VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Cheryl Malandrinos is a freelance writer and editor from Western Massachusetts . A regular contributor to Writer2Writer, her articles focus on increasing productivity through time management and organization. A founding member of Musing Our Children , Ms. Malandrinos is also the Editor-in-Chief of the group's quarterly newsletter, Pages & Pens . Cheryl is a Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion , a book reviewer, and blogger. Guardian Angel Publishing will release her first children’s book, The Little Shepherd Boy, in 2010. VS: Cheryl, I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. I know being a parent and writer can be hard and I find myself asking if I am giving my three children enough attention throughout the day. I am sure you have been in my shoes from time to time. So to start here is the first question, how many children do you have and what are their ages? Cheryl: Thanks for having me at The Writing Mama, Virginia. I’m thril...

If you're involved in any type of article writing online or off you have undoubtedly encountered various episodes of writers block. Ugh! You know the feeling. Your thought process comes to a screeching halt. It almost seems like a form of 'mental quicksand' the harder you try to produce an intelligent verse the harder it gets. Well what can we do 'pre-empt' these periodic attacks on our writing skills? Let's examine some of the common reasons we all suffer from these disruptions in our article writing efforts. • Coming up empty when trying to compose the opening line. • The inability to maintain concentration • Not doing your 'homework' when preparing to write an article. You will find that this is usually the core of the problem. • Spending too much time 'getting ready to get ready'! Our own over analysis clearly indicates doubt. This doubt or fear is normal assuming you don't want your writing skills or content to b...

Today's writing prompt is short, but fun. I would love to see what poems you came up with. I'm not much of a poet so I won't even try this one. Choose a poem you like. Take the last line and use that as the first line of your own poem. ( http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/# )

I hit this week hard to lose that extra pound I put on last week. Funny thing is, I totally forgot to weigh myself to see the results at my mom’s. I know why don’t I have a scale at home . . . because I would get on the darn thing everyday and just get depressed watching my weight take off like a rollercoaster ride. Anyway, I know I have lost some weight because I can feel it in my waistband. But as soon as I know where I’m weighing in, I’ll update this post. Actual weight on June 14, 2010 unknown Goal weight by December 31, 2010 130 Instead of me listing everything I have done throughout the week to help lose weight, I am going to post a link to a site I have been using to log my activity level and food each day. The site is totally FREE! You can join me on FitDay.com . Having a log helps you stay on track and really lets you see where you need to make improvements or adjustments to help shed those unwanted pounds. Here’s the lin...

Frances Pauli was born and raised in Washington State . She grew up with a love of reading and storytelling, and was introduced to Science Fiction and Fantasy at an early age through the books kept and read by her father. Though she always held aspirations to be a writer, she chose to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in visual arts. The stories, however, had other plans for her. By the time she entered her thirties, they were no longer content existing solely in her head. Compelled to free them, she set aside her easel and began to write in earnest. Her original love of Speculative fiction combined with her covert excursions into the Romance section led her into the realms of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, where she finds herself quite comfortable. Her fascination with Science Fiction and a growing passion for the NASA channel divert her happily into tales of the far future, alternate dimensions, and the wonders of space, usually with at least a touch of romance. Frances current...

Today I went for a mile walk around my neighborhood with my son and dog, Taz. We were doing well until Taz decided he could not walk anymore and started chewing at his leash. At first I did what any dog owner would do . . . I chocked up the leash and started encouraging Taz to keep walking. At about the half way point, Taz sat down and refused to take another step. Now, I could have done what most dog trainers tell you to do . . . pull the dog along and make him walk. But I didn’t. I went right into mother hen mode. I picked up my dog and began to carry him the remaining half mile to our house. After I got home, I sat down at my computer and posted about our walk on Facebook. Then I turned to my WIPs. The ones I have been working on for a little over a year now. Then it hit me. I am treating my WIPs like my dog! Okay, so you are wondering how in the world are my WIPs like my dog. Well, they both give me comfort, but that’s not what I’m talking about. No, what I am talking about is ho...

Often times just getting started is the hardest part of any project due to a lack of motivation. This frustrating mental barrier is a very real obstacle that confronts each and every one of us from time to time. Developing certain habits to restore and maintain your motivation in order to start and complete any given task is the basis of today's article. Here are 5 tips to that will help you get motivated and maintain your drive regardless of what your goals may be. Plan Your Work It is important that you organize your efforts in a way that makes sense and proves most effective towards reaching your goals. Set up a schedule of when you intend to work on a particular project and how much time you intend to devote to it. Be realistic with your goals, the amount of time you'll need and when that time will be available to you. If the project is important, enough you'll want to consider scheduling the best time of day when you are at your best and most productive. Fo...

Have you ever had one of those days, weeks, and/or months where the phone keeps ringing, the kids want you to play Candyland a million times, family and/or friends keep popping over, and you have a bunch of emails to read? Do you ever feel like you should just give up? Put your WIP aside and your goals and just say, “Forget about writing”? This has been my life since summer started at the end of May. I guess because it is summer everyone thinks I have nothing to do. Or maybe because I stay home as a mom and writer, they think it means I have all the time in the world to get the things done. I wish it were like that. I wish I could just do what I want when I want. The problem is when I want to write . . . the kids need me. When I want to update my websites . . . I have earns to run and they always seem to take longer to do when a deadline is staring me in the face, too. I wish I could say I have my nights to get all my writing done, but with a husband, who works the swing shift (3pm ...

Fairy tales have happy endings. All of us know what happened in that mushy fairy tale, Cinderella. Yeah, it is romantic, the prince actually finding Cinderella. They lived happily ever after. But happy endings can sometimes be, well . . . boring. No zing. So predictable. So …happy. What if the shoe fit one of the sisters? What happens then? Play with your imagination here. Be funny if you like. Or serious if you feel like it. Or be an Alfred Hitchcock. Whatever you are into, write your ending to the Cinderella story – but this time, make it so that the shoe fits one of the icky sisters or some other twist. What does Prince Charming do? How does Cinderella cope with it? And what about the Fairy Godmother? Start your story here . . . (Post no more than 800 words) (this comes from CreativeWritingPrompts.com )

Oh No! I gained a pound back this last week instead of losing. It happens. Don’t let gaining a bit here and there back get you down. I put on a pound this last week, but that does not mean the end of the world. This last week I had a lot of family get togethers and of course, I wasn’t the best about what I ate, however, it just means I need to be better this week. Actual weight on June 7, 2010 189 Goal weight by December 31, 2010 130 Went up 1 pound from last week. Instead of me listing everything I have done throughout the week to help lose weight, I am going to post a link to a site I have been using to log my activity level and food each day. The site is totally FREE! You can join me on FitDay.com. Having a log helps you stay on track and really lets you see where you need to make improvements or adjustments to help shed those unwanted pounds. Here’s the link to my overview http://www.fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?_a_User=VSGren...