Sugar Jamison

Work At Home Tips and Tricks

| Casey Wyatt

Writers get asked a lot of interesting questions . One of the more popular ones is – “where do you find the time?” Often followed by comments like “I would write, if I had the time.”

IMG_1715Well, guess what? People do have the time, they just aren’t using it to write. Sugar Jamison covered this topic on Monday (over at the 7 Scribes site), so I am not going to elaborate on finding time. See her excellent post here.

Instead, I’m going to share my twenty years experience as a work at home employee of a large national company. These tips and tricks can apply to writers as well as anyone.

1. Get up in the morning, like you would on a work day for an outside employer and bathe. Yes. Get out of your pajamas and wash yourself.  Go to your designated work space and report for duty.

2. Remember to eat breakfast. Again, in case you haven’t heard this before: it’s the most important meal of the day.

3. Develop a mindset that this is a job. Create the same mental head space/attitude you would if an employer was paying you. Writers – if you are under contract – yes, you have an employer who is paying you. If you are aspiring to publication, best develop a solid work ethic now. It will serve you well when you land that contract.

4. Have a schedule. For example, I will write from the hours of 9:00 – 12:00. Or midnight to four am. Whatever fits. And during this time, I am working. No social media, no television, no phone calls, etc.

5. Tell yourself – “I do NOT have all day to get it done.” See # 3 & #4. You don’t have all day. I know it seems that way, but if you want to work at home (doing any job, not just writing) you have to be professional and get your work done during scheduled hours.

6. Dirt doesn’t matter. Leave the dishes, killer dust bunnies and monster laundry piles alone. Believe me, they aren’t going anywhere. You can deal with them later. Like you would if you went to a day job outside of your home.  If you are bothered by these things, sorry, but you have to get over it. Or find a place to work outside of the home.

7. Take a lunch break. See #2. Eating in important to the body and brain’s function.

8. Drink lots of water. Why? So you don’t sit in your chair until your muscles atrophy. Every time you take a bio break, drink some more liquid.

9. Exercise. Especially important if you are staring at  a blank screen or hating your job. Take 10 to 30 minutes and walk (or whatever exercise does it for you – lifting your arm to aim a remote doesn’t count).

10. If you aren’t writing a story, you should be plotting your next one. Use every minute allotted to writing time to advance yourself.

This is the cat's office chair!
This is the queen’s office chair!

11. Fake it till you make it – if your day’s writing is crappy – who cares! It can all be fixed later. That’s what editing is for.

12. Schedule down time. All work and no play, make a writer grumpy and not very good at their job. Granted, if you have a full-time job (like many of us do), then allow yourself a day of rest (or even a few hours). I did this recently – see here.

13. Have fun. Remember, you’re doing this because you wanted to be a writer!

Anyone else have any tips to share?

Why Write Romance & Dangerous Curves Ahead!

| Casey Wyatt

We all have different reasons for writing what we do and for choosing our genres.  Fellow paranormal romance writer Juli D. Revezzo shares her answer at the 7 Scribes today – Why Write Romance? Stop by and say hello!

Speaking of writing. It’s be slow going, but progress has been made. I’ve finally crossed the 46,000 word threshold for Mystic Hero. Yay!

Lachlan’s Curse is around 23,000 words, where it will probably stay until I finish Devlin’s book.

And more importantly, I want to say Congratulations to my friend and fellow Scribe Sugar Jamison. Her debt novel was published this week – Dangerous Curves Ahead. It is a fabulous book!! Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself.

Dangerous Curves Cover

Ellis Garrett is dumping her critical boyfriend, opening a plus-size clothing store, and starting a blog—all to spread the word that fashion shouldn’t require a size-two body, and happiness should allow for the occasional cupcake. Or two. But is indulging fantasies about her sister’s long-ago ex, the still-hunky Michael Edwards, biting off more than she can chew?

Mike must be losing his detective’s touch. He doesn’t recognize Ellis when he bumps into her at Size Me Up, and he certainly doesn’t remember his ex-girlfriend’s outspoken sister being so irresistible. Her curves are indeed dangerous—and so is her wit. Could it be that Ellis is his Perfect Fit? One thing’s for sure: Mike will make it his sworn duty to find out…

Sisterhood Of the World Blogger’s Award

| Casey Wyatt

I am thrilled to receive the Sisterhood of the World Blogger’s Award. Thank you Meggan Connors!

Without further ado, here are my seven tips (since I’ve run out of new things to say about me).

1. Balled up newspaper works great for drying out the inside of drenched sneakers. Next time you get your sneaks soaking wet, try it. You will need to pull out the wet paper and replace it with dry, but it will get the wetness out faster than air drying and using the dryer. Credit fo this tip goes to the Boy Scouts!

2. If you want to read a well written book like 50 Shades of Gray (without actually wasting the time and money and reading the words inner goddess 82 times in one book), then I’d like to recommend Sylvia Day’s Bared to You. Steamy, thrilling and downright dirty, this is the book that should be selling a zillion copies a day.

3. When smelling scented candles, sniff the lid, not the actual candle. By doing this you will get a better idea of what the candle will smell like and how strong the scent will be when it’s lit. Yes, I have a loads of practice candle sniffing at the Yankee Candle Flagship Store (in Deerfield, MA) and at various malls. And speaking of Yankee Candle, my new favorite scent is Whoopie Pie!

4. According to my bestest buddy Lisa – food has no calories when you are standing up. Or if you are at a party. Or if it’s your birthday. Did I miss any? I’m pretty sure that is a load of crap, but it’s fun to believe while snacking. Tee hee!

5. I have never left the continent of North America. I tell my hubby that I must travel to places, like Australia, to prove to myself that other parts of the world are real. I know that they are there, I’m just hoping he will buy my excuse.  Some day. Some day soon, I will explore other places.

6. Movie theater chains make their money from the concession stand and not the actual films. This is why a bottle of water costs $4.00 and popcorn $7.00 (although our local chain give free re-fills on large size, probably because popcorn is dirt cheap to make). I only know this because I worked in a movie theater, where I met hubby.

7. When making grilled cheese, instead of buttering the bread, melt the butter in the pan. This will give it that crunchy, buttery sheen like you get when you eat grilled cheese in a restaurant. What? You never order grilled cheese . . . I told you about my lobster grilled cheese sandwich, remember?

I will now dutifully dispatch the award to:

Recipients, please tell everyone 7 things about yourself, then pass the award to 7 blogger sisters!

And I’m blogging over at the 7 Scribes today – With Rebel Yell – where I share pictures of my latest adventure. And I’m blogging with the Soul Mate authors – Step Back in Time.