This I know for sure...

I realize January 1st is the official beginning of a new year, but I've always felt that the new year begins when school starts again. Even when I was a child, it seemed like the beginning of the new year -- new clothes, new school supplies, new classes and/or rooms, the unofficial end of summer, the beginning of the change of season to Autumn.  There doesn't seem to be anything special about January 1st. No new clothes, school supplies, etc. It's still winter which seems to drag on endlessly by that point. To me, it's just an extra day off from work.

So while I don't have any school aged children, I'm looking forward to this Labor Day weekend. I'll be spending it reviewing what I've accomplished up to this point, setting new goals, and looking forward to a new beginning of another "new" year.

What I'm Reading Wednesday...Or Not

In last week's What I'm Reading Wednesday post, I mentioned I was reading Deadly Fighting Skills of the World by Steve Crawford for research purposes. Well, I'm still reading it so I thought I'd post an end of summer recipe instead.

For all of you who more zucchini squash than you know what to do with, I thought I'd share my mom's zucchini bread recipe.

Mom's Zucchini Bread

2 cups shredded raw zucchini
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional) (My sister puts in mini chocolate chips instead of walnuts.)

Place zucchini in a strainer and press or squeeze to remove excess liquid. Beat eggs, sugar, and oil together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and walnuts. Mix just enough so that all the ingredients are combined. Stir in the drained zucchini.

Pour into 2 greased and floured 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Makes 2 loaves

A Progress Update

I mentioned in a previous "This I know for sure" post (8/9) that somehow I'd started treating my writing as a hobby the last few weeks, but had gotten back on track and turned the corner so to speak. I wanted to revisit that and let you know what changes I've made and what's working for me.

I realized I was spending a lot of time doing things that weren't moving my writing career forward. For example, if I didn't feel like writing on a particular day because I was tired, or had a miserable day at work, or whatever other reason I could come up with, I wouldn't write that day. I'd tell myself I'd make up for it the next day.  Sometimes I did, but more often than not, I didn't. This explains why it's taken me roughly eight months to write two-thirds of the first draft of my work in progress (WIP).

I knew I needed to stop doing things that aren't helping me work toward the goal of writing full time. Since the beginning of August, I've stopped watching television during the week except for the local and world news broadcasts from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Do I feel out of the loop when the other ladies in the office are talking about the latest TV program? Sometimes, but then I ask myself what's more important - keeping up with what's going on on Burn Notice (or any other show) or working toward the goal of being a full time writer.  On Saturday evenings, I watch a movie on DVD with my family. Within a half hour from the time I get home from work, I'm at my laptop and writing until I meet my daily page goal, no ifs, ands, or buts. I'm doing it every week day even if I don't feel like it or had a craptastic day at work. The strange thing is on those terrible work days after I've finished writing, I feel so much better than when I would come home and dwell on what happened at the office.

So if you find yourself in a similar position and think you don't have enough time in the day to accomplish everything that's important to you, re-evaluate how you're spending your time. Are you watching two, three, or more hours of television every evening? Try cutting the time in half. Do you say Yes to too many activities? Begin saying No to some of them. Guard your time so you have the time you need to do what you want to accomplish, no matter what it might be.

Time is a precious commodity. We all only have a certain amount of it. I stopped writing for nearly ten years due to family and life responsibilities. I look back now and think of all that time I lost and can't get back. Even now, I think of the time I've wasted just this year alone. Make the changes you need to. You'll only be happy you did.  I know I am.

This I know for sure...

As much as I hate the winter season, I'm looking forward to the cooler weather.  Not so much because I don't like the summer heat, but because I love to cook and during the warmer months, I don't do much cooking.  I try to make meals that don't require me to stand over a hot stove on any day where the temperature is over 80 degrees.

So for the last few weeks, I've been serving paninis, sandwiches, and I've made a lot of salads -- tossed salad, pasta salad, potato salad, chicken salad, and fruit salad.  I don't know about my family, but I'm about saladed out.

I'm longing for the days when I can make a decent meal that has nothing to do with summer foods. And although my family hasn't complained, I'm betting they are too.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

This week I'm reading a non-fiction book for research purposes. It's titled Deadly Fighting Skills of the World by Steve Crawford. It has chapters on everything from physical fighting (strikes, blows, and throws) to weapons (both edged and improvised). There are also chapters on sniping, ambushes, night fighting, and taking on armoured pursuers. 

I've only read the first couple of chapters and already have pages of notes. I'm sure I'll have much more information that I'll be able to use in one book, but it's definitely interesting reading.

A Small Success Comes At A Price

A couple of years ago, I told a friend I had signed a contract to publish a historical romance titled Impetuous. She oohed and aahed over the news and offered me her congratulations. In her very next breath, she asked when was I quitting my job and if she could come work for me. She'd do research, handle email, do social media things, anything I needed done and would only need a salary of $50,000 a year.

I tried to explain that while I was lucky enough to be offered a contract, I was far from being able to leave my day job behind much less hire someone to work for me. She mentioned other writers receiving huge advances. I agreed and said most of those people already had built in audiences and/or name recognition and that I was no way on the level of someone like JK Rowling, Stephen King, or James Patterson.  Nor did I hope to have the draw that the celebrity of the day who'd written a book would have.

She asked me how did I explain Amanda Hocking getting such a great deal then because she was a nobody just like me. (Her words, not mine.) At the time, I hadn't heard of Amanda so I didn't know what to say. My friend went on to recount that Amanda had signed a seven figure contract with St. Martin's Press in early 2011. After we parted that afternoon, I went home and googled Amanda Hocking. She may have signed a contract with St. Martin's Press but she was already successful as a self-published author long before that.

Unfortunately, my friend and I are no longer as close as we once were. I can't help but feel she thinks I could have hired her but just didn't want to and resents me for leaving her in a job she hated but that paid well.  It saddens me that by sharing what I felt was great news, something that I'd been striving for, that I lost a friend in the process. And on a side note, I still have my day job, though I hope to be able to write full time within a couple of years.