IWSG: Writing During the Pandemic #IWSGbloghop

 

Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop

#IWSGbloghop

What is the Insecure Writer's Support Group?

Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database, articles and tips, a monthly blog posting, a Facebook and Instagram group, Twitter, and a monthly newsletter. 

To find out more, click here.

  

The purpose of the group is 

* to share and encourage. 

* Writers can express doubts and concerns 

without fear of appearing foolish or weak. 

* Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. 

*It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! 

You're invited to become a member of this supportive group. 

Click here to sign up and/or to visit the bloggers this week.

Happy IWSG Day!

Welcome February 2025!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello and welcome to the February IWSG Blog Hop! I am looking forward to visiting many of my IWSG friends and meeting new IWSG bloggers! 

Thank you for joining in on the fun.

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The awesome co-hosts for the February 5 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Louise Barbour, and Tyrean Martinson!

Every month, there is a question that members can answer in their IWSG posts. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Remember, the question is optional!

February 5 question - Is there a story or book you've written you want to/wish you could go back and change?

Yes, probably every one of them!!  Okay. I know you all probably said the same thing. If I had to pick just one, it would be my memoir, Arranging a Dream: A Memoir. 

I had been working on the story about our first year in the flower and greenhouse business when COVID struck. Recognizing the profound impact this tragic period had on everyone, my publisher reached out to authors whose books were set to be released in 2020. She offered to postpone the book's release and encouraged us to take the time we needed to complete our manuscripts.

I truly needed that time. Instead of meeting the June 1, 2020 deadline, the publisher released the book on January 1, 2021. What a coincidence. That was the anniversary of our first day as business owners 45 years ago!

Arranging a Dream
a feel-good memoir
eBooks available
at all major online bookstores
and in print

When I read through the book many months after publishing, I could see where the pandemic had interrupted my life and stolen my sense of storytelling. The memoir reads as if was written by two different people. The last part of the book is stilted and includes too much narrative instead of including dialogue, reflections, and emotions. 

The anxiety and fear that we were living with drained me both physically and emotionally. I could not write about that turning point in my life when my husband and one-year-old daughter and I moved from our friends and family in Central Illinois to West Michigan to follow our dream. And we did!

Yes, I would like to write the last part of the book again, but maybe not. Maybe that was the way the end chapters were supposed to be. I am thankful I was able to finish it and we made it through the pandemic alive and well.

I know your life was disrupted during that horrific time. How did the pandemic affect your writing? 

Please leave a comment below. Do you have a turning point in your life that you need to share with your family and/or publish for the world to hear your voice? Go for it!! You'll be amazed at what you learn about yourself, plus your family will love to know all about the "good ole days."

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Happy Valentine's Day from J.Q. Rose!

Thank you for stopping in today! I'll be hopping about cyberspace visiting IWSG bloggers!

Click here to sign up to join the monthly blog hop and visit the bloggers this week.

Connect online with JQ Rose:

Email: jqrose02 @ gmail dot com

Facebook 

Instagram

Substack

Insecure Writers Support G roup Blog Hop: Spring Fever and Writing, IWSG's Mystery Anthology Tick Tock

IWSG Blog Hop---the first Wednesday of every Month.

Hello and welcome to the Insecure Writer's Support Group Blog Hop!

What is the Insecure Writer's Support Group?

Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database, articles and tips, a monthly blog posting, a Facebook and Instagram group, Twitter, and a monthly newsletter. 

Alex explains the group's purpose is "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" You're invited to become a member of this supportive group.

The group blogs the first Wednesday of every month.  The list of bloggers is always available so you can hop around to the author blogs filled with humor, advice, and thought-provoking topics on writing and publishing. You can find the list of participants at Alex's IWSG page. 

Today is my turn to co-host this fantastic blog hop. My fellow hosts are--

C. Lee McKenzie  

Raimey Gallant  

E.M.A. Timar  

I hope you'll take a minute to stop by and visit their blogs and catch some more of the posts by such a diverse group of bloggers.

IWSG Question for the Month

May 2 question - It’s spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?
I'm subject to spring fever, but not the kind where I just sit and daydream. In the spring I get a mad obsession to clean--to clean out closets, scrub the blinds, shampoo the carpet, wash windows inside and out, open up the house and let the fresh air blow through. This season does not inspire writing. I have to be up and doing except when the spring showers fall. Then I like to be quiet and read. 

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Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime

An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology

The clock is ticking...

Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime
IWSG Anthology

Can a dead child’s cross-stitch pendant find a missing nun? Is revenge possible in just 48 minutes? Can a killer be stopped before the rescuers are engulfed by a city ablaze? Who killed what the tide brought in? Can a soliloquizing gumshoe stay out of jail?

Exploring the facets of time, eleven authors delve into mysteries and crimes that linger in both dark corners and plain sight. Featuring the talents of Gwen Gardner, Rebecca M. Douglass, Tara Tyler, S. R. Betler, C.D. Gallant-King, Jemi Fraser, J. R. Ferguson, Yolanda Renée, C. Lee McKenzie, Christine Clemetson, and Mary Aalgaard.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these eleven tales will take you on a thrilling ride into jeopardy and secrecy. Trail along, find the clues, and stay out of danger. Time is wasting...

$14.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 204 pages, Freedom Fox Press

Mystery & Detective (FIC022000) / Crime (FIC050000) / Thrillers (FIC031000)

Print ISBN 9781939844545 eBook ISBN 9781939844552

$4.99 EBook available in all formats

Tick Tock links:

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Tick-Tock-Stitch-Gwen-Gardner/dp/1939844541/

B&N - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tick-tock-gwen-gardner/1127886068?ean=9781939844545

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/tick-tock-a-stitch-in-crime/id1341413711?mt=11

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tick-tock-a-stitch-in-crime

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38227821-tick-tock

Tick Tock Mystery Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TickTockMystery/

Tick Tock Mystery Blog - https://ticktockmysteries.blogspot.co.nz/

Coming Up in May on the Focused on Story Blog

Wednesday, May 9--Reflections on the A to Z Challenge and Book Hooks

The 5 W's Guest Author Event continues!

The Five W's Event Returns with Guest Authors and prizes. Meet new-to-you authors and favorite authors and discover great reads!

May 16--Janet Lane Walters

May 30--Helena Fairfax

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Terror on Sunshine Boulevard book cover selected for Cover Wars.

I'm thrilled to announce my mystery, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard, is battling in Author Shout's Cover Wars this week. If you have time, take a peek at the competition and vote for Terror on Sunshine Boulevard if you like it the best. Thanks to cover artist, Michelle Lee, for her eye-popping book cover! Click here to vote. Voting all week through Saturday. Thank you.

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Thank you for visiting!

Be sure to return every Wednesday for more fun, discussions, and information.

IWSG Wednesday Topic: Procrastination

It's the first Wednesday of the month so it must be time for a post from all the folks in the Insecure Writers Support Group. (IWSG) 

What is IWSG? Founder of IWSG and author Alex J Cavanaugh explains the group's purpose is

"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

After visiting here, please take time to hop over to other blogs and hear their voices. You can find the list of participants at Alex's IWSG page.  

Check out the new IWSG Website for great writing tips.  

Procrastination by J.Q. Rose

Greek village of Tarpon Springs, FL

Insecure? Who? Me? I never would describe myself as insecure, but, (there's always a but),  when I pull up the blank page on my laptop, I do become a bit anxious about putting words on that daunting, dazzling white screen. 

For some reason, my elation at beginning a new story evaporates. Those ideas I scribbled down in my spiral notebook seemed so creative, imaginative, amazing. But, as I begin to think about how to carry out those ideas, actually use words, sentences, paragraphs to develop the brilliant plans I see in my notebook pages, I doubt my ability to pen an entertaining, uplifting, memorable story with a message.

That's the moment the moment procrastination grabs me. I leave the laptop and get the chocolate out. You know, last year's Christmas candy I hid away in the pantry so I wouldn't eat it? I sit back down at my desk and allow the sweet chocolate flavor to coat my mouth. Might as well check my emails while I'm enjoying such a treat. Oh yes, and how about Facebook? You know my friends on Facebook need me to check in.

Finally, after preparing a cup of tea, I decide to get serious about writing the story.  At last, a few words develop into several sentences that group into paragraphs on the page. Instead of work and worry, the writing becomes a joyful challenge. Amazing how chocolate and tea erases that insecurity and the procrastination monster runs away.

How about you? Do you have trouble actually sitting down to start a new project?