Every Friday, I plan to do a What I Learned This Week post. Why? Because I can. Disclaimer:  Not everything written will be writing related. My personal, professional and author life is fair game, but the innocents’ identities will be withheld. If I divulge names, my friends and family will kick my ass. At the end of the post, I’ll list the song of the week replayed over and over again by myself, plus a quote. Feel free to leave a comment about what you learned this week. Through this, I’m hoping someone out there will either learn something new or share something new.

1. I can send an Amazon gift card via email. Wow, great for contests, and no postage necessary!
2. Constantly checking Shadow Watcher’s Amazon Rankings is bad for my morale. My goal for next week is to stop looking and keep on writing the next book in the series.
3. Paying it forward by helping my fellow authors feels great! Will be doing more of this. Group hugs J.
4. I can chart my own path. I want some control over release dates. Therefore, I’m going Indie by self-publishing my contemporary romance novellas while I’ll continue to write and submit my paranormal romances to Crimson Romance, an imprint of Adams Media.
5. Networking and being involved in social media is important. Writers understand other writers just like I’d rather talk shop with my coworkers than my husband. The support is invaluable.
6. The motivation to write is proportional to the cups of coffee consumed. I didn’t have too much coffee this week. My word count was dismal. Will have lots of coffee this weekend.
7. Life goes on even when no one buys our books. I spent time with my friends and family and joined more networking sites. I pitched ideas to my editor for promoting Shadow Watcher. She loved it. We also have something planned to promote my upcoming Vampire Slayer novel, My Fallen. Persistence is important.

Replay song of the week:  Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t You Worry Child

Quote of the week:  “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Pride and Prejudice ~ Jane Austen