I was having a so-so week. You might know the kind. I got in some new words, but none were wildly inspired. I kept up with the business side of my writing life. I did the odd bit of reading for “professional development.” I felt good about being disciplined, if not overly rah-rah about what I was accomplishing. I had faith though—having learned by now that inspiration usually comes on the heels of perspiration, not before.

Sure enough toward the end of the week, a little flame flared. I’d worked in my WIP enough to break through the plodding slump. New ideas zipped through my brain, sparking fires. I’m pretty confident I’m going to finish the rough draft of a new Toni Sheridan novella this month!

I took Thursday night off and went out for coffee with an editing/writing colleague and gained fresh energy, listening to her excitement over upcoming plans to step back from her editing and focus more on her own novels.

A friend, who’d needed some encouragement in her own artistic pursuits and found the pep talk she needed in a speech by Neil Gaiman, referred said speech to me. He had so many good, thought-provoking things to say that I plan to listen to it again soon with a pen and notebook in hand to jot down quotes. Perhaps what spoke to me the most was his advice to enjoy what we’re doing and where we’re at right now . . . and his observations about friends who are so unhappy in the work they do, and how lucky we are to have something we love.

And then, the icing on my week! Author Liz Schulte (who I’ve raved about before because of her talent and her amazing work ethic) gave me the most fantastic news. One of her latest books, Easy Bake Coven, was selected by iBooks for their Break Out Books in the UK and Ireland list. So exciting and so deserved!

The news followed contact made by Amazon last month, asking Liz if they could set up pre-orders for her next book (Easy Bake Coven’s sequel, Hungry, Hungry Hoodoo) because her sales are that good. I’m beyond excited to see her breaking out and her books becoming mainstream. She offers fast-paced, edge of your seat mysteries and page-turning urban fantasy adventures, and her characters are great. If you haven’t tried her yet, you should. 🙂

Goals and dreams—however fun, sometimes silly, and “too big” they may sometimes seem—do come true. Can be achieved.

Do go and check out Liz Schulte’s books, and if there’s anything you take away from my meh-to-motivated week, let it be the lovely reminders I received: Do the work. Make time to refuel. Celebrate what you’ve already accomplished. Dream and make plans!