Monday, February 8, 2021

Cover Competition - The Adventures of Tara and Pep Pep Book Four: Learning About 911

Good morning and happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have a request coming to you all from the very sweet Wanda L. Roberts. Grab your coffee or tea and let's get going!

I'm sure you've all heard of AllAuthor by now, and I'm sure you know they do a cover of the month competition.

Wanda's children's book, The Adventures of Tara and Pep Pep Book Four: Learning About 911, was chosen for this month's contest, and she's asking you all to pop on over and give her a vote, if you don't mind. Links and such you need to complete this are next, so keep scrolling!

Click here to vote for this cute cover.

You'll need to log in, but you can do so either with your Facebook credentials or with your AllAuthor account (or create an AllAuthor account).

Here's a snapshot of the book cover you'll be voting for:


Isn't that cute?

If you'd like to buy the book, you can find it on Amazon here

$2.99 for Kindle and $9.99 for paperback.

Blurb: The Adventures of Tara and Pep Pep is an adorable book series that is sure to bring out international smiling faces everywhere. The fun educational activities included in each book encourage your child to learn numbers, colors, and words as well as compassion towards rescue dogs.

These beautiful stories of Toby, his dad, and Tara and Pep Pep are sure to be adored by children, and warm any mother's heart! Come along with Tara and Pep Pep while they visit the 911 emergency facilities and learn from Mid Molly Mobile how to handle a emergency!

Thank you all so much!

That's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!


Jo

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

6 Routine and Productivity Tips

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! I hope you're all enjoying your new year thus far. Today, I'm talking about how to stick to your routine and be productive no matter what you're doing. I won't bore you with a long introduction up here, so grab your coffee or tea, and let's dive on in!

As you all may know, when the pandemic hit, my characters ran from Covid like the bulls in the streets of Pamplona, abandoning me to the woes and worries of the world with nothing to distract me and the very real possibility of getting trampled by depression. It was touch and go there for a minute, but I managed, through the power of flour, to pull myself out of the trenches and keep forging ahead. I created my baking channel and companion cookbook.

My biggest assets have always been my ability to schedule myself for maximum productivity and form routines to keep myself focused. I changed gears so fast I'm surprised my transmission didn't fall out, but here we are, nearly a year later, and I'm still going strong. Below, I'll share a few of my most helpful tips for achieving something you wish to do.

  1. Take the time to learn everything you can about the thing you're trying to do. Whether that's using a video camera, editing reels, or proofing dough, find out the how and the why. You'll be better prepared when you get to the action stage of this list.
  2. Use a calendar and be realistic. Don't set yourself unobtainable goals a year in the future. Start now (or as soon as humanly possible) and start small. There's no need to go crazy. 100 words every day for a year is 36,500 words. Things add up. Pick a date and just start!
  3. Plan ahead. Grab yourself a day planner with the hours of each day outlined (mine was $20 at Michael's). Spend an hour each Sunday planning your week. If that's not realistic, loosely outline targets you want to hit then segment and figure out how many hours you need to use to achieve them. Find those hours. For my YouTube channel, I plan a whole three months ahead, and I know exactly when I need to start taping recipes for the next quarter to get them all done in time. Then, I break that down by days then by hours (photo below). Usually, I have lunch breaks planned out, too, but I've been horribly lacking in that area lately, choosing to eat what I film instead. :)
  4. Stick to your planned routine as though your very life depended on it. Don't let anything get in the way. If you have other obligations, schedule around them to begin with. If something pops up that you can't avoid, reschedule your action item right away. Don't put things off with the intention to "get to them" later and not making a firm plan to do so. You'll never get to them.
  5. Tell people what you're doing, and ask them not to disturb you during that time. Turn off all your ringers if you need to, and step away from the computer if you can. If not, disable your internet while you write or film or hammer or knit, whatever you're doing. Be as protective of your time as a mama bear is with her cubs. People interrupt? Maul their asses. You now have permission. :) Aren't I generous? haha
  6. Be a finisher. If it matters to you, you'll find a way, and if not, you'll find an excuse. Close your eyes, dive in, and give it everything you've got. Even if nothing comes of it, you gave it your all, and that makes you a winner every time. Celebrate those successes of finishing. Even if it's only forty-five minutes all to yourself (if you get this reference, you're now my bestie-haha! I'm totally kidding, Tia. You'll always be my bestie!).


Above all, don't be hard on yourself. Enjoy whatever it is you're doing, because if you don't enjoy it, what's the point? You don't have to be what everyone else considers perfect. Be your own version of greatness. Yours is the only opinion that matters.

I hope you all got something out of this and forge ahead with new energy in this year of 2021. Our future is what we make it. Let's make it great.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo