Life at Home

by Joanne Rock

Greetings from the housebound to the housebound! I hope this week finds you healthy and safe while we adjust to a new normal. For my part, I'm mostly adapting to how to bring groceries safely into my house and trying to figure out where the next roll of toilet paper will come from. But the work from home isolation is something I'm long accustomed to as a writer.

In the years that I was first disciplining myself to write books, the adjustment to so much alone time was a big one. Then, just when I got a rhythm going, my significant other started working from home too, and there was a whole new learning curve of being productive with someone else in the house. I see a lot of friends online struggling with both of these-- being productive while isolated, and being productive while isolated with someone else.

My best advice for the former is to pay attention to your high productivity times. If you're no longer tied to 9-5, it can be a surprise to discover you are most effective at your job from 7pm to 11pm. But if that's what works for you, go with it! Don't ignore your natural ebbs and flows of good work energy. My other advice is to mix up your work tasks so you're not stuck doing one kind of work all day long. Varying your tasks and putting time limits on them can help you accomplish more.

As for being productive while there are others in the house with you? I liked being really mobile with a laptop so I could seek out quiet places in the house wherever they happened to be. Kids take over your office? Go find an empty bedroom to work in. Spouse decide to chat while you need to focus? Tomorrow, try working with headphones on. Your family isn't trying to disrupt you. They just lack the visual cues to remind them you're working.

A good deal! https://books2read.com/TheRebel

But sometimes the biggest stumbling block to being  productive at home is YOU. Before you dismiss it, consider this-- is there any chance you're self-sabotaging without realizing it? You like to be the go-to family chef so you jump up to prep food four times a day for various people? Or maybe you're the only one who knows how to accomplish certain things at home, so those around you are used to relying on you for help with those things. Stop this. Teach each kid a task you used to be responsible for and let them manage it. Relinquish some house control for the sake of your work life.

For your downtime, of course, I hope you're taking advantage of the oodles of deals on books right now. I know I've downloaded tons of free and .99 cent books. My friend author Eva Moore is compiling a nice list on Facebook, but I know there are lots more lists out there. My first-in-series book, The Rebel is just .99 through the weekend, so please go grab it, and stay safe!

An introvert's nightmare...

  
I just attended my very first reader event: Angels & Sirens in Washington, PA. That might not sound like a big deal but when you're an introvert, the prospect of putting yourself "out there" in the middle of hundreds of strangers can be a little daunting. 

It's not that I can't "turn on"--in addition to being in the fire department, I also worked retail, so I can generally flip my internal switch and make it work. That doesn't make it any less daunting…or less exhausting. But I committed and yes, a small part of me was actually excited about it.

Of course, I stressed the two weeks prior, wondering what to bring. Swag? Check. Chocolate? Check. Author banner and table runner? Check. Books?

Okay, yeah, that should be a no-brainer. Of course books. I mean, that's the whole purpose of going to a book signing, right? But how many? Should I bring copies of each title (that's 16 titles in case you're wondering)? If so, how many of each? Just focus on the new release? On the last two releases? Five copies? Ten copies? Eek!

The better plan: just throw a bunch of books in several boxes and load up the truck and be done with it. Okay, maybe not the best plan around, but I made it work. Mostly.

So I loaded up my truck and headed west, arriving entirely too early on Friday. Unloaded the truck (and I swear those boxes of books and swag multiplied during the 4-hour drive!) then…then what?  

Well, I surprised myself by not hiding in my room. I actually went to the lobby, grabbed a coffee, and got in some writing. Sounds brave, huh? Not really: a handful of my hockey romance buddies were also attending, so I was hanging out, waiting for them.

We had already made plans to grab dinner Friday night then go to the Pens game. Part of me thinks that was harder than playing extrovert! Why? Because I'm a Caps fan and felt like I was going deep into enemy territory! I still had fun, because I got to hang with my fellow authors and even a few readers who joined us, which made it worthwhile! 

(L-R): Representing my Caps deep in enemy territory; me and Cat, my uber-awesome PA, before the game; yes, I brought way too much stuff!

Then it was Saturday, the day of the event. I lugged all my stuff over to the signing room (making a mental note to never bring so much crap with me again!) and, with the help of my uber-awesome PA, Cat Parisi, got everything set up so it looked nice and pretty.

Then I sat there, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Would anyone buy my books? Would anyone stop by to say hi? Would people just blow by my table, carefully avoiding all eye contact? 

Thankfully, no. And after the first hour, I was finally able to bury my inclination to crawl under the table, curl up into a little ball, and hide. And I had a blast! It was so much fun meeting fans (who knew I actually had real fans!!) and talking with everyone. Was I exhausted afterward? Absolutely. But it was a good exhaustion, the kind where you're tired but it's the kind of tired you get from being busy and having a successful day. So yeah, I'd count my first reader event as a success. And yes, in case you're wondering, I came back with quite a bit less stuff! 

Would I have been as comfortable if not for my hockey romance buds? Hard to say. Maybe, maybe not. But having them there certainly helped--we're a team, helping each other out, just being there to support one another.

Kinda like the hockey teams I write about! And speaking of hockey teams…

I recently launched a new hockey series, The York Bombers. Book 1, PLAYING THE GAME, came out last month and is receiving some great 5-star reviews (hooray me!). The next title in the series, PLAYING TO WIN, releases next week. The hero in PTW was so much fun to write. Jason loves to win, on and off the ice, but he doesn't always notice what's right there in front of him--until it's almost too late. When he meets Megan, he realizes that winning isn't always easy…and fighting to win makes the prize that much sweeter!

Playing The Game is on sale now for 99 cents, so you can pick up your copy here. And, of course, you can preorder Playing To Win by clicking here. 

So how about you? Are you an introvert or extrovert? Any tips or tricks to surviving those social situations? I'm all ears and eager to learn…because yeah, I have a few more author events to attend this year (you can check out my scheduled events here). Maybe I'll see some of you there! Don't be afraid to stop by and say hi--I'll have lots of chocolate and goodies to pave the way, and I'll be eternally grateful for the company!

Until next month!

LBK

         

All Work, No Play?

We ran away from home on Sunday.

Both my husband and I worked non stop last week. I was trying to catch up in my Fortress Of Literature. That's what my son calls my attic office. My husband worked a bunch of overtime.

Sunday was his only day off and he still has some winterizing to do, wrapping taps and tying trees. It's been a remarkably warm November. Normally we have snow by now, so that outside work really, really needs to be done. He's playing chicken with the weather, he really is.

Me, I'm always on deadline and I have about a million emails I have to answer so I couldn't really afford a day off.

He did have Monday booked off, but that was because he had to drive three hours for a specialist appointment. Small town is wonderful until you really need something, like carpal tunnel surgery. Then you're feeling the distance to civilization.

You also feel it when you want to see a new, big screen movie. Everyone was raving about The Arrival and our little theatre is usually a few weeks behind.

So there we were, drinking coffee Sunday morning, talking about all the things we had to get done, and somehow decided to play hooky from all of it. (We did manage to take out the garbage, since it was garbage day.) Then we left a day early for his appointment, got a hotel, saw the movie (which was wonderful and thought provoking and poignantly beautiful), then saw his doctor and drove home in the sunshine, rejuvenated and not feeling the least bit guilty.

Now I'm back at my desk and my eyes are crossing at my To Do list, but sometimes you have to make hay while the sun shines, right? Also, it's been my goal for a long while to find a better work/life balance. Having fun with loved ones keeps your relationships strong.

Face-time (the real kind) is also how you build a relationship, which is what Nicki does when she helps Quincy connect with his son, Atlas, in His Christmas Miracle. She designs an Advent calendar of activities they all do together. One reviewer on Netgalley said:

"His Christmas Miracle is such a loving, family romance. Sound strange? Not really. This isn’t about a man and a woman falling in love. This story is all about falling in love with a family. Father and son. Man and woman. Woman and child. Family love."

I hope you'll check it out. There's even a link to download your own Advent calendar included in the back of the book.

ON SALE!

Also look for Blame The Mistletoe, Book Two in my Love In Montana series, on sale for a few more days at 99c. (All of my books can be read as stand-alones, but you'll visit with Liz from Blame The Mistletoe in His Christmas Miracle.)

How do you like to spend time with friends and family? Have you had any fun, impulsive getaways lately? Even for an hour?



Bio:

Dani Collins is the USA Today Bestselling author of thirty romances for Harlequin Presents, Montana Born and herself. She lives in Canada with her high school sweetheart. Join Dani's newsletter list and receive Cruel Summer, a short ebook romance, as a welcome gift. Sign up here.

Bundle Up!

We had our first snow the other day. I didn't take a photo. It was slushy and not very pretty and disappeared right away, but it was a reminder that winter is a-coming. When I went for my daily walk, I wore a proper jacket with a scarf and gloves and a toque. (In Canada we call these toques.)

This is my husband, who ran outside last winter to do a couple of quick chores and grabbed the first one that came to hand. Wouldn't you know that my sister and brother-in-law arrived at precisely that moment to catch him not only wearing the goofiest toque in Canada, but wearing it backwards.

Here I am wearing the one I usually wear for my walks, unless it's super cold. This photo is also from last winter, when my daughter was home from uni and we took a walk down to the beach.

It's not all cold days here in the Canadian winter.

In fact, I grew up near Vancouver, which is Pacific Northwest rain for most of the winter (year.) At least it was while I was growing up! All bets seem to be off, these days.

When we moved into the interior of BC, and had snow that accumulated all winter, I finally felt like a real Canadian. The truth is, however, our winters are very mild compared to the rest of the country. We're hideously spoiled. Shhh.

But we wouldn't appreciate fine weather without the blustery stuff, would we? So even though the last few days have been damp and gloomy (we needed the rain!) I'm embracing it. Besides, is there any better weather for curling up with a book?

Given that reading days are upon us, I wanted to let you know about these fabulous deals on boxed sets.  How better to stock up for the rain and snow and no-place-to-go season?

My anthology, A Year Of Love In Marietta, is 99c until Nov 22. This is a bundle of my four Montana Born novellas (Hometown Hero, Blame The Mistletoe, The Bachelor's Baby & His Blushing Bride.) I wrote some bonus scenes just for this collection, so if you've read some (or all) of these, you'll definitely want to grab this while it's 99c!

The Montana Homecoming boxed set is also 99c through November. This is a fabulous collection of sweet and sexy stories about coming home. This was my first series with Montana Born so it really is a kind of homecoming for me to see it released. This was my first group of Tule author friends! Hi gals!

Finally, the Montana Born Christmas boxed set is 1.99 as I write this, but will be going up soon so act fast. You cannot go wrong with this USA Today Bestselling bundle!

You can find all of these on all the major digital platforms (Amazon, Nook, Kobo, iBooks, GooglePlay, Smashwords.) I guarantee they'll keep you warm this winter!

Susan Sands: Busy Times

There's always something shaking around here at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs. I love all the fun topics and favorite authors who appear almost daily!      

Hopefully, I can keep up.

My debut novel, AGAIN, ALABAMA, was released back in June from Tule Publishing Group, and let me tell you, it's been a wild ride. Wild for me, anyway. I used to be a stay-at-home-waiting-to-be-published mom. I'm still a mom, and I still stay at home--a lot. But now it seems like I'm constantly begging someone to buy my book. Between Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Twitter, etc., it feels like a hamster wheel of non-stop self-promotion. It isn't for the faint of heart. I miss just writing. But I'm not ungrateful--just busy.

My oldest son recently graduated from college and moved home, the other is a senior in high school, and the girl just started driving--alone. And I'm supervising home improvements in preparation for putting the house on the market. Granite, tile, plumbing. Today I called 9-1-1 because the gas line we ran to the new stove was leaking. Yeah, that's the kind of fun we're having at my house.

I hope y'all are having a better kind of fun today.

I'm looking forward to connecting with new readers here now that I'll be a regular contributor!

(Here's a little more shameless self-promo) Great news!! AGAIN, ALABAMA will be on sale for only .99 beginning Saturday, October 3rd for a week on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and iBooks.

You can find me at all the fun places on social media:

email:  snsands@gmail.com
Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/susannsandsauthor?ref=hl
Blog:  susansands.com
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25594783-again-alabama
Twitter:  @susannoelsands