Casual Friday: What it's like to work retail on Black Friday

As I'm typing this, I realize there are only thirty minutes left in the day. I'm still recovering from working a ten hour shift in a retail store. I thought almost everyone had worked retail at some point in their lives, but today I came across some people who clearly had no idea what it was like to work on Black Friday. I had to cut my Thanksgiving plans short because I had to get up early to go to work and stare at my coworkers (who were just standing their since we didn't have a great sale). When the customers finally started to come in they asked things like, "Can you explain to me what twenty-five percent off of everything means?" I thought that was self explanatory. As the day wore on I began to feel exhausted. My feet and back ached and I had a headache. I wanted a break, but the company I work for only gives us a thirty minute lunch break. Around the halfway point of my shift, I felt like I wouldn't be able to make it through the day. During my lunch break I walked around, checking out the sales I couldn't afford to buy from. Nothing seemed good enough to be at the mall. I wouldn't have been there if I didn't have to be. I didn't get to sit during my lunch break, since all of the tables were full (including the outdoor ones). None of the customers were rude, but some really didn't understand the sale. Being around that many people for so long with no breaks was pretty bad itself. I'm grateful I didn't need any food from the food court, the lines were wrapped around. The reason I decided to write this blog is because I would love it if everyone treated each other well this holiday season, instead of being rude. The person working in the store may not have gotten a break, be working without holiday pay, have an empty stomach, sore feet, or be wondering how they are going to pay their rent. Please be kind to everyone you encounter.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving. Make sure to tell the people you care about that you're thankful for them.

How much should an author share?

I've been thinking a lot about how much I want to share with readers. As a writer I want to build a relationship with my readers. I want to let them know a little bit about my life and I also find myself wanting to consider them friends. I want them to feel comfortable commenting on my blog/twitter/facebook/socialmedia, but I also want to have a personal life. While it's easy for me to determine how much I would share with the people in my offline life, I find it hard to determine how much I should share with future readers. Should I tell them anything about my personal life? Should I tell them the bare minimum? Should I try to find a place in the middle where I talk a bit about myself? I'm not sure. I've seen authors who post things about their husbands and children. Should I post things about my boyfriend? What would I even post? It's hard for me to share a lot about myself to began with. I just feel awkward talking about myself. Even at a recent job interview. I think it's the reason I didn't get the job. Overall I think I just need to get more open to talking about myself.

Weekend Review: The Hunger Games Mockingjay part one

This weekend I went to see the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 with my boyfriend. We were both fans of the previous movies, and I had read the books. I enjoyed the first two Hunger Games books more than I liked Mockingjay (though I did like that she ended up with who I wanted her too). As it turns out, I also enjoyed the first two movies more than this one. I found that this movie followed the book a bit closely (the only major difference was Effie played a larger part). There were parts of the movie that may not have made sense if you hadn't read the book. I had to explain at least three things to my boyfriend because he hadn't read the books. Things like who taught Katniss the song and why it was important. I also found her relationship with Gale to be almost non-existent in the movie. In the book he kept whining about her talking to other men, He even got jealous of Finnick, who was clearly the only person who could understand what Katniss was going through. Her relationship with Finnick was also lacking. He was one of my favorite characters in the book, but in the movie they never displayed him as the damaged man that he should have been. There also wasn't much action in this movie, and sadly, I think the cat may have been the most interesting part.



Two Out Of Three Stars

The problem with windows 8 and writing...

Today I logged onto my computer, in hopes of doing some writing and editing, only to discover that the writing program that had come with the computer had expired. If I wanted to keep it I could have paid 6.99 to subscribe, but I decided that I couldn't afford 6.99 a month. I took to eBay and found a writing program that I think should work. This delays my writing even more, but once I finally have it I will be back to where I was before.

Picking an author picture

As a self-published author, there's a lot you have to do for yourself. The things you have to do go beyond just writing a book and releasing it to the world. You also have to market the book. Part of marketing is picking out your picture for your author bio. A traditional author has a team helping them pick this, but you don't. The picture above is not the picture I've picked for my author picture, but the only picture I actually had on this new computer. I have been using this picture to represent me on other mediums though. It's a more updated picture than the one I use on here. So why did I pick the picture I use as my author photo? The answer is a bit amusing: It got the most likes on facebook.

Casual Friday: My Christmas wish

It's only November 14th, and there are already Christmas decorations everywhere. I'm not complaining, since I love Christmas and it is more lively than Thanksgiving, but there is something that's been on my mind. I've been dreading the holiday season. Why? Well, I work retail for the time being. I'm not looking forward to hunting for a parking spot that's all the way on the other side of the mall, or being pushed around by the crowd. I'm not looking forward to the long lines in the food court, or the lack of places to sit in the food court. I'm not looking forward to staying late so the customers can have extra time in the store, even staying after the store is closed in some cases. I'm not writing this blog to complain, since I am grateful that I have a job, but I do feel that I have to address my Christmas wish. My Christmas wish is that people would be nicer to those who work in the retail stores, or waitress, because you never know when they had a break, or got to eat. You don't know how long they've been standing in uncomfortable shoes, or how long they've been waiting for a bathroom break. You also don't know their situation. Some people pick up an extra job for additional Christmas money, but some pick one up to feed their families.

Laziness

I realized that lately I have a real problem: laziness. I want to write and self-publish my work, but I can't seem to find the time or energy to sit down and do it. I'm going to, I just need to push myself harder. Maybe work on my writing when I get home, or when I finally have a day off.

About the weekend review

I have decided that I want to take submissions for my weekend reviews. I'm a writer first, but I also enjoy reading and reviewing. I think it would be a good idea to figure out a way for people to submit books for me to review on my blog. I would prefer self published novels, since I'm about to step into that world and I know I will need all the help that I can get. I hope when I finally decide to release my novel into the world that there's someone there to help me. Now, if I do decide to review self published novels, that does not mean they will get a positive review. All novels will get the review they deserve, which is what I would want for my own book. If you're interested please find a way to contact me.

Weekend Review: Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

I decided to do something a little different for this week's weekend review. I normally review books, but I thought it would be cool to download a game that I was able to play a demo of. I'm already a big fan of the Pokemon game boy games, so when I got an email giving me a free code for a demo I downloaded it as soon as I got the chance.

The demo is very short, and basically showcases the graphics and fighting style. You start off by meeting Team Magma, and learning about Mega Evolutions. You have to fight almost as soon as the demo starts and are told to pick one of three starters. I picked the fire type, which defeated my enemy with a single hit.

After fighting you can explore a little, which has always been my favorite thing about Pokemon. I love exploring and catching Pokemon. You aren't given any pokeballs until the end of the demo, where you catch your first Pokemon. 

You don't even get to pick your character for the demo, which is okay, it's a demo, but I enjoy picking a character and leveling up my own Pokemon. I'm also not sure what the news thing on the bottom screen, since I didn't use it. I don't know if it will be a big part of the game, or if it's just something to give you hints or tell you where to go. I didn't really get to explore much, since all the doors were locked and there was only a few patches of grass to explore, but I did notice a few familiar faces among the Pokemon that I encountered. I just hope Pikachu is in this one, since Pikachu has always been my favorite. 

The graphics were great, about the same as X and Y. The fighting system was the same, and the mega evolutions were the same. Although the demo was short, it made me more excited for the full length game. I plan on picking up Sapphire (probably because I like the color blue more than red). 

The thing about deadlines...

Sigh...it's November already. Time to put away the Halloween decorations and start thinking about turkey or turkey alternatives (I'm a vegetarian). It's also the time where I realize that I've missed the deadline that I gave myself. When I decided to become a self-published author I knew that I had to set deadlines for myself. I also know how hard it is for me to work with a deadline. I was doing well until life got in the way. Now I am more than two months behind my deadline. I'm not as organized as I would like to be. If I was more organized I may have been able to finish editing by now. I'm a bit angry at myself for not having my novel finished by now. It's my dream and I'm letting it pass me by. I'm not sure how things would have gone if I would have actually decided to go through a literary agent. I guess I would have had someone pushing me, but I'm not sure if that matters. I've never been good with deadlines. I remember waiting until the last minute to finish school assignments. Now that I'm juggling work, school, and writing I will have to find a balance. I have to push myself to edit, write, and work on pushing my work out to the public.