Tag: 52-week blog challenge

• #AmWriting Week 18: What About Apps? #MFRWauthor

  Posted at 9:54 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on May 3, 2019

  

  Week 18: Apps: Time Wasters or Savers?

  I thought I wouldn’t have much to write for Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop for this topic. #MFRWauthor.

  Then I picked up my phone and tablets to view my apps. Whether or not apps are time wasters depends on how we use them. Wasting time is beneficial at times. A fun game app can be a good escape as can a Kindle or other eBook reading tablet, or a music app for relaxation. Many apps are necessary for business. I wonder how I got along without some of them.

  The topic doesn’t ask for the apps I use though I listed them.
  Apps I use: 

  Pleasure:
  Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Internet Radio App
  Amazon Music to listen to my purchased Music
  Kindle app on my computer and iPad – Pleasure and Business
  iPad – Pleasure and Business

  Note Taking:
  Google Keep – Note taker but so much more. Keep has so many options. Check it out.
  iPad Notes

  Social Media
  Twitter –
  Buffer – For scheduling Tweets (If only I used this more often.)
  Facebook –

  Business
  KDP Rocket – Keyword Generator for my Amazon Ads. This app both kills time and saves time.
  WordPress – Access to my website and blog when not on my laptop.
  Kindle – Other than reading, I use this to proof my own books by having it read to me. It’s amazing how many times I use though instead of through. I check my formatted docs on the Kindle app too.

  One of my favorites is Google Keep—a note taking app but it’s so much more. Here are some links with information about Google Keep to give you an idea why I like it so much.

  Lifehacker
  You Tube

  Grab it here if interested.

  Google Play

  Apple iTunes

  Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with Apple, Google or Google Keep, nor am I being compensated for mentioning this app. Simply, I like the app. Maybe you will too.

  A few of my apps are time wasters. Most aren’t.

  I could live without some of these but I choose not to today.

  

  Since this is a blog hop, other authors are participating. Links to their blogs can be found HERE.

  All the counties around me, including mine, are in a State of Emergency due to flooding. You might’ve seen some of the Metro Detroit area on the nightly news. It’s bad for some. Luckily for me, I’m at a higher elevation. Near where my brother lives, it’s flooded around them, but not their immediate area though my sister-in-law said getting out takes some strategy in navigating. My brother is living on oxygen 24/7 now, so it’s important that they can get out if necessary.

  Stay dry. Everyone stay safe no matter where you live.

  Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 20 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge, Apps for Pleasure, Game apps, Google Keep, Marketing for Romance Writers, Note Taking Apps, Social Media, Week 18: What About Apps?

• #AmWriting Week 17: Using Real People in Stories #MFRWauthor #WritersLife

  Posted at 8:45 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on April 26, 2019

  

  Join us again at Week 17 in our Blog Challenge Blog Hop with Marketing for Romance Writers. This is like a topic I replied to in 2018 about using our friends, family, or fur babies in our books. Last year’s post gives an explanation of how I might use the idea of a friend or family member in a book.

  The topic for 2019, is:

  Week 17: Putting “real” people into stories. The pros and cons.

  You’ve heard about authors teasing and saying something like: “You better watch it or I’ll put you in my book and _____. Fill in the blank.

  Is it teasing? 😉

  Pro:
  Face it. Real people are quirky, fun, weird, hilarious, sexy, silly, so on and so forth, and they can make great characters for the right story. They say no two people are alike. (They who?) Why wouldn’t an author want to use a real person as a character in a novel? I’m not saying if I have or haven’t, but I like to use my characters as they come to me.

  On that note, I have written my “real” dog into a series with her characteristics and personality.

  If using a real person, the character would be easy and difficult to write because we’d know how said person reacted in certain circumstances, both negatively and positively, but because we know, does that give us the right to write it?

  If we don’t tell them we’ve used them, then we can play around with their persona anyway we want by adding or taking away from their personality. If the person we use reads the story and suspects it’s them, we don’t have to admit it to them. Do we? I told my doggie. She approved. ❤

  Even if we don’t use a “real” person in a story, a friend or family member might suspect a book character is them even if it isn’t.

  If we keep this little secret to ourselves, we can disguise them by combining personalities and characteristics from more than one person, and our imagination.

  Con:

  If we tell them we used them in a book:
  Telling them wouldn’t allow us any leeway in writing their character, and we wouldn’t want to write them negatively. It wouldn’t be fair to our book character if we had to create them using specific rules to avoid hurting the “real” person. (Unless we hated them and didn’t care, I guess.)

  Who sees themselves as other people do? We could offend them if they think the character isn’t who they are. Heaven forbid, they could sue us if their character had been used negatively.

  I’m reminded of an episode of Blue Bloods on TV where the Police Commissioner’s partner from way back, wrote a tell-all book from their early career when they were young and new on the force. However, Frank Reagan read the book before publication. The antics the partner wrote would reflect badly on the department and Frank as the Police Commissioner. He threatened to sue if the book came out. It’s “TV” but this happens in real life.

  What if a best friend decided to write a tell-all book including us?  This brings up another question: Is writing nonfiction using real people different from writing them as a fictional character? I say, hell yes.

  If you used a real person in your story, would you tell them?

  ---

  Join the others participating in this week’s topic. Find the link to their blogs on the main Blog Page.

  

  Authors, I’m so sorry I haven’t been around to most of your blogs to comment on your challenge posts. You all know what’s it’s like while finishing books. I’ve tried to tweet, but Twitter and I are almost like strangers now. One book is close to going to the editor, so I will catch up.

  Have a nice weekend. 

  Would you believe snow is forecasted here? The local weatherman swears it won’t stick other than on grass. We’ll see.

  Posted in #AmWriting, 52-week blog challenge | 13 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge, Marketing for Romance Writers, mary j mccoy dressel, Real People in Stories, western romance

• #AmWriting Saying It With Pride #MFRWauthor

  Posted at 2:06 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on April 5, 2019

  

  It’s me. I’m back. Wow. Many of the topics for Marketing for Romance Writers #MFRWauthor this year have been the same or similar to previous years. I skipped them and finished writing a book, revised and updated another already published book, and have been typing away at yet another work in progress.

  Look what week we’re up to already.

  Week 14: The Difference Between Bragging and Marketing.

  I replied to a similar topic in 2018. You can find the post here. And this post in 2017 when we were allowed to brag.  🙂

  Here is what Dictionary dot com says about bragging:

  brag
  verb brags, bragging or bragged
  to speak of (one’s own achievements, possessions, etc) arrogantly and boastfully

  I believe the “keywords” here are ARROGANTLY and BOASTFULLY.

  Of course, I had to look up marketing too.  🙂

  Marketing
  noun
  the act of buying or selling in a market.
  the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.

  There is no mention of boasting or arrogance.

  However, I’d like to mention the difference between bragging and PRIDE.

  Being proud isn’t usually done in an arrogant or boastful fashion. (IMHO) What if someone said, “Wow, I got twenty, five-star reviews but I see you have twenty, one-star reviews.” (Oh, OUCH!) Or, “I was good enough to win a gold medal, but my competitor only received a bronze medal.” Is that pride or bragging? Arrogant? Boastful? You decide.

  Another example: What if every time we saw one of our friends, they boasted about their beautiful flowing and thick hair when they know we/us have thinning and thin hair, and it hurts our soul to think of losing our hair? Boasting? Pride?

  It’s because of what others may think, that I rarely mention raving reviews for the sake of mentioning them. People tell me to be proud and post them. Of course, I am silently proud, but I don’t want readers to think I’m bragging although I know that wouldn’t be the reason. Hah, I don’t have enough confidence to brag. Maybe I’ll change this and say “What the f#$%” and change my way of thinking. I should. You’re right. Okay. I will. ☮ Peace, baby.

  Which brings me to Marketing.

  In marketing, I will on occasion post a Tweet with lines from a review. For the rest of us who must market by saying glowing things about our books, we aren’t doing it to be boastful or arrogant. We/ I do this with hopes of encouraging a reader to look at the book then, fingers crossed, buy it.

  When I mention wonderful things about my books, it’s for marketing purposes done with PRIDE for MARKETING. When authors do this, It’s in no way bragging. Heck, we’re trying to sell books, and for some of us, to keep our careers afloat. Please don’t hold it against us.

  To wrap this up, I’ll go back to the beginning with the keywords arrogant and boastful. In my opinion, I see these two words as the difference between marketing and bragging. To see what others have to say on this topic, click over to get links to their blogs.

  It’s a pleasure to be back. I missed all of ya.

  However, as much as I do miss y’all and writing in my blog, I fear book writing will keep me busy since I’ve added new works in progress this year. Plus, my youngest son and daughter-in-law will be visiting soon, and I’d love to clear my schedule for them. I’ll post when I can. ❤

  Thanks for reading!

  Posted in #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 10 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge, blog hop, Bragging, cowboys, Gentlemen Cowboys, Marketing, Marketing for Romance Writers, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, pride, Saying It With Pride, Selling, The Difference Between Bragging and Marketing, western romance

• #AmWriting Stress and Eating #MFRWauthor

  Posted at 6:51 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on March 1, 2019

  

  Week 9: Stress Eating: The Whys and Wherefores

  Yeah, baby, I’m on a roll now. Join us for another week with the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge. #MFRWauthor.

  Today, I wouldn’t call myself a stress or emotional eater, but I am a want-to-stress/emotional-eat person who cheats occasionally. The last year has taught me not to indulge in certain comfort foods when I’m stressed, but I want to. Oh, I could at the drop of a hat and have cheated.

  Bing search had 36,400,000 results for stress or emotional eating this morning.

  Google had about 514,000,000 results.

  From Very Well Fit:

  “Stress Eating and How to Overcome It”
  https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-emotional-eating-3495967

  Stress eating is consuming food in response to your feelings, especially when you are not hungry. Stress eating is also sometimes called emotional eating. Emotional eating means that your emotions — not your body — dictate when and how much you eat.

  Some stress eaters binge when they are sad or confused. For others, eating can be a way of avoiding thinking about problems or taking the action required to solve them.” Jennifer R. Scott, Medically reviewed by Richard N. Fogoros, MD,
  Updated August 10, 2018.
  https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-emotional-eating-3495967

  The article talks about signs, how to stop or control stress eating, and more.

  It used to be, I’d grab a chocolate candy bar or chips, or better yet, both. I love Pringles®, and chips and chocolate together. I love chips. I love French fries. I want French fries. (My editor would die over all those repeats.)

  There’s something about the crunch, salt, and fat that has a payoff when stressed.

  What about apples? They’re crunchy? Shrugging.

  Off topic, but sometimes when I go out for lunch, the server will ask if I want fries. I tell him or her yes if she/he could bring me one. No one has brought me “one” yet. I’m serious. Stressed or not, I want “one.”

  Then there are carbs and sweets. Give me a damn loaf of Italian bread and butter. Oh, dear sugar, how I love you when I’m stressed…er, how I used to love you. Wait, no, I still do.

  Chocolate, apple pie, and carrot cake was, and sometimes is, a go-to for a taking-the-stress-away sweet emotional reward. Now, I can’t shouldn’t have any of the above.

  I’m no different from anyone else. A good quarter-pounder from you know where would make me happy, and in the old days, I’d indulge when I didn’t want to deal with issues happening in my life. Therefore, I admit I’m a wanna-be stress eater who cheats on occasion but not with quarter pounders.

  How bout you? Does stress drive you to eat?

  This is a blog hop with other authors. Join them HERE for links to their blogs.

  

  Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 15 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Stress and Eating Week 9, Stress eating

• #MFRWauthor Week 2~Childhood Memories #WritersLife

  Posted at 8:01 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 11, 2019

  

  2019 Week 2: Childhood Memories – A Walk Back in Time.

  Most of us have childhood memories. Some good. Some bad. Some make us laugh. Some make us cry, but we have them. This week’s Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge topic gives us a chance to talk about them. #MFRWauthor Link to 2017 Childhood Memory post.

  I’m walking back in time today with a bittersweet memory of my oldest brother, Bob. I’m a middle child between two brothers with a nine-year span between me and the oldest. A brother born between us passed away as an infant, and I have a brother three years younger than me. I don’t mention my bad-to-the-bone troublemaking older brother often, but that isn’t why I don’t talk about him. I didn’t know him. My dad sent him away when I was only five or six.

  My dad wanted to get him out of Detroit and away from the gang-like life he wanted to live. Instead of dealing with him, he let my stern grandma straighten him out in her little village where she lived on a lake in Northern Michigan. The last thing my brother needed was a small town to control, and a grandmother who couldn’t handle him. Via hearsay, he’d found the bad of the bad to hang with while living there until he joined the Army.

  My memory isn’t about the bad in him. It’s about him being my big brother, my protector, and the day Dad sent him away. I can’t remember the goings-on before we piled out the door to go to Michigan Central Station. It’s possible they never told me this would be forever, but I figured it out.

  My memory is about saying good-bye to my brother and walking through the train station holding his hand. He got on the train. Just like that, we left, but I kept pulling my mom or dad’s hand, lagging back, and yelling that we had to wait for Bob. Then we left. If one of them hadn’t had my hand, I might’ve run back to grab him off the train or get on and go with him.

  

  Brian W. Schaller [FAL], from Wikimedia Commons

  I kept looking back, looking back, looking back, and crying for him. Later, when we got home, I closed the kitchen door and sat on the basement step and cried and cried, which was unusual for me because I’d never go to the basement at night alone, let alone close the door and sit in the dark. I wouldn’t eat. I missed him so. My heart had broken over losing my big brother.

  I grew up without my oldest brother, but I’ll cut it off by saying we stayed in contact throughout my teen and adult life. He’d had a rough life and lived to be a senior adult though died at a young age by today’s standards. I’m the one who has his ashes. Oddly, he had made his home in Northern Michigan near to where he’d been sent to live with our grandma.

  ---

  This old train station has quite a history. Are you interested in knowing if this magnificent building is still standing? You’ll find updated information at the link below.

  From Dan Austin at Historic Detroit.Org:

  For 75 years, the depot shipped Detroiters off to war, brought them home, took them on vacation and sent them off to visit Grandma.

  Oh, if they only knew…

  Thank you for reading.

  ---

  This is a blog hop, baby. We have new participants this year! What happens when they walk back in time to share a childhood memory? Let’s find out HERE.

  

   

  Michigan Central Station, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Credit: Brian W. Schaller

  Brother and sister Credit: Pixaba

  Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 14 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge, brother and sister, childhood memories, Detroit, family issues, Marketing for Romance Writers org, Michigan Central Station, Northern Michigan

• #AmWriting Week 49: Food, Family & Memories #MFRWauthor

  Posted at 7:57 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on December 7, 2018

  

  Week 49: The Best Dish I Cook.

  December is upon us. The year and Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge is counting down. Hmm. About this week… I don’t only have one best dish, so how do I proceed? Of course, I’ll use a dish and meal from happy moments in my life. What’s better than food, family, & memories. Does it matter if it isn’t my own creation? This year I’m posting a recipe for Meaty Macaroni Bake.

  Meaty Macaroni Bake is great for crowds. This is a #recipe my sister-in-law and/or I would cook when our families got together. We had five kids between us–her three, my two. Include our husbands and usually a single brother-in-law and we were ready to sit down for dinner.

  We’d fix a green salad and often have the Pineapple Sheet Cake for dessert. When my family visited my in-laws in Pennsylvania, we’d always get a red devil’s food cake from Isaly’s because we couldn’t get that here then. Another thing we’d have to have while there was a Klondike ice cream bar because they weren’t available here, either.

  Let’s get going:

  

  *Meaty Macaroni Bake

  1-pound ground beef
  ½ cup chopped onion
  1 16-ounce jar spicy spaghetti sauce. (I never use spicy.) I always swish a little water around in the jar to get all the bits then add to the mixture to thin a little.
  1 4-ounce can mushroom pieces, drained
  6 ounces elbow macaroni, divided
  1 cup sour cream, divided
  4 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
  4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

  Serves 6. It’s been so long, but I’m sure we had to double this recipe with the hungry bellies we fed.

  I was lucky to find this image on Pixabay that resembles my dish. We didn’t add the garnish, but it does make it pretty.

  

  Pixabay Image

  Instructions:
  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add beef. Cook, stirring until brown and crumbly; about 5 minutes. Drain fat.
  2. Add onion to skillet; cook for 2 minutes. Stir spaghetti sauce and mushrooms into skillet. Simmer, covered for 5 minutes. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Layer half the pasta, half the sauce and half the sour cream in prepared baking dish. Layer PROVOLONE cheese slices over the top.
  4. Continue layering remaining pasta, sauce, and sour cream. Top with MOZZARELLA. Cover loosely with foil sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes. Uncover. Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and let stand about ten minutes if you can wait that long.
  5. Enjoy!

  I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine did.

  Remember, this is a Blog Hop. Can’t wait to see the other recipes.

  

  *My sister-in-law has since passed away. We’ve had this recipe well over twenty years, and I don’t know where she found it, so I don’t know who to credit. If this infringes upon someone’s copyright, contact me, and I’ll be happy to remove it from my blog. I found a similar recipe HERE using a few extra ingredients.

  Let me know how you like this if you make it and if you varied the ingredients. Thanks! Enjoy your weekend.

  Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 8 Comments | Tagged 52-week blog challenge, A Meal That Comes With Memories, blog hop, Cooking Up Some Memories, Family & Memories, food, Marketing for Romance Writers, mary j mccoy dressel

• #AmWriting Bring on the Holiday (Food) #MFRWauthor

  Posted at 10:39 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on December 1, 2018

  

  Favorite Holiday Food

  I almost didn’t participate this week, but since I did, we’re back with another Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge post for Week 48. I was too late signing up with Linky, but I managed to get this posted! 

  Hmm. A favorite holiday food. This isn’t easy when I’ve had a lifetime of cooking holiday meals, so on that note, I put this question to both of my boys. They each came up with a list of cookies. Yay, for Mom. They loved my cookies and remember them!

  However, my oldest son, Chris, mentioned the breakfast bake casserole I used to make on Christmas Eve and would stick it in the oven Christmas morning. The idea that he had memories of me doing this, warmed my heart. Multiple Breakfast Bake recipes can be found on the Web. I use bread cubes instead of hash browns and ham instead of the sausage you’ll find in many recipes. A prepared casserole comes in handy on a busy morning.

  

  Pixabay Image: TerriC

  Since both of my boys chose Church Windows as one of their favorites, that’s the recipe I’ll include here today. You can find clearer directions and variations of the recipe online because my recipe is basically a list of the ingredients with a brief set of instructions. I love the combination of chocolate and marshmallows together. Coconut is an added treat for me. If you don’t like the ingredients, you won’t like this recipe.

  Without specific amounts for walnuts and coconut, I know this recipe won’t help much. I wing it. The ingredients I use for Church, or sometimes called Cathedral, window cookies are:

  • A bag of colored mini-marshmallows. I can never find these if I wait too long in the season.
  • 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips
  • Walnuts
  • Coconut

  1. My recipe says to melt six ounces of chocolate chips at a time, but I don’t remember if I have melted them in two batches. I use a microwave.
  2. When melted, add nuts and marshmallows.
  3. Spread coconut on waxed paper.
  4. Pour chocolate, marshmallow, and nut mixture over coconut. Now use the wax paper to help roll the mixture into a roll.
  5. Set in the refrigerator until cool. This will take an hour or more. Longer is better.
  6. When the roll has hardened, remove it from the fridge and slice.
  7. Enjoy. This recipe is doubly sweet as you can imagine.

  Here’s a Church Window recipe from CD Kitchen® where you can see a picture of how cute they look. (They call them Cathedral Windows.) I’ve also heard them called Stained-Glass Window cookies. Sorry for not including the recipe or image, but due to their copyright notices and sharing policy on their site, I will direct you to visit their page. It sure is hard to find a stock photo with a church window cookie image.

  In all fairness, I should say my favorite holiday cookies are thumbprint cookies where I stick a Hershey Kiss in the middle of a delicious cookie rolled in nuts, and another is a modified recipe from my first husband’s mother called—apricot horns–similar to the picture here.

  One of my favorite “Christmas” holiday foods to make for a sit-down meal, is a spiral ham and scalloped potatoes as the two main dinner choices. If I’m having more of a buffet, I still like the spiral ham for sandwiches combined with other typical buffet items. These days I don’t eat red meat, so I might have to roast a turkey breast, too.

  ---

  I’ve gone on long enough. Do you have a favorite holiday food? Come on. I bet you do.  🙂

  Please visit the other authors in this Blog Hop at Marketing for Romance Writers. Remember, you don’t have to be a romance lover to see what others are up to and maybe find some new recipes.

  

  The cookie images licenses have been purchased by me via Depositphotos. Others were found on Pixabay.

  Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 10 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge, apricot horns, blog hop, Breakfast Bake Casserole, Bring on the Holiday (Food), Buffet Dinner, cathedral window cookies, christmas, church window cookies, Favorite Holiday Food, Marketing for Romance Writers, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, thumbprint cookies, western romance

• #MFRWauthor Week 44: Blog Challenge Theme Week

  Posted at 8:50 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on November 2, 2018

  

  Here we are with another topic for Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge.

  Week 44: My Biggest Fear

  Before I delve into this week’s topic, I have to say I had last week’s post written in draft but went on a day trip then forgot to get back to it upon my return. “But you had a whole week (or forty-four weeks) to write the post?” This is true, but when I’m in my book writing zone, the book is what I write—especially with two to finish.

  The theme last week was: My Favorite Apps. One day I’ll complete the topic and put it up as a post, anyway.

  Now, shall we get to this week’s topic?

  I get fearful every time I send a book to my editor or before publishing a book. I don’t like flying because I’m fearful of crashing. My oldest boy lives three-thousand miles away. I fly white-knuckled a lot of the time. Other than that, I don’t talk too much about my fears.

  I’ve overcome some of my fears only to fall back into them again. I bet I could overcome them again if I had to…like climbing the tallest lighthouse in my Great Lake State. It’s the bigger fears that make me totally numb where I can’t move. I’ve learned to depend on myself to save myself, and if I’m too fearful, how do I? Then what if I can’t?

  However…it’s in my makeup to persevere. I depend on this, and prayer, to get me through my fears.

  I have faced some of these fears and got through them. Will I again? I don’t want to find out.

  You may ask why I bothered to write this post when I won’t tell my biggest fear(s). Well, I will reply by saying I don’t like to tell my fears when they can be used against me in certain circumstances.

  Thanks for reading.

  This is a blog hop. Let’s visit the other participants by clicking HERE.

  

  Don’t turn your back upon your doctrinal doubts and difficulties. Go up to them and examine them. Perhaps the ghastly object which looks to you in the twilight like a sheeted ghost may prove to be no more than a table-cloth hanging upon a hedge. ~A.H. Boyd~ QuoteGarden

  Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 11 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge, Biggest Fears, blog hop, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Wekk 44: Blog Challenge Theme Week, western romance

• #AmWriting 52-Week Blog Challenge: Don’t Take It Away #MFRWauthor

  Posted at 8:43 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on June 15, 2018

  

  It’s mid-June, folks, and today is Friday. You know what that means. It’s time for another topic in the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop. I said early on I wouldn’t participate in each topic this year and missed the last couple weeks.

  Week 24: Item I can’t live without

  This is an easy topic if I think of it as a material thing I can’t live without. This, of course, would be my laptop and tablets, pens and notebooks—the paper kind, books, glasses, and a phone. I look at these tools as one group so I’m not really cheating on the topic and listing more than one. Did you buy that?

  I use a laptop to make a living by researching, writing, publishing, marketing, staying in contact with readers, and so much more. These tools are also a part of my social life. A phone and laptop are used to socialize electronically with friends and family who are far away, or even those who are close, to confirm an event or gathering like breakfast or lunch…you get it.

  I’ve had to live without these tools I stated above during a power outage or a weather-related incident like a lightning storm or worse. Last night my area lost power for over three hours, so yeah, it’s hard to unwind and not have these tools available at will. My phone did work, though, but it drove me nuts for the first hour not to have use of my items.

  Then I turned on my Kindle to read a recent book I bought for research. I’m enjoying the story based on the real life of a famous ranching and bronc riding family. If the battery ran low, I could continue reading on my iPad, knowing I’d have to go out to charge my items tomorrow if power wasn’t restored. The laptop battery would be conserved for an Emergency-Writing-Fix. LOL.

  

  Pixabay

  If we’ve never had these items to work with on a daily basis, how could we miss them? That statement reminds me of writing my first two long books on legal pads before I owned a computer, or the time I started a new book on paper during another long power outage. I wrote about another power outage here. Wow, this was written in 2009! How things have changed.

  Others may look at this topic as mentioning the basic needs we depend on as humans and maybe this would seem a better fit for this week, but I have a feeling it means a material thing since it says “item” we can’t live without. This week’s entries should be interesting, and I can’t wait to read them.

  On the home front, we’re headed for a heatwave this weekend. I sure hope the power stays on. After last night, I’m hoping it wasn’t because of overload with everyone blasting their/my Air Conditioning. With the history of my heat and AC unit, I’m happy for each minute that it works.

  Stay cool!

  ---

  We’re doing a Blog Hop, friends. You’ll find other participating authors HERE.

  

  I’m glad you all stopped by today.

  Have a spectacular weekend!

  Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge | 14 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #AuthorsLife, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge, blog hop, books, communication, Don't Take It Away, Item I can't live without, laptop, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, pen and paper, phone, socialize, western romance

• #AmWriting Strength in Numbers~ Are You An Indie Author?

  Posted at 11:15 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on May 4, 2018

  

  Good morning. It’s Friday and you might be expecting a post for the #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop, but today’s topic would take too long for me to explain. Sorry, I know that sounds lazy, but if you lived in my shoes these past couple months you’d get it.

  This is a long way of saying I’m neglecting the challenge topic, but for those interested in hopping over, here you go: Week 18: How I work up Character/Setting Profiles.

  ---

  Hang on. Don’t stop reading yet.

  There’s more here today and the reason I’m writing this…

  Listen Up Indie Authors:

  I don’t send out posts like this often, if ever, but today I have something else to mention. Something of importance to Indie Authors. I’ve mentioned author Marie Force before, and if you don’t know who she is, you should. She’s an author’s friend, but the reason why I’m writing this section is because she’s an Indie author’s friend, too. I’m not only talking about romance authors here. However, Marie does write romance.

  Before you run off and gag at the thought of this being for and about romance–WAIT. Keep in mind, I write ROMANCE so don’t hurt my feelings by gagging publically.  🙂  This is for the entire Indie author community.

  Marie has started an Indie Author Support Network. This Network is to give a voice to Indie authors.

  This new Indie Author Support Network–Marie and its members–can speak up and be a voice at the table. She can explain it a lot better than I can, so to learn more, please visit Indie Author Support Network before deciding to say no right off. I joined a couple weeks ago. Just so you know, there is a small membership fee. You can also find the network on Twitter.

  In addition, if you aren’t interested in getting in on the ground floor as a founding member of the Indie Author Support Network above, you might be interested in joining Marie’s group on Facebook called Author Support Network. This group is for ALL authors whether trad published, hybrid, or Indie, and has been around a while now and has over 6,000 members–Authors Only. To join the group, you will be asked three mandatory entry questions. Don’t sweat it because they’re simple and want to be sure you’re an author. She also has a Yahoo Group Newsletter if you’re interested in something like that.

  ALL authors.

  All genres.

  I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve learned by being a member of this Facebook group. I sat silent for about a year and just took it all in. With the amount of authors in this group, someone has an answer for anything you ask.

  Anyway, this is my spiel for today.  🙂  If I didn’t believe in the future of the Indie Author Support Network or the Facebook group, I wouldn’t be telling you about it.

  ---

  Me, I’ll be finishing up my privacy policies so my Website and Newsletter are GDPR compliant, and hoping to do it before a big storm comes in with strong winds.

  On the positive side, spring has arrived.

  Enjoy your weekend.

  

  Pixabay

  Posted in #AmWriting, #WritersLife | 8 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge, Author Suport Network, Indie Author Support Network, Marie Force, mary j mccoy dressel, sensual contemporary western romance, Strength in Numbers~ Are You An Indie Author?

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