My Goals for 2009

As I get ready to ring in the new year, I sit here contemplating the things I would like to accomplish in the coming year. Here are some of my goals (which I’m sure will expand/change somewhere along the way):

Professionally:

1. Complete the series I started with Nora’s Soul

2. Continue to build a blogging presence on the internet.

3. Publish the books completed (as noted in number 1)

4. Help aspiring authors to reach their own goals

5. Guest blog (I love doing this – me, the introvert!)

6. Keep up with my writing friends and favorite authors

Personally:

1. Take better care of my health

2. Resolve the issue with my daughter’s IEP

3. Take the time to enjoy every moment

4. Learn to paint with watercolors

5. Learn how to manage stress better

Well, those are just some of my goals. What are yours?

Today I’m at Reading, Writing and Stuff That Makes Me Crazy

I am the guest blogger at Reading, Writing and Stuff That Makes Me Crazy, blogging about Character. I would love for you to stop by and get a little taste of the process of creating characters, Dante, and how the two sometimes collide. You can see the results for yourself here:

http://reading-writing.blogspot.com/2008/12/welcome-guest-blogger-margay-roberge.html

Hope to see you there!

Margay Leah Justice, author of Nora’s Soul from Second Wind Publishing, LLC. Available now at Amazon.com

Interview up at I Do Not Want to Wait, I Want the Book Now

I am being interviewed today here:

http://idonotwanttowaitiwantthebooknow.wordpress.com/

I would love for you to stop by and learn a little something about me and my crazy writing process.

Hope to see you there!

Margay Leah Justice, author of Nora’s Soul

http://margayleahjustice.com

Guest Blogging at Yankee Romance Reviewers and a Contest

I am doing a guest blog over at Yankee Romance Reviewers today. Why not stop by and comment for a chance to win a copy of my debut novel, Nora’s Soul?

http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/2008/12/art-of-procrastination-by-margay-leah.html

The Blank Page

I am a blank page. I am only eight and a half inches wide, eleven inches long. To most people, I am unprepossessing, boring, blank. But to you, I am the most intimidating opponent you will ever face. Why, you might ask. Because you are a writer and a blank page is the most fearsome enemy you will ever face in your journey along the creative road.

But I can be conquered. You just have to want to try. You just have to face the fear. Take the writer who is filling up this page at this very moment. The writer had no idea what to write when she first sat down at the keyboard. Did she let that stop her? No. She took the very idea of the blank page syndrome and turned it into something to talk about. You can, too. The key to doing so is quite simple, really.

Just write.

It doesn’t matter what you write, at first. Just sit down, place your fingers over the keys and write. So what if Shakespeare’s masterpiece doesn’t flow from your fingers on the first pass, or even the second? Do you think he only wrote one draft and was done? Not likely. Neither should you. So sit down and write. It doesn’t matter what you write as long as words flow onto the page; you can always go back and edit later. That’s the beauty of it all. Once the words are there, you can go back and play with them. Rearrange them on the page. Make them dance across the white space that was once blank. You see, editing is not your enemy, either – but that’s another story.

So remember, all of you writers out there, established or emerging, it’s you against the blank page.

Don’t let the blank page win. Write.

Margay Leah Justice is the author of Nora’s Soul, available now on Amazon.com. You can read more about her at http://margayleahjustice.com where she fights a daily about against the blank page.

Note: This post can also be seen on the Second Wind Publishing blog here:

http://secondwindpub.wordpress.com/