It Could Always Be Worse

Poor monkey. Rain-soaked and missing a leg, he has officially given up. Most people have probably felt like this and I feel like this almost every day. To say that the year 2013 has been challenging would be a big understatement. Between job search woes and hospital bills, it takes every bit of strength I have to not curl up in a ball with a glass of wine and sob uncontrollably. But that wouldn't get me anywhere. I take comfort in knowing that everyone struggles. Writers struggle all the time. The struggle gives color to their work. After all, how interesting would our characters be if we couldn't convey a sense of despair?

I've decided to focus on the positive things that occur instead of the negative things that drag me down into that place I don't want to be. Three good things about this week are:

1. My Smashwords downloads of Hannah Strong are gradually increasing. Granted, I'm not making any money off of
    them. I'm okay with that since my main focus is finding an audience.

2. The lovely Annie Daylon picked me for her September "Pick of the Twitter."

3. A fellow Backspace writer complimented my "gorgeous" author website and made me smile.

I'm going to have weekly blog posts titled "Three Good Things About This Week" from now on. It's therapeutic.

Overcoming social media anxiety

My poor puppy Max hates baths with a passion. He has an intense dislike of water and would clearly rather be outside rolling around in dirt, mud, and God only knows what else. His discomfort is not unlike how I felt toward social media six months ago. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace...I couldn't imagine using any of it. I don't really know why I felt this way. The whole concept just seemed alien to me. The closest I even cared to get to it was participating in an online community for the band Blue October. Once I decided to pursue freelance writing, a seasoned writer informed me that social media was a necessity. Every writer needed to be on Twitter. So like my dog, I immersed myself into the water, albeit the social media water and haven't looked back once. I can honestly say that it's been great and there are a lot of terrific and talented people out there to learn from. My dog still hates baths and probably always will, but I have conquered my fear of social media and I appreciate the role that is plays in supporting independent artists, writers, and musicians.