Creative Approach

I have been posting a lot about my goals recently and while my writing aspirations are at the top of my list of priorities I do have other parts of my life I am attempting to focus on as well. My health and fitness being right up at the top alongside my work. As I have been spending so much time trying to come up with live events and simultaneously working to create a list of runs, bike rides and obstacle course I can attend I am amazed it took me so long to realize I can try to combine the two.

I have been looking for ways to get me name out and handing out business cards and book marks at the athletic competitions and activities I am a part of is an excellent start. I am considering getting something with my name on it made such as a competition jersey or shirt that I can wear to participate and then hand out my cards and book marks as well. Ian also on the hunt for additional marketing materials.

I am working to create an adoption event that I can involve the press in. I want to help animals find loving forever homes while also bringing to light the charity series I created. I am working to put together another possible fundraiser as well that would be in the name of animals but could also bring my name to a larger audience. My concern in doing these events is that I am not connected nor completely sure of what all is needed to make such large scale events happen so I am trying to find those that have been involved in the creation of these types of activities in order to partner with and guide me.

While I am overcoming a severe concussion which has truthfully slowed me training efforts down considerably I am using the time to create a list of exercises, locations and events I can use to condition myself and then cross checking those with ways I can use them to promote. I have learned early on that it is all about being creative and if there is one thing writers need to be it is creative. I have also found that simply talking to other artists can present you with opportunities such as partnering for an event and sharing the costs.

I am looking forward to meeting more people that we can partner and help one another alone with trying new events both physical as well as writing related. I will keep everyone abreast of any ideas I find or ways that I am able to promote so that hopefully I can be of help to others the way people have reached out to lend me a hand. I look forward to long and happy life in this world and I am so happy to have those that are a part of it with me. Please feel free to take any of the ideas I use for promoting as well as share any of your own!

New Event Ideas

Right now I am working hard on coming up with ideas for promotion for my writing work. During 2014 I managed to get my debut novel published and with that came the learning to promo both myself as well as my work. I was told that I should start an author page along with a Twitter page. Both have been created though I am definitely still in the learning process at this point.

I also was informed that I should start a website and a blog. I looked into the website though I was not convinced that I had enough content for a full website. I do plan to eventually get to the website I just want to make sure I research further and have enough content to make it relevant. I did, of course, start the blog though I would consider myself a novice in this aspect as well.

Once I got these steps started I knew I had to find a way to get out in front of people. I set up a small signing at a local bakery that I love. I ordered several copies as well as contacted the local newspaper. I created an event on Facebook though I wasn't sure how to get people interested. I held my first signing and managed to take quite a bit from it. Unfortunately most of what I learned was what I needed to fix for the next time.

I held it on an inopportune day of the week during the middle of the afternoon. Many people were working while I was holding my event and I found out the day I was supposed to hold my signing that the spotlight in the paper had been postponed. I did manage to sell a few copies as well as make some contacts for the future. I had a wonderful time signing the books and meeting people. More than anything it made me realize how much I wanted to do even more events.

I did go on a mini book tour in September back in the Midwest. Over the course of a week I attended four signings and held a bbq at my mom's house in order to meet and catch up with friends and family along with people that were interested in my book. I used what I had learned and was able to create better networking as well as hold my events at far more appropriate times.

Now as 2015 dawns I am looking at doing a number of events. I would love to do more signings as well as an adoption event for Rescue Me. I am also looking for additional events to do and would love any suggestions that people may have so I could look into expanding my horizons. One of the things I am working on most is an author image. So far the picture that has been used for my marketing is this one.

please contact me here or on my Renee Jean author page or twitter @AuthorReneeJean if you have any suggestions for me. I appreciate all ideas and support!

New Year Try

As part of my being more involved with my writing this year resolution I have decided to do my best to post in this blog at least five times per week. I will of course be asking for topics from readers as well as people that follow me on Facebook and Twitter as well as writing things that happen to just dart into my mind on occasion.

Today being the first of the year I am understandably thinking about new beginnings. With the new year always comes the inevitable diets and exercise routines that generally last for six weeks to potentially three months on the outside. People fill their cupboards with healthy snacks and create charts to watch their calorie intake each day. They obsessively download apps and buy books to lose weight, get in shape and just improve health as an overall goal.

I, of course, have my own health, wellness and fitness goals but they tend to be spread out throughout the year. That way I don't start out with the momentum of the new year and then fade as so many others do. I have my food and calorie counter, my trainer designed diet. I have supplements as well as personal equipment such as weights and my bike to help me and then the gym for advance training.

Some of the other exercises I have for my goals however are writing related. I have been dreaming of becoming a successful writer for years but there have always been obstacles in my way. One of the largest for many years was my personal appearance. I look back and think about how silly it is that what I looked like could cause me to hide when all I was doing was creating from the safety of a keyboard.

Yet it did. I would avoid the mirror because I was embarrassed to look at myself and if I couldn't stand the site of me I was sure no one else would want to either. A few posts ago I even included a picture of what I used to look like. That overweight unhappy girl was ashamed of everything, including her writing. I was scared it would never be good enough and even more terrified that it might be accepted and I would have to go out in public and acknowledge it was mine.

Part of my journey has been to make goals that help me realize my self worth. I did finally lose a significant amount of weight. I finished that book as well as my charity anthology and have been a writing machine ever since. I did a number of signings this past year where I was out in public as the face of my work and I stood proudly by it.

I workout to keep myself in a shape I am comfortable being. I even was able to take on a position a few years ago that demonstrated the newly found pride I had in my body, I became a party pit dealer.

This rare selfie was taken in one of the uniforms I wore in that position. The fact that I was able to progress and have the self confidence to do my job in that outfit was huge for me. It is something I look at and tie right back into my writing.

I want to continue to have that sense of accomplishment and so am reaching out more and more to create works that test my limits as well as help me find new avenues I can explore. I have taken on a reading challenge in order to grow as a reader and a writer. I am working on multiple pieces simultaneously and will be submitting many of them throughout the year.

What are you doing with the dawn of this new year?

Traditional vs Independent

As this year draws to a close and we all prepare for the new year I have been looking back over everything that has happened and it has gotten me thinking about my next steps. Like many I know I have been preparing my goals and resolutions lists for the coming year and on those lists there are the typical health and wealth targets as well of course as my professional aspirations. While making my list, which I have found posting them helps keep me accountable, I came across my list from last year.

At this time last year I was just as ambitious in my goal setting as I have been this year. I had all the bills set out that I was going to pay off, I lined up several 5K runs and set a number of bike rides to participate in, I had a list of submissions and drafts of writings I would complete and I was dedicated to getting my candy company up and running.

I love the candy and baking that I do but I found as the year began that my heart really was more devoted to my writing. It came more naturally and I found my passion lay among the pages not wrapped in chocolate. I still bake and make my desserts but it is definitely more of a hobby. I had planned to submit some my children's books but I am still stuck on how exactly to do that so that got pushed back and is now a side project for this year. And the book I had planned to write needs to be heavily researched and therefore I ended up working on a few others instead.

I did however manage to hold my first novel in my hands this year, published through an indie publisher Pure Ice. I never thought I would go the route of indie / self-publishing because I will admit I looked down on it. Anyone can write something and self-publish and that made me think of it as less than quality. I have even now seen numerous works that support that theory and I have not completely gotten past it. There are those however that I have found that take it very seriously.

These authors edit, rewrite, send out for beta readers and then rewrite again before ever considering pushing publish and those artists I have the utmost respect for. I have learned just how difficult it is as an unknown author to get your name out there. I joined the world of twitter, created a few Facebook pages dedicated to my writing work and have made this blog which I am not ashamed to admit I am still in the learning stages of growing.

So as I look forward to 2015 I have asked myself, do I plan to continue in this indie publishing game or do I want to try to follow the traditional publishing route? I have seen arguments for both and I can see each side very clearly. I have decided that I will actually be, at least in a way, attempting both. I have dreamed of doing a traditional contract for most of my life and I feel I do have pieces that would be good enough to be accepted. I also believe that what I have learned about self promotion would help in my ability to gain a contract by demonstrating my dedication to marketing.

I however would never want to leave the indie publishing world I have joined nor the friends that have been so instrumental in helping me see the larger publishing picture that I was too narrow minded to notice before. I have my charity series that will always and forever be through the inspiring Rock & Roll Saved My Soul. I could never walk away from that. My novels and children's books I hope will be a mixture of traditional and indie published works that I can one day promote side by side.

It is my hope that one day my notoriety will be enough that I can help others the way my newly found friends have helped me.

Adventures

I have been watching a show called Trip Flip recently where a Travel Channel personality named Burt wanders around convincing people to randomly say yes to adventures of a lifetime. I am beyond envious of the people on the show and it makes me want to go out and create my own adventures. I came up with the idea of starting an interactive adventure blog and youtube show that would capture me doing all kinds of interesting and challenging things around the world.

I wanted to involve the adventure of Trip Flip, the interactiveness of people challenging me like Man vs Food and my own love of travel and writing. I am not sure however if it is a workable idea at the moment seeing as how I have no start up capital to fund the trips and adventures though if I see I have a backing I will work on ways to fund raise and get going. 

I do have the heart of an explorer. I made a list of numerous activities I could do to get started and then would take on challenges from followers as well. Some of the things I have done but would love to do again include skydiving, snorkeling the Whitsunday Islands and Caribbean, surfing, rock climbing rappelling among others. I love to explore and want to experience things all over the world. There is, however, one glaring concern from family and friends in this endeavor.

I am tremendously ambitious but equally clumsy. Case in point is that just a few days ago on Christmas afternoon I went sledding for the first time in years. As I jumped onto the saucer for the first hill I felt the cold of the snow biting at me through my thin knit gloves. The wind dancing through my hair and I could see my breath coming out in puffs of steam. I also realized, much too late, that I could see a dip with an icy ledge at the bottom of the hill.

I attempted the maneuver any child of snow is taught at a young age, roll to the side then retrieve the sled after it stops. I was moving too quickly to make it off though and I hit the ledge on the right side of my body with brutal force. I lost my left shoe, hat and phone in the impact and then lost consciousness for a few seconds as well. I have a severe concussion and so am resting while I write. As I recover I question my desire to take on dangerous activities but they are in my heart and as I am writing one of my current stories it occurs to me that I can use the sensations I experienced from sledding as part of a car crash scene.

Everything in my life as always found a way to inspire another aspect as well. I am looking forward to getting some of my current projects wrapped up so I may take on the next challenge. Who knows maybe that adventure blog is still waiting in the wings.

My Rescuers

I have been enjoying the holidays and the creative process of making my holiday treats for the past few weeks. I have spent time with family and friends while of course having to make time for the obligation of my jobs as well. Yet overall I can say it has been a wonderfully relaxing time.

Now I am looking toward the new years as most do when we reach the last week or two of December. I no longer make resolutions though I am always working on a list of goals to accomplish. I posted within the last week of some of the categories I focus on when making these goals such as health and wellness, writing and publishing and as nearly everyone I know financial.

The one I am focusing on right now however is the writing, editing, submitting and publishing category. I have dreamed for years of becoming a successful writer. For me that simply means I can produce quality work that people are interested in reading and it makes enough money to help keep me from having to work a second job.

I am proud of the fact I have completed three full length novels through the November writing challenge known as Nanowrimo. I feel more comfortable creating stories of that length though over the past year I have submitted for a few anthologies and even created a short story based on a character from one of my current works. I would like to do more short stories and collections in the future as well.

The short story Survivor that I wrote however was intensely personal and caused a very dramatic emotional breakdown. It was based strongly on the story of how I first got PTSD. What I went through I did not register at the time but having to relive it was a powerful and terrible experience. The novel involving Jasmine, the character in Survivor is called Sharing Strength and has not been completed yet. It is one of two I am working on simultaneously right now.

I have been in therapy and I have anti-anxiety medications I take when needed but I also have four wonderful secret weapons that help calm me down when I am struggling. Many people have therapy dogs, I have four beautiful therapy cats. They cuddle with me and their warm purring brings me back to earth. They are all rescues and my heart and soul. I will be relying on them deeply as I go into this book with the finish line in sight. They rescued me, who helps you?

Creating

As a writer I can say that everyday has the ability to be a creative day for me. I make up characters, design stories and do my best to take readers on a journey with their heads as well as their hearts. I love that part of my life and push to be more involved with it each and every day. However it is not the only way I create.

When I was young I dreamt of being an artist. I wanted to sculpt, paint, sketch and build but as it turns out I have a dramatic lack of natural talent nor the eye for such innovations. I had a potter's wheel, paints and canvas as well as clay, easels, brushes even legos and an erector set but everything sat staring at me with no communication for inspiration.

I then took to the stage where while my lack of talent was diminished slightly in the realm of acting I did have a shine for dance. I studied ballet for many years while darling in various forms of ballroom, lyrical and jazz. I even had a few misadventures in tap though that one, quite happily for my parents, never truly caught on. Still it was a world I lived in for a long time and was happy to call it home.

While dance satisfied my performance art desires there was still the part of me that wanted to create something tangible. I needed to make something I could show off for my friends and family and that they could enjoy with me. That is when I got more into my family holiday tradition of making chocolate candy. 

I have been creating the basic solids and suckers since I was a very young. As I got older we taught ourselves to make cremes, peanut butter cups, chocolate covered cherries and my personal favorite to make are the caramel turtles. I paint with the different colored chocolate make the shells and fill them then create gift boxes for those that I love. As the years have gone on I have developed even more in my candy skills as well.

In the picture at the top there are two of my favorite creations, a three dimensional tree with each layer filled with a different type of creme or other surprise. The other is also three dimensional and is a sleigh complete with chocolate bows inside to represent presents. The last few years I have also gotten into tempering my chocolate to give it a better luster for presentation sake. 

What do you do to bring out your creative side?