Tag Archive for: Pampered Pets Mysteries

Does Work Life Balance Exist?

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by Sparkle Abbey

If you follow us on Facebook, you know we just returned from
our first NINC (Novelists, Inc.) conference in St. Petersburg, FL. We had an
amazing time exploring beaches, enjoying local hangouts, and learning from our
fellow authors. We returned to Iowa with dozens of seashells and major brain
overload.

We attended workshops on business, marketing, and
creativity. We learned that we need to do a better job of cultivating our
mailing list (sign up here), how to
create engaging Facebook ads, new strategies for a launching book #9 (we’re
still kicking around titles so if you have one, please share it!), and
discovering new readers. We also attended a workshop on balancing two careers
by speakers Dr. Debra Holland, Heidi Joy Trethaway, and Dr. Jennifer Barnes.

Since we both still have full-time day jobs, we’re always
seeking ways to stay sane while writing the best books we can, and still giving
one hundred percent at work. It’s hard enough managing work-life balance with
one career, but add a thriving writing career in the mix and all bets are off. Thankfully, all three authors offered
practical advice on following your intuition, self-care, and weighing the cost
of taking on new projects.

Heidi Joy offered a super easy tip that resonated
with us. She suggested that if you’re going to add a new project or task, try
and subtract one that you’re already doing. What a great idea! We took it a
step further and added that if we can’t subtract anything, then maybe we needed
to say no. Now, that’s easy in theory and much more difficult in practice.
We’ve been fortunate enough to be asked to participate in special writing
projects, speaking engagements, and book fairs. We hate to say no because we
love it all, but the whole idea of subtracting before adding is a great starting point.

They also talked about being kind to ourselves, which is
something many of us, not just writers, overlook. We get so caught up in being
there for others, meeting deadlines, and multi-tasking to stay productive that
we forget to set aside time for ourselves. Or we obsess about what we did wrong
that we fail to acknowledge what we did right. If you don’t even know where to
start here are 17 ways to be
kind to yourself. Let us know what you think.
 

What’s the best advice you’ve been given or have given on
finding work-life balance? 


Sparkle Abbey is
the pseudonym of two mystery authors (Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter). They
are friends and neighbors as well as co-writers of the Pampered Pets Mystery
Series. The pen name was created by combining the names of their rescue
pets–Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). If you want to make
sure you’re up on all the Sparkle Abbey news, stop by their website and sign up
for updates at sparkleabbey.com.

People Watching – A Writer’s Hobby

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by Sparkle Abbey


If you haven’t heard, Iowa was quite a big deal this
week. According to the NBC evening news Monday night, the whole world watched
as we were the first state to caucus for the next president of the United
States. We’re not sure the whole world
was watching our state, but we were certainly watching the folks around us.

As writers we love people watch, looking for something
that might spark an idea for a character or storyline. The clothes someone is
wearing, a subtle hand gesture or facial expression, a speech pattern, any and
all of that can inspire our characters.
Photo: Laura Arenson

There’s no doubt about it, we hit the jackpot of people-watching
this week. At their core, people are fascinating. And we have to tell you, folks
are enthralling when they’re crammed in a hot, stuffy auditorium, passionately
trying to convince the room-at-large to vote for their candidate of choice.

There are a few people who literally thumped their
chest in emphasis, others who shared heartfelt stories of how a candidate had
personally helped them, moving listeners to tears. There were some who were so relieved
to be surrounded by like-minded people for the first time in months they
radiated relief.

There were a couple of young twenty-something girls who
caught our eye. Or more accurately, our ears. They chatted excitedly, heads
together, giggling about how there were so many good-looking single men in the
room. Men with jobs. They plotted how to snag a picture of a good-looking guy
on stage who was about to make a speech. Within seconds, the tall blonde pulled
out her cell phone to capture a quick photo of the “hot guy” under in the guise
of recording a woman’s impassioned speech. Somehow, those twenty-somethings
will make it into a story.

All thanks to the Iowa Caucus, we’ve collected details this past week and have refilled our pool of creative ideas. What about you? Where do you people watch?



Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write a national bestselling pet-themed mystery series set in Laguna Beach. The first book in the series Desperate Housedogs, an Amazon Mystery Series bestseller and Barnes & Noble Nook #1 bestseller, was followed by several other “sassy and fun” books in the series. The most recent installment is Downton Tabby and up next is Raiders of the Lost Bark. www.SparkleAbbey.com

Sparkle Abbey on Downton Abbey

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by Sparkle Abbey

Downton Abbey’s final season launched this past week and so we couldn’t let this major event pass without a nod to this highly acclaimed British drama.

You might remember we did a contest a while back with all the differences between Downton Abbey and Sparkle Abbey. And now, our latest book Downton Tabby offers even more entertaining comparisons. Check out our “The Pawleys: A brief episode in the British family hiss-tory of Lady Toria Cash, the feline fatale of Downton Tabby.”

No spoilers here if you haven’t watched the first installment in this final season of Downton, but you can bet there will be butlers and maids, elegant frocks, fancy dinner parties, secrets revealed and problems in love, some below stairs and some in the drawing room.

Why do we (and millions of viewers) love this show so much? The twisted plots? The intrigues? The beautiful costuming? The “no-they-did-not-just-do-that” writing?

We believe the bottom line is whether it’s a book or a movie, and whether the setting is a cozy, quirky small town, a galaxy far, far away or a castle in Yorkshire; we all continue to watch or continue to read because of the characters.

The characters in Downton Abbey have become our friends and we want to know what will happen to them next. The stoic Carson, the sometimes clueless Lord Grantham, the forward-thinking Isobel Crawley, and the just-can’t-get-a-break Lady Edith. And then poor Anna and Mr. Bates who give new meaning to “when bad things happen to good people” adage. Plus the evil Thomas who can always be counted on to shake things up. And the best, the very best, Lady Violet, the Dowager, who routinely delivers the zingers we love.

Here are a few:

“At my age, one must ration one’s excitement.”

Mrs. Crawley: “I take that as a compliment.”
Countess Violet: “I must’ve said it wrong.”

Dr. Clarkson: You want me to lie?
Countess Violet: Lie is so unmusical a word.

Cora: “I hate to go behind Robert’s back.”
Countess Violet: “That is a scruple no successful wife can afford.”

“There’s nothing simpler than avoiding people you don’t like. Avoiding one’s friends, that’s the real test.”

“I don’t dislike him. I just don’t like him. Which is quite different.”

“All this unbridled joy has given me quite an appetite.”

“Of course it would happen to a foreigner. No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else’s house.”

“Principles are like prayers; noble, of course, but awkward at a party.”

“Don’t be defeatist, dear, it’s very middle class.”

And our favorite:

“Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.”

What do you think? Do you watch the show? And, if so, do you agree with us that it’s the characters that have made the show such a success?

We’d like to hear your thoughts?

Comment below to be in the drawing for a signed copy of Downton Tabby.

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write a national bestselling pet-themed mystery series set in Laguna Beach. The first book in the series Desperate Housedogs, an Amazon Mystery Series bestseller and Barnes & Noble Nook #1 bestseller, was followed by several other “sassy and fun” books in the series. The most recent installment is Downton Tabby and up next is Raiders of the Lost Bark. www.SparkleAbbey.com

Refilling the Well

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 by Sparkle Abbey

It
is finished! We turned in book 8, Raiders
of the Lost Bark. Yay!

Once
we turn in a book, the question we get asked most often is, “What’s next?”

Besides
getting more than five hours of sleep a night?

We
refill the creative well.

Writing
is exhausting and primarily a solitary occupation. It’s easy to become isolated,
spending months thinking, planning, plotting, writing, and rewriting. It
requires a significant amount of mental energy to stay focused on a creative
project for that long. Yet we only get better by practicing our craft, which
means more writing.

By
constantly writing, we drain our creativity. At some point we have to give our minds
a break. So how do we give back to that source we’ve so thoroughly drained for
months?

Well,
after a quick celebration with margaritas (you knew that was coming, right?),
we begin to take a short mental break from the work and make “refilling the
creative well” our main focus. Since we don’t have a beach close by we have to
come up with other ideas.

First
we reintroduce ourselves to our families who have probably only seen the backside of
our heads for weeks. Then we may catch up on all the TV shows our families have
recorded for us. Read the books that have been stacked on our nightstands or
added to our Kindles while we were on deadline. We try to catch a movie or two,
and make a concerted effort to restart our exercise plan of daily yoga and
walking. If possible, we’ll attend a writing related workshop or conference. If
we had hobbies, we’d probably take them up again after neglecting them for
months. 
Our
favorite way to refill the well is to spend time with our family and friends. We
laugh, make new memories, and experience the world through the eyes of our
grandchildren. Is there anything better than that? We don’t think so either.

Then
after a couple of weeks, once we’ve caught up on housework, social media, and paying
the bills we re-evaluate our goals. We prioritize. Refocus on the steps needed
to take us further in our writing journey.

And
then we start the madness all over again, because writing is our passion.

What
about you? How do you refill your well?

As always, if you’d like to stay up on the latest news, new releases or upcoming appearances, sign up for the Sparkle Abbey newsletter at www.SparkleAbbey.com

The Best Job in the World

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by Sparkle Abbey

We are about to see the release of our 7th book, Downton Tabby, and we’d just like to say it’s been an incredible journey.

We sold the series in 2010 and the first book, Desperate Housedogs, came out in 2011.

From our very first Malice Domestic and Bouchercon conferences, where we had tons of excitement and enthusiasm, but little to no publishing experience (and come to think of it no books yet), the mystery community has been crazy welcoming and supportive.

We’ve met so many wonderful writers and readers of the genre via various conferences and events. These are brilliant, savvy, fun people, many of whom we are privileged to now call friends.

It’s an amazing experience to walk into a bookstore, whether a Barnes and Noble, BAM or a small indie bookstore, and see our books on the shelf. It’s a thrill that we hope never gets old.

And then there are readers. Wow. It’s impossible to explain how much it means get an email or a letter from a reader who has read one of our books and was moved to write to us. To know that something we wrote provided an escape for someone who was going through a tough time, made someone laugh out loud, or was simply an opportunity relax after a long day at work. So. Cool.

In addition to all that there’s the writing itself. We get to think up twisted plots, give birth to quirky characters, and put them in impossible situations. Of course, then we have to figure out a way to help them solve all the problems we’ve created for them. That’s when the fun begins!

Being a writer is just plain the best job in the world and we feel so lucky to get to do it.

Our newest book, Downton Tabby, comes out in a few days and is currently available for pre-order. To celebrate we’re giving away an adorable Paul Cardew teapot and a canister of Downton Abbey tea. All you have to do to enter the contest is pre-order the book and then send us an email letting us know you have.

We love to connect with readers and other writers!
You can find us online in the following places:

Website: www.sparkleabbey.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sparkleabbey
Twitter: @sparkleabbey
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/sparkleabbey/