Tina Haapala, Excuse Editor

Today's guest post is a blog tour stop for author, Kristie Cook, who has recently released a companion novella for her popular Soul Savers series. Remember to comment for a chance to win prizes from Kristie (I will leave the comments open for entries until Friday, November 4). Have a great week and watch for a new writing contest and market newsletter this week (that is, if you are a subscriber )--Tina  How the Ancient Greeks Lived: A Look into the World of Genesis Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella is a bit different from the other Soul Savers books. Although the fantasy world I created is the same, the real world is not. After all, it takes place over 2,000 years ago, around 200 B.C. So it required a lot of research to understand life in Greece during that era. For each stop along the release tour, I’m sharing something I learned and how it ties into the story. Just like today, homes in Ancient Greece varied depending on class. Wealthier people had larger homes that were usually ...

          Just use it The class I disliked the most in high school was Introduction to Computing. Learning how to make spreadsheets, charts and graphs never appealed to me. I remember sitting in my sophomore class thinking, “I will never need to know how to use Excel.” At the age of 16, I already knew I wanted to be a writer, and I didn’t think using Excel formulas would bring me closer to my dream. How incredibly wrong I was. I stuck to my dream of becoming a writer; however, I quickly realized that I needed a tool to keep my writing assignments on track. Ironically, the tool that I turned to was Microsoft Excel. Excel is a great program for writers to use for three reasons: motivation, tracking and record keeping.

Prospering in the Gig Economy:  Simple Habits for Writers That Pay Off Quickly Guest Post by Christina Katz Money is what writers earn for their time and energy. Furthermore, writing careers are built over time not overnight. So don't put your career in jeopardy by paying attention to everything else at the expense of your bottom line. Here are nine prosperity-increasing tips that can quickly become habit and put more money in the bank for the same number of hours you already work or maybe even less: Make a list of paid work vs. unpaid work, if you don't have one already and update it monthly. Add to-dos like upcoming deadlines and prep for future efforts, to make sure you don't have to scramble later. Prioritize the work you do that is paid over the work you do that is unpaid. This doesn't mean the unpaid work is not important or doesn't need to get done. It simply means that you will get the paid work done first and then tackle the unpaid work. Spend time...