Category Archives: A blog about the topics of writing

A blog about the topics of writing, Writers resources

My Children’s books are At Walmart

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I found out by accident that my books are at Walmart. Consider my mind blown. I knew my publisher was looking into new ventures, but I would not have even come close to thinking Walmart.

When I told my friend, Vicki, she was excited. She said this means I have made it. I did chuckle, for I was not too sure bout that.

Depending on where you live, some of my books will only be online for Walmart. Others will be in the actual store.

Yes, I immediately checked out the Walmart closest to me, but nope no luck. Now, that would have been awesome. I need to know someone, anyone, who lives in an area where they are in the actual store.

But while the hunt is on for this to happen, I will continue to work on my two series. Plus, other projects screaming at me to pull them out of my file cabinet to work on them.

Volume four to my children’s chapter book series is rounding out the last edits. After, I will work on Squirrel Mafia 2.

Maybe by the time I send them off to my editor, I will find a store that has Jasper in it.

Here is the link for Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/search?query=sharon+c+williams&redirect=false
A blog about the topics of writing, Writing tips and ideas

Evaluating 2020 : When it comes to your brand

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Now that the year is winding down, it is a good idea to access how you did in whatever part of your life or business that comes to mind.

When it comes to writing, aka my business, I go over my marketing calendar to see how I did as far as time and effort.

It is a simple calendar. I mark daily, I try anyway, how I did. By doing this I get a good overlook on how I am doing and if I am progressing forward. I also mark if I worked on any of my manuscripts,  if I did any editing, or if I start any new book.

This year I did pretty good in posting about my brand, having more guest posts on other sites, and having more interviews. My books made it in the top 100 multiple times on Amazon. It made it and in the lower 50 many times.

Marketing one’s books and brand is tedious and takes a lot of time, especially away from writing. But it is a necessary part of being an author.

When one compares to where one started at the beginning of the year, it is a way to see what worked and what didn’t. It helps me to proceed for the next year.

It could help you progress better than the year before. That is my goal.

Good luck to you all in 2021.

A blog about the topics of writing, Writing thoughts

A day in the life of my main character: Our Amazon parrot, Jasper

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Have you ever wondered what your main character would do if they existed in real life?

Recently, I wrote a guest post on a day in the life of Jasper. He is the main character in my Jasper, Amazon parrot series.

We rescued Jasper in 1999.

For the life of me, reminding myself how we existed before our birds is difficult. You see, I started to rescue birds in 1998.

But I digress.

I started to write about a day in the life of Jasper. I will give a short excerpt here. When I guest post for someone, I will share and promote it. It is out of respect and gratefulness for someone who gave me the time and effort to shine a light on Jasper and me.

From A Blue Million Books, the excerpt. The link to the entire post is at the end.

So, what is a day like in the life of Jasper?

I get up roughly at 5:25 am. My husband and I leave by 6 to go for our morning walk. Hearing my footsteps, Jasper will race down his cage, across the ladder that connects to the rail, goes to the very end by the stairs, and go vertical. He will get face down, tail in the air as he waits for me.

The point of that is he is ready for his morning pat. It is required of me to pat him at least 100 times. Rule number one says so. The point of me doing this as I pat him is to check his wings, breastplate, eyes, nostrils, feet, tail, back, and overall check. Birds tend to hide their sickness. By the time you notice that they are sick, it could be too late. It is a bonding moment for us. He loves it and expects it.

“Thank you,” is said when we finished.

He might say, “Hello, hello, hello.”

It all depends on his mood.

After, he will race to his cage. It is time to be fed. It does not matter that I have a routine to feed my other birds. In his mind, he needs to eat first. That includes clean water and food. Rule number two is complete.

But while he is eating, Cartoon Network needs to be turned on for him to enjoy. If not, then Nat Geo or a favorite movie of his. He does enjoy watching MMA and football. I have not figured out yet why. Now, you are not to walk in front of the TV or stand in front of it. Rule number three is complete.

Once he is done eating and is back in front of the TV, he will groom himself. It is necessary for birds. With him being a large bird, this can take quite a while to go over each feather. It takes a good portion of his time during the day, especially if it is that time of year when he is molting.

If the sun is shining through the window by his cage, he will place himself either on our kitchen table or on his circular stand to enjoy the rays and a small nap, which can vary in length.

Now I am allowed to work at the kitchen table. But with that comes my bird wanting to help me. Do I need help? No. Does it matter? No. Jasper offers it happily. Rule number four is to be a helpful bird. Even if that means walking on top of the papers to tell me hi, so be it.

https://abluemillionbooks.blogspot.com/2020/11/guest-post-with-sharon-c-williams.html