The Great Balancing Act

In December I went walking in the park with my grandchildren. A woman with two therapy dogs drew our attention. A very sweet lady, she asked if we'd met before and then we spent a few moments trying to determine whether our paths had ever crossed. When she asked me what I did, I claimed novelist, my grandchildren filled in my role as business coach and the camera around my neck claimed photographer. "My your life is so well balanced," she said.

For those of you who have visited my personal blog, you may know that, in November I decided that 2012 would be the year for me to learn balance. I'm hosting other authors who are telling their tricks. How ironic to meet someone who would view me as balanced. 

As writers most of us have real jobs, those that keep us in computers, pens and paper. We cannot stop writing even though our lives are full, because the writing process is what gives us fulfillment. So instead we carve out bits and pieces of time between family and work, sometimes feeling stretched or pulled in so many directions. We can't wait for retirement to write, the stories refuse to allow it. Instead they nag us while making the bed, taking a shower, or doing the dishes. "Write me! Write me!" they call to us.

In my younger years, living in Wyoming, I played a bit with rock climbing. It was almost at the same time that a new trend was started called slacklining. Two guys in Yosemite Valley strung webbing and walked, not on tight rope, but rather on "rope" that had less tension, sometimes between two places high above the ground. Slacklining is interesting because of the ease with which the practice can change by using narrower or thicker webbing or by just changing the tension. While the slackline is less rigid and has a bit of sway, it does not allow for an alternative path. 

Perhaps this is how to achieve balance as a writer with also being a child, parent, grandparent, employee and friend. A path that has sway, that allows for changes in the dynamics, but still keeps you focused to the end. May each of you navigate the high peaks of life with balance and see your writing soar.

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D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction. She loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is the author of Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception, her latest book dealing with the subject of death and the afterlife. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City. She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

Her novels are available in electronic format here, or print format here. 

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook

Or you can just contact her at d.jeanquarles@yahoo.com

Five Essential Tips to Make the Most Out of Twitter by Donna McDine

As many of us know social networking can be quite time consuming and overwhelming if you do not harness it from the get go. Twitter has become a great marketing tool to get the word out about your business and/or product. Whether you have a service to offer or product (book) to promote, if used correctly Twitter can be an effective way to network:


1. Setting up your Twitter Account: When setting up your Twitter account create a username and profile bio that provides a clear understanding to your visitor what your expertise is. For example my profile bio reads: “Multiple award-winning children's author and Social Media maven who can free up your valuable time so you can concentrate on your freelance writing career.” Not only does it state that I’m a children’s author it clearly shows that you can hire me for social networking tasks.


2. Who to Follow: Research who to follow by clicking the “Who to Follow” link in the top bar once signed in. Twitter will provide you with suggestions and you can also search by category by typing in a title such as, librarian, teacher, parents, grandparents. The list is endless depending on what your specific needs and market are.


3. Be an active Twitter participant: It’s important to be an active Twitter participant by retweeting other tweets. Not only can you retweet within Twitter, many bloggers and website owners have a share button that you can click to retweet their topic. By doing so, the Twitter sign-in page pops-up, you sign-in and the retweet automatically transfers to Twitter and hit click. It’s that simple.


4. What to Tweet about: Create your tweets at the beginning of each week when you are reviewing your marketing plan (i.e., I will be conducting a school visit today and will be sharing what was effective tomorrow at my blog). This provides your follower a call to action by inviting them to visit your blog. Most important, your tweets should NOT only be about your business and/or product. It’s important that you share information that you feel your followers will find important to them.


5. Scheduling Your Tweets Ahead of Time: The ability to schedule your tweets ahead of time so that your networking becomes automated can easily be done through Dynamic Tweets, which can be found at www.dynamictweets.com. They are currently a FREE service and it includes scheduling recurring tweets, which comes in handy so that when you have a tweet you want to send out at different times and dates you don’t have to keep setting it up each time.

About Donna:

My experience in researching and securing book reviewers, writing effective media releases, media kit creation (both online and hard copy), creation of opt-in subscriber boxes, and implementing your social networking campaign will certainly ease your mind for your book promotional needs.

Happy Tweeting! If you have any questions or I may be of assistance please feel free to contact me at donna@donnamcdine.com or visit me at http://www.authorprservices.com/ for additional FREE marketing articles.