Be A Healthy Writer in 2012

I've been working really hard to lose weight I'd gained as a result of a Thyroid malfunction. It hasn't been easy and many of my readers have watched me slowly lose the weight over the course of 6 months. In addition to losing 19 pounds with 11 pounds to shed, I've also increased my fitness levels. I have worked out hard and the results are showing in a firmer and more toned body.

As a writer I am very sedentary because it requires sitting in front of a computer screen, whimpering on occasion, and writing in a fixed position. Sometimes I don't want to leave my fictional world to go to the gym because I'm so involved in the story I'm crafting. Sometimes I am unable to leave my writing to take a full hour or more to workout because I have a deadline to meet. Sometimes I don't want to workout just because I'm feeling lazy. But I do. The greatest challenge for me is when I have a deadline.

No. I am not published yet, but I have deadlines. I enter contests to put myself into that position. I hold myself accountable and treat myself as a published writer because once I am published I will have to meet deadlines all the time. There is no time like the present to hone the skill of meeting a professional deadline.

But I must take care of myself. Here are my strategies for protecting myself from a widening derriere and writer's bloat in 2012 particularly when I am in deadline mode.

*Go to the gym and vary my workouts. I attend Zumba and Pilates classes as well as use the weight machines.
*When in Deadline Mode, force myself to get up every hour and move for 15 minutes. This can be stretching, dancing in front of the TV to a music channel, or doing Max Capacity. You can access Max Capacity here.
*Walk. I've discussed this with a writing buddy. We plan on alternating houses every week and writing together. We'll set the timer for 60 minutes, then when it beeps we will walk for fifteen. We'll talk while we walk.
*Get the Fitbit. You can learn more about the Fitbit here. I plan to walk 10,000 steps a day. This will hold me accountable to remaining fit and strong.
*Pay myself a quarter for every workout. A healthy writer is a strong writer. This all contributes to my writing fund which pays for writing activities.
*Look for unique ways to ramp up my fitness levels by doing Wii Dance Programs and attending different classes which challenge my strength and flexibility.
*Feed my body healthy foods so I can increase my health and brain power.

What are your plans for staying strong and healthy in 2012? Do you have any tips for me? I'd love to learn all about it!

Welcome Author Kira Sinclair-Guest Blogger

Please welcome my fellow Heart of Dixie writing friend, author Kira Sinclair.  


She's a Harlequin  BLAZE author with a heart of gold. I'm excited to share my Veranda with her today as she shares about one of her favorite topics: Writing. Today's topic? Setting. And she's got setting nailed in her fabulous new novel, What Might Have Been.  I hope you enjoy meeting Kira as much as I enjoy knowing her!! 

Setting – More Than Just a Place

One of my favorite topics to talk about is writing.  Ask me a question, get me rolling and I can talk your ear off.  I recently had a nice discussion with a friend about settings.  Part of it started because of my bio – if you’ve read it you know I’m a self proclaimed city girl who’s been plopped down in the middle of the country.  The transformation started when my daddy moved us from Michigan to Alabama (and I seriously asked him if we could still wear shoes.  Hey, I was only nine). And continued with my husband’s penchant for bringing home critters...but that’s another discussion for another time.

I’ve come to realize, during my talk of settings, that up until What Might Have Been I’ve focused my attention on fairly urban locations.  Maybe I was feeling homesick.  However, WMHB returned me back to my present existence.  It’s set on a commercial peach orchard.  Now, I don’t live on a working farm.  At the moment the most we raise are goats and baby hamsters, but I do enjoy looking out my kitchen window and seeing the clear stretch of our land instead of my neighbor’s dilapidated trampoline and overgrown flower beds. 

There are definitely advantages to living in the country.  I just miss my pizza delivery guy sometimes. 

I did love doing the research for WMHB though.  Building a fictional small town where everyone knows your business.  The kind where there’s only one funeral home and multiple Baptist churches.  I enjoyed pulling out my learned Southern heritage and finally getting to use it.

So, do you find you gravitate towards a certain kind of setting?  Do you read books where that feel familiar or do you like to change up the pace?  Are you a city girl who likes to read about cowboys or a country girl who likes to travel to the urban meccas?

Kira