I’m on a trip to the Pacific Northwest, Washington, to be more specific. I’m writing this from the hotel’s computer. It’s our family vacation. I was born up here and I wanted to show my children where I came from.

As we were driving through Mt. Ranier National Park I realized why so many fantasy stories take place in the Pacific Northwest. It’s beautiful. It’s majestic. And most of all, it’s mysterious. Old growth forests protected by moss. Lush green vegetation enveloped the forest floor. Mushrooms and wildflowers covered fallen trees, and waterfalls flowed into streams and small rivers

 There is a sense of spirit here. A feeling that you’re close to God in His truest form. A place to commune with nature. There is a closeness to the One.

We had no cell service on the mountain. Tourists from all over the world were at the Paradise Lodge doing what we were doing, admiring the mountain. Feeling the heart of the earth.

The mysteriousness is perfect. The sense of solitude. A place to get lost. Perfect for Bigfoot. The eerie, dark forest with little light shining through. Perfect for vampires.  The wilderness, wild and free; perfect for werewolves. The Pacific Northwest is a mystical place where fantasy can be seen. A secretive place full of monsters, fairies, and Bigfoot. A place that is wild and scary and I would go back in a heartbeat.

On March 1st I participated in my first book signing event. Book Exchange, a local book store in Marietta, hosted an Indie author and publishing event. I hesitated for a moment to sign up, but something pushed me to do it, so I called the bookstore, talked to the owner, hopped in my mini-van and paid for my table. I promoted the two books I have available right now, Fat Farm, and Mallow Mayhem.

I decided to do two give-a-ways, one for each book. I cross stitched two simple bookmarks, bought some candy, a Starbucks gift card and baskets. I put it all together. They looked so good. I had bookmarks with my logo made, I created a sign-up sheet for my mailing list. I was in a perpetual state of freak-out for three weeks. My poor husband.

The night of the event arrived and I was as prepared as I was going to be. I had a nice table. I set up my wares. My assistant, my beautiful daughter, was by my side and people began to arrive.

It was a good crowd, despite the thunderstorms that came through. My friends and family came to support me. I talked with people, and other authors. I got up and spoke about my books. I listened as the other authors spoke about theirs. It was a wonderful night. I didn’t sell that many books, which was disappointing, but that was not the purpose of this event. The purpose was to get me out there. It was to sell my brand. To network. And it worked. I got a few more names for my list. Now I have 14! Woo Hoo! Every little bit helps, because these names can bring more names and more fans. I hope.

Here are some things I learned:

1. It can be hit or miss with the crowd. You might hit your demographic. You might not. Since Fat Farm is a dystopian tale, I wasn’t sure the senior citizens in the crowd would buy it. And I think that made up most of the group.

2. You’re selling you. I’m not a salesman. I never was and I never will be. That is why I had a hard time working with the limousine service. If they didn’t want the service after the I gave them information, then I wasn’t going push it. Writing is a solitary business. I’m an introvert, although I think there is an extrovert in there somewhere. It’s hard to be out in front of people, hawking your wares and selling yourself as an author. Be personable and charming. It can be fun. The most die-hard introvert can light up when talking about their passion. I did.

3. Step back and punt I think Mallow Mayhem is a wonderful story. It’s a fun read, but it’s not selling like it should. I only sold one copy. That was disappointing. From what I learned from the crowd, was they thought it was a children’s book. It’s not. And it never will be. It seems that no matter how much I say to the contrary, that’s what readers think, so I’m rethinking the Philippa Marlowmellow series. Am I going to stop writing it. No. I may do it as a free series on my website. I’m still pondering that one.

4. Keep writing. This is the most important. When I left that evening, all I wanted to do was come home and write. It jazzed me up to keep going. To keep telling stories. When you’re not selling, or on the best seller list, it can be hard to keep it up. I would love to be on that list and one day I will be. I just have to keep going. Keep creating the stories.

So, after all this the question is: Would I do another event? The answer is Hell Yeah! The Girl In The Golden Cage is being sent to beta readers soon. And then to be edited. Then off to another event! Off to hawk my wares It will be fun!

When I was younger I would screw up, or learn something new and I would tell my friends, “Lisa lesson number … ” whatever number I made up. We would laugh or cry, depending on the lesson and go on with our activity.

That brings me to this lesson. I don’t make New Years resolutions. I used to, but I never kept them. Besides, my birthday is “my new year,” so if I make a resolution I do it on my birthday. This year has been full of ups and downs, good and bad, and everything in between. The last few months of the year were especially hard as everything basically went to hell in a hand basket. But it’s a new year. Time to step back, re-evaluate and move forward. So instead of a resolution, I’m going to have a New Years Theme. Lisa Lesson 4,265,325,001 is to live more intentionally.

How am I going to accomplish this? With a lot of help from my God, my family, and my friends. Here is what I am thinking:

1. Being more intention in my writing. 
Yeah, yeah. I’ve said that before. I think in almost every post I’ve done. But it bears repeating…every day. I’ve heard you should write every day. I don’t. It’s not for the lack of trying. Life interrupts. That is where being intentional comes in. I have, not want, to schedule time to write. Make it a priority. Just as much of a priority as my outside-of-writing job, and my family. My sister bought me this planner for Christmas. I thought it was the neatest thing. I may not write 100 stories this year, but maybe I can plan out 100 stories. I will be more intentional about my writing.

2. Be more intentional with my music.         I love playing my bass guitar, Kitty Blue. You wouldn’t think it, but how much time I don’t play. I decided that has to change. I am the weakest musician on the Praise Team, and I’m the only one who can change that. Music builds your brain. It takes brains to write. Music and writing compliment each other. It’s a beautiful thing. 

3. Be more intentional about my health and wellness.
This is not an “I’m going to lose weight,” although I need to do that. This is about taking care of myself. I’m bad about that. I do have health issues that need to be taken care of, and I tend to put myself last the list. I am diabetic so this means eating right. Moving. I don’t move enough. I sit and write, I sit and stitch. My retail job helps with this, so that will be better. Drinking my water. During the hell of the last few months I started drinking diet sodas again. I hadn’t had a soda in five years. I am stopping those sodas. Make time for myself to just be. Be in that zen area and relax.

4. Be more intentional about family.
I don’t know if my family would like being out on the internet, so our cat Koko will represent them. After all, he is family too. Sometimes life just slaps you down and you get caught up in bills, work, all the “stuff.” And that “stuff” changes how you interact with family. At least it did for me. I get cranky after work. My knees hurt, my feet hurt, etc., and I’m not me. I’m not going to let that happen. I bought my son an electric guitar for Christmas. He wanted to play and my nephew brought his guitar over and gave him a few tips before I bought one. I didn’t want to spend the money if he wasn’t going to play. This is something we can do together. I printed out tabs for a Linkin Park song that we’re learning and we will play it together. It’s going to be fun.

5. Last but certainly not least, be more intentional in my faith.
I love God. I love Jesus. As a Christian that means to be Jesus with skin on. I’m not going to go out and preach you’re going to Hell if your not saved. I’m not that way. To me, being a Christian is to love like Jesus loved. To care for people, help people no matter who they are. It’s not my job to judge people. It’s my job to love people. Am I perfect? No freakin’ way! I’m just as messed up as the next person, but I try my best to be the best person I can be.

This is my theme for the year. I will let you know how I do along the way. It is my hope that all of you have a wonderful and best 2016!

Do you ever sit in your living room watching TV or reading a book and some weird random thought pops into your head? That happened to me and my husband. We read a lot of the same fantasy books, and watch the same television shows. We like a lot of the same adventure movies. I don’t remember what we were watching, but things were getting blown up, monsters on the loose, or something.
Me: We can’t live there.
Husband: Why not?
Me: To much destruction.

So this led to a conversation of places we cannot live.

Gotham

Yes, I know it’s not a real place, but think about it. The crime rate is astronomical. The criminal element is one of the worst around.  They’ve got Two-Face, and the Riddler. And the psychotic Joker and Then you have the vigilante element. The man who runs around in a cape and cowl. Batman. He’s just as dangerous as the psycho criminals. Holy Property Damage Batman! Think about your property taxes in that place.

Metropolis

No to Metropolis. Yeah, I know Superman is cool, but seriously? How does one good man/alien attract such a bad element? I Googled Superman’s enemies and the list is so long, I can’t post it. My goodness. The ones I am familiar with are Lex Luthor, Braniac, Bizarro, and General Zod. So, with the ones I know, and that REALLY, REALLY long list, you take your life into your own hands living in Metropolis.

Starling City and Central City

I combined these two because their shows cross over. In Starling City we have The Arrow, a hooded masked man who goes around killing people who have “failed this city.”  I only have experience with the television show, so the villains I am familiar with are Deathstroke, Malcolm Merlyn, and Ra’s al Ghul. Once again, I’m on Google and the comic book villains abound. Can I really live in a city where there are arrows flying, earthquake machines destroying the city and the crazed League of Assassins? I think not.

The Flash lives in Central City. He’s a nice young man who got his powers with a supercharged bolt of lightening caused by an explosion at S.T.A.R. labs. He runs around helping people. So, what of the others who got with the supercharged explosion. Central City has some pretty nasty villains called Metahumans. They are rather insane and use their powers for evil. If I can’t have a super power, then I’m not living in a city full of Metahumans where death and destruction abound.

By now, you may be thinking, “These are all make-believe. She’s so full of it.” That may be true, but now we get down to the nitty gritty. The REAL places.

New York

New York? Yes, New York. The Avengers, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, and others live in that fair city. And so do their villains. The city may be dirty enough, but you will have Spidey webs everywhere, destruction, doomsday devices. My goodness, can you imagine the taxes you would have to pay to live there? Seriously, I could go to work one day and everything be fine. Come home and find my living room exposed and my cat hanging from the ceiling after a big battle. Nope, not living in New York.

London

Any Dr. Who fans out there? Every alien invasion happens in London. Poor guys, they just can’t get away from it. Any bad thing that is going to happen to Earth starts in London. The Weeping Angels are the creepiest. We have a stone angel statue in a garden at church, and it creeps me out every time I see it. There’s the Adipose,cybermen, the silents and the whisper men. Oh and the snowmen. I’m glad it doesn’t snow much in Georgia.

Seattle or should I say Pacific Northwest

I love Seattle. I was born in the Pacific Northwest. I have family there.  That part of our country is beautiful, but there are a werewolves, shape shifters, zombies, Wessen. I would be afraid to go out at night, and definitely not during a full moon. Nope, nada, zippo for the Pacific Northwest.

New Orleans

I think this is a given. Zombies and Vampires people! I’ve never been to New Orleans. I’m sure it is a very nice place, but the preternatural beings that live in the city will keep it from becoming a residence to me. No living here either.

Japan

Godzilla – enough said.

So, I was just about to  be finished with my little diatribe and say we live in a supernaturally safe place when my daughter pipes up and says, “What about the Walking Dead?”

Atlanta

Oh My Gosh! I live near ground zero of the Zombie Apocalypse! Is there no safe place? Where am I going to live now? Well, I guess I’m going to have to put together my Zombie preparation kit, and make a plan. It’s a good thing we have a basement.

(Taken at a shopping center near my home.)

“Honey, where did you hide the shotgun?”

School is in and life can get back to my normal chaos. My kids were very busy is summer, more than any other. With all this running around and work I realized something. Sometimes you don’t realize how much something is a part of your life until it’s gone.

I didn’t write much this summer. I didn’t get to meet with my writing group. Kids activities and my part-time job kept getting in the way. I’m not one of those parents who overload their kids with activities, but the few things they were involved in really took a toll on my writing time.

I missed it.  I missed letting my imagination go wild and writing down what pops into my brain. I missed my characters’ adventures. I missed the friendship and fellowship of the group. They are the best people. I missed the frustration of trying to market my current stories and having to keep up with everything an Indie author has to do. Okay, I didn’t miss the marketing that much, but know it’s a necessary evil.

We’re starting the second week of school. The “getting the kids to school” chaos should be about done and I can get back to my routine. Get to editing. Meet with my friends. Explore with my imagination. Fight the cat for my computer.

It’s all good.

I’m excited for my kids and their new adventures at school. My daughter wants to play violin in the orchestra. My son will be putting together a project for the science fair. It’s going to be a fun year for all of us.