writer

Surprise Post, Backwards Clock and Timing is Everything

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: Myriams-Fotos on Pixabay.

Hey all. Surprise, it’s Monday! I know normally I post on Fridays but I wanted to shake things up a little and had some thoughts rummaging around this head of mine so figured, why not do another post. Hell, it’s my blog and I can post if I want to! (Apologies to the great Lesley Gore.)

I have been doing social posts for many years and yet when it comes to promoting, I suck at it…and this is coming from a former social media specialist. Let me clarify something, I am good at promoting others but have never felt comfortable promoting myself. I can do it with my vintage/estate jewelry business, there I’ve gotten much better. But with my creative business? I would fire me as a marketing manager if I could. And as for here? Well, last week’s post having almost no views after finally starting to creep up in the analytics department was a slap of reality that I need to do more.

Part of that is timing. I know that I had a set schedule when I worked for a tech company and did their social. I had a grid of designated times that would work over those that didn’t and even that was broken up into the platforms for each: i.e. 1015am FB page, 1:30pm Instagram, etc. I started to see the numbers climbing when I found what was the sweet spot for each platform, (pre TikTok days) and as far as this blog goes, I am far, far out of practice. So this past week, I learned that maybe not posting at 4:30am wasn’t such a good idea and I really should have scheduled it for later on. I forget that no one besides me is up at that hour.

Something I don’t think I posted about here, although maybe in a post far, far away, (apologies to Star Wars fans), I may have mentioned it…but I have a reverse clock. Meaning, I sleep all day, wake up when it’s dark and stay up all night. There are days, although I try not for this to happen, that I am up until noon. Yes, this is all doctor approved. Yes, this is all ok. And no, it is not because of my current medical situation. This is how I have always been. Even in elementary school, it would be extremely hard to wake me up, (I’d be up all night ‘hiding’ under the covers reading) and then would get to class, check in and head to the nurses office to go to sleep for a while and join the class later. I still got high marks and did very well, it’s just that I was born with a reversed internal clock and it wasn’t until these last few years that I FINALLY had doctors tell me it was ok, that everyone is wired differently and that I’m not hurting myself or anyone else. I don’t know, maybe it was being born on Friday the 13th, who knows?

Everyone works differently and as much as I LOVED my old job and still miss it every day, even 9 years later, I wasn’t exactly doing the healthy thing. It was the only place I worked that I got up early because I was so excited to go to the office every day. However, I was always armed with two jumbo Dunkin’ coffees to start out with, would head there again at lunch, (they were next door, a lethal combo), would have soda, tea, anything caffeinated at lunch and to get me through my next break where I’d go back for more coffee. At home, I’d have to take something to help me get to sleep early and so I wouldn’t be up all night per my usual hours and this meant missing a lot of baseball that year. You don’t know me, that’s a huge issue.

In a job I had years ago, I was working well over 100 hour weeks. I lived on Vivarin (you may need to google that one), cigarettes and double shot cappuccinos to get me through the day and night. To this day I still don’t know how I didn’t have a stroke or a heart attack for what I put myself through to keep going.

Now that I’m home, I can finally deal with the schedule I was always meant to have and for me, it works out fine. Until I hit ‘publish’ on a blog post at 4:30am and then not so much.

So here I am trying to make up for it. Plus, the more I read about the whole blog-o-sphere, the more I understand that to build a following, I actually have to post more consistently, so here I am. I do hope you will bear with me as I learn as I go and try to make this something I am proud of.

My last such site wasn’t so much a personal blog as one I did for my town. In that case, I wasn’t really writing about myself, but rather I was writing about the happenings going on around here. I was writing about the history of the city. I was publicizing local eateries and promoting dj’s and live bands, so again, I was able to promote it better because I never felt like I was promoting myself vs the acts or venues themselves. So here I am trying to get my footing again with things like, hey, did you know you can now have more than one link in your IG profile? Or that ironically, photo posts do better than videos in TikTok for some reason? I mean, isn’t that what IG was in the beginning? Just photos? It gets confusing but this was my life for a long time. I lived and breathed social media and I loved it. But now, I have a hard time getting up the enthusiasm for it the way I once did. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still on it all the time, I am one of those people who has to share about a million funny animal videos a day. I have just learned to take a step back on some of it and unfortunately for my creative business, have forgotten about it altogether. Because of that, my sales are nonexistent. I own that though. It is my fault. And as much work as I put into the designs I do for it and all the ideas I have for it, I can’t get ahead without promoting. So here I am, trying to promote myself a little bit.

HEY WORLD, I HAVE A BLOG!

Ok had to get that out. Lol

Having said all of that, I have been really enjoying my time here. I feel like by writing about, well, my writing, has kept me on track. Has made me realize that by making my journey public, I have to get things done. I have heard from a couple of folks who are going through something similar. Whether as writers or as career changers, it makes me happy to know that I’m striking a chord out there somewhere. I may be horrible, (HORRIBLE) at getting back to emails, (sorry) if I can make someone smile when they need it, or give them that ‘oh I am so glad I’m not the only one’ moment they need, well then, I’m doing something right.

I took a few days off from working on my own novel or its sequel to read a couple of books I had been looking forward to, but sometimes we need that. To regroup. To get inspired by others and because I did this, I came up with new story ideas and a new direction. I am always thankful to other authors who can give me pure escapist tropes that keep me from knowing what’s going on in the world and my own drama, because frankly, I’m tired of it. I’m not reading the classics or any of my (many) non-fiction-history-bios-deep-thinking-books right now. I did that for oh so many years. Rather, this is my time to just relax with books that make me laugh and make me happy. Because there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I will eventually work a little Teddy Roosevelt, CT history, Yankees memoirs, Dave Grohl and Geddy Lee back into the mix. For now, I’m just enjoying my time with the ‘will they or won’t they’ types that have funny stories getting to how they eventually ‘will’ and loving every page of it. I hope you have found a way to decompress and forget about life for a while, because it feels so good when you finally find that thing that clicks. It really does. 🙂

And that is where I will leave you tonight. Once again I thank you for bearing with the rambles of a cooped up night owl! I appreciate every single one of you who takes time out of your own crazy schedule to read my posts. It honestly means the world to me that with all of the thousands upon thousands of blogs out there, that there’s even one of you who likes it and keeps coming back! You guys rock!!

Have a great night and be on the lookout, because you never know when the next post is coming. 

Until next time…

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 Be sure to check out my linktree for my social for this site as well as my new linktree shop that I will continue to add to as time goes on: Linktr.ee/promosocially

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Latest book read: Emily Henry’s Funny Story

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You can find all of my shop links for both my vintage/estate jewelry biz and my creative biz by going to either one of these linktrees: linktr.ee/stuffwefind or linktr.ee/stuffwemade

There’s a lot to see on both and I invite you to come and check them out. 🙂

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If you are at all interested in my previous site, you can click the ‘Stamford History’ tab in the menu up above. I keep the site up as an archive as well as for any who would like to read my local history related posts.

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As always, the links in the sidebar are clickable and will figure out this whole ad thing as time goes on. Thanks for reading this far! 

Literary Worlds, Hidden Meanings and Writing Whilst Impaired

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: beasternchen on Pixabay.

Hey all! Welcome back to another fun filled adventure! Ok, so maybe that’s an exaggeration but why start off boring right? Hope you all had a good week and hopefully I can give you a respite from the outside world of craziness…because I think we could all use that right now.

I spent my week quietly and it was rather nice. I’m about to finish reading my fourth book of the week after having reread the three before it. I believe I touched on it in last week’s post, it’s a series I had started reading in the fall and the new book was just released this past Tuesday. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it but wanted to read the others again to get myself reacquainted with the characters and the town setting again. (I will do this all over in September when the next book comes out and already looking forward to it.)

I don’t know how you like to read, but for me, I need dead silence. I like a very quiet room, even turning down the fan I normally have on high because this place is hotter than hell, but I will roast for the sake of a good book because the only sounds I want to hear are the birds chirping in the morning to let me know it’s time to stop for the night. With a nice cup of tea by my side, my devices either on ‘do not disturb’ or on airplane mode, I sit, I read, I enjoy.

I should also tell you, I’m extremely OCD with my books. So no eating. A sip of tea is to be had when the book is closed at my side because I have been known to spill or splash and I will be damned if any gets on the volume I am reading and oh yeah, clean hands are a must. This is why I have so much trouble loaning books out. If they are out of my possession for more than a few days, I twitch and keep asking for them back. I still feel bad for asking for a book back from a friend before she actually read it and ended up just buying her a copy. Sorry, but I like my books to still look their best…hopefully almost new, unless of course they already come used then I won’t buy unless they are in great condition. Do I need help? Absolutely, but this is me and I won’t let fingerprints get on my books! I also write this way as well, so I’m chalking it up to a written word type of deal: Dead silence and no icky fingers.

Annnnnywhoo, This past week I had the place to myself for a few days and between a quiet house and the rain, it was like the perfect atmosphere for reading up a storm, literally. What I find myself doing though, and I know many can join me on this, is that when you are that deep in another world, your mind stays there even if you are not actually reading the book. I don’t care what genre it is, whether it’s a cozy New England town, a sci-fi planet or the magical world of Harry Potter, when you are deeply involved in a series, your mind wants you to stay there. Personally, I’d rather stay there and forget about my own reality for a while, which is why I read in the first place. But seriously, it’s a great feeling and one that is now starting to weigh on me a bit as well. (Oh and true confession here, I have never read any Harry Potter book nor do I ever wish to. It’s just not my jam. But hey, hope you enjoy them if that’s your thing!) 🙂

So why is it weighing on me? If you’ve been here before (thank you!) then you know I’m working on writing my own series. It wasn’t planned. My first book was supposed to be a one and done. But the more I wrote it, the more I could see the characters in other scenarios and then a new storyline came to mind and well, now here I am, 11 chapters into the second book. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing about these people and their town and when I’m writing about them, I feel like I am there. Just like this current series I am reading and the one before it, has done for me as a reader, I feel like I am a part of their world which of course, is what the writer is hoping for.

”What the writer is hoping for.” Right there. There is the weight of the matter. The more I get into the various books I’ve been diving into lately, the more I am starting to put pressure on myself about my own writing. Will my readers want to come back for more? Will they like these characters enough to want to see what happens with them next? Am I describing things enough that they will feel a part of the whole situation or am I going too far in that department? If I had just stopped at one book and gone on to tell another story totally separate from the first one, then this wouldn’t be an issue. Ok, getting readers to come back and read more of my stuff would be, but you get it, right? I’m already worried about the analytics of it all. Not just about the sales of two books that I haven’t even published yet, but as a former social media specialist, my life was analytics. Watching who’s reading posts and who isn’t on social or here on the blog, will eventually become, who is buying my books and who isn’t. And frankly, that scares the hell out of me. Again, too soon, but I like a good healthy fear to keep me motivated.

Hell, just writing about the journey here took time to do! Once I started making my writing journey public, then I knew I had to be held accountable for actually going through with publishing what I had written. No more hiding behind the idea of it. I wanted to document what I’ve been going through to remind me there is NO going back now. I AM doing this and this WILL happen! That doesn’t mean I’m not scared shitless about it. (sorry for the language) I think it’s that fear that leads to so many writers to not publish their work. To become the stereotypical alcoholic authors or recluses of our previous eras? I soooo get it now!

Ok so fears aside, and thanks for letting me vent that out. As I’ve said, sometimes my ramblings may be like my own personal therapy session, but I know there are others out there going through the same things and sometimes it’s all about the share. Where it hits that one person who is reading such a post and goes, “oh man, it’s NOT just me!” and hopefully it helps. It’s definitely helping me so there you go!

Anyway, let’s change it up a little. I take hemp gummies to help me sleep. They are not the, super potent, get stoned off your ass type, I take a super low dose, sometimes even just a half to help me drift off. Not looking to get stoned, just relaxed. I haven’t been sleeping great since I had covid and it seems I’ve been getting sicker again. So I decided to take a full one of these things the last couple of days and let’s just say I’ve been realllly relaxed. It’s been pretty nice and it has really amplifying the reading of book series. Lol What I hadn’t planned on doing was writing that way.

It takes a few hours for these things to take effect on me and usually I can write a chapter in about 2 hours if I’m lucky. So I will take one, start writing and hopefully finish before the relaxing takes place. The problem is that when I use a full one of these gummies, they take effect on me much quicker than a half of one does. I was only halfway through the last chapter the other day when the thing hit me and I wrote the second half, well, let’s just keep saying ‘relaxed.’ I have no idea what I wrote, I remember I was questioning myself about where this character and story was going and yelling at myself (sometimes out loud) to stop and put the keyboard away. (Put the candle BACK!) Alas, my fingers kept on going.

I admittedly have not gone back to read what I wrote yet because I’m scared. I’m both scared of the nonsense I’d see and also scared that it’s better than what I previously wrote sober! Think reading your texts the day after a big night out. I am almost just tempted to write the whole thing over without even reading it and file the other one away in a special folder, “read while impaired because the author wrote it that way.” Again, I get the whole Poe, Capote, Hemingway drunken thing. Creativity can come out at strange times and my own certainly did!  I will say this though, as I also take these things to help me with chronic pain whilst I sleep, I did feel my fingers flying across the keyboard even faster than I usually type, which is pretty damned fast. And I didn’t have to stop every few sentences to stretch my fingers so hey, added bonus? I think so.

Now I have a question for the writers out there…when you are writing something, do you add in Easter Eggs? I’m not talking the pastel version you go hunting for every spring that a giant bunny left in a pile of dreaded plastic Easter grass that you still find around the house years, sometimes decades later. I am talking about little hidden gems that some people will get more than others. Little nods of acknowledgement to a chosen few that get your sense of humor or reference. I actually just did it there! The ‘dreaded Easter grass’ was a family legend that is still a joke and I’m now in my mid-fifties. But every year, that damned grass comes up so I had to include it here.

I tell you this because I’ve been having fun adding my own little Easter Eggs into the books. I keep telling my friends that my first novel is a love letter to them. My second family and those who have supported me over the last almost 20 years now, are those I love with all of my heart. (Yes, I love my own family very much, but this book is more about friendship so there you go. Now that my guilt has been addressed…) I actually find myself laughing as I’m writing the books and add these little tidbits. It could be something as simple as a phrase, a lyric, the description of a park or a literal number of something. Just little nods to certain people and not just friends mind you, but some folks out there will get these things more than others. This is not to alienate my future readership by any means. On the contrary. I’m hoping that the more I do this? The more I include these little hidden aspects in these pages? Maybe down the line, someone will see one of my books on a shelf and that person will ask, “I wonder if she mentions ‘such and such’ in this one?” It’s the little questions such as that. The ones that make me think ahead and give me a little butterfly in my heart that keep me motivated to keep going. Keep writing. Keep creating.

Because the idea of someone out there waiting for the next book of mine to come out? Having as much anticipation as I had this week for this fourth book to arrive on my doorstep? Well, that wouldn’t be just the coolest thing ever???

Yes, yes it would.

And that my friends is where I will leave you this week. 🙂

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As always, if you’ve made it this far, I thank you and if you’ll indulge me in some promo links below, I will thank you for that as well.

May you have a great weekend and thanks so much for following along with my ramblings and inner monologue-gone-public. Because once again, I had no idea where I was going with this post, but always glad to bring it full circle like I did. 

Until next week…

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As always, I save the links for after my post…Any affiliate links you see here on the blog or in my shops help support this site (and me). Sidebar shops (non Amazon related) are my own shops and either feature my own design work or are a link to my vintage and estate jewelry business on eBay, StuffWeFind. Here’s this week’s goodies…

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I just published two new blank notebooks to add to the collection of blank journals I designed for Amazon. One is a book journal (more themes to come) and you can click the image in the sidebar to the right or click here to see this book as well as the others. 

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Have you checked out my linktree shop yet? I will continue to add to it, but throwing items into it that I use when I write or read and these are actual things that I use, not fake suggestions or anything like that. While you are there, be sure to check in with my FB page for this site. I just posted the latest phone wallpaper freebies for Spring and I update that page with the occasional silly writing and reading memes and more. Click here to check all of this out: Linktr.ee/PromoSocially  

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I have yet to update the On the Bookshelf page for 2025 and know that I need to do that. In the meantime, to see the latest cozy series I’ve been talking about, I suggest starting with book one, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe and going from there. By the way, as of this post, the paperbacks are all marked on sale, so I would jump on them now: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe

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Thanks again for looking and clicking!! 🙂

Opening Day, Writing Hold and a Plot Down the Drain

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: ME!

‘Tis Friday folks and that means, we’re back! Well, I’m back and I hope you are too. 🙂

It has been a week and one I’m kind of happy is over. To get it out of the way, I finally tested Covid negative but still have some kind of bronchitis type of thing going on. So my writing has been an afterthought. To say I’m not disappointed in myself for that would be an understatement, after all, losing an entire week of writing anything is not ideal, but I have been creative in other ways so at least my brain hasn’t totally turned to mush!

I’ve mentioned a few times that while I do other things, whether creating a new design or even something as simple as making dinner, my mind frees up for figuring out where my next chapter is going to lead. I have to admit that writing a sequel to my first book (whose editing process is also just lagging behind) has been more challenging than I anticipated. Mostly because I have memory issues and trying to remember all character names and storylines including background stories, has been slowing me down a bit. I have to keep going back to the original manuscript to make sure I’m keeping the flow and the style the same as well as all the details. My neurologist would be so proud. Lol

I think that so far I’m succeeding in keeping the tone the same. I have become very protective of this little world I’ve created and while I’ve written about many different things across many genres in the past, making sure that this series of mine creates a world that the reader will want to come back to is my sole responsibility. The problem though, is the plot of the second book.

I had said in a previous post that I was so happy because I finally figured out where this particular story was going. Well, the celebration was a bit premature! I’m currently rereading a series I had read last year because the next book just came out and I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the characters. As I got to one of the books, all of a sudden I realized that what I had come up with for my own series was eerily similar to something that happens in that book. A major faux pas if ever there was one!

Let me be completely clear here…I have NEVER stolen an idea from another writer in my life! I think I’ve just read so much over the past year and a half that trying to remember what I’ve read and what I haven’t are getting mixed up. Hey, it happens and I’m sure with the millions of books out there, there are certainly books that have similar themes and plot points just like the movies. But this was a little too close for comfort and now I have to rethink the main plot for this second book of mine. The one good thing here is that I found out when I did! Had I not reread this series, I would have kept writing my own book thinking I’m all kinds of original and it would not have gone over well once it got to the public. So let’s hear it for rereading books! Woo-Hoo! (Have I mentioned I’m on a lot of meds?)

Ok so NOW what? Well, now I have to go back and rewrite a whole bunch, but again, not the entire book. I’m only about a third of the way in and fixing that will be much easier than having to fix an entire book. So really, I’m good with that. I also now need to figure out where my characters are going. It’s funny, as I’m writing this post I’m realizing that this week off from the book has been ideal! Had I been writing, I would have kept going with my original (ok so not so original) idea and all of it would have to be scrapped. But I haven’t been writing, I’ve been reading and because of that, I actually ended up saving myself from the inevitable consequences! So alrighty then. Breaks, I guess, can be a good thing!! (So are breakthroughs apparently!)

So what exactly have I been working on? Well, I created a bunch of new bookmarks for my shop and finally fixed the printer settings to get them as bold and bright as they look on screen. Then proceeded to reprint old ones out so they look better. Now I just have to cut and laminate them which is a lot of work, but at least they look the way I intended them too instead of muted versions of what I envisioned. I’ve listed a bunch of new vintage and estate pieces on eBay and took tons of pics for lots of new stuff to add in the coming weeks. I created two new blank notebooks for Amazon and just waiting for them to go live before I can put them in my new linktree shop. I finished reading one book, read another book and am now a third of the way through a third book since we last met up here…great thing about being sick, you have time to read! And I was also counting down to Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season!

I am a diehard third generation Yankees fan and proud of it. I make those around me who hate baseball regret they even know me throughout a season. I have very strong opinions on the game and the players and especially the management (please oh please fire Boone and Cashman). Now, having said all of that…what I do not do. I never trash talk on someone’s social media posts. What I mean by that is, let’s say I post something about a game. For example, I like to post about who just hit a home run. And say, a Red Sox fan (just for fun of course) decides to comment on my post with something nasty. It makes me crazy because I never do this to them. NEVER. To me, when you post something that makes YOU happy, I don’t go and tear it down. And while I may not like the Red Sox, I am a BASEBALL fan. I can respect other teams and player’s efforts. Hell, I loved watching Big Papi do his thing when he played! I get it’s all part of the sports world but you still should have respect.

Trash talking and such? I’m more for doing that in person. You’re out at a bar watching a game. Guy next to you likes the opposing team, you have fun with the back and forth, right? But you are right there. In person. It’s all in fun and you can hear the tone of the other dude saying stuff. Online, there is always room for speculation and misunderstanding. I’m also not seeking out the guy standing next to me, whereas on social, you can just let the post pass and move on. Once you comment, it is deliberately baiting that poster. Unfortunately, we see it too much these days with the way things are now. Which is the problem of social media in general and that’s for another day and a lot more meds. I’ve even had it happen with just posting something as innocent as “hey the flowers are up today!” No kidding, people will hate on all of it. So now that I’ve just deleted a two paragraph rant on that subject, let me just say this…baseball is back and I’m happy!

Baseball and cherry blossoms just sum up Spring for me. That plus tulips and daffodils. Ok, so the four of them sum up Spring for me! I used to hate this season. As a brutal allergy sufferer, all I could see was the pollen aspect. But in the last few years, I’ve grown to love it. January thru March in the Northeast holds many a gray, lifeless day. We have lost the colorful holiday lights and are left with cold, cloudy skies and brown lawns. And then suddenly we see something pop up out of the ground. Maybe a crocus or we see the beginning buds on a tree. We see the first robin of the season and as our state’s bird, we have tons of them here, all starting to sing their songs sometimes as early as 4am. It is life regenerating in the most literal sense and for us humans, it means new opportunities ahead. New days to get out there and breathe in the fresh air. Take in the sounds. See the colorful flowers that are washing away the gray, cold days. As a Fall person, to me, Spring is the closest to my favorite season as I can find. There are colors to be seen, it is not oppressively hot and there are still cool, crisp nights to be had. Fall leaves have their brief window of time to show off their bright, beautiful shades of reds, yellows and oranges while Spring tulips (my favorite flowers) are also given just as short of a window to give us their pinks, purples and in their case, multitudes of colors before disappearing for the rest of the year. The similarities of the two seasons are there, you just need to stop and take them in. Seeing the new flowers and such can make a bad day much, much better. 🙂

Just one more quick thing before I let you go…I will be adding more to my linktree shop and also want to remind you of the big Amazon Spring sale going on now and appreciate any click through on my affiliate links that help support the site (and me). Any relevant links will always be at the bottom of my posts as I never like to inundate my readers with tons of links or ads if I can help it. Oh and if you come and follow my FB page for the site, new phone wallpaper freebies will be going up in the next few days!!

And with that, I will leave you for now. As always, if you’ve made it this far, I thank you for once again putting up with my rambling. I hope I’ve given you at least one smile this week as well as some things to sit and ponder…but in a good way of course!

Thanks for hanging with me again this week and I hope you all have a great weekend! Until next week…keep writing, keep creating and keep motivated!!! 🙂

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Catch up with my latest posts by hitting the ‘new posts’ or the tab up in the menu bar.

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Linktree shop: linktr.ee/promosocially

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My vintage and estate jewelry listings can be found when you hit the eBay tab in my StuffWeFind linktree: linktr.ee/stuffwefind  or my ad block to the right.

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My bookmarks, stickers and soon, art prints on Etsy (for now): linktr.ee/stuffwemade 

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Thanks all. Keep being YOU!

Character Development, Blog Block and Learning New Stuff

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo Credit: MsErinEast on Pixabay.

Welcome back and Happy Spring folks! If I haven’t said this before, I really am so thankful to those of you who bear with my inane ramblings every week. Especially when I’m on a ‘ramble roll!” Every week I swear to myself I’m not just going to keep typing, but then, I just keep going. So to all of you who stick it out with me…THANK YOU!

It’s pretty much been the same old stuff this week. I’ve been enjoying a new book that I got at our library’s bookstore, I binged a few shows, (all ones I’ve watched before) and have made progress on my writing. It is seriously crazy how much more I’m writing now that I have the new keyboard! I just like it so much and it is very easy on my hands which get worse with each passing month. And frankly, I love the sound of it as well. Even when I’m not using it, I still find myself pressing the keys just to hear it. My own personal ASMR as it were. Speaking of, there are a few ASMR YouTube channels I love to watch where all they do is type. Crazy? Maybe, but I find that not only is it awesome background noise and not only does it jumpstart something in my brain for my next chapter to write, but it also helped me decide how I wanted my own keyboard to sound. So I looked up a few things and got one and now I’m writing a lot more than I have in some time. I call that a win-win-win! (Plus ASMR rocks and tapping stuff puts me to sleep.)

The funny thing is, even though I have been getting more motivation for writing the sequel to my first novel, when it comes to this blog, sometimes I just have no clue what to write about. The last couple of weeks, I have been trying hard to post more regularly (that is how you build a following right?) and I do enjoy it once I get started, but that is the issue isn’t it? Just getting started.

That of course is the biggest issue with anything in life. I had always wanted to write a book but it took me until I was almost 50 years old to buckle down and get it going. Sure I have a ton of ‘started’ books, but none more than a few chapters and they could easily morph into short stories. But to actually finish something that was hundreds of pages long? Well, that took a lot longer and what a sense of accomplishment it was when it was done!

A blog, well, that’s different. First off, no characters have to be created. A lot of people over the years have said that I am quite a character myself, but in most cases, I’d rather they talk about me than me talk about myself. Besides, this time of my life has been rather uninteresting, except for all the medical crap and frankly, sooo done with talking about all that with anyone who isn’t part of my 10 doc team. So that leaves just me.

A few years back, I had a life, I had fun, I had great stories of times with friends and past jobs. But at this point of my journey…eh, I’m just here. I spend all of my time in bed, literally. I can’t work for anyone else because day to day my situation changes so I can’t meet deadlines. So I pour myself into books, both writing and reading. They are my escape and one I’m happy to have. (Ok, so I also watch tons of documentaries on Cults but that’s for another post. lol) 

“Blog block” is a term I have been using lately to describe how hard it can be sometimes to come up with a topic for this site. I know others have the same issue and all we hear about is, ‘putting out consistent content is what helps you grow as a creator’. Am I trying to be the next big influencer though? Why no, no I am not. I’d like a following of course and maybe make something from my posts to help with bills, but do I want to be someone who documents every facet of their everyday life for all to see? Hell no! I worked in social media and at one time, that was a goal. I wanted to be an influencer for content creators. I was building up a great network of similar folks out there and had a lot of freedom in doing so in my last job. It looked like it was going to be fun and this was pre-TikTok era (and pre illness as well). When I got sick and everything came to a halt, I watched as those I had been online friends take off with their brands. While a part of me was jealous as hell, I also saw the work they put into everything plus sharing maybe too much of their daily lives and there was no way I would’ve been able to keep up with that. Maybe the old me would have, but this post 2016 me? It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Not that I’m not ambitious. I have dreams. I have things I want to do. I’ve said in a previous post how I sell vintage and estate jewelry and have for 26 years. I’ve enjoyed it and have collected some wonderful stories from my buyers over the years…widows who found I had something similar to a piece their late husband had given them but they’d lost…a cancer patient who came out the other side of years of treatment and wanted to treat herself to something nice…a Hollywood costumer who needed a pair of 1920’s earrings for a period show she was working on…a comedian who was going on tour and needed some more sparkle for his wardrobe…seriously amazing people have crossed my path doing this eBay thing and I will be forever grateful for that. It’s all been nice and fun but I have months where nothing sells and I’m stuck having to borrow money and that feels horrible. I work very hard at what I do but this is a tough time for many and jewelry over eggs really isn’t a priority for most. (Although these days, jewelry may actually be cheaper!)

I also like to work on designs for my second business of stickers, bookmarks and stationery. I really want that biz to take off. I watch countless videos from others in similar businesses and have been learning so much from all of them. Most are by women half my age who are just killing it and all self taught! These are true workhorse hustlers who know how to get it done and I mean that in the best possible way. I make a point to watch several of these videos daily and take notes like I’m taking a master class in keychain and Cricut makers. I pay attention to what equipment they have, how they inventory their supplies, what they use for storage, any little thing that I think could help me down the line. Of course the main issue is having the money to invest in much of what I want to do, but that’s ok. I have been allowing myself the time to grow slowly so I don’t get overwhelmed. As much as I’d like to be successful at this particular type of creative business, I couldn’t handle some of the sales these other folks are doing. When I see videos of hundreds of shipping labels being printed out at once because a sale they were having on their site went better than planned, my first thought is always, “how the hell can one person handle shipping all of that out themselves?” I’m not afraid of success, I’m afraid of being able to keep up. So in the meantime, I learn new art techniques, I create new designs and I play with printer settings to get my stuff to look as good as it does on screen. It’s what I can handle right now and I tell myself, that’s ok. Because it is.

I also find that while I’m creating, say, a bookmark design or taking pics of a vintage brooch and trying to get the lighting just right, my mind frees up for my writing. I used to go for walks for that, but since walking and I are not on the best of terms right now, I need busy work to do the same thing. Writing a sequel/series is not something I ever thought I’d do but I am thoroughly enjoying it. It’s giving me some freedom to develop the characters a bit more and I find I really like the people I write about. When I have a little block though, I put it away for a little bit. Not too long or I lose momentum, but as an example: I recently got in some new vintage pieces. I am vigilant about learning all I can about something before I post them for sale. While doing the research, cleaning a piece, doing the pics for the listing, it keeps my mind occupied. Strangely, it is mostly when I’m cleaning them that I start to get some ideas going. Maybe it’s the water or the polishing, who knows. But I could be doing something as simple as that and suddenly my book pops into my head and it’s “omg she needs to be doing that next!” And then I have to write it down so I don’t forget it. However, even just that one thought can bring about the next chapter or two and many times the ideas flow so fast now that the block is gone that my fingers can’t keep up with my thoughts! I really wish I was one of those people whose mind gets freed up while cleaning. My house would shine from top to bottom! 

Characters whether in a book or in real life all have a backstory that makes them who they are. I know for myself, as strange as my life has been, it is the culmination of what I’ve gone through that has made me, me. In a story however, we have to create the backstories and that can be tough. In my own writing, I can picture the backstory of a character in my head and know how they got to where they are at this point of their lives. It’s getting it across to the reader that is the challenge. Now, I love a good challenge. I just wish sometimes that I could record my thoughts as they are happening so I can just say to a future reader, ‘here, this is where I was headed with that because this happened to them a long time ago.’ Alas, that technology hasn’t happened yet. 🙂

So I write what I can. I ramble when I do. I learn something everyday to keep on top of things and hopefully use what I learn in the future. By the way, that goes for my writing as well. I am constantly reading about publishers, self publishing, agents, query letters, submission sites for short stories, hours every day trying to learn more and more about this writing thing so I can be, well, not an influencer, but rather a writer worth reading and reading about. Would I like to be part of the #booktok world down the line? It would be nice. In the meantime, I will keep developing my characters and living in my fictional worlds while selling my jewelry and bookmarks. Why? #becauselife

One more quick note…as you may have noticed, I try to never inundate you with affiliate links and the like in my posts themselves. If I do talk about an item, or something I’d like to suggest to you like a current read, etc, I will add the links to the end of my posts. I do keep some links permanently on the sidebar of the blog as well, the are to my own shops and things I’ve designed. Also this past week, I’ve added a mini-shop to my linktree and you can, if you want to, purchase things directly through them. I will also add that link to the bottom of my posts as well, but I will never overwhelm you with linked products in my posts like many others do. That’s just how I roll.

Thank you again for hanging with me for a bit this week and hope you have a fabulous weekend! Until next time…

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Current read: California Girls by Susan Mallery

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Linktree for this site: Linktr.ee/Promosocially

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My StuffWeFind for VIntage and Estate Jewerly: Linktr.ee/StuffWeFind

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My links for StuffWeMade stickers, bookmarks and fun stuff: Linktr.ee/StuffWeMade 

Too Many Ideas, Stories From Nowhere and Thoughts to Fingers

/ ccsocialcreative
Photo credit: mohamed_hasssan on Pixabay.

How are you all doing this week? These past seven days have been a whirlwind of reading, writing and medical stuff. But I won’t bore you with the latter (this time).

As the month of February comes to a close (and my how fast it has gone compared to the endless hell that was January), I am proud to say that I have almost reached my final goal of reading all nine books of a series for my Read Every Day in February Cancer Fundraiser! I wish the donations would’ve been better this time around, but I still have a couple of days and there is at least some money there, so that’s something. However, my personal challenge was one I honestly didn’t think I could do.

Reading and I have been on a roller coaster my whole life. I was reading at a 2nd grade level in kindergarten and then as I got older, somewhere along the line, it all came to a halt. I have been such a slow reader for most of my life and it wasn’t until about 8 years ago I was diagnosed with a mild form of dyslexia. Quite a revelation for someone, who, at the time, was in her late 40’s! It really explained so much and for someone who only, again at the time, read nothing but non-fiction-mainly-histories, helped me to understand why one book would take weeks or even months to finish. I had no retention of what I was reading unless I wrote notes down which frankly took away from the enjoyment of the books unless I was reading for research.I have one book in particular that has been my white whale. It has taken me years to finish and I made a promise to myself that this would be the year I do it! However, once I figured out taking a bookmark and reading line by line and hiding the rest really helped my focus and retention issues. I do this for non fiction and extremely detailed histories and what an enormous help it has been. And because each line is so deliberately read, my retention of facts has been so much better.

Now, having said that, once I brought fiction into the mix? For some reason, I can fly though them! Especially the more lighthearted/escapist type of books. No bookmark trick needed for them, except to keep my place of course. Thus my going through the series I’m reading now so quickly. I think they have been an excellent distraction from real life and I’ve very much been enjoying being in another “mental space” while I read. I mentioned in previous posts how I’ve actually been learning from these particular books as well as the author has been sneaking in some great tips on publishing, book marketing and other creative processes for writing their own manuscripts. So all in all, this series has been a wonderful vacation/teachable moment for me.

I also find that when I’m reading a book that grabs me, I get inspired even more with my own writing. The idea for my first novel came to me while reading another book. Not that the stories were anywhere near similar but something struck a chord and the next thing I knew, I had my first six chapters written before I had finished the one I was reading! Apparently the current books I’ve been into have also upped my creative flow, as during this month I have been working a lot more on my own material. It has been the most productive month I’ve had in that respect in quite some time. I once wrote an article for LinkedIn called Creatives Inspiring Creatives and that is exactly what I am talking about.i

You have to understand something here, with all of my medical issues, I am on a lot of meds, many who’s side effects affect my train of thought. So to be in this more steady zone of building story vs editing has been a fantastic and long overdue journey!

This past week alone, I’ve edited five chapters of the first draft of my completed novel; written two more chapters of the sequel and written two chapters of another story that popped into my head. In my files, I have started to write so many other books because new ideas keep coming to me. I always assume they will just be short fiction stories that I could submit to journals and such. But then the stories keep flowing and the next thing I know, I’m several chapters in. In the meantime, I am more than determined than ever to get my first two manuscripts out because I have worked for years on the main story and am pretty excited about it!

I don’t know if you have the same problem where you could be in the middle of working on something that you’ve been so passionate about and then suddenly another idea pops into your head and won’t let go. Until you get it out, you cannot focus on your original idea. Thus, these stories/songs/art pieces, whatever is your own personal medium, from absolutely nowhere need to find a place outside of your head. Once they have? You can go back to what you were doing and all is right with the world.

A big issue I have as well, as do many, is trying to get your fingers to move as quickly as your thoughts. As fast as I do type, my fingers don’t move as precisely as they used to so I am constantly fixing typos along the way. A perfect example is that the last sentence. As I typed, it was filled with incorrect words and letters and it took me twice as long to complete it because I’m constantly hitting the wrong keys. Some of that again are medical issues, some, this particular week, is still getting used to my new keyboard (and now new keycaps!) and some, is that getting my thoughts to my fingers can be tricky. There is a constant disconnect between the two that makes my hands hit the wrong keys and the frustration factor is off the charts. I’ve always been a fast typist, but to express myself through writing can come out like stuttering when speaking. Brain works too fast, the execution, not so much. Sometimes I think it’s a pain and yet other times, I feel it is a wonderful issue to have. I say this because many creatives have so many ideas flooding their thoughts that sometimes the brain doesn’t know which to physically get out first!

I was at my neurologist’s office this week and one thing discussed with him is that I have trouble finding words when I speak. It can sometimes take me a while to get out a sentence during a conversation. My head knows what I want to say, but I can’t find the words to express the thought. So I go blank. I always feel bad for the person I’m talking to because they can see my wheels turning and know that what I want to say is right in front of me. They can see me searching for my statement like I’m looking for a cue card that someone is holding up next to them but of course, is not there. The same thing happens when I’m writing. But oddly, only when I’m doing something like this.

When I’m writing my book or a new story, it just flows. I don’t even know where it’s coming from and it’s like automatic writing. I’m often surprised when I go to read it the next day to see what I came up with. But when expressing my own thoughts and words in something like a blog post? Ugh. Each sentence is a challenge. The thought is there, but the errors and mistakes are constant and it takes me twice or even three times as long to finish a post than it should. I wish I could slow down just a bit, but I’m not hardwired that way so I just have to go with it.

Which brings me to what is the first point in this post’s title, that having too many ideas can be both wonderful and a curse! Having trouble focusing on one idea at a time is already a challenge for many, but when your mind is constantly going, well, the fingers fight back and cause you to constantly hit the backspace button to erase the mistakes you have made along the way.

You know what? That’s ok. That’s what life is, isn’t it? Making those mistakes, learning from them and for us creative types, it’s creating something you didn’t even know you wanted to do. Sometimes those typing errors may be thoughts that you had that have been trying to get out and they think that it’s their time to shine. For an artist, they may paint something they hadn’t planned to, but it seems to work in the piece they had been working on. For a musician, those extra notes may strike the chord that they had been searching for and for the writer? It is finding out that the words that come out may just be the hook that has been hiding in plain sight all along.

We may not be able to control the mind, (or the fingers) but we can embrace the mistakes. We couldn’t be who we are without the mistakes we’ve made along the way in life and your work wouldn’t be what it is without them either. It is all in how you deal with them and how you begin to learn that sometimes, those things that go the most wrong, can turn out to be the ones that are the most right.

Have a great weekend all! Until next week…Cheers!!

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Interested in reading the LinkedIn piece? You can find it and some of my other past works on: this page

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Come check out the Nantucket series beginning with book 1: The Nantucket Inn

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Looking for a new keyboard? While I got mine in pink, it does come in other color schemes. The new keycaps are perfect for Spring but there are so many fun ones out there to customize your aesthetic to how you like it. You spend so much time on your keyboard, make it more you! Actually, the keycaps came from Temu, but I found extremely similar ones on Amazon here. Keyboard link.

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Links to Amazon products on this site are affiliate links and help support the site. Thanks for making a purchase, any purchase through the links. It is greatly  appreciated!