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Survival skills

Published November 16, 2018 by francesothomas

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How my family survives my writing is this week’s blog topic. It really should be the reverse: how does my writing survive my family?

At home, it is just my husband and me. I have a part time teaching job this semester, but otherwise I should have plenty of time, right? The only glitch is that I am a fulltime caregiver. That means I am in charge of driving to and sitting through quite a lot of doctor’s appointments. I also spend a fair amount of time on hold, trying to talk to said doctors’ offices’ staffs. And don’t get me started on dealing with the Veterans Administration. Then there are the time sucks of the grocery shopping, cooking, and laundry.

But who am I kidding? To be fair, I often fritter away what time I do have on Facebook and email. Clearly, I need both time and overwhelm management skills.

Let’s see what the other authors have to say on this here.

 

 

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Enough to give one hives (#MFRWAuthor)

Published November 9, 2018 by francesothomas

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The blog hop topic for this week is what I’m allergic to. Fortunately for me, I have no food allergies. And unlike my sister, I am not allergic to dust, ragweed, and the usual suspects. The last time I had an allergic reaction was to penicillin, and that was decades ago.

So any talk of allergies will have to be those of a mental or emotional rather than physical nature.

I’m allegic to reckless drivers who zig and zag through traffic, to doctor’s offices who can’t be bothered to call back, really to any type of rude behavior.

Lately, I’m also allergic to folks who share their political leanings with me that are the polar opposite of mine as if they are assuming I agree with them. Or that theirs is the only opinion.

I’m allergic to people who talk about nothing but their medical condition. And to the students in the class I teach who gaze at me with no expression on their faces or, worse yet, gaze at their phones when I am doing my level best to impart the wisdom of all my past trials and errors.

Whew! Thanks Marketing for Romance Writers for letting me get all that off my chest.  You can take a look here to see what the other authors have to say.

 

Fear and longing (#MFRWAuthor)

Published November 2, 2018 by francesothomas

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This is week 44 in the Marketing for Romance Writers blog hop. I’ve been MIA the past couple weeks. I really had nothing to say on the prompts.

This week we’re instructed to write about our biggest fear.

Where do I begin? I’m afraid I will never be what I feel I should have become. At quite an advanced age, I still am trying to figure out what to be when I grow up. Or to define what my purpose is. Or to establish a personal brand. All the things I have just spent a semester trying to  teach college freshmen how to do.

Does the phrase “do what I say, not what I do” come to mind?

Which me is the real me? The caregiver me? The writer me? The singer me? What do I call the amalgam of all of the above?

Go here to see if my fellow authors’ fears are less existential. For their sakes, I hope so.

Dress for success (#MFRWAuthor)

Published October 5, 2018 by francesothomas

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Here’s another topic I feel I should have an answer for, but I don’t. For week 40 of the MFRW blog hop, I’m supposed to tell the world what I wear when I write. Now, if I wrote first thing in the morning the way I should, I’d be wearing my robe. Since what I actually do is write at various times during the day, I probably am wearing shorts or crop pants and a T shirt. It is Florida after all.

I wonder if I sat at a desk and wore at least semi-professional clothes would it matter? Would my writing be more polished? If I dressed the part, would I be more successful?

I’m guessing it wouldn’t matter. Even if it would matter, I doubt I’d sacrifice my comfort. But wait. Have I hit on a metaphor by accident? Maybe getting out of my comfort zone is exatly what I need.

Hmmm.

For more fashion advice, go here.

Standing on ceremony-not (#MFRWAuthor)

Published September 28, 2018 by francesothomas

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What are my writing rituals? This is the prompt for week 39 in the Marketing for Romance Writers blog hop. I would say I have a non-ritual.

I do have a set place where I do my writing. I sit on the couch with my laptop actually on my lap. This came as a surprise to a friend of mine. Evidently, she feels laptop computers should be placed on a hard surface to be used.

Although I am a musical person, I do not listen to music while I write as I understand some authors do.

I do not have a cup of tea, coffee, or an adult beverage nearby. Except when I do.

I don’t aim for a set number of words in a given session. I don’t write every day or at the same time every day. I know; I know. I should be doing these things. Will I mend my ways? Doubtful.

I can’t wait to read someone else’s rituals here. Clearly, I need some.

Step, ball, change, etc. (#MFRWAuthor)

Published September 21, 2018 by francesothomas

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Another  difficult topic on the blog hop this week: an odd/useless talent. I have some talents I don’t use at present. Does that make them useless? I think not. You never know when a talent will come in handy.

For example, I have rudimentary tap dancing skills. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a production of “No, No, Nanette” to audition for.

I also can knit. A little. Here in Florida, knit wear is not too popular. If I ever move back to Pennsylvania, I might knit again. After all, I still have my needles. Somewhere.

Back in the day, when I moved into my first apartment, I used to refinish furniture. Now, I don’t have the supplies or a place to do that. I’d still like to though.

For a look at the odd talents of my fellow authors, go here.

 

That stuff in a drawer (#MFRWAuthor)

Published September 14, 2018 by francesothomas

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What do I collect? That’s this week’s blog hop topic. While I have a fair amount of jewelry and scarves, I don’t really consider them collections.

In the past, my husband used to bring me home miniature pewter animal figurines when he went on a trip without me. That happened often. He took a very early retirement, and I was still working and/or going to grad school. Now I have that collection tucked in a drawer because I no longer have a place to display them. To be honest, I regarded them more as his collection than mine.

Nowadays, I guess the closest I come to collecting anything is my computer file of recipes. The funny thing is, I rarely make them more than once if at all. Even when I do use a recipe, I don’t usually follow it to the letter anyway.

So why do I bother to copy and paste them? Maybe hope springs eternal that I’ll use them one day. Or maybe it’s because I spend far too much time thinking about food. <Sigh>

Find out about other collections here.