Veronica Forand's Blog, page 3

50 Resolutions in 50 Days Before I’m 50: Resolution 6

This is the hardest resolution I’ve decided upon so far. I’m giving up sugar. No candy, no brownies, no pumpkin spice lattes. As an almost 50 year old female, I’ve noticed my weight climbing even though I’ve been eating the same diet for years. More exercise doesn’t help.

The fourth resolution of drinking a nutrition shake and eating a salad a day have increased my well-being because I’m finally eating nutrients that help me stay healthy. The weight however? No change.  I’m not looking to drop to my high school level weight, but merely to rid myself of a stomach that seems to rounding out. That is not a good look for me.

So far, I’ve lasted 8 hours. Will I have birthday cake and an occasional piece of chocolate? Probably. Although if I find that my cravings become overwhelming, I may need to back off long-term. One week at a time.

How am I doing with the rest of the resolutions so far.

Journaling

I stink at journaling. I thought this would be the easiest resolution to keep. It’s not.

No television after 8pm

This one is going strong. I work at night and spend time with my family. When I have free time, I read.

Exercise everyday

I’ve been doing great with this. Mostly by running a mile every morning. I feel stronger everyday.

Eat better, at least one salad and one nutrition shake per day.

I am finding creative ways to have salad every day. Supermarkets have prepared salads where you mix the ingredients and go. They help.

Meditate everyday.

I’ve been doing only two minutes per day and have a hard time concentrating, probably because I’m in the middle of plotting a new novel and the plot invades all of my thoughts. I’ll continue to add time to this as I get better.

 

 

50 Resolutions in 50 Weeks Before I’m 50: Resolution 5

It’s been a month on my quest to change my life. Overall, I love the idea of resolutions. They help me keep on track with things I want to accomplish, but tend to blot out of mind when life gets too hectic. For fifty weeks, I have to think about resolutions, all of them everyday.

How am I doing so far?

 Journaling

I’m surprisingly not great with this. I’m too tired to write before I go to bed at night and so I write a few sentences in the morning. More a summary of my day than an overview of my feelings.

No television after 8pm

My family time has become richer by shutting off the television at night. I work on my computer, but I’m available for everyone while they’re doing homework and as they wind down for the day.

Exercise everyday

When I get my exercise done in the morning, I’m good. But if I try to fit it in later in the day, I miss exercise over 60% of the time.

Eat better, at least one salad and one nutrition shake per day.

Forcing myself to eat has been a blessing. I eat salad everyday, and have a shake for breakfast. They are filling enough to me that I don’t snack as much. So this one so has been the best resolution yet.

As time goes by, my life is better with these tweaks, but nothing is perfect. I have good days and bad days, but doing nothing is not an option.

For my fifth resolution?

My brother wants me to try meditation. I hate meditation. The idea of trying to not think about anything for a writer who has thirty plots trolling the background of her mind daily makes the task impossible. If I’m stressing about whether I can get away with a pounding heart in a scene instead of something infinitely more unique, to I’m thinking about my grocery list or whether the kids brought their homework to school.

As a compromise, I’m going to try two minutes of mediation per day. I can do anything for two minutes, except planks. I even have a guided mediation program on my phone. I’ve got this.

 

50 Resolutions in 50 Weeks Before I’m 50: Resolution 4

 

My third week into the 50 weeks was a bust. Traveling and trying to exercise did not work well. I ran once and walked about three times, but note enough to feel stronger. On a good note, the kids are back to school today and I’m hitting the gym for a rowing class.

I don’t feel guilty about not working out, I feel sluggish. Exercise gives me the calm to sit at my desk for hours every day ad write. Without it, I have too much psychological energy running in the background of mind, messing up my thoughts and ideas.

I only messed up once last week with my second resolution, limiting my television time after 8. Being stricter about it has made a huge difference in my productivity. I also have a better connection to my family. We communicate better when we’re not yelling at each to “Shhhh.”

For my fourth resolution, I need to bite the bullet and add a nutrition component to my life. Instead of a taking anything away, I’m adding one nutritional shake and one salad per day. I hate salads, but they fill me up and keep me from eating my favorite writing food, tortilla chips and salsa. I’ll still be able to have chips, but hopefully, the cravings will be limited.

I love having a shake because it’s easy, fills me up, and tastes good, although my newest brand has a green juice kind of look which is taking a while to accept as real food. The rest of the day I can eat whatever else I want, although I’m hoping that by filling myself with quality, my propensity toward junk food will decrease.

Have a great week!

-V

50 Resolutions In 50 Weeks Before I’m 50: Resolution 3

My second resolution (no television after 8pm) hit a snag when I watched Supernatural and then Frazier with the kids and husband on Saturday night. It was a weekend. What could go wrong? I could end up becoming a tired zombie who watched 5 episodes of Frazier and ended up in bed past midnight. I think I need to keep weekend nights clear of television too.

My third resolution? Exercise everyday. Yes- now it’s getting painful. I don’t need to hit the gym, watch a video, or run 5 miles per day every day, but I must do something active for at least a half hour. No exceptions. Yoga and Pilates are included so I can use different muscles throughout the week. It may be hard, especially if I get sick, but even stretching will count on those days. Maybe I’ll even get into shape for soccer season this year. It begins in three weeks.

On a good note, I had a burger, fries, and an Oreo milkshake last night for dinner! No limitations on diet ….yet.

I’ll keep you all up to date on my progress.

50 Resolutions in 50 Weeks Before I’m 50: Resolution 2

I decided on the second resolution after missing quality social contact with my family while we stared at the television for four nights this week.Granted, we were together watching movies, but my God, if I said anything during the movie or we’d need to rewind the ten seconds lost to human connection.

So the resolution this week? No television after 8pm. Will this be difficult? Probably, but it also gives me another week to skip exercise and not watch what I eat.

Does the family have to follow my resolutions? No. But I’m hoping to be a decent role model. Or I will end up killing someone after having too many restrictions on me.

I’ll keep you updated next Friday.

-V

50 Resolutions in 50 Weeks Before I’m 50: Resolution 1 Update

I’m a goal fanatic. Give me a goal, I’ll set off on the journey with zeal! So the first resolution was a piece of cake.

Journaling is not hard when there is no word count that I have to meet. So on a few nights, I wrote one or two sentences and put down the pen. I’m trying to write about positive things so I can count my blessings, although occasionally, I’ve written about issues that have come up that I need to work out like staying up way too late and never waking up in time to exercise.

My biggest problem is the anticipation of other resolutions coming up over the next few weeks. If I’m going to force myself to exercise more, I need to rest now. If I’m going to be placing restrictions on my diet, now is the time for ice cream. If I’m going on a tighter budget, I should spend now.

I haven’t decided the content of Week 2’s resolution, but I’ve it narrowed down to a few things that could help me step closer to my zen self. I’ll tell you all on Monday!

-V

“True Peril” is a Finalist in the Golden Leaf Contest!!

My novel “True Peril” was named as a Finalist in Romantic Suspense for the New Jersey Romance Writer’s Golden Leaf Award. I’m planning on heading to the award ceremony on October 14, 2016.

50 Resolutions in 50 Weeks Before I’m 50: Resolution 1

In one year and a few months, I’m turning fifty years old. When I was younger, I always envisioned my fifty-year-old self as a wise, organized, completely together woman. Now that the age is closing in on me, I’m not quite where I thought I’d be.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m closer to that wise super woman than I’d been at twenty and thirty, but bad habits are still running part of my life like the best friend I’d adored in high school, but was constantly dragging me into fun, but completely destructive directions.

I have just over a year to make myself the person I’d always longed to be. Although a solid New Year’s resolution might be able to help me with my exercise and diet, I need something more drastic. So I’ve decided that I’m taking on a new resolution each week for the next fifty weeks. If it all works out, I’ll hit my second half century as the person I’d always thought I was capable of being. If not, I’ll have to sit back and acknowledge that my previous goal was unachievable and I won’t feel any regrets for at least trying.

I’ve decided the best first resolution is to journal everyday. There have been times in my life where I was successfully writing in a journal every day. That was years ago. I miss the comfort of a daily thought about how my life is going on any set day. So I’ve bought myself a leather journal and am ready to go.

I’ll update you on my progress on Friday. Have a wonderful week!

Romance Writers Weekly: Story Ideas

This week we’re delving into the origin of story ideas. If you’ve come from Fiona Riplee‘s blog, welcome!

One story idea that came to me as a gift from someone else is the story of Alexandra Northrop from Untrue Colors. She was the reason the book was written.

I had written two books about wealthy sisters who must overcome huge obstacles. When I pitched them to an agent, she told me to add a third sister.  Trilogies sell better. The problem? The books were already written. So I added an estranged sister in Europe. she refuses to come home. The first two books never sold. That left Alex alone in Europe, away from her family. Why?

Untrue Colors was a blast to write: Here’s an excerpt:

Alex sat in her favorite booth in the back corner of the Yellow Dog Pub with a Coke and a cup of pumpkin-and- Gruyère soup and pulled out the book Matisse, Father & Son from her backpack. One of the students she’d met offered to check out books for her from the library, and she devoured every one she could lay her hands on. She’d created a comfortable yet temporary life in Oxford. She dressed as one of the students at the university, lived at a youth hostel, and earned money by helping a pub owner clean up after closing. Still, she felt far from safe.

“Gabe, how’s the soup?” Matt, the owner, asked.

She’d become used to being called Gabe West. Gabrielle, her mother’s name, had been the only name she could think of when she’d arrived in Oxford. West reminded her that her family was across the ocean in Boston. Since moving to

Europe eight years ago, Alex had kept in sporadic contact with her family. Since meeting Luc, she’d had zero. They didn’t need to become mixed up in her problems. Luc was too dangerous.

She took a spoonful and savored the first taste of her main meal for the day. “You outdid yourself.”

“Glad to hear it.” He sat across from her, his wise blue eyes framed by laugh lines. “Listen, love, some bloke has been poking around the local pubs asking about an undocumented French art lover with a pert little nose and an air of desperation. Never did hear you speak anything but English, but thought I’d give you a heads-up.”

Her spoon dropped into the bowl, splashing some soup on the table. She clasped it again as though it was an accident and raised her eyebrows to appear interested in Matthew’s statement, but not too interested. Her body tensed, ready to run away from this sanctuary. Had they found her? 

***

Alex in Paris

Continue on to read what Leslie Hachtel found as an idea that eventually came to light and see you next week!!!

 

 

2016 Booksellers’ Best Winner

 

I attended the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference last week in San Diego. What a great opportunity to meet with my agent, editors, and my friends. The highlight of the week was learning that my novel “Untrue Colors” won the 2016 Booksellers’ Best Award for Romantic Suspense.

I also did a book signing there with over 400 other authors including many of my favorites. If you are near the Orlando area next July, come on out. It’s such fun and all sales are donated to support literacy.