FINALLY – I get to continuing writing my How To Manage Fibromyalgia Like A Superhero Rockstar book! Yeeessss!!

FINALLY – I get to continuing writing my How To Manage Fibromyalgia Like A Superhero Rockstar book! Yeeessss!! After a succession of rather frustrating challenges, one may have easily given up on the uphill fight to get back on track, but not me! I was made officially redundant from my full-time day job on September 21st, but stayed on part-time to trial my replacement part-time position for 4 weekends, then on the 15th of October, it was the end!! Of that life anyway. 2 days later, 10 of my websites were hacked and you can read the rest of my challenges in my last post https://quirkybooks.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/you-have-the-power-within-you-motivational-inspirational-poem-by-sandra-bellamy-livestream/ Finally, after creating another asexual Facebook group to help those on the Grey Asexual/Demisexual end of the asexual spectrum to date others like them, after blogging to 3 blogs, vlogging, answering messages, publishing a newsletter, making sure content is prepared for my posts and pages – I can at last get back to the true love of my life (other than my guinea pigs), of writing, and boy is my soul feeling so much better and energised because of it! I really want to make my dream come true of writing full-time – but I also think the lord/destiny/creative intuition has even bigger plans for me in 2018! Testing me to my limits – bring it on!!

So this week I get to give my Christmas gift to myself, in the lead up to Christmas day, I get to finish writing my Fibromyalgia book called: “How To Manage Fibromyalgia Like A Superhero Rockstar – Fibro Girl To The Rescue.” “How to increase your energy and decrease your Fibromyalgia pain.” And it feels fantastic. It is great to have left a book since October and be able to re-read the whole thing with fresh eyes and add more relevant content to it! I have to say, reading the beginning part I was completely swept up in the fast pace of it, I thought, ‘this is a good book and I wrote this – wow!’ I impress myself sometimes by what I come out with in my Quirky Books, I think, ‘how do I know such stuff, how do I know what to write?’ It just comes naturally from knowledge and experience, and this book has been predominantly written from my mind to my Mac, which is a very difficult skill to learn and master, as the number one problem with writer’s block is staring at a blank screen – you shouldn’t do it! But, this is how I have been able to push myself this time around! I love challenging my beliefs and limits! I started on paper – which was key to getting on with it! So I did not just stare at a blank screen for the first pages of the book! But often I will flesh out the whole book on paper first – I will usually write something for every chapter heading, but this time I didn’t, I created some of the headings as I went along! So now you know what you should do, and what you shouldn’t do, in the rule of writing a non-fiction book to give you the best chance of completing it! With that in mind, I am going to get on with my book, time is of the essence and momentum is high right now, so I need to act on it fast, and with care about my writing!

What gift are you giving yourself this Christmas??

Happy Christmas! Love you, stay quirky and write soon xx

Quirky Books Asexual Perspectives Print Book Proofs Arrived – Asexual Author’s Dream Come True!

 

Finally, 18 months later, my Asexual Perspectives book is written and published in print!! A Quirky Books Asexual Author and writer’s dream come true! Best feeling in the world!

 

Asexual Perspectives book proofs arrive and I am super excited

 

Asexual Perspectives book proofs are in this box, can’t wait to open it!

Despite the fact I have been off work with a nasty virus, and on Monday Chestnut had to have an unexpected minor eye op that she had to have a quick dose of anaesthetic for; I got a wonderful expected surprise on Wed, 28th of June, when my first ever Quirky Books print version of my Asexual Perspectives book proofs arrived. Yes, after over 6 Years, Quirky Books is an official imprint, so not only is it the first time my writing has ever been in print format, it is the first of my actual own book publishing company printed books. This deserves 3 cheers, hip, hip, hooray, hip, hip, hooray, hip, hip, hooray! I figure if you can’t cheer yourself on in life, why should anyone else bother to!
To hold my book in my hands felt wonderful to say the least. And one huge benefit of being a publishing imprint and having a book in print, is I have to send a copy of my book to the British Library by law and up to 5 other libraries if they request it! This means there will always be a record of the invaluable information contained within this book for generations to come and it becomes part of our English heritage, and with my huge mission of getting Asexuality recognised as a sexual orientation in its own right throughout the globe so that no asexual has to live in fear of ridicule ever again, this means so very much. I know this information will live on, long after I have gone, and this is the most incredibly powerful feeling that no other profession can give me; the power of the written word to change lives, and make a lasting impression on those lives already in existence!

Remember, if you are rejected by traditional publishers, or you just want to take ultimate control of your writing and publishing, just create your own destiny and get into self-publishing, it’s not for the faint-hearted but the life long rewards of changing lives through the written word, will be worth it. Xx
To celebrate the print version of my Asexual Perspectives book going live to buy around the globe next month, I have founded Asexual Perspectives Awareness Month from 1st-31st July 2017, a whole month of celebrating our Asexuality all across the spectrum and our individuality within it, which is a core central message of the book! If you want to get involved like http://www.facebook.com/acexualise one of my pages for Asexuals on Facebook. Also subscribe to http://www.youtube.com/c/asexualisemyasexuallife to see a brand new video every day, related to a topic in the book, for 31 consecutive days. There will be Facebook challenges, Facebook Lives, quotes from the book. It’s going to be ace. Use #APAM in your Tweets and when sharing across social media, and don’t forget to check out Asexual Perspectives on Amazon.

Until next time, write soon and stay quirky

Sandra xx Aka Quirky Books and Asexualise (3 names in 1, can’t be bad, like 3 for the price of 1 – priceless! Ha! I am in a happy, funny mood, despite not being in tip top physical health).

SaveSave

Asexual Perspectives Print Edition – More Book for Your Buck!

After having problems with the typesetting of my Asexual Perspectives book, and not being able to edit the work of the original typesetter because he had used a programme called Latex, which you need to know how to code to use it; and being left with a PDF that was unpublishable due to the incorrect Prologue being in the book (it was omitted when it shouldn’t have been; and the wrong one added back in), and the TOC numbered incorrectly in two places and faulty source files with incorrect gaps throughout – after a few tearing out my hair sessions, I finally found a free PDF to word converter, here it is if you should need to use it https://smallpdf.com/pdf-to-word so I could work on editing a previous version, without the gaps and correcting the mistakes, including a few grammar and spelling errors on my part too.

After painstaking months of working with the typesetter since January, and another 3 nights last week, working on all the issues, I am relieved that I could finally print this final 560 page book proof, before ordering a copy to check from Amazon, and then hitting the publish button to the world. It must have been edited well over 15 times, considering all the editing I did prior to the typesetting, and it has gone through a final proof read and edit these past two days, and I am doing the typing up of those as we speak. I love writing but all the book formatting stuff is tough!! I want to get back to my soul love of writing – yes, I said soul – because without writing in my life, my soul feels like it has a part of it missing. But I am also going to start doing online training courses too.

I have not tried Facebook Ads before, but I am going to with this book, when I have a copy in my hands and it is published. If you are a writer, have you ever tried Facebook Ads before? I did a high level marketing course last year, so going to use what I learnt in that for the AD. I feel a lot more confident doing this, as I am also a registered publisher under Quirky Books!

Making a full-time living out of writing, is my dream, and I really want to write more books for asexuals, as this is my huge specialist niche, so please wish me luck and a lot of sales with the AD!! With 560 pages of insights into asexuality and how asexuals survive in a sexualised world; and busting through many asexual myths and stereotypes about love, live and sex, including arousal and masturbation, it will be an intriguing read for both asexuals and non-asexuals alike!! It is told in the voices of 46 different asexuals around the globe and my own, and took me almost a year to interview for it and write it, so the readers are getting more book for their buck!! And an educational, humorous, journey too!!

As always, stay quirky and write soon.

Sandra xx

(This Asexual Perspectives book can be bought here http://amzn.to/2GTsi9Y )

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

What is the number one mistake writers make?

What is the number one mistake writers make? To quote entrepreneur Brendon Burchard’s phrase, common sense is not always common practice. Watch this short video to discover more! Don’t forget to subscribe!

5 THINGS I LEARNT FROM AMAZON KINDLE PUBLISHING KDP!

5 THINGS I LEARNT FROM AMAZON KINDLE PUBLISHING KDP!

For those of you who don’t already know, I am a self-published Author with Amazon Kindle (KDP), and currently have two books published on there and working on a third, fourth and more!! I love writing, it is my huge passion and I want to help other writer’s to be able to get their books out there to buy too. If you are newer to Kindle publishing than me, please check out this video about the 5 things I have learnt from Kindle publishing, I hope it helps you. Be sure to check out my books on Amazon. Amazon.com – http://amzn.to/295DGBd  Amazon.co.uk http://amzn.to/2937YHc  AND DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL.

My www.youtube.com/quirkybooksTV Mission:
Mixing pleasure and personal, with business and professional, my mission is to empower you to break through your barriers, and embrace your authentic quirky self, in your life and business, to live a happy, successful and fulfilling existence. To live the life of your dreams, that only you were born to lead.

It’s commonplace in today’s society, that people feel pressurised to fit in and to be ‘normal’, but why would you want to be normal? When you were born to be the gorgeous individual that only you were meant to be. Defy normal, embrace your quirky, throw away the rule book and create your own!

Videos are a mix of entertaining, educational, informative, and inspirational.

I hope you found this video helpful.

I am now doing overtime in my day job every promotional period to pay for Snow’s operations 3 times a year, every year, and every two monthly check-ups (with taxi there and back!). The insurance company have said because teeth are involved, even though it’s her tongue that is attached to her cheeks that is causing the problem, they will only pay for up to a maximum of half this year and may exclude it completely from her policy when it is up for renewal in January next year. I will do anything to keep my beautiful baby alive and as well as possible. It is taking some adjusting to, but everything happens for a reason. I have almost finished my first week of a batch of 5 weeks, working 6 days in a row.  My www.quirkycoaching.co.uk site is now fully updated too.

Until next time, stay quirky and keep being you. Write soon.

Sandra

Celebrating Amazon UK Promoting My Book For Me

This is a Writer’s/Author’s Dream come true. Today I am celebrating the fact that Amazon UK is promoting my book for me, not only in its third email to me, but also in the subject line and it’s top of its list. Thank you Amazon UK. http://amzn.to/1U4yP0q

I have learnt a lot about Kindle publishing since publishing my Break through The Barriers Of Redundancy book and had a strategy for what I was doing this time and it is really paying off. I write not just for sales, but because I love writing. I have kept this book low price because I want as many people as possible to benefit from it and get my name out into the world more as a Writer. I couldn’t be more happy. Sure, I barely get anything from this book after Amazon take about 65-70% of it, but this book is not about that for me. This book is the path to my future and proof that you can earn money from Kindle books and doing what you love – it’s now my job to get better and better at it! And you know I will, because it is my destiny to help others through the written and spoken word. Whenever you have a down moment, remember a big up will come along soon. Keep going and keep doing what you love, always.

Stay quirky and write soon

Sandra xx

 

Are you a do whatever it takes kind of person?

Hi everyone

I am so excited. I have booked the train/bus replacement to go to Bristol for Valentines Day tomorrow. I am celebrating being single.

I am going to the aquarium, then for a Thai meal. After that I will watch Robocop at the cinema and hopefully have another Thai meal before going home.

Some people would be put off by the fact that it’s a split journey due to using a bus as a rail replacement service, but I am a do whatever it takes kind of girl.

Once I have set my mind on doing something, that is it, I do it.

It is this attitude that is essential to a career in writing. You need to believe that no matter what, you will succeed. That whatever it takes, you will learn the skills neccessary to become a published Author and to live the writing life of your dreams.

When I first started to blog, I struggled with the technical side of things but I never gave up. I was persistent and consistent in learning what I needed to, despite being frustrated. Over three years later, I now teach people how to start a WordPress.com blog.

I spent months trying to build a website using templates, with many hours of wanting to scream or cry because I couldn’t get it to look right. Now I have three websites that I have created and that have had good feedback. They may not be perfect but I am proud to have created every part of them.

I was reluctant to use Facebook, partly due to a fear of safety. For my writing and redundancy help, I needed to have two Facebook business pages, and that meant having to have my own personal Facebook page. I took the plunge and created all three, despite not being comfortable with it. Now I usually use Facebook several times a day.

I believe that to a certain extent, we create our own destiny. I will do whatever it takes to better myself in order be able to write more and to help others, which is what I was born to do.

What were you born to do and will you do whatever it takes to achieve it?

Write soon
Sandra

Do you see the light?

Hi everyone

It can be very easy to slip into a negative state of mind, when everything seems to be going wrong or not as planned. As one thing builds on top of another, it is extremely important to still see the light.

One of my mottos is – Through the downs comes the ups – So if I am experiencing a lot of downs, it must mean there is a ton of ups coming my way.

I didn’t always used to think so positively, in fact, I used to be very negative and in a depressive state, but when I was made redundant for the second time in my career, in 2009, my life began to change for the better.

It’s been a while since my last blog post. To give you a quick update, after being off sick from my day job for 4 weeks, I went back to work and got an upper respiratory infection and had to be off another week. I went back to work part-time last week and today is my first day working full-time. If I am off sick for a third time this year, before the 5th of December, I am due to be investigated and possibly have a first written warning. I don’t feel that this would be fair, as I have doctor’s notes and was taken to hospital by ambulance whilst in a work meeting, for my first illness. Nevertheless, that’s the situation.

I am still self-employed and so long as I do that, I will always be in work, but I currently do need my day job to pay the bills.

After my illustrator moved the book completion deadline from Monday 20th to Wednesday 22nd, and I started back to work on the Tuesday 21st, I had to work throughout the night on Tuesday, to get my book finished for Wednesday morning.

Although in theory I did finish the book and the cover is now complete, I am still working on the index and book content. Whilst the number of pages has to remain the same, I am adding some text and cutting some out to make improvements to it, before uploading it to Amazon. It needs to be the best it can be.

I start teaching again next week, on one of my days off from my day job, and yesterday I had to attend a tutor meeting.

Yesterday, I also got my four furry babies back from their long vacation at my parents. Daisy has recovered well after major surgery to remove a lump that turned out to be a hair follicle cyst that had got badly infected.

At the moment I teach on a self-employed basis but I have recently been offered a contract with the NHS to go on their staff bank, with a new job title and 69p per hour pay rise. I don’t work many hours for them but I still think it’s fantastic. I have to have an informal interview with them before becoming staff. That I can hopefully do soon because I am feeling better than I was. I have had to stop taking one of my tablets because it was giving me bad side effects and even working part-time last week, was a struggle towards the end of the week.

My Grandma was very poorly with an infection before her birthday but is off anti-biotics and thankfully seems to have improved.

I got upset when I visited her and she said to me, “I want you to hold my hand until my name is called.”

Me and my Grandma have a special bond, I can usually understand her when no one else can and when anything does happen to her, I will be devastated. We just ‘get’ each other. Whilst some others, just don’t.

I have faith that there is light at the end of this down tunnel and that I still have lots to look forward to in 2014. The teaching contract is a great achievement for me, as I got a teacher/trainer PTTLS Level 4 qualification in 2012, but I couldn’t get a teaching job back then because I didn’t have enough experience. Consequently, I went back into retail for a 16th year. Ironically, since working in retail, I now have a teching job.

I want to thank you for your patience, time and understanding whilst I finish my Break through the barriers of redundancy book.

I know I haven’t visited many of your blogs recently or left many comments and I thank you for your loyalty and support whilst I finish my book. I have people waiting for it to be published so they can buy it. Therefore, I do need to take more time out to do just that.

I hope if you are experiencing a lot of downs, that you too, can see the light.

Write as soon as I am able to
Sandra

Hold On to Your Shorts!

Hi Everyone

I am pleased to announce that today I have the writer and published author Jennifer Owenby as my guest blogger.

Jennifer lives in the northwest of the united states on the pacific ocean with her husband and children. She is a published author of short stories, a freelance writer, and some days will attempt a novel.

“One thing I’ve learned, is that the craft of writing is an ongoing project. If I’d realised that when I started, I wonder if I would have continued. Now, I can’t stop. It’s as much a part of who I am as the air I breathe.”

As Jennifer is a short story expert, I thought it would be fantastic to find out more about the appeal of short story writing and this is what she had to say…..

Hold on To Your Shorts!

I love writing and the more I do it, the more I love it. Like many others, it’s a part of who I am.

Any form of writing is great practice but I feel the value of working on short stories is often overlooked. Here are three great reasons to write and hold on to your shorts.

1. They are a great tool for working on “problem spots.
2. They force you to tighten up your words
3. You can publish them in between novels

I attended a short fiction class and during that time students wrote a new short story. After completion, the instructor worked one on one with us.  Together, we looked at the story in sections, fixed problem areas and discussed why the changes were made. Working on a smaller story and understanding how to fix the issues, then allowed me to apply that knowledge to my novel. I learned faster dealing with a smaller story. It was easier to identify, understand and correct the problems, rather than be overwhelmed by a novel sized story.

Another reason to write short stories is it teaches you to choose your words carefully. It forces the writer to think about each word, especially if there’s a word limit. This helps to eliminate wordy sentences and is a great way to practice throwing out adverbs and replace them with action verbs.

Have you noticed that authors who have published books through traditional publishing companies and self published authors are creating short stories and novellas in-between books?  This allows the author to pull in additional readers between projects and gives fans new material to read. These shorts are either separate stories that involve a character’s back story, or some other link to their published novels. This also allows the author’s name to remain on the book list instead of fading into the back ground.

There are several great books on writing short stories including, “Let’s Write a Short Story” by Joe Bunting and “Schaum’s Quick Guide to Writing Great Short Stories” by Margaret Lucke, but if you have a good outline and understand the mechanics, as long as you are writing, you are only going to get better. So, hold on to your shorts and thanks for stopping by!

A huge thanks to Jennifer for this insightful post. I have to say that I don’t think I will ever look at short story writing in the same way again.

Jennifer can be contacted on jenowenby@live.com

Her most recent magazine publication is:

“The Long Road Home” short story for Chinook 2012 literary magazine in print and online: http://www.ojc.edu/chinook/Chinook_2012.pdf

Jennifer owns ONB Freelance Services, specialising in writing articles and online content for businesses and entertainment. Her experience includes the publication of several short stories in print, as well as contracted freelance work. Jennifer states, she offers low rates for content, articles, set up and maintenance of blogs.

Her online portfolio can be viewed by clicking any of the links below:

www.jenowenby@wordpress.com

www.mockcresttavern.com

www.greeleyavenue.wordpress.com

Until next time, remember to write soon

Sandra

quirkybooks.net – New website coming soon

Hi Everyone

My apologies if I have not been blogging or commenting as much lately but I have some amazing news to share with you. Not only have I been having some time off from work to celebrate my birthday week but I have also commenced work on changing http://www.quirkybooks.net into a much more impressive author website which will incorporate an e-Book store in the near future. All books on this site will be my own written work. Book cover illustrations will be from a variety of sources including new illustrators.

This is an exciting time for both me and quirkybooks.

If you search for my website at the moment, you will see that it is currently under construction whilst I spend the next weeks adding content to my site. By June or July I hope to have my first e-Book available to buy on this site. I intend to self publish on Amazon too.

As always, I like to do things the quirky way, so rather than having books galore to start with, you will see books gradually appearing over time.

For my Birthday day, I visited the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth and I hope to upload some photos I took there soon.

I have a lot of blog award posts to catch up with and I am very grateful for each and every one. Please bear with me, I will get around to officially thanking you and accepting them, although I may not be able to devote the time to contact all nominees individually due to my website preparation and new future work commitments.

Something magical is starting and I am thrilled to have you along for the journey. Thank you my friends.

Write soon

Sandra