Category Archives: Joanne Guidoccio

Happy National Cut Your Energy Costs Day!

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Today is National Cut Your Energy Costs Day, a day set aside to re-examine our daily habits and improve the overall efficiency of our lives.

Here are ten easy-to-implement tips:

1. Use daylight as much as possible. Remember, it’s free, and it doesn’t pollute.

2. Turn off all lights, even if you leave a room for a few minutes.

3. Switch all light bulbs to CFLs—the curly-looking ones. While they are more expensive, they can last up to ten times longer than the traditional incandescent bulbs.

4. Turn the heat down one degree in the winter, and set the air conditioner one degree higher in the summer. You probably won’t notice and could easily go up/down an extra degree or two.

5. Use the refrigerator wisely. Decide what you want before you open the door, clean the coils periodically with a vacuum cleaner, don’t set the temperature any colder than necessary, and keep it full.

6. Eliminate vampire power. When televisions, computers, DVD players, microwave ovens, and appliances are turned off, they continue to suck the energy out of the wall and out of your wallet. Where possible, use smart power strips with on/off switches that can be turned off when you are away for an extended period.

7. Unplug the charger as soon as your digital device is charged. When plugged in, a charger continues to draw energy.

8. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth or shaving. On average, a faucet can use anywhere from one to three gallons (four to eight litres) per minute. If you take the dentist-recommended two minutes, twice a day, that could add up to 12 gallons a day—4,380 gallons a year. Note: Newer faucets tend to have lower flow rates than older ones.

9. Fix those leaks. In North America, the average household leaks nearly 10,000 gallons of water each year…a staggering amount of money literally pouring down the drain.

10. Wait until you have a full load of laundry before using the washing machine. Half loads use twice as much water. Consider setting the temperature to warm rather than hot. This cleans just as well and uses half the energy.

Any more tips to share?

Blurb Blitz: The Widow Wore Plaid

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome best-selling author Jenna Jaxon. Today, Jenna shares her latest release, The Widow Wore Plaid.

Blurb

The Battle of Waterloo made them widows, but each has found new happiness. And Jane, Lady John Tarkington, intends to keep her freedom, even if love—and one particular gentleman—are determined to claim her heart . . .

It is a truth rarely acknowledged—at least in public—that a wealthy widow is free to pursue a great many adventures. For two years, Jane has privately enjoyed her independence. Why should she remarry, even when the gentleman proposing is as wonderful as Gareth, Lord Kinellan? She entreats him never to ask her again. But as her Widows’ Club friends—now all joyfully remarried—gather at Castle Kinellan, Jane begins to wonder if stubbornness has led her to make a terrible mistake . . .

Kinellan needs a wife to give him an heir, and he wants that wife to be Jane. They are perfect together in every way, yet she continually refuses him. Just as he is on the point of convincing her, a series of accidents befall Gareth and point to an enemy in their midst. He has promised Jane a passionate future filled with devotion, but can he keep them both alive long enough to secure it?

Excerpt

Throwing up his hands, he groaned and sagged against the wall, his banyan sliding half off him. “Have your way with me, woman. I surrender myself into your hands. Do with me what you will and I swear I will enjoy it.”

Panting, she stepped back from him, seeing the sculpted muscular form, strong arms, and dark eyes glazed with smoldering desire as if for the first time. This man wanted her, or had wanted her to be his wife for a long time. No one would ever make her feel this way again, no matter how many lovers she might take. She could look for the rest of her life and not find a man as kind or generous or loving as he. And she had all but thrown his love away with both hands. The revelation devastated her and she hung her head.

“Jane?” Kinellan straightened, peering into her face.

Sobbing, she threw her arms around him, laying her head on his broad chest, the only place she wanted it to be. Tears pricked her eyes. The fast beat of his heart beneath her ear should have given comfort, but did not, for her own heart was tearing asunder. The trickle of tears became a flood.

“Darling.” He slipped his arms around her, cradling her close. “What is wrong?”

“I…I don’t want to leave.”

“Sweetheart.” He cupped her chin and turned her face up to his. A thundery frown marred his brow. “Who has asked you to leave? Was it Aunt Prudence? Fiona?”

“N…no.” Jane sniffed, trying to blink back the tears and regain her composure.

“Someone else?” His frown grew darker.

She nodded. “You.”

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple | Google Play

Print copies are available at:

Amazon, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Hudson Booksellers, Indiebound, Target, Walmart

Author Bio and Links

Jenna Jaxon is a best-selling author of historical romance, writing in a variety of time periods because she believes that passion is timeless. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories.

She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets–including two vocal cats, one almost silent cat, two curious bunnies, and a Shar-pei beagle mix named Frenchie.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Giveaway

Jenna Jaxon will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Jenna on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Make Peace with Imperfection

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

One of my go-to books for inspiration is Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson. Here’s one of my favorite passages:

The need for perfection and the desire for inner tranquillity conflict with each other. Whenever we are attached to having something a certain way, better than it already is, we are, almost by definition, engaged in a losing battle. Rather than being content and grateful for what we have, we are focused on what’s wrong with something and our need to fix it. When we are zeroed in on what’s wrong, it implies that we are dissatisfied, discontent.

Whether it’s related to ourselves—a disorganized closet, a scratch on the car, an imperfect accomplishment—or someone else’s “imperfections”—the way someone looks, behaves, or lives their life—the very act of focusing on imperfection pulls us away from our goal of being kind and gentle. This strategy has nothing to do with ceasing to do your best but with being overly attached and focused on what’s wrong with life. It’s about realizing that while there’s always a better way to do something, this doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy and appreciate the way things already are.

The solution here is to catch yourself when you fall into your habit of insisting that things should be other than they are. Gently remind yourself that life is okay the way it is, right now. In the absence of your judgment, everything would be fine. As you begin to eliminate your need for perfection in all areas of your life, you’ll begin to discover the perfection in life itself.

Source: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson, pp. 11-12

My Word for 2022

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I am resurrecting a tradition that I started in 2015, continued in 2016 and 2017, and then stopped. Not sure why I stopped, but I now feel the need to anchor 2022 with a word. A single word that drifted into my consciousness toward the end of 2021: Simplify.

In November, I found myself decluttering and organizing, organically and digitally, and taking great pleasure in the results. I have decided to continue this paring down of non-essentials and streamline other aspects of my life.

In short, I intend to release what no longer serves me.

I like this definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary…

a : to reduce to basic essentials
b : to diminish in scope or complexity
c : to make more intelligible : clarify

And these quotations…

Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify. Henry David Thoreau

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Hans Hofmann

SIMPLIFY ♦ SEMPLIFICARE ♦ SIMPLIFIER ♦ SIMPLIFICAR ♦ VEREINFACHEN ♦ FORENKLE

Have you selected a word for 2022?

Honoring Betty White

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Betty White passed away on Friday, less than three weeks away from celebrating her 100th birthday. Actress, comedienne, author, and animal rights activist, she is one of Hollywood’s most beloved icons. Best known for her roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls, Ms. White had a television career that spanned more than eight decades. In the 2014 edition of “Guinness World Records” she was certified as the longest ever female entertainer.

My favorite quotations from Betty White:

Butterflies are like women — we may look pretty and delicate, but baby, we can fly through a hurricane.

In my head, I’m the ultimate cougar. Animal lover that I am.

I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It’s that simple.

The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana.

Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren’t going to get rid of me that way.

You don’t fall off the planet once you pass a given age. You don’t lose any of your sense of humor. You don’t lose any of your zest for life, or your lust for life.

I know it sounds corny, but I try to see the funny side and the upside, not the downside. I get bored with people who complain about this or that. It’s such a waste of time.

Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints.

It’s your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humor in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver.

I have no regrets at all. None. I consider myself to be the luckiest old broad on two feet.

Step Forward to Whatever Is Calling You

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

Whenever I need strong doses of inspiration and motivation, I reread the following excerpt from You’ve Got This! by Margie Warrell:

Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote that it is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they’re not. So, if you are struggling with the fact that something in your world has shifted in a direction you don’t much like, consider what it is about your life right now, today, that you are not savoring fully given that it too, one day, will be gone.

To experience the richness of life, to dive deep into its waters and to avoid the perils of living only in its shallows, we must embrace its inherent impermanence, and open our hearts wide to whatever each moment holds—for all that it is and, every bit as importantly, for all that it isn’t. No thing is permanent. Every thing eventually falls away. Our children will grow up and leave home. Our parents die. Our firm bodies soften. Our vision dims.

Because life is the way that it is, it cannot stay the way it is.

Anything we cannot control is teaching us to let go. So don’t wait until the ground feels fully solid beneath you. Rather, feel grounded in yourself and step forward to whatever is calling you. Because those windows of opportunity that you see right now, they too shall one day close. And that surge of life energy beating within you, that too shall one day end. As Elisabeth Kubler-Ross wrote, “it is the denial of death that is partially responsible for people living empty, purposeless lives; for when you live as if you’ll live forever, it becomes too easy to postpone the things you know that you must do.”

Source: You’ve Got This! pp. 177-179

Virtual Book Tour: 52 Weeks of Writing

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome writer and coach Mariëlle S. Smith. Today, Mariëlle shares her affirmations and latest release, 52 Weeks of Writing.

10 Affirmations to Live Your Best Creative Life

As a writing coach, I come across so many limiting beliefs about writing and being a creative person. Below, you’ll find ten affirmations that will help you live your best creative life. Most of these affirmations can also be found in my Seven Simple Spreads series, in which I combine creativity, cartomancy (the reading of cards, such as those of the tarot or oracle cards), and chakra philosophy.

1. I honour my creativity

2. It’s safe for me to create

3. I deserve the joy and pleasure of living a creative life

4. I can create whatever I want to

5. I love everything about my creative self

6. I enjoy all parts of my creative journey

7. I walk my creative path with an open heart

8. I acknowledge and celebrate all of my creative wins

9. I trust my creative purpose

10. I easily turn my creative dreams into plans

Blurb

‘A brilliant, supportive, challenging workbook, highly recommend.’ Jamie Sands

You, too, can become the writer you’ve always wanted to be!

The 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner:

• makes you plan, track, reflect on, and improve your progress and goals for an entire year long;

• invites you to dig deep through thought-provoking prompts and exercises; and

• helps you unravel the truth about why you aren’t where you want to be.

Two years after publishing the first volume of 52 Weeks of Writing, writing coach and writer Mariëlle S. Smith brings you the updated third volume. Similar in style but reflecting the tweaks made to her coaching practice during the pandemic, 52 Weeks of Writing Vol. III is even better equipped to help you get out of your own way and on to the path towards success.

Ready to start living your writing dream? Order your copy now.

Excerpt

WRITING PROMPT

Each writing prompt is optional. If, for whatever reason, it does not speak to you, let it be. Who knows? It might make more sense to do the prompt later in the process.

Most writers are introverts and dread the visibility that comes with success. This might not be you, but to some of us this fear is what stops us from finishing our work. Because what if people read it and want to talk to us about it? What if we’re forced to leave the privacy of our desks and go out into the world, into the spotlight, with nowhere to hide?

If this resonates with you, know you’re not alone. Grab your journal or open a new document on your computer and set your timer to ten minutes. Now list all the good that could come with success.

If this is a fear you recognise all too well, keep this list close once you’ve finished it.

Purchase Links

Amazon | All Purchase Links

From the start, I knew 52 Weeks of Writing would be very different from the other craft books gracing my bookshelves. Reading about the author’s creative journey in the Introduction motivated me to implement a daily journaling habit focusing exclusively on writing. Everything from the themed quotes at the beginning of each week to the thought-provoking questions to the tracking sheets bears the imprint of a seasoned author and coach. While completing the exercises, I could easily imagine Ms. Smith at my side, encouraging me to dig deep and reveal my innermost thoughts.

Highly recommended!

Author Bio and Links

Mariëlle S. Smith is a writer, writing coach, and editor. She lives in Cyprus, where she organises private writer’s retreats, is inspired 24/7, and feeds more stray cats than she can count.

Website | Facebook | Blog | Goodreads | Instagram | YouTube

Giveaway

Mariëlle S. Smith will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Mariëlle on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Maintaining Perspective

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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 her blog post, “How to Safely Enjoy the Pandemic Holidays,” Lori Deschene shares several suggestions. Here’s her take on the importance of maintaining perspective:

As with everything in life, this is all temporary. Things won’t always be this way. These challenges, these feelings, they won’t last forever. We will eventually get through this and will be able to live more freely. Though life won’t be exactly the same for many, we will find a new normal and new reasons to smile as we adapt to life as it evolves.

It may be hard to see that now. It may seem like this earthquake of an experience will send shockwaves for years, and we’ll never find our footing again. But we are amazingly resilient as people. Odds are you’ve been through some deeply trying experiences in your life, and you’ve come out stronger, wiser, and maybe even enriched for having gone through what you’ve been through.

Trust that, you will not only get through this, you will have many more reasons to smile, and many more holidays to celebrate with the people you love. This year will one day be a crazy story in all of our rear-view mirrors, so long as we keep driving, cautiously, on this somewhat treacherous road before us.

Read the rest of her post here.