To sequel or not

It a blessing to us writers when an author shares skills and experience such as K. M. Weiland and her latest article: How to Write a Sequel That’s BETTER Than the First Book is truly worth reading. Here is my question: K. M. Fist off thanks for the great articles and ongoing comments. How my sequels developed: In my work life I wrote technical and training material, for fun my thing was mainly poetry. So when I started writing my novel the technical part and prose left too much unwritten and in critique groups I was asked to write more about this and that. Before I knew it, a 300-page novel developed into 900+pages so I decided to do sequels. I think the story, a paranormal Sci-Fi, and characters are perfect for sequels since it starts, in prehistoric times to the present and then travels to the future. I finished my first book and am working on the second as I send queries to publishers and authors. Each book can be independent of the others, and my question is: when I query, do mention that there are sequels?

Do you like the semicolon?

To some of us the semicolon is the Picasso of writing but is it a good thing? I found this video on The New Yorker by Mary Norris valuable: Comma Queen: The Semicolon; or, Mastering the Giant Comma

Ps. I like Mary Norris, she seems friendly, and her videos are fun and to the point. There are videos by Mary Norris on proper grammar and punctuation usage. Enjoy.

Are you a slacker or a sweet spot seeker?

Do you ever feel that not adhering to a regimen is goofing off? Doing stuff you enjoy, or just checking emails, social media sites and the like while still in bed drinking coffee and watching the news or even a talk show in the morning is unproductive?

I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey years ago but don’t remember the woodcutter story “sawing to the point of exhaustion while trying to take down a tree. When a man suggests that he could get done quicker by taking a break to sharpen his saw. The woodcutter says: "I don't have time to sharpen the saw. Don't you see I'm too busy?"

I can relate in particular as a writer. The beast of “are you done yet?" creeps in even as I learn how to hone my writing skills or read or worse yet do something fun. Will this article Can You Achieve More by Doing Less? help me put away the do not procrastinate hammer? As per the article Covey suggests we nurture ourselves and return to our tasks “refreshed, with a better attitude and more focus.” So what constitutes nurturing? Carter suggests we find our sweet spot. What a great concept that my SWEET SPOT is the saw! Not the sweet spot that you might be thinking of – although that must qualify. Allowing ourselves “uninterrupted blocks of time” to do our work after taking care of home and family and making time to nourish our body so as not to burn out.

Today as I go forth to find my sweet spot I write this article for my blog. Haven’t written for my blog in over a month because I am editing and submitting my novel to publisher and agents. Oh, how sweet it is!