Welcome to this week’s Blog Hop! This week’s topic is presented by—well, actually, I don’t know, because they didn’t give their name. But here you go! I love daily mantras, they get me through the day and almost always gets me through tough times. What gets you over the hump of a really bad day? I don’t think I’ve ever recited a mantra in my life. I can understand their usefulness—having something to focus on can certainly centre you and help calm your soul. But I’m more of a “do something” person. When something is going wrong or I’m having a bad day, I like to take action to make it better. That’s not to say I don’t have some sayings that I use to remind myself to just breathe when the going gets tough. One of my best bosses used to deal with issues by saying “As long as it’s not our fault.” He wanted us to know that, as long as we’d done our best and hadn’t been the cause of the issue, not to sweat it. If it was our fault, we were expected to own up to it, of course, but it is easy when you are leading a team to take all the blame onto your own shoulders, and that way lies madness. My favourite saying, though, when things go awry, is “nobody died.” I mean no disrespect to people who have gone through the horrible loss a loved one, but I use it to bring things into perspective. When I make a mistake or a client is angry or a job doesn’t get done on time, I take a deep breath and remember what’s really important. Usually that’s enough to get me off the ledge and handle the problem without becoming too emotionally involved. What about you? What helps you get through a bad day? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Then be sure to hop over to Jenna Da Sie and see how she copes with life.
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This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Jenna Da Sie says: My birthday was a couple of days ago. What do you do to celebrate your birthday and do you have one particular birthday that stands out above the rest? If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! We don’t celebrate birthdays in any huge way – not every year at least. There’s always a family dinner, although it often isn’t on the right day. It’s easier to get together on weekends, so we tend to celebrate the Sunday before or after. We don’t even always have cake. I remember one birthday where my son, who isn’t a big sweets eater, asked for a donuts, so that was his birthday treat. And if we do have a cake, it is often an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. We do celebrate milestone birthdays with a bit more pizzazz. For our children’s sixteenth birthdays, my husband made each of them a collage of photos, and the presents were a little more substantial. But we weren’t even in the country when our oldest daughter turned 25 or son turned 21, so that isn’t a rule. It is my mom’s 75th this year, so we should probably do something extra special this year – although when my dad turned 75 they were snowbirding it in the United States, so we didn’t see him on that day. For myself, I do have one amazing birthday story. Again – it wasn’t even on my actual birthday. Mr. C and I had often talked about going to see Billy Joel play at Madison Square Gardens, especially after he started doing his residency there. About a month before my 50th birthday, we went out on a date night, and Mr. C handed me an envelope. Inside was a photo of Billy Joel and a copy of two tickets to his November 2017 concert. I have to admit, I might have cried a little. It was so unexpected and so special – partly because it was something we both wanted to do. It’s quite an expense to travel from Northern BC to New York City, so this was no ordinary gift. The trip was awesome – the concert defied all expectations, and then we also saw “Come From Away” on Broadway, which was a true delight. All in all, it was the best birthday gift – yet. 😊 What about you? Do you go whole hog for birthdays? Or do you celebrate quietly? I’d love to hear a story about your best birthday in the comments. Then be sure to head over to Jenna Da Sie and find out what she does for birthdays! If you like to read romance novels of all genres, join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all...about our writing, of course! Every week we'll answer the same questions. Once you've read my blog, the link below will direct you to another. Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions or make comments.
Our blog tour will be six months old on July 29th. To celebrate our first milestone, the authors of Romance Weekly are giving back some of the love. We have incredible prizes on offer, including a Kindle Fire and multiple romance libraries. Enter for free at http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ep75lsuzj/ If you've joined me from Jeana E Mann's blog, welcome! Now on to the questions! Have you always written Romance? If we are talking about novels, then yes. I am fascinated by how people meet, how they build lives together, so romance is the perfect fit for that. As well, when I read for enjoyment, I prefer novels that promise a happy ending. It is also why I enjoy mysteries. I want to feel uplifted and happy when I finish a book, and with those two genres I am guaranteed that! How do you deal with critiques about the romance genre? Generally, I smile and nod and move on. Here's the thing – people are allowed to read what they want. If you don't like romance, don't read it. Personally, I don't read horror, and probably never will. Of course, the flip side to that is, if you don't read a certain genre, you shouldn't criticize it. Unfortunately, people denigrate what they don't understand all the time, whether its books, movies, art or another human being. I don't feel the need to bang my head against a brick wall, attempting to change the mind of people who don't want to be changed. What’s the one thing about our genre you’d like people to know? Let's face it – there are some really, really poorly written romance novels out there, just as there are poorly written sci-fi, mystery and thrillers. But thinking people do not judge an entire genre by a few examples. The best romance novels are about people in relationships that help them grow and change and become better people. And what more valid and valuable story is there? Love doesn't just make the world go round – it makes the world a caring, tender place, where everyone is accepted for who they are. And for me, that's what romance is all about. Now it's time to move on to Fiona Riplee - enjoy! Finally...Amazon.ca has a Kindle store!
When I was looking around for my first ereader, I was overwhelmed with the choices. I ended up purchasing a Kobo, partly because I wanted to support a company with stronger ties to Canada. But part of the reason NOT to buy a Kindle was that Amazon.ca did not have a Kindle store. I was shocked the first time I realized this. How could that have been overlooked? Was it because our language is basically the same? No, probably not...after all, there's a Kindle store on the UK Amazon site. Maybe it had something to do with Canada's two official languages? Kind of a lame excuse if so, given there's a Kindle store in Japanese. Could it have been for financial reasons? Does Amazon.com make a bigger profit from Canadian Kindle owners because of the difference between the Canadian and American dollar? If they did, it can't be much now, as the dollars are almost at par. (Right now, MOUNTAIN FIRE is listed at $2.99 on CA, $3.03 on COM) Anyone have any thoughts? Do you know why it has taken so long to get a Canadian Kindle store? |