My fondest memories are of sitting and reading. Books transported me to new places I could never have visited as a child and inspired me to reach for more so that one day I could visit all those new and exotic locations. As a female at a time and in a place where it wasn’t the expectation that women went to college and became professionals, books and my mother and grandmother, let me break those expectations and gave me the knowledge to succeed. So if you’re wondering what to give someone for Christmas or any other of the upcoming holidays, how about a book?
Kiss Me, Kill Me – Holiday Distractions
Don’t get me wrong, I love the holidays, but as a writer they provide one of the most serious distractions from getting any writing done. Even with the assistance of Santa’s helpers such as this one!
So what can you do to actually accomplish some writing and not allow worries about deadlines/revisions/etc. to dim your holiday cheer?
The first thing is to do a loose schedule of what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and with whom it needs to be done. See if there aren’t any chores which can be combined in order to use your time more effectively.
Second thing to do is multi-task. If you want to be able to watch those shows you love, set up your wrap station in front of the television so you can do two things at once.
Get up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later on as many days as you can. Try to fit in your writing in that extra hour. If you are definitely either a morning person or night owl, choose to do that extra hour during the time that is best for you. I’ve discovered I’m a morning bird and will get up at 5 a.m. instead of 6 to get the writing done.
If you’ve got some time coming to you at work, see about taking a day off to either do some of your chores or the writing.
Last, but not least, don’t worry about it. Worry is one of the most draining emotions that exists. It will accomplish nothing and only leave you feeling worse, which is the last thing you want to do during a season that should be filled with happiness, family and friends.
What do you do around the holidays to try to keep to your routines? I’d love to hear how you’ve managed to keep things running smoothly.
Welcome to the Three Kings Today!
It’s the Epiphany! Little Christmas to some and Los Reyes Magos to Latinos in many countries. Los Reyes (The Three Wise Men/Magi) is celebrated with a variety of festivals and parades as you can see by clicking to view this video of a parade for Los Reyes in Madrid.
Los Reyes bring small gifts and toys much like they would have brought gifts for the baby Jesus. In my house, my parents would leave little gifts near the fireplace and my sister and I would leave carrots and other vegetables for the camels to eat. One year my sister woke up the entire house because she had heard the camels on the rooftop and had seen one of them looking in through the window!
We still keep this tradition in my household and when I get home tonight from work, we’ll open up the little gifts that Los Reyes have brought.
How about you? Do you celebrate the coming of the Three Wise Men? Do you have a special tradition that you do on Christmas Eve or through the 12 Days of Christmas until the Epiphany?
Special Wednesday Blogs!
In the meantime, I’m visiting friends at various places and having giveaways, so please take a moment to drop by and leave a comment for a chance to win some of my books and other goodies.
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Click here to visit the Writerspace Blog!
Click here to visit me at The Romance Dish!
Click here to vist me at SingleTitles.com!
I hope all your holiday preps are going well. I’ll have more pictures and things for you in the next few days.
Five Delicious Tips For Self-Love
I’ve got an extra-special helping this Tuesday with special guest blogger Barbora Knobova who is giving us some tips for self-love! With the holidays upon us and some people feeling pressured or depressed, this is a timely post.
So without further ado, here is Barbara.
My book Tales for Delicious Girls encourages women to love themselves truly, appreciate and respect themselves, put themselves first. I believe in the power of self-love because we cannot be loved unless we love ourselves. Therefore, I would like to share with you the following five tips that might help you fall in love with yourself.
1. Treat yourself like the most precious person in your life.
Think about all the people you love. I bet there are so many wonderful people in your life. How do you treat them? With love and respect? Treat yourself the same way. You are the most important person in your life so treat yourself as such! You deserve it.
2. Be perfect in your own eyes.
We women tend to be overly critical to ourselves and very often we focus on what we don’t like about ourselves. Guess what? No one is perfect so let go off those negative feelings and statements. Stop making lists of your imperfections once and for all. Start making lists of your virtues instead!
3. Look into the mirror of your self-love.
Your relationships with other people reflect the relationship you have with yourself. They are the mirror of your self-love. If you don’t like the way your friends, family or colleagues treat you, look at the way you treat yourself. Change your attitude to yourself, show yourself lots of love and respect, and your relationships with other people will change too.
4. Cherish your inner and outer beauty.
You’ve heard it a thousand times: Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Your real beauty comes from within – and this is not a cliché! Attitude is everything. Be proud of yourself and decide to feel beautiful now. Because if you feel like the most beautiful girl in the world, that’s what you will be.
5. Decide to love yourself truly.
It’s all in your head. You can decide now to start loving yourself just a little bit more and it will turn your life around. Be your own best friend and treat yourself as such. Put yourself first and for once in your life focus on what you want and on what makes you happy. Your happiness is in your hands and the key to it is your self-love.
Barbora Knobova is a writer, love coach and expert in Delicious Life. A world traveler, she is one of those rare world citizens who live everywhere and nowhere. Barbora is a firm believer in female friendship, loyalty and bonding. She writes hilarious, sharp-witted, caustically apt, ironic, moving, true books for strong, independent, smart, fearless women. Barbora has also written several self-improvement books and teaches women about the importance of self-love in relationships and life in general. Barbora speaks eight languages and has found her home away from home in New York, London and Milan. She is always on the move, accompanied by her beagle Brinkley, the nasty dog from her new book Tales for Delicious Girls.For more information on Barbara, please visit http://www.barboraknobova.com.
I’m making my list, checking it twice…
I’m in denial that Christmas Eve is exactly two weeks away!!
I’m having a crew this year and excited about sharing it with all my friends and family but in panic mode because not only do I have to still decorate the house, buy the gifts, do the food shopping and cooking, but also finish revisions on the next book in THE CALLING.
Luckily I’ve got lots of support from family and I know that when we gather around the table in two weeks, we will all have an awesome time.
Our Christmas Eve tradition is a melding of traditions from Italy, the North of Spain, Cuba and the good ol’ U.S.A. Lots of shellfish, fish, roast pork and other goodies.
How about you? Do you have any special holiday traditions? Do you celebrate on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve?