jcladyluv

When Sweating the Small Stuff Takes on a Deeper Meaning

February 6, 2013 jcladyluv

There are many myths and associations that go along with being a writer. Writers are said to be big dreamers. They are rumored to be alcoholics and deeply depressed. They are said to be flighty and unreliable. But one major thing that is associated with being a writer is that we are huge coffee drinkers. Of course that’s not to say that there aren’t non-writers who love to drink coffee, but rarely will you meet a person who is a writer that does not drink coffee.

Well coffee is one of the things that I get really excited about getting to each morning. I sit with my cup of coffee (usually the first of two) and read some of the blogs that I follow and get inspired to write and work on what I need to work on for the day. I must say that it never dawns on me just how important my coffee actually is to me or my creative process until I don’t’ have it for one reason or another. So all of that to say that I almost had a meltdown this morning because I put my coffee in the filter and the water in the machine and turned it on only to come back into the kitchen and find that there was nothing in the pot. The light was on but no coffee had come out.

I immediately started to freak out and try and figure out how to get a new coffee pot considering the fact that I was low on funds and even lower on gas. I’m still not really sure how I managed to scrounge up the money to get, not only gas to get to the nearest Walmart, but also for a coffee pot that was completely overpriced for its size, but needless to say I have now had my cup of coffee. Ms. L. laughed at me when I told her that I had begun to have a meltdown in the store when at first they didn’t have the coffee pot that I wanted and that I had even shed a few tears.

The thing is that I don’t think that I was actually upset over the coffee (well yes I really did need my coffee) per say, just the culmination of things. It’s like when you have everything else not adding up quite the way you want to and the one thing that you know you can rely on, for even a slight way to reward yourself, suddenly isn’t there and doesn’t work anymore. That’s how I felt.

I am trying to work on the things that I need to work on within my writing so that when the shift that is going to come happens I am prepared and I am ready (at least as ready as I can be anyway). Even when God places things in your path and he is working in your favor, you still have to be prepared for all that he has to offer. Having said that, I am not quite as prepared as I would like to be for the changes that I know are coming my way and the one thing that I treasure every morning is my cup of coffee. It helps me to relax, it allows me to think better, and allows my creativity to flow a little smoother. So when my relaxation was gone, and my creativity wasn’t flowing right it made me a little on edge.

I guess I’m sharing this with all of you because I know that someone else out there has some ritual or some routine that works for them and when it’s broken or disturbed in some way it may make you a little crazy (not literally of course) and out of sorts. I just want you to know that you’re not the only ones who feel this way and as trivial as your rituals or the things that keep you going may seem to other people, if they are meaningful to you then they matter. Everyone has their own way of dealing with things, of coping with setbacks, of balancing their risks verses their rewards. You should be okay with whatever gets you through and helps you to push forward to that next level of preparing yourself for the shift that is to come.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/. Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

A Shift in Your Favor

February 5, 2013 jcladyluv

Last week was a week of doubts and second guessing myself. I have those every once and a while and I try not to have moments like those too often because it interrupts the progress that I do make when I get sidetracked by my own doubts. As usual, when I am in the need of some extra guidance and I am feeling doubtful God seems to put the right message in my ear that I need, at just the right time.

I was flipping through channels late the other night (about 2 am) and I stumbled upon a Joel Osteen program. I was actually getting ready to turn to something completely different but something told me to keep it right there on that channel. So I kept it on that channel and I watched and the first several words that I heard was him talking about 2013 being the year of the shift, when everything is going to start shifting in your favor.

Right then I knew what that something was that told me not to turn that channel. Joel Osteen continued his message, saying that while you (the audience) might feel that you have been struggling a little longer then you thought you were going to, and as if it may be too late to accomplish your dreams, and like the obstacles that are in your way are just too big to get past, don’t give up because God is about to shift things in your favor. I felt as if he was talking directly to me (even though I know there are a lot of people who need that message as well) and it gave me that drive back again and even a little more hope.

He reminded me of something that I should make sure to never forget and that is that even the things that seem like they are not even in the realm of possibility, are possible when God moves it into your path and when he places things in your favor. What God has created for you, is for you no matter what because he is not going to allow anyone to keep you from your destiny.

Even when we do receive the blessings that we ask for, we tend to question it, feeling as though sometimes we don’t deserve it or as if we didn’t rightfully earn it. In Joel Osteen’s message he made sure to address that as well by simply saying “don’t question God’s favor and the blessings he has given you on purpose.” Some things just sound so much simpler when you hear it out of someone else’s mouth. Why wouldn’t we deserve the blessings that we have asked for and what really constitutes earning it. Really all you need to do is have hope and faith that when you go to God, he will answer you back favorably if it is meant for you.

I have said it since the beginning of this year that I really feel like this year is going to be different. I feel like this year is somehow the time when things are going to move around for me and start working in my favor. I feel like all of the goals and dreams I have been moving toward accomplishing are finally going to begin coming into fruition. I have spoken all of things that I aspire towards into existence for so long that I believe they are finally going to start becoming a reality.

I know that I have my moments where I am doubtful of what I am doing, I think we all do. However, one thing is for sure, I will never allow myself to give up because to me that would suggest that I don’t believe that God wants all of the best for me. God wants the best for all of us. There is no one that he wants to fail. We fail when we don’t believe in the power of God’s favor. So this year, let’s start speaking the good things that are meant for us into existence. Let’s embrace the shift that is going to come our way this year and the God is always working in our favor.

I Have the Write 2 Be Hopeful… What is Your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Fun For Your Friday—The Top 100 Movie Challenge

February 1, 2013 jcladyluv

I read this blog post this morning by Nathan Bransford about his list that he had compiled of his top 100 movies that he’s ever seen. Apparently it had taken him a while to put this list together and he was challenging anyone who read the post to compile their own list and share it with his readers. It got me thinking about what it would take (for me personally) to put a movie on my list of top favorite movies. Considering I don’t just like one certain type of movie it was interesting for me to see what I would deem worthy to put on this list.

Mostly I like movies that inspire me to think and to create, and I like a lot of suspense and drama (definitely suspense), I even like some action packed movies as well. What I don’t like is scary movies and usually I don’t like sci-fi either (with the exception of a few sci-fi movies that actually made my list). I thought it would be fun to not only share my list with Nathan and his readers, but with mine as well, and perhaps get you to thinking about the movies you watch and what would make you list a movie as one of your top favorites. Now this list is in no particular order accept for the number one pick is actually my absolute favorite movie.

1.) The Shawshank Redemption

2.) It’s a Wonderful Life

3.) Pretty Woman

4.) Dirty Dancing

5.) Entire Twilight Series

6.) Entire Harry Potter Series

7.) The Bone Collector

8.) The Wizard of Oz

9.) The Sound of Music

10.)The Pursuit of Happiness

11.)The Princess Diaries

12.)The Devil Wears Prada

13.)Fresh

14.)Alex Haley’s Queen

15.)The Women of Brewster Place

16.)Save the Last Dance

17.)Sex and the City (1 & 2)

18.)Miss Potter

19.)To Kill a Mockingbird

20.)Of Mice and Men

21.)A Few Good Men

22.)Men of Honor

23.)Losing Isaiah

24.)Speed

25.)Titanic

26.)I can do bad all by myself

27.)Poetic Justice

28.)Enemy of the State

29.)Kiss the Girls

30.)Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

31.)Love Story

32.)Edward Scissorhands

33.)Cry Baby

34.)Coming to America

35.)America’s Sweethearts

36.)The Sixth Sense

37.)Don’t Say a Word

38.)The Lovely Bones

39.)I Am Sam

40.)The Secret Life of Bee’s

41.)The Parent Trap (the original one)

42.)Steel Magnolias

43.)Riding in Cars With Boys

44.)Little Women

45.)Beaches

46.)The Long Kiss Goodnight

47.)The Little Mermaid

48.)A Time to Kill

49.)The Negotiator

50.)Million Dollar Baby

51.)The Bodyguard

52.)Good Deeds

53.)For Colored Girls

54.)The Hours

55.)Uptown Girls

56.)Murder by Numbers

57.)Salt

58.)Girl, Interrupted

59.)Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

60.)The Man in the Moon

61.)Lean on Me

62.)Set It Off

63.)Their Eyes Were Watching God

64.)Malcolm X

65.)Mary Poppins

66.)The Color Purple

67.)Moonwalker

68.)The Pelican Brief

69.)The Firm

70.)Panic Room

71.)Corina, Corina

72.)Ghost

73.)Sleeping with the Enemy

74.)Secret Window

75.)Ray

76.)John Q

77.)Remember the Titans

78.)A Raisin in the Sun

79.)Sparkle (the original)

80.)Bridget Jones’ Diary

81.)Disappearing Acts

82.)The Lady and The Tramp

83.)Waiting To Exhale

84.)A League of Their Own

85.)Cast Away

86.)Dangerous Minds

87.)What’s Love Got to Do With It

88.)The Five Heartbeats

89.)The Jackson 5: An American Dream

90.)What Lies Beneath

91.)The Talented Mr. Ripley

92.)Precious

93.)Little Shop of Horrors

94.)Waitress

95.)Abandon

96.)Where the Heart Is

97.)Cruel Intentions

98.)Stepmom

99.)Daddy’s Little Girls

100.)White Oleander

Okay so that took a lot to come up with and some of those movies I hadn’t even thought of in years. What movies are your favorite movies over the course of your whole life? Hope you have as much fun reminiscing as I did when I was compiling this list. Happy Friday everyone and have a great and wonderful weekend!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Right Where I Belong

January 31, 2013 jcladyluv

I’ve felt a little unsure of myself this week. I guess you could say I’ve been doing a lot of second guessing (and I know that I shouldn’t) which is a bad habit I am trying to get rid of. It’s been a week of feeling uncertain but I was watching a program this morning where the focus was the film director James Cameron and how he became such a visionary. He said a lot of things that struck a chord with me and it kind of put things into perspective.

I get asked so many times by people who don’t consider writing an actual job (at least not a very viable one) why, when my reward thus far has been so little and the struggle has been so hard, why do I continue to pull my hair out over it. Why don’t I just get a regular 9 to 5 job and settle with the joy of having a steady paycheck will do for my life. They tell me it would make me so much happier, steadier, and that I would be able to do so much more for myself and my daughter. Some days I don’t know the answer to those questions. Not any that would make sense anyway. But most days, the answers are simple, maybe not easy for others to understand, but they make sense for me.

For a large part of my childhood, all of my adolescence, and the vast majority of my adulthood I have doubted everything, and I had believed what my mother always made sure to remind me of which was that I was never going to be anybody and I was never going to get anywhere. I let her words carry over into too many aspects of my life and while it was her lack of support that fueled my own doubts, it was my mistake for not recognizing that she was one of those negative people that I needed to steer clear of. However, the one thing that I have never been uncertain of was my writing.

Sure there have been times that I have wondered if my writing could measure up to others, and if it was really truly about who you know rather then your actual talent, but I’ve always known that writing was what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I never really had to be one of those people who had to search for what God’s purpose was for me because I’ve known from a very early age that it was my writing. Not necessarily writing just in the form of novels, or poetry, or even launching my own magazine and eventually my publishing company. But my words, they mean something and what I have to say matters. My vision for where I want to go within my writing career has the potential to really change things and that is something I am not doubtful of.

I made a decision years ago that I could no longer do the 9 to 5 thing. I couldn’t work towards building someone else’s dream while mine continued to sit on the back burner indefinitely, and on top of that, miss the most important moments of my daughters life because of it. It’s not that I think that there is anything wrong with that, there are plenty of people who do it and I admire their ability to make that work, it just isn’t something that was working so well for me. I wasn’t happy, in fact I was miserable, and I feel like my daughter could sense how miserable I was and that it weighed on her too.

I had always felt like I didn’t fit in at those places I worked at, like I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. Now, I may not have as steady a stream of income coming in as I would like (for now anyway), and I may be seen to those people who don’t consider writing to be a job as always struggling (which may not be far from accurate) and doing nothing, but I am actually a lot happier then I was when I was working a regular full time job and trying to cram in my dream a few hours every night. I feel as though, as uncertain as where the journey I am on is going to lead me, what isn’t uncertain is that I am in deed on the right journey, for me.

What is the meaning of going through this life if what you are doing, on a day to day basis, pushing towards your future, is not what you want to be doing, if it’s not your purpose? I feel as though being among other artists; other creative people, other people who are considered to be weird and strange; other people whose broad and elaborate imaginations are considered to be eccentric and unrealistic; this is where I belong.

I Have the Write 2 Be Where I Feel I Belong…What is Your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

I Should Have Kept a Diary As a Child

January 30, 2013 jcladyluv

I started to think about all of the wonderful autobiographies that are written and a great deal of them stem from diaries that the authors kept when they were younger. I feel like the childhood I had could fill at least two books of teachable moments that could somehow help some other person out there who dealt with some of the same things I did. The only problem when I try and sit down and capture all of those teachable moments on paper is that I have spent so long trying to forget a good majority of my childhood that now it is hard to piece together every possible moment that would be important to remember.

I never kept a diary when I was younger because I honestly didn’t feel that I had anything good to capture on a page. Most of my writing that I did was poetry which was how I expressed my emotions but a lot of it wasn’t literal, it was more metaphorical. The other half of the time I spent writing it was creating stories that were far away from my reality, stories that were much better than my reality.

More and more as I get older and as I realize that a lot of what I went through as a child could really help someone else who might be going through the same thing now. Now I am really wishing that I had kept a diary when I was younger. If I am being honest with myself (and I try to be) I sometimes wish that I had kept a diary during childhood because the only memories I seem to be able to access were painful and hurtful ones, and I would like to think that there had to be some good memories in there somewhere.

I know that it couldn’t have been entirely bad but all that seems to stick with me is the abuse that I went through at home and the bullying that I endured, both at school and at home. Then there were the people in my childhood who I should remember and yet I have no recollection of. One person in particular who is important to me and I have no memory of them.

I almost admire those who keep a diary or a journal because they will be able to hold onto those memories every single day of their lives. Even when they are older and can’t remember every detail they want to remember, they can just open up an old diary and there those memories will be. I sometimes feel like my memories are lost.

I think that it would be a good idea to encourage my daughter to keep a diary so that she can capture all of the things that she wants to remember and express any emotions she needs to get out that she might feel she can’t talk to me about. I think a diary could be a good outlet for children to express themselves so that they don’t turn to the wrong things or the wrong people. If you are one of those lucky people who has documented every single detail of your childhood and your adolescence right into your adulthood, then make sure you celebrate those memories and perhaps even share them with others. You never know what part of what you have experienced on your journey could end up helping someone else.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

If Life Were But A Dream

January 29, 2013 jcladyluv

Today I got to thinking about all of the things that I would do if money was not a road block that was standing in my way. For instance, if I had the available amount of money necessary I would be with my best friend Ms. L. (who just sent me a picture of herself meeting Judge Joe Brown) at a Conference in Miami right now. I would be able to write down in my calendar all of the other conferences that I would like to attend this year, two of which are in New York, one that is in L.A., and another that happens to be in London, and I would be able to book rooms at the most prominent hotels in which I might run into people who were necessary for me to network with.

I would actually probably already be living in some condo in Manhattan and I finally wouldn’t have to worry about the monthly mortgage. I could have already taken my trip to Europe by now and have a first hand knowledge of what it is like to dine in ParisFrance, or in RomeItaly, or in London. I would already have been able to start my research for my historical fiction novel by my extensive trips taken to Germany and visiting all of the important landmarks that were important to the history of World War II.

If money were not a hindrance I certainly would have a car that is paid for so I don’t have that dreaded feeling of worrying about whether the car note is going to get paid on time this month, or at all. I would have some of the best artwork from some of the world’s most famous artists hanging in the walls of my home as well as floor to ceiling handcrafted bookshelves in a separate room that I have made into my own personal library.

I know that we are supposed to not let the little things stand in the way of getting what we want and reaching our destination and as many times as I have seen people who struggle just like me with money accomplish what seems impossible, lack of money is not one of those little things that you can just bypass. I read countless stories about how successful writers have gotten to where they are regardless of their lack of money and I am a tad bit envious. As many times as I have managed to string together my own share of miraculous feats without two nickels to rub together, those miracles still haven’t gotten me to my goal yet. All I keep seeing every time there is something that I need to accomplish for my business and for my writing career is the money that I don’t have staring me right in the face, day in and day out.

I try not to let it get me down most days and I certainly try not to let that discourage me from continuing to push and move forward but some days it gets a little daunting. Nevertheless, I will not give up, that’s just not in my nature. However, every now and then I have to get my frustrations out and not let them fester in my mind because I have learned from experience that that just isn’t a good thing to do.

The reality is that money is a huge issue in a lot of the goals that I want to accomplish but as it comes my way (little by very little) I try to put as much of it as I can afford to spare towards my dreams and it gets me a little closer to my destination. I know I can’t be the only person who feels this way so I just wanted to share so that anyone else out there who is feeling the frustrations that lack of money sometimes make us feel knows that they are definitely not alone. Just keep moving forward!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

The Sky Is the Limit

January 28, 2013 jcladyluv

I am consistently thinking of how I can make this year different from the previous ones. A part of making changes within yourself and within your life is to evaluate the things that you need to change on a regular basis. I’ve spent a lot of time placing limits on what it is that I can do in terms of my writing career. I’ve spent a lot more time setting up boundaries that were supposed to protect me from my own big elaborate dreams and box me in to reality.

A lot of that came from listening to those negative people that were in my life, whose opinions once meant so much to me, telling me that I was only kidding myself and that having a successful career as a writer just wasn’t possible. Although I discarded those negative people (well all except my mother—kind of hard to cut that tie) and banished their subliminal messages that continually seeped into my subconscious, it is harder to remove my own self-doubts and the limitations that I placed on myself.

It is easy to think of all of the things that you can’t do, for one reason or another, but the challenge is in removing all of those limitations and allowing yourself to envision the possibilities of what you can do. I heard something when I was watching an Oprah interview that she did with L.L. Cool J and he mentioned some advice that Michael Jackson once gave him. He told him to “never limit yourself”.

Some of us have such a hard time removing all of those years worth of limits that were self imposed, but just hearing those three words, it sounds so very simple. Why am I placing all of these perimeters around me to protect me from failing when I don’t know that that’s what would happen. And if it did, would that really be so bad.

There are some that say failing is actually what made them a better writer, or a better business person, and even more willing to take risks. I am interested in seeing how removing those limits that I have always clung to and taking more risks is going to change things this year. I think that it is giving me more confidence in my capabilities as a writer and as a business person. I think that it is allowing me to be more open to change and in seeing what’s behind some of those doors that I feel are hard to open. When you limit your own ideas of what it is that you can do, you also are limiting the possibilities of what it is that you can do for others.

I have the Write 2 Be Limitless with My Dreams…What is Your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

The Artist That I Am Not

January 25, 2013 jcladyluv

I have a secret wish. I have always, in one way or another, wanted to be able to create visually stunning art. Whether it would’ve been paintings, or drawings, or photography, or even graphic designs; anything that had to do with creating something that was visually stunning.

I always thought that is would be the perfect combination to add to my writing. I could create my own covers after creating a wonderful story for everyone to engage themselves in and someday if I wanted to write children’s books then I could be the writer and the artist, sort of like a one stop shop.

Unfortunately while I was blessed with many creative talents to tap into (writing, singing, playing an instrument), drawing, painting, or taking a halfway decent picture was just not among those talents. I have often thought about learning how to draw but every attempt (my sister, who is able to draw beautifully, tried to teach me a couple of times) at actually trying just proved to be pointless and a waste of the talents that I actually do have.

I don’t typically think about the type of artist that I am not but every now and then, I’ll see some beautiful painting or someone drawing something that is just extraordinarily beautiful and I’ll wish for just a few moments that I could create something like that. It was just never meant for me to be visually artistic but for those of you who are, I admire you so much. Don’t take the art that you create for granted and be proud of the visions that you are able to translate for the rest of the world to see.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Do I Fall In the Middle?

January 24, 2013January 24, 2013 jcladyluv

I read an article on a blog that I just started following this morning that seemed to clear up a lot of things that I sit and wonder about on a regular basis. It talked about the 3 categories of writers that exist within the world of Hollywood. The top level of writers is considered the professionals and those who are talented and have proven their talent and are hitting their stride as a professional writer. The bottom level of writers are those who aspire to be a writer but who do not necessarily have the talent to back it up and they don’t really have the desire that is needed to become a successful writer.

Then there is the level of writers that fall right there in the middle. These are the talented writers who have the ability to be successful and they have more than enough determination and desire but they just can’t get the right doors to open for them. After reading this article I really had to wonder if I am that writer in the middle. The answer really didn’t take that long to come to me. Of course I am.

I am sitting right on that middle level, with the passion, the determination, the desire, and definitely the talent that it takes and I keep trying to push open door after door but the right one’s, the one’s that will lead me to that ultimate success that I’m striving for, they just won’t open up.

It’s often frustrating to go online and stumble upon blogs from people who (I’m just going to bluntly say this) just aren’t that talented and whose paragraphs are riddled with grammatical errors one right after the other and yet they have thousands and thousands of followers. They are the one’s that are starting to turn a profit and starting to see the money come in like it’s falling off a tree. It puzzles me and I just want to know what door they are walking through so I could at least go and knock on some of those same doors. I am tired of being that writer in the middle standing in front of a door that just refuses to open up for me.

That’s what this year is about for me, changing that. It’s about pushing through those doors and busting them down if need be. I feel like I am off to a good start and going in the right direction but I know that I should be doing more because what I dread more than anything is getting to the end of this year and standing in front of those doors that still won’t open up.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Evolve or Be Left Behind

January 23, 2013 jcladyluv

So in a career field such as writing there are many changes that have taken place. There used to be a time when being published in print was the most desired end result by writers and the possibility of accomplishing it was damn near impossible. Then technology came along in a huge and powerful way and allowed writers who weren’t able to get those sizeable publishing contracts from the bigger publishing houses to publish their own work in their own way and on their own time table.

Of course this then presented writers with having to do all of the hard work that the big publishing houses would have done for you such as marketing and publicity and booking their own interviews and book signings. This then made writers more then just storytellers but also formidable business people as well. Now, not only are writers able to self-publish their books in print form but technology has paved way for the ebooks for those (who for some reason that I have yet to figure out) who prefer to read their books through ereaders, kindles, and nooks.

Ebooks do make publishing easier, more affordable, and sometimes even more profitable. Now I know that I have said before that I do not necessarily approve of reading my books in the form of ebooks, but I also acknowledge that as I am trying to grow my business and become more successful within the writing world, I need to give in to the times at some point. That point is coming very soon. Now I have a lot of research to do in the area of ebooks because I certainly don’t want to just put a product out there without knowing what I am doing, but I know that it is a step that has to be taken.

I don’t want to let my resistance to change hold me back from progressing and becoming more of a success. This year is about moving forward and not holding myself back by refusing to budge as the world evolves around me. Now this does not mean that I am going to turn into a kindle or nook user and suddenly start reading my books on those devices because I still prefer turning the pages of a physical (preferably hardback) book and that still is the method of reading that works for me. However, I acknowledge that a lot of the people that I want to read my work probably don’t prefer to still read their books that way and I want to be read by everyone.

So of course after I have done all of my research and gathered my materials together and start producing ebooks to further grow my business, my readers here will be the first to know and hopefully the first to support. So that is one way that I plan on evolving within my writing career this year. How are you planning on evolving in yours?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310