Tag Archives: top blogs

How and Why I Self Published a Book

I remember one day sitting at a trade show booth in Las Vegas with my awesomely successful and lovely sister. Clients would come up to us and ask if we had any number of objects from Velco to copies, to faxes to signs.

We’d look at each other with a knowing smile, pretend to bend down and change hats.

One hat said Designer, one said Electrician, on said Copy Girl. Today my hat says Blog Writer.

i shall be calm in this moment. ♡

i shall be calm in this moment. ♡

I think that flexibility in skills in today’s marketplace is absolutely key to being successful.

One day I decided to write a book. It was so easy. I was sitting next to my fire while my family was either watching TV or playing cards and I was surfing the internet for interesting things to read.

Then I thought to myself, hey, if that person can write a blog or publish a book, then what is stopping me. So I did. I opened a blank document up and started to type. Before I knew it I was looking at my guide book called Zero to Blog.

Basically, it explains why I started a blog and how easy it is for you to do the same.

The steps I took to get my book available to the public were so easy. After you type up your book, you just need to design a cover. I had read about lulu.com where you can upload a book and name your price. I think I make half of book sales. I can’t remember exactly.

I designed the cover according to their requirements. They needed the cover to be a certain exact size, so I did that following their directions.

Then, all I had to do was upload it and there you go. I linked it to my blog so anyone who is interested can download it.

You don’t know actually need any authorization or approval from anyone in particular in order to write or sell a book.

You just do it.  Simple, right?

I also like to go the extra mile so I’m sharing some adjectives here you can use to spice up your writing. Have fun and let me know how your projects come along.

Here are 9 rockstar blog words for dummies smart people.

1) Barbra Streisand She’s amazing. She’s everywhere. If you don’t quite get it, neither do I. I am almost sure it’s just playing around. I love people just like to say it. If you know why they do, please tell me. :)

2) Life Hacks I’ve noticed a lot of the seriously smart blogging blogs are using Life Hacks in a positive way. Life Hacks offer simple solutions to every day problems.

3) Wicked As old as this seems I’m still coming across Wicked in in well written headlines. It’s still works. At least on East Coast it was big when I was a wee tot. On the west coast we used a little bit more surf slang. You tell me, do people still use this? I try to use words that I say. I’d never say killer buzz words. It sure looks good in a title though, doesn’t it?

So I heard you been jammin’ down some gnarly tunes on your guitar?

That is just so wrong on so many levels. This gem was offered up last summer at a barbeque.

Be a free thinker.

4) Zen Whether it’s Zen Motorcycles or Zen Journey or Zen Habits people love anything that will make their lives more zen like. It’s an art. It conjurs up images of peace. Oaahhhhhmmmmmmm.

5) Simplicity I like any website that promises a simpler better life. I remember reading one day less is more. Or was it every day one thing less? My goal in my life is to get everything put away before I die. One thing less. Simple Life, Simple Pleasures, Simple simpleness. Simplify your life. It’s simple.

6) Social Media I don’t truly love this term. I bought a book at a garage sale in Pacific Palisades, California from a nice lady. I wanted to keep in touch with her so I asked her if she was on facebook. She said, no I don’t like social media. It was the first time I heard the word. Now it seems to be everywhere and growing. I still can’t use it in a sentence though.

Take the road less travelled.

7) Non Conformity If we are living parallel lives as avatars in another planet, I think we’d all be driving Prius’s and living in solar powered houses. The idea of non conformity offers you the possibility of changing your life for the better by choosing to do what you love.

Be a non conformist. Be a free thinker. Turn off the news. Get informed. Read. Stay informed. Make up your own mind.

~8)  Trending It seems like people say Trending and then whatever new thing is out. I don’t know because I’m not trending anything!

*9) Boomz Thanks to one of my super cool blog writer friends like Tiny Island who shares with us some Singaporean coolness from their beauty girl Ris Low. I love they they just have fun and play with language. I used to do this when I was a little girl. I wonder why I no longer do. That’s just Boomz {hands out}.

It’s time for reader input ~ what are your thoughts?

What do you think? I think these words are on their way out: Dude, Alternative, Rad, Stoked, Factoid, Gnarly, Social Media and SEO. Those are lame in my opinion.

I think these words are up and coming: Blog, Boomz, Fluffy, My Bad, Hiney, Smile and Nod, Shiny, happiness, writing and Talk to the Hand.

13 things I wish I knew before I started a blog.

1. That I would be so visible in all of the world wherever there is internet. For some reason I thought I was still speaking to my immediate friends.

Six Simple Rules to live by: Be happy, be nice, be a leader, be organized, be a lifelong learner and be healthy.

Have a blessed day.

2. That people could laugh at me if they wanted. Sometimes they do but I mostly get compliments, thank goodness.

3. That everyone uses their blogs however they want in different ways to represent their own style. Some blogs have comments, some have books, some have lists, some have videos. Each person can make their blog completely personalized.

4. That the blogger community is extremely supportive. If you need help with anything there are endless forums to help you answer your questions. Or, you can post a new one. I did and got tons of quick answers.

5. That words are important. And can save lives. Take for example:

Let’s eat Grandma! versus Let’s eat, Grandma!

Believe it or not, a lot of people find my blog by typing those words into google.

6. That some people make money with their blogs,

Hi Mom!

Smile. You’re beautiful.

7. That it takes more time and dedication than I thought. But like most projects the more you put into it the more you get out of it.

8. That I ♥ blogging.

9. That 97 percent of people want to write a book.

10. What’s a widget. I thought a widget was that wooden triangle piece you slip under a door to hold it open. Boy was a surprised. I have since discovered that widgets are the spice of life. You can see all my widgets on my right column. They are things like being able to see your categories, most popular posts and facebook links.

Bike today. Yes please.

11. What’s a theme? Believe it or not, you get FREE themes. Themes are the overall looks of your site and you can choose whichever one suits you, just like a jacket.

You can even change as often as you want. I like mine for now but you never know. People love new looks. And it’s free.

12. That blogging would bring me increased confidence just like overcoming a fear.

14. That you would be reading this.

and just for fun, I’ll add another one. What would you add? What’s your number 14?

14. I wish I knew what social media was and how incredibly far reaching it is. I had seriously only heard the term social media at a garage sale buying a book.  Things you should look into are twitter, facebook and now pinterest.

I’m seriously in awe of the amount of times I see people in real life who have read my latest posts.

What about you? What are your favorite widgets? Why do you blog? Why don’t you blog? What are your favorite blogs and why?

As always, thanks for visiting and commenting. Nice to see you.

  1. Write down my goal in very specific terms.
  2. Practise visualisations daily.
  3. Stay positive and have an attitude of gratitude.
  4. Tell people about my goal repeatedly and publicly.
  5. Act as if I had already achieved it.
  6. Take massive action to make it happen.

What am I reading?
My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House

Swim away from the cake — updated motivational technique.

Hi friends. Welcome.

I am putting every ounce of myself to becoming a better blogger, writer and communicator.

Swim away from the cake!

More importantly is that I am trying to make a positive change in life.

Thank for visiting if this is your first time here. Welcome back visitors, feel free to leave comments, I truly appreciate them. 

What motivates you?

My best friend kicks my bum in tennis and probably anyone elses. When we were playing at university we were great partners. We spent our time between matches actually doing cartwheels on the court.

We were paired up with a couple of strong guys who were so serious about tennis. One day our coach pulls us aside and assigns us new partners. Not those guys, Not those guys, we chanted — they’d kill us at tennis.

Sure enough, we  found fantastic new partners, the super strong guys.

I’m building bridges here.

Stay with me folks. There IS a reason I’m telling you this.

The reason is this. I like to find what is behind someone’s motivation. Is it someone who comes over, puts your hand on your shoulder, smiles, and says good job, or is the person who gets behind you and yells ‘DO IT!’?

Ti voglio TANTO bene.

Ti voglio TANTO bene.

When I was on swim team in high school, my sister was my best motivator. She’d follow me back and forth across the lanes and scream ‘Go, Go!’ Her coaching strategy was swim toward the chocolate cake and away from the shark.

Just pretend

Be a kid and pretend you are the best. Walk across the room at this moment as if you have a cape on your back, I don’t care if anyone’s watching — all the better. Our mind will literally follow suit.

When my best friend and I were back playing singles tennis, she’d say Julie  — You’re going down with such conviction, I had no other choice then to believe here. Guess what? She usually won. She still does.

The point is, get out there, do your best.

Go! Go! Just get out there and do it! Be the positive change you want to see. That’s all we can ask, isn’t it?

Have a positive mental outlook and a strong belief that you can win. If you don’t believe in yourself, well then, I do. Go!

Have a nice day and thank you for visiting.

The week I met Tom Cruise — before he was famous.

Me working with Tom Cruise – 1980

If you look really closely you can see me walking in the background.

My husband is impressed by the fact that I worked with Tom Cruise in a film in 1980 before Tom made Taps, when he was still unknown.

Not  only did my husband ask me to buy the dvd, he took out all of the connector cables from the garage so we could watch me up close on our wide screen TV.

When Tom and I met on set, he told me that a friend had got sick so they called him in as a last minute actor. He told me he had recently moved to New York to get into acting. The film we made was his first film although it was probably his worst film ever. It was really bad. It was called Losin’ It.

On our paycheck stubs the production company was called Tijuana Summer. Ha!

I think I was 16 and he was 18. He told me he had quit high school to act and his name wasn’t Tom. He told me I could call him by his real name or stage name. He was really nice and down to earth. Wikipedia says his real name is Thomas, but I swear he told me another name.

Even my two kids were pointing: Look there’s mom.

My girlfriends in high school can attest to this, although I continue to have a hard time believing the story myself!

I’m going to get the video up of it so you can see it and laugh with me and if you’d like. I will take a picture of my diary I wrote on the day we met by request.

Tom and I worked five days together.

Usually, when I tell my Tom Cruise story people are surprised.Now unfortunately, I think the kids in school like other actors too,
although I’m convinced Tom Cruise has a fan or two out there.

There’s no doubt in my small mind however that Tom is incredibly talented. If you caught him in Steal Magnolia’s I think you just might agree.

As always, I apprecite your comments.

A #Blogger #Blogging about her #Blog {and such.}

Hello friends. Good to see you. New visitors welcome.

It’s another beautiful day. There is a smell of fresh brewed coffee. The kids are playing and the sun is shining. I live out in the country surrounded by fields of vegetables and orchards.

Because of what is called the lowlands, in the morning there is a nice white fog that extends the distance. It looks as if God painted a huge moving glorious postcard.

Sometimes while I’m driving to work, I see this white fog after a snow fall. It’s quite magical actually. It reminds me of the scene in Narnia when Lucy enters into the magical forrest.

I’d have to say it’s my favorite time of the day when you are between two places, home and work, just looking at the countryside, watching the birds take off. I see the same man jogging rain or shine.

Figure it out, figure it out, if you don't know how to do it, figure it out.

I notice the colors of the old withering farmhouses. I try to think of words that describe the soft colors of Italy.

The best words that I can come up with are soft butter, avocado and peach. Most of the old buildings are crumbling. I dream that I rebuild the home into a villa. Then I think, no, why would I do that? It’s so beautiful just the way it is.

The anticipation for spring is so strong, your hearts and minds start to see flowers. It’s a thrilling moment when the same snow covered field one day blooms. As we drive past fields of flowers, our family likes to say the colors, pink, pink, yellow, red, white, look, there’s purple.

Foggy mornings turning into sunshine days. Yeah!

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. Emmerson

It is nice to have you here with me. When I was just a little girl hum Doris Day, I wanted to be a published writer. I bought the beautiful empty diaries with angel covers. The first entry on the first page was always exciting with the anticipation of what I would write.

Life presents us with the solutions we are looking for.

As I write, I think of the people who have come across my words. Is writing crazy? Is it the same as talking to yourself in the mirror? If so, or, if not, even if people comment, the actual ACT of writing is me talking to me, right? Or is is you? See the confusion? I do. It’s ok though.

Be awesome. Be authentic.  Be inspirational.

Zero to Blog the film, the movie, the ebook

My ebook, Zero to Blog has been a journey of it’s own. I feel like the book wrote itself because it is information presented in a clear way to help people get their blogs on line.

I painted these for my sister. I see them when we Skype.

As a blog writer you have to figure it all out. I like that though. As my Uncle says, Figure it out, figure it out, if you don’t know how to do it, figure it out.

I suppose I watched too much TV and thought there was an actual book launch party. Maybe there are. In my real life, it didn’t quite go that way. The book launch party idea was to have a giveaway and a book signing. Well, it’s a digital book.

No bookstore. No signing. Or, digital bookstore online books signing party!

Beautiful just the way it is.

Now it’s your turn. I would like to know what you are working on. What is your favorite time of day? What images make you happy? What are ways can you describe color? What does your commute to work look like?

How do you sell your work. What has worked for you?

Thanks for stopping by, your comments are welcome.

To put the past in the past, completely, now and forever.

Thanks LousBoosandshoes.

Sometimes ♡ You have to immerse yourself in an unfamiliar world to truly understand your own.

I deleted my last post because I thought it was totally insane. I learned that you should never write anything in the middle of the night because we think we are lucid but IN REALITY we aren’t. I reread my post this morning, lowered my head in shame and hit delete faster than you can say Hey Mom, what did they put in her Jello?

I went on over to facebook and tried to let my friends know what in the world I was thinking because I had some pretty funny comments in my in box.

It’s one of those days where I think each key on my keyboard should be labeled delete. That way I might stop embarrassing myself with my lama rama ramblings as my friend Pam so aptly calls them.

Back to reality.

It’s spring out here in Italy and the flowers are blooming. Being from So Cal it’s crazy beautiful. It’s the moment that I wish was all year long. I feel like writing.

You da bomb

Well if that wasn’t a bomb of a last class I don’t know what was. I had three hours of teaching today and if you aren’t a teacher you MIGHT not get this but I had a bunch of kids complaining about their grades.

What the mind can conceive the body can achieve.

It got to me because I think of myself a generous teacher so I don’t take to critcism well. One girl wrote the following sentence in English and she wondered why I didn’t give her a good grade.

She had put the following words in order:
discover / will / life / on / No, / they / scientists / won’t / Mars.

She came up with
Will discover mars life of scientists, no me won’t.

I’m chalking it up to being the last hour of the week and we all were tired.

Counter Point

My other two hours were AWESOME. We laughed and smiled. We spent about an hour translating motivational sentences like like Take 100% Responsibility for your Lives, Stop being a victim, Accept and Love your Body, Dream, etc. I think they liked it because they listen, smile and their eyes look alive.

Another cup of delicious fresh brewed blog copy.

I’ve been actively participating in blog discussions. One of my favorites so far is Barbara’s blog called bloggingwithoutablog. She has set her site up to be an active classroom. It’s fun. I love the people in there. One guy just cracks me up with his post called North Dakota Doesn’t Exist.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I knew it was a myth.

I also follow regularly the blogs you see to the right on the sidebar called Reccomended Reads.

Man On Road – Italian Translation Cracks Me Up

I was driving on the freeway a couple of days ago and there was an overhead sign in GIGANTIC orange flashing lights that said Man On Road. I just had to laugh. What in the world does that mean? I think they meant Men at Work. I don’t think there was a man on the road because I saw the same sign at least three times.

Thank you for sharing my blog journey with me friends.

Care to share?

1. When do you find it is the best time to write? Morning, noon, late evening, or when you are inspired.

2. What’s your favorite season and why?

3. Have you ever written an article in the middle, published it, then went back and not understood parts of it?