Back To School Go I…Why?

Because.

I’m in school again. I’m going to WanaCon this weekend (5am Webinar this morning about Twitter. OMG…but Marcy Kennedy made it worth while!), I’m taking the two month author platform course by Kristen Lamb (she calls it a blogging course but it’s much, much more than that), I’m taking a class tomorrow IRL about – oh too funny, I had to look it up – but it’s called Understanding Comedy – The Rules. Plus I’m probably going to sign up for Marcy Kennedy’s month long Twitter course, which is in March.

Can You Say Busy??

Let’s stop a minute and smell the roses, shall we?

In spite of the busy-ness, this all feels good. It feels positive. The last time I took so many classes in such a concentrated time was about six months before I sold my first novel; so I’m loving this groove right now.

I’m also really loving the Age of Social Media, mainly because it opens up so many opportunities to me for classes taught by amazing people that I’d otherwise never get to meet due to costs/time constraints/location issues. (I don’t understand people who don’t take web classes. Seriously. They are SO missing out!)

It allows me to meet people like Rhenna Morgan, who lives in Oklahoma and is also a paranormal and contemporary romance writer. I can get caught up with family and friends through Facebook, and ooh and ahh about the Royal Wedding on Twitter (okay, so I’ve been MIA on Twitter lately. I’m working on it.).

The Downside…

Unlike the Dark Side though, the downside of social media has no cookies. But it does have a LOT of noise. When I got home yesterday from the Day Job, I had a Skype interview with a fabulous author, and then a WANACon social webinar gathering. After two hours of that, I shut down and did not look at email.

Big. Mistake.

When I finally went online this morning to get my email, I had 236 unread emails waiting for me in my inbox. Which is a warning flag to me, especially because as I went through them, I deleted most of them unread. That tells me I’m subscribed to too many things and I’m on too many lists. The unimportant things are drowning out the important ones, and I need to spend some time fixing that. Again.

Kind of like getting your teeth cleaned twice a year, I guess. Twice a year I need to thresh through my email and social media lists and part ways with those that don’t nurture me. Let me say that again, but in a different way.

Keep only those email and social media lists that Nurture your Fabulous Self.

What about you?

How do you keep your social media in check, so you aren’t overwhelmed and truly enjoy your experience? Because if we aren’t enjoying the experience, we probably shouldn’t be doing it. Right?

I’d love to hear from you! Oh, and here. Have a cookie.

Okay, so they are unfrosted Christmas cookies. They’re still cookies! Have a snowman and leave a comment, lol!

~oOo~

Demon Soul and Demon Hunt are both available for both the Kindle and Kobo! Have you fallen into the Caine Brothers’ world yet?

Return to Laughter by Jameson Parker

by Christine | Reviews, Writing

Jameson Parker. I swiped this photo from his website, which is why there’s a big BIO across the front of it. Sorry, JP!

Jameson Parker

I found Jameson Parker to be intelligent, charismatic, and possessing a wickedly dry sense of humor. He is a forthright man and boy, does he know his way around words!

I read his book An Accidental Cowboy back in December. A memoir told in chunks of chopped up time, his experiences, the way he writes, just dug its hooks into me and after reading it I felt like I knew him. I knew we were friends, and there were all these things I could say to him that he’d get, because I knew him. Which to me is amazing, since I read a lot – and I’ve never had that connection to the writer like that before this book. Plus, I’d never met the man, so it felt kinda really weird, that connection to his words.

Of course, when I did get a chance to meet him not that long ago, I kept my mouth shut because JP is a very private person. And his beautiful wife would have decked me had I been inappropriate. Which I also knew, from reading An Accidental Cowboy. Yes, you should pick up that book!

And for those of you who are thinking, wasn’t Jameson Parker an actor? Yes, he was. For 30 years. He played opposite Gerald McRaney on Simon & Simon for 8 years. (He’s not that other Parker, so put that out of your mind right now.)

But this post isn’t about that.

Jameson Parker has a new book out that I can’t wait to get my hands on, and that I had to share with you. It’s called Return to Laughter, and it’s – well, here’s the blurb for you.

Return to Laughter is an insider’s account of the rise and fall and bittersweet redemption of a wild and wildly ambitious young star. Young Rocky Stone rebels against the stuffy and circumscribed world of his upbringing and climbs up the acting ladder to the top of the most glamorous profession there is, a world of wealth, fame, and privilege, as well as sex, drugs, and self-destruction. The birth of a child stops Rocky Stone’s downward spiral, but Hollywood is also a world where cheating and embezzlement are ways of life, and lives are considered disposable. When real disaster strikes, can a little girl save him?

Perhaps a novel, perhaps a roman à clef, perhaps a biography, Return to Laughter weaves reality and fiction together to paint a portrait of Hollywood that is as true today as it has always been, a transient place of youth and beauty and adoration and the shadow of something evil.

So – it’s a little bit tell-all, a little bit biography – with a heaping helping of fictionalized reality is my guess. Can you see why I’m interested in reading this book? Just as soon as I’m done reading my “homework” novels…

Jameson’s Author Page on Amazon: Go HERE.

Jameson’s Website: http://www.readjamesonparker.com

Do me a favor, please?

Click on the links to his books (above or below) and then click “like” on those books on Amazon. I love this man’s writings, I treasure the time I spent with him in his kitchen drinking coffee, and the only way I know how to repay him for that time is to share him and his novels with you. And, in a way, share you with him. He doesn’t have a writing support fellowship like I do; so I’d really, really appreciate it if you’d help him out.

I believe in the power of social media, and in the generosity of writers. I’d like you, my friends, to help me turn Jameson Parker into a believer, too. If I’m very lucky, I’ll have him on the blog some day with an interview. We shall see! In the meantime, let’s get those “likes” to above 100, shall we? Pass it on to your friends!

One commenter will receive an ecopy of either Return to Laughter or An Accidental Cowboy from me. Just make sure you let me know what number you are in the comments when you “like” either Return to Laughter or An Accidental Cowboy – if you “like” both, you’ll get entered twice in the drawing (I am VERY proud to say that I was the first “like” – Number 1 – for both those books!), and make sure you leave your email in the comments so I can gift you a copy from Amazon. This giveaway will end at midnight on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2013.

So – when was the last time you felt you knew the author, just by reading their words? I’d love to know!

~ Until the next time, cheers! ~