Claire Cook's Blog, page 12

Birds at the Beach

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Black skimmers coming in for a landing at the beach. I love their orange and black beaks, and the way they all hang out together in a big flock.

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Must Love Dogs on St. Simons Island!

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Such a fabulous, enthusiastic crowd at the Must Love Dogs event! It was so great to make new friends, and thanks so much to the Literary Guild of St. Simons Island, St. Simons Island Public Library, and G.J. Ford Bookshop, who now has signed copies of the 6 books in the Must Love Dogs series (as well as some of my others) if you weren’t able to attend.

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Must Love Dogs on Saint Simons Island!

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Hi Everybody!

I just wanted to let you know that the Literary Guild of St. Simons Island, St. Simons Island Public Library, and G.J. Ford Bookshop are hosting an event on Thursday, Jan 17 for Must Love Dogs, my novel that was turned into a Warner Bros movie and is now a 6-book series.

I’d love to see you if you or anyone you know are in the neighborhood!

Here’s the link for reservations: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/claire-cook-and-must-love-dogs-film-tickets-53615635810?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete

CLAIRE COOK wrote her first novel in her minivan when she was 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the adaptation of her second novel, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which has become a 6-book series. Claire is now the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of 18 books as well as a sought after reinvention speaker. Read excerpts and find out more at https://clairecook.com/

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Hello, 2019!

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First sunrise of the new year. Hello, 2019!

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5 Ways to Shine On in 2019!

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There’s an old toast: May all your troubles be as short as your New Year’s resolutions. Which is why personally I’m not a huge fan as far as New Year’s resolutions go. It’s too easy to feel like a failure when those daily trips to the gym fizzle out by Valentine’s Day. But I do love to get quiet this time of year and think about what I want my life to be so I can make the decisions that will take me there.

Here are 5 things you might want to try along with me to help you shine on in 2019.

1. Give yourself a tagline. Or call it a theme or even a mantra, if you like one of those better. To me, it’s a way of owning your story, of telling your truth, and also of setting your intentions for the year. Maybe yours is Focused and Fearless in 2019. Or The Year of No Excuses. Or Fun Starts Here All Year. Whatever feels right, whatever works for you.

My tagline for the year is It’s Never Too Late to Shine On. It’s something I believe with all my heart and soul. It’s the story of my own life as well as my books. It’s the message I want to bring to the world. I’ve written a book called Never Too Late and another one called Shine On, so that’s where it started. But it’s much more than that. I’m hoping my new tagline will become a filter I can use to help me make decisions all year. There are so many awesome opportunities out there that it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the choices and shut down. So what I’ve decided is that if it fits my tagline, I’m in. If not, maybe another year.

So I’ve put It’s Never Too Late to Shine On on the header of my website. I’ve also printed it out and taped it like a banner across the top of my computer screen. It’s a bit wordy for a tattoo, but hey, you never know.

2. Every day, do the thing that will move you forward first. Tweet later. Check Facebook later. Answer email later. Clean your house later—way later.

When I take the hardest step first, when I do the thing that will move me forward in my life first, my day is so much more productive and I feel so much better about myself. For me that usually means getting up, grabbing a cup of coffee and a handful of almonds, and sitting down at the computer and writing my daily pages. I don’t know about you, but this is a lesson I seem to need to learn over and over again. I go along so well for a while, and then the self-sabotaging part of me needs to test it one more time to see if it’s still true. For me it always is.

As I say in Never Too Late, sometimes the biggest thing you can do to find your next chapter is to get out of your own way.

3. Rise above the negativity. All the cynicism and pessimism out there can crush us if we let it. No matter what we’re up against, our attitude is always our choice. I actually picture myself floating above all the nastiness and heading for the light. I try to bring kindness to the world in every interaction, large and small. Many of the great things that have happened to me were triggered by something nice I did for someone else. As one of my characters once said, karma is a boomerang!

Also on the negativity front, whatever their motive, lots of people will tell you why you can’t or shouldn’t do whatever it is you want to do. You just have to decide to do it anyway. You don’t need anyone’s permission.

4. Get Resilient. Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficult conditions, to spring back and try again. I really think resilience is like a muscle—the more you use it the stronger it gets. So don’t quit. Just take the lesson if there is one, regroup, adjust your angle, and keep putting yourself out there.

One of the most quoted passages from my books is this from Seven Year Switch: “If Plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters. (204 if you’re in Japan!)” I truly believe this and have seen it play out again and again in my own life. If we’re willing to put in the work, we can get wherever we want to go.

5. Learn Something New. Everything you need to know about the world you want to conquer can be found online. The Internet is a great equalizer, and there are so many awesome opportunities out there, many of them free, just waiting for you to take advantage of them. Or sign up for a class in person. I love teaching, but I’ve also taken classes in everything from digital marketing to graphic design lately. Lifelong learning not only keeps those brains of ours firing on all cylinders, but it’s a huge confidence builder. I’m so proud of all the new skills I’ve picked up. So do yourself a favor and learn something, or lots of somethings, new this year. 

BONUS TIP: So, the truth? I wrote this post a couple of years ago. When I looked at it again to get some inspiration for this year’s post, I realized that not only did it still resonate for me, but I really needed to hear all this stuff again. So maybe the bonus tip for all of us is that sometimes we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, we can share what we have to share, relearn what we’ve forgotten, and then go take a long walk. Which is what I’m about to do right now!

Wishing you a truly fabulous 2019. And remember, It’s Never Too Late to Shine On!

xxxxxClaire

Claire Cook wrote her first book in her minivan when she was 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the romantic comedy adaptation of her novel, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which is now a 6-book series. Claire is the New York Times and #1 Amazon bestselling author of 18 books, including Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention and Shine On: How To Grow Awesome Instead of Old. Connect with Claire on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Stay in the loop for giveaways, new releases and insider extras at ClaireCook.com/newsletter/.

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Goodbye, 2018!

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Last sunset of the year. Goodbye, 2018!

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Happy Everything, Everybody!

 

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And the stockings were hung by the cat condo with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

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Driftwood Christmas Tree

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I love this driftwood Christmas tree at the beach and the way people keep bringing more shells and ornaments to add to it. Every time I see it, the Grinch in the front reminds me of one of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes:

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” 

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Santa Hits the Beach

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Santa hanging out on my antenna on a chilly beach day. #ChristmasIsComing #ChristmasCheer #hohoho

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Time Flies Giveaway Winners!

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Drumroll, please…The following five people will each win two signed and personalized copies of Time Flies, one to keep and one to share with the friend you’d most like to get together with:

Mary Repasky

Martha Franks

Lindsay Downard

Madison Nikkola

Kelley Fletcher Sullivan

CONGRATULATIONS, all!! Winners, please send an email to ClaireATClaireCook.com with your snail mail address as well as the name of the friend you’ll give the second book to. I’ll get them right in the mail to you!

If you didn’t win this time around, no worries! I’ll do another giveaway soon. To stay in the loop, make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter: https://clairecook.com/newsletter/

You can read an excerpt of Time Flies as well as find questions for your book club at https://clairecook.com/read/time-flies/.

You can order your copy of Time Flies at these links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2KjFk2I

iBooks: https://apple.co/2FwzCvJ

Barnes&Noble: https://bit.ly/2A7i9Ek

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2Klmfgt

GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2Klmfgt

Here’s a little bit about Time Flies:

Years ago, Melanie followed her husband Kurt from the New England beach town where their two young sons were thriving to the suburbs of Atlanta. She’s carved out a life as a successful metal sculptor, but when Kurt leaves her for another woman, having the tools to cut up their marriage bed is small consolation.

She’s old enough to know that high school reunions are often a big disappointment, but when her best friend makes her buy a ticket and an old flame gets in touch to see whether she’ll be going, she fantasizes that returning to her past might help her find her future…until her driving phobia resurfaces and threatens to hold her back from the adventure of a lifetime.

Time Flies is an epic road trip filled with fun, heartbreak, and friendship, and explores what it takes to conquer your worst fears…so you can start living your future.

“Genuine, deftly drawn characters…[Cook’s] poignancy and sassy humor resonate with readers; her theme of reinvention uplifts and inspires”—Savannah Magazine

CLAIRE COOK wrote her first novel in her minivan when she was 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the adaptation of her second novel, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which has become a 6-book series. Claire is now the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of 18 books as well as a sought after reinvention speaker. Read excerpts and find out more at https://clairecook.com/

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