Monthly Archives: June 2019
20 Motivational Quotes That Will Inspire You to Succeed
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here are twenty quotations that inspire and motivate. At this point in time, the words of Maya Angelou, Tommy Lasorda, and Zig Ziglar resonate with me the most.
In Praise of Fruits and Vegetables
June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, a month set aside to remind us that fruits and vegetables are essential components of a healthy lifestyle.
As a cancer survivor with a family history of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, I am always on the lookout for any dietary changes that can help support a healthy heart, mind, and immune system.
A few years ago, I took special note of the following research conducted by the American Institute for Cancer Research in 2004. If every American consumed 15 to 30 ounces of fruits and vegetables every day, the incidence of cancer could be reduced by at least 20 percent.
The Institute suggests we aim for nine servings or 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables a day. This may sound daunting, but it is doable. With careful planning and a few doses of creativity, we can increase our daily intake of fruits and vegetables and stay within our budgets.
Here are 10 tips:
• Learn about serving size. In his book “Anticancer,” David Servan-Schreiber provides the following helpful guide: One serving equals ½ cup cooked or 1 cup raw vegetables, 1 medium fruit, ½ cup cooked fruit, ¼ cup dried fruit, or 6 ounces of fruit juice.
• Start small. At breakfast, top your oatmeal or cereal with sliced bananas, fresh berries, raisins, or apricots. Add one cup of fresh or frozen berries to pancake batter. Mix eggs and vegetables for a healthy and hearty breakfast or lunch. Adding minced broccoli or finely grated cauliflower will not change the texture of the eggs. At lunch or dinner, add strawberries, mandarin orange sections, and raisins to green salads.
• Use a spiralizer to create zucchini, squash, asparagus, or cucumber noodles. Top with your favorite sauce and enjoy! You won’t miss the carb-laden pasta dishes.
• Hide the vegetables if your children ignore or push away anything green. Instead, try incorporating vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, or spinach into your favorite pasta sauce, chili, lasagna, or stew recipes. As you stretch the recipe, you will obtain more servings and also cut back on the meat content.
• Pinch pennies on produce. Buy whatever fruits and vegetables are in season. Apples, oranges, grapefruit, and bananas are always available and usually last for a week. The cheapest vegetables are broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, celery and onions.
• Consider buying frozen fruits and vegetables. These foods are flash frozen at their peak and contain the same amount of nutrients as their fresh counterparts. Frozen vegetables can save dinner preparation time since washing and cutting are not required. Frozen fruit can be used in smoothies, low-fat muffins, yogurts and salads.
• Sneak in extra fruit servings with the right juice. Stick with the top four—orange, grapefruit, prune, pineapple—and check the sugar content on each label. Whenever possible, buy in bulk. This will cut down your costs and help avoid the excessive packaging associated with single-serving bottles and juice boxes.
• Create quick, no-cook meals using fruits and vegetables. Fill a cantaloupe or honeydew melon with low-fat cottage cheese. Combine fresh or frozen berries, a banana, whey or soy protein, water, and ice to make a delicious smoothie. Mix a bowl of low-fat yogurt with fruit.
• Create more fruit-based desserts and snacks. Cut up some plums into chunks and roast them in the oven. Serve warm over a small scoop of frozen yogurt. Mix blackberries or blueberries with a few chocolate chips to create a quick trail mix. Freeze individual grapes on a cookie sheet and serve later as cool, healthy treats.
• Plan ahead and add convenience to your day. Stock your glove compartment and desk drawer with apples, pears, and bananas. Cut up your favorite vegetables into snack-size pieces and store them in clear plastic containers at home and at work. This will cut down on visits to the vending machine and coffee shop.
Any other tips to share?
On the Road to Romancelandia
Welcome to my Second Acts Series!
Today, Wild Rose Press author Charlotte O’Shay shares a dramatic career change and her new release, Their No-Strings Affair.
Here’s Charlotte!
Joanne, It’s my pleasure to visit your uplifting and warm blog. My topic today is my second act. Keep reading and comment to enter the contest.
My first career was in the law. The law definitely didn’t choose me. I chose the law to obtain a professional degree that would pay the rent. (Totally unlike my husband, also an attorney, who dreamed of being a lawyer from the time he was a kid. Yes, he really did. He’s very cute that way.) As a lawyer I excelled at writing memoranda and legal briefs, I was good at amassing research to make my arguments and prove my points. I was told I was a good writer. I worked full time, later part time then in a pro bono capacity as I raised my children. But the law wasn’t the career of my heart. I always relaxed reading romance.
I had a come to Jesus moment when I was diagnosed with cancer at a relatively young age. It’s true what they say about life threatening illness. No one wonders about unimportant things when faced with the possibility of a premature passing. I was simply happy I had as much time with my family as I had. I was lucky. I recovered. But in those same years I lost four women very dear to me to various illnesses in quick succession. Four. Those losses hit me hard. That second oh sh*t moment screamed at me. Life is too precious a gift, and too short to squander on could haves and should haves.
So, I pursued what I always knew I was meant to do. I set a goal to become a romance author. I weathered a few remarks (and still do) at the concept of a lawyer choosing to write of all things— romance, but I’m not alone— former lawyers are legion in Romancelandia. These days I write. I read. I attend conferences. I promote my work. And I write some more.
And I couldn’t be happier.
You can guess my advice.
Don’t wait. If you can afford to switch gears and that’s a big if with a second act, do it. Even if it’s a side hustle as you segue into full time with the new venture. Believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. Go after the dream. I wrote romance for years before I finally started to submit my work. I’m not the type to have regrets but if I were, my regret would be that I should have followed my heart’s desire sooner.
I thrive on learning every aspect of my second career as a writer. I’m getting better every day and that pursuit of excellence keeps me curious and interested in the writing world and the world in general. I’m challenging myself to push my inner boundaries of genre and style.
My motto? Never, never, never give up. If you’re reading this and I can tell you anything about your second act, it is this. Act on it. Do it now. Start small. Set goals. You will achieve them. Then set new goals. Keep learning, work hard and enjoy every small moment of success in your new venture. You may fail but you will learn and achieve success. I promise.
Today I have four romances published and three more books in various stages of completion. My latest release, Their No-Strings Affair is set in my hometown of NYC as are the other two books in the City of Dreams series.
In the Their No-Strings Affair Jake’s ex-military with a second career as a security expert. In my recently released novella Forever in a Moment, Samantha ponders a life altering career change.
For a chance to win an ecopy of Their No-Strings Affair or Forever in a Moment let me know in the comments if you’ve made a career change or are considering one, what you do/did and what you do now. Or what you want to be doing.
I will choose two random commenters to win one of my recent releases.
Blurb – Their No-Strings Affair
Honey packs everything she owns and heads to NYC to jumpstart her art career. Her cheating boyfriend is history, and she finally acknowledges the truth of her mother’s mantra: Careers are forever and happily ever after isn’t in their DNA.
All she needs is a job and a place to live. What she doesn’t need is a taciturn, sexy, ballbuster but she’s woman enough to know the difference between need and want. Isn’t she?
Jake’s childhood was marred by tragedy and his future hijacked to a promise born of guilt. His failure drove him to a career as a SEAL and a security expert.
But it’s not enough. Now he’ll give up his freedom in reparation for the life he lost. Honey may be the last sweet stop on the road to a joyless future. If it’s what they both want, where’s the harm in a no-strings affair?
Buy links – Their No-Strings Affair
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Nook | iBooks |
Google Play | Kobo
Bio
NYC born Charlotte O’Shay was the middle child of a large, boisterous family. Any time she needed an escape from the noise and drama of family life, she stuck her nose in a book.
Fast forward to law school where reading romance was a treat as satisfying as cookie dough ice cream.
One marriage, four bouncing babies later and Charlotte was still reading. But then she started squeezing in time to write some stories of her own.
Today she writes contemporary romance full time.
Charlotte’s heroines are intelligent and loyal, her alpha heroes fiercely protective.
Her greatest wish is that her readers escape into happily ever after inside the pages of her books.
Where to find Charlotte…
Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | BookBub | Pinterest | Instagram
Spotlight on Babies at Coconuts
I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Beth Carter. Today, Beth shares the top twenty reasons to visit Coconuts and her new release, Babies at Coconuts.
TOP TWENTY REASONS TO VISIT COCONUTS
1. To overhear the juicy gossip of long-time best friends Suzy, Alex, and Hope, who go to Coconuts weekly (or more if there’s an emergency, which is often!)
2. Getting a glimpse of the gorgeous, wealthy New York socialite, Cheri Van Buren, and ask if you can borrow her incredible designer clothes or shoes.
3. Having the cute flip-flop wearing server, Gus, who always knows what cocktail everyone wants for Happy Hour, serve your favorite drink—or possibly serve him!
4. Hoping to be handcuffed by sexy, bad-boy cop Lt. Tony Montgomery. He may be a rascal at times, but he sure is sexy. Those arctic blue eyes…
5. Adding your initials (or painting something tropical) on the floor-to-ceiling beach mural.
6. To ask hunky, dark-sunglass-wearing Gage for a ride in his limo and hoping he remembers the chilled champagne!
7. Showing Alex she isn’t alone with her OCD tendencies by tying a paper straw holder into a knot in solidarity—and handing her some anti-bacterial gel after you touch her hand.
8. Hugging Suzy for all she has been through.
9. Ditto for Alex.
10. Double ditto for Hope.
11. Giving Alex advice on whether she should ditch the cop once and for all and pursue Gage, Cheri’s limo driver.
12. Giving Suzy advice on how to handle her surly teen stepdaughter, Izzy.
13. To discuss wedding themes with Suzy and hire her company, Weddings by Suzanne, for a wedding.
14. To share (or gather) Italian recipes with Fernando’s mom, Mama Gia, but scooting away before you offend her and she thumps you on the head!
15. Commiserating with Hope for everything she’s gone through with her hippie parents and telling her that her frizzy hair is beautiful and to stop worrying about her weight!
16. To see newlyweds Jon and Fernando and hope Fernando teaches you to dance the salsa.
17. Requesting the infamous zebra print menu and scouring it to order every item on the menu—or at least the crab cakes or truffle popcorn.
18. Hoping to catch a glimpse of either Nikki, Tony’s hateful, spiteful ex, OR Hannah, Alex’s bank marketing intern who is gunning for her job, and possibly trip them or spit in their drink. Trust me, they deserve it!
19. To find out about the unique, hilarious cocktail the New York socialite insists the women drink.
20. To tell the women you admire their unbreakable bonds of friendship and wish you had friends like them. Who knows? Maybe they’ll invite you to join them at their high-top table at Coconuts!
Blurb
For Fans of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Italian-style!)
A clash of cultures.
A chaotic wedding.
A surprise baby.
Just another day at Coconuts.
Coordinating the most joyous day of her son’s life should be easy. After all, Suzy is a wedding planner. But a meddling future mother-in-law wasn’t on the checklist. A wacky rehearsal dinner, a beach wedding, and a baby—not necessarily in that order—ensures bedlam, if not hilarity, among the two head-butting moms. The show must go on, with or without the wedding party.
Hope is adept at counseling students but has given up on dieting and having sleek hair. She has even gotten used to the fact that her adopted father no longer remembers her—until a surprise engagement and a newspaper article leave her in shambles.
Sexy banker Alex conveys totally in control while ignoring the simmering boil of her disastrous relationship. Her marketing rival is her kryptonite, but a disastrous bank event may spell her downfall.
Socialite Cheri Van Buren seems to have the perfect life. The New Yorker deftly juggles celebrity events but is growing concerned about her jet-setting parents’ strained marriage. After competing in a cake-decorating contest, another chef leaves her speechless.
More than a Happy Hour haven, Coconuts is the unknowing guardian of shared secrets, bombshell revelations, a few tears, and joy. Will the best friends ever find happiness? It doesn’t look good.
NOTE: Even though this is Book 3 of my Coconuts series, it may be read as a standalone.
Author Bio
At a certain mid-life crisis, er, age, multi-award-winning author Beth Carter shed her corporate bank suits and heels to pen novels and children’s books. She much prefers afternoon writing at Starbucks to 8 o’clock board meetings.
Carter’s novels include: THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS (Book 1), CHAOS AT COCONUTS (Book 2), BABIES AT COCONUTS (Book 3), SLEEPING WITH ELVIS, MIRACLE ON AISLE TWO, and SANTA BABY, a novelette. There will be six books in the Coconuts series, and all may be read as a standalone.
Voted Favorite Contemporary Runner-up in the 2018 & 2017 Raven Awards, winner of a 2015 RONE Award, and named Best Debut Author in 2015, the author pens romantic women’s fiction contemporary romance, and romantic comedy in what she calls rollercoaster romance. The author infuses plenty of humor, suspense, heartwarming romance, and page-turning plot twists.
Also a children’s picture book author, Carter has four children’s books published: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?, SOUR POWER, SANTA’S SECRET, and THE MISSING KEY. All have been well received by kids, parents, teachers, and counselors.
You’ll likely find Beth Carter sipping a skinny vanilla latte while writing. That is, if she isn’t on a boat or at T.J. Maxx.
Where to find Beth Carter…
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
I read this delightful novel in two sittings and had trouble putting it down. Ms. Carter has a way of drawing me into her stories quickly and keeping me hooked until the end. It definitely helps to have an eclectic cast of characters, family and workplace drama, plot twists, and an unexpected ending. Away from the book, I found myself recalling and chuckling at Mama Gia’s antics. Having grown up in an Italian household, I could easily imagine many of those over-the-top scenarios.
Next, please!
Giveaway
Beth Cater is offering a $40 Amazon gift card and 10x ebook copies of Babies at Coconuts in a Rafflecopter giveaway. Find out more here.
Ask a What If Question
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In the following reflection from The Path Made Clear, spiritual teacher Michael Bernard Beckwith advises us to focus on our possibilities and ask more What If questions.
There’s a shift that takes place when you’re talking about the possibilities more than you’re talking about your issues. With your issues, your energy goes into the lower frequencies. Doubt. Worry. Fear. Now you’re in that sediment. You’re in that dynamic.
But if you start talking about possibility, even if you don’t know how to get there, then your energy starts to go up. Ask a what if question. What if all my needs were met? What would I be doing in my life? What if everything is really working together for my good? What if all the bad things that have happened in my life are leading me to activating some great potential in my experience? What if God really is on my side?
You ask a what if question and you start to notice little miracles happening in your life.
Source: The Path Made Clear, p. 76
Movie Review: Rocketman
Offering the part of Elton John to 29-year-old Welsh actor Taron Egerton was an inspired move. In addition to resembling a younger Elton, Egerton possesses the musical chops to belt out those memorable tunes. I was surprised to learn that Egerton was the third choice. Justin Timberlake and Tom Hardy were originally cast in the role.
The film begins on a dramatic note. Dressed in a glittery devil costume—complete with horns and wings—Elton pushes through two doors and enters a room filled with people participating in what looks like a group therapy session. Spellbound, everyone listens as Elton confesses to having consumed every drug imaginable along with being a sex addict, a shopaholic, bulimic, and having anger-management issues.
Elton has entered the word of rehab.
And so, begins a personal narrative, punctuated by a series of ballads and musical numbers taken from Elton’s extensive catalogue.
The most heartbreaking scenes involve the child prodigy, first known as Reginald Dwight, struggling to capture the attention of his self-absorbed, often cruel mother—brilliantly played by Bryce Dallas Howard—and his dismissive father (Steven Macintosh). Thankfully, his loving grandmother (Gemma Jones) showed some affection toward Reginald.
In young adulthood, Elton meets up with songwriter Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell). While their working relationship survived the turbulence of Elton’s life, their personal lives often diverged. Elton’s latent homosexuality and flamboyance clashed with Taupin’s heterosexuality and more reserved nature.
Devilishly handsome Richard Madden delivers an excellent performance as Elton’s personal manager and abusive lover. The Scottish actor has been pegged as a possible replacement for Daniel Craig as James Bond.
The film ends on a positive note as pictures of all the actors are shown next to their real-life counterparts. We also learn that Elton John has been addiction-free for 28 years.
Twelve years in the making, Rocketman has succeeded in celebrating Elton John’s music and capturing the drama that surrounded his rise to stardom.
A must-see film!
Stepping Out of Time
A non-athlete, it took me a while to find a preferred physical activity, but once I discovered yoga, I was hooked.
That was ten years ago.
Since then, I’ve gone off the “yoga wagon” several times—interestingly enough right before prolonged writer’s blocks—but have now settled into a practice that both center and challenges me.
Continue reading on Brenda Whiteside’s post.
Joanne Guidoccio 