The Secret to Success (IWSG edition)

Priorities. How do you make sure you get the most important things done in a day?

The IWSG question this month got me thinking--and not just about writing. The question is:

How do you find the time to write in your busy day?

I read this excellent article that wasn't even about the same subject. The primary idea behind the article was how we become products of our environment. The way it struck me, I started thinking about my surroundings. What things am I exposed to just because they're happening, and which elements do I try to control? Am I giving things passive permission to my brain--like a TV show, a radio song, or a debate because someone else is engaging in them around me? (Or because I didn't bother to silence those distractions?)

We all take the path of least resistance, but that doesn't mean we have to take whatever is put in front of us. We can create our own "path of least resistance" to our ultimate goals. It will take some work to shape the path, but once it's there, it's there.

So for me, writing in the day isn't a question of FINDING TIME, it's a question of MAKING TIME. And with 4 kids (1 a toddler and two full time home schooling students), I MAKE TIME. (Is it any wonder I write about time manipulation? LOL.)

What is hindering your productive time?

BTW, next week is my COVER REVEAL for TIMELESS (3rd book in my Maiden of Time series). Are you as excited as I am? (You know it's going to be epic.)

Two weeks ago, Mark Noce shared two truths and one lie with us. Anyone who guessed the lie correctly was entered to win a PRINT copy of BETWEEN TWO FIRES.

The game:

1. I once ate a package of plastic C4, thinking it was chocolate (it was nighttime people).
2. I take a car, two trains, and walk a mile-and-a-half in order to get to work each day.
3. I may actually be related to the second-most-prolific man in history (King Niall of Ireland).

The lie: #1. As fun a story as that would be, it's a total fib.

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Quanie Miller!

Congrats, Quanie!

And now, how about ANOTHER truly great book up for grabs? (And yes, I read and reviewed this one. It is excellent.)

He came looking for a ghost. Instead, he found a girl. 

Tucker Boone is a war-hardened Marine on a ghost hunt. Fresh out of the corps, Tucker learns he has a missing half-sister, Maddy. The only clue to her whereabouts is a cryptic note…I’ve gone Mad, Mags. Tucker agrees to search for her and heads to Ocracoke, North Carolina where a ghost named Mad Mags is said to haunt the ancient graveyards dotting the island.

The note doesn’t bring him any closer to finding Maddy, but it does offer him a diversion to the doldrums of civilian life—his new island neighbor, Josie McCoy. Tucker is drawn to her quiet spirit. There’s something special about Josie…a connection he can’t quite explain.

By summer’s end, he’s mixed up in deception, murder, and the love of a lifetime. Logic tells him to head home and forget the truths he found on the island. But can he walk away? Josie offers him more than love; she offers him hope. When the clues pile up and it looks like she can never be the girl for him, he has to make a choice—play it safe and break her heart, or risk everything for a chance at being swept away.

Get Your Copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author?

Elizabeth Seckman is a wife, a football mom, and a believer in dreams. She is a multi-published author and the best-seller on her street. There may not be any other writers on her street, but that doesn’t matter. She still outsells them all. 

She doesn't have a favorite cheese, but loves them all equally, even with jam. And she would eat cheese anywhere, be it land, sea, or cheesy air. Hold the questions, but never the cheese. That you pile on as high as you please!

Elizabeth gave me two lies and one truth to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out either lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win an eBook of SWEPT AWAY. (Open internationally.)

You have until Tuesday, September 13 at 2 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on September 14, 8 a.m. EDT.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. My first week of college, I got the flu and threw up in the elevator. Fortunately, everyone on the elevator just thought I'd been drinking and didn't make a big deal of it.
2. When I was a little girl, my sisters tried to turn me into a beauty pageant queen, but I'd never walk on a stage.
3. The first time I took my driver's test, I backed into a police officer (barely bumped her...no harm done!) and failed the test.

Oh, and it's not too late to sign up for the cover reveal of TIMELESS. (But almost.)

So sleuths, which is the lie? Do you love romance stories? What is your great distraction?

Life is what we make of it, so make it a good one.

Do you ever feel powerless?

After spending 2 weeks away from home, I've returned--with dread in my gut. Worries plagued me all through the last night of our vacation--whether I'll admit it or not. I suddenly started to think about this ridiculous schedule I'd been keeping before leaving: early morning walking, a couple hours of cleaning, an hour or two of blogging, a couple hours teaching, a couple hours writing, then cooking, more cleaning, some calling work, a little critiquing, and finally the bed routine. Should it be any wonder I've been dreading it?

Then as I read an article about Islanders in the South Pacific, it hit me. Their priorities are very different from your average American. They LIVE A SLOWER PACE.

So why can't I?

My brain automatically sputtered back, "Well, because it's expected that I run until I burn myself out, and then pick myself up and keep going." LOL. Expected by whom? Silly me.

I had a mantra throughout high school: You make your own reality. Really, it's true. You are the one who defines what your life will be, what you'll tolerate, how far you'll let it go before working to change it. Now that doesn't mean things will change over night, but if it's a priority, you have the power to alter your current existence. Rather than complaining, our energy can be better spent, eh?

That said, will I be any less insane? No, but it will be a slightly altered insanity that fits more with my family and circumstances of life. It might even be a SLOWER PACE OF LIFE. *gasp* I think the older I get, the slower I move, and thus, it's wise to willingly adapt my pace accordingly. (That or I'm just getting bogged down with the needs of a middle-stage family.)

Regardless, what is it you find yourself complaining about lately? Do you know of someone who has dramatically altered their own world? (I think this might be why I write fiction--to create that alteration regularly.) Priority check, what is it you wish you were doing less/more?

P.S. I'll post one or two of our adventure stories in the next couple weeks. *rubbing hands* Boy, have I got some good ones!