Top Ten Goals for 2021 by Susan Sands

My mom's Christmas cookie recipe

We've made it! At least we've made it through 2020. 

Politics, pandemic, and loss. There's still a virus, but now we've got a vaccine, which hopefully will help get the thing under control soon. It won't help those who've suffered and lost their lives. It won't help those who've lost their homes and business and who grieve over lost loved ones. But turning a page on this year might help us all mentally do a hard reset.

I've written two books this year, which don't even mention a virus. How can that be possible? My characters don't wear masks or social distance. Strange really. The distraction of writing has been a life-saver to be sure. 

Moving forward with a new year, I honestly need to make some changes in my thinking, and there are things I've decided to consciously do to improve my attitude and my life.

To do:

1) Stop watching the news. (The talking heads are ridiculous)

2) Exercise more. (Just a walk every day, aside from tennis)

3) Stop baking so much and eat healthier. (I love to eat baked goods)

4) Leave the house more. We aren't locked down here, so there are ways to get out. (Staying home ALL the time has become a habit)

5) Contact friends. (I have good friends, but I'm not great at reaching out as much as I should)

6) Only wear pajamas at night. (Self-explanatory)

7) Do some long-range planning on new projects.

8) Visit my son in North Carolina.

9) Have more patience. (With everything and everyone)

10) Emerge from 2020 with new ideas and more energy and find my joy!

What will you do in 2021 to take back your life? Get the vaccine? Make some personal changes? 

I hope you can find your joy in 2021! 

Happy New Year to all!!

Susan Sands

My Weird Love of New Car Shopping by Susan Sands

I like to shop for cars. It's a strange obsession, I admit. A complete waste of one's time. Possibly. An avoidance of writing? Definitely. But we all have our oddities. Some writers clean to avoid writing. Some go on social media. (Me too, but lately it's such a mood killer that I've begun avoiding it.)

Back to my car shopping. I don't have endless funds to buy cars. Nope. But I love the new technology in them. The smell of them. Driving them. I'm a salesman's nightmare. Or happy dream. I leased my first car almost three years ago and got an email that they would take it back early. I got excited and jumped on the opportunity, ran to the dealership and drove all the new cars. My husband suggested I branch out to other makes and models because they would pay off my remaining lease to get my business.

As you can imagine, this opened up a whole new world of test drives and time wasting. I live five minutes from eight or nine dealerships. I decided I would be open minded about my decision. Not pressured by brand identity. I would pick the car that I loved the most. (Within budget reason)

I have quirks about cars/SUVs. I have to be able to see all around me. Nothing claustrophobic, and the vehicle has to accommodate my shortish arms. My elbow must reach the middle console as an armrest. And the telescopic steering wheel must come out enough so that I don't drive with straight, reaching arms, because my leg length to reach the pedals is normal. And I like a light interior because of heat and dust. The newer trend for all black shows everything and is very hot here in Georgia. Finding all this is all much harder than you think.

I had to rule out over half the cars I drove outright. And you wouldn't (or you would) believe some of the male personalities I dealt with. I asked if there were female sales people. There aren't. The reason given is the six-day-per-week, ten-hour schedule. Part time doesn't allow the sales person to hit any of their numbers. Wow.

So, I found my car. She's beautiful and perfect. She has ALL the new safety features and technology. She has a cream interior and is guaranteed not to show denim transfer. She has seats that have a massage feature (???). Heated steering wheel. All of it. I'm completely in love and my exciting search is over. I get to do it again in about 2 1/2 year. Can't wait...

Now I must write my book. It's getting good, y'all. The whole time I was wheeling and dealing with the sales guy, I was thinking about my book. So, maybe there is a benefit to all the time away from the writing. I've found my aha moment for the story.

Anybody else love to shop for cars?

I'll be in the writing cave if anybody needs me!

Have a great weekend!

Susan

Where Was I? By Susan Sands

This past month has been a blur. More so than last year even, which is saying quite a lot. My mom

spent most of November in the hospital recovering from setbacks from a fall after spinal fusion surgery. Then two my college children had wisdom teeth removed the week before Christmas, which required more caregiving on my part. Christmas was almost not a thing this year, as it wasn't a thing last year because we moved.

I did manage to sign a contract for a new holiday Alabama book that is scheduled to release sometime in 2020. That right there is progress, folks. Tangible fruits of labor I will yield in the coming months. I also hope something great happens with my women's fiction titles on submission.

I'm hoping that good things happen for us all moving forward. 2019 was a contentious year in the romance writing world. In the world in general It won't sort itself out, and there is much to be done. Every time I read about it, I feel the weight; the drag. It's ugly and it's big.

I will continue to write and focus on my career and pursue my goals. I can't let this hurricane take away my passion. I hope something positive can prevail in the end. I'm  more determined than ever to succeed.

Best to you all in 2020!

Susan

Dogs in Books by Susan Sands

I've posted quite a lot about my canine friends, now friend, since I began blogging here at Tote Bag

Watson

'n' Blogs. As many of you know, we lost our sweet Boudreaux right after we moved into our new home just before Christmas. 

Our three-year-old Golden-doodle, Watson, has come through his confusion and sadness and surprised us by stepping up his game as single dog in the house. He's become the best dog ever. He's always been a good dog, but his behavior with Boudreaux had concerned us somewhat. We likened him to Eddie Haskell on a good day. If you don't know who that is, you should definitely look him up. 

The personalities in our pups vary so widely, as they do in people, so when authors write dogs as characters in our books, we must remember to create individual characteristics that set them apart from "just any dog." It wouldn't do the dogs we know and love justice to "under" write them as characters in fiction, and they wouldn't be believable.

While writing my recently-completed manuscript, I included a woman's best friend who my main character relied on heavily throughout her journey, both emotional and physical. Daisy Mae is a Beagle with soulful brown eyes and a heart of pure gold. She senses when her mistress needs support and stands by her the entire story.

I'd never written such a significant role for an animal before and found it quite challenging. Remembering to feed the animal, provide exercise, and let her out to potty consistently was exhausting. LOL. Of course, I do these things for my own dog, but remembering to include enough of the care taking in the story without a constant play-by-play that seemed monotonous created a new balancing act. 

This woman needed a dog, so I had to figure out the best way to include Daisy Mae and write her into the story well without detracting from the flow and plot line. 

I would love to hear about your furry friends!! And one day in the near future, I hope you can read about Daisy Mae and her journey with Sadie.

Looking forward toward better weather!!

Susan Sands

When Romance is Not the Focus by Susan Sands

I hope everyone is staying warm in your neck of the woods! The forecast in Georgia for the coming

week is finally looking quite nice and I'm excited to explore my new neighborhood on foot with my pup on his leash. Thus far, it's either been raining or too frigid to venture out beyond the mailboxes.

Great news! I've finished the book I'd been working on for a solid year! I realize most authors whip them out in a few months and are on to the next exciting story, but this has been an especially challenging one for me. It's not a romance. There's a little romance in it, and hopefully my heroine will find her HEA with the man of her dreams down the road, but that isn't the focus of this one. 

My young lady's challenges with memory loss and finding her way home to the family she's forgotten, along with regaining her identity trump finding true love in this one. At least the focus of those issues are bigger than the romantic relationship she finds later in the book.

I wasn't certain I could not write romance as the central storyline, as it's so ingrained in me as an author. But this will fall along the lines of true general fiction or women's fiction with Southern flavor. It has some genre elements, but isn't genre fiction.

Figuring out what I was writing was so important to how I wrote it. The story is with my agent now and I'm looking forward to getting her feedback. Fingers crossed!

Enjoy your week, everyone!!

Susan

Learning from Teaching by Susan Sands

Many of you don't know that I was a teacher in a former life. I even forget sometimes what it was like

to create lesson plans, hold parent/teacher conferences, and get up every morning and head to school and spend a full day shaping young minds. It was rewarding, challenging, and exhausting.

Recently, I've been asked to present workshops at several writers' conferences in my area. I've also been asked to judge a couple contests. I've created handouts for my "students," worked on my presentations, and received material to critique from writers trying to publish their work. I'm to meet with each person whose pages I've critiqued and discuss my notes and suggestions for ideas to help them reach the next level in their publishing journey.

I'm back to teaching, essentially.  And I'm really enjoying it. What I didn't expect was how much I would learn about improving my own work from critiquing others. When I return to my work in progress after editing someone else's, I'm able to recognize more clearly where changes and improvements are needed.

I'm grateful for taking some of, what would have been, my writing time to change gears and work with others. It's definitely helped me in countless ways. I can't wait to meet these writers and brainstorm with them about their stories. I hope I can help them in some way reach their goals.

If you're in the Atlanta area March 10th and have an interest, check out the one-day Atlanta Writing Workshop. I'll be presenting two one-hour workshops. There will be agents and editors on hand taking pitches and lots of other great information.

Happy reading and writing!

Susan

Wishing Everyone a Balanced New Year! Susan Sands

A new year always feels like beginning with a clean slate in so many ways. The resolutions, you

know. Eat better, exercise more. Keep an organized schedule. All the things. And yes, I do plan to improve myself in all those ways. Last year I began my second half-century of life. That sounds pretty momentous, doesn't it? Yes, I thought so too. I was busy last year. Writing, and taking care of all the things and people who live in my circle.

I'll do that this year, but I have plans to do more. Write more and better. Bigger. But I've also got to nurture and support the heck out of my last chick until I send her off to college in a few months. Give her my best as well. It's all a balance, and it's one that is easy to upset with too much focus on one thing or the other. So my biggest goal beginning the year will be balance. Family, work, exercise, nutrition, sleep.

I spent the entire day reading a book just released by one of my favorite authors. Nothing else, just reading. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy just reading. And how it inspires me to write. So, today, I'm motivated to work on one of my new projects because of the day spent immersed in that book. It was something I'd denied myself because I'd lost the balance. I don't know how I could have forgotten the pure joy of reading, of losing myself in a book. I'm a writer for heaven's sake. But I've rediscovered it and won't let it happen again.

I hope everyone who celebrates enjoyed their holidays. I had all my children under one roof for an entire week, which is hard to come by these days. I've cooked, baked, and just rolled around in the family time.

Happy New Year to everyone! I wish everyone good health, humor, and happiness in the coming year. And balance. We'll see how that goes, won't we?

Susan Sands
         

Happy Holidays, Y'all!--Susan Sands

I can't believe another year has flown by yet again. I'll be an empty nester this time next year if

everything goes as planned. My daughter's senior year is rolling by at the speed of light along with everything else. My mom moved in with me and then moved back out into her own place where she'd been waiting to be approved for an apartment. Plus, I released two books this years!

Life leaves us little room to choose our level of busyness. Mine has been non-stop for a couple years now. But there's a lot to look forward to as well. I'm excited to see what college life brings for my third child in the coming months. I will miss her terribly, but I'm so excited for her next steps toward adulthood and independence. I know, ask me again in May and see what I have to say then. I might be sobbing my eyes out.

I'm writing, editing, and making career decisions right now as well. I should have books coming out next year. I'll keep you posted on that. Hopefully I'll have details coming soon.

So, in the meantime, I'm promoting Christmas, Alabama at book signings and on social media. So far the reviews are great!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a lovely holiday season!!

Susan

Things and People: Susan Sands

This should be a blog about books since I have a new book coming out October 26th! I'm so excited about that and want to give it a good promotional shout for it. Christmas, Alabama is available now for pre-order!

Available October 26th

But there are so many other things happening in my life right now that I must purge them onto this page.

Many of us are in a similar place in life where our children are growing up and leaving the nest, while our parents are becoming more needful of us in physical, emotional, and sometimes financial ways. They become our new dependents as their parents became during their aging cycle. It's a life shift that isn't easy for anyone. But it is a transition that happens.

My husband and I are trying to sell our house and downsize. We've just rid ourselves via a three-day professionally-run, estate sale of most of our furniture and household items and accessories with the idea that our house would show and sell better with empty closets and rooms free of clutter. This week we move my dad into memory care. Next month, my mom moves in with us. My daughter is filling out college applications and visiting colleges and will graduate in the spring. Oh, yes, and I have that new book coming out...

So, our house goes back on the market in a week or two after the last offer fell through.

But we're all okay for now. People matter. Things don't. It was easy to get rid of them. We have each other. We all get along pretty well. We're working together as a team to accomplish all these goals. We work for grace every day. Some days are better than others.

I wish you grace in your life struggles.

Susan Sands

Susan Sands: Hottest--Happiest Place on Earth!

I just returned from the Romance Writers of America annual conference in Orlando. Disney at the

end of July ain't for sissies, y'all. The conference was held at the Dolphin resort, adjacent to its sister hotel, the Swan. Our rooms were located in the Swan, wouldn't you know? We made the "hot walk" several time a day between the two, where my sunglasses fogged up and my deodorant was challenged in ways that you don't want to hear about.

As always, RWA did an amazing job of hosting a few thousand of us writers, and keeping everyone darting to and fro to super informative sessions and workshops hosted by the industries' most savvy authors and professionals. My takeaway is, as always, that things are rapidly changing in the publishing world, and if you close your eyes, you might miss it. Don't chase trends. They will be gone by the time you arrive. Nothing is truly dead. Not chick lit, not paranormal, nothing. The names might change, but it's all semantics.

So far, I've managed to avoid the conference crud this time. Fingers crossed it doesn't catch up with me. I'm feeling a little discombobulated, though. I turned in a book I'd been frantically trying to finish just before I left, and now that I'm home, it's strange not to have that deadline looming. Of course, my daughter is a senior in high school, so there are many other obvious deadlines coming up, not to mention more college visits and the pace that is senior year. She's my third, and final child. I've now got one out of college, one in college, and one about to finish high school. The empty nest is just around the corner. We can discuss that later.

I hope everyone is enjoying their last sliver of summer.

My first book, Again, Alabama, is still free in all digital formats! Look for Christmas, Alabama coming up for pre-order very soon!!

Susan

Susan Sands: Should I Tell Them My Age?

Dear Friends,

I have a confession to make:  I'm turning fifty this week. Yes, I know, we all have to do it sometime, but as a woman really just getting my feet wet in a career where agents and editors might be checking for an expiration date, I wonder if I should admit that to everyone so freely?

I'm proud of every year that I've lived. Every struggle, heartache, and accomplishment. I've got three grown, or nearly-grown kids, and they are my pride and joy. I'll be an almost-empty nester this time next year, with my youngest getting ready for college.

But for all my lack of shame in turning fifty, does it come with a price in this industry? Are we seen as past our prime by those who might consider investing in our career for longevity as storytellers? I really hope not. I feel I've just opened my eyes as a human, as a woman. My ability to absorb and empathize is stronger now, and my perception of things around me is keen--much more so than when I was completely immersed in seeing to my children's every need. I have less busy static in my brain that frees me to think about my writing now, which allows me more introspection.

Sure, I'm still busy, but life is busy. I'm looking forward to some pretty exciting things on the horizon this year. Fifty is looking pretty fantastic right now!

Again, Alabama is free right now, and should remain so until mid-June! Love, Alabama has made its way onto the NetGalley home page, which is very exciting for me, and for Tule. More fun announcements to come!















Please connect with me on social media!

Susan

Susan Sands:  Writing and Golf

My husband is a scratch golfer and often has our television tuned in to the Golf Channel. Now, I admit to using it as fine background for a Sunday afternoon nap, but rarely spend time actually watching it as I would another sport.

I've taken a few golf lessons and played a scramble here and there, but it's really not something I've taken to enough to pursue. I have, however come to appreciate the time, training and skill the players employ to achieve that level of game. As a writer, I can't help but compare it to the dedication and creation of a fully formed and well-crafted novel.

When a player tees off, she has to take sharp aim, hit straight, long and be mentally ready for whatever lies between her and the flag stick. She has a plan, especially if the player is familiar with the course. When a writer begins a novel, she has to begin strong, plan for the long journey, understanding the complicated course ahead.

The shots that follow a golfer's tee shot might be approaches, lay-ups, chips, slices, and finally the all-important putts to get to the hole. (Romance writers, stop laughing) As writers navigate the crafting of a story, so many possible pitfalls come into play. We have our own brand of water hazards, sand traps and doglegs to maneuver. But hopefully, we end up with an exemplary product, and thus, a successful outing.

All the classes, the craft books, the writing, writing, and more writing we do is what prepares us for the next round. Too much golf going on at my house? I think so.

My new Southern romantic women's fiction novel, Love, Alabama, will be released April 13th by The Tule Publishing Group. It's currently available for pre-order.

Happy Spring!
Susan Sands

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