If you are reading this post, you might not be getting the best deals on my writing career development video courses.

This is because only subscribers to The Prosperous Writer get the best deals.

Why?

Because I want to reward the folks who are my biggest fans. And my biggest fans all subscribe to my ezine.

So are you one of my biggest fans?

If so, please subscribe to my ezine so you can benefit from the best deals and special offers I share there.

I will also give you a free gift just for subscribing!

But what about subscribers to my blog, shouldn’t they get great deals, too?

They do. And if you are looking for discount offers, you will find them right here at my easy-to-navigate website.

You don’t have to subscribe to my ezine if you don’t want to. You can always subscribe to my blog instead.

But if you want to make sure you always get the lowest price offers on my video courses right in your inbox, please subscribe to my ezine, The Prosperous Writer.

What does it mean to be a prosperous writer? It means spending your days writing articles, interacting with editors, creating written products of various stripes, and marketing your work.

Being a prosperous writer means spending your days creating, expressing yourself, and dreaming up new ideas.

And by the way, thousands of writers already subscribe to The Prosperous Writer. And some of them have been benefiting from the inspiration for over a decade.

As a subscriber, there is no pressure to participate in special offers. But when you do, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you are saving the most money.

So, what are you waiting for? Become a Christina Katz insider, get the best possible deals on my video courses, receive monthly writing career inspiration and a free gift just for subscribing.

The school year is about to begin and I look forward to helping your writing career blossom as the year progresses!

Discounts on the following classes expire Friday, July 31st:

The Art Of Short Article Writing For Nonfiction Writers (subscribers can add editing services from Christina Katz) More Information

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Meet Hank. Is he the cutest or what?

What if you had a normal, healthy rambunctious little boy — two actually — and then you found out that one of them was not going to grow up and live a long life?

What if you found out one of your sons was literally was going to have the life sucked right out of his muscles, little by little, year by year, and instead of growing stronger and stronger, he was going to grow weaker and weaker?

This is the diagnosis that Iris Dunaway and Solly Perry have had to grapple with regarding their son Hank.

Hank has Duchenne, a type of muscular dystrophy. And there is no way to cure it.

home for hank from Jesi van Leeuwen on Vimeo.

I’m sharing this video and this fundraiser for Hank over at GoFundMe.com in hopes that folks who feel called will give to this cause. I don’t think it’s possible to put ourselves in Iris and Solly’s shoes without wanting to do something that might help.

Iris is a special person to our family because she was Samantha’s babysitter when she was a baby. I found Iris by posting a request on a Western Washington University job board.

Iris was not yet married and did not have any children of her own when she was Samantha’s babysitter. But she was a total pro, and was absolutely passionate about child development. She still is. I could not believe how lucky we got. I still can’t.

When Samantha was two and a half, Jason graduated from Western with his second degree and we moved to Wilsonville, so he could take the job at the high school.

I was sad but not too sad about leaving Bellingham. It’s a cool place, I could say a lot of nice things about it and the people there, but it wasn’t somewhere I wanted to settle for good. But Bellingham will always be the place where Samantha was born, and it will always have a special place in our hearts as long as Iris lives there.

A few years ago, the last time we were in Bellingham, we met up with Iris and her two boys, Hank and Dean, on the green behind Village Books. Hank rode his bike all over kingdom come and I pushed Dean around on his little scooter toy until I was worn out. Both of the boys were completely fearless. By the time we parted, it was clear to me that Iris had her hands full with these two rambunctious little guys…and was totally happy to be their mom.

We did not know then that Hank had an illness. And there was not a speck of evidence of one. And somehow that just makes this reality all that much harder to swallow.

One of the problems with illnesses like this is that in addition to being devastating, they usually comes with huge price tags. In Iris and Solly’s case, Hank’s illness is going to require a lot of money they don’t have and could not possibly raise on their own.

So, if you feel moved to make a donation to A Home For Hank, you would be doing us all a really big favor and making a terrible and terrifying situation a little more tolerable.

Thank you so much for your consideration. Every donation is a blessing and a help. You can donate by clicking here.

And if you pray, or even just send good mojo, please send some up to Bellingham, Washington to Hank and his family. Because they could most certainly use it, today and during the many challenging days to come.

This was Hank (front, left, in the Spidey suit) a few years ago, when we all met up in Bellingham.

Here are five things I’ve learned about article writing over the years:

1. You can always rely on writing and selling short articles to give you that “yes” energy that every writer craves.

2. Writing short articles is enriching and satisfying. I’m fulfilling an assignment for an editor today and I can’t wait to get back to work on it.

3. Short wait time. Why wait years to publish something when you can get something published next month?

4. The demand for short articles never diminishes. If anything the need for short nonfiction articles has only increased, which means most writers are going to need the skills.

5. Short articles are an important and profitable part of every nonfiction writer’s professional portfolio. I sell my articles over and over, year after year, and that’s an important part of my business.

Want to learn everything you need to know about writing short articles that sell? My online course, The Art Of Short Article Writing has launched. Don’t miss this chance to learn from a writing coach who has been teaching others how to land their first clips and increase their sales since 2001.

Learn more about my online article writing classes.

I am a veteran journalist, author and coach with over a decade and a half of experience and a wealth of techniques to share. I am focused on making the world a saner, more expressive place. I help folks become more creative for personal enjoyment, professional development and transformational growth. Whether you are a professional creative or hope to become one some day, I can help you embrace your personal strengths, explore your creative possibilities, and evolve incrementally into your most inspiring self. If you are ready to achieve creative consistency in your life and career, email me about monthly coaching calls. To learn more about increasing your creative confidence, please check out my online school. Stay tuned for ways to save money by becoming a Beta User for my next new course by subscribing to The Prosperous Creative. And don’t forget to get these blog posts delivered to your inbox, so you never miss a post. If you appreciate my work—school, products, blog and social media posts—you are welcome to make a contribution of any size at any time. Thank you for your support!

~ photo by Craig Garner

Did you ever wish you had a writing coach who would check in with you each month to help you stay accountable to your writing goals?

Well, I do all of this and more for my brand new Become Your Own Writing Coach & Multiply Your Productivity x 10, and anyone can join.

Each month you will be provided with a 15-minute video recording you can watch at your leisure.

You will also receive several pages of goal-setting worksheets, which I am always expanding and improving based on group feedback.

Let’s face it, left to our own devices most writers won’t reach their goals each month.

By joining my inexpensive ongoing Accountability Dream Team, you will increase the odds of reaching your short-term goals, which will add up to better long-term results.

All this for just a monthly $10 subscription. I hope you can join us!

Past materials are also available on my Become Your Own Writing Coach page.

If you are not sure if this kind of set up will work for you, feel free to check them out at your convenience.

We all know that folks who write down their goals are not only more successful than folks who don’t write down their goals, but also tend to earn a lot more than their less accountable counterparts.

So what are you waiting for? I bet this will be the best $10 you spend this month! Just click on the badge below to learn more.

I teach writers to prosper by building solid, saleable, life-long career skills via video courses, audio coaching, phone consults, and a subscription-based, monthly writing accountability training group. My multi-media offerings empower writers even in a rapidly evolving publishing marketplace. Hear what folks say about my work.

If you like what you’ve read here, be sure to sign up for The Prosperous Writer ezine to claim your free gift and qualify for exclusive discounts on Christina Katz products.

During the month of July, I am challenging myself to use my Creative Rx Video Affirmation Series every day.

The point is to break through any blocks I may have and reaching my full creative potential.

That’s what Creative Rx is for. It’s a simple tool you can use to replace negative thoughts about yourself and your creative work with positive, supportive thoughts.

It’s such a simple idea. I’m not sure why no one else has ever thought of doing affirmations this way!

Of course plenty of successful people have suggested the use of positive affirmations. But I have simplified the process and made it a lot less corny, so you don’t have to feel so self-conscious about it.

Why? Because over the past 14 years of teaching I’ve learned that every writer needs to be vigilant about keeping their creative house clean. And your mind is your house. Whatever is in your house is the result of your deep-seated beliefs. And these can only be addressed with a gentle, steady approach.

Is it time to clean up your thinking? Would you like to have a more positive, contagious attitude?

You can turn on your videos at the beginning of the day, at the end of the day, whenever you are feeling discouraged or low on energy, or even while you eat your lunch.

The time of day does not matter. What matters is that you pay attention to your response to the videos.

Do you feel at peace with the messages you are getting?

Do you believe they are true?

Do you want to argue or have a debate about them?

Do you want to say, “Yeah, but…”

Once you get to the point where you can peacefully affirm what you see and hear in the videos, you have probably made a big internal shift.

All of those lingering doubts and cynical thoughts that are just so insidious and sabotaging can be replaced with positive, self-trust and creative inspiration.

At the end of the day, there are really only two kinds of people. There are the people who say yes to themselves and there are the people who say no to themselves.

Which kind of person do you want to be?

Purchase Creative Rx for a very low price and you will benefit from using the tool for a lifetime.

And why not join me this month in watching or listening to the ten-minute video series every day during the month of July?

If you do, you will have a whole new mindset by the time August arrives.

Summer is usually when we step back from work a bit, and this makes it the perfect month for upgrading our attitude.

Hope you can join me!

Luckiest photo opp ever. We just happened to be where they were planning to pose for photos on during out last night at the park.

We just returned from a family/dance trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

This is the 60th Anniversary of the park and Disneyland is really going all out to celebrate their Diamond Anniversary, including special events in California Adventure Park.

To be honest, if my daughter’s dance team had not been planning to perform in one of the parks and at Downtown Disney, as well as taking a dance workshop there, I doubt our family would have made the trip this summer.

I am not sure if simply knowing it was the 60th anniversary would have been enough to compel me to go. But now that we have gone, I think skipping a visit during the Diamond Anniversary would have been a mistake.

Before we left, I remembered how much I was inspired by Disneyland the last couple of times we went. But on this visit, I could not help feeling that every creative person really needs to go to Disneyland at least once in their lifetime to reap the rewards. And the Diamond Anniversary Celebration is an extra-inspiring time to go.

Nobody invited me to write this post to promote Disneyland and California Adventure Park. This is purely my opinion as a longtime creative. If you are also a longtime creative, here are a few reasons why you might want to attend:

1. Creativity needs inspiration. There are probably a handful of exceptionally creative people, in my opinion, who maximized their creative gifts in their lifetimes. For me, Walt Disney was definitely one of the most creative and visionary men who ever lived. And any creative person attending the 60th celebration will catch the creative wave that Disney created and feel buoyed up by it.

2. Walt Disney was a creative visionary and a business person. I have been teaching creatives to become more professional since 2001. Disney did not combine the two skills perfectly all the time, but I have yet to meet anyone who does. Most creatives I know can stand to expand their professional skills. But you can’t help but think of your creativity as a business after a trip to Disneyland.

3. It’s fun to feel like a kid again. Taking your family to Disneyland is a lot of work. No matter how large your family, there is no way to avoid some of the logistical stress that accompanies any cross-country family vacation. But you know what? About fifteen minutes after you enter either of the two parks, Disneyland or California Adventure, you will forget about everything except how much fun you are having.

4. We live in cynical times. We compartmentalize things. We intellectualize. We justify feeling stuck by calling it “being a responsible adult.” But in doing so, we cut off our access to the magic that might otherwise seep into our everyday lives. At Disneyland, the staff is trained to turn up the magic. And this is a feeling you cannot help but catch and enjoy during your visit.

5. You are probably stuck in the ways that you think. No matter how much I already appreciated the way Disney used to think, and no matter how much I have always been inspired by previous visits to Disneyland, I am always struck by just how eye-opening the experience is each time. And to make matters better, I notice and appreciate new things every time I go.

6. Disney was global and multimedia before it was easy to accomplish either goal. Today, we can go global in the touch of a few buttons on a laptop. What would Disney have accomplished if this had been the case for him? And yet, despite the challenges in creating a progressive, evolving business model, he found ways to make it work. Check out this two-hour documentary on Walt Disney, below, for more background information.

7. It all started with a drawing of a mouse. Then Disney animated the mouse. Then he produced a few short films with the mouse. Then he produced Steamboat Willie. Then he kept doing more smart things with the mouse like adding merchandising and launching The Mickey Mouse Club. Eventually Mickey Mouse earned Walt Disney an honorary Oscar. All of this took time, of course. None of it happened overnight. But nothing happens overnight. And when you visit Disneyland, you will see for yourself what sustained commitment and consistency can produce.

Maybe you are cynical. Maybe you think Disneyland is kid stuff or a giant marketing machine.

You’d be right. It’s both. The price to get to Anaheim and enter the parks and keep your family fed and rested is high.

But as a creative business person, you really can’t afford to not go and experience it for yourself, whether it’s your first time or your tenth.

Besides, your kids will love you for it.

If you like, enjoy this two-hour documentary about Walt Disney produced by The Walt Disney Family Foundation. It’s called, Walt, The Man Behind The Myth.

You don’t have to be a die-hard fan to get inspired by Walt Disney and Disneyland.

You don’t even have to go on an anniversary year, if the timing does not work for you.

Are you planning to go to the Diamond Anniversary celebration? Why or why not?

Why not share your favorite memory or inspiration from Disneyland in the comments?

Today is the last day to register for the next round of my Become Your Own Writing Coach program.

The next coaching video and worksheets will arrive in your inbox on Tuesday, July 7th.

Here’s what folks are saying so far…

The video is really cool!

I like the flexibility.

The worksheets are enormously helpful!

Learn more here.

Hope you can join us!

In Blended: Writers on the Stepfamily Experience, editor Samantha Waltz does an excellent job of collecting stories by talented writers on the challenges and triumphs of the stepfamily experience. Here’s a description of the book:

I am sure that anyone who has ever been a part of a stepfamily will feel like there is finally a book that captures the essence of the stepfamily experience. A variety of points of view is key to the success of this book, as is the fact that the contributors are each skilled and seasoned writers.

The courage to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is what you will find in these pages. I especially enjoyed the back-to-back essays by married writers Kerry Cohen and James Bernard Frost. And any writer would admire the brave self-disclosure in Jessica Page Morrell’s essay. But it was Samantha Waltz’s opening essay that really struck a chord with me. She talked about the naiveté of the new stepparent and the way things don’t always turn out the way you’d expected, but somehow they still turn out.

Here’s an excerpt from Waltz’s essay that I particularly appreciated. There is no doubt in my mind that readers will enjoy the quality of writing and insights in this book, whether they are part of a stepfamily or not.

A stepparent can also become the target of a stepchild’s displaced anger with a mother or father. Unfair? Of course. A difficulty that can be overcome? Sometimes, but not always. The stepparent has usually done nothing except stand in the line of fire.

And then there is the power of the mythology about evil stepmothers and wicked stepfathers that has existed since before the Brothers Grimm. Family problems feel clammy on stepparents’ skin and they aren’t sure what they’ve done wrong or how to proceed, but they must somehow prove themselves the good guy over and over…

Read more at Brain, Child

If you have read Blended: Writers on the Stepfamily Experience, feel free to share your responses here. I’d love to hear them.

Happy summer reading, everyone!

Summer presents a unique work challenge for writers of all stripes. For those of us who make our living with our words, summer does not necessarily herald a huge block of time off. For many of us, summer means increased challenges making time for our writing and therefore for meeting our deadlines.

On the one hand, the kids are out of school, the teachers are out of school (in my house), summer activities kick in and disrupt the usual routine, kids immediately become bored, daily chores still need to get done, vacations that have been planned need to be taken, and despite all the weeks stretching ahead, it will be back to school time before we know it.

So, while it’s tempting to celebrate summer and all the R&R that it brings; it’s also tempting to have a hissy fit because we have no idea how we are supposed to get everything done today or any day when all of these people are clamoring around in the house.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t love summer as much as the next person. It’s just that summer presents unique challenges that must be reconciled if mommy is going to be happily productive during summer work hours.

Because if mommy isn’t happy, well, you know what that means.

So here are some tips for taking back your sanity before it goes galloping off into the sunset:

1. Face Reality. You either need to work this summer or you don’t. If you don’t, good for you. Have a great time with a lot less responsibilities. As for the rest of us, we need to deal with what is. Repeat after me: “Even though many kids and adults are not working right now, I am working, and it’s okay to work during summer. Say it and believe it.

2. Make Work Hours To Suit. Okay, so you have to work this summer. How much? How many hours per day will you be working? Will you take weekends off? Will you work shorter days? Will you get up earlier or go to bed later to enjoy the sunshiny hours? Come up with a schedule for your needs that will work for everyone. It does not have to be the same schedule as the rest of the year.

3. Enjoy Your Work. I teach writers to enjoy their work, so it’s not like it’s the end of the world to have to spend time doing what you enjoy. What I know for sure is that you won’t write well if you are beating yourself up or feeling guilty. So remind yourself that you write because you love it, and then get right back to work.

4. Keep An Eye On The Bottom Line. Even with all of the advice above, it’s still somehow tempting during summer to lose sight of your bottom line. But don’t. Your ability to keep writing is dependent on hitting your goals, feeling like a success, and earning what you need to earn. If you need help hitting your monthly goals, I hope you will check out my new monthly Dream Team. Folks are already raving about it.

5. When You Are Not Working, Do Not Work. When you leave the office, leave the office. Nobody in your family (or on Facebook) wants to hear you complain about your deadlines or your work angst. If you are in the habit of kvetching, make sure you understand it’s a bad habit. It’s one that does not only take up your time; it also takes up other peoples’ time. Guess what? When you are working hard and enjoying your work, you stop having so much to grouse about and so much extra time to do it.

6. Ask For Constructive Help With Your Work. There is a constructive way to get more work done this summer and that is by asking for help from the right people. If you need more support from your spouse because you are home with the kids all day, ask for it. If you can involve your family in constructive conversations about your writing, do it. If you have mentors or writing friends who can help you, ask them for help. Just remember not to ask others for more than you can reasonably give back. Writers who take regular classes increase their skills quickly without incurring reciprocation time.

7. Feed Your Writing Joy. Okay, it’s summer and you want to get your work done quickly and go out and play. But don’t forget to allow your writing to be play, too. If your writing becomes all drudgery and no fun, you will stop wanting to do it. I’m offering a great antidote to writing burnout called, “Writing Prompts For Summer Stories: 200 Word Prompts & 7 Ways To Make The Most Of Them.” This PDF ebook is full of five-minute writing prompts and easy ways to use them to create longer works. Five minutes is not going to break anyone. Five minutes of writing on an otherwise hectic day can put a smile on your face and help you enjoy the folks you’re with more. And, if you have older kids, why not try doing daily writing prompts together? It’s a great way to combat the summer slide.

8. Give Yourself Credit For What You Do Accomplish. It’s quite likely your overall productivity will go down because it’s summer. This is especially true if you are a mom. If you know this will be the case, brace yourself for it and plan to give yourself credit for what you do get done. Every time you get something done, even if it’s only five or ten minutes, do a little happy dance and say, “Go me!” Let your kids see you encouraging yourself and soon they will be cheering you on, too. They will also learn how to encourage themselves by your positive example.

Don’t forget, writers, when you pursue and achieve your dreams, they have positive benefits for your whole family. It may not always feel this way. In fact, some days you might not be able to recall a single benefit of what you do. But remember that you are human, writers. And just like other humans, writers get discouraged sometimes. Just remember that it’s your job to turn that negative voice into a positive voice.

On days when doubt weights heavy on your mind, find a way to refocus. Light a candle. Pour yourself a cup of tea. Workout for 30 minutes. Smudge your office. Consult some Tarot cards. Read something short and inspirational. Take a shower. And then get right back to work.

Your work is worth it, writers, and so are you. You are the boss and the employee. And this is true in summer like all the other seasons of the year.

This post is taken from The Prosperous Writer ezine. If you like what you’ve read here, be sure to sign up for The Prosperous Writer ezine to claim your free gift and qualify for exclusive discounts on Christina Katz products.