Please welcome Deirdre O’Dare to our blog today.
CTBB: First tell us a little bit about you-the-author such as a title that came out in 2011, your publisher’s site and/or your own, and where you can be reached on the social networks that seem to be ‘where it’s at†these days.
DO’D: I write mostly shorter (long story/novella/novelette) and very hot pieces for Amber Quill, both hetero and gay romances. I had several titles come out in 2011 but the most recent ones were The Wild Bunch: Casa in September, Runes of Redemption in October and Tom Fleet’s Incredible Machine in November. These all happened to be gay romances. My backlist is available at www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/bio_ODare.html and my web site is www.deirdreodare.com. I’m planning to kick off a personal blog soon and have a page that I’ve started to work on in Facebook—but not much there yet! It’s hard to find time to learn and do all this stuff and still write and maybe have a life! Need to set a goal!!!
CTBB: Do you favor resolutions, goals or just say phooey on it all??
DO’D: For many years I did big lists of resolutions only to see 99% of them fall by the wayside and make me feel lousy for not achieving them or following them! Some years back I switched to a combination of Goals and Affirmations and these seem to work better for me. Goals tend to be a little more open ended and you can partially succeed even if you don’t quite get to the pinnacle! For example, instead of a resolution to lose weight, I set a goal to eat healthy and exercise regularly and write an affirmation like “I am active and eat healthy foods which helps me maintain a proportionate weight.â€
CCBB: What’s your rationale for this choice?
DO’D: I’m a huge believer in positive thinking and visualization to make things happen or work out. To me, goals and affirmations lend themselves a little better to this than resolutions. I guess it all boils down to how one’s mind works and the subtle semantics you might build into the wording of whatever you do. I think some wiggle room is essential but it has to be positive!
CCBB: Will you share with us something that your choice helped you accomplish, one that went down in flames, or the top one on your list this year?
DO’D: I had a goal at the beginning of 2011 to get myself and my roommate moved south out of Colorado during the year. It was not easy but it came to pass and I’m very happy with the result! We worked very hard to achieve this but the result is close to perfect for us. However my writing goals suffered due to not having the time or energy to pursue that aspect so much. This year I have some goals to be more productive writing and to expand the range of things I write and publish. We’ll see!
CCBB: What’s the weather like where you are today? If you could wrinkle your nose or wave a magic wand would you still be there or somewhere else in this amazing world?
DO’D: It’s been gorgeous weather since early last week, unseasonably warm and dry. Since I again live in the high desert of the southwest this is not unexpected. We did have some snow and cold in December but even here, you have to have some winter! While I have a huge bucket list of places I’d love to visit, I think I am in about the best place to call home that I could ask for.
CCBB: Are you a chronic packrat, a travel-light-in-life devotee or in between?
DO’D: Oh my gosh, (going red) I’m the packrat personified. I’ve been trying to weed out my ‘stuff’ for several years now and yet I think it must breed in the dark corners because the volume never seems to go down! I have too many hobbies and interests and most of them involve supplies and material. Then there are the books…! I’m really thankful for e-books as they are much easier to keep and move. More and more of my library is in that form now. One flash drive will hold a gazillion books!
CCBB: Thanks for taking part in our fun chat today and may the force be with you, your pen, keyboard and/or personal New Year’s plan!
DO’D: Thanks and it has been my pleasure!
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