If we were having coffee – Page 3

Let’s Chat over a cup of Coffee

It’s been a while since we last met which was way back in November. Since then I have read a couple of books. One book opened a door of learning to appreciate my coworkers and the other about the benefits of Stress. Usually, I prefer to read fiction like that of fantasy, mystery, sci-fiction, or romance but I’ve found these books on business informative.

Christmas and the Holidays have passed.

Phew! They flew by without incident, and everyone was happy with the gifts they got. I did stay up to watch the ball drop.

Keelaa, our Jackshund, is getting a new kitten.

She has been pretty lonely since her much older sister, Julie, passed away back in October. We were all very sad to say goodbye to our trusted furry friend of 16 years, but she was in a lot of pain. Her death was a relief. I hated seeing her struggle to walk. She was at the point where she needed aid when standing up, and many times she would stumble and fall or slip on the linoleum landing with a big huff. I feared how she would fair, come wintertime. With all the ice and snow, her mobility would’ve been limited. She was a trooper right to the very end.

My Milestone Moment!

May of 2016 I began taking college courses at Franklin Pierce University while keeping my day job. Up until then, I had only wished that I had gone to college and believed that this was just a forgotten dream that would never come true. But yea me, it did!

This week, I completed my Associates Degree in Business Associate. I’m moving on with my Bachelors in Science of Integrated Studies. My coursework will consist of a concentrate of Business and Social Service classes, and I did declare my major as well. I want my MBA of Human Resource Management with SHRM certification.

I should have my bachelor’s degree by September of 2019 and my MBA by 2020-21.

Have I stopped writing?

Not really. Though I have not published anything in a while, I do have several stories I am writing, while my primary goal with them is to improve my writing style making the stories much more professionally written. I like having the control over my written works even though they do not fill my bank account with wads of dollars. I don’t write to make money. Writing is my way of expressing myself, and the goal is to write stories that I would want to read. They may never be as good as Game of Thrones or am I selling myself short? I won’t know until I publish them and you as a reader give me feedback on how much my writing has changed in the past ten to twelve years.

Till we meet again – bottoms up!

I would tell you…

~ Lost one of my writing coaches this week.

Julie

RIP – 12/2001 – 10/2017

She was an extraordinary pup and spent many hours sitting by my side while I wrote. Julie was one of my main inspirations for the story Aaron and Keja even though Keja is a golden retriever and Julie was a long-haired black lab mix who had a Rottweiler for a daddy. It was her time. She was in pain from arthritis and was having difficulty standing and walking. I feared how she would handle the winter months because last winter she was already struggling. Snow and ice were no longer her friends.

When she was a pup, she loved to lay in the snow until she was entirely white, and then walk with her mouth open scooping up the snow to eat. She’d have a choking fit whenever she tried to do this with a snowbank that had gobs of sand mixed with the snow. I’d try to warn her, but she wouldn’t listen.

May you rest in peace, Julie, we will miss you dearly.

~School Updates

This term is focused on Psychology and Statistics. I like – no – love psychology. Statistics well, it appears that statistically, most people don’t enjoy statistics because it is a hard concept to understand. I hope I pass. It was a huge risk taking statistics. I will continue to attempt to do my very best and not give up with that class the way I had given up on pre-calculus in high school. My saving grace is probably the fact that I have psychology at the same time to help temper any anxiety I feel about taking that risky class. 4 more weeks to go and statistics will be over!

~A little bit of Writer Advice

“I say, it’s getting tough out there selling books. I’m beginning to see the signs.”

Today I received my first desperate book review request from an author who does not realize that sending a chapter of their book to someone without it being requested is not really kosher.

I hit the delete button on that one.

I get it. You want your book reviewed so you might sell a few books, but please, don’t send me a bunch of crappy text in an email, and I don’t do Pdf’s either.

Right now, I really don’t have enough time to review random books. I work a full-time job, and I have plenty of school work eating up the rest of my time. Any books that I am reading at the moment are a prerequisite of my Professor, or they are directed at my potential career.

Unless you’re G.R.R. Martin with the book Winds of Winter you need to find someone else who is looking for something to read.

Go to Goodreads and give copies away in their book giveaways.

On Amazon, create a giveaway with them to help find reviewers.

When you beg or spam readers you lose readership.

I don’t even know what that book was about. I can’t remember the name of the author who sent me the chapter. I only remember that I hit delete.

I’m booked up for the next 3 years.

~ NaNoWriMo is coming soon!

I’ve been plotting and doing a bit of writing. I still don’t know what this year’s story will be about, but I’m ready for November 1. Hopefully, I will have a stronger plot outline by then.

It has to be a romance no matter what.

Boy meets girl + girl meets boy = happy ever after.

Anyone have story twist suggestions?

I’m game to hear them.