Tag Archives: Cozy Cat Press

The Crazy World of Authors

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It’s a crazy world to keep up with. I am not referring to the violence, the weirdness or whatever your mind thinks when you hear those words, it is a crazy world. I am referring to all the social media that needs taking care of in the life of a writer and an author to keep their name front and center.

Yesterday I spent mostauthor collageedit of the day working on a book trailer for my book “Whatchmacallit? Thingamajig?. It is book I wrote for my grandchildren putting them in adventures of helping their Grandma out of trouble. Along the way they learn a little more about their grandmother when she was young. I will admit it is not my best work but when I first wrote it I was only publishing it to have a hard copy for my grandchildren, but low and behold, it is selling.

I have a Twitter account. Twitter is fun. I have a Pinterest account, so many ideas, so little time. I have a Stumbler Account, a Tumbler Account, a Facebook account, a LInked In Account, a Reddit Account and an Instagram account. I must admit I don’t know what to do with all of them, but they are important to get the word out about my writing. I am sure other authors may feel the same way. Each of these accounts are fun but the time that I spend on these accounts take away from the writing.

Of course, add this blog, add my website julieseedorf.com and it is my crazy world.

Then of course, I am waiting for my second book to be published which is “Granny Skewers A Scoundrel.” Then I will need to add more media for that book. I am also writing my second young reader book called Snicklefritz. Add my newspaper column, “Something About Nothing,” the articles I write for newspapers each week, and the third book I have started in my Fuchsia Minnesota series. Wow, I am tired reading this.

I forgot about Goodreads. I love Goodreads. I love to read. My Kindle is full of books waiting for my sleepy eyes to be fixated on them so I don’t get any sleep at night. I am too intriqued by whatever story I am reading.

I also decided to design cups and apparel to go with my books. I have the accounts set up and have a few things designed. The shop name is Hermiony after my character from the Fuchsia, Minnesota Series.

Let’s not forget about book signings and blog tours. A few of the Cozy Cat Press Authors and I are starting a tour this spring introducing all of you to our unique fictional communities and our characters.

Don’t feel sorry for me. The time I don’t have and the stress of all this is keeping me alive and breathing. Someone said to me recently on an interview on starting her new business, “I
heard a commercial and it said if you love what you doing and you get paid for it, it is called retirement.  This is my retirement.” I agree with her statement. After leaving a career in computers and finally doing something I love, I can breath.

Why am I writing all of this? I want people to know that writing is not an easy career. The authors that you see and hear and read about, aren’t like the ones in the books and movies where the scenery is beautiful and they work in a peaceful place and tap away on their keyboard. Writers have to market their wares and they have to keep writing. It is a job. Interruptions are hard because they break your train of thought. There is also writers block but they keep writing through that block until they find their inspiration again.

To be successful writers have to write. They have to market their books and they are busy people. It might not be the type of busy that those that punch a time clock or work in the corporate world know. How hard is it to sit at a computer and write all day? To those that work in the world it looks easy. Ask a writer and see what they say. It is important if you have a writer friend to  understand that they do have a career and they need the time to work at their career.

We love books, we love inspiration and we love the creativity that is in those books but look past the pretty, the fun, the creativity, and look at the hard work that goes into those words. The blood, sweat and tears of parts of those authors are in their books. Their soul is in their books. Those books are released into the world for all to read and critique. Does that happen in most peoples jobs that the entire world can critique their performance?  Writers are willing to take that chance that the world may  not be kind. The world will love them, hate them, or toss them aside. Writers have courage. They let the world know who they are and they work hard to bare their imagination to that crazy world.

Thank an author today for bringing you writing that challenges you, makes you laugh, helps you understand, moves your heart or makes you mad.  Thank an author today if they took you to a fantasy world that let you leave the real world and all your problems behind for a few moments. They may have changed your life in some way. They will appreciate it.

In case you are interested. http://www.facebook.com/sprinklednotes
Twitter:  julieseedorf@julieseedorf

Scattered Time?

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Column: Something About Nothing, by Julie Seedorf

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” — Carl Sandburghttp://time photo: Time Time.gif

Have you heard the words, “I am in a time crunch?” How often during the day do you take a little time to do something fun, but feel guilty because of all the things that are running through your mind that you have to do?

I read an article recently in Redbook by Brigid Schulte. Schulte did a study on time and found that there was leisure time in her day that she hadn’t considered. A phone conversation with a friend, a cup of coffee in the middle of the morning or listening to the radio before we get out of bed can all be considered leisure time.

According to Schulte, the problem with this leisure time is the fact that when we are taking this leisure time, our brains are always looking on to the many tasks ahead. We are multitasking leisure time by running this to-do list though our heads and not relaxing.

I can resonate with that. I was used to fitting in my writing while I was doing something else, now that writing is my career, I feel guilty. It makes me anxious sitting and concentrating on one task. I feel there is something else I should be doing. I have lived the multitask life for so long it feels lazy to do one thing at a time.

Schulte points out that we need to look at our conversations. The Christmas letters I write are about our busy life. If I look at the ones I receive, they say the same thing. When we have conversations with our friends, our busy life is the topic. I wonder what would happen if I would answer the question: What have you been doing? with the answer: I have been so lazy.

What kind of reaction would I get? Being busy peppers our conversations. Is it a contest to see who can be the busiest because we don’t want to be known as a slacker?

We all know busy people and have busy friends. These people seem to love their life and are involved in many charitable activities that benefit others. That is a good thing if they are happy with their lives. Do we do things and keep ourselves busy because we feel the need to be busy? Or do we stay busy so we won’t be seen as slacking off and not doing our part in a busy society?

Do men feel that busy crunch? Redbook is a woman’s magazine but according to Schulte, men feel they deserve the leisure time while women feel they have to earn it. I wonder if our busy life is because we feel we have to live up to others expectations.

I too have a hard time quieting my mind. I decided to try an experiment. I downloaded an app called Insight Timer on my phone. It is a meditation app. The app chimes a tone when it starts, I chose 10 minutes and it chimes a tone when the 10 minutes are up.

The first time I used the app my mind was racing on all of the things I had to do for the day. Ten minutes seemed long. It was hard to quiet my mind, to let it go to thinking about nothing. The next couple of days the time flew by. It was amazing. I was finally able to settle to mush in my brain. At the end of the 10 minutes, the creativity flowed and the tenseness left my body. There was something about that chime that relaxed my mind the minute I heard it.

I loved the above quote by Carl Sandburg. Occasionally, even in our work situations and home situations, we do have some control over our time. Perhaps it is a state of mind. Stopping the running list in our minds when we are supposed to have leisure time, may give us a little more peace and energy when we tackle the actual to do list.

Let the mind rest for a few moments. Those moments rest might give us hours of rejuvenation.

Who is controlling your time? Or maybe the question should be: Who, or what, is controlling your thoughts? Or perhaps the most important question is: How is your busy life affecting your health?

By the way, I have been so lazy.

The article mentioned above by Brigid Schulte can be read in the March 2014 Redbook. It is titled “Desperate For More Time?”

Imagine Love Over The Course of 98 Years.

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Something About Nothing, by Julie Seedorf in the Albert Lea Tribune February 10, 2014

“Image what these 98-year-old eyes have seen.” holding hands photo: gero hands hands.jpg

Those words, spoken in a sermon during a funeral for a friend’s mother, gave me pause to reflect on what this woman had seen during her lifetime. It isn’t often we think of that when someone we love has died. Of course we reminisce about the person’s past, their accomplishments, what they loved, and how they lived, but for some reason when I heard this sentence the thought that came to my mind was love. Pretending to look through her eyes as I looked at family pictures, I saw love.

This is February and the week of Valentine’s Day. You might wonder what a funeral and someone’s death has to do with a day that is filled with hearts, flowers, declarations of love and clever advertising. The day is commercially about all of the glitzy, outer trappings, but what a better day to think about the love that we receive through our lifetime.

What better day to reminisce about those who have shown us love and that we have loved, that are here today and that we have known in the past.

Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday, not because I get so many Valentines, but because the day seems to bring out the best in people.

Recently I interviewed someone about the day and they said every day should be Valentine’s Day in the way we show love to people in our lives.

Back to this wonderful 98-year-old woman by the name of Sophia whose funeral I was attending. Looking back through her life I could see that it was her love of God, her love of family and her love of friends, and giving and receiving that love that carried her through her life all those 98 years.

Sophia married young, a man, older than she. Looking at the pictures and talking to her daughters and listening to the stories, you knew that she felt loved. Her life wasn’t always hearts and flowers. She lost two children, her husband, family members and yet her attitude was always encouraging. The love that her husband and those two children gave to her before they died stayed with her even when they were gone.

She helped raise a granddaughter after her daughter died. She had grandchildren. Later when she was no longer able to take care of herself, when she was in her 90s, she entered an assisted-living home. Still her family showed her love and caring by visiting her often and watching out so that she was happy until the final days. They did not forget her. Her sense of humor carried through to the staff and those she met. Pictures told a story of love and you could see the love she showed others even in her later years with sense of humor and the kindness she showed to those who took care of her.

What did those 98-year-old eyes see? They saw many changes in the world. They saw sorrow, heartache and happiness.

Sophia is not unlike many of us today. What do our eyes see each day? At the end of our lives what will our eyes have seen? Will we remember special Valentines Days? Maybe. Will we remember the glitz and the glam and the show? Will we remember what meal we ate when we were wined and dined by our sweetheart? Will we remember disappointment because no one remembered us on Valentine’s Day? Or will we remember the feeling of love throughout moments of our lives?

We get hyped up about this one day, Valentine’s Day, the day we take to show someone how special they are. Some people get romantic and some people get forgotten all together. It is good we do have a day like this to remind us to treat someone we love with a little special care because perhaps some people don’t think about it the rest of the year.

There are people, and I used to be one of those, that are very hurt and sad if this special day passes and they feel alone. If that is the case I want you to think about that statement; imagine what these 98-year-old eyes have seen. What will your eyes have seen over your lifetime? Think about the love that you have shown or been shown by others on a normal day throughout the year. Find the “love moments” in your life and remember them. Think about the love moments, or hours, or days that you have had.

Those 98-year-old eyes saw a lot of sorrow. Our eyes do, too. But in sad times, find the Valentine moments of love that you can cherish and remember your entire life. Love isn’t pinned to a specific day; it is pinned to the shadows of your heart for you to pull out when needed to make those dark days feel better.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” — Lao Tzu