The Inspired Blog

Hello, darlings! It is I, Grace! I have returned to you. My sincerest apology about my severely neglected blog. I had my first child recently and it has absolutely been an adjustment. An awesome and exhausting one! In any case, I somewhat despise blogs. Why, you may ask? Because they are the tweets of the writing world and it takes too much time to put out anything of substance. Besides, I feel as though any extra time I have should be devoted to my current book projects. The result? A blog about disliking blogs. Never fear, though! I still see the value of blogging. Indeed, I have sought the blogs of fellow writer Moms to discover how they do it. (Pretty much zero free time.) And there we are. Never-the-less, I shall continue to submit. Blogging is a nice way to keep in touch between projects. Now it is 3:30 in the morning and I should really sleep before my little guy wakes up. Happy Reading!

Can you simply not escape the stress? Dear readers, you are not alone. Let me just say that I have been there! In fact, I had a few rather unpleasant near-death experiences (long story) that left me with crippling panic attacks for years. The only way I survived was by learning how to manage stress and anxiety. Especially in public. Anyone who has ever had a panic attack knows how embarrassing it is to meltdown in public. There were quite a few occasions at school or work when I would duck into a public restroom- my face a veneer of forced calm- only to lock myself in a stall and start hyperventilating in earnest. I'm happy to say that this no longer happens to me and I am in a much healthier place. And I'm in a better place without any medication. I did a lot of research and these are some tips that helped me survive the hard years. Deep Breaths Yeah, I know. What a load of crap, right? Don't exit the screen just yet. When you are in the midst of a panic attack...

Dear Readers, I don't know about the rest of you out there in the void of Internet obscurity, but I find myself generally discouraged sometimes with my writing. Don't get me wrong! I love it, I breathe it, and I can't get along without it. The problem- I think- is that I sometimes forget this. When I'm all worked up about submission guidelines or marketing or editing, I tend to feel less inspired and more stressed out. I'm sure I'm not the only one. The result of this stress is a certain lack of creativity. I often experience writer's block when I'm in "that place." I call it being too much in my head. Obsessing over the details only causes me to forget what is actually important. What is that? Why, the story of course. The story... and the writing. Writing is definitely a skill we have to hone. I'm a student in this area and feel that I always will be, but I still share what I have learned with other students. Sometimes I feel ...

And So Fall Begins! I must say that I absolutely love this time of year. After a long and harrowing summer, the approach of fall never fails to refresh me. Anyone who has ever lived in the south knows how draining those 113 heat index days are. Especially when coupled with our kind of humidity. So some cooler weather is most welcome. Besides, I'm fond of the flowers this time of year. I hope you all have something amazing planned for Halloween! As for me, I suppose sitting by candlelight whilst reading Poe would be the appropriate thing for a writer to say. But that would leave me feeling a tad pretentious. So I'm going to have a horror movie marathon with my husband and stuff my face with junk food, instead. Introverts unite! Also, gotta LOVE Halloween snacks.  As to what I'm doing as a writer, I've been tapping away on my next book. It's the first of a science fiction trilogy and I'm really quite excited. My next romance is on hold as I...

Do you have more than one book bouncing around in your head? What methods do you use to organize the mess? Have you never published that manuscript you started? As a writer, sometimes my method seems closer to madness. I have at least seven books planned and I've only completed two so far. We all know that a book doesn't get finished unless you buckle down and make it happen. You have to find hours upon hours for writing and editing. What if you work?  What if you're  married? What if you have kids? These are all things to consider. When I was in college, I was also working and trying to complete my books. Needless to say, I often could not find the time to finish what I had started. What did I learn? One Thing At A Time Pick a book and stick with it until the end. If you are working on more than one series, then you can finish one series before completing the next. You could also finish a book from Series A, and then finish a book from Series B. Don't boun...

Okay, yeah. I know. I'm not the final word on those dwelling in the land of writingdom. I don't speak for all writers, but here are some things I find myself thinking. "Why can't I just focus ?" Everyday life is boring. My inner world is much more interesting to me than what is actually happening. Sometimes, I get so caught up by an idea that I miss the entire conversation someone is trying to have with me. I've come to the conclusion that I have developed a rather convincing autopilot. Half the time when a conversation is over, I don't remember anything about it. Even while at a respectable full-time job, I was always surreptitiously jotting down ideas on the closest scrap of paper. "Unfocused" is an understatement for me.  "Why couldn't I love something else?" I spend hours... HOURS of my life working on my books. Getting the story out of my head and onto something tangible is only step one. Next comes editing and revi...

Hidden In A Hawaiian Sunset by G. J. Brown is now half price on Kindle! Available at $2.99 for a limited time only! Click  here  to have a look! Description: Malia Kenway was born with the world at her feet. Raised on an island called Moku Nani, she lacked companionship until she met Nathan Arthur Scott. They grew up together in the beauty of Hawaii, but were separated when he left for a university in London. When he returns eight years later, he is a completely different person. As if on cue, Malia's parents are in a horrific car accident. Then the family lawyer tries to blackmail her in a scheme to steal her father's wealth. A man called Mr. M orchestrates this chaos from the shadows and Malia comes to suspect that Nathan is more involved than she would ever want to believe.                                 Nathan Arthur Scott was a penniless orphan when he met Malia Kenway. Raised by a...