Look What I Have!
In a previous post – My Handy Dandy Schedule – I eluded to a new nonfiction book project I was working on and promised to share more details at a later date. Well… the time is now! I am a contributing writer with Hatherleigh Press, a publishing company devoted to educating people and encouraging healthy lifestyles, involvement in family and community, and earth-friendly choices. I began freelancing for Hatherleigh back in April. To date, I’ve completed work on five nonfiction books with them and look forward to several more.
Now, look what I now have in my hot little hands (Click on the image to make it bigger):
The New Kitchen Garden: The Guide to Growing and Enjoying Abundant Food in Your Own Backyard
This book, The New Kitchen Garden: The Guide to Growing and Enjoying Abundant Food in Your Own Backyard, is the first book for which I was the contributing writer with Hatherleigh Press. Holding it in my hands made it all so real. What a feeling!
Then I opened it and read this (Click on the image to make it bigger):
Do you see who's name is inside this book? Jo Brielyn. Wait... that's me!
Here’s a short blurb about the book (quoted from Hatherleigh Press):
From the Editors of Cooking Well comes The New Kitchen Garden, a new guide which provides an extensive selection of nutritious, delicious recipes that can bring the healthfulness of your garden right to your dinner table. Cooking Well’s The New Kitchen Garden features simple and delicious recipes designed to highlight the tastes of fresh ingredients from your very own garden. The perfect book for those who already have a garden or want to start one, this title also includes tips on gardening, harvesting, canning, and preserving.
Want to read what others are saying about the book? Check out this review published by Everything New Jersey– “The Kitchen Garden Comeback”.
Still want to know more? You can find the full book description and learn how to purchase The New Kitchen Garden: The Guide to Growing and Enjoying Abundant Food in Your Own Backyard at the Hatherleigh’s website. It goes on sale to public in less than two weeks: August 24, 2010.
If you’re interested in some of my other projects, pop over to the Announcements page at JoBrielyn.com. I try my best to update it often, but lately, new projects are coming in quicker than I can update! But who’s complaining? Certainly not me! 
Liberty Mutual Sponsors Essay Contest for Teens
This summer, Liberty Mutual is giving teens extra incentive to get off the couch and get involved with the Responsibility Project: For the Win essay contest. To help motivate kids to participate, Liberty Mutual has partnered with young Zach Bonner, founder of the Little Red Wagon Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides aid to distressed kids across America.
Here’s what Zach has to say about the contest and his current project, March Across America:
Check out the contest details:
Entry dates: July 6, 2010 through August 31, 2010
Winners announced: September 2010
Eligibility ages: Teenagers between 13-17 years old
How to enter: Your teen must write and submit an essay of 300 words or less sharing how he or she helped a family member, friend, or the community during the summer. Entries should clearly describe how they are using the summer to do the right thing.
Contest Prizes: Five winners will be featured on ResponsibilityProject.com, have the opportunity to guest blog, and have $500 donated to the non-profit organization of their choice.
You can read the full contest rules and other helpful information on their website.
July is LAFFN month!
Let's All Finally Finish a Novel!
Do you have a novel you keep vowing you’ll complete someday? How about one that is sitting half finished on the computer that’s taunting you? Or maybe you’ve made it past the initial writing stage and just need to buckle down and get those final edits and revisions worked out. Whatever stage in the novel writing process you are in now, LAFFN is the answer for what ails your novel.
What is LAFFN?
Well, I’m glad you asked! LAFFN, which stands for Let’s All Finally Finish a Novel, is month long commitment writers are making to finally get that novel written, edited, submitted, etc. Basically, it’s a time to stop hiding behind our desks, get off our creativity (yeah, you can read that as “butts”), and get our novels out there for the readers.
The creator of LAFFN and a talented writer friend of mine, Jennifer Walker – and the author of Bubba Goes National – explains the whole thing on her blog, Jennifer Gets Bloggy. Go check it out!
And you don’t have to suffer through the novel writing process alone. Come join us at Accentuate Writers Forum, which happens to be my favorite writers’ forum, and join in the discussions in the LAFFN section. While you’re there, grab the cool LAFFN graphic to display on your own blogs, forum signatures, and Facebook pages and encourage your writer friends to join in! They may hate you for it this month, but next month when their novels are complete (or edited), you’ll be their new BFF.
What is my goal for LAFFN?
I’ll finally be completing the first draft and begin on the revisions for my humorous children’s novel, tentatively titled “The Tempestuous Tales of Tallulah Templeton.” I’m a little less than 2/3 finished, but it’s all been circling in my head for months now. It’s time to get it all written, polish it, and share it with the world. My first goal is to finally get it all down. Then I plan to hit the market research heavy. I’ve already started on that, but admittedly, I still haven’t done nearly enough.
So, what are you waiting for? Feel free to blog about it and share your post links in the comments. I’d love to hear what you’re planning. I’ll see you in the forum.
Let’s all finally finish a novel!
My Handy Dandy Schedule
All right! So I started this blog to write about writing, and then I became so busy with my writing that I neglected to write about it. Make sense? Don’t worry. I’m still trying to figure it out too.
Not that I’m complaining about being busy with my writing projects. I wouldn’t want it any other way. After all, I am a freelance writer. Those projects are my livelihood. And, right now, I am blessed to have a writing project – a nonfiction book that I’ll share more about once it’s complete – that satisfies much more than monetary needs. It also appeals to the natural teacher inside of me that desires to share knowledge and help others learn and grow. This project allows me the opportunity and the platform to do that.
Have I mentioned that I really love my job? I do.
But… in addition to being a freelance writer, I’m also a devoted wife and the mom of two awesome kids. Oh yeah, and I’m working on fulfilling my dream of becoming a novelist. Somewhere in there – in my free time – I’m also trying to actually have a life! If my fairy godmother were to appear today, would I ask for millions of dollars or an elaborate home? Nope. I’d ask for more hours, quiet and uninterrupted hours, in my day to accomplish everything and still have time left to relax and enjoy my family. The sad thing is, I’d probably just look at those extra hours as excuses to add even more things to my already full plate!
Since my fairy godmother is apparently on vacation and a thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth hour haven’t been miraculously added to my clock, I am resolving to become a better steward of my time and energy. Today, with the help of my handy dandy Outlook schedule, I managed to have one of the most productive – possibly THE most – and least stressful work day I’ve had all year long. All because I simply took five minutes this morning to plot out a rough schedule of what I needed to accomplish and create self-imposed deadlines. There’s something about seeing what I need to do and how much I’ve actually completed to motivate me to work harder and more efficiently. Not only did I finish everything I needed to for the day, I also managed to squeeze in a few extras. And I had time to simply enjoy playing with my kids at the end of the day. That matters to me most of all.
So, I’ll be back tomorrow. But only after I finish creating my new schedule!
My Mind is a Pretzel – Exercising the Mind
My mind is a pretzel!
Why do people spend more time stretching and exercising their bodies than their minds when it is the brain that controls everything the body does?
The thought came to me the other day while doing my morning yoga. I was lying on the ground, body twisted in a shape resembling a deform pretzel, attempting to do a little of both. With two children yakking in my ear and two big dogs hovering over my head trying to assess the situation, my mind was racing not relaxing! So, yes, when I was supposed to be clearing my mind from all thoughts, I had this one.
I need to find new ways to twist and stretch my mind as a writer. Sure, I’ve never been accused of being short on imagination (in fact, my imaginative mind has gotten me into trouble more than a few times). And coming up with new ideas doesn’t usually pose a problem either. But… what if I were to do these mind-stretching exercises and they allowed me to move further outside my comfort zone as writer? Or they might help me to develop a clearer sense of who I am as a writer and what my true voice is. And maybe, just maybe, I might find a perfect niche for me – possibly one I would have never before considered.
So, my search begins. I’m off to delve into the unknown depths of my semi-twisted mind and find ways to twist it some more. Wish me luck! I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, please share your thoughts and tips. What mind-stretching exercises work best for you as a writer, artist or musician?
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