How To Stay in the Desk Chair Saddle

I spent years trying to figure out how to keep my butt in my chair and my hands on the keys (also known as BICHOK). Somehow I finally stumbled on the secret—at least for me. If there's a rule in this crazy writing business, it's that nothing works for everybody. This thing I figured out, it wasn't about tricks and self-discipline. What it is about is motivation—and to get myself motivated I had to do some serious self-searching. It wasn't easy, but it worked for me.

The basis of this self-searching toward motivation starts with some questions:

1. For you, is writing a hobby, a part-time job, a career, something else entirely?

2. Looking at your answer to the above, decide how much time, money, effort you are willing/able to put into writing to make it what you want it to be.

3. Depending on your answer to the above, decide what you want to achieve over the next few weeks, months, years. Set a goal that seems reasonable to you, then add more time to that to leave room for things taking longer than you think they will, and for the inevitable delays.

These questions and answers will change over time, so be sure to reevaluate frequently. Now you know if what you're currently doing is too little—or too much—time, money, effort to get you where you want to be.
Now you have what you need for self-motivation. Look at your goals and what you need to do to reach them. Each day you can evaluate how you're doing and if you need to maybe get your BICHOK going. It's much easier to get yourself going if you have a clear goal of what you want to achieve and the time frame in which you want to achieve it.

Have a happy and successful holiday week!
Cheryel
www.cheryelhutton.com

Holiday Madness

This is the first year in many that I'm not working in retail, so I'm actually looking forward to the holidays. It was bad enough when I sold jewelry, and we fought for the chance to work on Christmas Eve, hoping to be the one helping those men who bought last minute and often impulsively. Worse yet when I worked part time at a craft store, because although by Christmas Eve the store was quiet, by then we had already moved on to the spring stock and it felt as though I'd had enough of Christmas already... in fact I'd felt that way since some time in October!

So I plan to "do" Christmas this year, rather than just throw the tree up a couple of days before-hand and pretend it was enough. And where does that leave my writing? I'm not 100% sure. I'm not used to being able to produce at this time of the year, so it'll be a novel experience (pun intended, hopefully) to actually have a bit more time to devote to it. With the kids grown and all having their own things to do, and most of our families far away, I think it'll be fairly quiet around here. Not ideal perhaps, since this is the time for families, but until I have a grandchild or two (looks innocent) I think this is how things will go.

Now just to entice my old witch of a muse to get her butt off whatever beach she's hanging out on and come home for the holidays! I have the next book in the Unveiled Seductions series to write. In the mean time, here's a sneak peek of my next release.

Coming soon from Ellora's Cave: Jaguar in the Sun Available December 4, 2013

Jaguar in the Sun

Anya Richards

Book four in the Unveiled Seductions series.

Cassandra Solinar has a bucket list and jaguar god Xbal Montegro is on it. About to undergo an essential rite she won’t survive, she wants to wring every ounce of pleasure out of the time left. Including discovering if Xbal’s sex magic technique is as good as rumored.

It’s no hardship for Xbal to accept Cassandra’s invitation for one erotic encounter, but far more difficult to let her go once he gets a taste of the explosive passion between them. Now he’s determined to hold on to her, no matter what.

Cassie can’t tell Xbal the truth about what she’s about to do. It’s illegal, but without her death the entire world will perish. It’s a job she’s been preparing for from birth, but the loss will be greater now. For in Xbal she finds a soul-deep connection she doesn’t want to lose, and the one thing she made a point of not putting on her bucket list—love.

A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Tips for Staying On The Writing Track...Oh, Look! A Kitty.

We all know how hard it is to stay on ANY track during the holidays.

The Eating Right train jumps right off the rails.

Making Daily Word-Count train hits all sorts of delays. Hey, Eating Right train, move your sluggish caboose!

Exercise to Fit in the Skinny Jeans train is held back at the station on account of weather and it's too flippin' cold to put the miles in.

For me, keeping to a writing schedule is going to be even harder this holiday season due to the addition of a new family member. Her name? The Cat. I know, highly original. I've called her many things like Monkey (when she's in one of her crazy moods and climbs up my leg), Devil (for the times she attacks me), Pretty Girl, Goofball, and Mystery. My boys call her The Cat and that name stuck.

The Cat used to be wild. She showed up one day, hunting in the field behind our house. Early in the morning, she'd wander into our fenced yard and our old dog would chase her out. When we tried to get near her, she took off. She was a true scaredy cat. But this was a good thing. Being cautious had kept her alive in the wilds of our neighborhood.

One day, my youngest son told me that he wanted to try to make friends with the wild cat. This is the same boy who has wanted a cat his entire life, but because our front yard butts up to a busy street and because we have coyotes in the area, we have always told him "sorry, no." It's a dangerous place for a cat.

I was worried about the kitty in the field.

We put dog food in a plate. The Cat was hungry, but she was also afraid. She wouldn't come when we were outside. We went in and watched her from the window. She woolfed the dog food like it was going out of style. Slowly we opened the door, but when she saw us, she skeedaddled. Here is a picture of her that's blurry because she was in a constant state of  motion. The shoes give you and idea of how small she was.

A little while later we put more food out and my son and I sat down near the plate. She ate quickly, keeping her eyes on us. Slowly, she approached. I didn't reach out to touch her, but I spoke softly. Several minutes later, she touched me. I petted her head. She jerked back, but came in again. We got to know one another and she let me pick her up.  I wish I had video of this because I have never seen anything like it. In my arms, she wouldn't hold still--love me, stroke me, here, now here, and here...Don't stop! She was starved for love and physical contact.

She curled up into me so tight, purring like a machine. She was amazingly light. With all that fur, I had no idea she was so skinny. I could feel her bones. I called my husband and told him we had a cat. My son was overjoyed.

We didn't bring her in at first. She was really afraid of going inside. But with lots of love and encouragement, she eventually did venture in for a few minutes as long as we kept the door open. And now? Well, see for yourself.

This is The Cat asleep on my hubby.

Here she is asleep on her favorite soft blanket on the couch.

And here she is awake.

I wanted to show you this one so that you could see her long ear hair. Amazing, right? 

She sleeps in the garage at night right next to....drum roll....The Dog. Seriously, this wild cat who used to be terrified of the dog who chased her everyday is now sleeping next to him. Sometimes they rub noses.

Is she still a scaredy cat? Yes. Loud noises completely freak her out. And if anyone visits us she won't come into the house. She peeks her nose through the door, smells foreigners and disappears for days. The vet agreed that she was a wild cat. 

But with us? She's family.

So how will I stay on track and keep writing during the holiday season? With The Cat on my lap.

Kimberley Troutte

www.kimberleytroutte.com