How My Day Job Helped Me Get Published by Maria K. Alexander

Please welcome Maria K. Alexander, our guest on The Roses of Prose today.

Like many, I juggle a job during the day and writing in between the early morning hours and in the evenings after the kids are in bed. This means I get up before the sun and often go to bed much too late, resulting in only five or six hours of sleep. I can attribute much of my organization and discipline to my day job as a Project Manager, where my life revolves around schedules, to do lists, and budgets. I regularly assess, manage, and respond to risks. Re-planning and identifying creative solutions to a problem is a skill I’m very familiar with. Here are a few things being in corporate America has taught me that have helped me on my journey to publication:

1.      Develop annual goals and objectives 

Although it can be painful to write, you should have a plan for your writing career—even if you’re not published. And the plan shouldn’t just be in your head. Write it down. I recently attended Bob Mayer and Jen Talty’s Write It Forward workshop and according to them, you should have an overall five-year strategic plan along with tactical goals to get there. Like I’m required to do twice a year for the day job, I write down what I’ve accomplished toward meeting my goal. This helps me to re-evaluate if I need to change my approach, establish additional tactical goals, or maybe eliminate goals that don’t apply any longer. The publishing industry is changing quickly, so you must continuously make sure the steps you’re taking are on the road toward where you want to be.

2.      Daily or weekly “to do” list

I’m a list person. It’s been ingrained in me compliments of Mom and necessary for the day job. It includes the key things I need to do over the next couple weeks, plus a few ‘wish’ items that I’d like to do if I have time. I keep the list right next to my laptop and assess daily. Unfortunately, I often end up adding more items than I cross off.

3.      Risk Mitigation and Contingency Planning

There’s always going to be something that comes up that will take you away from accomplishing your writing. Sometimes, you’ll be able to plan for interruptions. Like when you take a vacation. But other times it won’t be planned, and it impacts your ability to write or possibly even meet a deadline. Try and go with the flow and adjust your plan and your expectations, accordingly.

4.      There will be failures

There will be times when despite doing all you’ve set out to do, you don’t meet a goal. Maybe you receive a bad review or a rejection. It happens and it’s easy to beat yourself up about it. Don’t. It’s not worth it and will only keep you looking back instead of moving forward. If possible, try to remain objective and take away any key learnings that you can apply.

5.      Celebrate your achievements

When you hit a goal, receive an award, get a request for a partial or full manuscript, write the words “the end” at the completion of your book, get an agent, or a publishing contract, remember to celebrate. My local RWA Chapter (NJ Romance Writers) does something at our monthly meetings where they give out Hershey Hugs when you get bad news and a flower when you receive good news. It’s a fun way of acknowledging a special moment.

Thanks for stopping by today. To celebrate the Kindle release of my contemporary romance, Untangle My Heart, I’m giving away a $25 Amazon GC. Stop by the Contest page of my website to enter. Through February 1^st, Untangle My Heart is available Free at Amazon. If you’re so inclined, please pick up a copy and provide a fair and honest review.

Blurb for Untangle My Heart, by Maria K. Alexander

When her marriage ended in tragedy, Kate DiFrancesco rebuilt her life, but has never gotten over the pain of what she lost. Seeking the help of an ex-lover ignites feelings she’s promised never to have again. She’ll need to untangle herself from dangers in her past in order to break the hard shell around her heart.

Edward Weston has a lot to prove, both to his stuffy upper-crust British family, and to               himself. Working alongside Kate, a woman he had a casual relationship with, stirs unexpected feelings. Helping her family makes him realize what he's missing. For the first time, he wants more than a one-night stand.

When Kate is threatened, Edward must overcome feeling unworthy to protect the woman he loves and fight for the family he never thought he’d have.

Excerpt:

“Privacy is a hard thing to find around here, so you may want to lock the door. Especially when you’re wearing only a towel and my sister is on the prowl.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” Edward said, taking a step toward her. “I knew she was smitten, but didn’t think she would be waiting in the room after my shower. I was struggling with a tactful way of getting her out.”

“I’m sure you’re not accustomed to asking a woman to leave your room.”

He gave her an unapologetic grin. “No, usually not.”

“I guess it’s partly my fault. I told her I don’t have any claims to you. Apparently she took that to mean it was open season to pursue you.”

“Yet you stopped by. Why?”

“I wanted to thank you again for your help today. You dropped everything to come and help my family and that means a lot to me.”

He took another step toward her until he stood directly in front of her. “You mean a lot to me. I’d do anything I could to help you.”

She nodded in acknowledgement, not sure she could trust her voice to speak with him all but touching her.

“And you’re wrong about not having a claim on me.”

His hands found their way to her waist. Her heart thumped and she knew she should pull back, wanted to pull back. But his blue-gray eyes held her in a hypnotic state and she couldn’t move.

You can keep in touch with Maria at:

Website: http://mariakalexander.com

The Violet Femmes Blog: http://thevioletfemmes.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MKAlexander1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maria-K-Alexander-Author/201236689917319

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/mariakalexander

You can buy Untangle My Heart at:

For Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.com/B00GVKRLOG

In Print from The Wild Rose Press: http://bit.ly/InzITZ

Musing About Success - and the Value of Failure

By Glenys O'Connell

I've thought a lot about success over the years, and the conclusion I have come to is that success is something different for everyone. One of the mistakes we make is equating success to riches - but not every success is accompanied by a fat cheque.

I consider the most successful things in my life are beyond price: a long and happy marriage and four gorgeous kids are among the most important things in my life - they top the bill of successes that make me proud.

There are other successes; different careers I've loved and still work at in various ways; friendships over years and new; homes and places that have been memorable or educational; businesses that succeeded - or failed. I include some failures in the successes, because we can learn so much from failures that that in itself is a success. If that doesn't sound too bizarre?

And sometimes, looking back, there are successes that I was moving too fast to realise at the time were successes. Events, people, ambitions realised that I didn't take the time to enjoy or savour because pressure to succeed in other ways was too intense. Taking time to smell the roses is so important, and yet something most of us only realise later in life.

Being published is a major barometer of success amongst writers, yet it's not the huge royalties (falls on floor laughing) that keeps most of us going. It's the challenge of getting the words on paper, the fun of playing with imaginary friends, the burst of delight and pride when a reader says: I loved your book!

Giving pleasure or helping others can be a major success in itself. I have two recently published non-fiction books: Depression: The Essential Guide, and PTSD: The Essential Guide and already I know these books have made an impact in the lives of people struggling with these problems. That feels like success to me!

Here's an excerpt which talks about success, from Naked Writing: The No Frills Way to Write Your Book, my soon-to-be published book on writing:


As writers, we’re dreamers – and I don’t just mean about characters and plot lines. No, we also fantasize about our careers, about signing books while surrounded by adoring fans, of watching our titles fly up the NY Times bestseller list, of being invited to chat with Oprah, of writing non-fiction that catapults us onto the speech circuit as An Authority.

And then we daydream about what we’ll do with all those millions we've earned through our writing, or how we’ll parlay our growing knowledge into something that will help change people’s lives…. Yes, there are probably as many dreams as there are writers when it comes to thoughts of the life we’ll lead as Famous Writers whose books are Bestsellers.

But here’s the hard truth: these dreams have little to do with your success as a writer – unless you act on them.

To be successful you need talent, yes, and a commitment to your work. You need to mix that talent with a fair old dose of hard work to turn those dreams into your reality. The simple truth is that first and foremost, a writer writes. It’s that simple. The complicated bit comes in knowing what you should be writing and in planning for your success. Don’t give up the dreams; just temper them with a little feet-on-the-ground common sense.

Find a way to turn them into goals. Plan your writing career as you would any other endeavor that’s important to you. Dream big, for sure, but keep one eye firmly fixed on your own reality.

Novelist, non-fiction writer, journalist, playwright and counselor/life coach - Glenys O'Connell has worked hard at them all. She has learned to celebrate success and laugh in the face of failure! She likes to drool over her pages on Amazon, where her books are all available in both print and ebook form.