Best Books to Read Now - Creative #HBIC Edition

I've been wanting to do this edition of Best Books to Read Now for a while now. So voila! Here is my list of the nonfiction books about creativity and writing that I love and, in some cases, refer to again and again.  

****UPDATED in 2019!****

About Creativity...

The Artisan Soul - Erwin Raphael McManus  - comes at creativity from a Christian/ religious persepective

Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert  - I also highly recommend the podcast by the same name. Not a Christian perspective but definitely some #woowoo there.

About being an HBIC...

The Pro Writer Mindset - Jennifer Blanchard - practical advice on goals, writing and business. Loved this.

The Desire Map - Danielle LaPorte -  I recommend this one and/or The Pro Writer Mindset when you need some concrete advice on how to get where you want to get.  The Desire Map is a little more woowoo but there's some great stuff on affirmations and visualization in The Pro Writer Mindset too.

Dear Writer, You Need to Quit - Becca Syme - I highly recommend Becca’s Better Faster Academy courses to every writer I meet (she’s my writing/life coach/guru) but this book is a nice introduction to her methods and madness and empowers you to make the best choices that work for you. (Check out my Women With Books episode interviewing Becca for more information.)

The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women - Valerie Young - a good and empowering read about conquering your imposter syndrome

You are a Badass at Making Money - Jen Sincero - really, any of Jen Sincero’s books help you HBIC level up, but this one’s my favorite because cha-ching.

Atomic Habits - James Clear - I’ve decided that most productivity books don’t really apply to most multi-tasking women but this one actually spoke to me and I recommend it all the time.

About Writing and Marketing...

Romancing the Beat - Gwen Hayes - a concise, easy to read guide on how to plot a romance novel

Save the Cat - Blake Snyder  - I'm a disciple of this storytelling method. It doesn't click for everyone but once you see stories through a Save the Cat lens, you'll never go back.

Writing the Cozy Mystery - Nancy J. Cohen - another great, concise and practice guide to writing a popular genre

Your A Game - Damon Suede and Heidi Cullinan - about promotion and marketing and how different personality types can approach it.

Newsletter Ninja - Tammy Labrecque - the ultimate bible on how to build and engage the most powerful marketing tool; a newsletter

And now you really want to know... what in the blazes is an HBIC?

Head

Bitch

In

Charge.

That's right. We're taking back the B-word.

It's what my friends and I started calling ourselves when we stopped and realized that (1) we really knew what we were talking about when it came to our business stuff and (2) we were stronger when we worked together and supported each other.

On a sunny Feburary afternoon, after a beautiful al fresco luncheon, we started dreaming. What if... what if more people could join our group? What if... what if we could teach and learn from each other?  What if... we took over the world?  Thus, HBIC Nation was born.

Founded by six authors (and badass business women), HBIC Nation is a place to learn, share, and grow your creative empire--plus have one heck of a good time while doing it. If you identify as an HBIC, you are welcome. 

So if you're a creative of any type, and you identify as an HBIC, you are welcomed at the party.  Come visit our Instagram, sign up for our newsletter, join our Facebook group, pour a drink and let's get to work together.

P.S. Do you love our unicorn logo?  For launch week, we're offering a discount on logo t-shirts!!!  Check it out HERE.

All These Things That I Love - April 2017

A monthly roundup of things that give me life…

With pajama pants. Weird? Maybe? I've talked about some of my pajama weirdness before, like my requirements for hotel pajamas. These pajama pants by Uniqlo are pretty fabulous. They're light weight and flowy and have pockets! And they're a perfect length if you have a puppy and have to take him out in the yard in the wee hours of the morning to, um, you know, and don't want to flash the neighbors.

Also, they come in subtle Mickey Mouse prints right now for those that love Disney or want to match with me at #RWA17.  Or would that be weird?

Hart of Dixie. Again. It has everything I love. Friendships.

Romance.

And sassy Southern belles.

I'm watching it on Netflix, but all the seasons are available on Amazon.

Essential oils. Going crazy with them, actually. My allergies have been intense since January (thank you climate change?) and essential oils have been a life saver.  I usually use my own blend of lavender, peppermint and lemon but some days I dab on whatever feels good.  My friend the DoTerra rep gifted me with this fabulous Mother's Day trio of citrus oils and they truly are mood lifters.

If you're interested in trying out essential oils yourself,  you can check them out here.

This song. On replay.  The book I #amwriting is sooooooo..... this.

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Patriarchy in a (Bully) Nutshell

*cracks knuckles* Hold my purse. I'm going in. Have you heard the one about the male sculptor of "Charging Bull" and how he's complaining that a sculpture named "Fearless Girl" is VIOLATING. HIS. RIGHTS?

Oh yeah. You heard me.

I'm going to try to take this slow, nice and easy, so I don't break any noses.

Arturo Di Modica, the sculptor of "Charging Bull," an iconic sculpture on Wall Street of, yes, a charging bull, is complaining that a sculpture of a little girl, aptly named "Fearless Girl" is violating his rights.  "Fearless Girl" was placed in front of Charging Bull on a temporary basis to celebrate Women's History Month but when New York City extended its (her) permits, Di Modica had had enough of sharing his space. He hired lawyers who are going to literally fight City Hall over the image of a little girl.

Di Modica was far from pleased. He said "Fearless Girl"... altered the artistic message behind "Charging Bull" without his permission.

He maintains that Fearless Girl...  at once distorts the intent of his statue from "a symbol of prosperity and for strength" into a villain,

For a man who is so into symbolism, maybe Mr. Di Modica could realize that what he's doing is a perfect living analogy for bullsh!t patriarchy.

Women have heard this kind of crap before: "She's a lovely girl, but this space isn't right for her."

"Remove her and place her somewhere else in the city," he said. "We've got lots of ideas.

Maybe she'd be more comfortable in the garment district. Girls love fashion, amirite?

Or we've heard: "If she's here, she's violating my rights."

What rights, exactly, is Fearless Girl taking away from Charging Bull (this is starting to sound like the Dances With Wolves screenplay. Forgive me.) Or from Mr. Di Modica?

Let's talk about the rights of art.

God, that sounds pretentious.

There are no art rights.

In this country, art isn't a person or a corporation or a river .  If you get to put art into the world count yourself damn lucky. If you get paid for it? You're the king. Go home. You've won.  And if you're Mr. Di Modica? Who has a team of lawyers and copyrights and permits? You've got 100,000% more rights than 99.999999% of the earth's artists.

Now some of you are asking, but Lindsay, what about his copyright?

Sure, he has copyright. Good for him. I don't know what his legal protections are for that damn statue but here's what I know, in life and in art, that putting a girl next to him doesn't invalidate any of it.

And let's talk about his permits.

In 1987, Di Modica illegally installed Charging Bull on city property without proper permits. It was then impounded by the city before being replaced in a new location.

But now. Thirty years later. A dude comes back and says a legally installed work of art is making his look bad. Wah. Freaking. Wah.

You know what, art changes. Go to a museum. You're looking at art that was viewed one way centuries ago and now we're like, wow. That celebration of an African slave market doesn't look so great.

But it's a great piece by a great master so a curator doesn't take it down but puts that piece with another to put it in context. It helps us understand where we are as a culture. It doesn't change the original art.

You know what doesn't change? Male Privilege.

That's right, I'm going there.

The privilege that allowed a man to illegally drop a 7,000 pound chunk of metal into the middle of Manhattan and get rewarded for it.  The privilege that sunk into his brain and gives him the audacity to hire lawyers to file FOIA requests to determine whether Fearless Girl was properly permitted.  The privilege that led him to believe that no one should ever question his creation, his meaning, his freaking symbolism.

That right there? That's bullshit.

It's bullshit that all women recognize for exactly what it is. Patriarchy.

Good for New York Mayor De Blasio for standing up (so far) to Di Modica's demands. Good for the tourists, the New Yorkers, and the Wall Street firms who support Fearless Girl and what she stands for.

None of it feels like a victory, though. Not yet. Not until the bullies stop trying to beat down little girls who just want to take up some of their space.

Best Books to Read Now - April 2017

Reminder/ Caveat/ Disclaimer: This is my (hopefully) monthly list of books I’ve read and enjoyed. These are not reviews, I do not include books I didn’t enjoy because life is too short to speak badly of books!

FAN GIRL ALERT!!!

Gushing ahead!!!

Magic Binds - Ilona Andrews

I'm not even going to apologize. I am a Level A1 Ilona Andrews fan girl, as I've stated before. Magic Binds is Book 9 of the Kate Daniels series and one of the best. I can't even explain why, it just had everything I love about the best of Ilona Andrews, crazy yet loyal friends and families, strong women and the strong men that love them and completely unique world building.

And while we're talking about THE BEST of Ilona Andrews.... The first book in their new series, Burn For Me  is on sale for $.99. It originally came out in 2014 and I have read it, no lie, at least four or five times since. So yes, you can say I recommend it. Read it now and then you'll be able to read the next two with me when they're released this summer.

Dark Road to Darjeeling - Deanna Raybourn

This was book 4 of the Lady Julia Gray series and this time Julia and her family take the trip to India to solve crimes in their oh-so-English way. I've read books about colonial India since a very young age (I'm not making that up. That would be a weird thing to make up.) and this story felt lovely and familiar.

Belgravia - Julian Fellowes

I almost picked Belgravia to be my book club selection.  I picked Big Little Lies instead but grabbed this one for Spring Break reading. As the cover says, the author is the author of Downton Abbey so if you were a Lady Cora fan...

I mean, a Dowager Countess fan, you'll be quite happy with this Upstairs/Downstairs tale of scandal and family in the early Victorian era.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

If you haven't read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks yet, do yourself a favor and read it now before the HBO series starts this month.  If you loved Hidden Figures, this book will also tell you a story of science and the amazing contribution of an African-American woman who never got the acknowledgment she deserved.  I first read this with a prior book club. We were a diverse group and this book kept us talking for hours about science, ethics, and American history.

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So… as always, I’d love to hear what you’ve read or are reading. Throw those suggestions at me down below or keep in touch on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook.  And are you subscribed to my newsletter?

If not, WHY NOT?  My newsletter subscribers get all the news about new books, sales and contests, FIRST – sign up here and keep in touch! There will be some awesome stuff coming up soon!

 Until next month, Happy Reading!!!

Best Books to Read Now - March 2017

Reminder/ Caveat/ Disclaimer: This is my (hopefully) monthly list of books I’ve read and enjoyed. These are not reviews, I do not include books I didn’t enjoy because life is too short to speak badly of books!

Yes, dear reader, I skipped my BBTRN post for February. Life, man. Also, DNFs.  Also... I was catching up on some of my favorite series and I didn't want my whole blog post to be about book 9 and 10 of a great series...

Like Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson series. I wrote about this series before and like I said then, I don't know how I got behind (except, y'know, LIFE) and obviously it took me longer than I'd like to catch up but oh man, Darynda just never disappoints. In The Dirt on Ninth Grave  and The Curse on Tenth Grave Charley and her ragtag crew of (other)worldly friends are still funny, loyal, sexy and mysterious. Exactly what I love to read. And yes, I'm already behind again because Eleventh Grave in Moonlight is already out and waiting for me...

Y'all.

Those of you who have seen me in person have probably already heard me gush about the Winston Brothers series, about seven (mostly bearded) sexy siblings. From the humor to the dialogue to the fantastic covers, I loved these up and down. For some reason, I read book 3, Beard Science, and then book 1, Truth or Beard and I can attest to the fact that you will love the Winston Brothers in all the various birth orders. Do not amble, stroll, mosey or otherwise lollygag, RUN to your local internet book retailer and start (wherever you please) with these books and then come talk to me about them and we can sigh and giggle over them together.

Right after I saw Ms. Quarles win the RITA for Must Love Chainmail last year in San Diego, she popped it on sale and I nabbed it.  I like time travel historicals (oh hai Jamie Fraser) but I hadn't read a medieval book in decades, probably, so I just needed to be in the right mood, which I was in February (probably because I had an inexplicable urge to put on armor and grab a very big weapon and fight against tyrannical kings.) I chomped this one down fast. The historical details were fascinating and well-researched, the romance lovely, the suspense immediate.  I like the slight twist on the typical time-travel ending (it's an HEA, don't worry) and the fact that the two characters couldn't understand each other immediately (modern day English is very different from 13th century English).   I'm definitely going to pick up her other books in this series, Must Love Breeches and Must Love Kilts to tide me over until Outlander returns...

Big Little Lies was my book club selection for January/February and mostly because I saw the HBO show was starting and remembered I always wanted to read a Liane Moriarty book.  I'm pretty embarrassed it took me this long but... um... see my Darynda Jones delays. I'm a busy woman. I can't read everything!  I loved the book. I found it refreshing, suspenseful and real and I've got a couple of episodes saved up to binge watch this weekend. (I've heard great things - are you watching?)

As always, I'd love to hear about what you're reading, watching and loving lately.  Hit me up on my  Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook.  And are you subscribed to my newsletter?  I hope to have some announcements about new books coming soon!

P.S. I'm also participating in a multi-author contest this week featuring books with women sleuths!  Check it out here to win 45+ books!