Eve Gaddy: Confessions of an Office Supply Junkie

There. I've admitted it. I love office supplies. I've written more than one blog about them because, well, it's an addiction.:) I was going to the office supply store the other day to buy mailing envelopes for a weekly giveaway on my Facebook page-- www.facebook.com/evegaddyauthor --Marvelous Mondays, if you're interested. Anyway, I needed size #2 bubble mailing envelopes. That. Is. All. I. Needed.

The first temptation, other than computers, of course, were the jump drives of various cartoon figures. Loony Toons, Superheroes, dinosaurs, turtles, penguins, you name it, there's probably a jump drive shaped like it. I have approximately 437 jump drives. I like to keep separate ones for each book, for other business related stuff, for old projects in case I need them. But my drives are not by any means full.

Sometimes I have a reason for choosing which drive goes with which book. Often I do not, or at least, not one I know of. 

For the Billionaire's Charade, Amalfi Night Billionaires Book 5, which just came out, I used the little spaceman. I don't know why. Perhaps because it's set on an exotic island?

For several of the Whiskey River books I used the fish. I have no idea why. Because I liked it?

And for Cry Love, my interracial, reincarnation, romantic suspense book, I used Bugs Bunny. Since it deals with heavy topics I must have thought I needed some levity. I love Bugs. He makes me laugh. But back to the store, I managed to avoid putting any jump drives in my basket, even though they had some new-to-me ones that were only $9.99!  Then I went down the notebook aisle.

These are just a sampling of my hundreds of notebooks. Some are pristine, having never been used. Some have very few pages because I try to rip out the old, unnecessary pages. Some are important. They are not organized by book, though I try. But again, I do not need notebooks. Of any size. Yet I had to drag myself away from the notebook aisle.

After swinging back by the jump drives and resisting temptation again, I narrowly avoided the pens and calendars. I looked at the doo-dads for the office, organizer files, pen holders, and the like. I looked at the office furniture, and no, I don't need that either. Eventually I made it out of the store with a box of the envelopes I went to buy and a three-tier small desk organizer to use for the SWAG I send with my weekly giveaways. Yes, I actually needed what I bought. But I felt like I'd run a marathon. I was totally exhausted from forcing myself to be practical! Next time I'm buying something I want that I don't need.

I have just discovered that there are writers out there who DO NOT have an addiction to office supplies. I didn't think such a thing was possible. But one of my friends, a wonderful writer, said that office supplies are necessary but why would I be addicted to them?

To say I was shocked is putting it mildly. I don't know whether to pity her because she'll never know the joy of having 8,000 pens, 427 jump drives, 952 notebooks, countless labels, sticky notes, stickers and other various and sundry items, or to ask her what her secret is.

How about you? Are you a "I can take them or leave them" or someone who likes nothing better than to browse office supply stores and lust over the goodies inside?

One lucky commenter will win one of my giveaway packages. A signed copy of Cry Love, a Tule Book Girls book bag, and lots of SWAG. Visit Eve at her newly revamped website www.evegaddy.net, @evegaddy on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EveGaddyAuthor.

Eve Gaddy: The Allure of Notes

I have an endless fascination with notes. I write them. Everywhere. On stickies, in notebooks, on magazines and random pieces of paper. On napkins, paper towels and tissues. I even use the notes in my phone sometimes, or the note function on my computer.

I write notes about my books. Notes out the ying-yang. I have attempted (note the word attempted) to organize my note taking by buying several hundred different notebooks. Okay, that's an exaggeration... Maybe. But I do have a lot. I try to have one for each book or series I'm working on or will be working on. I have one for songs because I have a song of the day I put on social media, as well as a playlist for every book. I have one labeled Miscellaneous. I have another labeled social media, computer stuff and Scrivener.

You know what they have in common? They could all be labeled miscellaneous. The song notebook comes closest to have nothing but songs in it. But even that one has some random notes about something completely unrelated to music. Just a few pages, though.

The problem is that I never seem to have the correct notebook when I need it. And if I can't find the notebook immediately, I grab the nearest one. Or the nearest available writing surface. Consequently, when I go looking for notes say, on my newest Whiskey River book, One Night With The Bad Boy:

I have to look through nearly every one of my notebooks to find what I'm looking for. Not to mention, the loose pieces of paper with notes on them. Often, when and if I do find what I'm looking for, I can't read my handwriting. It's very frustrating. Every few weeks (months?) I go through and try to reorganize my notes. That lasts for a day or two.

Some of you might say, "Eve, why don't you look for the correct notebook until you find it and then write down whatever you need to?" That's a great idea. Unfortunately, I've learned from experience that if I wait, even long enough to find the proper notebook, I risk losing the thought completely. And that's even worse than finding a note about One Night With the Bad Boy in the notebook about The Billionaire's Charade:

Do you do what I do? Or are you far more organized? And if you are, can you help me?

The Billionaire's Charade will be available September 21. Look for all the Amalfi Nights Billionaire's Books:

Amalfi Night Billionaires Series
Book 1: The Billionaire's Temptation by Katherine Garbera out now!
Book 2: The Billionaire's Deception by Mimi Wells out now!
Book 3: The Billionaire's Betrayal by Nancy Robards Thompson 8/31
Book 4: The Billionaire's Secret by Kathleen O'Brien 9/14
Book 5: The Billionaire's Charade by Eve Gaddy 9/21

One Night With The Bad Boy is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Ibooks and Google Play.