End of Summer Blockbuster Giveaway!

Missy Tippens

School is back in session for many, and about to start for others. As summer is winding down, we thought we'd throw a party!

It's been a while since we've fed you around here. So come on over to enjoy a good southern cookout. On the grill, we've got hamburgers, hotdogs, marinated chicken, and marinated portobellos with Vidalia onions. Also, grilled corn on the cob (yum)! And grilled Georgia peaches topped with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Once your tummy is full, we'd like to take stock of the blog and ask for your input. What post topics would you like to see in the future? What questions would you like us to answer? We want to hear from you!

Oh, and don't forget the giveaways today from all our bloggers...

From Missy Tippens... A Bullet (Dotted) Journal

From Erica Vetsch...a copy of Mail-Order Mishaps

From Mary Connealy... a copy of her upcoming novella, Thankful for the Cowboy

From Winnie Griggs...a copy of her Love Inspired 2-in-1 releasing in September

From Annie...a surprise stack of books


From Pam Hillman...one of her Natchez Trace Novels: winner’s choice

From Ruthy Logan Herne... a copy of Back in the Saddle

From Audra Harders...a Bullet (Dotted) Journal

From Debby Giusti...a copy of the first book in her Amish Protectors series, Amish Refuge

From Mindy Obenhaus...a copy of Reunited in the Rockies

From Carrie Schmidt...a $5 Amazon gift card


From Jan Drexler...a copy of her upcoming release, An Amish Christmas Kitchen, a collection of 3 novellas by Jan, Leslie Gould and Kate Lloyd

From Cate Nolan...a copy of an Australian version of her book, Christmas in Hiding, in a 2-in-1 version with Carla Cassidy

From Beth Erin...winner's choice of one title from her book stash OR a $5 Amazon gift card 

From Glynna Kaye...a $5 Amazon gift card

We're so grateful to all of you for hanging out here with us! Enjoy the party and please stick around to chat.

Please leave a comment about blog topics or guests you've particularly enjoyed in the past or topics you'd be interested in for future posts. Commenters will be entered for the giveaways! Winners will be announced in the September 7th Weekend Edition.

ALMOST SUMMER!

So for some of you, school has been let out. College graduations are mostly over, some Southern schools are on summer break and others are not far behind.

In the north, we tend to go longer into June, but the warming weather trends and crazy intense storms throughout the Central United States tell us the seasons are changing and possibly at war with one another.

So here's the thing:  What does summer or any holiday mean to a self-employed author? Or, and more so, to a self-employed author who also has a day job?

Shifts in scheduling, or no schedule can wreak havoc with your writing. The sun's up later for a lot of you... so are kids.... and the sun's up way earlier than she used to be. Baseball, soccer, dance, theater camps, regular camps, cancer camps, dance camps, day camps, hiking, camping, day-trips...

You get the picture. There is no "normal". There is only the new normal which is not normal at all. So what's an aspiring or even established author to do?

Make a plan.

If you know that you have everyday between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM to write, get up and do it.

Turn the TV off at night... and social media, too... and go to bed by 10:00. Up at 4:45, coffee in hand, writing at 5:00.

WHAT??? RUTHY ARE YOU NUTS?????

Probably, but that's a different blog post entirely. You can either let the lack of structure beat you back and cost you time and momentum OR...  work around it. Examine your schedule weekly. And set the plan for that week. And if it must be changed for the next week, big deal.

Do it.

That's the party-bonus-glory of the self-employed aspect of being a writer. We are our own bosses. We set the pace and make the plan. The downside of that is there is no one else to blame if we tank.

Nope.

Not one soul can take the fall.

It's on us.

Just us.

Not everyone handles that well. Some look around, wanting to cast blame elsewhere.

Nope.

I'm not talking medical emergency, death, divorce kind of blame... that's different.

I'm talkin' the I can't get out of bed in the morning to write or stay up late to write or write while I'm waiting two hours to pick up kids from camp or Grandma from respite...

For the next ten weeks the words "perfect time" and "perfect plan" should go out the window and be replaced by "I work when I can, where I can."

Darlings, it's rough. I know this! I get it, I really do, but if you want this career. If you were born to write...

Gotta do what it takes on a regular basis. No one becomes accidentally successful.

They become successful because they didn't quit.

Join the conversation with a comment on how you handle the craziness of summer and/or holidays and I'm tucking you into a drawing for this wonderful new Love Inspired book, the final book of the "Shepherd's Crossing" series "Healing the Cowboy's Heart".... 

A perfect match…or sworn enemies?

Only time will tell at Shepherd’s Crossing.

Horse breeder Isaiah Woods can’t believe his only ally in helping a neglected mare is the descendant of his family’s bitter enemy—veterinarian Charlotte Fitzgerald. Despite the feud, Charlotte risks everything to save the horse. But as she falls for Isaiah—and the orphaned niece and nephew in his care—the mare isn’t the only one who needs saving.

PREORDER HERE, RELEASES ON JUNE 18TH

Multi-published, award-winning author Ruth Logan Herne understands the craziness of schedules and lack thereof. She lives on a pumpkin farm in Western New York and from May through October, her real life interferes, clashes with, and tries valiantly to overcome her fictional-loving life but she fools it by getting up early... sneaking in writing time... and pretending to be a juggler. She's pretty sure you can do this, too! Write her at loganherne@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter, visit her website ruthloganherne.com or friend her on facebook... She loves to chat with readers and encourage authors, and with her 50th book just released .... she's got a lot to say!