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What I’m grateful for on this Monday…

Wow. It really helps soothe some of my nerves about from my forthcoming book release hear so many great plugs for Writer Mama lately. Seems like a few thanks are in order:

I just went to my biz box at the P.O. and what did I find but an outstanding review of Writer Mama in my graduate school alumni magaizne, DEMO. Thank you, Christine Simokaitis for the amazing review. I’ll be sure to link to it once it goes online.

Yesterday in the giveaway post, “gb” commented that Writer Mama is in her “holy trinity” of freelance writing books. I was floored by the comment. Come on over here, gb, so I can give you a great big hug!

Lisa Romeo did a fabulous job interviewing me for her blog, Lisa Romeo Writes. I just want to make sure you all didn’t all miss it, since it was posted over the weekend. Thanks for the royal treatment, Lisa!

The Amazon spike for Get Known Before the Book Deal is next Monday! I can only hope that it will be as warmly received as Writer Mama continues to be received. (Crossing everything!)

Something else I’m grateful for is that my daughter, Samantha, is adjusting to first grade more and more with every passing school day. For those of you who missed it, she was oh-so-excited for school to start, but then, when it did, she went into a bit of a skid. With a little more energy management, everything is now steady as she goes.

Thank goodness! Cuz I’m not giving up my new six-hour workdays!

Back to work I go…I’ve got the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Tradeshow tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Writer Mama Back-to-School Giveaway: The September 2008 Final List of Daily Prizes

(Subject to change, but here goes…!)

Week One: Books that come with Cool Stuff!

Day one: Chicken a la King & the Buffalo Wing by Steven Gilbar, Fix, Freeze, Feast cookbook by Kati Neville & Lindsay Tkacsik & Writer Mama BBQ Apron from Café Press (one winner)

Day two: The Writer Mama Gift Set from Ninth Moon (one winner)

Day three: The Shy Writer by Hope Clark & Wooden “Writer at Work” Doorhanger from Ninth Moon (one winner)

Day four: The Travel Writer’s Collection from Ninth Moon and Writer Mama baseball hat (one winner)

Day five: 1001 Books for Every Mood by Hallie Ephron & Writer Mama Tote Bag (one winner)

Day six: Writer Mama by Christina Katz, Writer Mama Creative Manifesto mouse pad, Writer Mama wall clock (one winner)

[SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writer Mama Scholarship Applications accepted from 9/6 - 9/14 for the October Writing & Publishing the Short Stuff Class]

Day seven: A Writer’s Space Collection from Ninth Moon Writer Mama Creative Manifesto Throw Pillow (one winner)

Week Two: Get Juiced Up to Write

Day eight: The Write-brain Workbook by Bonnie Neubauer

Day nine: Freelancing for Newspapers by Sue Lick

Day ten: Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner by the Writer’s Digest Editors

Day eleven: The Daily Writer by Fred White

Day twelve: Pep Talks, Warnings & Screeds by George Singleton, illustrated by Daniel Wallace

Day thirteen: Four copies of A Cup of Comfort for Writers with essays by Sage Cohen, Samantha Ducloux Waltz, Amy Mercer, and Lisa Romeo (four winners from these four contributors)

Day fourteen: One-year subscription to Writer’s Digest magazine

Week Three: Fiction Fireworks Week

Day fifteen: Two special edition hardcover copies of Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld (two winners)

Day sixteen: The Mind of Your Story by Lisa Lenard-Cook

Day seventeen: Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon

Day eighteen: Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure & Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell

Day nineteen: First Draft in 30 Days & From First Draft to Finished Novel by Karen Wiesner (one winner)

Day twenty: Writing the Breakout Novel & Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass (one winner)

Day twenty-one: 2009 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market by Rachel McDonald

Week Four: The Grand Finale

Day twenty-two: Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz (three winners)

[SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: First Day of Fall Get Known Before the Book Deal Amazon Spike Day!]

Day twenty-three: Ready, Aim, Specialize by Kelly James-Enger

Day twenty-four: The Renegade Writer by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell

Day twenty-five: The Renegade Writer Queries that Rock by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell

Day twenty-six: The Writer’s Digest Guide to Queries by Wendy Burt Thomas (available December 2008)

Day twenty-seven: Page After Page & Chapter After Chapter by Heather Sellers

Day twenty-eight: One-year subscription to WritersMarket.com

Day twenty-nine: 2009 Guide to Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino

Day thirty: 2009 Deluxe Writer’s Market by Robert Brewer

Be here on Monday (or as soon as you get back from your long weekend), so you won’t miss out on any of the fun!

My little charges

Back from another night at the show. It would have been my eighth night straight watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers but I only caught the second half. (Any former drama kids in our writer mama ranks? If so, you might enjoy these photos of the show.) There’s just one of my daughter about half-way through. She’s not on stage much, but she sure makes the most of it when she is.

My second little charge these days is that little “kitten” I posted about a couple of weeks ago.

Turns out she is indeed pregnant and now we are fostering her until eight weeks after the kittens are born. Wish us luck. I’ve never had a pet that has had babies before. I just hope they don’t decide to come while I’m away at the Willamette Writers Conference! Especially since my husband and daughter already have our five other pets to care for without good ol’ mom around to help.

I’m a little nervous.

FALL CLASSES START AUGUST 20TH!

Writing and Publishing The Short Stuff
Especially For Moms (But Not Only for Moms)!
Next Class Begins on August 20th
Prerequisites: None
Finally, a writing workshop that fits into the busy lives of moms! You will learn how to create short, easy-to-write articles-a skill that will make it easier to move up to longer, more time-consuming articles when you’re ready. Try your pen at tips, fillers, short interviews, list articles, how-tos, and short personal essays-all within six weeks. Now includes markets!
Cost: $199.00. [Almost full!]
Register at Writers on the Rise

Personal Essays that Get Published with Abigail Green
Next Class Begins on August 20th
Prerequisites: None
The popularity of reality shows, blogs, and tell-all books proves that it pays to get personal these days. Whether you want to write introspective essays, short humor pieces, or first-person reported stories, your life is a goldmine of rich material that all kinds of publications are pining for. Personal Essays that Get Published will teach you how to get your personal experiences down on the page and get them published. Students will learn how to find ideas, hone their voice, craft solid leads and endings, reslant their work for different markets, and submit their essays for publication.
Cost: $199.00 [Almost full!]
Register at Writers on the Rise

Platform Building 101: Discover your Specialty
(Formerly “Targeting Your Best Writing Markets”)
Next Class Begins on August 20th
Prerequisites: Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff is recommended or Permission from Instructor
Identifying your writing specialty is one of the trickiest and most necessary steps in launching a writing career today. This class will help you find your best audiences, cultivate your expertise, manage your ideas, develop marketing skills, claim your path, serve editors and become portfolio-minded. You’ll learn how to become the professional you’ve always wanted to be and, most importantly, how to take your writing career more seriously. This class is discounted so that anyone who wants to take Platform Development 102 in October will take advantage of this important preparation stage.
Cost: $175.00. [Last time at this price. And last time in 2008.]
Register at Writers on the Rise

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Take All Five of Christina’s Classes:

• Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff
• Targeting Your Best Writing Markets
• Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries in Six Weeks
• Platform Building Basics for Writers
• Craft a Saleable Nonfiction Proposal

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All That’s Coming Soon!

For me, summer has always been a good time to create excitement about my work. And this summer is no exception. I’ve been BUSY. Read on for lots of news.

Check out “Dear Christina” my first podcast
The first one might be a little bumpy but they will definitely get better. One thing is certain, I will not run out of my former student’s success stories any time soon. They just keep rolling in! So I thought, why not feature them in a series of short podcasts? And now I am. I hope they inspire you as much as they inspire me.

July 20th: Deadline for Applications for the Fall Writer Mama Scholarship
The next available Writer Mama Scholarship is coming up for the August 20th Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff Class. Applications will only be accepted from Saturday, July 12th - Sunday, July 20th (that’s THIS week). One full scholarship will be granted with a value of $199.00. The scholarship application will be posted on Friday, July 11th in the Writer Mama Riffs Blog. Please feel free to post the badge in your blog or e-zine with a link to this blog so others can take advantage of this opportunity. (If you are planning on signing up for an August class, I wouldn’t dally. They are filling up!)

September 1 - 30: The Writer Mama Back-to-School Giveaway
This giveaway was a huge success last year. You don’t have to be a mama, just a writer. This year we’ll have more books to give away and more thought-provoking career questions for you to answer to qualify to win. Participants last year commented on how much they learned both from answering the questions as well as from each other. Don’t miss it! Please share the WM Back to School Giveaway badge with all your friends with a link to this blog!

September 22: Get Known Before the Book Deal Amazon spike on the first day of Fall
Order Get Known Before the Book Deal from Amazon on the Autumn Equinox and receive great platform-development freebie! Details coming in the September issue. Please mark your calendar and tell all your friends. (More about why authors do stuff like this in September too, in case you are curious.) Read the full book description here!

October 22: Publication Date for Get Known Before the Book Deal
Lots of books talk about what to do once you become an author. No other books go into as much depth about how to position yourself to become an author before you have a book and even before you have a book deal! If you are local, I’ll be speaking at the Wilsonville Public Library on November 16th. I’ll also be speaking about at the Willamette Writers Monthly Meeting in Portland on Tuesday, December 2nd. Final tour dates are still rolling in.

Purchase Writer Mama & Receive a Free List of Markets
But wait! Before we move on to my second book, Writer Mama is still selling strong. In fact, I appreciate all the word-of mouth you can put behind it, whether that means suggesting Writer Mama to your friends, your writing association, your writing conference bookseller or your local library. For the months of July and August only, there are two ways to get the list of free markets (because I know many of you own Writer Mama already): you can either purchase the book and e-mail me a copy of the receipt or you can act on any of the word-of-mouth suggestions above. Let me know that you have helped spread the word and that you already own Writer Mama, and I’ll send you the list of markets. Send all request e-mails on this topic to writermama2@earthlink.net.

There is a time to go into your cave and get your work done and then there is a time to crank up the excitement factor and reach out to others. Are you cranking up some excitement for your writing career? I sure hope so! If not, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of summer left.

Downshift Spending & Keep Your Writing Career In Grow Mode: Part Five

Give When, How & What You Can

While bad news for the economy is coming at us every which way, there is only one sure-fire way to stay out of fear. And that is to give. People have all kinds of ideas about what giving means, so let’s look at that. Sometimes we give out of habit. We give out of duty. We give out of sense of obligation. We give because it might make us look good to others. We give because we were or are told we should.

But I suggest a slightly different approach to giving. How about giving when, how and what you can. In other words, don’t give for any of those other reasons, if you don’t want to. Instead examine where you are plentiful and overflowing and give from that supply. We are all plentiful somewhere or somehow. So even as our grocery budgets are feeling the penny pinch. And even as we cut down on the number of miles we drive. There are infinite ways to be generous.

Get creative. You needn’t only give in the same old ways. Or feel badly because belt-tightening means a decline in giving the way you always have. It’s amazing how when you start with what you have plenty of, ideas flow in about how to share it, and the next thing you know you are having fun and feeling prosperous.

Need more ideas on how to keep your spirits and your bottom line up in a down-turning economy? You can read the first four parts of this serial post by clicking here.

Magazine Giveaway!

Because I often sometimes make mistakes, I have ended up with two magazines already in my possession.

So, I figured, why not just give them away on my blog? What a great idea.

If you are interested in a free copy of the Utne Reader, The Best of the Alternative Press, and Writer’s Digest Magazine, both July 2008 issues, please leave a comment below and tell me how your writing is going this summer.

I will choose from your comments on Monday and send the issues on out!

By the way, I obviously love these magazines very much or I would not have mistakenly purchased them when I already have a subscription. Check ‘em out if you get a chance. They are always full of good stuff.

The Utne Reader

Writer’s Digest Magazine

Downshift Spending & Keep Your Writing Career in Grow Mode: Part Four

4. Think Local, Think Library
If you need a place to spark ideas, conduct research, open up your mind and imagine new possibilities, you won’t find a better place than your local public library. And if you are looking for something to celebrate this Independence Day, why not join me in celebrating libraries?

Libraries are more diversified than ever. At our local library, which is within walking distance, a patron can check out books, audio and video for free. You can research your family history, take a free computer class, attend a children’s event, participate in a reading program, browse magazines, shop at the Friends of the Library bookstore, conduct research or find a quiet room.

Our town library sells new copies of Writer Mama at a display table across from the check-out desks along with other new books. I host an author series there during the school year sponsored by several community organizations. But in some counties, including my own, library funding is threatened. Apparently, we need more money for police and less money for library funding. So some smart, caring citizens have proposed the formation of a Library District on the ballot this fall to stop libraries from being closed in Oregon and provide permanent funding.

If you live in Clackamas County, Oregon, please support the ballot measure to create a library district. If libraries are threatened where you live, why not get organized and borrow the idea to adopt a library district? Do it for your country, your county, your kids, the future and everyone who loves libraries, not to mention your writing career.

Downshift Spending & Keep Your Writing Career In Grow Mode: Part Three

3. Clean Less, Create More
When I was growing up in the suburbs of Massachusetts, there was one home and yard on our street that you could always count on to be messy even while my own family’s home and yard was always clean and orderly.

Turns out that this was the home of a divorced mom who launched several successful companies while raising her four sons. We didn’t have too many moms on our street launching companies back then. But these days, we have a lot more moms who create their own jobs and working from home. Some freelance, some telecommute, some invent things, and some start companies.

One of the things you find out when you attempt working from home is that everything around you is likely to become a bit messier, while your energy is committed to other priorities. I just want to say that this is how it should be. Because anything else likely means you are working too hard. So that mom’s house was messy. Big whoop. She was (and is) a happy, loving mother of four boys.

If you could use some help in the loosening up about mess in and around your home or office (or if your spouse could use a crash course), listen to or read A Perfect Mess, The Hidden Benefits of Disorder by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman. If nothing else, you’ll feel a whole lot better by the time you are done.

By staying loose in the face of a slumping economy (and refraining from judging others, which also wastes creative energy), you’ll notice that others are affected while your business continues to happily thrive.

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz: Lots for Writer Mama this week

Look for me in the July issue of Health Magazine. I am quoted by the lovely Gretchen Roberts in her article, “Making Time for Me,” saying something very profound (I’m sure). And my picture is there too. At least it’s here.

Someone anonymous over at Freelance Writing Jobs likes me, I mean, Writer Mama, enough to put us in a list of “Ten Great Resources for Writers.” Thank you very much!

Tacy gave Writer Mama an amazing review, the 22th, over at Amazon.com.

I got a TON of fan mail and success e-mails this week (Hello? What is going on???). I think karma is getting faster. Last week I expressed some gratitude and this week it came back in spades in boomerang affect. Love that.

In fact, here a little gratitude coming right back at me from Lisa, who added me to her “Thanks Ranks” (I’m telling you, this is spooky). And a couple other friends participated in the gratitude party, Jen over at Highliners and Homecomings and Round the Clock over at Charlotte Parent.

My editor contacted me this week to say that there was a spike in  sales of Writer Mama last week. I spotted someone over at A Wasted Word is a Wasted Day adding Writer Mama to her recent purchases. Thank you for telling all of your friends!

More gratitude coming soon.

I’m off to enjoy the weekend with the fam’. You gotta love summer.

Downshift Spending & Keep Your Writing Career in Grow-mode (Part Two)

2. Stock up on and stretch freezable food (see original post)
The other day at the local grocery store, the checker told me that the floods in the Midwest had wiped out one third of the store’s summer corn supply, so expect the prices of all things made of and fed corn to go up soon. I turned around and bought some bulk meat, divided it into small servings, poured in some marinade (some call it salad dressing) and froze it. Even someone with a small freezer like mine can do this and stretch a buck.

If you have a big freezer, you can really save by hitting the stores now. Kati Neville’s book, Fix, Freeze, Feast: More than 125 Recipes to Prepare in Bulk and By the Serving tells you how. Each recipe includes instructions for dividing, preparing, and storing the raw ingredients, and a second set of simple directions for thawing, cooking, and enjoying the food. These recipes are lighter and fresher than traditional bulk-cooking recipes, with a focus on simple stews and stir-fries, quick grilled or broiled main courses, and popular ethnic meals. Visit Kati’s website for more cooking inspiration.

(…to be continued)

Handling Feelings When Mom Travels

For writer mamas, as for moms who travel for work, the leaving/coming home transition can be an emotional one. I’ve always been sensitive to my daughter’s need for smooth transitions. So we always talk things through well in advance of the actual event. When she was younger this was as simple as saying, “Samantha, first we’re going to put our coats on, then we’re going to get in the car, then we’re going to go shopping at the store.” Just the rhythm of the plan seemed to soothe her. Whereas if I had just suddenly said, “Let’s go.” She would resist and become easily upset.

The same parenting strategy works, I’ve found for just about anything with my daughter. It’s always best to keep her in the loop in an age-appropriate way.

So I wasn’t surprised last night at bedtime when my daughter began to cry because I would be leaving for two nights. She’d seemed agitated all evening, the same way our cats get agitated when all the suitcases come out.

She knew it wasn’t just the hypothetical “mommy is going on a trip” any longer but time for the actual departure. So I felt good about letting her cry. I didn’t try to stop her or chastise her not to cry. I remember when my mom went away when I was kid. I didn’t like it at all!

Fact is when moms leave home, it’s never “easy.” There’s all the planning and preparation to make sure everyone’s needs will be met and then there’s trying to take care of and prepare yourself. Just like everything else, I just do the best I can.

When Jason and Samantha dropped me off today, there were no tears. Just lots of hugs and kisses. Of course, I’ll miss them.

I’m jut so grateful that we’re all on the same page, even if tears are part of the picture.

Seal Press Anthology: The Maternal is Political, Gigi Rosenberg Reads

Gigi Rosenberg reads “Signora” her essay from the Seal Press anthology “The Maternal is Political.” Powell’s Book on Hawthorne. Thursday, May 29, 7:30 pm. This book features 30 powerful, hard-hitting literary essays by women who are striving to make the world a better place for children and families - both their own and other women’s - in this country and globally. Editor Shari MacDonald Strong appears with contributors Jennifer Margulis, Alisa Gordaneer, Gigi Rosenberg, and Margaret McConnell.

Two things:

1. I’d say this is great timing for this title, wouldn’t you?

2. Go, Gigi!

Gigi is a former student who is doing fabulous things. Check out her site, if you have a chance.

Join an Interesting Discussion About Appropriate Marketing and Self Promotion

We’ve kicked off an interesting discussion on what is appropriate for writers when it comes to marketing and self-promotion over at Jane Friedman’s blog:

There are no rules

Come on over and add your two cents!

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

(And now excuse me while I go look up the word “Egregious”…)