How Do You Balance WORK AND PLAY?

With our busy lifestyles: families, friends, children, jobs (inside and out of the home), social networking, and for those of us who write, how do we fit in writing time and at the same time try to balance work and play?

If you're in constant work mode like workaholics, your work will suffer and so will your health. You will burn out. You may suffer from headaches, migraines, and other illnesses. If you're a writer, you writing may lose that spark.

If you have too much playtime, you'll never accomplish anything, you'll have little motivation because you have difficulty reaching a goal. Stop wasting time, set smaller, short term goals to start and set a schedule, make it a habit. Work on one goal at the same time everyday and you will accomplish it. Then you'll be motivated to set larger goals.

We need down time, fun time to re-energize. Here are a couple tips. Please share your own.

Balance Work and Play Tips:

1. Make a schedule or write on a calender work related items, have-to-dos, and fun times. Yes, schedule fun times in.
2. Set short term and long term goals. Write them down and the steps you will do to achieve them. Read your goal list every day.
3. Keep open to new opportunities. People, places or things to help you with your goals. If you're in a goal frame of mind, these synchronistic incidents occur. Really.
4. Set priorities so you're not overwhelmed with the little stuff. Family, friends should be priority. They're your support system and also need your support. But take care of you too. Everyone needs downtime especially primary caretakers who can end up ill themselves when taking care of ill parents and spouses.
5. Plan your downtime to make the best use of the limited time. Meditate, read, watch a favorite TV show/movie, start a craft, take a class at a local college or on-line, learn a new skill (can be a great motivator and boost to your self-esteem), meet with a friend.

The idea for the blog post came to mind because I have a new anthology coming out today along with two amazing writers: Ruby Storm and Virginia Cavanaugh.
WORK AND PLAY releases today 10/30/12 at Ellora's Cave in print only and will soon be available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The stories included in this anthology:

"His Toys" by Ruby Storm
"Spring Break" by Kathy Kulig
"Mixing Business with Pleasure" by Virginia Cavanaugh

Hope you'll check it out.

This book was pre-released at the recent RomantiCon convention in Canton, Ohio and all three authors sold out of their copies!!! So it's going to be a big seller.

Ellora's Cave #RomaniCon12 Conference Blast

Ellora’s Cave sure knows how to throw a conference, I mean party to celebrate their authors and readers. Whatever you want to call the 4-day event in Canton, Ohio from October 11-14 RomantiCon was a huge, HUGE hit.

The entire McKinley Grand Hotel was taken over by erotic romance authors, readers, reviewers, some media, EC staff and the hunky Cavemen.

Nick & Ace (never see Ace w/o a smile)

Canton is a nice little town with historic architecture, a First Ladies Museum across the street, an Antique Car museum a few blocks away and the Football Hall of Fame. The hotel provided shuttle service to the Football Hall of Fame and dh loved it.

Cavemen did a number of amazing shows

Thursday started with a Meet 'n Greet which felt like a family reunion of old friends and a chance to meet new ones. During the day on Friday and Saturday many of the workshops were standing room only. I participated in three: BDSM, Why We Love it; BDSM Hurt So Good; and Paranormal Creatures: The Good, The Bad and the Undead.

 

 

I got some great feedback from the workshops and hope to do similar ones next year and maybe some new ones. Besides the workshops, there were pitch sessions with the editors and fun demo/participating events like a class on Zumba with Caveman Nick, a hulla hoop class and one on lap dancing with a very interesting demo. Congratulations on Caveman Nick for winning Mr. RomantiCon 2012.

Cole,  David Cavemen

 

Christine d'Abo dancing away

 

PARTY!!!! Friday night was the Party Like It’s the End of the World (aka Mayan Apocalypse). Lots of bling and an awesome show by the Cavemen. The second night was the party of the survivors and biters (zombies). After the apocalypse. Amazing costumes and EC did a wonderful job with the creepy table settings and backdrops.

 

That's me w/Mr. Kathy
 

 



Cris Anson & ???



 I was dressed as a zombie killer who looked more like Trinity in the movie Matrix one attendee said and dh was dressed as a zombie. White business shirt and tie, coated in blood with yucky zombie makeup. He looked like the office worker who got out of work and got bit.

Kaenar Langford & Isabelle Drake

 

Nick & Tara Nina
 

By the second night, even the two cops who were hired to keep things in order got into the party mode. They must’ve realized they had nothing to worry about after the first night. We know how to party but no one was getting out of hand. So on Saturday night, they wore EC’s “Got Sex” black tee-shirts, sunglasses and had cameras with them. Gotta love it.

Joey Hill & Desiree Holt

 

Awards were given that night for Rising Stars: new EC authors who had their first book published and special awards nominated by the editors. I received a Super Star award for Damned and Defiant for the Best Reason for Getting a Sunburn. LOL.

 

Lynn LaFleur

The book signing on Sunday was a huge success. My new anthology WORK AND PLAY with fellow authors Ruby Storm and Virginia Cavanaugh SOLD OUT!!! I’m so excited to be included in this anthology with these two talented authors. What a great trilogy of stories. Check it out on October 30^th. The official release date.

Virginia Cavanaugh

I also sold a number of Something Wicked this Way Comes anthologies and several eBook coverflats of Damned and Defiant, Emerald Dungeon and Spring Break.
 

PJ party w Taylor

The last fun event: The Bingo PJ party. That will have to be a yearly tradition. Everyone had so much fun. We all win when you get to watch the Cavemen walk around in their PJ’s and furry slippers. Can’t wait until next year. I miss everyone already. Many thanks to the Ellora's Cave staff, the hotel staff,  the Cavemen and everyone who helped to make this conference a HUGE success.

Work & Play Was Never Like This

RELEASE DATE!!! For the new anthology: October 30th!!

Work and Play by Ruby Storm, Kathy Kulig and Virginia Cavanaugh

This PRINT anthology will be pre-released at Romanticon And then its official release date to the public will be on October 30th.

Here are blurbs for the three HOT stories within this collection. Each of these stories are available separately by eBook.

His Toys by Ruby Storm
Spring Break by Kathy Kulig
Mixing Business w/ Pleasure by Virginia Cavanaugh

His Toys by Ruby Storm Sanford Willard is a crafter of toys. Not your standard run-of-the-mill playthings created for the general public, mind you, but items designed for the woman who basks in her sexuality on all levels. He has one more step to complete before taking the adult market by storm and that's to ensure his prototypes are the perfect complement to a woman's body. One weekend. One thousand dollars on the table for payment to co-worker Melodee Dayton. Forty-eight hours of extreme pleasure in exchange for her honest opinion. Two consenting adults. A fantasy come true. Get ready to roll the dice of fate. Spring Break by Kathy Kulig Spring break beyond your wildest fantasies? If Justin Watkins can stop watching over his college students like Big Brother, he might convince the prim-and-proper Mariko Maguire to be his sex partner at the invitation-only adult club called TropiX. Mariko is in Fort Lauderdale on business, trying to secure new clients for her PR firm. Abandoning prior commitments for one wickedly lustful evening—a one-night stand of kinky sex—was not on her agenda. Carter Bosworth is looking for an evening of sex games during his layover in the tropical playground. He’s a regular at TropiX and always open for a new thrill. His plans are sidetracked, but it may be to his benefit after all when he meets the beautiful Mariko. The potent heat developing between Justin and Mariko tempts her into shedding her inhibitions, and an exploration in eroticism beyond her imagination develops at the fetish club. Mixing Business with Pleasure by Virginia Cavanaugh Sonia Brooks has been nursing a crush on co-worker Evan Fitz for the last few months. So when their boss pairs them together to create a blowout advertisement package for X-stasy Condoms, Sonia realizes she’s been handed the chance of a lifetime. All she has to do is convince Evan that sampling the product would further their goals—both in the office and out. BLOG TOUR Still time to WIN PRIZES! If you're following my month-long blog tour for my Ellora's Cave release Damned and Defiant, here's the list of places and dates below. $20 Gift Card and tote bag of books will be given to two commentors at the end of the tour. And a drawing for a FREE eBook will be given at each stop.    October 1: The Bunny's Review October 8: Romance with an Attitude October 8: REVIEW ONLY Reviews by Molly October 15: TBQ's Book Palace October 22: Long and Short Reviews: Erotic Romance Guests October 29: Ramblings From This Chick