For this happy season, we are not going to talk about cancer. Instead, I am going to help you with your holiday shopping. Who doesn’t love a good book? Featuring the wonderful authors of Simon Publishing is a true pleasure. Joanne Simon Tailele Simon Publishing LLC
All of these books by Simon Publishing LLC are available on Amazon.com
Check them out. Buy them for a gift – for others or for yourself.
• Are you feeling like you are stuck on a treadmill and not
going anywhere?
• Are you tired of repeating your same old story?
• Needing clarity with relationships, finances or work?
• Lacking the confidence, you need to move forward?
• Are you feeling the need to let go of your old baggage?
• Is it time to find new direction in your life?
If you’ve answered “YES” to any one of these questions, this
book is for you! this book has various tools to assist you in
clarity and releasing what is no longer serving you.
~Happy Reading~ ox
Let’s give a big welcome to Lisa Ellis, Owner Operator of Boost Your Health Wellness Center and author of What’s Stopping Me From Being Happy.
You come to us with quite the resume.
Certified Life Skills Coach ~ Reiki Master/Teacher ~ NGH Certified Hypnotherapist ~ Energy Facilitator~ Ancient Black Pearl Technique ~ CCMBA (Complete Cellular Mind Body Alignment) and so much more.
JT: I believe everyone at one point in their lives have needed so boosting; whether that is because they are going through a slump, juggling too many life issues at once or suffering from true depression. You are a life safer to so many people.
Let’s talk a little about what people can expect from reading your book. What do you feel is the number one thing people need to learn about themselves to find true happiness?
Lisa: Clarity is the key to unlocking potential and recognition of personal drivers. Understanding and leveraging personal drivers can have a substantial positive impact on motivation and collaborative energy in our lives. I’ve assisted individuals with self-esteem challenges, overcome employment barriers and demonstrate the value of building bridges toward a healthier community through life skills coaching. I apply interaction and thought-provoking messages to guide an individual toward self-discovery and self-awareness. Each step increases confidence through a personalized program enabling participants to explore new opportunities with clarity. I share positive information/tools on how to declutter your mind, body and soul
JT: How did you get started in this field of work?
Lisa: I first started doing women’s shelters in Canada as a volunteer as soon as I left my abusive marriage 1988. They had helped me so much to get my strength and courage up at that time and I thought this is my time to now pay it forward as a volunteer- I use to help them with the children when they first arrived as they were so lost and scared as most of them ended in the shelters at night. I was also on the crisis line. I would sit with the moms and listen to their stories, Afterall we all have one, some worsts then others. I then realized this was my calling to help women, as I too knew where they came from and how difficult it could be when you are alone or think you are. I am happy to say I have kept my calling to this day, by assisting others with workshops and now my new book. Most of my clients/students have been women, but I just got a contract to now help Men in AA (alcoholics anonymous). I will be doing retreats and workshops for them in Canada, starting this June. I truly hope when I return to Fort Myers at the end of November, I will also be doing the same here for women and men. I have spent more than two decades assisting not-for-profit organization and developing programs for personal and professional enhancement.
JT: Fascinating. My daughter also teaches life lessons with her non-profit, Connection Coalition in Miami. Perhaps someday you can work together.
Let’s talk about your book. What did you like best about writing this book?
Lisa: Since the book is a culmination of many of my workshops, it was the perfect vehicle to provide these tools to more people in the comfort of their own home without the need to come to my own personal workshop/center.
JT: What about the cover? How much input did you have in the design?
Lisa: I designed my own, I painted my first cover 3 years ago- it was exactly what I had seen on my cover. They then put it in more professional look. Here is a copy of my original design.
JT: How do you market your book?
Lisa: People like you who are kind and take the time. I also offer my book at my workshops. It can also be found on my website, wwww.boostyourhealth.ca on my Facebook, Newspapers, press release, also sold online at most major retailers. I must say “finding the time to market is always my challenge. I truly appreciate this.
JT: If you were to give advice to a new author, what would it be?
Lisa: Find the right publisher, do the research, don’t rush on your first offer. A book with no regrets is how I feel mine is. I made changes right to last minute. I have no regrets.
JT: Thank you Lisa, for sharing your time with us. It has been a pleasure.
Readers: Below are all the links that you can find her book.
https://books.apple.com/us/book/whats-stopping-me-from-being-happy/id1588308083
https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000181127008
As mothers and daughters, we are connected with one another. My mother is the bones of my spine, keeping me straight and true. She is my blood, making sue it runs rich and strong. She is the beating of my heart. I cannot now imagine a life without her.” Kristin Hannah , Summer Island
“Think for a minute, darling: in fairy tales it’s always the children who have the fine adventures. The mothers have to stay at home and wait for the children to fly in the window” Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife
“I wonder if other mothers feel a tug sat their insides, watching their children grow up into the people they themselves wanted so badly to be.” Jodi Picoult, Keeping Faith
Motherhood is a complicated profession, and anyone that does not consider it a profession, most assuredly has never been one. My own mother passed away in 1996, and I still miss her every day, The woman she was when she left us was the not the Mom I remember. Mom was a five foot two spit-fire. She walked so fast that I could never keep up with her. Mom, clad in a red terry bathrobe, stuck her curlered head in the oven to dry her hair while she ran around the red Formica-countered kitchen preparing casseroles to take to family reunions. Mom did head-stand contests with my brothers and I to the utter dismay of my father who would come home from work and bend at his waist to look at my upside-down mother and ask “What for dinner?” Mom never understood how I never learned to cook, when I spent seventeen years of my life perched on the red stool in the kitchen babbling away while she cooked. She said, “I thought you were paying attention.” Ugh – sorry Mom, not. Mom rode my brother’s mini-bike on a dare – and drove it right up a tree. We tried real hard not to laugh. Mom loved fast cars, her favorite being her 1966 red Ford Mustang. Are you seeing a pattern here of red? Her favorite color and so fitting of her personality.
When I married, moved away and lived in multiple states, I gave little thought to my mother sitting home in the now quite house with a stoic husband who rarely spoke. Her household went from a boisterous family of six to a sedate family of two in only two years. My heart breaks for her now, and I can only hope she understands that I finally get it. One of her favorite saying to me was, “You won’t understand until your are a mother yourself.” No truer words could ever have been spoken.
Parts of motherhood came easy – the loving them unconditionally part. Others, not so much. I am the proud mother of three daughters and a son. As a grandmother many times over now, I see the short-comings I made as a mother. As hallowed as the word “mother” is, we are a flawed species. We make mistakes – lots of them, and we carry the guilt of those mistakes with us forever. We fall to pieces easily – whether it’s a joyful or a sad occasion. Tears are a part of who we are. And sometimes – if we have to defend our young, we will fight to the death. It’s a humbling existence to be a Mom. You often feel set aside, obsolete, forgotten. But I’ll tell you this – if you did your job even half right, your thoughts, your words and actions will be so ingrained in your children, that even when they don’t think they are listening to you, their sub-conscious is. The most we can hope for is when are time comes, and the good Lord looks at his list, checking of “mother” as your profession, He says, “Come on in, well done.”
Tell me your favorite mother story – either as a Mom or about your own Mom – or someone that fit the bill of Mom. Being a Mom does not have to be genetic.
People have asked me why I chose the name, Writing Under Fire, for my blog. Many times, finding the time to write is near impossible with my busy life. Therefore, even though writing is my passion, I must put my “feet to the fire” and force myself not to let distractions like, eating, sleeping, working my day job, cleaning house, cooking (trust me, nobody want me to do that.) Who needs that stuff anyhow?
Are you burning the candle at both ends?
Writers, do you struggle to find the time to write? What is your secret to keep you writing? Do have a dedicated time every day to write? Do you scratch out words sitting in your car to pick up kids from school, or sitting on a bench during your child’s soccer practice?
Or if you are an avid reader, do you skip other essentials in order to read? I’d love to hear from you.
#writing #reading #passion
It’s November 1st – that means another year of NANOWRIMO. No idea what that means? NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth.
Join hundreds of thousands of other authors in the writing challenge to write a complete novel in thirty days. That’s right. Thirty days. Criteria must be a minimum of 50,000 words. That’s it. Any genre, any style of writing.
For those of you already familiar with NANOWRIMO, you have probably been planning and outlining like crazy getting ready for this event. But even if you haven’t, you can still jump into the fun. Can you write 1667 words per day? You’ll never know unless you try.
My first novel, Accident, was a NANO book, squeaking through at 50,000 and a few words. By the time, it was ready to roll off the presses (two and half years later), it had grown into a grown-up novel of 80K.
A few things to keep in mind when you write your NANO book.
Good Luck and Happy Writing
Pretty simple: Goal = to be traditionally published.
Thanks for all of you sticking with me through my journey. So now comes the good news and the bad. The good . . . no, let me take that back, the GREAT news is that an agent requested a partial on my manuscript.
The not bad, but not great news. That is still a long way away from signing a deal. She didn’t ask for an exclusive, so I am moving forward submitting queries. And yes, I am still on target at seven a week, but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking:
What if it isn’t good enough?
What if it is?
How much will an agent or publisher want me to change?
Will my title go down the drain?
How do I feel about giving up the control I enjoy as a self-published author?
As you can see, I have more questions than I do answers.
But hang in there with me. I am only a few months into my goal of finding an agent within a year.
Have you recently found an agent? How long did it take you? Has your agent found you a publisher? I would love to hear about your journey as well.
Please comment. If you do, I will put your name in the hate for a copy of one of my currently published books; your choice, Accident, Town Without Mercy, What is Family or Within Her Grasp.
I made it through the funeral of a beloved soldier. RIP SSG. Danny Wenger. I tried to stay up to to date on the Query/Synopsis class from WFWA during that ordeal. Laura Drake (bless her heart) helped me tighten my query. Then I made it through a move away from my beloved island. (even if it is only five miles down the road) Everything is put away, pictures are hung, everything is in the exact right place. So…. no more excuses. Time to get back to sending out queries for my manuscript.
So far, I have sent out sixteen queries, eight have responded with form letter “no thank-you’s” and eight have been silent, which is most likely eight more rejections. But stubborn as I am, I’m not going to close those out in Query Tracker until sixty days. How many of you use Query Tracker? It is super to keep things organized and at a quick glance.
Armed with a fresh new query and a synopsis I am still not totally sure of (is anybody?), I am jumping back into the arena. I have had friends tell me that “nobody has a chance at the Big Five unless you are already James Patterson or the like.” I don’t believe it. Within the last couple of weeks, several of my WFWA friends have signed contracts with publishers. If they can do it, so can I.
#Dorothy Van Soest is excited to announce the release of her new novel, #At The Center by Amazon.
#Barbara Claypole White‘s next novel, #Missing in Madness was sold to Lake Union Publishing in a two book deal by Nalini Akolekar at Spencerhill Associates!
Congratulations to both of you!!
My goal, send seven queries in the next seven days, and seven more the next week, etc. Hold me to my task.
Are you out there querying? Getting discouraged? Let’s band together and support each other. Smack me upside my virtual head when I whine, when I want to quit. And I’ll do the same from you. I would love to hear from other struggling authors, waiting to be discovered. Perhaps we can share queries and synopsis to help tweak us into fame and fortune – or at least publication. #nomoreexcuses #strugglingauthors #roadtopublication.
As this search for and an agent continues, one phrase keeps popping into my head that my Grandmother used to say, “Who ever said life was fair.”
The reason I think of this so often is because we, as authors, must adhere to strict guidelines for our query, synopsis or manuscript. For example, always address the agent by his/her name, put Query in the subject line, no attachments, etc. for the query. Not that I mind these, but they are “industry standards.” Another standard; synopsis must be in present tense, even if your story is in past tense. And of course, don’t forget your manuscript – double spaced, one inch margins, Times anew Roman 12 pt.
That’s all fine and good, but there is NO industry standard for agents. They can ask for a million different combinations. (maybe not a million – but you get the picture). One agent wants a query and first five pages. The next wants a query, a 3-5 page synopsis and the first chapter. Agent number three wants a query, a “short” synopsis (Does that mean a one page or a 3-5 page?) and the first 25 pages. Most now want email with no attachments, but a few still want queries snail-mailed or they Havre an online form. There is absolutely no consistency. And if you get it wrong, it is an automatic into the circular file. 
Thank God for #Query Tracker. Wouldn’t it be nice if they had to adhere to “industry standards” like we, as writers do? I know. Quit whining. Buck up. #Who ever said like was fair?
As for an update, I am plugging along, adding more agents. Not up to 14 yet, but the week is not over. Still optimistic. Non word from any of the submissions yet. I’ll keep you posted.
Tip# 7 Most Likely to Succeed
Many writers seem to have a rough time in high school – how else can you explain the frustrated teenager protagonists of novels like A Separate Peace or The Catcher in the Rye? The good news is, the most exhilarating – and embarrassing – moments of adolescence can be channeled into great fiction, and you can summon the memories just by opening your Senior Class yearbook.
Imagine what happened to “Most Likely to Succeed” and “Most Popular.” Write about the class clown who defied everyone’s expectations and became a celebrity. Tell us which of your former teachers initiated an affair with one of his or her students. Show us the secret life of the Cafeteria Lunch Lady. Relive the glacial passage of time in a high school detention session, or the petty jealousies involved I the planning of the school musical.
Use as many of your high school memories as you wish, but feel free to embellish or alter “the truth” as you go along. Personal revenge fantasies that involve “Most Popular” are permitted.
By Jason Rekulak
Can you recall a high school incident that you can twist into a storyline in your current WIP? Tell us about it – fully embellished – and please no real names of characters.
Mari-Rae Sopper knew what she wanted to be since she was ten-years-old; when she watched Nadia Comãneci score that “perfect ten” at the Montreal Olympics. She wanted to be a professional gymnast. So she made a plan.
Driven by excellence and determination, “Mari-Rae put Fremd on the map,” according to Larry Petrillo, her high school coach. She moved on to be a formidable opponent in college gymnasts at Iowa State University and an impressive defense attorney for the Navy JAG core.
Within Her Grasp chronicles Mari-Rae’s journey to reach her dream while battling emotional issues that soared her to the skies and plunged her into the depths of despair, drove her to veer from her plan, but never from her dream.
“A beautiful thing about Mari-Rae was that she did more than get upset when she saw injustice – she acted on many of her convictions. She had an undying belief in doing the right thing, regardless of mainstream thinking.” Jennifer Eichenmueller
“Mari-Rae was known for a dramatic flair. Her letters were no postcards – five pages front and back, hand-written and smeared because she was a lefty. They were her manifestos, read and re-read with notes in the margins, until they were perfect, because she wanted you to know exactly where she stood. And that’s what we could count on, her honest opinion.” Dave Eck
“She lived her life basically like she wasn’t going to be here tomorrow. If she believed in something, she went all the way, and I think if more people did that, they’d be happier.” Mari-Rae’s mother, Marion Kiminek
On June 19, you may use this link, https://www.createspace.com/5487598 . Also available on Amazon.com and on my website, http://www.joannetailele.com
Writing Under Fire 