Ch-ch-ch-changes by Kristin Wallace

Like the song says, my life has seen some big changes. I told you last month that I’d made a rather momentous decision. I also said I’d tell you more about it. If you follow my Facebook Author Page you might have already seen the announcement.

My big decision was to leave my full time job after 10 years to concentrate more on my novel writing. I will be working toward what has always been my goal of being a full time author. I will also be resurrecting a long-dormant freelance business, Write Notions, Inc. I’ll be offering freelance copywriting as well as (hopefully) author marketing services.

For the past 10 years, I was the Senior Copywriter at an ad agency. I wrote print ads, radio & TV spots, brochures, websites and anything else you can think of. My job was very demanding of my time. The advertising business is not a typical 9-5 job. It’s highly demanding and full of tight deadlines, insanely quick turnarounds, coupled with the pressure to produce creative ideas almost instantly. It’s creative on demand, which means a lot of stress.

I liked many things about the job. I liked learning so much about marketing, which has certainly benefitted my writing career since that is so important in publishing today. But it also drained so much of my creativity that I didn’t have much left over for my real passion…my books. Those of you who have full time jobs while writing will understand.

I finally knew I had to make a change. Putting in the notice at work was extremely nerve wracking. I then had four weeks to prepare…and wonder if I had done the right thing. Last week was my first post-full time job. It was interesting. I wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped. I think I still need to figure out my own schedule. I’m really looking forward to finding out exactly how long it takes for me to write a book though. I’ve always had to squeeze in writing on weekends or nights, or even during my lunch hour, so I honestly don’t know how fast I can write.

So, this will be my second week, and the first week without the steady paycheck. It is a scary prospect, but as I said last month, it was time to follow my own author tagline and take a leap of faith.

When was the last time you made a big change in your life? Were you happy with the results?

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with "Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. Look for the release of her latest book at the end of June. It’s the first book in Shellwater Key Tales, a Women’s Fiction/Romance series set in sunny Florida. Visit her website at Kristin Wallace Author

How Quickly Things Change by Milou Koenings

Sometimes, like the proverbial Chinese bamboo tree that flowers only once every few decades, things change slowly. 

Other times, life changes in the space of a few minutes.   

There was the moment before you knew you were in love and the moment right after - and in that space in time, the world was altered. 

 

The night before your oldest child leaves home, and the morning after, when you wave her goodbye. (That milestone hasn't arrived yet, but I see it, feel it looming on the horizon.)

Each year, when the winds come at the tail end of winter, howling through, unsettling my afternoon walks, disturbing my sleep, I know change is coming.  Change can come any moment, of course, but when the wind comes, I feel it churning away the old, bringing who knows what in its wake.  

I hate it.  

I'm tense into my bones, into my very soul.  The wind roils around us and it takes all my focus to appear calm on the outside, while inside me, my fears and dreams roil with it.

Afterward, once stillness has descended once more, I look around and see the new that has come, and it takes me a few days, sometimes a few weeks to stop marveling at how quickly things turned around, and start to adjust to a new phase of the year.

Here's what my front doorstep looked a week ago today:

Here's what's blooming in my back yard now:

Honestly, how did we go from that to that in seven days?

Here's my favorite, but I'll have to wait a few more months for the passion fruit to bloom.

And a few more months for the pears that will grow from the white flowers pictures above. 

I'm not much of a gardener. I don’t know the names of all the flowers, don't order seeds or weed. But I do love the plants around us. Not just their enchanting beauty, but the constant reminder that life can be gloriously beautiful, and yet change overnight.

There may be some growing pains, some uncomfortable adjusting to do, but often those changes are making way for phases of life that may be equally wonderful.

It's a good thing nature surrounds me with constant reminders. 

Milou Koenings writes romance because, like chocolate, stories with a happy ending bring more joy into the world and so make it a better place.

Her novel, Reclaiming Home, A Green Pines Romance, is available at Amazon.

You can find her on her website, www.miloukoenings.com, on Facebook, Goodreads or Twitter.

Giving Thanks for Changes by Patricia Forsythe

A few weeks ago, Alicia Street blogged about ‘Novembering’ the nostalgic feeling we get in the fall that makes us think about the past and the changes we inevitably go through.  Many times, we think that change is a bad thing, but when we stop and consider, it usually turns out to have positive benefits – including adjustments to our attitude about change itself.

A friend I worked with has had a number of health challenges over the past few years, from foot surgery to breast cancer to diabetes to shingles to kidney stones.  Yet through all of this, she has been cheerful and upbeat every time I talk to her.   She has overcome every one of these health issues and while she contributes it to good medical professionals and care, I think ninety percent of it is her attitude.  Whenever we talk, she mentions something for which she is grateful or thankful. 

The thing about change is that it creates our future.  Our attitude about it sometimes has a bigger impact than the change itself, so we might as well embrace it.  And that’s where being thankful comes in.  Every year in November, Thanksgiving rolls around here in the states.  It’s a national holiday not meant to celebrate heroes or military triumphs or anything except being glad for what we’ve got and sharing a festive meal with friends and family.  It is a chance to slow down for a day and concentrate on what we are blessed with, such as certain foods that only come out once a year.  I mean seriously, who wants to roast a turkey in July?  Or eat pumpkin pie?  We also get to enjoy the people we’re blessed with and long for the ones who are no longer with us.


Christmas has become too commercialized, but we don't have to be part of that.  We can choose to have a smaller, more thoughtful, more giving Christmas if we want.  And as the end of the year approaches, we can reflect on the changes we've experienced, even though some of them were ones we didn't like.     

Change is going to come whether we want it to or not, so we might as well enjoy it.


We will be sending out a Christmas enewsletter with a collection of Christmas stories you won't want to miss! To sign up, please scroll down on the right and enter your email address under Mailing List. And don't miss our Santa's Sweet Romance Reads Bash on Facebook on Weds Dec 17th-noon to 8 p.m. Eastern. Sign up to join in the fun here: http://on.fb.me/1yqvdOe

Patricia Forsythe is the author of more than thirty books, some of which have been print published by Harlequin and Kensington and some which she has self-published as ebooks.  Her current series takes place in Lucky Break, Arizona and her newest release is Lucky Break: Homecoming in the Sweet Christmas Kisses boxed set.