Time Pockets: Where Creativity and Productivity Thrive

Have you ever met those people who seem to get a ridiculous amount of work done and you’re left scratching your head wondering ‘how’?

I confess that I’m one of the people that tends to be high on productivity, but it wasn’t always this way. There used to be a time where I did accomplish a lot, but it was work or school related and I never felt like I was having fun or pursuing things I wanted to do. And I started to resent the things I had to do.

One of the biggest changes that helped me was establishing Time Pockets in my life. Now it wasn’t like time pockets didn’t exist, but I never used them. And if you’re reading this, then you might not be aware of them either.

First let me define what time pockets are. Very simply, they are those 10 or 15 minutes that pop up all over the place in our lives when we’re waiting for an appointment or between meetings. We arrive early and have nothing to do. While I admit it’s hard to accomplish significant tasks during these time pockets, we can do any number of activities.

Let me give you some examples of time pockets and how I’ve used them as a writer:

  • When I was commuting by bus to and from work before Covid19, I spent that time reading books about writing. It was the only I time I spent doing that, but I did learn a lot and read quite a number of books even though my commute was only a 10 minute bus ride!
  • Perhaps I have an hour between finishing work and a meeting. I use that time to edit a chapter or work on an outline. Or maybe there’s a podcast I want to listen to.
  • A lot of times inspiration hits but I don’t have time to stop and write because I’m driving to get groceries. When I stop my car, I pull out my phone and use the notes app to write a few of those ideas down for later.

When we live with an awareness of time pockets, and fill them with productive activities that bring us joy, this also has a positive impact on our well-being. We no longer feel trapped, but we can experience the momentum of pursing our dreams, hobbies and interest.

So the next time you have a few minutes and are tempted to scroll through Facebook or a news feed, stop and do something valuable to you. The minutes will disappear and you’ll be on your way to increased productivity coupled with an increase of contentment.

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Book Review: Crimson Born -Amy Patrick

This book had a great premise. The main character is an Amish girl on her Rumspringa (the time Amish young people have to experience the ‘English’ world and decide if they will remain on the colony or leave it.) While returning home from a party, her buggy is hit by an approaching car and she’s on the side of the road dying but is spared by a vampire.

Oh it sounded interesting and free, so I downloaded it. The book was well-written and kept my attention. I wanted to know what would happen next and how things would work out for the main character. And it was a good but average read.

Where the book fell a bit flat for me is the whole Amish side and the girl’s lack of reaction to her change in life circumstances was poorly done. The exciting premise didn’t show the girl’s struggle with being forced to leave her community, her father uncaringly dropping her off and telling her never to return because of her change or even any struggle with the girl entering her new life. There wasn’t even much of a struggle around her drinking blood.

The author did seem to have a passing knowledge of Amish culture, so she probably did some research. I think the book would have been more interesting if the girl hadn’t come from an Amish background though because that really set an expectation for some exciting plot and conflict opportunities.

The book is still free on Amazon, so I encourage you to give it a read and let me know your thoughts. Get your free copy here: Crimson Born

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Cast of Characters

When we sit down to enjoy a good book, there’s a number of reasons why we like or dislike the story. Sometimes we can easily identify the reason, but other times it’s a bit more elusive. One factor that does stand out to us though is the characters and how well they are developed.

In every novel, there’s a bunch of ‘people’ the author brings to life on the page and from your high school English class, you can probably name: Protagonist and Antagonist.

The Protagonist is your main character who either creates the action or is in the midst of the excitement and if the author’s done their job well, then the story wouldn’t happen without this vital person.

The Antagonist is the character who opposes the main character. This character can be an actual character or villain. There is always only one who stands in opposition to the Protagonist, but they can have ‘helpers’.

Now beyond this, can you name more characters? There are actually five other major players that surround the Protagonist, and depending on the length of the novel, they might overlap or play minor roles and appear only a few times in the course of the novel.

So here they are! Think of some of your favorite reads try to identify how the author created their cast of characters.

The Mentor: This could also be an impact character who helps the main character face their journey, understand the theme (the lesson the main character needs to learn), in order to have their ultimate showdown in the final battle with the antagonist.

Sidekick: This character is usually a friend to the main character is often known as the support character. Their job is to journey and face the challenges with the main character. They bring their opinions and ideas to the dialogue and may engage in some of the battles as well.

The Voice of Reason: This character is the logic in the journey. They can be seen as antagonizing the main character because they constantly disagree. Though they can be supportive of the main character as well. This is usually someone close enough to the main character that can speak directly to the character to influence the journey positively or negatively.

Emotional Character: Very often this character is a child or someone young in the story who balances out the logic. They bring the emotional dynamic to the story. A child or a ‘young-at-heart’ character who will react with tears or laughter or fear when needed.

Comic Relief: This character is a pretty static character and their primary purpose is to bring in a bit of humor. This type of personality makes us laugh and we usually expect the same kind of behavior from them. They make a somber moment light.

Of these five characters, they can overlap. For example, a character that is The Voice of Reason could also be The Mentor.

So think of some of your favorite reads and think about how the author has used these in their craft.

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Book Review: Primordial Earth -Baileigh Higgins

Think Jurassic Park but you’ve been transported back in time and you’re stuck.

This was my first time reading a book from this author. I was pleasantly surprised. The story had good suspense and I was constantly wondering what would happen next. I had to put the book down for things like work, but even then my thoughts were gravitating towards, ‘I need to know…’

The main character, Rogue, was part of an event in history that split the modern world with the prehistoric world and she ended up as part of dino history. The city Rogue lives in is led by a corrupt leader and it is believed that the citizens are safe as long as they live behind the walls surrounding the city. But things aren’t so simple for our main character who finds herself exiled and fighting for survival.

It was a fast-paced entertaining read. The book finishes well with a hint of more to come. The overall writing is fairly solid. And I look forward to the second book though by the looks of it, the author has a habit of writing series that go one for quite a while, so I might wait before purchasing more in the series.

Pick up your copy today on Amazon!

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New Content

Hi Everyone, so the podcasting will take a bit more time to set up, but there’s a new addition coming to the website today and I hope you take a few minutes to step on over and check it out!

Here’s a link to the page!

New Content

I’d love to know what you think!

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Book Review: Phoenix Born (Jacob Graves Book 1) -Sean Stone

Free for 4-5 days!

-Sean Stone

This is an interesting new series with a hero that kind of isn’t a hero. Jacob Graves owns a night club, is secretly in love with the woman who manages his night club and has some magic that gives him an edge. But he likes to stay below the radar of the magical and Dorian Grey, the real uh person in charge of his city.

Oh, and did I mention that he gets his real source of income as an assassin? But he’s the good kind who only kills bad guys. Unfortunately for Jacob, he’s met his match in his next mark. Jacob Graves kills the guy, but he has this irritating habit of coming back to life. Say what now? You’ll have to read the book to find out more. (And I did mention it’s for free on Amazon for a few days only, so get it while it’s hot!)

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The novel is well put together and the promise of the love interest gives a bit of mystery. The book has a good pace that keeps you reading and invested in the story.

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Book Review: The Stolen Kingdom: An Aladdin Retelling -Bethany Atazadeh

I’m still not one for fairy tale retellings mostly because I find they’re overdone and redundant. We know the end because they’re familiar tales, so it is rare that I find an author who is able to take a classic and turn it into an exciting read. Bethany Atazadeh’s The Stolen Kingdom does this well.

I picked it up as an author free giveaway and was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the story unique, but it was completely re-imagined. It is like the author was inspired by the childhood classic and made it her own.

Our main character, Arie, is not only being forced into a marriage against her will but has forbidden magic (because she’s a descendant from the Jinni through her mother’s side). So what does she do? She runs and finds herself with a crew of thieves (though none of them is named Aladdin). The tale ensues and while she helps them on a few endeavors, her identity is revealed and to save her father, she must betray the band of criminals and return home.

As always, I won’t give away any spoilers.

The story was delightful and filled with enough conflict and story twists that I had a hard time putting it down. It was a quick read and I may go on to read more in the series. I will say I was disappointed with the ending though as it felt ‘unfinished’. Granted, there are three more books, so I’m sure the author was leaving room for more story telling. Unfortunately, I found the ending didn’t make logical sense. It felt like the author was intentionally leaving the story unfinished because there is more in the series then an actual satisfying ending. So while the story was well told, entertaining and kept me hooked, the ending fell flat.

(Image retrieved from Amazon)

Renovations Coming

Hi Everyone! Thanks for being a part of the blog and for taking the time to read and like different blogs. I have been actively posting 3 blogs per week for the past few months and it’s been great! I’ve experimented with a number of different topics and areas of interest, and your engagement in the process has been helpful.

So I’ve decided to make some changes to what, how and how often I’ll be posting.

Book Reviews! These seem to be quite popular, so they will definitely continue. Though I will be more intentional about the posting of the reviews.

Podcasting/Vlogs: This is something I’ve been looking into and plan to add. Primarily, it’ll be the same kind of content as in my blogs but with a bit of a different edge to it since it adds voice and in some cases video.

Regularity of Posting: I haven’t completely decided on this, but I’m looking into 1 to 2 posts per week. The podcasting/vlogs will take time so this will influence (at least initially) the weekly posts.

There are a few other ideas filtering through my thoughts, but nothing is concrete yet since they’ll emerge with the renovating process. So stay engaged and let me know your thoughts!

Also, don’t forget to subscribe, like or share your comments.

Naming Characters: Nice to meet you!

One thing I find myself doing is keeping track of names I like. There are just some names that I hear, hold on to and wait for the right character to come along and claim it!

Some of my favourite names have found their characters as they are a part of manuscripts in progress. One series that I’m working on is set in an elven world separated into realms. There are two POV (Point Of View) characters named Zoe and Phoenix. I won’t give away any spoilers but Zoe’s name, which means life, was chosen specifically for her and is tied to her magical ability. Phoenix’s name was a name that just suited the character. It has nothing to do with the mythical bird.

Two fun names in the first book are Dasha and Coco. Both these names are inspired by friends. Dasha is the name of a friend’s daughter who helped inspire the character. The name, however, also means ‘possesses goodness’ which is an attribute of this minor character. Coco is the name of a friend. (Coco is actually her nickname that everyone, including her family, uses.)

And Zoe’s dragons: Chim, Pat and Tupac. The names match the abilities of the dragons. Chim comes from Chimalli which means ‘shield’. The creature is fiercely protective of Zoe and creates shields or cloaks to keep her safe when enemies are near. Patli means ‘medicine’ and supports the shortened form Pat. This dragon is known as a healer. She keeps Zoe and those around her healthy and whole. The third dragon’s name is Tupac which means ‘warrior’ and this dragon is as his name implies. He also has the ability to help Zoe fight and inspire her with battle strategies.

I hope you’re getting excited about this series. The first book is being editing, and will come out later this year! (Hopefully this spring.)

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Naming Characters: What’s in a name?

As I mentioned in the previous post, the name of a character is a big part of creating a character. I like to choose names that suit a particular aspect of the character.

In Hidden, all dragon and names given to the Arelian race were colours that matched their skin tones. This was actually stated in the book when Tully figured this out and confirmed it with Ciaran. The skin of Ciaran and his dragon, Shadow, was so dark, their meaning of their names reflected this. Ciaran means ‘little dark one’. Tully meant ‘peaceful’, which was a big part of her character arc. At the beginning of the story, she had a lot of anxiety, but through the story, she does become quite peaceful.

Here are some of the other main characters and their names:

  • Bain: lives near a river
  • Declan: goodness
  • Donella Eir: Donella = dark haired elfin girl; Eir = goddess of healing
  • Cedric: Chief
  • Owen: Young warrior
Amazon

Breaking Enchantments was the first book I published, and I wrote it when I first returned from living in South Korea for seven years. It actually one second place in a publishing contest with Word Alive Press in 2014 before publishing it. The story itself was written as a way to help me process the good, the bad and ugly of life in Korea.

Erin, the main character, has a Korean mother and Canadian father. Her name was inspired by a Korean name ‘Ee-Rang‘ which was the family name ‘Ee‘ and the Korean word ‘Rang‘ meaning ‘and’. ‘Ee’ was Erin’s mother’s family name ‘Rang‘ Stevens. Meaning ‘mother and father’. Perhaps a bit strange, but the name suited Erin as she was battling with her Korean and Canadian identities.

Erin’s aunt’s name was Soo-Hye, which meant ‘pure wisdom’. This fully suited the character as she was a voice of reason in the novel. And Erin’s cousin, MiYoung, meant ‘Beautiful Spirit’. She helped Erin accept her identity and heal from her negative experiences.

While Breaking Enchantments is available on a variety of platforms as an ebook, it is also being offered as a free book to those who subscribe to my website (which also functions as my newsletter). So if you’d like a free read, you know what to do.

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