Quiet Keystrokes and Midnight Ramblings

There comes a time in our lives, and for me that time is now, when it is apparent that the world wants us to move on to new endeavors.  I received word from the Yahoo Contributor Network that they are discontinuing the featured writer's program that I have been blessed to be a part of and are replacing it with a "new and improved" program with stricter guidelines.  Reading between the lines I got the feeling that they realized how much money they were paying out to writers of all levels and decided to cull the herd a bit in response to Google b*tch slapping their internet ratings. While it is disappointing to be let go from the program only a few months after being accepted into it, it has given me time to reflect.  What I want to be as a writer is not a "jill of all trades", but rather someone who is known for writing a specific subject and known as a writer of books.  Truth be told I have spent so much time writing about luggage , dry feet and small bu...

In another feat of pen and paper, I am pleased to announce that I have been approved as a featured Business & Finance contributor on Associated Content.  I look forward to the opportunity to explore and share my knowledge of small business management and financing with the Web, and hope that I am able to continue to expand my offerings to both Associated Content and the Yahoo! Contributor Network. I also had my very first article redistributed to a new web source this week; an article I wrote reviewing RedBox back in September for Associated Content was purchased and re-run on Yahoo! Movies.  You can see the new home of the article by clicking here. Every little jump in exposure and opportunity to be seen somewhere new reignites the excitement of writing, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

A lot of growth has been seen on the writing front these last few weeks.  As I mentioned last week, I have been accepted as a writer for Examiner.com  but I've also seen some great forward movement in my other writing.  As Associated Content has become merged into the Yahoo! Contributer Network , I decided to go out on a limb and apply for one of their featured writer positions.  I am happy to announce that I have been accepted as a Featured Travel Contributer!  What this means for me is more consistent writing assignments, more money (hopefully) and greater exposure on the web.  I'm very excited by this, even though it is taking me some getting used to the new content guidelines that Yahoo! has put together.  I'm sure that with practice I will catch on soon though. For a quick trip through the travel articles that won me my Featured Contributor title, please feel free to click the links below.  And the next time you're looking for a vacation, g...

This month has been a whirlwind of activity for those of the Kawaii household.  Some pretty big changes have taken place and we are now helping a family member get back on their feet.  Trips to the Social Security office, the Department of Health and Human Services, GoodWill and various other places have filled up my days and left very little time for writing. I have forced myself to put out a couple of articles this month through Associated Content and have been able to chronicle my drive for a slimmer waistline through another blog called A Smaller Bottom .  Unfortunately, I was forced to miss the 2nd meeting of the writing group I started due to working on moving our family member into the house, but I look forward to meeting up with the other authors again soon to discuss their amazing writing. As things settle out, I look forward to pressing forward with the novel writing.  I even have it marked on my calendar and scheduled out over the next several weeks w...

We have reached the last week of May solidly intact, and happily my 31 day sabbatical from writing, graphics design, marketing and concept art is coming to an end.  I don't really know where the month has gone, but it has been a great time of reflection as well as relaxation and I feel the flow of creativity building up within me. As I get ready to put fingertips to the keyboard once more and get back to the business of making a living, I've started going through some of the things I've written over the last couple of years.  My hope being that I may be able to spark some inspiration for new articles and fiction to be written in the coming weeks.  It is interesting to read through the articles that I know I enjoyed writing versus the articles that have received the highest page views.  Sadly, there isn't always a correlation between what a writer feels is their most enjoyable work and what readers want to read. Take for example, the article I wrote just...