Coming out of a funk & celebrating Thanksgiving

I've been in a funk for the past few months and have spent most of my time sitting around making sad faces just like the little pug above.

But if you're going to get out of a funk, I'd say Thanksgiving is a great time to do it. And thanks to a great experience I had over the weekend I'm officially feeling over my funk.

I haven't written much of anything in months and had gotten to a point where I had gone from being excited about writing to deciding I couldn't stand anything I'd ever written and I'd never write again and what was I thinking starting all this anyway? I whined that I hated marketing, I hated social media, I hated my blog, and I basically hated everything. In all honesty I needed someone to do this to me:


Fortunately though I was able to snap out of my funk without having someone slap me in the face.

On Saturday I spoke to a class taught by a friend at the university where I work. The class is designed to support local authors and one of their assignments had been to read my book The Ghosts of Aquinnah. I had been excited about the class when I agreed to participate back in May but as the day drew closer I dreaded it and wished I could simply back out.

I couldn't back out though and that turned out to be a great thing as I had a wonderful time with the class. They were enthusiastic about the book and it was such a treat to hear them talk about my story and my characters and which ones they liked or disliked, etc. Some had brought their books with them for me to sign and a few told me that my book was their favorite of all they had read for the class.

I walked out of the class on cloud nine and I haven't slipped back into my funk since. When talking with the class about my books, it was easy to remember exactly why I had "started all this."

No work I've ever done has given me the sense of personal fulfillment and pure joy that writing and blogging has. I'm so fortunate to have found this outlet, however late in life I did, and I'd have to be a complete idiot to ever give it up.

I can definitely be an idiot but I don't think I'm a complete one. :D

Source: publicdomainpictures

So again, I can't think of a better time to come out of a funk than at Thanksgiving. My family and I have a lot to celebrate this year, as my mom is doing well in her cancer fight and we are cautiously optimistic. But I also want to remember how thankful I am that I started writing and blogging and became a part of such an extraordinary community.

To my American friends, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. And to everyone else, a wonderful week ahead. :)

IWSG & Wickedly They Dream Release Day!

It's hard to believe it's already November and time for another meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. To see the list of group members as well as this month's co-hosts, visit Alex's site here. 

I really don't have much to write about this month as I am still simply feeling insecure about blogging and writing and life in general. In addition to my mom's cancer, I've had some other personal stressors pop up and I'm having a terrible time focusing on anything writing related. It's safe to say 2014 has not been my year! But I have to force myself to focus this month as I'm working with my editor to get my Polar Night sequel Polar Day ready for a February, 2015 release date. Even though it's a lot of work, it's actually great for me to have this editing as a distraction, especially as I'm super excited for the release. 

For today though I'm turning the blog over to my friend Cathrina Constantine and her book Wickedly They Dream, which is officially released today!! Yay, Cathrina!!

To add to the fun, Wickedly They Dream is on sale for 99 cents. That's a steal for one of Cathy's books so I would encourage everyone to get a copy ASAP. Here is all the info on the book and the giveaway Cathrina is holding to celebrate the release. 

**Happy Release Day** **GIVEAWAY**

Wickedly They Dream

Genre: Paranormal Thriller/Fantasy

Publisher: Black Opal Books How Far Will Jordan go to rescue her mother. It will cost her everything--even her angel, Markus!

Buy Links: Amazon

Black Opal Books

Author Cathrina Constantine resides in Western New York. When not with her family, you'll find her in the forest behind her house walking the dogs and conjuring a new tale.

You can find Cathy Here:

Amazon

Facebook

Goodreads

Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

National Animal Shelter & Rescue Appreciation Week

Today marks the start of National Animal Shelter & Rescue Appreciation Week, which was founded by the Humane Society of the United States in 1996 and is celebrated each year during the first week of November.

I adopted my Nate, shown above doing his best impersonation of a jaguar perched in the trees, from the Kenton County Animal Shelter in Northern Kentucky when he was just four months old. All of my pets have come from shelters or rescues and they are/were all the greatest pets in the world, so I have a great deal of respect and affection for these organizations and the people who keep them running. There are between six and eight million homeless animals in the United States each year and only about 3,500 shelters to help them, so it's clear that all rescues have their work cut out for them.

In honor of the week, The Humane Society offers ten tips for helping your local shelter or rescue, some as easy as "liking" and sharing about rescues on Facebook and other social media. Other ideas include donating supplies such as towels or cleansers or even making your own toys for the shelter animals in your area. To read the article and see the whole list of ideas, click here.

Nate didn't want me to include a dog in this post but I saw this video last week and I think it captures the value of animal shelters and rescues more than any words ever could. It's such a feel-good story that even Nate had to relent and he agreed that it fits perfectly with Shelter & Rescue Appreciation Week.

Kudos to this shelter and all the others across the country!

Post by Sea FM Hobart.