As the days of 2012 go by, I want to cut through all the craziness of daily living and remember the things that are important and that make life wonderful. I’ll be jotting down five or six things I’m grateful for every day. As with all goals, things aren’t so difficult when you break things into smaller more achievable tasks.

Research suggests that cultivating gratefulness is good for you. It increases your satisfaction, vitality, happiness, self-esteem, optimism, hope, empathy, and willingness to help others. For just a few minutes every day, you can change the way you think about your life and the world around you. Here’s my list of gratitudes for today:

I’m grateful for…

1. Starting to get a little more balance by focusing on the moment
2. Making progress on eating more vegetables with every meal
3. The sound of a baby’s laughter
4. Sunshine on the mountaintops
5. Gentlemen who still hold the door open for a lady

What about you? Would it help you to shift your focus from the day-to-day madness and concentrate on what’s important? What are you grateful for today?

Let’s face it. Summer writing schedules are different than during the rest of the year. For me the summer is filled with fits and starts–or lots of pages one day and nothing for the rest of the week. Fall brings consistency of daily writing back into the regime. Except there’s one little problem…how do you get fit again after a long break?

Running can give insight into this problem. In order to be a marathon runner, you must learn to train every day. To start with small goals for activity and slowly build to more. You have to get your muscles in shape and prepare for the ultimate test to your endurance.

Is preparing for writing any different? Not really.

So what’s a writer to do when their muscles are a bit out of shape? When the skills and abilities of achieving page goals each day are a bit…let’s be polite here…less than toned? It all goes back to the basics–those same principles marathon runners use.

• Retrain your discipline. This is a tough one. How to be disciplined enough to sit down in your writer’s chair after a long break from that habit. Two things that have always worked for me are a quote and a kitchen timer.

The quote: “Discipline is remembering what you want.” by David Campbell

The timer: gets set for 10 minutes the first day, 12 the second, 14 the third, and so on. When the timer is on, I write anything that comes to mind. It’s a great way to get back in the habit of writing.

• Start with a plan. What do you want to accomplish? You need a map, a guideline of where you are going. Do you want to complete a whole book by a certain date? Do you want to finish one chapter each week? Write one, three, seven, twenty pages a day?

• Set small goals at first, then build gradually over time to increase your endurance. One you have a plan you can break things down into smaller and realistic goals. Setting goals helps you feel like you are making progress forward. I might start my first week off writing three pages a day, then after the first week bump the total up by 2-3 pages a day until I hit my normal daily average.

• Track your progress. I’m a visual person and I really have to keep a log or a graph to show me what my goal was and then how I’m performing. Placing that chart near my computer desk can really keep me focused and inspired when things are going so well.

• Eat a healthy diet and get enough rest. Yes, you actually write better when you eat nutritious food and sleep eight hours a night.

• Celebrate the successes. When you hit your milestones, celebrate the moment. One of my favorite ways to celebrate is to go for a hike. I like to think about it as time off for good behavior. It’s also a great way to regroup and feed that writer’s well with new thoughts and ideas about what to write next.

What do you need to do to get yourself back in shape after a long break?

I’ll be attending the Emerald City Writers’ Conference on October 28 – 30th and presenting two workshops:

“How to Breathe Life Into Your Characters” along with authors Judith Laik, Joleen James, and Gina Robinson. We’ll be discussing how a characters’ past shapes the way they think, feel and move through the pages of a book to leave an impression on readers beyond the last page.

“Resurrecting the Muse” Where I’ll take attendees on an in-depth look at why writer’s sometimes suffocate their creative world with “real” world pressures.

I’ll also be signing books at the book fair on Saturday, October 29th from 4:30 – 6:30 pm at the Westin Hotel in Bellevue, Washington – 600 Bellevue Way NE, 3rd Floor. The book signing is open to the public. Stop on by. I’d love to see you!

Always,

Gerri 

I came into work this morning after a long weekend of working overtime to find my desk covered in flowers. It was a lovely surprise and kept me smiling all day. I felt very loved…Thank you Andrea and Dawn. You’re both so wonderful!

–Gerri

The Warrior Trainer was the first book I published, and was a result of winning the American Title contest sponsored in part by RT Book Reviews Magazine. This book is very near and dear to my heart.  I wrote it at a time that was very difficult for me personally: shortly after my father died and while my mother was battling cancer. Scotia and Ian (the heroine and hero of The Warrior Trainer) kept me company as I drove the three-hour round trip each day to help my mom. It has been several years since that time, and I’m thankful my mother is a cancer survivor. I learned how to be a survivor, too, during that time. And that’s exactly what Scotia represents to me now, women facing tough situations in their lives with dignity and grace.

I really enjoyed writing The Warrior Trainer. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it, too!

To celebrate the release of The Warrior Trainer as well as the last few days of summer, I’m giving away a tote bag packed full of goodies!  One randomly drawn commenter will receive an assortment of Scottish goodies, a signed copy of The Warrior Trainer, a Starbucks gift card and other reader goodies. Want a chance to win? Talk to me! Leave a comment about a great book you’ve read this summer, somewhere you travelled recently, or anything at all. I’ll draw a winner after Labor Day.

Hope you are all having a great August!

Gina Robinson, author of the fun and sexy romantic suspense The Spy Who Left Me, and Cynthia Nims, the super creative cookbook author of Gourmet Game Night. We talked about creativity, following your passion, and making a living doing what you love! If you missed the show you can listen to it here:

http://tinyurl.com/3dto5g9

Have a great week in your little corner of the world!

~Gerri

Bergdorf Goodman has found its way into a variety of movies and television shows over the years. In the 1962 movie That Touch of Mink, Doris Day is feted by Cary Grant with a shopping spree at Bergdorf Goodman’s. I can see Doris Day in this dress. Can’t you?

In the 1966 film, Penelope, the main character, played by Natalie Wood, uses the proceeds of a bank robbery to purchase her disguise at Bergdorf Goodman’s. However, she wouldn’t be wearing these shoes to “get away”.

In the 1981 film Arthur, Dudley Moore shops for sweaters at Bergdorf’s when he sees Linda (Liza Minnelli) shoplifting a tie there.

Bergdorf Goodman was a favorite shopping spot for Sex And The City’s main character, Carrie Bradshaw. It was featured in the opening to Sex and the City 2, with the girls meeting at the entrance of the store and buy wedding gifts there.

No matter what the film, television show, or the occasion, Bergdorf Goodman’s is just plain fun! What’s your favorite place to window shop?

As the day progressed, the message was heard many times over. The scope of publishing is changing—faster in the last two years than ever before. Editors, agents, publishers, and authors are all trying to figure out where they fit into those changes and what the future holds. E-books are still only 25 percent of the book market, but that number is growing daily as more people purchase e-readers and shift their reading habits. The overall feeling here at the conference is one of excitement and hope. Change is good, sometimes painful, but inevitable in all things. Authors have more options for publishing than ever before with the growth of the e-book market.

Along with those options come some pitfalls, however. It was wonderful to hear from the best in the industry what those pitfalls will be and how to avoid them. The e-book market is lucky in one sense: we are not the first market to make the transition to a digital form, and there are lessons we can learn from the other industries, such as the music industry, which have gone befor­e us.

Another oft-repeated comment within the workshops was that no matter how easy it is for authors to publish their own work (and there are lots of authors doing just that) it is will still be hard to stand out in the crowd. Content will still be king in the new age of publishing. That means well-written and edited books with great covers.

Another message was that publishers are aware of the importance of an online presence these days. Not just with Twitter and Facebook, but a real promotional presence. Authors have to be their own publicity department. And if they don’t have the necessary skills, they must start building a team of professionals to help them out if they want to survive in the changing landscape of publishing.

How do you feel about the changing book market? How did you purchase your last book, from a store or digitally?