I’m a proud Steeleworker. No, I don’t climb skyscrapers and eat my sack lunch sitting out on a steel beam ninety stories above the ground (although that does sound fascinating.)

I’m a fan of Dayna Steele, radio and television personality, entrepreneur, business author and keynote speaker. I consider Dayna to be a mentor, and I look forward to her Daily Success Tip in my inbox every day. I feel quite proud when she shares a tip I’m already doing, such as not linking all my social media accounts, delivering a targeted message to each specific audience. Although I do sometimes post similar themes across several sites, I don’t have all my tweets go to facebook or vice versa. As Dayna says, “…each platform is different with a different audience – what you say and how you say it on Twitter is completely different than what you say and how you say it on LinkedIn or Facebook.”

Then every once in a while there’s a tip that just doesn’t fit me. Like getting up early. (I write at night and hubby takes the kids in the morning.) Last April, Dayna shared the tip “Say this now: Sure I can do that.” This is great advice, and I’ve said yes to many things, such as returning to teaching after my youngest was born, and proofreading for a small publisher to get experience and make contacts in the field.

However, I’m in a different position as a writer now. Three years ago, I followed some advice I found on Nelson Literary Agency’s website and I started this blog and proactively began to grow my proffesional network as a writer. In those years, I’ve gone from being a newbie wondering “Where can I submit to? Who will like my stories? What are the first steps?” to being a professional with several stories published a few more on the way.

Having developed an absolutely wonderful network of both professionals and amateurs in the writing world, from Science Fiction to Romance and everything that lies between or overlaps, I frequently come across calls for submissions or hear about opportunities to expand my writing career. At first, I said “yes” frequently, but now I have to carefully pick and choose which opportunities I look into. Sometimes, even though an opportunity doesn’t pay much, it’s either a project I really believe in and want to support, or it’s useful to me as professional development.

It’s very easy to get overloaded. I love writing, but as in any job there are necessary activities that aren’t as joyful as the writing itself. Although I’d love to believe that writing professionally means sitting down as the muse hits and producing great works of literary wonder, writing comes with commitments. When I’m choosing what projects to pursue, I have to keep in mind the commitments that go along with it, and make sure I can meet them. I need to figure in my non-writing schedule, such as parenting and being a good spouse. I also need to consider those unexpected hurdles that inevitably come up, such as being sick for eight weeks. (I started this blog post three weeks ago, and couldn’t concentrate on the computer long enough to finish it.)

The kids have two days of school left. I try to keep our summers light and fun. My writing schedule will change as the kids will not be in school. I have two stories coming out soon…

The House on Paladin Court is in the Urban Fantasy anthology Real World Unreal, part of the Theme-thology series of original stories by amazing authors.  

The Remorse of the Incorporeum is in the Weird Fic anthology Sulfurings Tales from Sodom & Gomorrah, part of the Biblical Speculative Fiction series from Garden Gnome Publications. My story The Genesis of the Incorporeum appeared in the first Biblical Spec Fic anthology The Garden, and I plan to submit to the rest of the series as well.

I’ll share the covers and links when they’re available.