three year old in tow, and then coming home to a house that needed to be cleaned before running out again for the little one’s swim lessons, I felt defeated, frustrated and slightly resentful. None of the tasks I had on my to-do list were a surprise, as I was prepared for the mundane duties at hand, but when things went a little awry, my mood did too.
Then, I decided to do something -- stop. I put the groceries away, took my youngest upstairs to watch a cartoon and sat down at my computer to put together an unofficial book soundtrack for The Nostalgia Effect.
In the midst of the life's daily chaos, we sometimes forget how important it is to do something, anything, that will feed and nourish our soul. Though I consider myself a pro at organizing, planning and executing whatever is handed to me in regards to family life, it is not what fulfills me at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, I love my husband (by God, I wrote a whole book about it), but I still desire that one thing that will make me feel like....well, me.
Who "me" is is ever evolving. In the last year, I have experienced a lot of changes in regards to my career and personal life. During that transition I fell in LOVE with the craft of writing and I fell in love with how it made me feel even more. When I sit down and write anything, even a paragraph, I feel like I have created something and THAT makes me feel good.
Unfortunately, between starting a new part-time job, studying for a test on a subject I am not sure I am even interested in, and schlepping the kids to various activities, my writing "career" has taken a major backseat. It's actually in the trunk and THAT makes me sad. 
BUT, there is a silver lining. Even though I have the most supportive husband who is willing to take care of the kids and do anything I ask of him, I just can't sit down and start writing. Just like with sex, I have to be "in the mood" or it will feel like a chore (sorry if that's TMI). However, just doing something creative, whether it be promoting The Nostalgia Effect, making a board on Pinterest, creating a song playlist or simply writing a paragraph in my next book, it makes me feel like I took a little time to nurture what is mine and mine alone. 
I have decided to informally commit to doing one activity each day that helps keep my "essence" intact. If I don't get to the laundry until later in the day, the bed isn't perfectly made, or the house doesn't look like an image out of Better Homes and Garden's, it's OK! 
But what's not OK is feeling stifled, resentful or unsatisfied because I didn't take just a little time to do what makes me happy. Maybe I won't be able to sit down and write a chapter for a few weeks, but just getting to write anything at all, even my blog, makes my soul happy and therefore keeps my essence intact. 
I don't think it is selfish to take some time for yourself, and you shouldn't let everyday stresses overshadow you and your needs. I hope all of you take the time to do the same and find one little act each day that will help keep your essence balanced and satisfied. After all, a better YOU is better for everyone.
Be well my friends,
EJ

Hubby Hunting in College? -- More "Stellar" Advice From The Princeton Mom

Hubby Hunting in College? -- More "Stellar" Advice From The Princeton Mom.
While waiting for my oldest child to get ready for school this morning, I sat down with a cup of coffee and turned on NBC's Today Show. One of the segments was a short interview with Savannah Guthrie and Susan Patton.
Last year, Patton made her presence known with an open letter titled, The Young Women of Princeton - The Daughters I Never Had , which quickly went viral -- thus leading to her notoriety. Now she has done society the favor of imparting more of her womanly wisdom via her book -- Marry Smart. Regardless of whether or not I agreed with her advice, I thought I would be open-minded and hear her out during the short interview.
As I listened to Ms. Patton convey her strong opinions about how young women should spend 75% of their time in college focusing on their personal goals (finding a mate/tool to settle down with) and 25% of their time focusing on their career/educational goals, I found myself wanting to tell my children to cover their ears! 
If raising daughters wasn't already challenging enough, I now have to contend with a woman known as “The Princeton Mom”, spouting out her "advice" to young girls who are departing their formative high school years and entering college. Great!
I sat in shock as Savannah Guthrie (a smart and attractive forty-something news anchor) did her best to keep her professional composure without laughing during the interview. At one point, I thought she was going to burst out, "You've got to be kidding me, Sue...," but Guthrie maintained her role and allowed Patton to elaborate.
In some aspects, I have to say Patton may be right on someof her points. IF a young woman’s primary aspiration is to find an equally intelligent man to share her life with, then perhaps college is the best place to do so. A young women might not get another chance in her life to swim in such a large pool of single young men -- and apparently educated ones to boot!
According to Patton, women will NEVER be more attractive and fertile then when they are in their college years. Therefore, this is the time to land that man. My response to her? "Speak for yourself, Lady!" Fertile, yes, attractive.....ummmm, that's a matter of opinion, SUSAN!
Let's review some of her imparted wisdom.
1) “Work will wait. Your fertility won’t. So yes, I’m saying double down. Spend 75 percent of time planning your personal happiness, putting in place the things you need to ensure you reach your personal goals.” 
Sure, college is a prime place to find an equally ambitious and educated partner, but let’s remember folks, in college you are in your early twenties. How well do long-term partnerships really work out when you meet your spouse around the age that you just became legally allowed to drink? 
2) "If you require major bodywork, get it done in high school." 
Her explanation for that statement: “If you enter your college years not in your best form, not feeling as good as you can feel about yourself, you’ll hamper your own chances for personal happiness as well as professional success." 
Yes, let’s add ONE more weight on the shoulders of adolescent girls -- get in shape, go to college, land a man and get your degree. Mom and Dad should also shell out thousands of dollars for plastic surgery and an additional $40K for you to go off to college to spend 75% of your time finding a man. Good plan!
3) Her last point in the interview in regards to young women partaking in college fun is a doozy:
"If a woman is too incapacitated to speak, and potentially unable to ward off someone's unwanted advances, then it's her own fault. Please spare me your ‘Blaming the victim’ outrage. You have to get up and leave. It’s all on women."
So, let me get this straight, Susan -- you want young girls to go off to college and find a suitable man, in what might potentially be a dangerous situation? They should hang around these boys and possibly marry one, but not get so drunk that they could possibly be taken advantage of?
There's more: "Well, you can count on men to act responsibly. Maybe they will. I hope they do — most men do — but at the end of the day, women have to bear complete and total control of themselves and responsibility for their safety.”
Yes, we need to educate our girls about being aware and responsible in social situations while drinking. BUT, we also need to educate our boys (especially those attending college to later become societal leaders) that regardless of how inebriated a young woman is, they are NEVER to take advantage or there WILL be consequences.
Women DO need to practice control of and responsibility for their safety. But, they also need to be supported by society in doing just that. Young women don't need contradictions, half-witted advice spawned from your regrets, or additional pressure to accomplish conventional goals as you see fit, Ms. Patton.
When women enter college, regardless of their attractiveness or fertility, they are still young. Most are trying to find themselves and define who they are and want to be. Primarily focusing on finding a mate within a short period of time whilst getting an education may be irresponsible. If it happens organically, great -- maybe it was meant to be! But a young woman's last priority should be strategically finding a husband in college, just because she wants a family later in life.
Let me say to young ladies out there, that I personally feel there are risks in hurrying into a relationship because it falls into some "plan." Perhaps you get caught up in the "plan" and don't even complete college, or ever use your degree. Instead, you find your husband, settle down, have some kids and later find that the man who was suitable at the age of twenty-two is no longer your cup of tea. Will you now find yourself as a single mother and possibly struggling to make ends meet because you only spent 25% of your time in college focusing on your career goals? 
As a mother of two daughters, that is a FAR scarier thought for me than them having less mate options, or a shorter time frame in their thirties or forties to settle down and have children.
I find a formally-educated woman writing a book offering two-bit lifestyle advice for young and impressionable women disheartening. What's worse is that it seems to be spawned by Patton's inability to marry a man who, she believes, wasn't her intellectual equal. 
She wrote in passing that perhaps if she had nailed down a more suitable (intelligent) partner in college, she wouldn't have ended up divorced. In her words, her marriage was still a "success" because she had two children from that union, and that was what she ultimatelywanted.
For a smart woman, Patton is coming off quite dumb. Should she have met the "right" man in college, she may not have the same life or the same offspring she has today. On the bright side, if she had, we may have been spared her "wisdom."
In the meantime, I am doing my best to raise acclimated, confident and strong young women, who will grow up to be smart enough to see through the crap that occasionally comes down the pipeline in life. And Patton’s "advice" is utter B.S.
EJ Valson(un-formally educated, still very fertile, apparently attractive and happily married)

Hubby Hunting in College? -- More "Stellar" Advice From The Princeton Mom

Hubby Hunting in College? -- More "Stellar" Advice From The Princeton Mom.
While waiting for my oldest child to get ready for school this morning, I sat down with a cup of coffee and turned on NBC's Today Show. One of the segments was a short interview with Savannah Guthrie and Susan Patton.
Last year, Patton made her presence known with an open letter titled, The Young Women of Princeton - The Daughters I Never Had , which quickly went viral -- thus leading to her notoriety. Now she has done society the favor of imparting more of her womanly wisdom via her book -- Marry Smart. Regardless of whether or not I agreed with her advice, I thought I would be open-minded and hear her out during the short interview.
As I listened to Ms. Patton convey her strong opinions about how young women should spend 75% of their time in college focusing on their personal goals (finding a mate/tool to settle down with) and 25% of their time focusing on their career/educational goals, I found myself wanting to tell my children to cover their ears! 
If raising daughters wasn't already challenging enough, I now have to contend with a woman known as “The Princeton Mom”, spouting out her "advice" to young girls who are departing their formative high school years and entering college. Great!
I sat in shock as Savannah Guthrie (a smart and attractive forty-something news anchor) did her best to keep her professional composure without laughing during the interview. At one point, I thought she was going to burst out, "You've got to be kidding me, Sue...," but Guthrie maintained her role and allowed Patton to elaborate.
In some aspects, I have to say Patton may be right on someof her points. IF a young woman’s primary aspiration is to find an equally intelligent man to share her life with, then perhaps college is the best place to do so. A young women might not get another chance in her life to swim in such a large pool of single young men -- and apparently educated ones to boot!
According to Patton, women will NEVER be more attractive and fertile then when they are in their college years. Therefore, this is the time to land that man. My response to her? "Speak for yourself, Lady!" Fertile, yes, attractive.....ummmm, that's a matter of opinion, SUSAN!
Let's review some of her imparted wisdom.
1) “Work will wait. Your fertility won’t. So yes, I’m saying double down. Spend 75 percent of time planning your personal happiness, putting in place the things you need to ensure you reach your personal goals.” 
Sure, college is a prime place to find an equally ambitious and educated partner, but let’s remember folks, in college you are in your early twenties. How well do long-term partnerships really work out when you meet your spouse around the age that you just became legally allowed to drink? 
2) "If you require major bodywork, get it done in high school." 
Her explanation for that statement: “If you enter your college years not in your best form, not feeling as good as you can feel about yourself, you’ll hamper your own chances for personal happiness as well as professional success." 
Yes, let’s add ONE more weight on the shoulders of adolescent girls -- get in shape, go to college, land a man and get your degree. Mom and Dad should also shell out thousands of dollars for plastic surgery and an additional $40K for you to go off to college to spend 75% of your time finding a man. Good plan!
3) Her last point in the interview in regards to young women partaking in college fun is a doozy:
"If a woman is too incapacitated to speak, and potentially unable to ward off someone's unwanted advances, then it's her own fault. Please spare me your ‘Blaming the victim’ outrage. You have to get up and leave. It’s all on women."
So, let me get this straight, Susan -- you want young girls to go off to college and find a suitable man, in what might potentially be a dangerous situation? They should hang around these boys and possibly marry one, but not get so drunk that they could possibly be taken advantage of?
There's more: "Well, you can count on men to act responsibly. Maybe they will. I hope they do — most men do — but at the end of the day, women have to bear complete and total control of themselves and responsibility for their safety.”
Yes, we need to educate our girls about being aware and responsible in social situations while drinking. BUT, we also need to educate our boys (especially those attending college to later become societal leaders) that regardless of how inebriated a young woman is, they are NEVER to take advantage or there WILL be consequences.
Women DO need to practice control of and responsibility for their safety. But, they also need to be supported by society in doing just that. Young women don't need contradictions, half-witted advice spawned from your regrets, or additional pressure to accomplish conventional goals as you see fit, Ms. Patton.
When women enter college, regardless of their attractiveness or fertility, they are still young. Most are trying to find themselves and define who they are and want to be. Primarily focusing on finding a mate within a short period of time whilst getting an education may be irresponsible. If it happens organically, great -- maybe it was meant to be! But a young woman's last priority should be strategically finding a husband in college, just because she wants a family later in life.
Let me say to young ladies out there, that I personally feel there are risks in hurrying into a relationship because it falls into some "plan." Perhaps you get caught up in the "plan" and don't even complete college, or ever use your degree. Instead, you find your husband, settle down, have some kids and later find that the man who was suitable at the age of twenty-two is no longer your cup of tea. Will you now find yourself as a single mother and possibly struggling to make ends meet because you only spent 25% of your time in college focusing on your career goals? 
As a mother of two daughters, that is a FAR scarier thought for me than them having less mate options, or a shorter time frame in their thirties or forties to settle down and have children.
I find a formally-educated woman writing a book offering two-bit lifestyle advice for young and impressionable women disheartening. What's worse is that it seems to be spawned by Patton's inability to marry a man who, she believes, wasn't her intellectual equal. 
She wrote in passing that perhaps if she had nailed down a more suitable (intelligent) partner in college, she wouldn't have ended up divorced. In her words, her marriage was still a "success" because she had two children from that union, and that was what she ultimatelywanted.
For a smart woman, Patton is coming off quite dumb. Should she have met the "right" man in college, she may not have the same life or the same offspring she has today. On the bright side, if she had, we may have been spared her "wisdom."
In the meantime, I am doing my best to raise acclimated, confident and strong young women, who will grow up to be smart enough to see through the crap that occasionally comes down the pipeline in life. And Patton’s "advice" is utter B.S.
EJ Valson(un-formally educated, still very fertile, apparently attractive and happily married)

"Underwriting" -- My New Fear

For the last week I haven't had much interest in writing my current book. I am not sure why, as I was sort of on a roll for a while. However, I remind myself that I did this with The Nostalgia Effect, as I once went a whole month without touching it.

Deep down, I feel that I owe it to this story to finish it. I owe it to the characters that I have manifested in my mind and brought alive on paper. Unfortunately, I worry that I am letting them down and not doing them justice. I feel as if I haven't given them enough time, detail or attention. So for now they are frozen, on pause and in limbo -- waiting for me to make a decision.

Sometimes when I wake up at night and cannot fall back to sleep, I start creating plot lines in my head. Of course the next morning, I am unclear about what I came up with and therefore I let them down again. Any Pro would probably tell me to write these things down when I think of them -- trust me I know I should. I am just being "lazy," for lack of a better word. And instead of working on my book, I opt to blog about how I have no motivation to write, in hopes that I will come to a conclusion about what to do next. So far, not so good.

After The Nostalgia Effect continued to receive only 5 star reviews from readers, I started to feel a bit panicked. Believe me, I was thrilled! It was validation that I could write. And regardless that I have been rejected by various agents, I still haven't become jaded or unsure of my last book. I was passionate about it, it belonged to me, and in a sense, it was easy to write. Mostly because it was so personal, as I took from actual life experiences and events. My current project touches on places I have been, or similar experiences I have had myself, but nothing is based on an actual occurrence, which is perhaps why it is so difficult for me to write it.

BUT, I think I finally know what is plaguing me -- it's the fear of "underwriting." What is "underwriting"? Most of us may know that term as a process in which a contract goes through. For me, it is my definition of producing something that doesn't quite measure up to my last book and fails to capture the attention of the audience. Some may call that "uninteresting," but that would just be a description of the book after I "underwrote" it.

Don't get me wrong, I love my characters and there are some scenes that I could read over and over again. But if I am not fully buying the story, why should a reader? Do I want to abandon it? NO. Do I want to scratch it up and start all over? NO. But I DO want to give readers what they deserve -- a good story. I want to avoid "underwriting."

I suppose this is common territory for other writers. It is probably just growing pains for a "green" author like myself. Nonetheless, it is annoying and causes occasional moments of fret and doubt. And at the end of the day, I can only hope that I have more than one book left in me.

Happy Tuesday Friends. May your week be joyous!

EJ

"Underwriting" -- My New Fear

For the last week I haven't had much interest in writing my current book. I am not sure why, as I was sort of on a roll for a while. However, I remind myself that I did this with The Nostalgia Effect, as I once went a whole month without touching it.

Deep down, I feel that I owe it to this story to finish it. I owe it to the characters that I have manifested in my mind and brought alive on paper. Unfortunately, I worry that I am letting them down and not doing them justice. I feel as if I haven't given them enough time, detail or attention. So for now they are frozen, on pause and in limbo -- waiting for me to make a decision.

Sometimes when I wake up at night and cannot fall back to sleep, I start creating plot lines in my head. Of course the next morning, I am unclear about what I came up with and therefore I let them down again. Any Pro would probably tell me to write these things down when I think of them -- trust me I know I should. I am just being "lazy," for lack of a better word. And instead of working on my book, I opt to blog about how I have no motivation to write, in hopes that I will come to a conclusion about what to do next. So far, not so good.

After The Nostalgia Effect continued to receive only 5 star reviews from readers, I started to feel a bit panicked. Believe me, I was thrilled! It was validation that I could write. And regardless that I have been rejected by various agents, I still haven't become jaded or unsure of my last book. I was passionate about it, it belonged to me, and in a sense, it was easy to write. Mostly because it was so personal, as I took from actual life experiences and events. My current project touches on places I have been, or similar experiences I have had myself, but nothing is based on an actual occurrence, which is perhaps why it is so difficult for me to write it.

BUT, I think I finally know what is plaguing me -- it's the fear of "underwriting." What is "underwriting"? Most of us may know that term as a process in which a contract goes through. For me, it is my definition of producing something that doesn't quite measure up to my last book and fails to capture the attention of the audience. Some may call that "uninteresting," but that would just be a description of the book after I "underwrote" it.

Don't get me wrong, I love my characters and there are some scenes that I could read over and over again. But if I am not fully buying the story, why should a reader? Do I want to abandon it? NO. Do I want to scratch it up and start all over? NO. But I DO want to give readers what they deserve -- a good story. I want to avoid "underwriting."

I suppose this is common territory for other writers. It is probably just growing pains for a "green" author like myself. Nonetheless, it is annoying and causes occasional moments of fret and doubt. And at the end of the day, I can only hope that I have more than one book left in me.

Happy Tuesday Friends. May your week be joyous!

EJ

"Underwriting" -- My New Fear

For the last week I haven't had much interest in writing my current book. I am not sure why, as I was sort of on a roll for a while. However, I remind myself that I did this with The Nostalgia Effect, as I once went a whole month without touching it.

Deep down, I feel that I owe it to this story to finish it. I owe it to the characters that I have manifested in my mind and brought alive on paper. Unfortunately, I worry that I am letting them down and not doing them justice. I feel as if I haven't given them enough time, detail or attention. So for now they are frozen, on pause and in limbo -- waiting for me to make a decision.

Sometimes when I wake up at night and cannot fall back to sleep, I start creating plot lines in my head. Of course the next morning, I am unclear about what I came up with and therefore I let them down again. Any Pro would probably tell me to write these things down when I think of them -- trust me I know I should. I am just being "lazy," for lack of a better word. And instead of working on my book, I opt to blog about how I have no motivation to write, in hopes that I will come to a conclusion about what to do next. So far, not so good.

After The Nostalgia Effect continued to receive only 5 star reviews from readers, I started to feel a bit panicked. Believe me, I was thrilled! It was validation that I could write. And regardless that I have been rejected by various agents, I still haven't become jaded or unsure of my last book. I was passionate about it, it belonged to me, and in a sense, it was easy to write. Mostly because it was so personal, as I took from actual life experiences and events. My current project touches on places I have been, or similar experiences I have had myself, but nothing is based on an actual occurrence, which is perhaps why it is so difficult for me to write it.

BUT, I think I finally know what is plaguing me -- it's the fear of "underwriting." What is "underwriting"? Most of us may know that term as a process in which a contract goes through. For me, it is my definition of producing something that doesn't quite measure up to my last book and fails to capture the attention of the audience. Some may call that "uninteresting," but that would just be a description of the book after I "underwrote" it.

Don't get me wrong, I love my characters and there are some scenes that I could read over and over again. But if I am not fully buying the story, why should a reader? Do I want to abandon it? NO. Do I want to scratch it up and start all over? NO. But I DO want to give readers what they deserve -- a good story. I want to avoid "underwriting."

I suppose this is common territory for other writers. It is probably just growing pains for a "green" author like myself. Nonetheless, it is annoying and causes occasional moments of fret and doubt. And at the end of the day, I can only hope that I have more than one book left in me.

Happy Tuesday Friends. May your week be joyous!

EJ

Fighting Off Discouragement

Though I want to do my best not to only write about being an author, writing and self-publishing in my blog....it feels like I have no choice, as I am a bit discouraged.

Saturday was a special day for me. I shared my book with a few more friends, and I got great responses. However, only one person has followed through on their commitment to purchasing the book so far. With a big sigh, I resolved to face a fact -- writing is hard and self-promotion is grueling.

The truth is, asking someone to sit down and read a book is kind of a big request. It's time consuming, requires focus and busy lives often overrule "reading time." Case in point -- I have four books on my Kindle that I still haven't finished and some of them are nine months old. For an author, I am a pretty lousy reader!

Don't get me wrong folks, I LOVE my fans and I more than appreciate those that have taken the time to read and review my book. It has meant the world to me and their actions are not unappreciated. It has just become blatantly clear that publishing a book (self or otherwise) is a waiting game and not ideal for the impatient.

With this in mind, I have decided to seek out literary agent representation. Though the odds are quite slim that I will get a bite (more fun of being an author). But it seems like the next step, as I don't have the time or the "know how" to promote my book in the most efficient manner.

I don't plan to ever stop writing. But the truth is, it is sometimes hard to maintain perspective. I want to write because I love it. I have never felt something "fit" so well, with the exception of personal relationships. When I write, I like who I am and how I feel. That is what I hold onto when someone doesn't read my book or "Retweet, Like, or Share" my book status updates.

Will I make it big? Doubtful. Will I get a following? Maybe. Am I writing for these reasons? No! But when you put a piece of your soul in your writing, then put it out there to be seen, your ego can take a hit -- therefore it might be better to delegate that task to someone else for the sake of self preservation.

Today, as I pressed SEND in my submissions emails, I said a little prayer, crossed my fingers and remembered some wise words -- expect the worst, but hope for the best. Maybe I'll just get lucky.

Have a good rest of the week friends!

EJ