Don't get tired of the book club yet!

I promise to maintain this most magical book club blog - I could not stand for the book club to fall off into oblivion - since I recently went back to working full-time. I did the freelance article writing thing for a while and it was great for the experience, but not a permanent thing.

To the fortuitous fulfillment of my career hopes, I am now a full-time, salary copywriter at a marketing firm for fitness and beauty products. I know - it's SO me.

Anyway, I am now making a 45-minute commute to work (90 minutes total each day) and I might just be listening to our February read, Life of Pi, instead of reading it. I've got the hard copy at home until I can get an audio version for my i-pod.

It got me wondering - How do you prefer to read your books? I'm usually all for holding a book in my hands. I love the smell of bound paper, the feel of a book in my lap, the excitement of flipping pages... but that's me - The Book Hugger Forever. Feel free to answer the poll (above left).

Don't worry - I will still drive safely while listening to books in my car. I'm a fabulous multitasker.

It's already February 2 and we have a shorter reading month than usual, but I do believe we can manage. It is Leap Year after all.

Oh, and, I thought I would throw out some book club ideas for March, just so I can update my lovely book club images at the top of the page. How about:

• The Thirteenth Tale
• Poison Study

 ...for starters? As always, feel free to suggest books that you'd like to read or discuss.

Happy reading with Life of Pi!

11 Days, 11 Writing Tips, and 11 articles

Today is 11/11/11, and it's a busy day.

11 Days In

So far I am doing pretty good with my goal of writing every day. I have missed two days this month of writing "creatively" for 30 minutes but it was usually because I had a busy day of writing my freelance articles. I have written a couple of scenes for my book, in no particular order, which I have been reassured is okay.

Maybe I will post a sneak peak of a scene from my novel-in-progress in some future post.

11 Reasons to Keep Going

This morning I found this link:

My Name Is Not Bob: 11 Tips for Writers to Find Success

It's very good and I will probably refer to it again. I often need reminders to stick to my goals and to just keep writing. I think the writing muses reward writers for working hard even when we feel uninspired. I had a music teacher tell me once that "'People say I'm lucky. The harder I work, the luckier I get.' So keep practicing." Or something to that effect.

11 Items for Today

For now, I have a busy day of writing freelance articles and then squeezing in my 30 minutes of creative writing. The good news is that I have my most difficult freelance articles done for the week and my assignments today should be fairly... manageable.

I am starting to feel some excitement when I think about my book and look forward to writing it each day. That's a good sign. I think.

Does anyone else have a connection to "11" today? Have you had a sign from the universe that 11 is your magic number?

Have a happy day of eleven!

Why the Title?

After much deliberation (believe me), I decided to title my blog "I write therefore I am."  Maybe you have heard a similiar statement before.

Writing is art, architecture, and history.  It is what we are remembered by and how our lives and our existence are preserved.  Because I write - in my journal, on my blogs, in poems, and in fictional stories - I am therefore preserving bits and pieces of myself.

Of course I am not the only one that does this.  But I thought of it first. :)

So why isn't the title, "I am therefore I write"?  It could be; and that, too, would be an interesting statement. 

Most, if not all, human beings feel compelled to leave evidence of their existence through whatever means they can.  For an increasing number of people, their choice of self evidence is writing.  I won't give you the stats on the growing number of bloggers, but I know it's a positive number.

Not all people, however, choose to express themselves by writing.  They create other things, like paintings, buildings, gardens, or... other people. 

My primary choice of self preservation is writing.  So, not everyone who exists writes, but those who write... exist.  Not just currently, but as long as their writing does.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why I've chosen words as my primary means of leaving evidence of myself - because it will last (at least I hope so).  Maybe it's because I am best at creating things with words - people, situations, beauty, mystery, color, sensation, conflict.  I do it with words, and I revel when the results of my words seem to provide as many answers as they do introduce new mystery into the world.

That's part of the fun, too, I guess.  I cannot just give my descendants a journal of letters addressed to them saying, "This is how you will remember me.  The End."  I have got to keep those people guessing and wondering and puzzling over my true "self"ness.

I like to be mysterious.  And more often than not, the subconscious ideas that find their way through my writing say a lot more about me than I can ever decipher or communicate consciously.

My "Absolute Yes" List

To work from home as a writer, I need to find ways to discpline myself and prioritize my day.  Another recommendation I took from my webinar a couple of weeks ago is to make an Absolute Yes List.  The goal here is to prioritize my time so that I don't get distracted.

Huh, distracted?  Who needs help with that?

Right.

There are 5 basic things every day that I give myself permission to say yes to.  All the other stuff needs to go to the bottom of the pile.

1. ME TIME
Saying yes to Me Time means that I have my own permission to exercise, to shower and get ready for the day, and to get enough sleep at night.

2. MY FAITH
I am a very religious person and it's important enough to me that I set aside time every day to pray and study.  I also volunteer at my church as a leader for the young women in our neighborhood, which requires some time commitments throughout the week.

3. FAMILY
Some things I always say yes to - and some people - are my family.  My husband, his family, and our even our extended families are a major part of our lives.  When family stuff comes up, I step up.  I also try to make time each day to just be with my husband.

4. WRITING
Yes, work is a big part of my day.  When you work from home as a writer, the line between work and social networking is a little... shall we say, fuzzy.  Building my writing platform is important to me as well as continuing to earn cash by writing marketing articles.

5. HOME
I've always wanted to be a home-maker.  To me, this includes occasional cleaning, decorating, keeping food handy around the house, keeping our clothes as wearable as possible, and running errands.

All of these things can still be a lot to juggle, but I think it helps to have them listed.  That way I know to stick to my priorities and take care of them first.  Facebook and itunes and shopping and TV have to wait.

Now that I work from home, it does take a lot more discipline than I'm used to, but life is all about being a work in progress, right?  Work is challenging in different ways for me now.