My family and I celebrated the New Year differently this year. Most of the time we reminisce about the past year, what we would like to change, and look forward to in the next coming year. We even have a tradition where we have a fire and we throw small branches of pine in and let go of bad thoughts.
But letting go of 2016 was different. We didn’t just let go, we pushed and kicked that year away! Sadly, this year is worse and it isn’t even over yet.
I finally got a hold of my girlfriend who lives outside of Vegas and loves country music. She wasn’t at the concert which I am guiltily grateful for because of all the other people who can’t say the same thing about their loved ones. My heart goes out to all of those in Las Vegas. Poor Puerto Rico and the rest of the hurricane hit areas are still trying to manage. All the crazy news is depressing.
All the crazy news is depressing and overwhelming.
So I try and find small joys to focus on. The sound of thundering kitten elephant feet as our two youngest rescues play. How something that small and furry can make such noise is a mystery but something I always love. The fact that they feel safe enough in my house to play also makes me happy.
My husband had to work in Pasadina this morning and he sent me the picture used in this post. It made his day and mine.
Somehow the more overwhelming the bad news, the ability to find joy in small things helps even more.
How about you? What small things do you find joy in? Or how do you cope?
I hope you have a good day today,
Paula
It’s recently been announced that there is a 
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For many authors, psychology is a godsend, lending them new insights into 
“Oh, I want to write today, but I just don’t have the time!”
It is really important to your overall health to decrease stress. Before I became a software engineer extraordinaire I worked in mental health where I met Mr. Paula who was an intern and is now a Doctor of Psychology.
I just attended the Writer’s Digest Conference and as always, I returned home tired and full of inspiration. But there’s something that has stuck in my mind that is nagging at me. Saturday afternoon, I was sitting in the lobby, chatting with several aspiring writers who had a lot of questions about the industry and genre categories among other things. At one point, I overheard a conversation between two attendees adjacent to me. One of the writers turns to another and says, “Isn’t this so great? I’ve met a lot of people, exchanged cards with them.” Etc. Etc. But the other person shrugged and said, “I guess, but I think it’s lame the way these things are all about sponging off of the wannabes to make a bunch of money.”
Writers are suppose to be good at writing stuff, right? Except there are so many elements that go into writing, some depending on what you are writing. I don’t know how you could master all of them. Every time I think I understand one part of plot writing I find an article that takes me to another level of recognizing what I don’t know. But at least I can compete there.
I’ve spent the last eight months writing a novel, and I’m now closing in on the finish.
I drive a manual stick transmission and have for a long time. For those who haven’t, the clutch is the pedal you use to switch the gear. You press in on the clutch and move the stick to the desired gear, then release the clutch while pushing the gas. It takes a little bit of coordination, but it is great fun. There are also a couple of cool tricks you can do in a stick transmission that you can’t really pull off in an automatic car.
If you’ve written nonfiction for any length of time, particularly if you write in a specialized “niche,”it’s possible to reach a point when you feel as if you’ve run out of fresh ideas. You’ve done all the seasonal stories, covered all the breaking developments in your field—and the ideas for your next feature just aren’t coming. You’ve reached what we in the industry politely refer to as a “dry spell,” although when you’re in one, it more often feels like you’ve crash-landed in the desert.
Like most of you, we don’t have a lot of time so we have to prioritize what we spend that precious time on. At least when it comes to entertainment. And there are so many good choices, but we can’t watch them all. So there is what we call the “B list”. As in, if we had more time, the show would be something that we would like to watch, but right now there are so many more “A list” shows. It doesn’t mean that the “B list” shows aren’t good, they are. But with time being a limited resource, we often don’t get a chance to get them. There are always more new content and shows out there to compete, and before you know it, you are binge watching because it is now or never.
As we’re going deeper into the ten key scenes you need for the first layer in your novel, I want to explore the midpoint some more. I wrote about that 50% mark of your novel in 
Today I’m talking with Australian author John Birmingham about his journey from the dizzying heights of the traditional publishing scene, to deciding to go indie and hybrid and his insights into how the publishing industry has changed. It’s an honest and really fascinating interview.