It’s Freaky Outside This Comfort Zone

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 It’s Freaky Outside This Comfort Zone

Yeah but what a view

This blog is around writing and life in general and why you don’t get what you say you want. Now you probably heard the term, Comfort Zone, before. I always wondered if Comfort Zone meant something to do with a nice cozy couch or snuggling in my warm bed and does being outside of it mean my electric blanket doesn’t work.

I took some personal development courses many years ago and learned many things about myself and what I attract in my life and how I see the world through my unique set of rose-colored glasses that we all have. Even if I don’t wear glasses, nor even like roses. Yeah, sorry I’m not a vegetarian and have been known to snarf down the odd burger and salty deep fried onion rings. Might have to stop for a snack that sounded good with or without the triple yummy sauce, pickles and bacon and melted Applewood smoked cheese. That’s it, never write on an empty stomach. I’ll be back in fifteen.

Burp. Now, back on the topic. Everyone has their own comfort zones around everything they see, do and interact with in life. For some, like the pope, he’d have a huge comfort zone around using the fword and would have a hard time stepping out of it. Where others like Myley Cyrus has very little around strutting around nearly naked on stage in front of thousands of fans and even less on human decency. Don’t even get me started.

                I learned that criminals in a study would pick out the same person time and time again to mug. So while a person doesn’t usually want to get hit over the head and have their wallets stolen, they are attracting it to themselves by the way they portray themselves to the outside world. All about comfort zone. Why do children of alcoholics marry alcoholics? Again comfort zone. While some comfort zones are nice, others are ugly and until I learn what mine are I will attract to me certain things time and time again. I need to become conscious of what it is I’m putting out there and how I want to attract different things into my life.

                I learned many things in the Context Associated series, well worth trying if there’s any in your area. But the most important to writers is this. In today’s world the idea of self-marketing is of utmost importance. Gone are the days of company paid book tours. The internet has changed our lives and while you may get a novel published either via self or through an ebook company it is up to you to do your own marketing. Just ask the aging rock stars of the world. I don’t think you’ll ever see another Bon Jovi or Rolling Stones rock group making hundreds of millions off music sales and doing world tours.

                I’ve been busy learning that I have to step outside my comfort zone and believe in myself and my writings. Just like Ronald McDonald believed once he took off his clown outfit he could cook a mean burger. I’ve been linking, blogging and posting on facebook and lately twitter. Hated twitter, as a writer what can I say in 140 letters? Give me a novel to write and different scenario, Comfort zone. I have to believe that my writing is better than good. It is great and I can and will put myself first and out there. Yes, that is stepping outside of what most insulated writers do. Yup. It’s easy to sit in a room and bang away at typewriter keys, oh sorry another changing thing of the times. How many of those do you think they sold last year? So go ahead and put your foot on the center stage in front of billions, or at least here’s hoping. Get Twittering, Insta whatever, facebooking and using whatever new medium pops up these years. There is the old story of a writer who gave up and filed away his ideas for kids books. Until one of his friends said, after reading the dust collecting book on his shelf. “I think there’s a market for green eggs and ham.”

Make your New Years Resolution as Mrs. Frank’s. I bet her context around comfort zone was stretched when she said, “I put that Sh*t on everything.” Look where that got her.

So get out there and put your books and life in front of the world. 

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Prima Doll Card by Cheryl Wright

 

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I will start of this post by telling you a bit about myself - since it's been suggested by my publisher BooksWeLove.

I have been a creative for as long as I can remember, beginning with hand-sketched drawings when I was about eight, and progressing to painting with acrylics at around ten.

I also began writing when I was about ten, after a hippy substitute teacher took over my grade six class for nearly a year. When he arrived, guitar slung over his shoulder, I moved to the back of the classroom. As the weeks went on, I slowly moved closer to the front.

After many months of listening to classical poetry, and learning the stories behind each poem, we progressed to writing our own poetry and then short stories. More time was spent outside the classroom (writing poetry and short stories) than was spent in it.

It was a year of enlightenment for me, and one I will never forget.

By eleven, I was editor of the high school newspaper and began writing non-fiction articles for my local council.  Over the years I have written for national and international magazines, written sales pages for internet sites, as well as undertaking business writing.  (Sometimes you just have to put money on the table.)

Throughout all of this, my love for writing fiction, particularly romantic suspense, has never waned.

In addition to running a website for writers for over ten years, I have been writing coach on a one-to-one basis for several writers. Working as a staff trainer for about twelve years certainly helped in this area. 

On a more personal level, my husband Alan and I recently celebrated 41 years together. We have two adult "children" and six grandchildren, three of whom have lived with us for the past twelve years. It's a challenge at times, but you do what you have to do.

For a little over fifteen years, I have dabbled in creating greeting cards, which I find to be very relaxing. Many a plot problem has been solved in my craft room! I have recently begun art journaling, as well as canvases. (YouTube is a wealth of information for just about any topic!)

On that note, here is a card and canvas I made for my granddaughter's 15th birthday this week.

The image is a Prima Doll, with several different (but similar) images in the range.  Since it was for a teenager, I made sure there was lots of bling and ribbons on this card.

Here is the canvas I made to go with it.

I am very new at canvases, so it's not perfect, and is very basic, but I'm pretty happy with it, and my granddaughter did love it. (And that's the main thing.)

I hope you've enjoyed this card and learning more about me. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Links:

My website:  www.cheryl-wright.com 
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cherylwrightauthor 
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/writercheryl
BWL website: http://bookswelove.net/authors/wright-cheryl/ 

Brain-Scrambling Earworms by Stuart R. West

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Not too long ago, on the way back from the grocery store (imagine this dramatically emblazoned upon the big screen like a Star Wars scrawl), my wife suddenly shouted, “Oh, my God!”

“What? What’s wrong?” I imagine the worst, maybe a spider crawling on the window next to her.  (And believe me, with her that is the worst; once she jumped out of her still running car when she saw a spider).

“I’ve got the EZ Brite jingle running through my head,” she exclaimed.

That actually brought me a great amount of happiness. EZ Brite doesn’t exist, nor does the jingle. It’s a fictional teeth-whitening product I created for my new comedy mystery, Bad Day in a Banana Hammock. One of my two protagonists, Zak (an extremely vapid, but good-hearted male stripper), has the jingle crawling through his head at the most inopportune moments. Particularly when he needs to focus on why he wakes up with no memories of the previous night. And next to a dead, naked man.

“EZ Brite makes your teeth clean, EZ Brite gets out the greennnn…”

By definition, an earworm is a memorable piece of music that continually repeats through a person's mind after it is no longer playing. It’s also known as a brainworm; some people refer to it as “stuck song syndrome.” No matter what you call it, earworms are insidious and harder to get rid of than poison ivy.

What really surprised me, though, is the amounts of research scientists have given this phenomenon.  A long list of researchers (too long, too boring to list here) has been studying this illness since at least the ‘50s. 98% of the population is bothered by this condition. While it affects both men and women, it tends to irritate women more and stays with them longer (probably due to the natural tunnel vision of men). Suggested cures? OCD medication, brain puzzles like Sudoku and chewing gum.

“EZ Brite, nice and easy, seconds to apply, really breezy…”

Unfortunately, my fictional earworm has been bothering me since penning my book.

But I had relief over the holidays. Radio stations inundated us with even worse earworms.  You couldn’t turn the dial without being tortured by Santa Baby. For my wife, it was Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. Both equally obnoxious earworms.

Chewing gum didn’t help me (my wife can’t stand to be around gum-chewers). Perhaps someday, scientists will actually create a true cure for this sickness that infects 98% of the world. With that high a percentage, you’d think the men in lab-coats would prioritize it. Maybe they’ll create a brain-implanted chip that can turn earworms off. I mean, we can “block” friends on Facebook with relative ease. This just seems like the next logical step.

“EZ Brite goes on quick, tastes so good, just give it a lick…”

And I apologize for contributing to this sinister disease with my fictional earworm.

There are more verses of the EZ Brite jingle in Bad Day in a Banana Hammock. There’s also Zach’s tough, take no guff, ex-detective sister, Zora, who has three kids in tow and one on the way. She’s also very cranky. Stir in a murder mystery involving a plastic surgery enhanced femme fatale, a frighteningly large and deadly European chauffeur, a dead politician, a gleefully loud politician, a Hillaryesque politician’s wife, a competitive male stripper in a fireman’s outfit, a conspiracy theory hermit, aging hippie parents, and squabbling kids and maybe—just maybe—you’ll be distracted enough to not add a new earworm to your minds IPod.