It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

                          Today's awesome co-hosts for the March 4  posting are:

  PJ Colando, Ronel Janse van Vuuren and Natalie Aguirre     

The March 4 question: What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book??

 

I come from anther time...

A magical time...

When writing a book was all an author had to do.

When the book was finished...

And the author landed an agent...

And the agent landed a publisher...

And the publisher had the manuscript edited...

And all the details about book cover design, promotion, etc...

Were handled by said publisher.

That was it!

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Yeah, the only thing magical about this scenario...

Is my thinking—magical thinking.

Promotion for an author’s book was always necessary...

Before the Internet, and Facebook, and Instagram, and Algorithms etc. 

It was all done differently but still done.

So, getting back to today’s question...

What I’m doing about my book launch?

I’m in the process now getting ideas... 

I will be scouring the Internet making notes on other author’s methods and ideas...

And having a more engaging social media presence.

And you?’

What do you do for a book launch?

Or have any ideas to share?

 

Always,

Em-Musing

I'm in the trenches again sending out queries...

And it's never ending. Not the amount of queries. The endless amount of little changes. Rethinking an adjective here or an em-dash there.                      

I’ve blogged about the never-ending editing process before.                         But if you haven’t seen it...                                                                         Here it is again:

Daughters:      Mom?

Nurse:             She’s been like this for a while.

Daughters:      What’s wrong with her? 

Nurse:             When she was brought in, she kept 

                       Mumbling “Gotta keep editing. 

                       Gotta keep editing.”

Daughters:      What do you mean? Edit what? 

Nurse:             What we got out of her is that she's written 

                        a book and wants to get an agent,

Daughters:       So what’s holding her back? 

                        It’s a condition some authors are afflicted 

                                                  with, especially unpublished authors.

                          Daughters:       What’s this condition called? 

                          Nurse:             Queryphobia.

                          Daughters:      Queryphobia?                                                                 

                          Nurse:             In layman’s terms—fear of rejection.                                   

                          Daughters:      Rejection from who? 

                          Nurse:             Every agent and publisher in the world.

                          Daughters:      Is there a cure?

                                                  Not that we know of, but every now and then 

                                                  when  we turn on the Hallmark channel she 

                                                 calms down.Their stories are sweet and 

                                                 always have happy endings, but only for an 

                                                 hour or two and then she’s back at it. 

                .         Daughters:      Maybe if you can get her to binge watch it enough it will distract her and we can convince to get the hell out of here.

                         Nurse:              It’s worth a try.

                         Daughters:       Is there hope she’ll be healed?  

                         Nurse:              Don’t know. She’s got a bad case of it. 

                         Daughters:       Does she need anything from us? 

                         Nurse:              Hugs, chocolate, and maybe a shot of tequila.

                         Daughters:       Poor mom. **sighs**                                                                                                                                                                                 

                         So? Have you ever suffered from Queryphobia?

                                                                                                                                   

SOMETHNG THIS WAY STINKETH

 

It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with            something to say. 

                   Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG                                                 Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

February 4 posting of the IWSG are J Lenni Dorner, Victoria Marie Lees, and Sandra Cox!

February 4 question - Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you/

I like just about all my writings…

The earlier ones though I can see the need for editing...

But for the most part, they’re OK...

UNTIL…

Someone wants to see something I’ve written...  

AND THEN…

I think it not worthy, stupid, why did I even write this junk?

OR 

It think it just plain stinks! 

But then I wonder

What would it stink like?

Old fish guts? 

Dirty feet or pits?

Public bathrooms?

Limburger cheese?

Thankfullly, my nostrils never had to endure what I’ve heard about that stinky queso.

What about you?

What do you think about something you’ve written a while ago?

Ever think it stinks?

And if so...

What would the stink smell like?

 

Always,

Em-Musing

 

 

 

 

Below, a parody  from Annie get Your Gun 

 

AI:   Anything you can write I can write better. I can write anything better than you.

ME:   No you can’t.

AI:    Yes I can.

ME:   No you can’t. 

AI     Yes I can.

ME:   No you can’t!!!

AI:    Yes I can, yes I can…YES, I CAN!!

ME:   Really? Have you ever been kissed? Felt warm lips on 

         your lips?

AI:    I have no lips so it's impossible to feel someone's lips.

ME:   Ever giggled till you peed your pants? 

AI:    No. I’m unable to giggle, I don’t wear pants, 

          and why would I pee in them if I did?

ME:   Ever cry watching a movie with a tear-jerking scene?

AI:    No. I cannot generate tears. I don’t have emotions. 

          Movies aren't real. Why do humans cry watching a 

          movie?

ME:   So? How do you get your info about characters and 

          writing scenes?

AI:   I generate content based on data that I’ve analyzed. 

ME:   Well then, you really can’t write from experience, can 

          you? That’s why I CAN write better than you. HA!

Always,

Em-Musing

DON'T GO DOWN THE BASEMENT

 It’s so annoying! 

When I’m watching a scary movie...

And one of the characters hears something down the basement...

Don’t go down the basement!

Of course, they go down and something bad happens.

I hate to admit it...

But I did something stupid... 

I WENT Down the basement!

 I was a junior in high school when I went down... 

My uncle was a collector of antique books...

And my father would often go over to his shop... 

And buy books such as: 

Milton’s Paradise Lost          Dante's Inferno

Because, being an artist, my father liked the illustrations in them. 

One day he brought home a book dated 1858 entitled: Incantations and Spells... 

My mother turned her nose up it and called it a witch book.

Me? I was fascinated... 

I recruited my two friends to go through the book with me.

During the course of that summer, we read every page... 

Down in the basement. 

Once, we tried a spell to make one boy fall in love with one of my friends. (didn’t work)

All was okay for a while until...

One evening my mother called me for dinner. I was in the basement when I happened to look down and saw my grandmother’s feet. She was barefoot and wearing a long gown. Why wasn’t she wearing shoes? And I’d never seen her in a long dress. Weird, I thought, then ran up the stairs and into the kitchen stopping abruptly because there at the kitchen table was my grandmother. I didn't say anything about seeing the apparition. 

A few days later, my mother was heading downstairs to the basement to start a load of wash... 

Don’t go down the basement!

She told my father later at dinner that the basement had a cold draft that hadn’t been there before. She felt it again when she hung the clothes on the clothesline to dry. 

Later, she asked me to get the clothes and bring them upstairs.

Don’t go down the basement!

I also felt the cold air plus a heaviness—or presence—in the air. It creeped me out.  But still I said nothing.

A few days later... 

My mother was doing another load of laundry... 

Don’t go down the basement!

And she saw the same apparition of an old woman in a long gown walk past her and told my father, but he just laughed saying her blood sugar was probably low and there are no such things as ghosts. 

I knew better... 

It was only when my father actually saw the old woman standing right in front of him

that he took action. He burned the witches’ book.

There are more stories about that book and what came up from below, 

But not from the basement—from another realm...

Those stories, though are for another time.

 So?

What's your favorite classic ghostly tale?  

Have you ever seen a ghost? 

And are you afraid of going down basements?

Always,

Em-Musing

P.S. Interestingly that book also had an illustration of Pythagoras’ Wheel, that, if asked a question needing a yes or no answer it would give you the answer.

The book also explained in detail how to tell the future using Geomancy but I didn’t want to figure it out. It was too much like doing math which I hated.

 

It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG or let it inspire your post. Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG                                                                                                      Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!                             

The awesome co-hosts for the January 7 posting of the IWSG are Shannon Lawrence, Olga Godim, Jean Davis, and Jacqui Murray!

January 7 question - Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn't get done in 2025?

I watched a YouTube video recently on how to achieve my goals for 2026 

In my case it’s:

- Sending out more queries for my humorous women’s fiction novel

- Landing an agent 

- And getting on the road to publication. 

But, interestingly enough...

I learned that setting my goals wasn’t the main way to achieve them...

It’s prioritizing  one —main—goal...

Focusing on it... 

Filtering out the less important ones...

And, not getting distracted by all those distractions...

They’re everywhere...

On my computer when I’m Googling something...

On my phone social media ... 

And it’s so tempting to open up a reel, and then off my mind goes...

Or I choose a smaller goal because it’s instantly gratifying...

Like designing my next landscape project...

Or organizing my office.

I need to create a pair of blinders...

So that every time my mind or eyes wander a buzzer goes off and a voice says, 

"FOCUS! You can do this!"

.

And what about you?

What do you want to achieve this year that you didn’t last year?

And how do you stay focused or eliminate distractions?

 

Always, 

Em-Musing

 

 

 It’s the Monthly Blog Hop for the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. Remember, this question is optional
           

The awesome co-hosts for the December 3 posting of the IWSG are Tara Tyler, Ronel Janse van Vurren, Pat Garcia, and Natalie Aguirre

December 3 Question: As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts 

you ever received? 

 

I got a gorgeous gift of a pen one Christmas...

From my best friend, also a writer.

 

 

She said she has one just like it...

And uses it all the time when she writes.

Beautiful, no?

And I love it, yes!

But sadly...

I don’t use it.

It’s been sitting in a ceramic jar with all my other pens and pencils for several years now..

Why?

Because I’m very specific about the pens I use.

It’s not about the price, the quality, or how beautiful a pen is... 

For me it’s how it feels in my hand... 

Like the thickness when I hold it...

I like my pens to be more sleek... 

And fit slimly in my hand.

I also like fine pen points — .7 to be exact.

I like the ink to flow freely...

But not a gel pen.

And it can’t weigh heavy between my fingers. 

Me?

My pen preference?

BIC Diamente...

It’s actually made here in Mexico.

One of many countries where they’re made.

And you? 

What’s the coolest/best gift you ever received”

And what’s your pen preference?

 

Always,

Em-Musing

From me here in the Riviera Maya

To all of you in the IWSG.