Managing the MotherLoad by Jennifer Applin

May Writer Mama Column

My May column for the Writer Mama Zine is up on the blog. It is titled "Cultivate Your Professional Side."  If you'd like to subscribe to the entire zine, just sign up here.

April Writer Mama Column

My April column for the Writer Mama Zine is up on the blog. It is titled "The Write Attitude: Keep An Eye on the Prize."  If you'd like to subscribe to the entire zine, just sign up here.

March Writer Mama Column

My March column for the Writer Mama Zine is up on the blog. It is titled "Expect the Unexpected When Scheduling."  If you'd like to subscribe to the entire zine, just sign up here.

Writer Mama Scholarship

Look what Christina Katz, aka the best writing career instructor out there, is offering?

Have you heard about The Writer Mama Scholarship?

Are you a mom, who would love to take the Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff Class that starts April 16th with author Christina Katz, but you would not otherwise be able to afford it?

Then you qualify for The Writer Mama Scholarship!

The deadline for your short application is one week only: Saturday, March 8th - Saturday March 15th at midnight (please note, slight date change).

Please read the guidelines completely and double-check your work. The recipient will be announced by midnight, March 16th, in the Writer Mama Riffs blog and in the April The Writer Mama zine (you can subscribe at the blog by clicking on the envelope).

Please feel free to spread the word about the scholarship, even if you do not intend to apply!

Copy and paste the application:

http://thewritermama.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/the-april-16th-writer-mama-scholarship-for-writing-and-publishing-the-short-stuff/

February Writer Mama Column

My February column for the Writer Mama Zine is up on the blog. It is titled "Quiet that Questioning Voice in Your Head."  If you'd like to subscribe to the entire zine, just sign up here. Also, Christina recently gave me a gold star! You've got to love virtual pats on the back :-)

My one word for 2008

I've come across a number of blogs where the authors are posting about their one word for 2008. I thought it'd be fun to do the same. Although I was trying to come up with something really unique and creative to describe my goals for 2008, the same word kept popping up in my head. That word is GROW!

Some of my 2008 plans to grow include:

-my writing career. This will only be my second full year of freelance writing, but I've been blessed with many opportunities. This year I plan to really focus and make the most of these opportunities.

-religiously/spiritually. My husband and I have been trying to find our way in a religious sense for a few years. Although it has been a difficult journey we are thrilled with the results. We have joined a church that really promotes spiritual growth and we look forward to all of the positive changes that come with that.

-my health. Inevitably I will grow older each day. My plan is to make that growth as healthy as possible. I don't have specific goals for dieting or fitness, but I do want to adapt an all-around healthier lifestyle for growing older.

-my family life. A few years back my husband and I realized that we needed a whole-life makeover. This has been a gradual process, but we've now reached the point where we can reflect on how far we've come. A driving force behind that makeover was the desire to have a greater family life. Thanks to changes in careers, schedules and priorities we will now be able to enjoy more family time together. I look forward to the ways we will grow closer as a family.

-our family size. Although I will address this in a separate post down the road, I am happy to annouce that we are looking into starting the adoption process this year. If not by the end of 2008, then sometime soon after we anticipate that our family will grow in size.

So, these are some of the reasons that I kept coming back to the word "grow" as my one word to describe my plans for 2008. What's your word?

Check out my January "Writer Mama" column

Yippee, my January column for the Writer Mama Zine is up on the blog. The column is titled: "The Write Attitude: Find a Supportive Network". Although this advice is for aspiring writers it can be applied to other life changes. If you'd like to subscribe to the entire zine, just sign up here.

Happy 2008!!

I love starting a new year! To me it's all about taking stock in where you're at and considering where you want to be. It's the opportunity to make a fresh start and do things better. Of course you can do this any time of year (and I actually start making my plans in the fall), but something about the first day of a new year seems to be a great time to put all of your plans into action.

Instead of listing my action plan here in it's entirety I'll be posting about them throughout the next few weeks. First up: a new schedule!

This has been in the works for quite some time. Now that my husband's work schedule has changed we will have a new family schedule as well. The thing that I'm most excited about is that we'll actually have a day of rest! For now on Sundays will be spent going to church, engaging in family activities, taking a nap/having quiet time (even I will be getting a little shut eye during the day), and enjoying some personal time!

In order to make this work I need to adjust my work schedule a bit. I don't plan on working more during the week, but instead working harder and making the most of my time. My goal is to get all of my work done Mon-Fri. Saturday will be spent getting caught up on errands, cleaning, cooking and if absolutely necessary I can work a little to meet an urgent deadline.

My new schedule starts today (and I'll probably be up many hours tonight to complete a few articles-but I'm really excited). Did I mention I'll actually get a day of rest?!?  I haven't had one of those in years!

Coming Soon....

I have a lot of new plans for this blog all set and ready to go for 2008. The new content includes:

-book reviews

-organization tips

-parenting advice

-suggestions for making time for yourself and others

-ideas for being charitable

-ways to live a faith-filled life

-Featured Resource Friday

Stay tuned....the new blogging format starts today :-)

Writer Mama Giveaway!

In case you missed it, Christina Katz at Writer Mama is in the middle of her month-long Back-To-School Daily Giveaway. Check it out and enter daily to win some great writing resources!