This is how I feel!

I just found out that J'adore New York made Quill & Quire's Canadian bestseller list! This has made me very happy!

Speaking of happy, here are Nathan Bransford's 10 commandments for happy writers, and I think they are fantastic words to live by!

1. Enjoy the present. Writers are dreamers, and dreamers tend to daydream about the future while concocting wildly optimistic scenarios that involve bestsellerdom, riches, and interviews with Ryan Seacrest. In doing so they forget to enjoy the present. I call this the "if only" game. You know how it goes: if only I could find an agent, then I'll be happy. When you have an agent, then it becomes: if only I could get published, then I'll be happy. And so on. The only way to stay sane in the business is to enjoy every step as you're actually experiencing it. Happiness is not around the bend. It's found in the present. Because writing is pretty great -- otherwise why are you doing it?

2. Maintain your integrity. With frustration comes temptation. It's tempting to try and beat the system, whether that's by having someone else write your query, lying to the people you work with, or, you know, concocting the occasional fake memoir. This may even work in the short term, but unless you are Satan incarnate (and I hope you're not) it will steadily chip away at your happiness and confidence, and your heart will shrivel and blacken into something they show kids in health class to scare them away from smoking. Don't do it.

3. Recognize the forces that are outside of your control. While it's tempting to think that it's all your fault if your book doesn't sell, or your agent's fault or the industry's fault or the fault of a public that just doesn't recognize your genius, a lot of times it's just luck not going your way. Chance is BIG in this business. Huge. Gambling has nothing on the incredibly delicate and complex calculus that results in a book taking off. Bow before the whims of fate, because chance is more powerful than you and your agent combined.

4. Don't neglect your friends and family. No book is worth losing a friend, losing a spouse, losing crucial time with your children. Hear me? NO book is worth it. Not one. Not a bestseller, not a passion project, nothing. Friends and family first. THEN writing. Writing is not an excuse to neglect your friends and family. Unless you don't like them very much.

5. Don't Quit Your Day Job. Quitting a job you need to pay the bills in order to write a novel is like selling your house and putting the proceeds into a lottery ticket. You don't have to quit your job to write. There is time in the day. You may have to sacrifice your relaxation time or sleep time or reality television habit, but there is time. You just have to do it.

6. Keep up with publishing industry news. It may seem counter intuitive to follow the news of a business in which layoffs currently constitute the bulk of headlines. But it behooves you to keep yourself informed. You'll be happier (and more successful) if you know what you're doing.

7. Reach out to fellow writers. No one knows how hard it is to write other than other people who have tried to do it themselves. Their company is golden. If you're reading this it means you have an Internet connection. Reach out and touch a writer. And plus, the Internet allows you to reach out to writers without smelling anyone's coffee breath.

8. Park your jealousy at the door. Writing can turn ordinary people into raving lunatics when they start to believe that another author's success is undeserved. Do not begrudge other writers their success. They've earned it. Even if they suck.

9. Be thankful for what you have. If you have the time to write you're doing pretty well. There are millions of starving people around the world, and they're not writing because they're starving. If you're writing: you're doing just fine. Appreciate it.

10. Keep writing. Didn't find an agent? Keep writing. Book didn't sell? Keep writing. Book sold? Keep writing. OMG an asteroid is going to crash into Earth and enshroud the planet in ten feet of ash? Keep writing. People will need something to read in the resulting permanent winter.





(Image via Style in the city)

Fashion by the sea+ When to write in coffee shops

How gorgeous is this fashion editorial? It reminds me of my recent trip to Deauville. 

Here's some more great writing advice: When to write in coffee shops. I personally find it very difficult to write in public places, I'm too easily distracted by noise, conversations and checking out what people are wearing! But for those of you that can do it, this is helpful...

When to Go:

• When a parade of interesting characters might be inspiring -- i.e. at the start of a book.

• At the moment when you think you might throw in the towel. The sight of other people hammering away at their keyboards might spur you on.

• If you've just thrown out a bunch of pages. The chatter of other people can be soothing compared to the chatter in your head.

• When you've been stuck on something in the story and a change of scenery might break the logjam.

When to Stay Home:

• When you're trying to capture the tone or voice of a story. I think it's hard to hear the nuances in a coffee shop.

• When you're trying to really get some pages under your belt -- you're on deadline, for example, or you're working towards a big page milestone. Stay home, turn off the phone, tell all your friends that you're "head down" and will let them know when you come up for air.

• When you're solving problems whose answers might be on the Internet. If I have a lot of windows open and I'm whipping back and forth between websites and my text, I don't want to imagine that someone could be looking over my shoulder at the strange sites I'm visiting.

• When you're editing for continuity and can't afford to make a mistake.

• When you're doing a final polish and need to hear every detail in your mind.

(Images via here)