{SQT} Activities, Books, And More Likes Please
1. Jumping right into some wintry Quick Takes, because Mother Nature doesn’t seem to know it’s April. (scavenging up some coppers with a few affiliate links too)
2. Fulton started baseball last week. Practices/ games are twice a week and are fun, low stress events. He really enjoys it, but would like bigger crowds to turn out. Also, he would like to play in a stadium. Fulton doesn’t know much about baseball, except when to hit the ball and run around the bases. When he’s confused about a play, or position, he often uses football terminology to explain what he means… which doesn’t really help at all. Like when as an outfielder he called himself the quarterback of the baseball team.
3. Last Saturday at a Mother Daughter retreat I gave a talk entitled ‘Making Time for God Amidst Motherhood: How to Live Out His Truth When There’s Laundry to be Done.’ I set my phone to vibrate, placed it on the podium, and set it to record the talk. However a few minutes in, someone tried calling me and, inadvertently, stopped the recording. I ignored the incessant buzzing to express something poignant with dramatic hand gestures and didn’t realize the recording stopped. Since I don’t have a recording to share, I was thinking of live streaming the talk on YouTube. How does next Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST sound? I will send a link out on social media and to my email subscribers that will take you directly to the live streaming page. After my 30 minute talk, I can respond to questions and comments from viewers. Later, the talk will be available on my YouTube channel and Speaking page. Let me know if this sounds like a good idea or one you would avoid like the plague. (If you need a speaker for your upcoming event, I have greater availability in my schedule now thanks to regular nursing care and would love to talk at your event! Please reach out to me through my Speaking page for details.)
4. On Wednesday, Tony took Byron to hear a John Williams concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was a much overdue birthday gift. Tony managed to pass on his love of movie soundtracks, especially those of Williams, to Byron, and so both were excited to hear the music live and watch Williams direct. I was asleep when they got home but the next morning Byron claimed the concert was the pinnacle of his existence thus far. He couldn’t believe he got to see John Williams in person. And even at such an upscale event, the crowd went nuts when, as a second encore, Williams led the orchestra in the Imperial March.
5. Addie is still fencing and is competing in a few local tournaments. After a difficult competition in March, she came back to win a silver this month. Now, Edie has caught the fencing bug and has started taking classes as well. Luckily, the fencing school offers a homeschool class during the day once a week, so the girls don’t need to practice together…yet. But the goal (for me) is to get them on the same schedule ASAP to save a trip. And although I’ve always said I don’t want my kids driving before 18 (because Tony and I [especially me] were awful teenage drivers) I’ve reached the point where I will be happy to send my children off on their own to their various activities.
6. There’s so many great books coming out! I just got ‘One Beautiful Dream’ in the mail yesterday, and I received Colleen Duggan’s book ‘Good Enough Is Good Enough’ this week as well. I’m expecting Rebecca Frech’s ‘Can We Be Friends?’ any day too! And although I’m not a huge childbirth person (despite undergoing it five times), I have to give a shout out to my friend Mary Haseltine and her book ‘Made for This; The Catholic Mother’s Guide to Birth’. I love her blog so I know it’s going to be a great book. Plus, friends from my parish have started publishing some great Catholic children’s books that I can’t wait to share with y’all! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for reviews and giveaways and whatever other related hooplah I can dream up!
7. Speaking of books, I started chatting with an editor about my own book. It’s nothing formal, no deals are signed or anything. I just realized I needed guidance, and some outside motivation, to help me write this book. And already, the advice has been invaluable in helping me clearly articulate what this book is actually about and what makes it worth reading for those who are not regular readers or special needs parents. But what I’ve also learned is that it takes more than a good writer with a good story to sell books any more, and, in so many words, I need to bump up my social media numbers and page views to make my book, and myself, more appealing to publishers. I wish I didn’t have to worry about such things. I spent lots of time through the years worrying about growing my blog and it just stressed me out and led to a lot of envy. I’d finally made peace with letting my numbers grow as they would while I focused on my book only to be told, no, you gotta work on getting more followers.
AWESOME! NO PROBLEM! I’M ON IT!!!
So anyway, I know from my survey that many of my regular readers do not follow me on social media, and are not members of my email list. If this is the case, would you please consider following me, or signing up for my email list to help improve the chances of my book getting published? Even if the publishing house this editor works for ultimately decides they’re not interested, a larger online presence will only help make me more appealing to another publisher.
I thought I would first just humbly ask for everyone’s clicks, follows, and likes before launching some blogging guru suggested massive social media campaign….or selling my soul. Thank you in advance.
- Email list – Signing up means you’ll get my newsletter and access to a free resource library of printables and templates.
Is it still winter where you live? I want to know (unless you live in Florida). Write it down and link it up below. Be sure to include a link back to this post so your readers can find the rest of the Quick Takes. I look forward to reading your posts!
I’m in California so it’s not winter like you are used to but we’ve had many more rainy days than usual and we still run the heater at night, which we’ve never done in past Aprils. However, it seems that the sun is back now. Hoping you get some warmth soon too! And, I’ll make sure I’m following all your social media options. 🙂
Wow! Congrats on writing a book, you are such a funny writer! Also, We don’t have snow but it is cooooold here! I’m over it!
SO MANY good books coming out!! Exciting! I will even sign up for your email list, even though I avoid those like the plague ?
That’s so frustrating about the book and social media 🙁 I second what Rosie said about the email list, LOL. (And I’m just not gonna mention what the weather is like in Louisiana, you’re welcome.)
I just followed you on Instagram and Twitter, because it never occurred to me to do that before. I’m dumb like that. And yes, it’s kind of sort of winter here in Virginia. It’s 80 degrees one day and 40 the next. As I always say (these days) at this time of year — go home, Virginia. You’re drunk.
Here in the mountains of NC, the weather doesn’t know what it wants to be….we did have an absolutely gorgeous day on Wednesday.
As for the driving, I considered postponing teen driving, more because of the cost of insurance (!), but then thought that perhaps I should have them driving as soon as they can so they can have more years of practice with us. I don’t know, just another perspective to think about.
I’m already an email subscriber but don’t do the other platforms….good luck with all of it though!
Yup. Still winter in Virginia. Took a walk last night and felt like 20 degrees in the biting wind. Your winter haiku a few weeks back expressed my thoughts exactly: “kill me, kill me now.”
#7 reminds me of how you need experience to get a job, but you also need a job to get experience…?
I liked you on FB just now (although to be honest, I thought I already had… mom brain.)
Fulton rocking that QB work! I love this.
Like like like like like like like…
Fulton is definitely working that baseball quarterback position. And I’m sorry for you authors that you have to be concerned with your online numbers, but looking forward to reading your book when it’s published!