Counting My Words #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Can you believe we are in week 23 of the MFRW 52 Week Blog Challenge? We're in the middle of 2017. Today's topic is Word Count.

As a writer, I don't write as often as I should and I'm slow. Some days I average about 300 words. Some days I sit in front of my computer and look at a blank word document because the words won't come.  I'll usually give up then and do a little reading, research or play three-dimensional mahjong.

I promised myself I would change that this year after a friend of mine posted her end of year total. She had enough words for four novels or five novellas or ten short stories before editing.  I have another author friend who writes 3k per day, five days per week no matter what. I've tried to find that kind of dedication for myself. I'm still looking.

I wanted my end of year total to be at least 120,000. Not a lot, but I wanted to start small. So I decided to just write and not count. Write without the pressure of making a goal and you know what? It's working. I still don't write every day, but I write a lot when I do. The year-end goal I set for myself may be reached this year. Maybe not. I won't sweat it. I'll just write.

What about you and word count? How do you handle it? Let's talk about it in the comments.

My Hero...sigh #MFRWAuthor

It's week 19, ya'll, of the MFRW 52-week Blogging Challenge. This week's topic is "The Ideal Romance Hero." Any author can join in on the fun. Click here to find out how.

Cue the music "I Need A Hero."   The Words

The ideal romance hero...whether fiction or real, to me embody the same qualities. My father who is the model of the man I'm looking for. My brothers and my son who followed in my dad's footsteps, and the uncles and cousins I'm visiting this week. They all have these qualities.


Those qualities:
Genuinely good person--calm, caring, patient, affectionate, friendly.

A sense of humor. A man who can laugh as well as laugh at himself.

Gentleman--chivalrous, a man of his word, a man of honor--willing to hold a door open or hold a chair.

Attentive--vigilant, interested, conscientious--willing to give his undivided attention.

Intelligent--well-read, observant, curious. Can converse on most subjects without being arrogant or egotistical.

The above qualifications are from the inside of the hero. They shine outward for the world to observe. A man with the strength of character to stand on his convictions and conscience and not be swayed by the winds (opinions) that blow this way and that. Physical beauty or looks are fine, but not away important. My aunt had a saying, "Beauty fades away, but ugly holds its own." Example: Beauty and the Beast. A prince turned into a monstrous beast but learned the true meaning of being a hero and love. When he stopped being growly, he exhibited his true worth--the hero qualities listed above and was willing to let Belle so. But love prevailed and they lived happily ever after. (Photo: Disney.com)

These are just a small section of the qualities as demonstrated by my hero pictured above. This is a blog hop. Please be sure to check out the other authors/bloggers.

Laugh Out Loud Funny #MFRWauthor #amwriting

This is week 18 of the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge. Today's topic--What Makes Me Laugh Out Loud. For more information or to join, click here.

I love humor. I sometimes laugh so hard and loud, I'm doubled over attempting to catch my breath while clutching my stomach and tears run from my eyes. What makes me laugh out loud? Quite a few things actually:

Slapstick Comedy Movies. Watch this video of sample slapstick.

Romantic Comedy Movies like Pretty Woman, Bringing Down the House, The Bird Cage, Coming to America, Sweet Home Alabama and YA movies like What A Girl Wants and The Princess Diaries.

I'm showing my age, but I started with comedy by watching TV variety shows like Red Skelton and Carol Burnett as well as programs like I Love Lucy and the Beverly Hillbillies.

TV shows like 3rd Rock From the Sun. A group of aliens sent to earth, disguised as a human family, to experience life and report back to their home planet. John Lithgow is a comedic genius. I giggle days later thinking about something he did or said.  Watch him in action.


(photo: tvlistings.zap2it.com)

British comedies (remember last Friday, I admitted to being a secret Anglophile) like Keeping Up Appearances starring Patricia Routledge. A snobbish housewife is determined to climb the social ladder, in spite of her family's working class connection and the constant chagrin of her long-suffering husband.  This program, at one time, was part of the comedy line-up on Saturday nights on PBS. I watch episodes on Youtube now. My mother and I have considered pooling our money together to buy the entire collection. Watch this

                                                                                                 (photo:  www.imdb.com)                                                                                                                                                                               

My other favorite British comedy, Coupling. Six best friends talk about all aspects of sex and relationships on their never-ending quest to find true love. When a couple gets together, it's never just the two of them. They also bring baggage in the form of their friends and exes. I bought the DVD collection recently and watch them over and over again. Watch here.






(photo: www.imdb.com)


Romance Novels and Novellas. The funniest so far being Shelly Laurenston/G A Aiken's Magnus Pack & The Pride Series, Dragon Kin Series. Kerrelyn Sparks's The Love at Stake Series. Lynsay Sands's The Argeneau Series. Katie MacAlister's Aisling Gray Guardian, The Dark Ones Series, The Light Dragons Series, The Silver Dragons Series. Each line or scene that have me giggling,  I bookmark and go back over them chuckling again and again.


There you have it. Some movies, books, and TV that have me roaring with laughter. What about you? What makes you laugh out loud? Tell me below in the comments.

Be sure to check out the blogs of the authors listed below. Have a great weekend.

Oh, The Places I'd Go.... #mfrwauthor, #amwriting

 Image: keepcalmandtravel.com

Welcome to week 17 of the MFRW 52-Week Blog Challenge. It's an opportunity for authors to tell a little bit more about themselves. Any author with a blog can participate. Click here to find out more. This week the topic is 'The Top 5 Places I'd Like to Visit.'

New Orleans, LA (French Quarter)

My all time favorite place to visit. Whenever we visit, which is every other summer, we stay in the Quarter. I love riding the trolley from one end of the French Quarter to the other and never tire of the sights. The French Market on N Peters St is a fun place to shop. My family and I never get tired of browsing the shop windows on various streets, touring old buildings such as the St Louis Cathedral on Pere Antoine Alley, U.S. Mint on Esplanade Ave and the above ground vaults of St. Louis cemetery no.1 on N Claiborne Ave. This is the cemetery where the famous voodoo queen, Marie Laveau is buried. (as of March 1, the cemetery is closed to free public access due to vandalism and assaults on visitors, however, you can take a guided tour). The food at little hole-in-the-wall restaurants is to die for as well as coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. It's relaxing to sit at outdoor eateries and watch the sea of people stroll by. A lively place where people play musical instruments, sing, and dance on the street corners.  

A few of my favorite paranormal authors have stories within their series situated in New Orleans: Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunters, Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark, and Jeaniene Frost's characters, Cat and Bones, visit New Orleans a few times.

Hilton Head Island, SC

Another favorite location is Hilton Head Island. While the French Quarter is my lively place, Hilton Head Island is my quiet place number 1. It's relaxing to sit on the beach to watch the waves roll in and out, smell the ocean, listen to the waves crash and feel the sun and the wind on your skin. I usually like laying on the sofa and reading a good book, but for the next trip, I plan to visit a few museums like the Harbour Town Lighthouse and Museum. I have a few story ideas about lighthouses.

Gatlinburg, TN

Quiet place number 2 is Gatlinburg, TN. When asked if I wanted to accompany my parents to Gatlinburg in 2000. My mom had just retired and instead of a retirement party, she chose to invite her family to Tennessee to celebrate. I immediately said no. I'd just ended a long-term relationship and didn't want to go to a city where couples married in little wedding chapels interspersed throughout the city and walked hand in hand up and down the streets all starry eyed.  My folks hounded me until I relented and agreed to travel with them. The Fall Festival was in play and I love it.  The browns, oranges, reds and yellow colors of autumn were everywhere. We toured a small area in the mountains called Cade's Cove. It was peaceful, quiet, breath-taking and I vowed I'd return as many times as I could afford.  We changed seasons from Fall to Christmas in 2011 and try to visit whenever there's a vacancy. (Since the fire in 2016 that destroyed much of the city, we've decided to choose a random destination for Christmas 2017.)

England, UK

England is on my bucket list. I've always loved this place and secretly consider myself an Anglophile. I want to visit Trafalgar Square to see Nelson's Column and the National Gallery. Next, the Tower of London where Anne Boleyn was held and beheaded for treason and her daughter, Elizabeth I, was held because she posed a threat to her half-sister, Queen Mary. (Elizabeth I is my favorite British queen.) Stonehenge, because it's ancient and mysterious and Manchester because my cousin lives there and because of the football club, Manchester United.

Scotland, UK

The second location on my bucket list is Scotland. The land of breath-taking castles, wide sweeping landscapes that resemble the hills of Kentucky, William Wallace and of course, Nessie. The home of two of my favorite fictional drool-worthy heroes--Connor and Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. The home of distant ancestors on my maternal side. I feel the pull of Scotland calling to me. As much as I'd like to one day visit England, I yearn to live in Scotland, at least for a few months.

There are a few authors with Highlander series that I've enjoyed reading: Karen Marie Moning, Julie Johnstone, Eliza Knight and Hildie McQueen.

So...out of my five dream locations, I'd live in French Quarter-New Orleans or Scotland. What places would you love to visit?  Tell me in the comments. 

Don't forget to cruise by the other author blogs listed below to find out the dream locations they'd like to visit.

                                                              

Living My Dream, #MFRWauthor, #amwriting

Image: conniewonnie.com

Week 16 - MFRW 52 Week Challenge. This week 'My Biggest Dream in Life.'

My dream is to be a full-time writer. I've made it! Almost.

In the above comic, Connie says, "Woo Hoo! Livin' the Dream!" and then she days "Not perfectly but I keep at it." This is me. 

During my younger years, I wrote plays that family and friends acted in and wrote stories my parents and teachers liked. They saw potential and encouraged me to continue to write. But as time went by, life got in the way and writing had to take a back seat to everything else and some instances had to be hidden the back of a closet in a locked box.

After thirty years at my day job, I retired. Finally, I can write anytime and not worry about a story snippet scribbled hurriedly during lunch or breaks that may get lost in a paper shuffle. My son is an adult with his own young family. They're happy and healthy. I'm thankful. I'm not old enough for Social Security, though and I'm not published yet.  But I persevere. I study craft books, write and one day soon, I'll be published. 

What about you? What's your biggest dream? Tell me in the comments.

My Social Media Meeting Places #MFRWauthor

Hi y'all, it's week 15 of the Marketing For Romance Writer's 52-Week Blog Challenge. I've missed a couple of weeks by being caught up in other things, but now I'm back.

The subject of this week's challenge is 'Social Media Hangouts'.

This challenge is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers and each other. An opportunity to learn a little more about each other besides what's in our bios. Any author can join the challenge. Click here to find out more.

Two of my 2017 intentions is to blog more and keep my website updated. One of the ways I'm blogging more is taking part in this challenge.

I have a Facebook Author Page. While I should be using it to promote my writing, I primarily post positive quotes to keep me psyched and share posts about other authors releases. One of my 2017 intentions is to post more about my own writings on all of my social media. I've only done it once or twice this year.  Of course, I have my profile page where I hang out with family and friends, and on various FB groups.

Next is Twitter. Again, I schedule positive quotes through Hootsuite to appear on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday--the same ones posted on my FB author page. I tweet about craft blog posts and retweet promotion from other authors. I not very good at thinking of things to tweet on my own.

Instagram. Most all of my social media reflect the same things. I'm consistent that way. Positive quotes again, but I love the notion of posting photos and enjoy cruising through other pages getting ideas for posts and, one day, my own book promotion. In recent months, this account has been converted to a business account.

Pinterest is my favorite. I'd rather be on Pinterest than anywhere else. 29 boards of things/places/people I find fun and interesting plus 12 secret boards representing ideas for my future books. One of my boards is for the blogs I own and participate on. I save my posts for each blog there.

The four above are my main meeting places. There's Google Plus, Snapchat (I have no idea what to do with this one.), a YouTube channel where I watch snippets of my favorite movie scenes and music videos. Also, there's Goodreads (just a regular page since I'm not published yet, I log in books I've read and hang out in groups) and WattPad (I haven't published the short story I'm working on yet).

Well, there you have it. This is where you will find me. Where do you hang out? Let's talk about it in the comments.