Today I am so excited! On Week 4 of the Awe-Struck Authors Holly Jolly Blog Tour, my visitor is the fabulous author, Christine London!
And this week you can find me visiting with the wonderful Kelley Heckhart at <http://www.kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/>
Welcome, Christine!
Hi Regina! Thanks for hosting me this week on your lovely blog. Some good questions this week:
How do you manage your writing/reading schedule with all the other activities around the holidays?
There really is no magic. The things you value in life you make time to accomplish, even if done in fits and spurts. I remember when I was working as an after school curriculum specialist and driver for a church-run program. Even when I was in line waiting in the church van for the kids to get out of school, I would bring out my composition journal and pen a few lines on my work in progress.
Perhaps Stephen King said it best: "Amateurs wait for their muse, the rest of us get up and go to work."
The holidays should be fun. If you so over schedule your time, I believe you really ought to reexamine. Where is the joy? Nevertheless, holidays or not, one does what one values. Where you are/what you do, there lies your heart. To be an author you have to have the heart for it or it will show in your work. If you can't find time to write, perhaps you don't have the heart.
No job is all perfume and roses. We all have to soldier on through the rough or undesirable patches. As in any job - one just does it. No excuses, move forward. Professional or amateur? Professionals show up.
Reading is like dessert: it is my reward and relaxation before sleep. I might not burn through a book, but as in the old adage 'How do you eat and elephant? Answer: one bite at a time.' —the book eventually gets read and then I write a review on Amazon and Goodreads because as an author, I know how precious and pivotal are those reader reviews. On the rare occasion I do not like a book, I do not review it. Most readers don't realize that a three star or less review can be harmful to an author's career— especially a new or lesser known author, so I just don't do it. Sometimes what's best said is not said at all.
Thankfully almost all works that make it far enough to be published have lots of redeeming qualities, even if they are not 100% my cuppa tea. Thank heavens we do not all have the same tastes. Most books will appeal to a group of readers and deserve to find them. I can nearly always find the good in a book and pass it on to others who might be considering it as their next read.
How about traveling during the holidays: do you go visiting or have you in the past? What has that been like? Have there been any absent family members during the holidays ? How has it effected your writing; have you used any of that in your stories?
The holidays are almost always at home. When my parents were alive, I went to their home. Now I host family and friends in theirs, now mine. Not everyone has a place people enjoy gathering. They may not have the space or the capability. I am so grateful to have a home full of so many memories, so I love to open it to others.
To me, it is a season for seeing people you don't get to see often enough— and reconnect. There is much joy in that.
Absent members are keenly missed. Tears fall more easily at this time of year. Some live too far away to take the necessary time off from work or the money travel requires. Whatever the reason, those people are always in my heart.
Yes, all my life experiences colour my stories. This year I have taken the plunge into short stories, my first Nottinghill Scrooge speaks to absence at the holidays and how profoundly it can bruise the heart.
Sara Wright needs this holiday job at Nottinghill's historic Coronet Cinema to pay her tuition, but her handsome boss Robert is a thorn in the side of every usher who breathes. She knows there must be more to a man who breaks his own rules to rescue a child. Can she figure out the puzzle before he self-destructs along with her job?
I hope it touches many reader's hearts.
This will be my second Christmas without my father, my mother, my only brother. I lost them all within eighteen months of each other. Is it tough? Sure it is, but all that they were will always be with me. I have and have had so many people in my life for whom I am grateful. As some pass on, others arrive. Life is a journey. So many people to love. Every moment, every person, precious.
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Christine's most recent release:
Nottinghill Scrooge at AMAZON for 99 cents : click here
Sara Wright needs this holiday job at Nottinghill's historic cinema to pay her tuition, but her handsome boss Robert is a thorn in the side of every usher who breathes. She knows there must be more to a man who breaks his own rules to rescue a child. Can she figure out the puzzle before he self-destructs and she loses so much more than her job?
You can find, follow and/or contact Christine London :
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