Carmen DeSousa

Me, ummm ... well, not too much. I managed to lose five of the fifteen pounds I wanted to lose, but those are always the easiest. If I could keep losing the first five pounds two to three times, I'd make my goal. Why doesn't that happen??? Writing... NADA! But in my defense, hubby and son have been home this week, so I hope to hit the writing hard starting tomorrow. I even wrote down a schedule, which includes everything I do in a day except bathroom breaks. LOL! Really, I even wrote down how long I was allowed to play on Twitter and Facebook. Editing... Pretty good. I can't write when hubby and son are home, so I worked on formatting two of my books for print. I didn't even yell or scream at the computer either, so that means I nailed one of my other goals: no complaining. And if any of you have ever tried to format a book for print, you know that was a huge accomplishment. What's next?  Hmm ... not sure, but I've been feeling overwhelmed lat...

I know we’ve heard this before, but I wasn’t sure if anyone had put it in social media and writing vernacular, so here goes: Make Friends:  I don’t follow everyone, but if we share a common interest—this usually means writing, reading, thinking about writing or reading, or know someone who writes or reads and supports them—I usually follow people back on Twitter and Facebook. Do Onto Others : Again, I don’t share everything, but if I read something I think my friends would have interest in, I retweet and share posts, especially when it’s from someone who shares my posts.  J If you can’t say Anything Nice… :  Really, this  should go without saying, but I still see it. Nothing wrong with having your opinion, but that’s exactly what that is: your opinion. Don’t get in a fighting match; that’s what the ‘ unfollow ’ button is for. Remember ... it takes two. Say  You’re  Sorry : If you do offend someone, say you’re sorry. Play Fair ...

After twenty years of virtually no writing, I sat down one day, put my fingers to the keyboard, and just started typing. Two months, a neglected house, and very few restful nights later, I had a 120k-word novel. When I write, I do nothing but write. Writing literally consumes me morning, noon, and night. I don't want to eat or sleep. You thought I was going to say "or drink", didn't you? If you are a writer, you know that is the one thing writers do not give up—drinking. And for me, it's not alcohol, it's a steaming-hot latte in the morning, an iced latte in the afternoon, and then only because I have to feed the machine, I may throw in a protein smoothie of some variety in the evening if I don’t have time to eat. If it's not prepackaged and easy to prepare, I'm not interested. Only the writing matters. But there is one thing that sidetracks me—Twitter. I've taken advice and shut down my Internet Explorer, turned off notifications on...

I know we’ve heard this before, but I wasn’t sure if anyone had put it in social media and writing vernacular, so here goes: Make Friends: I don’t follow everyone, but if we share a common interest—this usually means writing, reading, thinking about writing or reading, or know someone who writes or reads and supports them—I usually follow people back on Twitter and Facebook. Do Onto Others : Again, I don’t share everything, but if I read something I think my friends would have interest in, I retweet and share posts, especially when it’s from someone who shares my posts. J If you can’t say Anything Nice… : Really, this should go without saying, but I still see it. Nothing wrong with having your opinion, but that’s exactly what that is: your opinion. Don’t get in a fighting match; that’s what the ‘ unfollow ’ button is for. Remember ... it takes two. Say You’re Sorry : If you do offend someone, say you’re sorry. Play Fair : Play by the rules. Unscrupulous activiti...