Being thankful, keeping busy... Roxanne Rustand

I hope this finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe.  I am praying for all of us.  How are you managing these days?   What are you missing the most? Have you found some silver linings during this time of isolation? 

I miss seeing our kids and grandkids.  A lot.  But...we talk on the phone and text, and that will do for now.  I am just so grateful that they are all well, and not for the world would I want to risk that with visiting them. Today, our son and grands came out for a pony ride on Susie. It was so nice to watch-- but we kept our distance!

This morning I was curious about my naivete back at the beginning of 2020, before this all began, and  looked back at my January post here on Sweet Romance Reads. Not a glimmer of awareness about what was to come, though I have been using these goal setting steps to make the best use of my time while we shelter in place.

 I'm filled with anticipation as I look forward to a busy and (I hope)  productive year. 
Have you set any goals for 2020?  I don't mean New Year's resolutions, but concrete goals. A newsletter from a local doctor's office suggested the following:
      1. Make five short-term goals. Write "due dates" for each one 
    on your calendar. Add five more when those are done.
      2. Make five long-term goals.
      3. For each goal, list three action steps that you can take.
      4. Print this list of goals and post it where you can see it every
          day.

Have you been tackling projects large and small while trying to stay at home?   I've been making list after list, cleaning, sorting, discarding, and adding to the items to donate to a local mission or the Salvation Army store. The mountain is growing--reminding me that I should have been better about tackling these tasks all along. If I'd done that, I wouldn't be so eagerly awaiting the day when those places are once again open for donations!

Do you see this experience changing your attitudes and actions even after Covid-19 virus is eventually under control? 

I believe I will treasure time with relatives and friends even more. Be even more grateful for every day we are granted on this earth. But in the meantime, the sun is shining today, the grass turning green. There's a symphony of bird songs all around....and come evening, we'll again hear the lovely chorus of frogs. The renewal of spring is here, and Easter is just a short time away. 

Blessings to you all!
Roxanne Rustand

About Those New Year's Resolutions ... by Jean C. Gordon

How are you doing with your New Year's resolutions? According to a Nielson survey, on average, only 64% of you are still keeping them (the percentage of people who last more than a month). Fewer than half (40%) of people's resolutions will still be in place come July 1. And only 14% of people over 50 actually achieve what they resolve to do. Younger people fare better, with 39% reporting success with their resolutions.

But back to my question. I'm doing great with my resolutions because I didn't make any. Instead, as I've done the past few years with an online group of writers and readers I belong to, I chose a word for the year. My word is:

  

Not making any resolutions doesn't mean I don't plan. Incorporating my word for the year in my author planning, here's what I'm going to enjoy in my writing life in 2018:

• Finishing Sweet Entanglement, the book I'm currently working on for the multi-author Indigo Bay series. It will be released early summer.
• Putting together a new book proposal for Love Inspired, set in the Catskill Mountains.
• Writing a single dad novella for a multi-author book bundle that will be out in the fall.
• Adding to my Team Macachek series, with a Christmas novella.

In my personal life, I'm enjoying my family, my friends, and my volunteer work to the fullest. I'll also be enjoying a milestone birthday this year, but I won't say what one.

And on the immediate horizon, I'll be enjoying the Sweet Romance Reads Cafe's Valentine's Party on Facebook tomorrow. Catch me there hosting from two to three.

Be aware that new Facebook rules limits party participation to Sweet Romance Reads Cafe members only.  If you don't already belong, the link to the Cafe to join is below. Don't miss any of the party fun--games, giveaways, books, and more. Grand prize is a $25 Amazon gift card!

The Sweet Romance Reads Cafe Link

   The Party RSVP Link 

For My Future Releases

Follow me on BookBub
Sign up for my Readers Newsletter 
Visit my Website 
Facebook: JeanCGordon.author 
Twitter: @JeanCGordon

A roundabout way to reach your dreams

Why on earth do you write in English? That's the first question everybody asks when they hear I'm a writer. It does seem strange. After all, I'm German, have lived in Germany most of my life (with some stints abroad), and have unexciting German roots, nothing international there.

The answer is easy. We Germans have a simple approach to life. If you want to be good, make sure you study your subject at university. If you want to change track in the middle of your life, don't. If you want to become an author, keep on dreaming. If you want to have information about how to write, how to submit to a publisher, how to polish a manuscript, see point one. Or make sure you have excellent connections in the industry.

When I had come to that point in my life, I realized (thanks to the Internet) that Americans approach life in a different manner. They shrug, smile at you and say, "If you want it, you can do it." And then they show you how. You're a nurse, a gardener, a lawyer, a manager? Never mind. You can do it. Be prepared to work hard, be prepared for rejections, but go right ahead.

Next, I looked at the German book market and realized that most romances, chick lits, and mysteries were first published in English and then translated into German.

If the German market proves so difficult to crack, I thought, I'll take a roundabout way to become a published author. I'll write in English and target the US market first. Let the Germans make their own translations whenever they'll get round to it.

So I started to write my first novel in English. I guess I was the fool who was never told the impossible. Then, in spite of all the help via the Internet, I was stuck. I knew I had to improve my craft but didn't know how. Everybody said I should join a writer's group, but I didn't know any other writers in my area. Everybody said I should go to a writer's conference, but I couldn't afford the trip to the US. I felt as if I was a desert mouse, trying to learn to ski with all the other mice looking on and shaking their heads.

So I searched the Internet some more and decided to give my manuscript to a professional book editor. I hit a jackpot. Elizabeth Lyon gave me such a detailed report, it was almost longer than my novella. She criticized every single point in detail, but she did it in such a wonderful way that it didn't hurt me (another American talent!). I couldn't wait to go back and make all the changes.

Next, Elizabeth met the then-editor from Avalon Books at a conference and sent me their information. I submitted my manuscript, changed it again according to Avalon's suggestions, and many months later I received the incredible news that I had made it. Avalon Books had accepted my first romance "Wings to Fly"! The desert mouse had learned to ski.

That was in 2008. Today, I've got 12 full-length novels published, three with Avalon Books, the rest independently, and I won't stop writing anytime soon . . . I've even translated my first novel "back" into German, but have found that it's not much fun. I prefer to write in English!

How about you? Have you ever taken a roundabout way to realize your dreams?

Measuring Success by Aileen Fish

Whether you call them New Year's resolutions, goals, bucket list, or whatever, we all do it. We imagine how we could be better, healthier, wealthier, wiser, happier...did I miss anything? But how do you measure any of those things?

Health and wealth are quantifiable. Blood test results, the number on a scale, the ease of walking up or down stairs will tell us how healthy we are. Wealth might be measured in what we own, the number of digits before the decimal in our bank account balances. But what about the rest? When are we good enough?

I hope I am always growing, always becoming better at whatever I do. In some cases there is a lot of room for improvement; in others I might think I'm doing well. I'm a list maker, though, and get so much joy from crossing something off, or clicking the bubble on my Reminders app that removes an item from the list. Obviously, the only goals I can write down are the measurable ones. Word counts, edits, loads of laundry. Get the oil changed in the car. It's easy to know when those are done.

You see the point by now, I'm sure. How do we know if we've reached success? Is it measurable? Does the NYTimes bestseller list mean you've reached the pinnacle? Or is it simple leaving the day job for what you love? Some might feel reaching the point where they can retire means they're successful.

I'm not sure I can pin it down that easily. I guess I see milestones. There's always something a little further out to reach for. What about you? Can you see the finish line, or is it just the next stop on your journey?

~*~

USA Today Bestselling Author Aileen Fish is an avid quilter and auto racing fan who finds there aren't enough hours in a day/week/lifetime to stay up with her "to do" list. There is always another quilt or story begging to steal away attention from the others. When she has a spare moment she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and their families, and her fairy princess granddaughter. Her books include The Bridgethorpe Brides series and the Small Town Sweethearts series.

Her latest release is Small Town Sweethearts, an anthology of the first three stories in the Small Town Sweethearts series. Available in ebook and print.

Stay up to date with book releases at her website http://aileenfish.com or on Facebook

Bestseller!

 Here are links to buy the bestselling box:
Amazon  Kobo i-tunes Google Nook

October 9, 2014 would remain embedded in the memories of fourteen authors as THE day they fulfilled their dream and reached their goal. It's difficult to describe the joy that we shared on our loop and in our homes when we read that SWEET CHRISTMAS KISSES was  a BESTSELLER #51 on the USA Today bestsellers list.

When I read the caption, the emotion made me speechless for a moment, then I jumped from my chair, kept mumbling, Oh my God, Oh my God, and fell back in front of the monitor. My husband saw my face pale and rush to my side. "Are you OK?" He thought I was having a heart attack.


What a giddy feeling. But soon I shouted at the top of my lungs, "I'm a USA Today Bestselling Author," and I couldn't stop laughing and babbling. We had a drink to celebrate reaching this milestone.

When I attended my first RWA National Conference in 2004 and saw some 4,000 writers, bustling in the ballroom for lunch, my stomach had constricted. If all these people were competing to be published there was no way on Earth I would succeed. And yet here I am, ten years later, standing on the top of the mountain, screaming, "TaDa!"

SWEET CHRISTMAS KISSES made it to the USA Today bestsellers list for three weeks. We have a lot-- a huge lot--of readers to thank for appreciating, buying and loving our sweet romances.

How did it  happen? With hard work, perseverance, a lot of support, a good network, and a "little bit of blooming luck", and mostly an amazing team of determined authors who gave it their 101%.

Thank you my Sweet Christmas Kisses fellows for making the impossible reachable.

HER CHRISTMAS CRUISE, my contribution to this box, will take you on a wonderful cruise to Spain and Italy with Julia and Tony.

The perfect fiancé is a cheater and the fabulous Christmas wedding is off. But the would-be honeymoon cruise may fulfill the dreams of Julia and her unexpected companion.

Although it's so difficult to climb that ladder of success to the USA Today bestseller list, three authors did it again with another box, Ten Christmas Brides, which became a bestseller on October 29, 2014.

Kindle US Kindle UK Nook Kobo iBook

A USA Today Bestselling Author, Mona Risk recently received an OUTSTANDING ACHIEVER Award at Affaire de Coeur Magazine. She’s a two time winner of Best Contemporary Romance of the Year at Readers Favorite, a winner of Best Romance Novel of the Year at Preditors & Editors Readers Poll, and an EPIC’S award finalist.

You can find her at www.monarisk.com or sign up for her newsletter here.