Writer Mama Riffs on Raising A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids

Pack of G-2 Pens from Costco
Pick them up at Costco (if you can) in big packages that will last months if not all year. Does she like fine or superfine tips? You’ll need to know. Prices vary depending on where you buy.

G-2 Pen Refills from Wal-Mart
The best price I have seen is at Wal-mart. If you don’t have a Costco membership, get your pens here too. Even if you don’t shop there regularly, you’ll save a bunch of money if you buy in bulk. Does she like blue, black or red? Better get them all. Prices vary.

Fabric Magazine Rack
The Container Store carries the fabric magazine rack I love. It comes in three colors that should suit all tastes. Very cool. Fifteen bucks.

Chair Mat
I love that my chair mat isn’t boring old plain plastic but has a snazzy design. Check ‘em out at IKEA. They are cheap! About fifteen bucks.

Soft and Fluffy Office Carpet
I just got the green one from Target and I love it. My daughter and the cats love to sit or lie on it and play. The dogs are not allowed to touch it! Comes in hot pink, light green, white and more. About sixty bucks.

Journals, Journals and More Journals
I like a certain kind of journal or notepad like most moms do. So sneak a peek before you help her stock up. I go to Rite Aid for my Mead Cambridge Spiral Top writing pads (four bucks) and Michael’s for my large sketch pads (price varies).

White Board with Markers and Eraser
How about one for her to put up high and one for the kid(s) to use down low? Costco has decent-sized white boards for about fifteen bucks each.

Your Recording Needs
A gift card to Radio Shack will be best because mom will need to spend at least twenty minutes talking to the sales guys to make sure the recorder will work with her phone, computer, etc. (P.S. Show her how to use the recording feature on her cell phone, for spontaneous notes to self or polls.) Plan to spend Fifty to one hundred bucks.

Magazines for Writers
Writer’s Digest, The Writer and Poets & Writers. Why not order her all three?

Preparation for 2009 Resolutions
Help mom be among the first to receive copies of my forthcoming book Get Known Before the Book Deal (November) and Wendy Burt-Thomas’ The Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters (January) both available NOW on Amazon for pre-order. (Better still get her something wrapped for the big day though.)

Just Right Classes for Writer Mamas
Five great classes for moms with no experience (Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff) all the way through ready-to-write-a-nonfiction book proposal (Craft a Saleable Nonfiction Proposal). If you really want to see mom jump up and down, why not register her for a Fall Writing-for-Publication class? Classes start in late August and early October. Pricey…but she’s worth it! Please visit Writers on the Rise for more info.

A Top-notch Coffee Maker
Yes, this absolutely goes under “Practical.” We like our Cuisinart 12-cup Thermal Coffeemaker. The coffee stays hot and doesn’t get bitter even if one of us gets up super early and the other one sleeps in. The decanter doesn’t shatter or break. However, if I was purchasing again, I’d get the grinder built-in.

Good Coffee/Tea
You’ll get a lot more mileage from your highbrow beans, and spend less money at the coffee shop, if you have a grinder at home and buy your beans in bulk at either Costco or Starbucks (or her favorite coffee joint). Why not treat mom to a few months worth of quality coffee? She’ll love you with high octane. I love a good cup of tea in the afternoon. My favorite, because it’s easy on my tum-tum, is Stash Organic English Breakfast. Available at most upscale grocery stores. If mom is a tea drinker, this tea is for her!

You’re welcome, moms. Send the dads and kids on over!

I am about to make a list of what writer mamas want for Mother’s Day and I need your help.

What do you really want for a Mother’s Day gift.

I mean an actual thing, as opposed to “world peace” or something like that. (Although that sounds good too!)

What have been some of your favorite gifts over the years and what do you really, really want this Mother’s Day?

If you even think of such things…I know I do!

Well, there seems to have been a little mix-up at KBOO. My interview with Paul O’Brien must have gotten mixed up with the interview slated for the following week.

I believe I addressed this in my Mother’s Day Wish on imperfection.

However, yesterday I did spot a Writer Mama mention in NW Women’s Journal.

I will check with KBOO and send out a reminder for next week. But I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.

Ah, the imperfection of life!

Off for some Mother’s Day fun…hope your day is perfectly imperfect!

Children are like little extensions of our souls, aren’t they?

I was thinking that this morning while driving home from the dog park.

That’s how I feel about my beautiful daughter Samantha. She is such a gift. And she has taught me so much about making the most of not just today but every single moment.

And to think that some day we will have loved her so much that she will be able to stand solidly on her own two feet in the world…just thrills me so much. In fact, she’s not doing such a bad job today.

I feel really proud of her. And I am not a perfect mother by any means. Thank goodness perfection is not a requirement of motherhood.

There was a time in my life when I felt like I was waiting for my “real life” to begin.

It was a period of waiting. Followed by waiting. And more waiting.

Around the age of 28, I woke up. And started to realize who I am. I think it was the beginning of the realization that I am allowed to just be who I truly am.

The awareness that who I am is enough.

If I could give one gift to my daughter and all girls, women, mothers, and grandmothers, it would be the awareness that whoever you are is enough.

Right at this moment, without therapy or plastic surgery or a makeover or whatever seems like it might help.

I may have inadvertently stumbled upon the key to contentment, because if I am enough than it doesn’t matter that my home is untidy. It doesn’t matter that I am tired and a bit hormonal right at the moment. It doesn’t matter that the world is a really imperfect place or that my husband is busy with his play or that all the members of our extended family lives thousands of miles away. It doesn’t even matter that I can’t keep up with all my girl friends.

In short, it doesn’t matter that I am living a big, fat, messy life. The fact that I accept it and can accept myself without the need for striving today means I feel blessed and rich and right with the world.

Today’s imperfection is more perfect than any of my wildest fantasies.

This Mother’s Day I hope you discover the freedom of imperfection. And I hope relishing it makes you giddy with joy.

Amen.

It’s Sarah Ban Breathnach’s birthday and she’s giving away this awesome poster:

Ten Authentic Truths to Live By

I love it. So I’m sharing it will all of you.

You can download it here.

One of my favorite lines is:

“The more risks you take, the luckier you become.”

That is so very true. At least, I have found it to be true.

Check it out! And let Mother’s Day week begin!

Yes, that’s right. I said “May.” Can you believe it?

Where did April go? (Oh, right. Taxes!)

But good news, this means Mother’s Day is right around the corner. If you’ll be near Lake Forest Park, Washington, come on by and pick up a signed copy (or two)!

Here’s the details:

Third Place Books
Friday, May 4th at 6:30 p.m. @ Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155, 206-366-3316, www.thirdplacebooks.com, Free

Here’s why…the coolest postcard EVER!

If you would like to sign up to receive it in your inbox, simply click here and you will be directed to a page where you can subscribe.

This will also serve as the location in the blog for your comments on the first issue.

I look forward to reading your comments!

Okay, you guys. We are SOOOOO close to making Writer Mama the WDB bestseller of the week. It’s currently in second place just after Plot and Structure, a book for fiction writers, which is currently holding the number one spot.

You can check out the announcement at the WD Editors blog. (!!!)

What I would really like to see is for Writer Mama to get in the bestseller-of-the-week spot and hold it until after Mother’s Day. I think that’s a reasonable goal, don’t you?

But I can’t accomplish this alone. I need your help. So, please, if you have purchased and read Writer Mama, and you find it helpful and/or inspiring, I’d like to ask you to do any or all of the following:

Tell everyone you know about Writer Mama and how much you appreciate the ideas and insights about how busy moms can launch or relaunch a writing career. You can e-mail moms, call them, make an announcement at storytime, whatever! Just help spread the word!

Post your Writer Mama review at Amazon.com or other online sites that post book reviews (one review, just posted on Amazon, is amazing. Yahoo!). Other moms will read the reviews and decide to buy Writer Mama too.

Start a Writer Mama writing-for-publication or accountability circle. Dare each other to set higher goals and reach them. Keep each other accountable using “Wendy Burt’s Accountability Sheet” (p. 199). Help each other prepare a book concept pitch for an upcoming writer’s conference (chapter 23). Why write a whole book

Do the exercises at the end of each chapter of Writer Mama with the book or writing group you already have. They work for every writer!

If you are a writing instructor, make Writer Mama required reading in your writing-for-publication classes. Your students will thank you (and get published more often)!

If you will soon be speaking at a writers conference, request that they include Writer Mama in the conference “bookstore” (unless, of course, outside authors are not included). If Writer Mama can’t be included unless I present at the conference, e-mail me and tell me about the conference and I will do my best to become a presenter next time around.

Sign up for The Writer Mama newsletter (coming soon in html format to your inbox). You may sign up at www.thewritermama.com.

Thank you! Your support means so much!

For a limited time only, and just in time for Mother’s Day, I will be offering signed copies of Writer Mama by U.S. media mail. So, if you are or know a mama, who would like to launch or relaunch a writing career (if you are a writer mama, request this as your Mother’s Day gift—it’s cheaper than brunch!).

Here’s how to order:

Send a check or money order for $16.99.

Or pay using Paypal (U.S residents, price goes up to $17.99 to account for Paypal’s cut).

Canadians click here. (If you live in Canada, the price goes up a bit more to cover shipping to $18.99.).

(U.S. Currency only, includes media mail shipping and bubble envelope packaging) to:

Christina Katz

PO Box 1354

Wilsonville, Oregon 97070

Because I am a busy writer mama myself, I will be holding a weekly “signing” each Friday afternoon right here in my office and then trekking over to the Post Office to ship those babies out. In other words, please do not contact me and ask if I can drop everything to overnight ship your mom/daughter/grandma a book. How would I get my own writing done, if I did that. Right?

Maybe when we get to May, I’ll offer faster shipping, but why pay extra? Order your copy or copies now! Order early so that your mama / friend / daughter / grandmother / sister / cousin will receive her package by Mother’s Day.

Order even earlier if you would like time to wrap your gift before the big day. ‘Cuz you don’t want me doing any wrappin’, trust me. I prefer a nice gift bag I can stuff with tissue paper. But you can’t ship those media mail.

This offer will also be helpful for anyone who has been looking for Writer Mama on the bookstore shelves, but can’t find it for whatever reason. (This should not be happening any more, btw, so go ahead and ask your local bookstore to order Writer Mama if you don’t see it. And please, let me know if you are having trouble finding Writer Mama in bookstores and I will alert my publisher.

Happy almost Mother’s Day, writer mamas. I hope you will celebrate with me by purchasing a signed copy of Writer Mama.