My Creation Station: A Blog Hop

My writerly pals and I are letting you see where the magic happens. Welcome to Creation Station Blog Hop! We're sharing our work spaces and our dream offices. Find ideas, inspiration, and maybe some chuckles with a peek at my muse station. Then visit the awesome bloggers listed at the end of this post, who also invite you into their work space.

Welcome to my office!

For now, I work from home. My "office" is my living room. I'm hoping to continue working from home but the money's running out. I'm not giving up. Living your dream is never easy.

Not long ago, my work space was this:

One laptop for writing, one for carrying around and a desktop to do graphic design on. Why I had three computers is a long story.  I needed to streamline my work space. 

I bought a new toy. My 2-in-1 laptop. It's my baby. All the writing happens on this computer. It's also surprisingly good with Adobe products so I do a lot of Photoshop-ing on it. It's good with multi-tasking. I always have about five windows open.

Now, I'm down to 2 computers. I got another toy about a month ago. My other baby. 

It's never far from me just in case, my dog, Oreo does something cute...cuter. I should make a habit of putting it away. I dropped my last favorite camera in the sand. *sigh* It was never the same after that. Since then, I've lived in fear of dropping my camera. 

I still have my desktop. It's my pack mule. It holds all the photos, videos and designs I want quick access to but don't need on my laptop. Since the screen is so big, I watch most of my shows on it. 

For some reason, desks and me have always been enemies. I don't like working at desks which is why I curl up on my little couch.

Sometimes, Oreo curls with me. Depending on her mood, she can be company or an obstruction. Most of the time, she's fine sitting on the floor near where I work or on the couch beside me. Other times, not so much.

I can spend hours working in this chair with the Epic Soundtrack station playing on Pandora to get me pumped. The music also helps drown out my neighbors. They let their children run back and forth. It sounds as if the kids are wearing rocks for shoes. It's really annoying.

I've share this before. It's my world building wall.

I also like to put up quotes to encourage me. Sometimes the writing life can get to you. The map comes in handy the most. As I'm working on Book 3 of The Merging Worlds series, I've had to plot new communities on my map to understand where they are in relation to each other. The wall is for The Merging Worlds series. I do all the world building for my novellas in my head and in Evernote.

Recently, my Creation Station has been more digital, centered on my computer. I don't journal as often as I used to. I do note taking in Evernote. My publishing calendar is digital too, an Excel template. It's always open. I keep a list of blog topics in a separate spreadsheet.

I haven't totally switched to digital.

My dream work space is a room that has a window with a nice view and bookshelves that cover almost every wall. One of my shelves will have a secret passage or storage area behind it because why not. I'll need an old writing desk  to put my computers on and a nice couch to get some work done on. 

Image Source: Pearlworks Architectural Details

Image Source: Dying of Cute

I also love the idea being able to work outside without having to walk to the park. 

Image Source: Better Homes and Gardens

What's your dream writing space?

Thanks for stopping by. For more ideas and inspiration about writerly work spaces, please visit these #Gr8blogs today!

Cat Michaels
Cat’s Corner

Corrina Holyoake
Venturing Into the Unknown

Julie Gorges
Baby-Boomer Bliss

Leigh Shearin

Leigh Shearin, Writer

Kristen Lamb

Author K. Lamb

Blog Hop: Letter to My Younger Self

My writerly pals and I are sharing an open letter to a younger self. I spent days trying to think of what to write. Usually when I talk about my younger self, I mention being bullied and having a self-esteem that couldn't get any lower. This time around I really wanted to write about something not so serious. Turns out the message I would give my younger self is, "there's some light at the end of the tunnel."

Dear Auden Age 15,

Since you're into fantasy, supernatural and sci-fi books, it'll come as no surprise that I'm you 15 years in the future and I have come to you with a message...well, a couple of messages. Technology is taking over. Comic book movies and TV shows are exploding. Being nerdy is actually cool. Who knew?! 

Stop denying your inner nerd. You think you hate video games but you really, really don't. You'll grow up to spend an unholy amount of time catching, training and battling Pokemon on your Nintendo 3DS--Game Boy's big brother. You'll want to do back flips when you finally catch a particularly...difficult Pokemon.

People are being mean to you now but have hope. After the next 2 years, you won't see them again. You'll have adventures you never even dreamed of including living in England for 3 months and backpacking across Italy for 9 days.

I can see you giving this letter your disbelieving face, don't. Why would I lie to me? 

You'll move to New York, yes NY, and you'll find people who, get this, like your skin color. I know! Now, that's unbelievable. Once you go to college, you won't be called ugly. People will actually compliment your style. By the way, your style is not hip hop, it's goth hippie--a unique combination. I know you're feeling self-conscious about your lips now but you'll get over that and start wearing black lipstick. 

There's that face again. I know you. I'm telling the truth. You hit 30 with purple hair and a tattoo. You're still a bit quiet but you're okay with that...most of the time. Gotta be honest. 

And no, you still don't look your age. And yes, it still annoys you. 

Value your true friends not the ones you hang out with just so you won't be alone. If someone treats you like you're nothing, give them a smile and walk away like you just dropped the mic. By the time you hit 30, you'll be working on your second masters.

You know that writing thing you've been running away from? Stop running. It isn't worth it. Those stories are more stubborn than you are. You will become a published author. 

Writing will become a necessity. It'll be a way to unload when you think you have no one to talk to. Keep at it. You publish most of those stories. 

I see the glimmer of hope in your eyes. Don't fight it. The road ahead won't be completely without pain. Life can suck, but you know that already. Some things won't make sense but you'll stop being bullied, you'll be comfortable with yourself, you'll discover fun and your smile in England and your journey will bring you across some amazing, trustworthy,  people.

You may not see daylight now, but it's coming.

Peace from,

Auden

Thanks for stopping by. For more letters to a younger self, visit these #Gr8blogs today. 

Cat Michaels, on Cat’sCorner

How a Forgotten Journal Helped Me Move Beyond a Painful Past

Cat shares excerpts from a journal written by her painfully insecure 15-yo self to OlderDarlin’--- the adult she wished to become and hoped she would do proud.

Corrina Holyoake, Venturing Into the Unknown

A Letter to Your Younger Self

Corrina urges her younger self to follow her heart.

Julie Gorges, Baby-Boomer Bliss

Letter to My Younger Self: 

Julie shares ten sage pieces of wisdom with her younger self. She is assured that what she reveals to a teen Julie about her future life will astound her – but in a good way.

Leigh Shearin, Leigh Shearin,Writer

Listen To Your Inner Beach Bum, Younger Self!

Carmela Dutra, A Blog for Your Thoughts
Letter to younger self
Who says being stubborn is a bad thing?

Karen Emma Hall, Kid Literature Blogspot
A letter to my younger self and a story 

If you're interested in hopping onto Letter to a Younger Self blog, just link your post back to me or any of these #Gr8Blogs, and we'll give you some blog lovin' in return.

Special Announcements!!!

I'm entering my last semester of grad school...again. When the summer hits, I'll hopefully have my Masters in Publishing: Digital and Print from NYU! Need to get through my final grad school project first. The Lost Sciell: Book 3 of The Merging Worlds series is coming out in June. A lot is going on.

Mastermind Blog Hop
Myself and some amazing blog friends are doing a "Letter to My Younger Self" Blog Hop on January 25th. What kind of advice are we going to give our younger selves? I'm still trying to work out mine. It's coming together. Our last blog hop, #BookLuvHop, was amazing. We celebrated Book Lovers Day by talking about why we love books. This hop will be just as awesome. So much fun. Look out for that!!! Follow our hashtag #Gr8blogs to get some awesome content.

A Celebration of Author's Blog Hop Hunt

I'm participating in my first online scavenger hunt in February!

"With a click you will be magically transported on your way to an author's blog or webpage and from there you will look for the A Celebration of Author's post and who knows, if you stay long enough you might have access to exclusive content or a giveaway. Oh, and did I forget to mention the Blog Hop Hunt bundle prize when you finally reach the end.

A Celebration of Author's Hunt will run for a week, showcasing a variety of authors and genres as you take a journey of discovery ." (ACOA Blog Hop Hunt)

Yay, fun. Click the link above to find out more info!!

Virtual FantasyCon 2016

Last year, I participating in the first fantasy con to take place entirely on Facebook and it was awesome!!! It's a free event open to those interested in fantasy, sci-fi and horror. I spoke on a panel, connected with some great authors, sold some books, ran some giveaways.

It's happening again this year!! You can be apart of it.

"Virtual FantasyCon is an online event showcasing those who are part of the Fantasy community. It is exactly like a regular convention, except it is free, you don't have to travel, and you can participate from the comfort of your own home, or anywhere you have a wi-fi connection.

It takes place over a span of eight days in Facebook events, allowing members of the Fantasy community to connect with Fantasy fans from around the world."

How does it work? The author's booth is a Facebook post published by the admin on the day of the event. It includes your bio and a link to your Facebook page. You interact with people through the comment section by asking and answering questions, running a giveaway, posting videos, images, book excerpts... anything you want.

Here's the schedule:
Sun, October 9th - Epic/Sword & Sorcery (Includes High Fantasy)
Mon, October 10th - Sci-Fi/Sci-Fantasy/Time-Travel
Tue, October 11th - Fairytale/Punk (Includes all versions of Punk)
Wed, October 12th - Paranormal/Urban
Thu, October 13th - Series/Short Stories (Includes all subgenres of Fantasy Series & Collections/Anthologies of Short Stories)
Fri, October 14th - Dystopian/Apocalyptic
Sat, October 15th - Dark/GrimDark/Horror
Sun, October 16th - Children/YA Fantasy

The event is so much more than author booths. There's a scavenger hunt, a cosplay booth, lots of giveaways and more.

Last year, I participated on one day-- Dark Tuesday. This year, I signed up for Sci-Fi/Sci-Fantasy/Time-Travel; Dystopian/Apocalyptic; and Dark/GrimDark/Horror.

This is a great networking event.

Sign up now, it's free!

Contributor
I'm now a contributor to Shutterstock, stock photos, and The Book Cover Designer, premade book covers!

What's new with you?