When You Wake Up in a Story

By Maureen Bonatch 

I love to read. Some of my favorite genres are fantasy, paranormal and horror. One of my all-time favorite books is The Stand, by Stephen King. In fact, it’s one of the only books I’ve ever read twice—although that’s because he released a version with additional scenes years after the initial release. 

Otherwise, my TBR list is usually far too long to have time to reread books, despite how much I might want to return to visit those characters. Usually I hope for a series if I want to get to know the characters better.

Not My Story

Lately I’ve felt a bit like I’ve woken up in one of the books that I love to read or write. Unfortunately, this ‘world’ isn’t one with magic like Harry Potter or even the Kim Harrison’s series. It feels a lot more like The Stand—a world with a weaponized strand of influenza—although so far I haven’t noticed any of the supernatural elements.

One of the reasons I, and probably many people, like to read stories that are different from our ordinary world is that we get to experience them without having to experience them in our reality. Because we get to be a different person. Maybe one who has a different personality, is a little bit more resilient, or braver than our everyday persona. Thus, as much as I enjoy the stories, I don’t want to live them in my reality.

Dealing with Change

I expect that this unexpected veer from our normal everyday will most likely leave many of us, and the world, changed. I’m hoping that some of the changes will be for the better in the long run such as appreciating time with family and friends, and the value of everyday items and experiences that we’ve come to take for granted. 

Until that time, many of us are often feeling stress, or anxiety, about uncertainties and unknown changes we may have to adapt to. Much of this is out of our control, but how we react to the situations is within our control and that often starts with self-care and nurturing our anxiety . One of my stress relievers is, of course, reading.

Tips for reducing stress, and gaining accurate COVID-19 information:

I’m proud to be a part of the NextStep team. Take advantage of our course COVID-Ready Caregiver Certification designed to for caregivers- but also helpful to family and friends who want to learn how to keep themselves, and those they care for safe. The course free for a limited time- check it out here. (P.S. The course also includes some great tips on relieving anxiety and stress with mindfulness)

Here are a few articles I’ve written on dealing with stress:

• Spring Clean More than Your House 
• The Hidden Weight of Worry 
• Banish Negative or Self-Destructive Thoughts 

 Until next time- try to stay physically and mentally healthy. 

What 'book world' would you like to wake up in?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazon and/or signing up for her newsletter

Making More Room for Magic by Getting Rid of My Bestie

I’m not making a resolution this year. Instead, I’m making a decision. 

Deciding to spend less time with my “bestie”. Saying I’ll spend no time with my bestie is unrealistic, as much as I’d like to show her the door. Because you see, sometimes small doses of her are helpful and motivate me. It’s the extended visits that I’d like to stop. 

You see, my bestie for the last year or so has been, Stress. 

Spend Less Time with Stress

Stress has been hogging the time I wanted to spend with family and friends. Stealing my attention even when I’m with the ones I love, and distracting me from writing and doing the things I enjoy. 

She wakes me up at night, wastes hours of my time, and coerces me into believing that she’ll leave if I pay more attention to her, or eat all the foods I’ve resolved to eat less of. 

She’s a bad influence, and unfortunately, she likes to be the life of the party. When she visits, she rarely comes alone. 

She hangs out with a bad crowd and brings Worry, Doubt, Fear, and sometimes more, of her unsavory friends. Sometimes they sneak in and I don’t even realize they’ve all crowded in until there’s no room for Optimism.

Make Room for Optimism

It used to be that I didn’t recognize Stress at first. 

She’d arrive disguised as Fatigue, Anxiety, or Irritability. Then there are other times that she didn’t even come to see me, she came to see others that I love, yet I invited her in and cleared a seat on my shoulders until Tension took her place.

This time I’ve decided that she’s worn out her welcome. I know I can’t get rid of her, but I also know her visits are detrimental and I hope to see less of her. 

I also realize I might have to make this resolution more than once a year, maybe every month, and sometimes every day, because Stress can be tenacious. 

Make 2019 More Magical

I plan to be more mindful of how much time we spend together, and find ways to get rid of her once she’s started to wear out her welcome. 

I hope to recognize if she’s not come to see me and help my loved ones shorten her visit rather than sharing in entertaining her and allowing Stress to drain us all.

I intend to become better acquainted with Appreciation, Enjoyment, and Happiness. 

Making a little time for them each day, because the days will pass, as will many worries and stressors, and I’d rather spend that time dreaming, instead of dreading, each precious minute. 

Happy New Year!

What Are You Giving the Boot to Make Room for Magic this Year?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazonand/or signing up for her newsletter

Give a Priceless Holiday Gift to Yourself & Others

The holiday season is upon us and generally that means there’s at least one person, if not more, that you're challenged to find the perfect gift to give.  Then there are some that you may not want to give a gift to at all. 

The holidays also often mean a time of increased stress, too many obligations, too little time, and too much overindulging, which can lead to a month of frustration. 

Perhaps this holiday it’s time to look a little closer at the magic of the season. To think beyond material gifts and give something  priceless that can benefit ourselves as well as the beneficiary. 

 

Priceless Gifts to Give

What gift do you give to the person who has everything, or someone that you don't even know to make their holiday a little more joyful?

More Patience- Before you get frustrated with the line you must wait in, or the crowds, remember that we’re each dealing with our own stressors every day, not just during the holidays. 

Holidays just happen to be able to bring out the worst in some people, but give the benefit of the doubt and consider that there may be underlying reasons. This could be someone's first holiday season without a loved one, or perhaps someone is ill, or family is unable to be home due to finances or deployment. Don’t add to their frustration, or your own, by losing your patience.  

A Compliment or a Smile-  Just like negativity can spark a bad mood, smiles and being pleasant can be contagious. Give someone the gift of a compliment—it may be the only kind thing they hear today. 

Forgiveness- This gift has the power to allow you to find more joy in the holiday season and all year long. 

What to Return 

Resentment, Anger & Grudges – Often the things we want the least, that hurt us the most, are the hardest to let go. Don't continue to regift these painful emotions. These feelings only hurt ourselves and can destroy relationships. 

Don’t wait until it’s too late to return these so you can gain the gift of discovering peace. 

 

Give a Helping Hand

Write Reviews- You’re heard many times before how much authors value reviews, but it’s not just authors who benefit. We all do. Writing a review for any product benefits you, too. 

If you’re like me, you do much of your shopping online, or you at least do a little online research before you decide what to buy. Reviews for any product help make decisions on what’s a good gift, or one that wouldn’t meet your expectations. If we all take the time to review most of the products we buy, it can save us all time in choosing quality, appropriate gifts for our loved ones—and ourselves. 

Other Ways to Win a Gift for Yourself

It seems that when I start holiday shopping, that’s when I find things I want for myself, but I feel guilty because I should be buying for others. Here are a few contests that you can enter to try to win a guilt-free prize for yourself.

 

Hurry- this contest wraps up on December 5^th

 Your chance to win a Kindle Fire 7 Tablet- $25 worth of ebooks from Amazon (winner’s choice, up to 5 total books) - $20 Amazon gift card- $15 worth of ebooks from Amazon (winner’s choice, up to 3 total books)- $10 Amazon gift card  Enter Right Here

Make Your Month More Merry 

Enter Right Here for your Chance to win a kindle fire or echo dot

What's the Best Gift You Ever Got?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazonand/or signing up for her newsletter

Fate, and other demons.

Life can be harsh.
Trust me, I know.
First I yanked a book from my publisher.
Next "Stuff" went down at work, proving once more that you can't trust anyone.
My horse ganked my jaw and I ended up with a cracked root on a tooth.
Both my better half and me wrecked our cars -- on the same day.
Work got worse instead of settling down.
My muse abandoned me and went on vacation.
And we're not even a full two months in.
It really hasn't been a good start to the year so far.
Fate has it in for me, the little bitch.
But you know what they say about Karma...what goes around, comes around.

I'm determined not to let it get to me.
Life is too short -- but it does give you a battering sometimes.

What can you do?
Well...I figure I'll drive that wrecked car until it falls apart, while saving for another one. It's not ideal, but it's doable. I can teach my horse (maybe) that his noggin and my noggin never shall meet. I can find other work. And I can cut my muse's vacation short and order her back. (Yeah, that'll work...)
But seriously, I know I'm not producing great stuff right now. And that's okay.
If you're in that boat, let yourself off the hook. We all have times where everything gets to us, where nothing works, when we question ourselves "Is it worth it?"
Yes, it is.
Just maybe not right now.
It doesn't matter what it is you're doing. If it's writing, well...what's the worst that can happen? You ditch what you did and start over. Change the plot, the characters, the location...whatever works.
If it's knitting...fine. Unravel that pullover and start over. Use a different pattern maybe.
House training your dog? I guess you'll have to invest in newspapers, treats and a lot of patience.
Honestly, it doesn't matter.
There really is no point in beating yourself up. All you can do is keep a level head and tell yourself "This too shall pass." even if it seems hopeless. It never is.
After all -- think of the trials and tribulations our heroes and heroines go through. We root for them because they carry on with dogged determination. We should take a leaf out of that book and apply it to our own lives, because nothing is ever easy.
If life were easy, we wouldn't appreciate the good times.
So keep a stiff upper lip, and soldier through the curves life throws you.

Command Performance

When I was asked if I wanted to write one of the Gatekeeper novels (Lyrical Press), I jumped at it.
"I can do this!" I beamed. "No problem!"
I had the contract and the cover before I ever wrote a single word.
I sat down, an idea in my head, and wrote--and then I scrapped ALL of it. 8,000 words.
No biggie. It happens.
I started over. Tweaked the idea and rewrote the beginning--only it still didn't work.
More scrapping.
24,000 words this time.
I was tearing my hair out.
Here I was, 32,000 words written, and I had...nothing. Zip, nada, zilch, squat.
The monsters weren't playing ball. At least not with me.
It began to get scary.
I'd signed a contract. I had a cover. I had a release date (Feb 2013). We had a webpage already.
What I didn't have...was a story.
What if... I couldn't do it?
That's not the kind of "What if..." I want to be asking myself.
Worse, the edits for Watch Me had to be done as well.

Deadlines create pressure, we all know that. It gets so much worse when you sit there and draw a total blank. It's a scary situation. I hate letting people down, and the last ones I want to let down are my fellow Gatekeeper authors, and the publisher. We all cope differently with the stress, and some deal with it better than others. I can do deadlines and I don't really mind the stress, but I panic when I stare at a blank page and know I have to come up with something worth reading.
And that's the kicker.
It has to be worth reading. 
I can write day in day out, but that doesn't mean it's publishable, or I'd want anyone to read it. I don't like half-assed attempts at a good story. I want only my best out there, so I had to come up with something I could stand behind 100%.
That's why those 32k were thrown out. They simply weren't "It".
I can rescue most of it, but it'll take a major rewrite and--see above--I don't rewrite very well. It never works for me. So the original story may never see the light of day.
I beat myself up when I can't come up with something good, and that makes things worse. My muse goes into a major sulk and takes a vacation. Nothing helps. It's not writers block, it's a lack of enthusiasm for the story I'm writing. When that hits me, I ditch the project and start over.
Which is exactly what I did with Caedir. I threw out not just the writing I'd already done, but the entire storyline as well. Plot, characters, locations -- everything. Not even his looks stayed the same, and I killed off the human heroine while I was at it. She didn't retain her name, either.
I completely divorced myself from the previous attempt.

Don't ever be afraid to admit to yourself that what you've written isn't what you want anyone to see. We grow with the decisions we make, but we grow a lot more from the really hard ones, than from tiptoeing around the truth.
If it sucks, it sucks.
It really is that simple. If you think it sucks--why would you struggle to finish it? Your heart isn't in it, and it'll only get worse. Get some distance first, and if--when you come back--it still sucks...ditch it, take a deep breath, and start over.

I have the story now. I'm about 5-10k from the end, but I won't be releasing that breath I've been holding since March until I put the last word on paper.

Yep, it's Smurf Central 'round here.

You can find out for yourself if I came up trumps when Caedir is released in February 2013.