Welcome Michelle Dim-St. Pierre, author of Pinnacle Lust, with a guest post posing the question of whether writing can really fit into a tidy time constraint. If you're a writer, I'm sure you'll be nodding your head, yes, like I did at Michelle's answer!
Can Writing Be A 9 To 5 Job?
by Michelle Dim-St. Pierre
The 9 to 5 lifestyle: go to the office, do your work; leave the office, leave work behind. In some ways it has its advantages, something I thought I could bring with me when I decided to work for myself.
A while back I found myself able to live my dream of becoming a full time writer. Excited at the possibility of putting my heart and soul into my new position, I created a cozy writing space in my home. I had the best of intentions, and readied my days for long hours of writing and editing, pouring my heart and my inspiration into everything I wrote. Then the challenges began.
I could stare at the screen for hours, never getting more than a word or two out at a time. Yet the moment I would leave my workspace and do something just for me, that’s when true inspiration would find me. Very quickly I realized that as a full time writer, I would never have a 9 to 5 job ever again.
Writing doesn’t work that way. Writing is a process that extends beyond the time you spend behind a computer screen, fingers touching the keys. To become a writer means always thinking about how your words will come together. It means cultivating ideas from every thing I do, watching stories grow and come together in my mind.
I have learned several things in my time as a writer; things that have helped me become more efficient with my writing process.
Limit my writing time
While I need creative time to write each day, its equally important to have time for other things. Health, wellness, relationships – they all have an equal place in my life.
Block time for more purpose
I value the time I spend on each area of my life each day. When its writing time, I write. When I spend time with family, I’m ever present. I believe in blocking my time into chunks for more purpose and more focus.
Build ideas from what inspires you
What inspires me? Travel. Cooking. Being the best I can be. And as I discover myself through all of my activities, I find I become more inspirational as a writer, with more to give to what I do.
Find what has meaning in your life
Some of my happiest times involved places and events that allowed me to discover the best of me. They continue to inspire me today, giving me viewpoints and perspectives that make my writing more real and more vivid.
*Thank you to Wow! Women on Writing for providing this stop on Michelle Dim St. Pierre's blog tour! For more information and more tour stops, click here.
**Check out these stops for giveaways!!!
Monday, June 8 @ Empty Nest
Review and Giveaway
Thursday, June 11 @ Romance Junkies
guest Post and Giveaway
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michelle Dim-St. Pierre was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel, where she spent more than half of her life before relocating to the United States. She lived through four wars and served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years. Unlike her first year of service in an armored division in the Golan Heights, she spent her second year serving in the medical corps where she interacted directly with the injured soldiers of the Peace of Galilee war and their families. This interaction, along with the exposure to the hospital atmosphere, fascinated Michelle and further touched her heart.
After graduating from nursing school with a BS in Nursing in Tel-Aviv, she practiced internationally for 32 years in various positions in the surgical field and quickly advanced into health care administration. During her career she worked in the Operating Room, Recovery Room, and CCU--along with many other duties.
Writing was Michelle's outlet at first, but it soon became her passion. Recently she left nursing and became a full-time writer. Her international background, along with her military and nursing experience is always at the tip of her pen. Her first novel, Pinnacle Lust, starts the Pinnacle trilogy.
Michelle is a world traveler who enjoys cooking epicurean food and creating original recipes.
Find out more about Michelle by visiting her online:
Website and blog: http://www.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
ABOUT: Pinnacle Lust By Michelle Dim-St. Pierre
Review by Jodi Webb
Pinnacle Lust takes place during a time in history most of us are familiar with: the 1990s and Desert Storm. The twist is, instead of observing that moment in history through the eyes of citizen of the United States we see it through the eyes of an Israeli nurse. The Israeli culture gives the entire story a fresh feel as Sharon deals with love in an extremely conservative and religious community that is ruled by powerful men.
At first, Pinnacle Lust seems like a traditional story of forbidden love...a married doctor and an unmarried nurse. Author Michelle Dim-St.Pierre adds just a taste of love scenes; instead, much of the passion in the book comes from almost constant frustration of the lovers as they are forced apart by their personal situations and culture. But this book is more complicated than a love story, exploring Sharon's relationships--both personal and business--with many men in this male dominated world. How she handles each situation, sometimes giving in and sometimes fighting against their sexism will have you asking yourself how you would react in this culture.
Dim-St. Pierre does a good job of creating uncertainty for the reader, not unlike the uncertainty that Sharon felt about her own situation. Readers will find themselves seesawing back and forth between loving and hating each character. This novel reflects the ambivalence of the real world, where things are never black and white. Like Sharon, after a while you'll find yourself questioning everyone's motives: the wronged wife, the lovers, the friends, the employers. Why do they make the choices they do? I felt the strongest part of the book was not the love affair but the disintegration of the love affair. When the book stops being about passion and instead delves into fear, jealousy, revenge and even hate. You'll find you can't stop reading as you wonder what will happen to the lovers after the love ends. Will they go back to their old lives or will they be forever changed?
354 pages
Publisher: BookLogix (2015)
ISBN-10: 1610055713
ISBN-13: 978-1610055710
Pinnacle Lust is available in paperback, hardcover, and as an ebook onAmazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBookstore, and Kobo.
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For more information about blog hostess, Audry Fryer,
please visit www.audryfryer.com
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