I am very pleased to announce that my first e-book of collected inspirational articles is now available in PDF!

If you are already spending plenty of time with yourself, you probably do not need this e-book, mom.

But if you are not, you might find yourself feeling resentful, discouraged, and unhappy in the rest of your life. These feelings can sneak up on even the most conscientious mom, when she forgets to put her own self-care first.

The Art Of Making Time For Yourself is interactive inspiration that will have you dialoging with yourself and others about your needs and wants.

By the time you are done reading this e-book and answering the questions it contains, you will find yourself planning your next getaway and feeling great about it, because making time for yourself is healthy and necessary whether you are a mom or not.

My articles about moms making time have appeared in dozens of magazines across North America for the past thirteen years. I have appeared on Good Morning America discussing the topic. And now I am inspiring moms everywhere to take time for themselves and to take up the torch in encouraging other moms to do the same.

Self-sacrifice and martyrdom are no longer a part of a mom’s job description. I don’t know a mom who is completely content with the state of the world today. But until we can right the state within ourselves, we can’t offer our best to any external cause.

I hope that The Art Of Making Time For Yourself will remind every mom that she is already enough and that she deserves happiness and personal satisfaction today, no matter what the state of the world.

We can all do a better job championing ourselves and our families if we feel happy and self-confident.

Self-care today; change the world tomorrow. The Art Of Making Time For Yourself will remind you of who you were born to be and all that you have to offer.

Thanks for checking it out and spreading the word!

Today I’d like to welcome a timely author. Erika Robuck’s publisher timed the release of Call Me Zelda to happen alongside the new Great Gatsby film. Smart! Today Erika is giving away a copy of both her latest book and her last book, Hemingway’s Girl, please help me welcome her!

Introducing Erika Robuck

Erika Robuck self-published her first novel Receive Me Falling. Her novel, Hemingway’s Girl, was a Target Emerging Author Pick, a Vero Beach Bestseller, and has been sold in two foreign markets to date. Her next novel, Call Me Zelda, publishes on May 7, 2013, and begins in the years “after the party” for Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Erika writes about and reviews historical fiction at her blog, Muse, and is a contributor to fiction blog, Writer Unboxed. She is also a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Hemingway Society. Learn more about Erika at www.erikarobuck.com.

Learn about Call Me Zelda from NAL/Penguin, May 2013

From New York to Paris, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald reigned as king and queen of the Jazz Age, seeming to float on champagne bubbles above the mundane cares of the world. But to those who truly knew them, the endless parties were only a distraction from their inner turmoil, and from a love that united them with a scorching intensity.

When Zelda is committed to a Baltimore psychiatric clinic in 1932, vacillating between lucidity and madness in her struggle to forge an identity separate from her husband, the famous writer, she finds a sympathetic friend in her nurse, Anna Howard. Held captive by her own tragic past, Anna is increasingly drawn into the Fitzgeralds’ tumultuous relationship. As she becomes privy to Zelda’s most intimate confessions, written in a secret memoir meant only for her, Anna begins to wonder which Fitzgerald is the true genius. But in taking ever greater emotional risks to save Zelda, Anna may end up paying a far higher price than she intended….

Check our Erika’s YouTube trailer for Call Me Zelda.

Learn about Hemingway’s Girl from NAL/Penguin, September 2012

In Depression-era Key West, Mariella Bennet, the daughter of an American fisherman and a Cuban woman, knows hunger. Her struggle to support her family following her father’s death leads her to a bar and bordello, where she bets on a risky boxing match…and attracts the interest of two men: world-famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, and Gavin Murray, one of the WWI veterans who are laboring to build the Overseas Highway.

I asked Erika three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

It is. For better or worse, we are all the stars of our own Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, websites, Instagram feeds… It’s no substitute for human interaction, but it can be a valuable tool to share ourselves with our friends, our family, and other writers and readers. I’ve made new connections from the ways I share myself online. When the connection is true, it almost always leads to face to face meetings and real bonds, and I value the way self-expression through social media has enhanced my life.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

To me, communication is at the heart of self-expression. As a writer, words are my first and most comfortable form of expression. From notes to novels, I like the time and thought that go into writing, the chances we have at revision, and the way words on paper create permanence.

Second to writing, I enjoy photography. I love being able to snap photos of little moments of wonder with my children, my friends, or nature. When a single photo can communicate what a paragraph would, I prefer to let the images speak for themselves.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

Specific to my writing, I’ve been surprised by and pleased with its impact on my relationship with other writers. Whether someone further on the path is reaching back to help me along, or I’m able to inspire and assist another who isn’t where I am, I’ve found a lot of generosity and willingness to help in my writing circles that inspires me to pay it forward.

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

Who is your favorite author who is no longer with us? If you could meet one deceased author and have a conversation with them, who would it be?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board

Today we are giving away three sets of two e-books to three lucky winners! Because we know how tired parents with young (and not-so-young) children are out there.

Malia Jacobson launched her second sleep-focused e-book earlier this year, just in time to help herself with baby number three! Please help me welcome Malia Jacobson!

Introducing Malia Jacobson

Malia Jacobson is a nationally published health journalist, author, columnist, sleep expert, and freelance writer. She began her journey toward sleep expertise while researching her first daughter’s sleep troubles. Today, her articles on sleep and health appear regularly in national media outlets, including Women’s Health Magazine, Costco Connection Magazine, Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine, ABC News, and MSN Healthy Living, as well as over 90 regional parenting magazines across the US and Canada. She appears regularly on television and speaks to parenting groups about healthy sleep support.

Her sleep question-and-answer column “Counting Sheep” appears in Metroparent magazine, and her monthly parenting column “Growing Up” appears in Charlotte Parent magazine. In 2011 she published her first e-book Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep, So You Can Sleep Too. Her second e-book Sleep Tight, Every Night: Helping Toddlers & Preschoolers Sleep Well Without Tears, Tricks, or Tirades launched in early 2013. Learn more about Malia at www.maliajacobson.com.

Learn about Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep, So You Can Sleep Too

Ready, Set, Sleep takes parents step-by-step through the process of creating a sleep-friendly home and family environment, resolving sleep resistance, removing barriers to sleep, and overcoming common sleep challenges. The tips and tactics are designed for children from birth through age three.

Ready, Set, Sleep helps parents end night waking, bedtime battles, early waking, and more, with compassion and respect. Parents can experience the joy of parenting a well-rested child without resorting to harsh tactics or rigid sleep training.

Learn about Sleep Tight, Every Night: Helping Toddlers and Preschoolers Sleep Well Without Tears, Tricks, or Tirades

As the follow-up to Ready, Set, Sleep, Sleep Tight, Every Night provides specific sleep solutions for children during one of the most challenging periods for sleep—age two to six. Instead of resorting to punishment, letting children cry, or simply trudging through years of sleepless nights, parents can end the sleep wars by quickly getting to the root of a child’s specific sleep challenges, sidestepping common problems, utilizing little-known secrets to sleep success, and working with a child’s natural drive for sleep.

Sleep Tight, Every Night includes 12 short sections covering a specific sleep challenge. In each one, I walk parents through a solution from start to finish with easy-to-implement tactics to help get your kids’ sleep on track and sustain your success. Chapters include Breaking the Overtired Cycle: Getting Back to Happy; Correcting Under-tiredness: Stopping the Stealthy Sleep Stealer; and Building a Better Bedtime: Finding Your Child’s Ideal Bedtime and Making it Work.

I asked Malia three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

Self-expression is woven into every part of my life, both as a writer and as a parent. Even in the most straightforward service article, I’m expressing an aspect of my worldview. As a parent of three young children, I’m constantly encouraging self-expression (“Use your words!”) and trying to model positive ways to express feelings and opinions.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

In my work as a health journalist, I arm readers with information to help them solve everyday problems and live healthier lives. Generally, my articles are full of interviews, statistics, studies, and facts—but there’s still room for self-expression amid all that data. In fact, one of the things I enjoy most about my writing work is figuring out how to knit together the facts and studies in a way that’s relatable and easy to read, and letting my own voice shine through in the process. It’s always a challenge, but it’s one that feels fresh and engaging in each writing project I take on.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

As a sleep journalist, I give parents information that I think will help them solve their children’s sleep struggles. My point of view comes from my own experiences with my children, as well as my work with countless other parents of young children. It’s different from the information parents might get from another sleep expert, because my experiences and my approach are unique.

When I was a frustrated new parent myself, I didn’t find the kind of sleep advice I needed, which I why I decided to share my own. That’s one key reason that I want to reach my fellow parents—I want them to know that they’re not alone, that they can help their children sleep well without battling them, and that the entire process can be something that strengthens their bond with their child. If the information I share can help another parent solve common parenting struggles and enjoy the crazy ride that is raising young children, I’m happy.

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

Are you a good sleeper? Why or why not? Do you like sleep or just tolerate it? Night owl or early riser? How would you describe your relationship with sleep?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.

It’s always nice to support a local author, and that’s just one reason why I am very happy to welcome Oregon author Kathleen McCleary to the giveaway today. Please help me welcome Kathleen!

Introducing Kathleen McCleary

Kathleen McCleary grew up in Michigan but after living in Oregon for 12 years considers herself a native Oregonian. She graduated from Williams College with a major in comparative religion. She went on to law school, where she quickly figured out that she never wanted to be a lawyer and dropped out to become a bartender. She finally found her niche in writing, and has worked as a writer and editor for a variety of newspapers and magazines.

Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Ladies Home Journal, More, and Good Housekeeping. She has written three novels: House and Home; A Simple Thing, which was recently nominated for the Library of Virginia Literary Awards in fiction; and Leaving Haven.

When she’s not writing, Kathleen teaches writing. She has taught as an adjunct professor at American University, and is an instructor with Writopia Labs, a non-profit that teaches creative writing to kids. She has also worked as a barista in an independently owned coffee shop, and a bookseller for Barnes & Noble. She enjoys crafting things and has, over the years, learned how to knit, hook rugs, sew, carve wood, make dovetail joints with hand tools, blow glass, and make butterscotch pudding from scratch. She is fascinated by remote places and has visited Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Alaska, the San Juan Islands, the Appalachians, and the Adirondacks. She currently lives in northern Virginia with her husband and two daughters.

Learn about House And Home

Ellen Flanagan has two precious girls to raise, a cozy neighborhood coffee shop to run, terrific friends, and a sexy, if irresponsible, husband. And she adores her house, a yellow Cape Cod filled with quirky antiques, beloved nooks, and a million memories. But as her eighteen-year-roller-coaster marriage heads toward divorce, she’s about to lose it all–her house, her husband . . . and her sanity.

Set in the gorgeous surroundings of Portland, Oregon, Kathleen McCleary’s funny, poignant, curl-up-and-read debut strikes a deep emotional chord and explores the very notion of what makes a house a home.

Learn about A Simple Thing

How far would you go to protect your children? Would you do it at the expense of your marriage? How far would you go to protect yourself?

For Susannah Delaney, the answers lie thousands of miles away, off the northwest corner of Washington state. When Susannah discovers her young son is being bullied and her adolescent daughter is spinning out of control, she moves them to remote Sounder Island in the San Juans to live off the grid for a year. Susannah hopes to save her children from the risks they’ve encountered at home, and to come to terms with her own haunted past. But the move threatens her marriage to the man she’s loved since childhood, and her very sense of self.

For Betty Pavalak, who first moved to Sounder to save her own troubled marriage, the island has been a haven for more than fifty years. But Betty also knows the guilt of living with choices she made long ago and actions that cannot be undone. The unlikely friendship between Susannah and Betty ignites a journey of self-discovery for both women that brings them both home to what they love most.

A Simple Thing moves beyond friendship, children, and marriages to look deeply into what it means to love and forgive–yourself.

I asked Kathleen three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

I’m middle-aged and am probably better at self-expression than at any time in my life since toddlerhood. I’m more clear on who I am, flaws and all, and more willing to share my self with the rest of the world without the self-consciousness or insecurity or shyness that plagued me when I was younger. So I dance without inhibition at every opportunity, write the truth as I know it in my novels, wear my favorite colors (hot pink) with joy, and admit when I’m wrong. The older I get, the more I understand that we all fail, that our own failings hopefully teach us to be more tolerant of the failings in others, and that if there is one thing that binds us all it is our imperfections. True self-expression is an opportunity for connection.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

Self-expression means sharing my genuine self with others. That means that when I write fiction I let my characters suffer from anxiety, make silly jokes, grieve, lie, try to do the right thing, despair, rejoice. After my first book came out it was very hard for me to read some of the reviews that criticized the protagonist as “too neurotic” or “annoying”—my characters are, after all, all parts of me. But I’ve come to see how different characters resonate with different people, just as in real life I have friends who “get” me on every level, and others who don’t.

I also express myself through teaching, which I love. I work with kids ages 8-18 teaching creative writing with Writopia, a non-profit organization. I have the chance in teaching to express what I really believe about writing with your whole heart, about stilling the small voices of what others might think, what the critics might say, what friends and family might interpret.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

I hope my self-expression, through my fiction, allows others to understand themselves and the world around them in a new way, to feel a connection of some kind—with a character, a situation, an emotion. I don’t mean that to sound grandiose; I just mean that the most gratifying part of writing fiction is hearing from readers who say they related to a character, they cried, they learned something, they understood. As for my self-expression through other avenues, my kids wish I wouldn’t dance so much when my favorite music comes on, but they’re learning to live with it.

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

Describe your perfect home, whether it’s the one you have or not. What makes this home perfect for you?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.

Today we are giving away two books and one e-book by Lela Davidson. If you like essays that are funny and smart and media commentary and how-tos that are sassy and relevant, then be sure to check out Lela’s growing body of work. Please help me welcome Lela!

Introducing Lela Davidson

Lela is an award-winning humorist and freelance journalist who loves media and marketing. She entertains and inspires audiences in print, web, video, and television. Lela is the author of Blacklisted From The PTA and Who Peed On My Yoga Mat?, and a contributor to NBC News, TODAY Moms, iVillage, and Huffington Post. She frequently speaks about motherhood, marriage, marketing, and the challenges of being over-40 in a Botox world. Lela wrote Sexy, Smart, and Search Engine Friendly: Get Found Online Without Losing Your Mind or Wasting Your Time especially for authors, artists, and small business entrepreneurs.

Learn about Sexy, Smart, and Search Engine Friendly: Get Found Online Without Losing Your Mind or Wasting Your Time

This guide is for entrepreneurs who know nothing about online marketing and search engine technology, but know it’s important to be discoverable online.

This guide is also for people who understand how all this stuff works, but get overwhelmed by the thought of putting all that knowledge into action. My hope is that all of us would be empowered with a simple, workable plan that doesn’t take too much time away from our real pursuits, whatever those may be.

Readers of Sexy, Smart, & Search Engine Friendly:

• gain clarity where once there was only confusion about the mysterious world of online marketing.
• learn that you don’t have to be an expert, and you don’t have to spend untold nights and weekends tweaking your website.
• increase website traffic when they apply insider understanding of the ways search engines find websites.
• walk away from this guide with a simple plan—one that’s easy, effective, and doesn’t rob their core business of their most valuable resource, their time.
• develop confidence in simple strategies as they practice them, and in their own ability to maintain effort and focus for the long haul.

Anyone who markets products and services online has a lot to gain from applying the simple strategies outlined in this guide.

Learn about Who Peed On My Yoga Mat?

Lela Davidson doesn’t like to brag, but her children are clean and fed, her husband likes to cook, and she is rarely referred to as Troll Toes at the yoga studio. In other words, she’s got it all. Who Peed On My Yoga Mat? peels back the curtain on family life to show that happiness is really a matter of perspective. Between watching adorably annoying toddlers transform into text-obsessed teens, and facing inevitable moments of marital “for worse,” a girl’s got to carve out time for inner peace. As she did in Blacklisted From The PTA, Davidson shows us once again that laughing at yourself and your family is the surest path to tranquility — or at least the most fun.

Learn about Blacklisted From The PTA

Blacklisted from the PTA is an irreverent look at motherhood and the modern family. From the high chair to a vinyl restaurant booth on date night, Lela Davidson has captured life on the cul-de-sac with a husband, two kids, and the occasional pet. Whether failing at cloth diaper origami or smug in knowledge that her children have never consumed a PopTart, Lela assures parents they are not alone, and that it’s okay to laugh-at yourself, and at your kids. These are the stories of Everyparent-even if we don’t always tell them out loud. Each of these 62 essays can be read in under five minutes for a quick laugh-either with or at the author.

As a CPA on the mommy track, all Lela wanted to do was sit on the driveway and drink wine out of a box with the neighbors. Luckily, she started writing down her stories instead. Whether tackling PTA meetings, neighborhood politics, or inflation-by-Tooth Fairy, Lela exposes the humor in every awkward moment and maternal meltdown. From a trendy Seattle condo, to a tidy Arkansas subdivision, Lela shares the comic side of family life. She takes you to Mexican bars, the hockey rinks of St. Louis, ski slopes near Santa Fe, shopping in Dallas, and even introduces you to a few strippers-the novices on the playgrounds of New York City, and the pros in Vegas. Lela says what the rest of us are thinking. Her hilarious observations and subtle satire are always spot on. She’s not afraid to reveal her screw-ups, along with fleeting delusional moments of wherein she honestly believes she is the best mom ever.

I asked Lela three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

Expressing myself is almost all I do. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe that I’ve been able to create a sustainable business out of writing primarily about my own experiences. It’s what I like to write and what I like to read. Whether it’s science or politics or how to make bean sprouts, if the writing doesn’t include the writer’s personal perspective, I’m usually not interested.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

To me self-expression is about connecting with other people, and sometimes my dog. If I’m not writing I’m talking. I love getting up in front of a room, drinking wine with a group of my girlfriends, or just talking one on one (maybe to my dog). I need to express myself in order to figure things out. I am the person continuously in an imaginary conversation with someone. Thanks to technology, talking to yourself is so much more socially acceptable today than it was when I was a kid hanging out with my imaginary friends.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

I hope that what I write shows other people they are not in this thing alone. I have been there, done that, and usually found the laugh. There are challenges in deciding what to make public when you write about your own life, as I do, because I’m not the only one in it. When you write humor, it’s tempting to go for the cheap laugh, and that can damage relationships. I don’t want to sacrifice the people closest to me for the entertainment of my readers. (Seriously, I have the BEST stories about teenagers than I just cannot tell you!) I want to be respectful of my family and friends while still expressing what I feel are MY stories. It’s a fine line to walk sometimes, and as I grow as a writer I will push it because I feel like when I’m brave on the page it gives other people the encouragement they might need to be brave in their lives. Or it makes them pee their pants a little. Either way, I’m happy.

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

What makes you laugh? I mean what makes you really laugh? What makes you laugh so hard you can’t stop? What makes you laugh so hard that you cry and laugh at the same time?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.