Sydney Strand

I'm so super proud of myself. Today, I saw a tweet from a publisher looking for the kind of stuff I wrote. This publisher--rather, this imprint--gets its books into Target--a big, huge deal (not that many books get into Target). I heard the siren's call. And for a moment...nay, five minutes' worth of moments...I contemplated speed writing a book of 50,000 words by the January 30 deadline. Nevermind that it would be total first-draft crap. Nevermind that I would pretty much be a very neglectful mother, putting her children in front of the TV for, well, every waking moment. Nevermind the chocolate and stress that such an endeavor would entail. Luckily, at Minute Six, sanity returned. And I put this story into my Goals for 2016. And I created a Pinterest board for that story and the ideas that came to me in those five gloriously insane moments. You see, I have a writing plan for 2015. And this Five-Minutes-of-Crazy Story doesn't fit in tha...

January is always a slow month for me in this semi-new world of publishing books for the masses. But why is it that I always forget that and mentally flog myself for being such a slackerly sloth?  Because I'm an imperfect human. Geez. When will I be self-actualized already?!! ;o) In late December through January, I like to plan, plan, and plan some more. See Page One below of my 12-page plan: I'm trying to incorporate more polka dots into my life. The thing is, if this plan is anything like 2014 Goals, it's going to change on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. And that's okay. It's like taking a road trip between California and Maine, and hitting blizzards, traffic jams, and hotels that you booked and just aren't going to work out due to the drug dealers hanging out there (true story!). Like that road trip, you have to adjust. Change plans. Maybe be a little late or so late you feel uncomfortable. But the thing is, just like my 2014 Goals, a roadtrip tha...

So I started this post a week ago. I have the Blogger app on my phone, and I downloaded the images I wanted into a post and that post was supposed to be written last week. Uh, yeah. Not so much. I've been a bit scattered since I finished La Petite Adult's book on Christmas Morning. Or at least, on the writing front I have been. But then I started to look back and realized that the way I do things IS scattered--but I get sh*t done.  I took a minute I figured out everything I've done for my writing career since Christmas Morning 2014. I only wrote down career-related stuff...all the "other stuff" doesn't count. Since Christmas Morning, I have: 1. Revised a Cover Flat (Bad Mom: Mother's Day) 2. Created from scratch Two Cover Flats (Bad Mom: Glampfest! and His Favorite Distraction) 3. Created from scratch the print edition of a book (His Favorite Distraction)  4. Finished the JPG cover for my Bad Mom Short Story 5. Worked on the branding/lo...

The confession behind this blog: Read here.    This last week was filled with pumpkin strolls and hot glue gun burns as I finished making Halloween costumes. I also continued to Slog Through the Slogfest of Draft #3 of #TheRobotStory (aka, His Favorite Distraction). La Petite's Kitty Cat Pumpkin. The Kitty Cat pumpkin lit up along the stroll. Those costumes! All glue, velcro, and a teeny, tiny bit of my blood. I at least had a break from making dinner--we had a lot left over from our Christmasgiving on Sunday. Christmasgiving done simple--including soup can candles. Revision has been slow-going, but I've been using my Productive Procrastination skills to get side work done: 1) I finished the cover for His Favorite Distraction. (#TheRobotStory)  2) I used my Social Media Minions to decide on a cover for #TheRobotStory. 3) I brainstormed promotions (and set them up through BookGorilla, eReaderNews Today, Goodreads Giveaways and ...

I'm a little late with the post this week. But I had a good reason. I PUBLISHED A NEW BOOK!!! In a bit, I'll go into detail about the birth of this particular book. But let me tell you, the timing for the launch got a little sticky. When you have a book that's ready to launch, it's interesting to look at dates. The date around this launch was September 11. I don't know about you, Dear Reader, but I don't even buy bread that's dated September 11.  The best post for 9/11. Credit: Adam Shankman/Instagram And so I held off. And I did my usual Mom thing this week. I took La Petite Adult to a birthday party along the bay (lucky duck--my childhood birthday parties were usually within view of the McDonald's ballpit and a tumbleweed or three). Ugly, isn't it? And Le Boy Bebe and I went back to the post-strike Market Basket. Mums and pumpkins made the early September feel like it was truly fall. And the $.89 2-Liter ...

Another Sunday, another busy day. Well, not too busy. Not like the last few Sundays. But we did go shopping for grills at Lowes (end of summer sales!) and went on a visit to the comic book store* we found out about at Comic Con Boston. *It was located in quite the strip mall that also included an adult video store, a tattoo parlor, a fireworks store, and a pawn shop. It was definitely one-stop-shopping for somebody out there (somebody who I never want to meet). Yeah. Just...yeah. I have quite the messy desk at the moment. When I saw Pablo Neruda's desk, I didn't know what I envied more: the view or the tidy desk. (His is on top; mine is the Bermuda Triangle on the bottom.) Have fun, my Sweet La Petite! But before I get into my discussion about writing, first I have quite the week to share. La Petite Adult started school again (saying goodbye to Summer Vacation and hello to a new school year). A second grader, she adores school, but not so much the talkative p...