Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts

Tuesday 13 December 2022

How I use Siri to Read eBooks and Articles

Listen to eBooks with Siri.
Image by Felix Lichtenfeld from Pixabay
I love listening to audios when I’m busy doing other things (like household chores or cleaning the car).

In fact, if I’ve got something that I’m eager to listen to, I’ll find ‘busy’ chores to do because I must be doing something while I listen. I can’t just sit and do nothing so I figure I may as well get plenty of chores done while I’m listening.

I rarely buy, or mostly never buy, audio books, but I do borrow them from the library.

I also listen to podcasts too. 

I have the Listnr app on my iPhone which, as well as having my favourite radio station on it, Buddha Hits, it also has some interesting podcasts on things like true crime.

I also have the UK’s BBC app that has many great radio plays and audio series.

But when it comes to books, I prefer to buy eBooks and if I want to have them read to me while I’m doing other things, I use Siri to read them.

I discovered how to do it a few years ago, and I’ve been listening to eBooks this way ever since.

All I do is open an eBook on my iPhone (usually in my Kindle app) to the current page I’m reading.

I then put two fingers at the very top of the screen and quickly swipe down.

Siri’s audio controls immediately open and she starts reading from the top of the page and continues reading until I press pause.

Siri can also read long articles online if I tap the “Reader View” icon in the URL address bar at the top of the page and then swipe my two fingers down again.

It’s so quick and easy to do and means I can ‘read’ eBooks while I’m busy doing other things.


Read Something That Will Change Your Life

I write books designed to change your life.

From novels that will tug at your heart strings, instill fear and get your heart pounding, to educational books that can help you earn more money, and life-altering self-help books.

All will leave you thinking differently and some will even help you change the way you live and enable you to start living the life of your dreams.











Tuesday 6 December 2022

The Perfect Gift To Give

Books make the best gifts
Image by Pexels from Pixabay
I’m not one for gift giving.

I don’t give many gifts and I never accept any either.

Many years ago, I used to be part of the gift-giving hoard, but then one day I wised up and cut Christmas out of my life. It was one of the best things I did.

I still bought gifts for my own children, but not for anyone else. And I didn’t put up decorations, send cards, or attend any obligated get-togethers.

I just said, “I don’t do Christmas.”

It made the holiday period so much easier. It was a huge relief.

I always call Christmas my day off. It’s a day when I do absolutely nothing. I just do whatever I want. I don’t even cook.

Eventually, I cut out birthday gift-giving to adults. It’s always so difficult to choose things for other people, and I rarely received something I wanted, so I stopped giving gifts to adults.

It was also something I’ve never regretted doing.

The only people I still buy birthday gifts for are my grandchildren, but even they know that once they turn 18, they’re cut off.

But all through my time of giving gifts to everyone, and even now that it’s only the grandkids, my go-to gifts are always books.

I find that if you give someone a book, they’ll eventually read it. So it’s never wasted.

Books are good because they’re educational as well as entertaining. Even a novel can teach us things we didn’t know while entertaining us at the same time.

When the kids were young, I bought them sticker books, colouring books, puzzle books, and Dr Seuss Books. I bought them toys as well, but they always received books too.

For adults I buy novels, if I know the types of things they like, and I usually do because I ask people what types of books they read. I reckon you can tell a lot about a person by looking at the types of books they read.

And I know I’m not the only person who buys books as gifts. My book sales always go up around Christmas time, especially print books.

My most popular book around this time of year is “How Ton Quit Smoking Without Giving Up Cigarettes.” That tells me that there are a lot of unhappy smokers out there.

So if you’re struggling with what to buy someone, give them a book. You won’t regret it and either will they.

How To Quit Smoking
Without Giving Up Cigarettes


















Friday 25 November 2022

My Hassle With Staff At Office Works

Angry staff at Office Works
Image by bookdragon from Pixabay
A couple of years ago, I bought a PDF eBook and I wanted a printed copy.  

The eBook came with printing permissions, so I uploaded it to Office Works, set up how I wanted it printing and binding, paid the cost, and waited for an email to tell me when it was printed and ready to pick up, which came through the next day.

Easy.

A few weeks later, I had another PDF eBook I wanted to print, so I set it up on the Office Works website again.

The next day I received a call from a woman who said she was a manager at my local Office Works store, and she said my eBook couldn’t be printed because it was copyrighted to the Author.

I explained that the eBook had permission for printing, and I asked her if she’d looked at the permissions of the eBook.

She said it didn’t matter what the permissions were, they couldn’t print it.

It was clear that she had no idea about copyright or printing permissions.

I tried to explain it to her, but she insisted that because of copyright, only I could print it, not them, but if I came to the store and printed it, they would put a cover on it and bind it for me.

So, I said, “So you’re saying that the only difference between you printing it and me printing it, is who pushes the start button on the printer?”

She was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Yes. That’s exactly what copyright means.”

I said, “How do you know? You’re not a copyright expert. You’re a shop assistant.”

With that, she hung up. I contacted Office Works online and asked for a refund.

I no longer use them for my large-volume printing needs. It seemed ridiculous that one person at the company, who clearly knew nothing about copyright, could dictate who pushes the start button on the printing machine.

The whole conversation with her, plus my time spent setting up the print job, getting a refund, and getting it printed elsewhere, was a waste of my time. I usually protect my time because, as a writer, it’s extremely important to me. My wasted time with Office Works could have been spent writing a chapter of a book or a few online articles.

Which is why I prefer working alone.

Many people feel that being a writer is like subjecting yourself to a life of solitary confinement.

But I disagree.

Being a writer does mean spending a lot of time alone, and spending hours every day speaking to no-one, but that’s the way I prefer it.

Being a writer is my mission in life, which is why I’m always happy to go home and work on my writing mission.

And I don’t have to let others into my writing time.

Except when I have to deal with ignorant staff at Office Works.


Mission Critical For Life
Start Living Life On Your Terms By Pursuing Your True Life Mission

















Friday 29 April 2022

Writing and Moving

Image by Nina Garman from Pixabay 
Last March (2021, over a year ago) I moved from a house up a mountain to an apartment at the coast. Although I liked having a garden at our old place and growing fruit and vegetables, I wanted to live in somewhere with less to do so that I could write more. 

Unfortunately, while I do like living in an apartment (here in Australia, called a unit), I don’t like the complex where I am so I’m moving again next week.

What I don’t like about living here is that for some reason I don’t like sitting in the study. We use the spare bedroom as an office but for some unknown reason I can’t settle in there, so I don’t sit at my desk any more. Even right now I’m sat on the couch in the living room.

I did think I could sit on the balcony and write instead, but it’s East-facing and has the sun on it most of the morning so it’s too hot and burning.

There are also over 150 apartments here with over 90 more currently being built (6 buildings altogether) so it’s noisy here through the day time with so many people around, plus all the construction going on here at the moment (from 6.30am to 6.30pm six days a week) is not conducive to my writing either.

There are also ongoing problems with the caretakers who are not doing their jobs, so the common areas (car parks, pool areas, corridors, etc) are looking pretty icky, in fact it’s getting quite disgusting.

As you can imagine, I’m fed up with everything here and so is Dean, so we’ve sold up and we’re shipping out.

Next week we’ll start moving our possessions box by box over to our new place and then the removalists can move our furniture a few days later.

This is going to be a huge disruption, but it won’t stop me writing. No doubt it will slow me down though.

In the meantime we’re busy sorting out electric and internet accounts, mail redirection, and eating up all the food in the fridge freezer before we switch it off for a couple of days before we move it. If nothing else, it will be entertaining. Though it’s all somewhat stressful.

Also, my book, the 12 Month Writing Challenge, which was only available as a PDF, is now available as a print book and an eBook and both are available from online bookstores.

Grab yourself a copy now.

Happy reading and writing.





Monday 18 April 2022

The Never-Fail Way To Write More Books

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

As you already know (because I've been telling you so much), I'm on a mission this year to write 12 books in 12 months.

It's April now and I didn't publish a book last month, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. On the contrary, I've been extremely busy behind the scenes.

I've written a new novel, which I'm really pleased with, plus I had a ton of fun writing it.

I enjoyed writing it so much that whenever I was working on it, I kept forgetting the time and so it was always a lot later than I thought by the time I looked up.

In fact, a lot of the time, I was so caught up in the story I was writing, I also forgot about reality and had to keep reminding myself what day it was, what time it was, and whether I was supposed to be somewhere else or not. And I really didn't like being pulled out of the story, but life kept interrupting me.

But my new novel is finished so I'm now waiting for the cover, and a couple of other things, and then it can be published.

Not only that, but I'm already working on my next book which is a book for writers that will help you increase your writing and publishing speed and efficiency which will not only help you to increase your writing income, but will help you have a ton more fun doing it.

Just watch this space.

In the meantime, take a look at my most recent (and extremely popular) book for writers and self publishers: 

Self Publish Worldwide.












https://ruthiswriting.com/books/SPWW.html


Monday 7 February 2022

Writing Plans And Keeping On Track

Keeping my writing plan on track
Photo by Chad Peltola on Unsplash

As you know my plan this year is to write a book a month.

We’re now into February and I’ve written and published my first book and I’m now working on my second which means I’m writing to schedule, but I want to do better. I want this year to be my most productive.

To that end, I downloaded and read the book ‘How To Write Pulp Fiction’ by James Scott Bell, to find out how the pulp fiction writers wrote over a million words a year. It was an insightful and fascinating read. 

Now I’m reading ‘Wake Up and Live’ by Dorothea Brande which is all about a formula for success that is extremely simple (and has been there all the time but you just couldn’t see it) that can alter every aspect, attitude, and relation of your life, including writing, and it can help to make your writing flow and fast so that you can write more than you ever thought possible.

And all it takes is a shift in attitude and perspective that releases your energy for writing as well as improving every aspect of your life.

This too is a fascinating book. I’m only partway through reading it but already it’s opened my eyes to how wrongly I look at things, and how, without me even realising what is happening, it’s causing me to fail, and doubt myself.

This book was written in the 1930’s but it’s still relevant today. It’s available from the kindle store for as little as 99c. https://amzn.to/3gs6WU4 

I hope your writing plans for 2022 are on track too. But if they’re not, there’s still time to download your own copy of the 12 Month Writing Challenge: Write and Publish 12 Books In a Year.

For a short while you can still get a copy for only $9.99 using the discount code “12mthpromo”. The usual price is $24.99.

So don’t miss out.


P.S. The 12 Month Writing Challenge also comes with a free copy of the One Month Author



Wednesday 22 December 2021

How My Own Advice Saved Me

 In my life, I’m quite the minimalist and live my life differently to most people. And what I love about my life, is that I’m not needy of money or company or social interaction.

I’m quite content to stay at home and write, and avoid socialising. Just recently some acquaintances were insisting that my husband and I go out for a meal with them and we REALLY didn’t want to. He’s  like me when it comes to socialising. Thankfully we managed to dissuade them without hurting their feelings.

I’m also quite the stockpiler when it comes to food. I buy things when they’re on special at the supermarket if it’s something we normally eat, or something we use like washing powder. I also keep a financial fund of 2-years income stashed away and never touched unless there’s an emergency like I’m too injured or ill to work, or there’s some other emergency that goes on for a while.

I used to think that I’d never need to touch that money because I couldn’t imagine a time when I’d need it, but it still gives me peace of mind to know it’s there.

But in 2020, when this whole “pandemic” situation happened and is still happening, my stockpile meant that I didn’t have to worry about “lockdowns” because we already had enough supplies to last (including toilet paper) so we didn’t even need to shop for weeks.

And I’m still hearing stories about people losing their jobs and wondering how to survive without their income. And I knew that if they’d had a stockpile and a financial fund in place, and a mission to go home to (like my writing mission),they’d be able to weather whatever happened.

I wrote all about these things in my book, Mission Critical For Life : How to Start Living Life on Your Own Terms.

If only more people had read it.


















Tuesday 5 October 2021

Do I Want to Protest Against Climate Change? Nope.

These days there are millions of people jumping on the Climate Change (formerly known as Global Warming) bandwagon and protesting in droves.

I've never been to one of these protests, nor will I ever because I'm busy doing my part to help the planet already, and I've been doing it for years.

YEARS!

- I don't support factory farming (it's one of the biggest polluters and don't get me started on cruelty)

- I eat mostly organic (non-organic is also a huge polluter)

- I drive very little and have a small car

- I always find ways to cut my electricity use (for cost as well as environmental reasons)

- I live frugally

- I try to live by the 5Rs of a zero-waste lifestyle  (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot)

- I only use environmental, sustainable household products

- I produce a low-to-no amount of garbage every day

- I recycle everything I can

- I refuse to buy overly packaged products

... and the list goes on.

I don't follow fads or jump on passing bandwagons. I live purposefully and kindly while I try to help the planet and animals. It's just something I've always done for as long as I can remember.  

It's actually really easy to be respectful of our planet and be kind and compassionate to animals. It also inspires others to do the same.

I'm also always busy writing, and in my book 'Mission Critical For Life' I lay out 10 easy-to-follow steps for finding and living your own life mission and you'll see how it can also help you to do your bit to help the planet at the same time, without having to drive to the nearest protest. But feel free to do so if that's what floats your boat.

Being Mission Critical For Life can help save you, your sanity, the planet, and everyone around you. 

While helping you live a stress-free, purposeful life on your own terms.


Mission Critical For Life











Monday 12 July 2021

Can Being a Writer Improve Your Love Life?

 I've been working as a writer for over 20 years now and it has changed my life in so many ways because it's so different to any other job I've ever had.

But can it improve your love life?

I believe it can and I'll tell you why.

Years ago I was dating a man who never supported my longing to be a writer. In fact, he could be downright sarcastic and rude.

So I dumped him because I wanted to write and I knew his stinky attitude would only hold me back.

I began a writing course and starting writing and submitting my work and I began to earn money from the few acceptances I got.

During this time I met and married my husband who was extremely supportive of everything I did.

We've grown together over the past 20+ years since we met. He's now retired (early) and works with me as I keep writing and publishing. He takes care of the financial side of things, correspondence, all our accounts, and looks after my websites.

And we couldn't be happier.

So yeah, being a writer can improve your love life because it needs a supporting and loving partner who understands and can live with us creative types who have a lifelong writing mission

Find out how you can do it too in my easy to read book:

Mission Critical For Life


Monday 1 February 2021

Can't Be A People-Pleaser and A Writer

 Sometimes we're all guilty of being people-pleasers, as in always being there for others, not letting people down, and always being a happy friend who's always available.

But being like this is never a good thing. And no one respects a people-pleaser. People-pleasers don't even respect themselves.

And you can't please everyone so no matter what you do you'll always end up disappointing someone and feeling guilty about it.

The problem gets even worse when you're a writer because you'll feel guilty about not be available to others every time you lock yourself away to get some writing done.

This is why writing can feel selfish. I hate to use the term "me time" but that is what you have to do, and that is what it has to feel like, because writing has to be done during time away from other people.

And I always find that other people don't respect my writing or the time that I have to spend away from them to get it done.

When I first began writing, it bothered me a lot that others disrespected what I do or thought it selfish that I was always spending time alone to write instead of being with them.

But what I eventually had to do, and what I still do now is make my writing my mission and just go do that, because while people will let me down or smother me in obligations, my writing is always there for me.

No matter what else is going on in my life, I can always shut myself away and get my writing done and forget about everything else for a while.

And being alone to write is always relaxing.

I love my writing mission and so should you.


MISSION CRITICAL FOR LIFE
Start Living Life On Your Terms 
By Pursuing Your True Life Mission




Wednesday 21 October 2020

Why I Don’t Enter Writing Competitions

It can be every writer’s dream to win a writing competition and I even know one writer who once won an insignificant competition and then called herself “an award winning writer.” Haha.

Don’t get me wrong, winning a writing competition, or any competition, is a great feeling, and even when I’ve won something really small, I’m still happy to have won.

The problem with most writing competitions though, is that they cost money to enter, and I’ve known writers who spend hundreds every year to enter these comps without winning a thing or even getting on the short list.

And it can be demoralising.

The trouble is, you see, that there are usually thousands of entrants so chances of winning are slim, plus it depends who the judges are and their reading preference.

So this is why I don’t enter writing competitions. 

I’d rather use the money to buy a lottery ticket then at least if I don’t win, it’s just the luck of the draw and not because someone who’s probably never even been a writer or has never achieved anything great from their writing, has judged my work as not good enough in their opinion.

I do, however, love submitting work to paying markets because it’s free, I get paid if accepted, and rejections simply mean it wasn’t right for the market (which I’ve sometimes been told).

AND I’m free to submit my work elsewhere. Which I usually do.

But you do what’s best for you.


Living The Laptop Lifestyle
How To Start & Grow A Profitable Online Business So You Can Quit Your Job
https://ruthiswriting.com/books/LLS.html



Tuesday 6 October 2020

Recent Writing Machinations And Closing My Publishing Business

Today I've added a new article to my website with the same title as this post.

It's all about how I'm changing how I work and why I've also closed by publishing business.

I think I've streamlined how I operate by closing the business which took up a lot of time and a lot of money to keep it running.

Originally, when I started the publishing company my aim was to publish books written by other authors as well as publishing my own. But what I found was that I didn't want to publish books. I wanted to write them.

It didn't take long for it to occur to me that I'm a writer, not a publisher. I mean, yes it was OK to have a company that I could use to publish the books that I wrote, but I didn't want to sit every day reading other people's books and judge whether or not I thought they were good enough to publish. 

Also, so many people sent me garbage to read. They seemed to think that their writing didn't have to be good to be published. One would-be author, after I sent him a polite rejection email saying that his writing was of a poor standard, actually emailed back and said that his writing didn't have to be good and it was an editor's job to correct and polish his work. 

Wow. Just wow.

Anyway, there's a lot more in my article which explains what I'm up to, the changes I'm making and why PLUS there are even a couple of photos of a possum, and when you read the article you'll see why the possum is also forcing me to make changes to the way I work. And if he wasn't so ridiculously cute, I'd swot his little behind and send him on his merry way, instead of allowing him to interrupt my writing time.

You can click the link below to read the article now.

Enjoy.

https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2020/recent-machinations.html



Tuesday 29 September 2020

What Authors Can Learn From the Incredible Story Behind the Movie THE ELEPHANT MAN

Today I've uploaded a fascinating article to my writing site, about the history of the remarkably humble story of how the movie script for The Elephant Man made it to the big screen. And it wasn't with a trumpet fanfare or anything like it. It happened quietly and became a hit movie.

And you can read all about it in this remarkable article by book publicist, Scott Lorenz who works with authors of all kinds, from CEOs to self published writers, to get maximum publicity for their work.

This article shows you just how easy it can be to get your story, novel or script onto the big screen.

And if you're interested in getting your idea (not a whole book, but just an idea in your head) for a movie, television show or reality TV show, produced, you can read about how to do it at Pitch a Script For a movie, TV show or reality TV show.

Use the link below to read the article now:

https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2020/elephant-man-script.html

Tuesday 2 June 2020

Why I Stopped Writing - And What I'm Doing About It

If you’ve been following me online (or you’re a subscriber), you’ll no doubt have noticed that I haven’t been writing much lately, and this lack of written words has gone on for several weeks now.

I wrote about it in an article at https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2020/Lockdown.html.

But now I’m firmly back in my writing chair and I have already planned out and started to write again.

I had thought that with all this ‘isolation’ stuff going on that it would be a great opportunity to get loads of writing done. That was my original plan.

And yet it soon all went pear-shaped on me. Before I realised it, I was so involved in doing other things (and you won’t believe WHAT things).

I think the problem was that I already spend most of my time at home writing with occasional visits to the pub for a glass of beer at the end of the day, or lunch out at the coast, or something else similar.

Then suddenly it all seemed different because I couldn’t go to the pub and sit and have a drink in the beer garden or go and have lunch at the coast, or have lunch out anywhere for that matter.

They even stopped my beloved rugby league that I love to watch. I’d already been up north in March to go to a live match, but that was the one and only weekend crowds were allowed and after the following weekend, they banned the players from the stadiums too. (sad face)

So that made it really different for me and so I had to find other forms of entertainment, and boy did I ever.

But now I’ve settled back down and I’m writing again.

Not only that, but I have lots of things planned so keep an eye out for it all.

It will be coming to an inbox near you soon.

Sign up for updates and receive a free ebook for writers.
https://ruthiswriting.com



Friday 27 March 2020

How to Make Your Writing Ludicrously Spectacular

Today I have for you a real information-packed video by writer and marketer, Ann Handley.

It's all about writing, researching and making more money from your writing.

The video is just over an hour long and there is so much great information in it that you'll want to take notes.

I hope it really helps you.

Just click the video below and enjoy.










Friday 20 March 2020

How I Found Myself Accidentally Prepared For the Coronavirus Panic

I know that this Coronavirus Crisis took everyone by surprise, and it certainly did me. It wasn't the virus itself, but how people reacted by panic buying and hoarding.

I read recently that when a crisis happens like a bush fire or a flood or a blackout, people react by doing what they need to do like buying bottled water, torches and batteries.

But this virus has made people panic-buy anything and everything because they don't know what to do.

There's no perfect way to react to a crisis.

My own situation hasn't been so dire simply because of how I already live my life.

Firstly, I don't need to self-isolate because I do that most of the time anyway. I'm a writer so I spend most of my time at home writing. So being home alone is my natural (and preferred) way to live.

Secondly, I didn't need to panic-buy because I keep a month's worth of groceries and other household items stored all the time. I have enough toilet paper, food, dry goods (beans, lentils, dried fruit, dried vegetables, etc) cleaning materials, bathroom supplies and other things that I normally buy at the grocery store, to last up to a month. Whenever I shop I rotate what's in my store cupboard so that my food supply is always fresh.

So when everyone started to panic-buy, I didn't have to worry because I already have my store of food and household items waiting all the time in case I get ill or injured and can't shop. Most people thought I was a bit eccentric, but who's laughing now?

And lastly, I always keep at least a years' worth of income in a savings account just in case of financial famine, so I know that if the worst happened and I couldn't work (write), I can survive for at least 12 months without income, or more if I'm frugal, which I usually am. And having this financial safety net would be SO helpful to anyone who can't go to work now because of the Coronavirus outbreak.

And these things I talk about in my latest book, Mission Critical For Life. This book (which is proving really popular) is all about finding and having your own mission, something that you can go home to and work on so that you can close the door and forget the rest of the world for a while. I also go into detail about the importance of being self-sufficient and having AT LEAST a year's worth of income saved.

If you'd already read my book and followed the advice, staying home wouldn't be a problem because you'd have enough money to survive and your mission to work on so that you can close your door for weeks/months and not have to worry.

If you haven't got your own copy of Mission Critical for Life, now would be the perfect time to buy the hardback book or download the ebook instantly.

You owe it to yourself to make sure that no matter what happens, you'll be Mission Critical For Life.

https://ruthiswriting.com/books/MCFL.html














Tuesday 28 January 2020

Writing Updates and Other Interesting Things

It's not even the end of January yet and already this year is going great.

As you've probably seen in the news recently, here in Australia we've been having some horrendous bushfires which have been compounded by the fire crews not putting them out fast enough and instead issuing 'watch & wait' notices while the bush and the wild animals burn.

Thankfully, we're now having plenty of rain so most of the fires are out AND our land is green once again and the rivers are full. It's been a drought here for 6 months but it's certainly over now. Only last week I was down at the creek watching a poor little platypus turning over and over in the muddy water, unable to dive because the water had mostly dried up and the creek had become patchy puddles in amongst stretches of dried creek bed. I felt so sorry for the poor little thing (and platypus really are small).

But now it's been raining for days, and the platypus is happily diving deep for food again, and the land is burning no more, not that the fires came close to where I live anyway.

Also, thanks to the rain, the unbearably hot temperatures have dropped somewhat (but it's still hot because it's Summer), so all is well with the outside world again.

And on the writing front, here at chez Ruth Barringham, there are many changes afoot.

Firstly, I'm in the middle of writing my next book which is a novel. And I've been rocking on with it really well so I'm excited about finishing it soon.

I also have my web designer, aka my husband Dean, working away diligently in his study (and not swearing TOO much) redesigning my RuthIsWriting website. He's even changed the colours and the layout and has taken away everything that is not necessary.

And when he's finished, I'm going to begin a new subscriber list. I haven't done that for the past few years, but I have lots of plans for subscribers. It will be free to sign up so watch this space. I'll let you know when it's all online and ready to go.

I've also bought a new domain name. Well, actually, it's an old one that I found out was available again. It's a site called WorkAtHomAholic. I used to have this domain name years ago and now I have it back and I plan to use it as a website all about different ways to make money working from home.

I'm also still working my way through reading the amazing book by Eugene Schwartz called 'Breakthrough Advertising.' I've been trying to get through it for weeks but it's so good that I don't want to miss anything so I keep going back over and over parts I've already read. This is a book that is now difficult to get hold of, and when you do find it on places like Amazon, the price is ridiculously high.

And speaking of books, my latest one, Mission Critical For Life, is selling really well and it's available in hardback and as an ebook. It's a small book, a quick read, and packed with instantly usable information to help you transform your life. You can read it in one day and start making changes immediately.

I've also been working hard this past week restoring a dining table and four matching chairs. I've been busy sanding, varnishing and painting, and now it's finished and looks amazing. It's a fixer-up job I've been threatening to do for the last three years and I've finally done it, so it's one more thing I can tick off my to-do list.

And that is all for now.

So stay tuned for lots of up-and-coming books, websites, newsletters, and freebies.

There are plenty of things in store as my marvellous little monkey mind continues to work overtime and my fingers (which feel really rough at the moment from handing so much sandpaper) are glued to my keyboard.

:)





Sunday 29 December 2019

What I Do When The Puppy Won't Let Me Write

This week I'm dog sitting. I'm looking after my daughter's dog for a week.

She's a sweet little thing and is only small. She's a cross between a mini fox terrier and a Chihuahua (I had to Google how to spell that).

So tiny yet such a distraction.

Even now as I try to write this, she is sitting at my feet whining then barking to draw my attention to the ball she's placed next to my foot and is waiting for me to throw it for her. So I find myself intermittently throwing the ball while I try to write.

I soon realised earlier today that it is almost impossible for me to write while she is distracting me in this way (or any other way).

At first I thought I'd give up and not write at all. But I have a lot to do with a new book coming out soon and a new website that I'm working on as well, so in my inimitable wisdom, I decided to do things that don't actually require too much writing, like working on my new website layout and writing up a list of tasks that I need to complete.

This sort of work takes more thinking and planning and I can sit on the floor while I do it so that I can throw the ball at the same time. Also, doing this sort of work is easier than writing because throwing the ball destroys my writing 'flow.' I need to keep 100% focused to write, which usually isn't difficult, but with the ball-obsessed-dog distraction, it's almost impossible to stay focused.

This is what happens when life gets in the way of writing. Which happens more often than I like.

But instead of complaining and wasting time, I just shift to working on something that doesn't need 100% focus.

And I always stop at least once every hour to go into the garden and throw the ball for 10 minutes without being distracted by my work. Because even small, ball-obsessed dogs need my full attention now and again.

And at the end of the day, there is always time for a walk too.

But in the meantime, I don't let anything stop me from working. I just change what I'm working on to suit my environment.

You can see for yourself just how ball-obsessed this little dog is by clicking the link below.

It's only a few seconds of video and it shows two dogs (one large, one small) playing, while our little dog is ignoring them because her attention is only on the two balls out of her reach. And she's doing the best she can to get them.  






Tuesday 24 December 2019

Christmas is a Time for Planning

Today is Christmas Eve, for those who celebrate such things, but I do not.

I haven't done the Christmas thing for over 20 years.

As you can imagine this horrifies many people when I tell them. They over-react like I just killed one of their children.

Yet when I ask them why they celebrate it, they have no idea. Are they religious? No. Do they believe in God and Jesus? No. Do they know why they put up a tree in their house every year? No. Do they enjoy buying lots of gifts? No. Do they enjoy writing and sending lots of cards? Hell no. So why do they do it? Because everyone else does it.

Hmm..... I'd rather not.

This is why it's 24th December and I'm busy writing a blog post and not rushing around buying last-minute gifts or preparing a meal for tomorrow that's so huge, everyone will overeat. To me today is just another day and I have no plans for tomorrow either.

Also, as an aside, we are currently in a huge 6-month drought. The grass is dead and crunchy to walk on. We now shower over a bucket and pour the water we collect in it, onto the garden. We also have a kitchen bucket and wash our dishes by hand so that we can empty the washing up bowl into the bucket and pour that on some of the poor, dehydrating plants in the garden too. Thankfully rain is actually forecast for later today, and the clouds are already building up, and tomorrow (Christmas Day) a deluge is forecast. But that's it. Just two days of rain in 6 months, and back to drought.

Anyway, to me 25th December is just another day. Nothing special. So it's a day I usually make good use of for my writing business.

A few days ago I purchased a 2020 diary (or planner, as it says on the first inside page) so tomorrow I'm going to use it to start planning out my writing for the first few weeks of 2020, plus make bigger plans for the rest of the year, like how many books I plan to write, themes and subjects for my blogs, etc.

Yep, 25th December is a great day to get lots of planning done, not just because it is supposed to rain all day, but also, everything is closed (shops, restaurants, pubs, etc), so there really is little else to do anyway. And because it's going to rain, we can't even go to the beach tomorrow like a lot of people do. We had plans to have lunch with a few friends at the local dam and swim in the afternoon, but that plan is now scrapped.

So even if you do celebrate this day, you can also use part of it as a great day for planning all your writing for next year.

Because, as they say, if you fail to plan, you're planning to fail.

Enjoy your time off work and make some great writing plans

https://cheritonhousepublishing.com




Friday 6 December 2019

New Writing Website

As many of you already know, a few years ago I sold my main writing website domain name to Loren Piel, who, as it turns out was a liar and a completely untrustworthy person even though he claims to be an attorney (who is so successful that he now works taking bookings for an airline company) and he issued me with a false DMCA claim (which is highly illegal) and hounded me for months after I sold him the domain name.

At the time, I could only assume that he was being so petty because I set up a new site and carried on working while he floundered without having a clue of what to do with what he'd bought (for a high price I might add) and ended up shutting the site down.

Anyway, I've now decided to start a new website for writers and it's going to be all about my writing, how I work, what I'm working on and how it can help you to earn money from all your writing too.

I'm also going to change the use of my current writing site, ruthiswriting.com to a site where I write about other things that interest me.

I'll also be keeping my writing blog where I'll post writing opportunities including writing markets and writing competitions.

I'm also planning to write many more books and I'll use my websites to keep you up to date as soon as they're available, plus free ebooks that I plan to write and give away too.

I've been doing so much planning lately and I'm also going to set up a new email list so that you can stay up-to-date with everything I do and get to all the best info before it's posted online, plus amazing offers only available to subscribers.

This is why I recently subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud so that I have all the software available so that I can carry out all my plans.

A couple of years ago I did try and get offline so that I could write more books, but life got in the way (including 3 deaths in the family which was hard to bear at the time) plus I missed doing my online writing.

I don't want to say too much about it now in case big-ears Loren Piel is spying on me, which he always is. That man seems obsessed with stalking me. I don't think he's figured out yet that I know his IP address so I know every time he looks at my websites (the ones that he knows about) and which pages he looks at.

I don't want him to know too much too soon so that he can't send me any more of his petty demands about what he thinks I can and cannot do online, which is something he tried to do for months on end at one time.

And the funny thing is that he is an Elder at his local church and one of the claims that it makes about its congregation is that they are all "committed to loving each other instead of arguing over petty issues."

 Isn't that a hoot?

Loren Piel is one of the pettiest people I've ever known and yet he's an elder in a church that says it's members are NEVER petty. You can see it at their website http://www.canyonspringschristian.com/about

And scarily, he is also currently running for local city council elections where he lives. YIKES!

You can read his campaign promises by clicking on the link below. He's the last listed candidate at the bottom of the page. (I keep finding tidbits about him online when I'm searching for other things. His name keeps showing up in results)

https://www.idahopress.com/news/elections/middleton-city-council-candidate-surveys/article_69d92fe3-8471-57f5-96de-3b359908fae7.html

The further he stays away from me the better I like it. It just goes to show how good he is at making people think he is an honest guy.

But I know differently:
https://www.ruthiswriting.com/lorenpiel.html

He was angry and threatening when I began ruthiswriting.com and I just hope he leaves me alone when I get my next writing website online.

If he does start again, I'll post publicly absolutely everything I receive from him (and everything I received previously) so that you can judge for yourself.

 If nothing else it will provide me with plenty of free website content. :)

In the meantime, I'll keep you posted about my new writing site so that you can subscribe straight away and get a free ebook to help you make even more money from your writing.

Stay tuned.