Showing posts with label 2020. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2020. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

What Did We Learn?

By Robin Weaver

Reflecting on 2020, I found myself reexamining Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Given the world’s current problems, old Maslow may be the last thing on your mind. But, isn’t the year we just “endured” a testament to the validity of the theory?

As most of you know, Maslow developed a theory of motivation which states that five categories of need dictate a person's behavior.  According to his findings, higher ideals—ego & self-fulfillment—can only be fully addressed once basic human survival is assured.  Maslow’s categories of needs are:


1.    Prior to COVID, most people in the Western World had climbed high on the hierarchy, past love and belonging, and were searching for Esteem and/or Self-Actualization.  We didn’t have to worry about food or water (physiological); safety (other than the ozone layer, which most people ignored) was pretty much taken for granted by most Americans.

Thanks to Match.Com and Doctor Phil, we’d also conquered romance. And, if we didn’t find our significant other online or at the gym, we bought a dog.  The increasing popularity of self-help books signaled that the masses were in hot pursuit of being our “best self.”


Then, the corona virus showed it’ ugly crown. And, BOOM!

Suddenly everyone (and I do mean everyone) was back at level two.  We weren’t safe. Forget about being a better person, we needed toilet paper to survive. And tons of it.   Forget about belonging (level 3); we started fighting over wearing masks. Those of us who diligently cover our face thought we were demonstrating concern for our fellow humans, but were we?  Did we even try to understand those who were defiant about covering the face?  Did we consider that a world filled with the unknown drives the need to feel in control? Even if that control mean thwarting good sense and not wearing the mask? And be honest, didn’t you secretly worry that a mask isn’t enough?


Once we can again “belong” without Zoom or Skype, perhaps we can self-actualize about what we learned during the year of COVID.  In fiction, conflict strengthens the story and gives the main character an opportunity for growth. Maybe I’m too low on Maslow’s hierarchy to figure out how to improve from this experience, because I’m not finding much good from 2020.  The COVID conflict has strengthened my resolve to appreciate all that I’ve taken for granted in the past.

Just when there’s a vaccine on the horizon, I find something else to worry about.  Something I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I could have met friends for coffee or attended writers’ conferences. I’m now worried about The birds.  I’ve just read that the avian population has dwindled by 29% in the last 50 years. 

Egads! Time for a romance novel.


Happy 2021 everyone. May your new year have you climbing to the top of Maslow’s hierarchy.

Monday, December 14, 2020

On the brighter side of things!



 






By: Marcia King-Gamble
www.lovemarcia.com

It’s almost the end of the year and I’m hoping it ends on a positive note. While 2020 has had its challenges, think of it as a year to reflect and be grateful. Yes, I ‘ve been accused of making lemonade out of limes, but that’s just my personality. But wouldn’t you rather me be sweet than tart?

Yes, I know jobs were lost, and that’s never a good thing, but it did give many time to reflect on what they really wanted out of life. Limping into a job with a sigh and a groan is never good. Jobs should pay the bills but also be fun. And while a job search is never easy, this is, or was, the opportunity to find that job of your dreams.

I know, easy to say that when bills remain unpaid, but still…one door closes and a better one opens. That’s the believer in me speaking. I say rather than viewing lockdown and this time of isolation with negativity, we should look at it as a time to catch up on all those chores and hobbies we keep putting off.  There are closets to clean and treasures to be found while cleaning and sorting. There are friends to email, phone, and in general reconnect with.



What about that foreign language you’ve been dying to speak? Maybe it’s time to learn that language, and all from the relative safety of your own home. There's that sweater waiting to be completed. You can finally get it done. That elderly neighbor you meant to reach out to, offer to do their shopping, and maybe pay it forward by adding a treat to their grocery list.

 For those of you with children, I can't think of  a better time to bond, than over online learning, or one of those interactive games they like to play.





Speaking of learning, let me tell you what I’ve learned during this last several months:

I’ve learned that I am more than good on my own

That time to reflect is a good thing

That even when things get bad there is a silver lining

That I’m far more resilient than I might appear

There aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want to do

That true friends are worth keeping and others I should lose

That I am never too old to learn a new skill

That reading can feed and nourish the soul

I learned that while bad things can happen to good people, good things also happen to good people

That old manuscripts can be dusted off and repurposed

And finally, positivity can brighten a person’s day and go a long way




 That  said, despite this year’s ups and downs there’s so much to be grateful for.  The earth has had time to heal and dolphins were seen in places never seen in a long time or before. Families and friends found creative ways to connect, and we were forced to step out of our comfort zone and  into the world of technology. Think of this as broadening your world view and learning something new. Life should be about learning and evolving and not about remaining stagnant.






As the holidays approach don’t think of this year as being without family, think of it as doing something different and celebrating in a brand new and meaningful way. Put some thought into gifting, or better yet, give to a charity or people who really need help this year. It doesn’t have to be money, you can volunteer your help, safely. Just remember to wear that mask.

 Give what you can and give graciously!



Please look out for my holiday release, titled By Golly on Amazon soon.  It's a stand alone novella, about the H.E. Caldwell Department store. Some of your favorites are having issues. Will the holiday season work its magic and bring them back together?



Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Here’s to a New Year of good cheer!

Make 2021 your best year yet. The seeds you planted will come to full bloom!

Be well and take good care!





About Marcia King-Gamble

Romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This travel industry executive and current world traveler has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling to exotic locales when she can, and caring for her animal family who keep her sane.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS

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Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Hope Springs Eternal, Even In 2020



They say hope springs eternal in humanity. These days, I sometimes feel like I’d have to believe in magic to have a lot of hope. (I wonder how the sales of paranormal romances are doing right now.) It’s especially difficult when I hear a child psychiatrist say that one in four people under 24 have seriously contemplated suicide this year.


The year began innocently enough. My big concern in January was whether or not the RWA (Romance Writers of America) would implode. Now all that drama seems to belong to another lifetime, or at least like the prologue for the dystopian bestseller, 2020. And, since RWA did not implode, at least not exactly, maybe that prelude contains a trace of hope for how the year will end. A good writer might try to foreshadow how 2020 goes out that way. Last month I blogged about Covid being a villain cooked up by the 2020 writers’ room. Now I think its just another way to expose human nature. It’s presence saps hope, while exposing human beings who don’t care about each other. There are a lot of those, as witnessed by the super-spreader events we continue to witness, and sometimes attend, six months after this started.

I’m not ashamed to admit that some of the hope I do feel can be traced back to a prescription mood stabilizer my doctor prescribed. Normally, I radiate sunshine during spring and summer. Now, thanks to chemistry, I am surviving, and even finding strength to plug away at a new story.


As a black woman, this year has thrown me back into the sixties. The days when politicians like George Wallace yelled, “Segregation now, segregation forever!” Or the Children's March, where police set dogs after peaceful protesters, and firemen turned hoses powerful enough to strip bark from trees on children as young as six. Now police aim rubber bullets at the heads of chanting protesters seeking justice, and teargas a group of mothers lined up to protect them.


I am a writer, and I would never have dared put some of the hope-sapping events of this year in any book, much less all of them. I would never have killed off a smiling, enchanting hero like Chadwick Boseman, not to cancer. At least he lived long enough to make a lasting difference in the world. Countless young people, along with older people like myself, experienced a sense of awe and historical purpose while watching him play his historical roles on the big screen. He took kids suffering from cancer under his wing and tried to make their lives better while he losing his own. I hope he and his beautiful smile are reunited with the kids he lost and that they are all at peace now.

I feel hope about other heroes too. Thanks largely to the leadership embracing science, New York, once the state most heavily hit by Covid in the US, has kept its positivity rate under 1% for over a month. New York tests heavily. It shows the fallacy in the White House argument that testing causes the number of cases to increase. As a former scientist myself, I gain hope when I hear about others trusting facts over opinions.


Last, but absolutely not least, I feel hope when I see some of today’s titans, basketball players acknowledging that Black Lives Matter, and willingly place themselves on the line as human beings in the struggle for justice. The actions of the National Basketball Association has been one of the most hopeful of these last few months. Led by the players, they have raised awareness to the inequities black people are forced to live with and that black lives do indeed matter in this world. Now, basketball stadiums will be available as safe places for people to vote in November.

I do still worry, I know a lot of people do. Things may get worse before they even approach getting better. November will not be a fun month. But I am holding onto the hope that just like the RWA, America will not implode. That our lawmakers will see the need to stop squabbling and take care of our essential workers and those unemployed. That we the people will wise up and take care of ourselves and each other, so no more people will die unnecessarily.


If I could have hope for the future during the turbulent 60s, I can summon up a little more now. I’ve been attending virtual church every Sunday. Now that the service is online, I even attend more often. Big plus, instead of sliding in the back late and hoping no one notices, I am now upset when technical difficulties make the Zoom session start late. This past Sunday I even had home-made bread and orange juice for our regular first Sunday of the month Communion. Attending church, even on a screen, is one of the most hopeful things I do each week. 

Now I'm off to grab a paranormal romance. I need a few magical creatures to believe in.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

My “Science” Behind the Art of Producing ... by Delsora Lowe


Right up front I will admit I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of writer. I have a pie-in-the-sky outlook on what I want to accomplish, but until I set goals, not much happens. Because I am also a non-competitive, procrastinator, who needs to plan out life. So how do I reconcile those two different “personalities”?


In all my years of gathering wisdom, some about myself and my habits, I’ve figured out that I am not competitive with others, but I am very competitive with me. And in order to manifest that, I have to have spread sheets and charts and written goals broken down from annual to quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily. I’m not one of those types, you say with the back of your hand plastered against your forehead. I HATE Spreadsheets, you say. No worries. I am the least mathematical, spread-sheet type queen to ever grace this earth. Excel is my enemy. But I do know how to set up a horizontal topic line and a vertical date line. That’s it, folks. Nothing else to see. Oh, except to find the little SUM icon that looks like a weird E.

The one thing I do know how to do is schmooze and learn from other writers. One of those things that has come up in group after group, not only in writing, but any profession I’ve been in, is the importance of setting goals and having ways to measure them.


So, over the years, I developed ways that work for me. I report in daily to one group. That is where I set up my daily goals, such as I want to finish chapter three, or today I’m going to update my website. By saying them “out loud,” it helps me to actually do them. Well, most of them. There are days when something on one list gets transferred to the next day’s list. But the fact I’ve told someone makes the self-competitive gene kick in, and it’s enough to make me try to stay on track.
 


Every Sunday, I report my weekly word count goal to another group. We have all set up our annual word count goal and project goals. For example, I want to send in between 4 and 6 short romances to Woman’s World magazine. To date, I have submitted 5 and I have one in draft form, so I am well in to making the high-end of my goal and possibly exceeding it. Each week our administrator, who does know ALL about spreadsheets, sends back our spreadsheet with weekly totals that show where we are, percentage-wise, in meeting our annual goals. At the bottom of the page is each of our annual task goals, so I can easily check that and highlight what I’ve done to check off the annual list. It’s a painless way (because someone else figured out the spreadsheet 😊 ) of keeping me on track.


As we near the end of 2019 and stroll into 2020, I will assess my achievements and set up goals for 2020. This system has kept me on track for several years now. Each of you can come up with your own system. Whatever works for you. But writing it down and telling others, does make you more accountable to yourself.


 What do you do to set goals for the year? Month? Day?
We’d love to hear more ways authors and readers stay organized.

Now on to more fun things. The thing I do AFTER I’ve accomplished my daily goals. READING! So, here is a list of more Christmas reads. I’ve made it through a few more books since my November holiday read blog. The rest, I will wallow through this month, now that I finished first round of edits on my own Vermont Inn Christmas book, due out in late 2020.


Holiday Reads: Already Read

·         Wedding at Mistletoe Chalet by Dani Collins

·         Once Upon a Christmas by Sarah Morgan (an anthology of 3 medical-based novellas)

·         Waiting for a Miracle by Jennifer Wilck (a Hanukkah novella)

·         Winter Wishes: A Regency Holiday Romance Novella by 11 authors

·         Merry Wild West Christmas by Wanda Ann Thomas (a member of my MaineRW group)

·         The Heart of Christmas by Jill Monroe (a holiday romance from Hallmark publishers)

·         Season of Wonder by RaeAnne Thayne

·         Merry Christmas, Darling by Donna Alward

·         Holly Pointe & Candy Canes by Cindy Kirk

·         A Cowboy’s Homecoming by Vicki Lewis Thompson

·         The Ring Series by Marcia King-Gamble

Holiday Reads in the TBR Pile:

·         A Coldwater Christmas by Delores Fossen

·         Cowboy Christmas Redemption by Maisey Yates

·         The Christmas Town by Donna VanLiere (Hallmark movie based on this book)

·         Mutts & Mistletoe by Natalie Cox (Recommended on RTG in November)

·         The Christmas Club by Barbara Hinske (Hallmark movie based on this book)

·         Spirit of the Season by Heather Graham

·         A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan

·         Unforgettable Christmas Dreams by 11 authors

·         Spirit of the Season by Heather Graham

·         A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan

·         Unforgettable Christmas Dreams by 11 authors

And...My Holiday Book:

·         Come Dance with Me by Delsora Lowe


Come Dance with Me (Oct 2017) – my own holiday story
Improvisational jazz musician meets buttoned up English teacher—will the Christmas lights sparkle or shatter before the dance ends?
Amazon
http://amzn.to/2Ev2rHc
D2D
https://www.books2read.com/u/bMrQva

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine.