Mickey Miller Writes

Adventures of a Romance Author

18 Things I learned about Writing in 2018

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1: Initial Enthusiasm wears off eventually. Good habits, and making it FUN, keep you writing.

In 2018, I set out to write 1,000,000 words, a rather ambitious goal. But I figured since it was my first year writing full time, I would set the bar high.

Did I do it?

Let’s do the math for all the books I wrote in 2018. (Wrote, not published):

Bartender with Benefits – about 60,000 words

Biker with Benefits – 60,000 words

The Lying Game – 75,000 words

The End Game – 70,000 words

The Substitute – 77,000 words

Novellas:

Tall, Dark, and Stormy – 12,000 Words

Picked Up – 15,000 Words

2019 Total: 369,000 Words

I didn’t even come close. This was because I fell victim to the thing most people do with their New Year’s resolutions: they focus on the product (1 million words) rather than rejoice in the process (writing every day no matter how many words).

Still, five full length novels isn’t bad. But this brings me to my next bullet point…

2) Contrary to the myth of the traveling, drinking, Jack Keroac-ian writer who parties and is on the road all the time, the best writing production happens when I am at home and embracing a routine.

Here’s a crazy statistic I recently realized. In 2017, I was not a full time writer. In fact, I was working close to 50 hours per week, on average. Plus about an hour of commute time every day.

And guess what? I wrote more in 2017 than in 2018.

Crazy, right?

Let’s do the math on my 2017 writing, to compare with 2018.

Dirty CEO/Hotblooded Prizefighter (now Fantasy Island): cowrote – so say 60,000 words total from both since I wrote half of each

The Casanova Experience – 90,000 words

Professor with Benefits – 55,000 words

Mechanic with Benefits – 55,000 words

Boss with Benefits – 65,000 words

Ten Night Stand – 63,000 words

Total = 388,000 words

I wrote approximately 369,000 words in 2017. And 388,000 in 2018.

This begs the question: If I would have stayed at my job, would I have written more this year?

3) Being Your Own Boss is harder than I thought it would be

My last day of ‘office’ work was one year ago exactly. Since then, I wake up every day and have the ability to create my own schedule, entirely. This has always been my dream.

But a few weeks into January, I noticed something.

I wasn’t writing every day. I was coasting.

I’m being honest here. I knew I had a book coming out in January that I’d already written (Ten Night Stand), and instead of putting my nose to the grindstone for another novel, which I should have been doing, I was reading (I guess writers do need to do that), working out, and I don’t even know what else. Basically I found ways *not* to write.

The bottom line is, I wasn’t quite ready to be my own boss. When you are a creative, you don’t necessarily have a strong disciplinarian side in you. Which is true about me.  I think this is one of the reasons I wrote more in 2017 than in 2018. I didn’t have solid writing habits to start 2018.

4) Be thankful. Writing is precarious. This profession is precarious. Enjoy it!

It’s true. I still pinch myself realizing that I am a full time author. Even though I’m not crushing it or making six figures (yet), it is my full time job and I’m freaking happy about that. When I look back, this journey started about six years ago, and took a random turn three years ago when I decided to start writing romance. I didn’t see it coming until it happened. I consider myself very lucky to be alive in a day and age where I can self publish stories, which wasn’t possible even a decade ago.

I had one scare where Amazon took down a couple of my books because they had “bonus content” with no warning. They had previews at the 88% mark. It scared the shit out of me, to be honest. Amazon is notoriously impossible to get a hold of, and also gives authors the most robotic response you could ever imagine. They are such a double edged sword. I love them for being able to publish with them, but I fear the day they kick me off of self-publishing on some trumped up charges during a puritan purge of Erotic Romance.

5) I’m not sure what makes a best-seller, other than taking your time and writing the best, hottest book with the most suspense you can.

The Lying Game was a sort of coming out book for me. It was published back in August, and it is still in the top 1,000 rankings in Amazon. It has sold thousands of copies and has millions of pages read through kindle unlimited. That is totally humbling to me.

That being said, the book I published just before The Lying Game, Biker with Benefits, was a total flop. It still hasn’t sold 500 copies. I thought it was a pretty good book. Obviously, if I thought it was bad I wouldn’t have written (or published) it.

Writing a breakthrough, best seller has to do with such a storm of factors: the time you release it. The cover. The blurb. The tropes you used. Etc. etc.

As an author who plans on being around for a while in this genre, I see no other way to shoot for a ‘bestseller’ then to try to keep writing books that the most people will strongly connect with, emotionally. There is no ‘magic bullet.’ Just keep trying.

6) Writing is a daily, almost spiritual, practice (most of the time)

I wrote 369,000 words for publication this year. Yes, it’s true that I wrote more than that and then after editing, lots got taken out.

An interesting realization upon seeing that number is that literally, all I had to do was write 1,000 words every day (okay plus 4,000 extra one day).

I average more than that in an hour. And I consider myself a slow writer.

The thing is, as much as I’d like to think of writing as this straight-forward, 1k a day process, that is just not how it happens in reality, or at least how it happened this year.

A lot of that is due to me traveling a healthy amount in February, and then again in September and October. After getting about 5 days per year of total vacation for three years, I needed it.

Another reason for that, are that I have to put on my ‘release’ or ‘marketing’ hat quite often. Once I get swept away, I can spend 2,3,4 or more hours on Facebook or other social media. It’s bad.

The most productive streak I had all year was in late May through the end of June. I wrote almost all of The Lying Game during that stretch. I was in my studio, writing about 5-6 hours per day, averaging 5,000 words. I also did a little of that writing up with my dad at my family’s cottage in Michigan. I also got started on The End Game.

I don’t know if 5k/day is sustainable for me. I think the pressure I put on myself to write an astronomical amount in a short time often has the opposite effect. Instead of writing a lot, I feel anxious that I haven’t gotten to some arbitrary number, and end up goofing off instead.  

For me, the best writing happens when I get into a groove and write every single day, if only for a month or so. That way, I start digging into my subconscious for better material, and go deep with the characters in the book.

That being said, sometimes you just have to pound out a bunch of writing, if you have your story nailed down. When I went up to Wisconsin two weeks ago, I wrote 19,000 words in two days, for example. But I had plotted that out to the T with my editor, so I knew exactly what I had to write.

7) The more you get out there, the more bad reviews, and haters, you’ll have

I generally don’t even acknowledge the haters because I don’t believe in spreading negative energy. I don’t talk badly about anyone, either. Firstly, because you never know what someone is going through. Second, it’s none of your business. But it’s important to reflect on the negative once in a while.

After the whole cockygate debacle, it was evident that sometimes, you do need to stand up to bullies. You can’t just sit back. Okay, fair enough. I’ve always played by the rules and believed that hard work will get you as far as you need to go, no cutting corners and this and that. Since I play by the rules, no internet mob would come for me, right? Wrong. I had an entire anonymous twitter account started for the express purpose of talking shit about me (not worth linking).  There was another blog post (I couldn’t tell if it was satire) saying that the way to sell more books in the romance genre was to have a penis, and it was thinly veiled, throwing shade at myself and some other authors I know. I didn’t get upset, though. I took it as a point of pride that someone thought I was even worth messing with. Messing with little ole me? I’m not even a New York Times Bestseller! Just a guy who likes writing romance, and I’ve had the idea to write romance for ten years, before I even knew this niche existed. I didn’t even know that what I was writing at the time was ‘romance.’ The fact that it is a generally female genre, to me, is more coincidence than anything. Male artists have often been more feminine in different ways, anyhow. David Bowie, Prince. Not every male writer who writes about sex has to be an Earnest Hemingway bastion of masculinity (which is up for debate that he was compensating for something, imo). This is something I rarely address–because so many people have been ultra supportive of me in this genre. But it’s simply worth reflecting on openly as I look back at this year.

Moving on from that point, I’ve noticed the more popular a book, generally the more bad reviews it is going to get. Mechanic with Benefits and The Lying Game have the most one-star reviews of my books. They are also the best selling of all time.

The reality is that not everyone will love what you put out. And the more people who read what you put out–aka the more books you sell–the more people are going find that they don’t like you. Your writing is too hot, not hot enough, plot lines are too simple, too complex, etc.

So, the answer is to focus on pleasing your fans, not the person who one-starred your last book because they don’t understand how hot sex works (literally the first one star review of The Lying Game).

Don’t be afraid of what people will think of you. Just write what you want to write.

8) Be hard on yourself. Also be forgiving at the same time. Embrace that paradox.

Am I pleased that I wrote more in 2017 than I did as a full time writer in 2018? No.

Is it the end of the world? No. But I should make some changes and adjust for 2019.

2018 was a tough year for me in a lot of ways. Learning to be your own boss is no cakewalk. Maybe I wasn’t ready for it. There were moments in 2018 where I was regretting quitting my job.

Pile on top of that the unexpected death of my 23 year old cousin and bandmate Jimmy which devastated not only me but sent shockwaves through my family, and this year actually was the most stressful I’ve had maybe since I got back from the Peace Corps, give or take. I basically didn’t write books for the entire month of August.

I’ve started to better understand paradoxes this year. Two opposite things can equally be true and false at the same time.

Talk to yourself like a best friend. I believe that’s true. Would you tell your best friend they’re shit for not hitting their word goal in 2018? No. So I don’t talk that way to myself. I say to myself, ‘Mickey, you have more potential than what you accomplished in 2018. How can we make 2019 better?’


The remaining points are personal writing tips. These are more notes to myself. I fully acknowledge they might not work for everyone. But they work for me and I don’t want to forget them.

9) Put the phone in another room when you write.

Just do it. You’ll write so much faster.

10) Don’t write on a full stomach

When I was in high school, I’d invariably be staving off sleep after lunchtime. The reason is that your energy is in your belly. I want that energy in my brain. I’ll eat lots after I write.

11) Write early in the morning

Some people write late at night. I have, at points in my career. With my current biology, I don’t think that’s how I write best. Write early in the morning like Henry Miller and Earnest Hemingway. Also, you’re happier the rest of the day when you know you’ve written already.

12) Lean into the Fear

You know that subject you’re afraid to write? The romance you think is too taboo or just so plain hot your readers might judge you and go ‘wtf just happened?’ That’s the stuff you want to write, not run away from

13) Spend as much time in your studio as possible

When I’m at my studio, I get writing done, plain and simple. Setting determines function. This is simple correlation.

14) Don’t be afraid to lean on your editors for help plotting

I’m fortunate to work with some amazingly talented people who know everything backwards and forwards. For some reason I don’t enlist their help when I’m stuck.

15) Help other writers

It’s not that I don’t want to help. I just sometimes wonder if me–some guy who is still figuring it out–should be the one serving up advice? I’m passionate about teaching, though. I feel better when I help others out, and it deepens my own understanding of whatever I’m doing.

16) The most important thing is to work on Craft, aka Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You

That was the title of a book I read recently. With all of the talk and research I’ve done about ‘make sure you’ve got your marketing plan in line,’ ‘social media presence,’ etc. etc., don’t lose your primary focus: writing books that are so good, readers love them, connect with the characters, and want to tell their friends about them.

17) Don’t be afraid to say no

I love everyone in this genre, and reading community. But books, and making a living, are my first priority. Unfortunately, that means having to say no to some extra commitments, weather that is going out with friends, or even to a Facebook takeover for a party. Don’t feel bad about saying no. This is your job, after all.

18) Worry about being not doing.

This is a little zen, but I read something recently and it connected some dots for me. Instead of asking myself, ‘what do I want to do today?’ I ask myself, ‘Who do I want to be today?’

Do I want to be a writer?

Then I write.

Do I want to be a musician?

Then I play guitar. =

Once I get to the computer to write (preferably somewhere without wifi), all I have to do is be. It’s a simple mindset shift, but I find it helpful. Doing sounds like it involves work outside myself. Being sounds like a natural state.

What was your favorite point? What did you learn in 2018?

Here’s to a great 2019!

The Lying Game is Live!

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The Lying Game is now live on Amazon! It is $2.99 for a limited time.

Amazon Bestselling Author Mickey Miller brings you the first book of a sexy new duet.

Living with a sexy-as-sin roommate in a luxury penthouse should be a fantasy brought to life, right?

Not when it’s Carter Flynn–my teenage crush–who hates my guts.

When I’m in town for a once in a lifetime dance camp, my living arrangements fall through at the last second.

I have no other option but to crash with my childhood family friend…turned millionaire athlete.

He still hasn’t forgiven me for the lie I told him years ago that shattered his heart.

But underneath it all, there are shades of the same boy I used to know, before his heart turned to stone.

I can tell myself all I want that I hate him, too. But deep in my heart, I know I’ve never wanted anyone more in my life.

When you’re playing the lying game, the most dangerous lies are the lies you tell yourself.

THE LYING GAME is Book 1 of The Game Duet. It is an enemies to lovers, steamy contemporary romance.

Click here to get THE LYING GAME from Amazon now

Book 2, THE END GAME, is coming September 27th.

The Best Book Ever for Beginning Writers

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I did a live feed today on Facebook where I talked about the best book for beginning writers.

If you are an aspiring creative, you’ll love this feed where I also talk about some of the psychological blocks writers and other artists have to overcome.

 

Here is a link the the Artist’s Way on Amazon:

Mickey Miller Audiobooks are live!

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Ever since I started writing and doing Facebook Live Feeds where I would read my sexy stories, my readers have been asking me questions:

‘When are you going to get your books on audible?”

“Are you going to record the male POV of your own books!”

While it’s flattering, I have not yet had the time to dedicate to voice recording my own books, although I’d like to, soon. Coincidentally, I met a sound engineer yesterday and he gave me his card. I may very well get something cooking on that front before the end of 2018.

But for now, I had my agent do the casting and find full-time voice actors for The Blackwell After Dark Series, as well as Ten Night Stand!

I listened to Professor with Benefits the other night, and got lured back into the story! I’m a big audible fan myself, so I loved seeing the story brought to life. I will say Shannon Gunn did a great job with Professor Hanks, and definitely gets my style and sense of humor I wanted for the character.

Here are the links to the audible books:

 

 

 

 

One last note today. I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’m going to do another Facebook Live Acoustic Guitar concert. This will be a Thursday night event, If you weren’t there for the last one, it was EPIC! I am getting a list of songs together this weekend for you all! People really enjoyed the concert last summer, and I can’t wait for the next one!

Artistic Families: Nature or Nurture

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I hung out with my Dad’s side of the family this weekend. I never realized how many artists there were…until my gf was like “damn is every single person in your family an artist? Now I see where you get it” 

I always thought I was sort of a misfit (heh) for being a writer. But apparently not so.
Oldest Uncle: Works for a major news station verifying sources
2nd oldest: Started a Magazine In Cleveland (Anyone remember when magazines were a thing?)
3rd oldest: Stock broker, plays in band (he had kids at a young age hence the stock broking)
4th-6th (Including my Dad): 2 part time musicians, one full time

And now Ze Cousins:
Oldest cousin: Went to Colombia in NY for Screenwriting masters
2nd oldest: Came very close to going all out on Improv in 90s (same time when Stephen Colbert + Steve Carroll were doing it), he should have. Tells a hell of a story. Also a writer
3rd: Had a full time rock band in Boston for 5+ years
4th: Writer and director of a local theatre, runs a podcast
5th: Majored in Theatre at University of Wisconsin, has a few small Hollywood acting credits
6th: Former Stockbroker (not sure what happened there)
7th: Played in a metal band, acts, lives in LA, we’re writing a screenplay together
8th: not sure
9th: Award winning writer of short non fiction (she’s only 22)
10th: Has yet to decide (she’s 18)
11th: Extremely talented musician songwriter, RIP
12th: Already plays the guitar and she’s not even a freshmen
13th: (Mickey’s sister) is a badass photographer

And then there’s me, of course.
—
My Mom’s side of the family is the complete opposite for the most part. Aside from one trumpet player who is part of a famous band, my cousins on that side are mostly cops and carpenters.

This leads me to think, is it possible that something like art is hereditary?

My lay person opinion, citing no research, is that it’s more nurture than nature. I’ve always thought you can be anything if you have it modeled for you from an early age. I’ll have to give those “Twin studies” a fresh look.

I wonder if the number of artists on my Dad’s side of the family could be due to those skills being passed down, from father to son, from mother to daughter, etc. If you’re three years old and some0ne close to you is a writer, you already believe you can do it.

—
Do you have any special skill that “runs in the family?”

Why I’m doing an #ImprovisedStory

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A few of my readers have asked me what the deal is with my ‘Improvised Story’ that I’m doing in my Facebook Group. Allow me to explain.

Improvised Story is glorious. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 10 am and noon. I post a new chapter (sometimes a partial chapter) of the story of Jax and Harmony in my group. So, going chapter by chapter, it will take about a month to finish this book, updating a few chapters every week. You know, like how old periodicals used to deliver chapter by chapter stories of James Joyce novels.

Wait. Mickey, I don’t get it. What do you mean, the story is “improvised?”

Essentially, the ‘improvised’ part means I’m making it up as I go. Or, since I turn around and take suggestions from my readers after every chapter, WE are making it up as we go. It’s a fun, interactive way to create a story. And I definitely use the suggestions I get as much as possible.

 

How’d you come up with the idea?

In one of my nine lives before I started writing romance, I wanted to be a professional improviser. I live in Chicago so it wasn’t hard to take a class on the art of improvisation. It’s a little crazy, since sometimes we might get the suggestions ‘washing machine’ and have to turn that into a half hour show. But, the fun is really in the challenge. I wrote my book Ten Night Stand as an improvised story as well. I won’t write every story like this, because half of the fun of writing is surprising my readers. But on the other hand these stories can be quite fun to do. Writing is a solo activity–and this is one way to engage my readers regularly.

 

Does it get tough trying to come up with something?

I’m of the school that I don’t believe in writer’s block. What we call writer’s block is really just fear of what we’re writing, and of course I’m often afraid of what’s going to come out of me when I write! On the other hand, this is actually a great way to get out of my comfort zone as a writer and try some new things.

For example, for this book I had my readers help me with the character charts for Jax and Harmony. We even voted on the names! And it came out that Jax is a little standoffish and jaded, whereas Harmony is mousy and a fantastic guitar player.

 

Where are you in the story right now?

Jax was feeling really down, and he decided to head into this random bar on the outskirts of town. Harmony was playing guitar inside, and he felt lifted up hearing her voice. It was exactly what he needed to feel better. Then, Harmony’s ride ditched her, and Jax said he’d take her home. She was a little apprehensive about getting on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle, but she took her anyway. That’s where we’re at!

Want to join in the fun of the improvised story? Join my Facebook Group and leave your comments when the chapter is posted. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. (central time). I’ll also be having people vote on some of the outcomes and actions that happen, through the week!

Mickey Miller is a member of RWA and a romance novelist who agrees that romance is the genre of love and hope.

You can read his books on Amazon here. 

Review of Corrupt by Penelope Douglass

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Many people ask me if I actually read romance since I’m a guy writing romance and the answer is yes.

I started reading a few years ago before I started writing it. The first few authors I picked up were Winter Renshaw, Lauren Blakely, and Vi Keeland.

Recently, I picked up a book by Penelope Douglass. I’d seen her new one out Birthday Girl but a friend recommended that I read Corrupt, one she wrote a few years ago and seems to have achieved classic status- over 1,000 reviews.

This book was awesome for a lot of reasons. First, the characters were amazing, and detailed, and I definitely felt a connection to them. (No spoilers). Basically, the protagonist Rica is between two brothers. Michael and Rica’s connection is real, yet taboo (he’s a few years older, and he steers clear of her in high school).

The best part about this book though, in my humble opinion, was simply the writing and what Penelope is able to pull off. The plot was so intricate, and as an author I have tried to write very intricate plots before and they sometimes don’t go well. She pulls exactly the right details out.

There was one point in the book where I noted that it was lulling…or so I thought. No sooner did I think it was lulling, when it got even crazier.

This book is long, it’s well written, and it’s very hot. I highly recommend checking out Corrupt if you are looking for a hot read that will burn long! The fictional world Penelope has created rings very true, and I love how vivid not only the main characters are but also the secondary and tertiary characters.

Lots of Love,

Mickey

 

 

How Morning Pages Will Help You Conquer Writer’s Block

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Just about every writer, at some point in their career, deals with the dreaded condition commonly known as “Writer’s Block.”

Since I published my first book a few days before my thirtieth birthday in 2016, I have certainly gone through periods of creative abundance and drought. In my periods of extreme productivity, it seemed like I couldn’t hit the keyboard fast enough to get all the words out. There were also days where it was like wringing a dry washcloth to get a single drop of water out.

What is the difference between those productive periods and not-so-productive periods?

In other words, what is the cure for writer’s block? Is there even a ‘cure’ for writer’s block?

I’m going to get to that. But first, I think it’s important to dig a little deeper into what writer’s block is and where it comes from.

Here’s a quote from one of my favorite authors on writer’s block:

Most of the time, when we are blocked in an area of our life, it is because we feel safer that way.

-Julia, Cameron, The Artist’s Way

To me, this makes perfect sense. Most often, my inability to get words down on the page is due to some root fear or unaddressed feeling about myself and my own writing. It’s not that I’m blocked from writing, or that I lack ideas. Instead, it’s usually because of my own negative beliefs. Here’s a smattering of some of my own negative beliefs that have a tendency to crowd into my head:

-These thoughts I’m putting down are downright dirty, and I’m definitely going to hell, if there is a hell

-You’re weird, Mickey, and everyone will think that about you after you finish writing this book. Why do you enjoy writing romance? It’s a female genre.

-I’ll write bad work, not know it, and look like a fool

-My ideas aren’t good

-If I haven’t become a widely successful author yet, I’m not going to be one any time soon

Even as I read this list back to myself, I can tell many of the points are fairly irrational. Going to hell? Really? I don’t believe in hell. But, I was raised Catholic, so the idea of a fire and brimstone punishment still has the ability to creep into my writing and give me writer’s block. It’s actually a little creepy, isn’t it? But it’s true. Maybe you’ve had similar irrational thoughts.

Maybe some of what I’ve written down could be true, like the fact that romance is a mostly female genre. But if I’ve decided that I enjoy writing romance, that too is an irrational belief since I’m worried about how people are judging me.

I write this personal list of negative beliefs down to demonstrate that whatever is blocking you from writing doesn’t have to be rational. In fact, your writer’s block is likely made up of irrational negative beliefs that are deeply embedded within you. To steal a phrase from David Foster Wallace, these beliefs are like a fish in water. They’re all around you even if you don’t notice them.

Julia Cameron agrees. Here is a little more of her analysis of blocked creatives:

Negative Beliefs are exactly that: beliefs, not facts. Artists need not be drunk, crazy, broke, alone–or any of a number of our culture’s negative beliefs about them.

So how does one find these negative beliefs? You must explore and excavate them like a fish who explores the water. And the best tool for doing this is The Morning Pages.

The morning pages are such a simple tool, they are almost deceiving in their simplicity. But don’t be fooled. They are not to be underestimated.

How to do the Morning Pages and Beat Writer’s Block

  1. Set your alarm clock a half hour earlier. If a half hour is too intimidating, do fifteen minutes. And if that doesn’t work. Ten. I started out with five minutes. You must pick an amount of time that you can repeat daily.
  2. Write three pages in a notebook, longhand, about anything that comes to mind. If you can’t write three, write two. If not two, then one. The key is to start with something.
  3. The content you write DOES NOT MATTER. You want to focus on writing whatever comes to mind. From experience I can tell you that you might often right down stuff that seems ‘frivolous’ to you. Lean into this feeling. It’s normal. You’re not showing this writing to anyone. It is for you and you alone.
  4. Do this consistently, at least 5+ days per week. This is key. Essentially what this activity does is build your writing ‘muscle’ while creating a link between your subconscious and what you are writing.

This is a basic rundown. The morning pages are the closest thing to “magic” that exists when it comes to beating writer’s block. I still start almost every single day with writing morning pages and coffee. It’s a soothing form of mediation, and I’ve come to crave it. It settles me. Sometimes the morning pages seem whiny and trite. Other times, I’ll be writing about something insignificant when all of the sudden some big realization will set in. In any case, it clears away the noise of my mind to go and write whatever I need to write for the day.

If you would like to learn more about the morning pages and how to conquer writer’s block, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Creativity.

I am not exaggerating when I say I would not be a full time writer if I hadn’t read this book and followed through with the exercises, the most important of which are the morning pages. I consider my own mother a blocked creative, and I’ve actually bought The Artist’s Way book + journal combo for her as a summer gift. Of course, you don’t really need the ‘official’ journal. You can write in any old notebook you have laying around and start the morning pages right now. But I am a huge fan of the quotes that come in the official journal, like:

Because art is born in expansion, in a belief in sufficient supply, it is critical that we pamper ourselves for the sense of abundance it brings us.

It is quite possible, to be both an artist and romantically fulfilled. It is quite possible to be an artist and financially successful.

Think of the mind as a room. In that room we keep all of our usual ideas about life. The room has a door. That door is ever so slightly ajar, and outside we can see a great deal of dazzling light.

– All quotes from Julia Cameron’s Writing Journal.

I will admit that after I filled up the first official writing journal in a little over twelve weeks, I become obsessed with extra large Moleskin notebooks which are the only journal I use now. I highly recommend them. There is just something special about moleskins. I use the unlined version (you know, because creatives can’t stay between the lines and all that). They are a tad on the pricey side for a simple notebook, and I’m sure there are less expensive options out there as well. What can I say, I have an addictive writing habit.

I’m also going to give away a copy of both books this week to one lucky person in my Facebook Group, Mickey’s Writing Mill. All you have to do is comment on the post about what you think is your biggest negative self-belief and where you think it comes from, and share this blog post somewhere.

Please also let me know what you think about this behind-the-scenes post. I’ve never written one quite like this, but judging from the questions I’ve been getting in the Facebook group I felt it would be useful.

If you’ve ever thought about writing seriously, I’ll leave you with this quote from a living writing legend. He didn’t sell his first screenplay until he was in his thirties, and he wrote it while still working full time as a lawyer.

Of the people 100 people I’ve given [the book] to, maybe ten of them have actually opened the book and done the exercises. Of those ten, seven have had books, movies, TV shows, and made out successful.

-Brian Koppelman, writer of such screenplays as Rounders and Billions

Writing is a form of magic. You are creating something (your own story with unique characters) where there once was nothing.

I wish you the best of luck on your writing journey and your morning pages.

My Crazy Goals For 2018

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I thought a lot about how to phrase this post, about how to come off as a ‘professional’ author and not someone who is just starting up. I kept thinking ‘how would a professional author write a blog post about his goals for the year?’

I realized I was overthinking this completely. I am what I am right now–an author who has had some decent success in the past as a part time author including a few #1 Bestsellers in their categories. But if I am being honest I am not JK Rowling or Stephen King nor should I pretend to be better than I am. An important part of getting better is being honest about where you are in the process.

I am on the “come-up” of my writing journey right now and I love being as transparent about that. It’s part of what makes being an author in this day and age fun: my readers get to come on the journey with me and see me (hopefully) mature into a writer who consistently writes amazing hit books that they love.

That being said, I want to post my goals in a public place like this blog. Isn’t one of the ways you stick to your New Year’s resolutions by saying them publicly?

So here goes, here are my resolutions for 2018 (and my predictions):

Goal #1) Write One Million Words.

This goal sounds a little crazy, I know. But, if you do the math, it’s actually attainable-ish. I aim to write 3,000 words per day minimum, six days per week. (Sunday is a rest day as a famous mechanic once said). So that’s:

365 days in a year – 52 sundays not writing = 313 days writing in a year

3,000 words x 313 days = 939,000 words

Okay, nevermind–I’ve got to write a few of those Sundays too, or up the word count (did I mention I set crazy goals?)

In this total I’m counting novel + blog writing into one. Even today, I’ve got around 3500 words done.

Prediction: I’ll come close. Editing may take a lot more time then I anticipate, but I’m pumped and energetic right now, and writing is my #1 priority this year. Malcolm Gladwell’s famous saying that it takes “10,000 hours” to master something is mostly true from what I’ve seen, so I’ve got to put in the work this year since I quit my job, no way around it.

I’ll be updating this goal on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with the Hashtag #OneMillionWords!

 

Goal #2) Read 52 Books.

When I’m in writer-mode, I have a tendency to get obsessive about whatever I’m writing, but it’s important for me to keep reading! A book a week is aggressive so Thank God I’ve got my Audible Subscription because I’m a huge audiolover and I can listen to books faster than I can read that’s just the facts.

Prediction: I start out strong but have a month in there where I get off track. We’ll see.

I’ll be updating this goal this year with the Hashtag #52Books!

 

Goal #3) Make a Short Film (or Music video)

I had the goal last year to make a music video, which I (kind of) did when me and my cousin did a live feed where we sang songs and played guitar.

This goal is going to be a little bit more difficult for me since I basically have no training in film, production, nor do I even have a fancy camera. But–this is a stretch goal and I’m putting this one out there.

Prediction: I’ll need to meet some people in the film space to get this one done. But one of my favorite quotes is “take one step toward God and he takes two steps toward you” so just by putting this out there who knows what can happen!

 

Goal #4) Memorize the words/chords to my Dad’s band’s set list

Completely unrelated to writing, but nonetheless important to me. Some of you may know that I play guitar with my Dad, uncle and cousin in a local band. Currently I read music to follow along and I would like to get to the point where I have memorized the set list! Pretty simple

Prediction: I’ll get this one done because it’s important to me.

 

Goal #5) Don’t be a hermit – have dinner with one friend or family member per week

I’m the worst sometimes. I get really into writing and don’t text my friends for weeks (sometimes months). And hey I know the phone works both ways but I love my friends and family and I want to make a concerted effort to meet them up this year because life is short.

Prediction: I will get better at this one as the year goes on because Winter in Chicago makes it not as fun to get together.

 

That’s all – five goals is plenty. Any more and “I’m kidding myself” as my high school P.E. teacher used to say.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting about how I did on my goals for 2017!

Happy 2018 everyone!

What is one goal you have this year?

Why I quit my job to write full time (and why it’s a bad idea)

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On December 29th, 2017, I worked my last day in the office at my day job as a sales rep at one of the biggest technology companies in the U.S.

As I took the elevator down and out of the skyscraper yesterday, a pang of nervousness nipped at me. Questions that I hadn’t thought about suddenly arose in my mind:

Why are you quitting a stable job right as you’re about to get a promotion?

What will you do for a 401k and benefits?

Why don’t you work just a little bit longer?

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind as I left the building for the last time, because in my heart of hearts, my head just wasn’t in the game of selling technology any more. I was very fortunate to have the job, don’t get me wrong.

But something hit me one day in December, and I realized every day I spent at the job was one more day less I would be writing full time–which has been my goal for a long time and is my goal to do forever. I plan on writing until I’m 90 or whenever my fingers stop working or people don’t want to read my crazy shit any more.

And I’m so damn happy about that.

For the last three years, this has been my office:

Two full winters passed sitting at that cubicle…I wouldn’t even see the sun during the afternoon, since as you can see the wall blocks it.

I liked my job, but the environment was a little bit depressing and drab, to be honest. Not like I won’t be using a computer when I write my books, but at least I’ll be able to use my imagination.

After writing eight books this year, including an Amazon bestselling romantic comedy and a few others that didn’t do so bad, this seemed like the perfect time to make the jump.

And then, of course, I realized that December is the month that no one reads. And I didn’t have a release coming out until the end of the month.  I double checked my sales, and wondered, how the hell am I going to live off that? I’m going to be eating ramen for the rest of my life.

I even thought about telling my boss I wanted to reverse my two weeks and stay a little longer.

But in the end I didn’t really care. As corny as it is, I’m doing what I love which is writing books and writing romances.

But still, I wouldn’t recommend quitting to write–unless you are making many times what your day job is.

Or unless you’re a crazy man like me.

Come with me as I chronicle the journey.

This year could go down in flames, but hey, at least I can say I went for it.

I’ll be posting a lot more on the blog this year about writing, my books, and the mindset it takes to make it as an entrepreneurial spirit in this world. And sure maybe delving into the question I get asked a lot which is why would a guy write romance?

Here’s to a hellavu ride in 2018!

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And feel free to check out my books too. 

And now…here’s a video of me!