The Challenge – Day One

Posted on May 12, 2014 by RoseAnn DeFranco

If you read my previous blog post about clearing out the cobwebs then you know I’m challenging myself to dedicate  24 days to a better, healthier, more energetic , and hopefully more slender, me.  I entered into Day One with more sheer will than will power.  Pretty much I’m dragging myself through this because it is something I know I need to do. I haven’t put my health front and center in a LONG time.

In addition to following the challenge suggestions to the letter, which means a high protein/high fiber diet and NO caffeine, I also exercised for 20 whole minutes before going to work. I know it’s not much, but it IS more than I did yesterday, so I’ll take it! I also took my NEVER TO BE DISCLOSED weight and measurements with high hopes there will be an AFTER measurement…also never to be disclosed!

The personals goals of the challenge are clear per my cobweb post, and since I’m hoping this challenge will help provide clarity and more energy in all areas of my life including my writing, I’m going to consider it a positive sign that I learned of my release date for the final Brothers of Audubon Springs title today!

The Right Chord is set to release in all formats on August 6th! This piece of news along with a successful day one of the challenge has motivated me to contemplate setting deadlines for my next writing projects along with pulling together my marketing approach for The Right Chord.

Exciting times…and it’s only Day One!

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Posted in Health & Fitness, The Brothers of Audubon Springs, The Right Chord | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Clearing Out the Cobwebs

Posted on May 9, 2014 by RoseAnn DeFranco
The Clutter in my Dining Room last April when my Kitchen was being remodeled

The Clutter in my Dining Room last April when my Kitchen was being remodeled

The last year has been intense. I’ve contracted, edited and published three novels. I’ve learned various marketing approaches with the first two releases and I’m devising a new approach for the third. I’ve also collected a variety of cobwebs. What does this mean? I’ve let myself and my house GO. Chaos reigns in my mind at the moment as a result of all these cobwebs. Until I get them cleared, the vision that exists on the outer edges of my mind for my new Finger Lakes series will not come to me fully. What I have so far has me jazzed and I really want to bring it all to fruition for my readers. Here are the hard facts of what being published in the past year has done to me:

 

  • Rough average pounds per book gained by this stress eater: 5
  • Energy level: Low, with inconsistent bursts followed by a hard crash
  • Amount of clutter collected in my house: Impossible to measure

Admitting to all this is a hard pill to swallow. Since I know myself as a person and a writer, I have a plan to fix this.

Step one: Clean Out the Physical Cobwebs

Next week…hopefully Monday because aren’t these things always best started on a Monday…I’m going to start a 24 day challenge that begins with a 10 day cleanse. Not only am I gunning for weight loss, but I’m looking to reclaim my former energy levels. I’m going to keep a daily journal in the hope that this might evolve into something worth blogging about. Announcing my intentions here gives me the motivation and accountability to keep myself honest. I know of a few people who have done this particular cleanse and they assure me I’m not going to spend the 10 days sick in the bathroom. Nuff said. Moving on.

Step two: Get My House Back!

I’ve started doing this in the past few days. I’ve been on deadline for what feels like all year and not just with my writing. When you work full time and have a relatively demanding family life (see the photo of what my dining room looked like a year ago when our kitchen was being renovated), meeting deadlines for me meant getting up at 5 am nearly every day for a year to get the work done BEFORE going to work. I could see the clutter piling up in the house, but I would walk right on by and think…It’s okay, I’m on deadline. I started attacking the clutter in the past few days. Slow by slow I’m starting to feel as if I have a handle on it all.

Step Three: WRITE!

Here is the thing about me. When my mental, physical and emotional worlds are not in a good place, I can’t write. I mean, I can PUSH through it. I can force myself to write something like this blog post for example, but I don’t write with a true free expression because I’m thinking about my endless to-do list, and how on earth did I end up looking like a woman who swallowed the former me whole? The other day I was reading through some things and I noticed sections kindle readers highlighted on Amazon from Return to Audubon Springs and Secondhand Romance. I read the sections and thought, wow…I really like that. I wish I could still write like that…And I will, as soon as I clear away all these cobwebs.

I love writing, and I love sharing my stories with readers. It’s been a rewarding experience. The goal for the next book series is to write and publish WITHOUT the cobwebs. It’s going to take discipline and extraordinary time management skills, but I don’t want to end up in all this clutter again.

Wish me luck! Do you have a hard time with creative expression when your “house” isn’t in order?

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Posted in Focus, Organization, Writing | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Introducing a New Character to Audubon Springs: Happy Book Birthday, Kit Maggio

Posted on April 4, 2014 by RoseAnn DeFranco
I woke up to these Birthday Flowers on my kitchen table. Thanks, honey! :)

I woke up to these Birthday Flowers on my kitchen table. Thanks, honey! 🙂

As a birthday present, galley proofs for The Right Chord have landed in my inbox. I need to turn them around in a hurry to my editor. Before tackling that oh-so-fun job, I wanted to introduce a new character to the Audubon Springs Family. Kit Maggio grew up with the Iuliano Brothers, but she hasn’t stepped foot in Audubon Springs for 15 years in part because of the heartache Vince handed her on a silver platter.

So…why am I thinking about Kit today of all days? Readers like to ask me if I know the characters in my books, as in…are any of the characters based on someone I know. The answer is yes and no. Pieces of me and the people I know make their way into a character, but my characters are pretty much 100% fictionalize. (Note: I do like to joke that Annie is based on my Beta Reader, Lori, and she is…but really she’s just a hint of her).

While I am a mom and I dream of success as an author like Emma, and while I’d love to own a bookstore like Annie, I most closely identify with Kit. She is my birthday sister.  I don’t want to give away too much of the story but here are few interesting facts about Kit:

1)      She is a super talented singer and songwriter. In my dreams! Ha!

2)      After a long stint in LA trying to build a career in the music industry, filled with highs and lows, she’s back in NJ working as a Theatre Arts Professor. I would LOVE to be a Theatre Arts professor, and any one of my Ithaca College pals will recognize the campus and Theatre Arts building in the book! (And here’s to Ithaca, my Ithaca…you really have to imagine those words in song to fully understand this reference)

3)      Her man (Vince) is a Single Dad with a six year old. Honestly, when I started Return to Audubon Springs I only intended to write one book, and then I was only going to write two books, but hints of trouble in Vince’s marriage kept popping up. They are subtle, but by the time I finished Secondhand Romance, I knew Vince hadn’t found true love like his brothers. I wanted it for him. As it just so happens, my hubs was a Single Dad with a six year old when I met him.

4)      The house brings Emma and Rafe together, the letters bring Annie and Tony together, MUSIC brings Kit and Vince together. Anyone who knows me well knows that music lives and breathes inside me.

That is all I’m going to share of Kit at this point. I could go on about her traits that I don’t have in common with her like her desire to belong (okay, maybe I do share that one), the fact that Kit isn’t even her real name, her feelings of being pushed aside as a child, and her efforts to mend nearly irreparable relationships with her family, but I think that is enough for now. You get the idea. A new girl is coming to Audubon Springs soon, and she just happens to be my book sister! 🙂

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Posted in Music, The Brothers of Audubon Springs, Theatre, Writing | Tagged , , | 10 Comments