Top 12 Books for Writers

Today I'm giving a short seminar for the Marc Lacy and Friends SWAGPPAC. I'll be discussing writing and how to go from talking about becoming a writer to owning up to your destiny and being a writer. One of the most valuable resources when writing is reading. So here are my top twelve book selections for writers on honing your craft and what to do with your manuscript once you've finished. I own and have read every book on this list. I highly recommend each and every one for your library.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.

Stein on Writing by Sol Stein

Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella

Characters, Emotions and Viewpoint by Nancy Kress

Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood

The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot by Charles Baxter

Description and Setting by Ron Rozelle

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter

The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published by Eckstut and Sterry

The Author Indie Guide by April L. Hamilton

Guide to Query Letters by Wendy Burt-Thomas

Wordless Wednesday with Linky

I've always thought how wonderful it must be to have a writing haven, a comfy place away from the kids and hubby to just relax and write without any distractions. Or perhaps, a ginormous house with a separate wing just for lil ole me. I started looking at the homes of some well known authors to see how the other side lives. To my surprise, they weren't as fancy as I had expected. But they look quite inviting and serene. What do you think?

Ernest Hemingway

Victor Hugo

J.K. Rowling

William Shakespeare

Stephen King

Toni Morrison

Mark Twain

Vladimir Nabokov

Kurt Vonnegut

Evelyn Waugh

Edith Wharton

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Don't forget to leave the link to your Wordless Wednesday post in the Linky list below.

Finding Time to Blog When You Don't Feel Like It

I know some bloggers who blog only when they get the creative urge. This may not be the best way to have a healthy blog however. So what do you do when you know you need to blog but you don't feel like it? Well, this past summer I felt just like that. I physically could not blog due to health reasons but once I began to feel better, I didn't have the urge to blog. I had lost my mojo. :(

But then I thought about my readers and all the effort I had put into my blog. I've only been blogging 18 months and I've made some good headway. Did I really want to throw all that hard work away? Heck no! So I started slowly with my Wordless Wednesday posts. How hard could it be to post a picture once a week? I didn't need to write lengthy paragraphs or new catchy titles each post, I just had to find inspiration in a photo. And when I found that inspiration, it began to inspire me to get back to writing and blogging.

There are times when we have to do things we don't want to do. Blogging can be one of those things. If you wait for motivation, you may be waiting a very long time. My suggestion is start slow, ease back into it if you have to. Just write something. You can also try scheduling your post in advance. When you do get the urge to blog, write until you have exhausted your creative mojo. Make it work for you. Sometimes I'll sit in a cafe and I'll write up to six posts in a day and I'll schedule them over a two week time period. This helps because "life happens" in the midst of my daily routine and I like to be prepared. It helps alleviate the stress of feeling like I'm rushing or that I'm failing in my endeavors if I happen to skip several days without blogging.

Beware, sometimes your readership may dwindle due to your absence, but I want you to blog anyway. Once you get back into the habit of being consistent, your readers will know that you are back to business and hopefully they'll come back. You can also gain your readership back by stopping by their blogs and saying hello or just commenting on one of their recent posts. It's let them know you have come back to the blogosphere.

So my best advice as to what to do when you've lost your blogging mojo? Find it. And while you'll searching for it, visit other blogs and continue to blog anyway.

Taking Time to Be a Healthier Me

The week has flown by so quickly. I've been making a few changes this week. I've been writing more this week. I've also been eating more veggies and fruit and less carbs. I sure missed my sweets but after a few days the cravings went away. Surprisingly because I thought I would have a Krispy Kreme doughnut meltdown. I don't eat a lot of meat, so I didn't have to change that part of my diet. And I joined Weight Watchers. So keeping my fingers crossed that I get svelt, sexy and delicious real soon. I made a promise to myself to be super duper fine by 40, so that gives me one year to get that accomplished. So I've started my own Operation Get it Right, Get it Tight program.

I'm a spiritual person and I pray often for guidance and assurance in my daily life and decisions. But when it comes to dieting, I am weak against the temptation for food. So a friend suggested two books, Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food. And the second book, Craving God: A 21 Day Devotional Challenge. I can say both have been really good in assisting me so far on my eating healthier journey. I bought them on Kindle. The 21 Devotional is Free on Kindle. But I'm thinking of buying them both in paperback so I can write in them. They have helped me alot so far. I've cut out a lot of sugar and I'm learning to say no to things that are not healthy for my body and spirit. I'm not saying these books are for you and I don't know everyone's beliefs, but if you're a spiritual or religious person, these books are great if you want to lose weight.

I also got a new smoothie book called Smoothie Heaven, which I have been using to make smoothies everyday. I also found some good smoothie recipes online for health and healing. Some taste wonderful, some need some tweaking. But I will start posting some great ones throughout the week for anyone that might want to try one.

Here are two smoothie recipes that were pretty good.

Grape-Strawberry Smoothie


I add a scoop of protein powder to all my smoothies and add an extra 1/3 cup of liquid. But this is the original recipe below.

2/3 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup grape juice
2 scoops of frozen raspberry yogurt
2 tsp of honey or agave syrup (I use raw honey from a local bee farm)
few drops of vanilla extract

Blend and process until smooth. Sift through a strainer into a glass. (Here, I would add my powder and extra juice after sifting and re-blend and pour into glass. Add more liquid if necessary.


Mocha Muscle Builder

1 cup soy milk or any milk you prefer
1/3 cup brewed coffee
1 tbsp all natural peanut butter
1 small banana ripe
1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
Ice Cubes
Place all ingredients in the blender and process until smooth.

Thought for the day from Craving God:

"We were made for more! More than this failure...More than this cycle...more than being ruled by our taste buds, body image, rationalizations, and guilt."

Have a wonderful Thursday. Cheers to being healthier!

What are some tips and advice you have for being healthier?

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Don't forget to enter the Read Banned Books Week Giveaway and Hop. I am giving away six (6) gifts to six (6) winners. More more info about my giveaway click the photo below.  Or scroll down through the previous posts. Good Luck!

Blessings!

How to Get Out of Your Own Way by Tyrese Gibson: Book Review

Product Description: Amazon

Genre: Memoir

Actor, singer, songwriter Tyrese Gibson crafts a memoir filled with every emotion and life experience one could possibly imagine. With personal experiences paired with reflective questions based on his extremely popular blog piece, "The Love Circle", Tyrese hopes to inspire readers to pursue their dreams and not let life's obstacles stand in the way.

 Review

Tyrese wrote this book to answer several questions that have plagued us all. Some of Tyrese's chapter-based questions include: How much do you love yourself? How much do you want for yourself? Why do men cheat? What is your bottom line? Are you ready for the next level?

He answers these questions by sharing his personal story of growing from rags to riches. He even offers insight to single mothers about the things they are doing on a daily basis that may have a lasting effect on your children. Tyrese unselfishly exposed his self in order to give insight into the mind of a poverty stricken child who developed into a wealthy man.

Many of the readers of this book will read it just to appease their own curiosity about this known sex symbol. Be ready to be pleasantly surprised by this mans wisdom, though gritty at times, but true wisdom. It was refreshing to hear honest, jagged pill answers from a man on the topics women inquire about daily. Romantic relationships are not all that he tackles in this book. He also asks a very pointed question of “Who are your five people?” The people closest to you represent what you think of yourself. That chapter spoke volumes and will make anyone take a close look at your environment. Is your environment conducive for life and growth, or is it dead and not producing fruit?

This book starts off very strong and depending on the issues you are dealing with in your own personal life, it will offer great advice. Each and every reader can take away a lesson on the different trials and tribulations we all go through, even if they are caused by our own inability to get out of our own way. Great work for a first time novel. It is written in a form simple enough to be given to a young teen that might be faced with the same hardships. Anyone could read the book and gain knowledge from it.

I give it three and a half stars. *** 1/2

~ Katina Walton ~

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Katina L. Walton

(Ed. S) an Assistant Professor at Oakwood University. She is currently pursuing her Ph. D at Alabama A&M University. She owns and operates her own tutoring company” Out front Tutoring,” She also offers professional development. She can be reached or Skyped at waltonkatina@yahoo.com. You can also follow her on her educational blog, Walton's Educational Newsletter.

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A great big thank you to Katina Walton for guest reviewing today. I don't review non-fiction often, so on the occassion that I get frequent requests to review a non-fiction work, I will ask someone to guest review for me. And I think Katina did a wonderful job. Please show her some support by asking questions or making comments. If you have any other requests please let me know. And if you have any educational questions please do contact her HERE. Students need strong positive teachers that care and she is definitely a teacher that cares about their educational growth and success.

Thanks Katina!
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 Similiar books you might like:



 

Hill Harper
"The Conversation: How
Men & Women Can
Build Loving Trusting
Relationships"

Steve Harvey
"Straight Talk, No Chaser"



     

Tyrese Gibson
"How to Get Out of
Your Own Way"

Stephenie Meyer on Oprah. Inspirational... Motivational.

You may not be a Twilight fan, but as a writer I am in awe of Stephenie Meyer's phenomenal success. She never wrote one single piece of work before she wrote "Twilight." So this is for all the writers that get discourage during their journey, don't give up. Success is not just for other people. We can never dream as big as God can.

Enjoy the video of the interview and I hope it keeps you motivated.

"God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them. "

Stress: Relax, Relate, Release

"Tension is who you think you should be.  Relaxation is who you are."  ~Chinese Proverb

I remember growing up and hearing my cousin tell me, "Relax, Relate, Release." We were probably around ten years old at the time, but it was her way of saying don't stress. Amazing how at such a young age, we thought we knew what stress was. But as an adult, worldly pressures come upon us, and we begin to feel compounding stress. I've learned over the years that relaxing comes easiest when I am at peace with where I am. When I can sit in the still of the moment and know I am where I should be and if I am not, that as long as I work at achieving my goals with purity and sincerity, eventually I will end up at my destination. It doesn't matter how long it takes us, as long as we get there.


I am reminded of a friend who died in her mid-fifties, who decided to go to medical school at the age of forty-one. She was a mother and grandmother at the time she enrolled. I asked her one day after she became a doctor, "why did you decide to go to medical school at that age?" She said, "why not?  I was going to be forty-five anyway, why not be forty-five and a doctor?" Her response made complete sense to me; I could relate to her journey. Life is going to move along with or without us. So why not use your gifts and talents to be who you were called to be? Let go of the stress, be present in the moment and go at your own pace. Set small attainable goals if you have to. If you want to be a writer, be a writer. If you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. Just don't stop striving for your dreams.

Release yourself from other people's expectations of where you should be and don't let it affect how you feel about yourself. When I think about my friend, I find it ironic that she waited so long to start her dream career, and yet she was only granted less than a decade in life to enjoy it; but enjoy it she did. I don't have a perfect solution to get everything you want, but I do know that words will not appear on screen if you don't type them, no one can read your work if you don't produce it and prosperity can not be granted if you do nothing.


So I say to you, as my cousin still tells me today, "Relax, Relate, Release" and get moving. Your destiny awaits.


Blessings.

The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.

Tackling Tuesdays

It's the day after Monday and some of us are already waiting on Friday to come around. Sometimes things do get difficult on your journey, but rest assured everything you need to complete it has or will be provided for you. Often we want something to mysteriously appear on our doorstep, so we don't have far to go to attain what it is we want most in life. But being a successful writer, poet, artist or whatever it is you want to be, takes tenacity, hard work and effort. You are a formidable opponent is this thing called life. Show up, be prepared and don't quit. You are already fully equipped to succeed. So get to typing, writing, painting or plain ole get up and get going. There is much to accomplish today.

Blessings!



"God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest."  ~J.G. Holland