Elizabeth Seckman and Do You Have Goals Combo

Please welcome Elizabeth Seckman with her

5 Reasons to Write Romance!

My Goals Update is Near the End

Five Reasons to Write Romance:

1. Reality Avoidance -  The cable bill is wrong—again. The dog peed on the floor—again. And every single time someone opens the refrigerator door, the milk disappears. Life can just be so unexciting sometimes. It’s wonderful to write worlds where life’s little nuisances disappear by magic.

2. Study Fiction, Learn Facts. Reading romances and watching romantic movies, I learned a few things— Stubborn behavior without proper motivation is annoying. Lies always, always come back to bite you in the rear. And holding some things back heightens the mystery.

3. It’s Life. The quest for satisfying relationships is a basic need. Romantic tales take that portion of our reality and put it under a microscope. True love may not be the end all, be all, but choose wisely for smooth sailing. Choose unwisely and it’s a rocky road.

4. Be a Believer. Sure, the worlds may be fictitious with their unstained furniture and rock hard abs, but love is the one universal truth. No matter who, where, or when…people have the capacity to love.

5. Happy Endings. Life can be full of dark times and sadness. It’s good to write a genre that not only encourages, but expects a happy ending. It’s a small reminder that there are bad times, but there are good times too. 

Elizabeth Seckman, Author  

Facebook/ Website/ Blog

           The Books

Elizabeth's Latest Novel is Out!

He came looking for a ghost. Instead, he found a girl. 

Tucker Boone is a war-hardened Marine on a ghost hunt. Fresh out of the corps, Tucker learns he has a missing half-sister, Maddy. The only clue to her whereabouts is a cryptic note…I’ve gone Mad, Mags. Tucker agrees to search for her and heads to Ocracoke, North Carolina where a ghost named Mad Mags is said to haunt the ancient graveyards dotting the island. 

The note doesn’t bring him any closer to finding Maddy, but it does offer him a diversion to the doldrums of civilian life— his new island neighbor, Josie McCoy. Tucker is drawn to her quiet spirit. There’s something special about Josie…a connection he can’t quite explain. 

By summer’s end, he’s mixed up in deception, murder, and the love of a lifetime. Logic tells him to head home and forget the truths he found on the island. But can he walk away? Josie offers him more than love; she offers him hope. When the clues pile up and it looks like she can never be the girl for him, he has to make a choice- play it safe and break her heart, or risk everything for a chance at being swept away.

Swept Away

I love Elizabeth's thoughts on the capacity to love!

And now, I must give my goals update. I have to admit, it's hard this month. I added "mom-brag" pictures at the end for a bigger positive. 

Miles Walked: 30
Miles Biked: 5 (so few)
Words Written: 15,300
Note on Words Written: So much backstory, world-building, note-taking, and other messy stuff, that it feels like I haven't written anything at all.
Good News (There's always some): I had four poems published, and I have a short story coming out on July 1st. 
Family News: It's canoe and kayak season with regattas every month. We actually can't make all of the regattas, but we made two in June and are headed to Nationals in August. One daughter chipped bone off of her foot playing capture the flag, missed her dance recital, and is supposed to "rest" although she's still attempting to lift weights, do core, and canoe carefully (she's in a lunge position for sprinting); and my other daughter is kayaking and lifting weights 4-6 hours a day. It's all pretty intense, but I love my family dearly so we are just living life intensely together, and I'm forcing everyone to rest now and then. 

My oldest canoeing before her foot injury.

My oldest dancing (center) before her foot injury.

My youngest cooling down after a race.

The coach and my youngest daughter, walking to the dock at a race.

Our team requires athletes to carry their own boats and it's something the kids take pride in being able to do - however, these kayaks and canoes are sprint-style so they are usually between 11kg and 17kg in weight, and very narrow. They are awkward, but not especially heavy to carry.