Author: jcladyluv

Jimmetta Carpenter was born and raised in the Prince George’s County Maryland and has had a very big imagination since a very early age. Her love of words has allowed her to express herself in ways in which verbally she can not. She is a freelance writer, blogger, and the author of a collection of poetry, The Art of Love under the Pseudonym Gemini and is currently working on several novels.

Are you feeling unproductive in your writing?

jcladyluv

5 Tips on how to stay productive

  1. Become realistic about your time–You can schedule all you want but unless your honest about the time that you have to give to any one particular task then you still won’t accomplish the things listed on your schedule to do. 
  2.  Do the most important thing first– When writing your to do lists make sure that you prioritize your list according to what is the most important task that you need to get done first. 
  3. Focus on what your task is instead of always trying to focus on too many things at once– Most of the time multi-tasking doesn’t help you.  It may work out better if you try to focus on one task to not only complete it better but also faster. 
  4. Create a Schedule– Some writer’s don’t believe in scheduling their writing time –as if it would mean that it is not truly the creative nature to schedule- but for those who are serious about your art you have to be consistent with it and make time for it.  Schedule it just as if it were an important business meeting that you can not miss. 
  5. Jealously guard your time– When it is your time to write then it is your time.  As selfish as it may sound sometimes in order to really get anything done you have to put yourself first and tell everyone else in your life that this is your time and that you need for them to respect that.

Still Standing

jcladyluv

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot.
— Eleanor Roosevelt

When I started writing this blog post the other day I was questioning everything from whether I am really as good of a writer as I think I am, to if I really had enough strength in me to do what I believe I am destined to do.  I was beginning to feel as if the tunnel that I am in is getting longer and darker with no light at the end.  It felt like all of the walls were closing in on me and that I was going to be suffocated underneath the rumble.  I was completely defeated, feeling all out of my share of miracles and the devil had a tight grip on me.  I had almost surrendered.  Almost.

And then I had a conversation with my best friend in which she said something that reminded me that I already knew all of the answers to the questions that I had and that the one thing that I am not is a quitter.  As I was talking to her I got a link in my e-mail to her latest blog post, The Vision Cannot Wait, which was just the icing on the cake of what I needed.  It reminded me that what I believe I am destined to do is a part of a vision that I have had for myself since I was six years old.  In twenty four years I had never let go of that vision and I was not going to let the devil take my vision away now.

The devil is always busy but it seems like he’s been really working on me a lot lately.  He has been throwing every obstacle at me that he knew would stop me dead in my tracks.  Picking away at any part of me he knows to be vulnerable.  Plucking away all of the petals of a purposeful flower, holding it back from its full bloom.  I have been up against so many walls lately, hell it seems like my whole life has been an obstacle course.  But lucky for me, the devil is no match for God.     

God has his way of stepping right in when you feel yourself sinking under.  Just as you throw your hands up to tell him that you can’t take any more, he is already there relieving you of your load.  He may not come to rescue you before the storm passes, but he will never let you drown.  While I know that I shouldn’t, there are times when I forget that.  There are times that I forget the strength that God instilled me with.  I just have to keep reminding myself that those walls that are blocking my view of that light at the end of this tunnel won’t always be there. 

I have faith that if I just keep putting in the work and jumping over all of the hurdles that come along that my vision will become a reality.  There is a reason why I am still standing, still surviving, still dreaming, and still pushing and its called purpose.  That phone call from my best friend reminded me of the strength that I sometimes forget that I have inside.  My determination to see my vision become a reality is stronger than any attempts the devil makes to take it way.  If nothing else I am a survivor and this storm too shall pass and I will still be standing when it does.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

 

No More Kindles, No More Nooks…

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Okay this post is completely off the topic of my normal style of discussion here but I truly feel that something has to be said about the way technology is significantly becoming the destruction of the publishing and book industry as we have known it to be in the past.  It seems more and more we hear about book companies like Borders and Barnes N’ Nobles closing down stores and filing bankruptcy.  People seem to be genuinely concerned and some even outraged at the thought of there being no more book stores. 

We can sit and blame the decline in the economy all we want for this drastic shift in the publishing and book store industry all that we want but that is not what believe is at the heart of the problem.  It is Kindles and Nooks and any other e-reader device that allows for people to download books electronically instead them going to a book store and purchasing a book and reading it the good old fashioned way.  Yes they may in fact be convenient and easy to have the ability to tote all your books around without having to actually physically have to carry all of your books around but look what and who it is hurting.  I for one think that it is just lazy to read books that way because that is not how books were originally intended to be read, but that’s just my opinion. 

People who buy into the whole Kindle and Nook propaganda are not thinking about the fact that if everyone is buying their books this way, what need is there for a book store.  If the book stores begin rapidly closing down, if no publishing company is going to publish writer’s books anymore due to the lack of need for the physical books, then hundreds and thousands of people are left without jobs, and people (like me) who actually love book stores and don’t buy into the electronic way of reading won’t have an outlet to go to.  In an economy that is already suffering, what would this destruction of the publishing world and book industry do to those people that will end up jobless?  For those who are Kindle and Nook lovers, have you thought about the industry that you are helping to destroy. 

In the area I live in, there aren’t really a lot of book stores within range that I can go to except the Borders and now I hear rumors that due to the lack of people who actually buy books these days they might be closing their doors soon.  With gas prices being what they are I can’t afford to drive a lot of miles away just to be able to get my books and to be able to go sit and work on my writing.  I am a writer who hopes to have many novels published in the course of her lifetime and with the way people are taking book for granted I just may not get to do what I have dreamed of doing since I was six years old all because people want to be lazy and can’t appreciate the value of reading a book the way they were meant to be read.  What is the need to carry around hundreds of books at a time for when you can only read one at a time anyway (or 2 if you’re one of those speed readers)?  All I ask is that people who buy into all of that unnecessary technology start to think about the people they are really hurting with it.  Okay I’m done now.  I needed to get that out there. 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

The Power of Influence

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What has happened is not nearly as important as what can happen.  Look to the possibilities of your future for direction, forsaking the burdensome limitations of your past.

~Keith D. Harrell

I was thinking the other day about all of the obstacles that I am going through right now and how much I seem to be struggling lately.  I was replaying in my mind what influences led me to this point and why I am inadvertently stuck here.  I was asking myself (okay maybe I was actually talking to God- and yes I know you are not supposed to question him) when it was going to be my turn for things to go right.  When would all of the efforts that I am putting into making my dreams become a reality finally pay off?  It finally dawned on me (or maybe God was answering my question), why am I just sitting here wondering when my opportunity was going to come.  I realized that while I am waiting for opportunity to knock at my door, opportunity just may be walking by waiting for me to come get it.  It’s not about the luck that flows into your life that you sit and wish that you had.  It is about the good fortune that you go out and create for yourself.

Every aspect of your life influences you.  All of your past accomplishments as well as your past disappointments have influenced how you chose to live your life.  I believe that the people who are supposed to shape your lives when you are younger like your parents, siblings, good friends can only be your crutch for so long.  If you had a childhood that wasn’t ideal or was just downright traumatizing, how long do you get to pull that card as your excuse as to why you aren’t where you are supposed to be today?  Yes those events in your life do matter and they do share a portion of the blame.  However there comes a time when those events have to become your motivation and not your destruction. 

I am not saying this as someone who does not need to realize this herself.  I have blamed my mother for quite some time now as to my life not turning out quite the way that I wanted it to (at least not yet anyway).  I have attributed my lack of belief in myself to the fact that I didn’t have a mother who believed in me, or loved me for that matter, and I have essentially let it become my crutch.  What I have not done until now is realized that if she doesn’t believe in me and doesn’t see my potential then that is her misfortune.  What I should’ve done all of this time is come to grips with the fact that her lack of faith in my abilities is because of something that she lacks within herself and that it’s not something wrong with me. 

So now that I have realized that, I am going to use her negativity and relentless attempts to belittle me, fuel the drive that I have to become exactly what she thinks I can’t.  I am not going to let her disbelief in me continue to influence the belief that I have in myself.  The power of influence is strong.  It is sometimes relentless.  It is determined.  What you have to figure out is which influences you are going to adhere to.  How are you going to let those moments in your life shape who you become?  How are you going to keep your past from remaining your present, and more importantly, from becoming your future?  Are you ready to cast out the negative influences in your life and reach out to hold onto the positive ones?  How much power do your influences hold over you?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

 

Lessons In Failure

jcladyluv

“Some failure in life is inevitable; it is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default.”              

~ J.K. Rowling

The fear of failure is paralyzing.  It is much like a parasite that sucks all of the hope, determination, and courage out of you; chipping away at your will to succeed little by little, day by day, obstacle by obstacle.  But much like any debilitating illness that takes a hold of your body, there is a recovery process.  It may take longer than you think to get there but the key is wanting it bad enough and keeping your eye on the light at the end of the tunnel. 

It is safe to say that we are all going to fail at some point in our lives.  It is both what we do with, and how we chose to perceive that failure that determines whether it will cripple us or make us stronger.  Where some people get off track is in perceiving any moment of failure as anything but a much needed step forward in our road to success.  If we never fail it means we have never taken any risk and that we have always played things safe.  But playing it safe isn’t really living.

We need failure.  Yes it causes us to doubt ourselves, to lose sight of our purpose, even to think about giving up altogether.  But it also brings about a realization.  It humbles us while strengthening us.  It breaks us down and then builds us back up.  It renews our fight and determination to achieve the things that we really want out of life.  Without our failures we might never truly appreciate or grasps the depths of our successes.  If you are afraid to fail then you are essentially afraid to live because in living your life to its fullest potential, failure is inevitable. 

For a large part of my life I have let the fear of failure immobilize me.  Always trying to remain cautious; using the excuse of maintaining a routine as a reason to ward off change, all the while staying stuck in the same place because of it.  From here on out I am not going to be so afraid to fail that I never even try to succeed.  Instead I plan to embrace my failures, every single one of them, because they all mean something.  Whether it is something good or something bad, it is a lesson nonetheless.  Our failures show us what we did wrong so that we can finally get it right.  If anyone reading this is struggling with this same fear, let go of it right now.  It is that fear of failure that is killing your opportunity for success.  Take a risk today, and if you fail, take another one tomorrow.  What else do have to lose?  Think about what you stand to gain.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

I’m Just Resting My Smile

jcladyluv

“The man who gives little with a smile gives more than the man who gives much with a frown.”

-Jewish Proverb-

There is something to be said for the lessons that our children teach us without us even realizing it.  My daughter may just be the most positive and completely optimistic person that I have ever had the pleasure of coming in contact with.  She doesn’t like to think of anything in the negative, she doesn’t like to see people upset or crying and she’s so sensitive.  However she is also incredibly smart and has a remarkable way of seeing things from a very unique prospective. 

Today we were in the car and I had just told her that she couldn’t have something that she kept begging me for.  Finally she stopped begging but then when I looked back at her she had a massive frown on her face and looked to be pouting which drives me crazy.  When I asked her what she was frowning about, fully prepared to give her one of my “with all of the things you have to be grateful for you’re going to frown over this” speeches, she simply, and with such a positive tone in her voice, replied “I’m not frowning I’m just resting my smile”.   What could I say in response to that?  She had once again found a way to turn a negative into a positive.  The thing is, this isn’t the first time that she’s said this but for some reason I heard it differently today.

My day had been full of nothing but stress and worry about things that I honestly have no immediate control over and I have most likely had a frown on my face all day long and when she said that it really made me think.  That’s the attitude we should have as we go through life; always optimistic, turning negatives into positives even when that’s not the true reality.  Always resolving to not frown but simply to rest our smiles while the worry passes and the stresses evaporate.  Why is it that we can’t grasp a concept that children seem to have mastered?

The thing about children that I love so much is that they see things with such a broader scope, whereas adults seem to have adapted to seeing things with such a narrow view.  With us it either is or it isn’t and somehow we miss the possibility in between.  I am guilty of losing my optimism when overcome with and beat down by day to day worries and stress.  On those days I tend to find the negative in almost anything and it seems as if every moment of the day is some kind of struggle that consumes me.  I get so wrapped up in that struggle to get through instead of taking stock of the little blessings that fall somewhere in between those moments.  Looking forward I think that when we get worried, when we struggle, when we obsess over the obstacles that we can’t really control, we shouldn’t dwell in the negative.  We shouldn’t frown but simply rest our smiles until the storm passes by.     

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

 

What is Your Game Plan?

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“The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”
~ Oprah Winfrey

Once again it’s a New Year, with new goals, and new hopes, maybe even new dreams, or at the very least old dreams with new methods for attaining them.  So what is your game plan for this year?  Have you even made one yet?  Or are you just expecting that the things that you want for yourself this year are just going to magically happen on their own.  If that is the case, I am sorry to tell you that you may just be waiting on those dreams and goals for a very long time.  Do you really have that kind of time to be sitting around just waiting for things to happen?

If your answer to that last question is no then I think that you know what you have to do now.  First thing’s first.  If you have not thought about how you are going to grab on to those dreams that you are aiming for, there’s no time like the present.  Take out your paper and pen (or pencil) and get writing.  Write down what it is that you would like to see yourself accomplish this year.  Now this list should be goals that are at least attainable and in some way help you get one or more steps closer to your long term life goals.  For instance, if your long term goal is to become a Lawyer but you have not even gone back to school yet or finished your Bachelors yet, then you know what your goal for this year should be. 

The next thing is, once you have these goals written down in front of you, and can visualize them, you should start thinking about each individual goal and begin to think of how you can get that one achieved.  Each goal towards your dream has a whole separate set of mini-goals within them as well.  It would be nice to think that you could just get your degree in something overnight but in reality one of the mini-steps to this goal would be to map out how you are going to manage your time of going back to school.  How are you going to fit in school work, into days that are already probably jam packed with other crucial things that are necessary in your life?  That is totally up to you to figure out but you should definitely try to plan it out. 

Lastly, check off the things on your list as you go along throughout the year. Not only that, but take the time to reward yourself for the things that you have checked off.  No accomplishment is too small and they should be celebrated when accomplished.  However, don’t take up so much time celebrating that you forget or lose sight of the fact that there is still more left to be done.  If you are not accomplishing the things in life that you want to get done, there is only one reason for that, you.  No one can plan it out for you.  No one can make you determine what your destination in life will be but you.  If you do not put in the work to get where you want to be, then you will never get there, and the only person that will be responsible is you.  So figure out your game plan and make this year count.  Your dream can not become a reality unless you make it one.  So what are you waiting for?  

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

 

The Diary: Succession of Lies

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What if you discovered that the sins of your mother’s past will forever haunt your future? That finding out the secrets that she took to her grave would turn your life upside down?

To the rest of the world Corynn Hayes was a brilliant writer and entrepreneur. To Karlee Jones, she was not only a mother but a best friend. Until Corynn’s unexpected death, Karlee thought that she knew everything there was to know about her mother. Then Karlee receives her mother’s diary as a farewell gift. The depth of the secrets within those pages end up devastating Karlee, forever changing the memory of her mother and of everything she thought to be true.

The Diary: Succession of Lies is a novel that exposes the secret life of a mistress. It is a tale of love, lust, loss, and redemption as well as the trials of two generations of women. The Diary takes a new spin on the mistress image, a woman often vilified throughout literature as a harlot and a home wrecker. It tackles several questions. Why does a mistress stay? Is love possible in such a taboo relationship? Is love enough to endure the consequences that come later?

Show your support today!

Purchase your very own copy online today by clicking on any of the links below. 

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=Jaycee+Durant

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Jaycee+Durant&x=15&y=18

  

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

10 Ways To Prepare For National Novel Writing Month

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National Novel Writing Month is quickly approaching and there isn’t much time left to prepare.  If you are a little stumped on how to kick it into high gear for the month of November then here are a few tips to get you started.

 1)      Register to participate in National Novel Writing Month by going on their website  at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and begin brainstorming ideas for your novel.  (Develop a plot that you feel you have a viable story to tell)

2)      Finalize your idea and begin working on your character sketches. (This is when you give your characters a background story, how they grew up, what they look like, etc.)

3)      Now that you have your idea settled and have visualized and created your characters, sketch out your setting.  (Put your story in a place, be it fictional or otherwise.  If it’s a fictional setting you are going to need to create your own atmosphere and town and street names.  It might be best to create a map of your city and town.  If it is a real place than this is when your research comes into play)

4)      Conduct all of the research that is necessary for your story and for creating your setting. (This includes places and the culture of them, occupations of your characters, and mental or psychological disorders that your characters might have, police procedures if you are writing a detective story, forensic science if you are writing a murder mystery, etc.)

5)      Begin drafting your novel outline.

6)      After you have finished the first draft of your outline, go over it, change anything that you want to change and do any further research that you deem necessary.

7)      Rewrite, or rather type up, your final draft of your novel outline along with character and setting sketches.  Print out the outline and sketches.

8)      Begin mapping out your schedule for how you are going to fit in your writing for the month of November.

9)      Begin letting everyone around you know that you are going to be busy for the month of November writing your novel.

10)  On November 1st begin writing your novel.

Now it is not easy to create an outline so don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can put this off up until the very last minute.  There is a lot of thought, and time that goes into planning out your story and getting the research done for it that is necessary.  However, if the way you work best is to just wing it and jump into the novel writing process without knowing what is going to come next, then by all means dive right on it.  Hope you all have great success at your potential novels and try and have fun while you write.  Until next time….Happy NanoWrimo

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

Trial + Error + Dedication = Endurance

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“A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard.”

Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.
Author: William Barclay

When you’re working out in the gym you are constantly hearing the word endurance.  Whether it is pertaining to a person’s level of intensity of exercise or it is in reference to a person’s impressive workout routine that they are faithful to.  It is a word that holds a lot of meaning but I don’t just restrict that word to only the physical aspects of working out.  Endurance is what we all need a great deal of to make it through any aspect of life. 

There is a lot that can be taken from the people you see working out in the gym.  They are dedicated, and faithful; they are consistent and patient; they are passionate and resilient.  In the gym it is not all about the strength that you have physically so much as it is about your mental strength.  That same level of endurance that we see people apply in the gym everyday is the very same level that we should strive to apply in our day to day lives. 

We all experience our own set of obstacles in life.  After all, isn’t life mostly trial and error?  We try things and if they don’t work then they were mistakes made that we just work hard not to repeat again.  However, we tend to forget that even in our errors, there are lessons to be learned that only prepare us for the triumph that is just around the corner. 

I think that we focus so much on what we might have done wrong that we don’t revel in the joy that sometimes comes from our pain.  All things done in error are not necessarily mistakes because everything happens for a reason.  We all end up where we are meant to be, even if we took the long hard road to get there.

Endurance is a strong and powerful word.  It is not just about the physical act of getting through something but also the mental components as well.  It is about remaining patient yet consistent, dedicated while faithful, and resilient as well as passionate.  It is about applying every fiber of your being to what you know you were called by God to do.  It is about not making excuses for falling down but the essential act of getting back up.  It is about knowing that the obstacles that you face in life are what have made you as strong as you are today.  Endurance is about having the faith in God and trusting that the will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you. 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter