IWSG#Overwhelmed

Welcome to another monthly run of the world famous--Insecure Writer's Support Group!  Writers from across the lands join in arms and celebrate, freak out, whathaveyou, about their condition (aka being writers). JOIN US!

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Today I'd like to briefly ramble about being overwhelmed--and the constant battle to not end up that way ;).

Being a writer is HARD-people only do it because they honestly can't figure out a way not to. And it seems that every time I turn around there is yet one more, "THIS will make you successful" miracle program out there.

But, guess what? Writing has always been hard. Even way back in the pulp fiction 50's. Most folks weren't making a living at writing novels then either. And I'm sure there were wheelers and dealers ready to help them out then too.

These programs, people, strange things that hit you at 3 am as to why you're not as successful as you should be, can overwhelm you.

They suck away the joy.

Writing is hard. Yes, we're like addicts looking for our next fix of words on the page. But it is also a joy. It's amazing, beautiful, and a gift. When we're overwhelmed by all the ways we need to make ourselves successful, we lose the joy.

If we work to grab onto the joy, remind ourselves how awesome it is that we do what we do (not if we're making a living--but that we DO IT), guess what happens? The joy shoves aside the feeling of being overwhelmed. We do what we can to get our words out there--but first and foremost, we have to hang onto our joy at writing.

Happy IWSG Day!  Go hug a writer!

Contest winners!

Last Friday, I was part of a book launch party for my writer friend, Andy Peloquin. I told folks I'd post winners today.

Here they are!

Chandra Trulove Fry- 2 free ebooks from either of my series and $5 Star bucks card
 Rainne Atkins- Lost Ancients ebook  and $5 Star bucks card
 Philipp Kessler Warrior Wench ebook and $5 Star bucks card
Amanda Beth Steele – free ebook- choice- and $5 Star bucks card
 Shekeilah Besay Angawa- free Lost Ancients series ebook and $5 Star bucks card
 Linda ODea – free Lost Ancients series ebook and $5 Star bucks card
 Email me at Marie @marieandreas to claim!
 

Victorious Dead: COVER REVEAL!

     Last week I mentioned celebrating everything. Well, one thing that is extremely fun to celebrate is a new cover! I have a wonderful cover artist for both The Lost Ancient Series as well as The Asarlaí Wars trilogy. Aleta Rafton. And she's done it again!!!

     Even though I don’t make the covers (clearly ;)) they are part of my heart and vision. When you work with a professional cover designer—a good one—you give an idea of what you’re thinking.  Aleta will ask the genre, what the character looks like, costuming, ideas on setting, weapons, etc. They give some roughs, you pick, choose, and add changes until it becomes part of the book itself. It is the face of your book and you have to do all you can to make it look great and represent the book. Not everyone will love it. But, not everyone will love the books either ;).

I am proud to present the cover for the second Asarlaí Wars book—Victorious Dead.

Estimated publication- Summer 2017.

Celebrate EVERYTHING

Writing is hard--life is hard. So many times both in writing and in life, we don't celebrate our accomplishments. Either we feel they are too small ("No one would celebrate THAT, I'm not famous yet after all.") or feel it's bragging- and we all know we're not supposed to do that ;).

I'm here to say that no accomplishment is too small to be celebrated--even if it's only in our own head. And it's not bragging to tell people you've hit a personal goal for yourself. We should always celebrate each others' accomplishments.

We worry too much about our end goal, how we can get where we want to finish up. Why? An end goal is just that, an end. It's the journey that we take to get there, with all the bumps, dumps, and jumps we go through along the way that we should focus on.

I've mentioned before I see a ladder as my writing career journey. The top is lost far above me, and the bottom as well. But each accomplishment I've made: starting a book, finishing a book, letting people read a book, publishing, sales, signing events, rankings--all of those are rungs I've climbed. 

Whatever happens with my end goal, those rungs will always be there. My lost in the clouds goal might be different than what I think it is now. I might never get where I dream to be. BUT, those rungs are mine. I climbed them. I celebrated them.

Enjoy the journey, celebrate your accomplishments and those of folks around you.

#IWSG- NEVER GIVE UP!

Welcome all, to another monthly round up of writers hopping about from blog to blog!  Also known as the Insecure Writers Support Group blog day! Join us!    http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

Today there was a question proposed of digging out really old work and what did you do with it. Well, I have been writing a VERY long time, so I have a lot of old work lingering about.

My very first book will never see the light of day (seriously- don't even know where it is) but over the years I have stolen names and characters from it for other books.

However, a not quite as old book has definitely made a splash. Warrior Wench was written over six years ago folks. I had planned to publish it after The Lost Ancients series finished, but got it out there earlier. It's done very well in sales and professional and fan reviews. I'm not saying that to brag--I still am nowhere near quitting my day job, but just to point out that you should never give up on a work you've done. 

Find your older pieces--can they be buffed up and put out as they are with some editing and spit shine? Or should you rip the pieces apart and pick out elements for other work?

Nothing should ever be wasted :).

Happy IWSG DAY! 

Just Do IT

Yeah, yeah, yeah--there's some sort of sports product that says that as well.

Just do it.

Now, the slogan is referring to getting out there and taking on the world in sports--providing you wear their gear ;).  I'm stealing it as a life quite (borrowing...only borrowing ;)).

Most of us live in a state of longing, "Life would be better IF...." fill in the blank: I could lose the weight, I made more money, I had a bigger house, better job, was better at betting on the ponies. A lot of these "IF"s revolve around things we'd like to do--but can't (usually because of time). Write a book. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

Pretty much it's a bunch of hooey. 

In the first grouping, those things aren't going to make you a happier person by themselves. You might have more things, but if your happiness is only based on external items or actions or perceptions of others--you are always going to be chasing the next thing. Gotta come from inside YOU or you'll never have enough to be happy.

The second group, the "I wish I had time to....." are also hooey. Massive Hooeyness.

We all have the same amount of time, and most of us are far more busy than we'd like. Yet, somehow we all think WE'RE far busier than everyone else and that's why we can't just do it--just go for our dreams.

Grand master hooey of epic proportions!

If you want to do something, you find the time. I've said it here many many times, but it needs repeating (as I again had someone say, "I wish I had time to write."). You make time, you find a way, you do whatever needs to be done to get your vision, your words, your WORLDS out there. Doesn't have to be writing, it can be anything that your heart needs. While I have not, nor do I want to--ever-- climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, my sister has. She's also gone to Antarctica and even kayaked there--why? Because she wanted to! 

You MAKE IT HAPPEN. Don't give into fear (Chuck Wendig talks about fear far better- and with more swear words-than I can- http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2017/02/21/writers-are-best-when-theyre-always-on-the-edge-of-failure/).

This is your life, if it speaks to you, find a way.

Just do it! And along the way, celebrate all the steps of the journey :).


PLUG! Okay, so in just doing it, I have ended up with a great book release party at the most awesome bookstore in the land, Mysterious Galaxy! http://www.mystgalaxy.com/event/marie-andreas-signs-san-diego

AND if you can't be there- up through the 24th- you can order a signed and personalized copy and have it mailed to you! 

http://www.mystgalaxy.com/upstream-our-universe-marie-andreas

#IWSG- Where do we go from here?

Welcome to another monthly installment of the Insecure Writers Support Group. A band of intrepid writers from across the land who gather monthly to share, hopes, dreams, and fears.

Join us! http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

I've been thinking about the next step for my writing career. Just writing isn't enough, we also need to be marketing, be worried about ROI above all, and monetarily break up our time (so we know how much we're losing by doing certain things instead of others). There's also trying to figure out how to make ads and newsletters. 

It seems like everywhere I turn, there is something else that "must" be done. You HAVE to have a blog OR you shouldn't have a blog-it takes away too much time and therefore not a good ROI. I feel that at any moment someone is going to come up and tell me the secret to being a successful author is to be able to rub my tummy while patting my head and chewing gum.

AKA- there is ALWAYS something else to do to succeed (beyond writing ;)).

I'm all for goals, and yes, I would love to make more money at my writing--but it seems that as of late I've been spending too much energy on all of that. Or at least trying to figure that all out.

I need to find a way to balance, to move my career forward, but not lose what I love to do. If anyone out there has some clues to obtaining that balance, please share!

Happy IWSG Day!