Every writer should read this...and then get writing!

Peter Mountford is SO spot on in his essay at The Weeklings, "Calling Bullshit on a Writer's Top 10 Excuses For Not Writing." I love it. And relate. And am going to do something about it!

Read these sites: The Toast and Literary Vixens

The Toast is a new site geared toward women that's full of smart commentary on everything from pop culture, with a heavy emphasis on one of my favorite topics—books—and all sorts of topics. Read the introductory letter from the editors. My favorite piece so far is "The Top Ten Writers Whose Success You'll Resent This Year" by co-editor Mallory Ortberg. I'll contributing there soon!



I got a very pleasant surprise last week when I visited Literary Vixens, a beautifully designed site all about erotica and erotic romance, when I discovered that it's based in my town of Red Bank, New Jersey! They recently did a two part interview with Tiffany Reisz, author most recently of The Mistress, who also contributed to my Baby Got Back: Anal Erotica.

Link love: author couple stave off losing home with bestselling romances

On the flight to Kansas City for RT Convention, I met librarian Fred LeBaron. We were seated next to each other and he guessed correctly where I was headed. He recommended several books, including those of author Jasinda Wilder, the pen name of a couple who've sold close to a million ebooks. There are several available for free download. I'm way behind in my reading so haven't read them yet, but plan to, along with the latest, Falling Into You. No, not every self-publisher will be a giant success story, but these are heartwarming and, to me, are what the ebook revolution is all about. I can't find it right now but New Adult author Colleen Hoover had a similar post last year; I recommend her blog for that shot of writing inspiration (and, of course, books) too. And with that, back to work for me! Tomorrow is the deadline for my 1,200-word-or-less BDSM erotica anthology, which I'm excited to wrap up.

Link love: Baratunde Thurston's unplugging Fast Company cover story

Lately, despite living in a clean, well-lit comfortable home for the first time in far longer than I can remember, I'm still having trouble focusing. I make to do lists and then sortof watch them from afar, convinced they seem so arduous and challenging I can't quite get there. So I don't want to make any more promises to myself or anyone else I can't keep. But what I'd like/hope to do on this neglected little blog is offer up at least a link a day. Yes, I link out from my Tumblr, where it takes a fraction less time, but I'd like to do it here too. I'm learning: baby steps, sometimes so small they seem utterly worthless, but are always better than nothing. I'm hoping from a link a day I can maybe get myself to actually get back to writing a post a day, along with other goals, but right now, am catching up on anthologies and assignments and digging myself out of various toxic holes.

That seems an appropriate setup for the Fast Company cover story on unplugging by Baratunde Thurston. It's smart and powerful and made me, who often holds my iPhone in my hand when watching TV or going to sleep, jealous. I know that part of my inability to turn off my brain isn't just the lack of Vyvanse but my allowing myself to be permanently distracted. I'm trying to turn off more, to realize that especially in a crisis time, I have to be selfish, and care first and foremost about my work. That's great that you're writinganarticlemakingadocumentarywantablurbneedhelp, but part of turning off has to include tuning out what's unnecessary. I suck at that, but part of why I moved and put my faith in that move is to try to get better. It feels as ephemeral as faith, this belief that I can both turn off and increase my productivity and cease my horrific habits. Sometimes I don't see an end in sight, so I got a lot out of Baratunde's piece. You can also follow the #unplug hashtag on Twitter to see what people are saying about it.

And because time is of the essence, I will put a little plug in that I will not be unplugging this week because I'm reading your submissions for my 69-story BDSM submission erotica anthology, whose deadline is this Thursday, June 20th there will be no further extensions). I'm excited about what's turning out to be a wonderful book!