Writer Wednesday: Wellness Check In #writerwednesday #wellness #amwriting #probiotics

One of my main goals of 2017 is to incorporate more healthy choices into my daily life. I want to feel great, keep my creativity flowing, and (hopefully) be a good influence on my children. Now that I've been doing this for a few months, I have a handle on what's working for me.

Incorporating probiotics - I've been incorporating probiotics into my diet since mid-January, and I felt the beneficial effects almost immediately. Aside from the physical improvements, I'm much more even-tempered and calm. I get my probiotics from a combination of kombucha and fermented foods like kim chi. (Standard disclaimer: I am no health professional. If you're interested in learning if probiotics can help you, see out a qualified professional. Here's an article from The Mayo Clinic, and another from Web MD, to get you started.)

I gave myself some curfews - No social media after 10 pm, and in bed before midnight. Really, no one needs more social media, and having an hour to wind down before bed leads to quality sleep. If only I could dream up some new plot twists...

I'm eating more real food - I didn't want to go on a diet so much as I wanted to eat better. Therefore, I didn't limit myself on what I could have, but I did make an effort to purchase more vegetables, whole grains, and vegetable-based protein. With all that good food in the house, who needs all that processed junk?

Thanks to these (and a few other) healthy changes, I look and feel better already. Even though it's only April, I've already successfully launched two titles this year, am on track to release three more, and I haven't missed a deadline yet. By prioritizing wellness, I have the stamina and mental acuity to keep everything else in line. Will I still have setbacks? Of course I will. Everyone does. But by staying as on-track as I can, those setbacks will be minor bumps, not game-changing catastrophes.

What positive changes have you made in 2017? Tell us in the comments!

Coming June 6: Gallowglass

Karina didn't set out to free the Seelie Queen's gallowglass. Now she'll do anything to keep him.

Preorder here: http://amzn.to/2nG62e5

Care And Feeding Of A Writer: Writer Wellness

(Author's note: this is an ongoing series on how to combat everyday obstacles and other setbacks to the creative process. If there's a specific topic you'd like me to discuss, let me know in the comments.)

We're all guilty of taking less that ideal care of ourselves from time to time, or even falling into bad habits that last for weeks or months; we stay up too late, eat too much junk, and engage in a host of other bad behaviors. Yes, we're only human, and yes, bad habits can be overcome, but us creative types need to be especially cognizant of our well-being. It's hard to be creative when you're feeling "off", and that can lead to substandard work, missed deadlines, and all sorts of complications.

I was going to post my writing schedule for the rest of 2015, but I didn't want to scare anyone. Basically, I have four ongoing series and a crap ton of short stories in the pipeline, and that's enough to drive anyone to drink. In addition to my crazy schedule, I'm also taking care of my family, managing my home, working a day job, and I'll be starting grad school next month. Basically, I can't afford to bring anything less than my A game, or the domino effect from missed deadlines could be catastrophic. 

A few months ago my day job transitioned to a virtual office, which means that I now work from home. I saw this as not only a great way to save on gas, but also the ideal time to make changes to my routine.

I started small, and upgraded what I eat. At the office cafeteria I would typically get a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich for breakfast; now, I have oatmeal and a glass of vegetable juice (yes, I like vegetable juice). Since I now have time to go to the farmer's market, I always have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand for snacks and salads. Over the past few months my junk food habit has become almost nonexistent. 

Once my eating habits improved, I took stock of how much time I spend sitting. Pretty much everything I do, from my day job to writing to school, is accomplished by me sitting in front of a computer. This is unhealthy for a number of reasons, but the fix is pretty easy: step away from the computer. I make a habit of getting up once an hour and moving around; sometimes I go outside with the kids, or I might do something as mundane as put in a load of laundry. Those short bursts of activity really do add up, and keep the blood--and creativity--pumping.

The third change I made involves sleep. Some of my friends joke that I don't sleep, which is close to the truth. My natural rhythm is to sleep from midnight to around six am, and I feel fully rested after six hours--usually. There are times I need more, such as after a multi-day event or if I'm coming down with something, but the problem was that I wasn't letting myself get the extra rest when I needed it. That, coupled with the fact that I love getting up early and writing while the house is quiet meant that I was driving myself to near-exhaustion, and ending up losing days while I recovered.

So how did i conquer that obstacle? No, I didn't start going to bed earlier. What I did do was schedule breaks in my day, two half hour chunks where I give myself permission to do nothing. No computer or phone is allowed during this time, but other than that I do whatever I want. I might nap, or read, or make Play-Doh. These short breaks recharge me almost as much as a full night's sleep, which is a pretty good return on investment :)

Based on my rigorous unscientific research, here are my three rules for writer wellness:

1. Eat some vegetables every day.
2. Move around often.
3. Rest when you need it.

What are your wellness habits? Tell me in the comments!

A mad king. An escaped slave. One warrior to save the realm…

Heir to the Sun – available everywhere June 1, 2015. Add it to your Goodreads shelf here.

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Care And Feeding Of A Writer, Volume One: Recharging The Batteries

 (Author's note: this is the first in a series of posts on how to combat everyday obstacles and other setbacks to the creative process. If there's a specific topic you'd like me to discuss, let me know in the comments.)

We've all been there, probably more often than we'd like to admit. Whether we attribute it to writer's block, stress from the day job, or our printer being out of ink, sometimes we just can get the words out of our brains and into our WIP. A closely related condition is when a scene forms perfectly in your head, but when you write it, it comes out something like this:

"She woke up, then went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. A bolt of lightning illuminated the darkened room, revealing the dark smudges beneath her eyes, all that was left of her nightmare."

Or, if it's not horribly cliched purple prose, it's this:

"Hero: Me John. You want date John?"

Yeah. The only thing that crap's good for is the delete key.

So what's a writer to do when they want to write, but can't? In my experience, the best thing to do is recharge your creative batteries.

Many things take a toll on our creativity, whether it's a day job, financial stress, or just plain being tired. Why, this past winter it was 20 below in my neck of the woods, and let me tell you there is no way I was creating anything except a cozy spot in the blankets. The snow melted eventually, and while sunlight is an excellent way to recharge, there's one specific type of event I'd like to discuss today: the writer's conference.

These conferences vary greatly, and so will your experiences. It's important that you choose conferences that are germane to your subject; for instance, if you write Amish romances you probably don't want to attend something focusing on splatterpunk. That doesn't mean you can't have cross-genre appeal, but be aware of what the conference will be focusing on and who your fellow writers are.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Anthocon in Portsmouth, NH. Check out their website, and their Facebook page. Here's their mission statement from the website: In its fourth year, AnthoCon is three days of panels, workshops, readings, and demonstrations related to imaginative fiction and art. Let me tell you, it's a lot more than that.

Anthocon is a wonderfully diverse and inclusive event, and they welcome all writers of speculative fiction. There is a large concentration of horror writers, but paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and even middle grade fantasy is well represented. The attendees run the gamut from multi-published, award-winning authors to those just starting out. It's three days of talking, and commiserating, and just being with other writers. Remember the bee girl?

At Anthocon, I feel like the bee girl :)

I brought my laptop with me, but I was so busy having fun I didn't write a single word. Since I came back home, I've written over ten thousand. The moral of the story is that nothing gets the creative juices flowing like being around creativity. 

I leave you with the one picture I took during Anthocon, the Bloody Mary I had on Sunday morning. Boy, did I need it!

Doesn't this look tasty?

How do you recharge your creative batteries? Tell us in the comments!

Heir to the Sun – available wherever books are sold. Add it to your GoodReads shelf here.

Like it on Facebook here.