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On the blog this Month:
 So thankful for all of my wonderful readers...November can be dreary, but the warmth of Thanksgiving season turns my thoughts with gratitude to all the people who have been so important in my life ~ especially my readers! You mean more to me than you will ever know. :) Since November is also my birthday month, it's the perfect time for me to give one lucky person a very special gift. I've decided to do a giveaway via random drawing out of all my newsletter subscribers, and the prize is a real collector's item. To celebrate my birthday and say thank you to my readers, I'm giving away a complete, autographed set of my bestselling, award-winning Knight Miscellany series ~ ALL FIRST EDITIONS ~ ten books total. Make sure you're signed up for The Gaelen Foley Newsletter if you want to win. U.S. only, must be over 18. Winner must respond within 10 days or forfeit the prize to an alternate winner. Click here for complete Giveaway Rules. And now for the biggest news of the month: |
For more info, click the picture to visit nanowrimo.org.
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I'm excited to be participating in November's annual challenge for National Novel Writing Month. I'll be working on the next Moonlight Square novel coming in early 2020. This will be "Danger Man" Major Peter Carvel's story, with...a treasure hunt!!! Follow me on Facebook for my NaNo progress reports. :)
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Make Your Own Sunshine
12 Ways I Cope with Fall & Winter Gloom
This is a bit personal, but I know I'm not alone in sometimes finding it tough to maintain my usual happy-go-lucky attitude once the gray days and early darkness of November settle in. As a writer, I can't afford to let wintertime zap my energy and creativity.
Fortunately, I've learned to take a few simple, proactive steps that really seem to help, and I start them as soon as the calendar changes from October. This month, I thought I would pass them along, since this has been really important in life to keep me productive and happy (and the two sort of go hand in hand!).
Obviously, I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice, nor would I presume to refer to those suffering from clinical depression in any of my simple tips below, but when it comes to the more garden-variety S.A.D. symptoms (Seasonal Affective Disorder), here's what I do to stay a step ahead of the winter blues. (And, fun fact: my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA officially gets more gray days than Seattle. Ack!)
1. Sit in front of a sunlamp for 30 minutes shortly after waking. I have my sunlamp on my desk and sit here drinking my coffee, doing some journaling, and planning out my day. (Here's a list of the best-reviewed sunlamps, if you're on the market for one!)
2. Vitamin D3 (in the morning) balanced with Vitamin K2 (in the evening). Apparently, you have to take K2 when you're taking D3 so you don't harm your cardiovascular system with excessive calcium absorption from the D3. Or something like that, lol. (I take 10,000 IU of D3 in the A.M. balanced by 15 liquid droplets in a spoon of the K2 at dinnertime.)
3. Lots of B vitamins. I understand they're very important for helping the nervous system handle stress and anxiety, which can build up when that seasonal melancholia comes along.
4. Bundle up and get outside for at least a 15-minute walk during daylight hours (such as they are this time of year!).
5. Exercise (Booo! Just kiddin. Gotta be done. Seratonin might be low this time of year, but at least we can boost our endorphins with some vigorous physical activity.) At the very least, I stick to a daily stretching routine so that I don't, you know, forget I have a body, and start to think I'm just a life support system for a head. :P
6. Schedule fun! Put some activities on the calendar throughout the winter months so you always have a few things to look forward to, especially getting together with people you enjoy.
7. Comedy and music! Keep it light! There've been studies proving that laughter really IS good for the soul (here's one from the Mayo Clinic!), so go out of your way to add a dash of funny to your life & keep it light! Turn off the stinkin' news. Did you know there are comedy channels on Pandora? (Spotify, too, I would imagine.) Put on upbeat music or some smart-aleck comedian's jokes to listen to while you're doing chores around the house. I like the PG-Comedy channel on Pandora. One of my favorite music channels to listen to in the winter is the Cuban music channel. Makes me dance around like I'm in sunny Havana under the palm trees! :P
9. And speaking of palm trees: greenery! Bring home some easy-care houseplants like palms, bromeliads and cacti to keep you company indoors for all those months when there's no sign of green outside. Baskets of mums here and there in the house in the autumn, poinsettias as the holidays approach...
10. Go cozy! Embrace the dark season with candles, a fireplace if you have one, a selection of cold-weather beverages like specialty coffees and teas or mulled cider, and a go-to favorite: MAKE SOUP!
11. Winter is also a great time of year for crafts and home projects. On my agenda is creating a family photo gallery on my hallway wall. Another idea might be homemade Christmas gifts as a fun craft project to work on. A lot of people go crazy with the baking, which is one option, but consuming too many carbs can lead to weight gain, and that can be really depressing if you're already fighting the winter blues.
12. READ! "Well, duh, Gaelen, of course I'm going to read," you say. *grin* Good! But you could make it even more fun by creating a reading challenge, "game-ify' it, as they say. Or join a bookclub -- even an online one or a Facebook group so you can still chat with other bookworms, even when you have NO intention of driving out there on a pitch-black, icy night.
A final thought: One of the best ways to lift your heart is to remember those who are less fortunate. As bad as we might feel now and then when the seasonal symptoms hit, it helps, I think, to remember that, in reality, most of us are SO lucky.
There are literally millions of people around the globe who would kill to have our "first-world problems." So instead of giving in to the temptation to wallow or ruminate, it's better to chase those scary phantoms away by thinking of others' needs instead. Of course, most of my readers are bighearted people, so most of you already know this ~ probably better than I do! But it's easy to forget about others when the bad feelings creep in and start preoccupying our thoughts with ourselves and our own situations.
From checking on an elderly neighbor to serving at a soup kitchen, to pitching in on the annual Toys for Tots drive or your church's angel tree ~ or my family's tradition, of singing carols at the VA Hospital to spread some Christmas cheer to our heroes who've served ~ it's ALWAYS a good time to remember others and count our blessings.
Side note: November is National Adoption Month. It's a great time to consider doing something nice for kids in the system who don't even have a home or a family of their own. For more info, check out this list of ideas of how to help:
https://www.kvc.org/blog/5-ways-to-help-a-child-in-foster-care/
So there you have it. My go-to strategies for keeping my head on straight during the dark & dreary months. One last tip? Just, you know, be nice to yourself! If you won't, who will? *g*
What have YOU found that works well for you to stay cheerful during fall and winter? Did I miss any good suggestions? Please share! You might have a tip that makes all the difference for other blog visitors here.
(PS: Good luck on my Knight Family November Giveaway!)
Fortunately, I've learned to take a few simple, proactive steps that really seem to help, and I start them as soon as the calendar changes from October. This month, I thought I would pass them along, since this has been really important in life to keep me productive and happy (and the two sort of go hand in hand!).
Obviously, I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice, nor would I presume to refer to those suffering from clinical depression in any of my simple tips below, but when it comes to the more garden-variety S.A.D. symptoms (Seasonal Affective Disorder), here's what I do to stay a step ahead of the winter blues. (And, fun fact: my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA officially gets more gray days than Seattle. Ack!)
1. Sit in front of a sunlamp for 30 minutes shortly after waking. I have my sunlamp on my desk and sit here drinking my coffee, doing some journaling, and planning out my day. (Here's a list of the best-reviewed sunlamps, if you're on the market for one!)
2. Vitamin D3 (in the morning) balanced with Vitamin K2 (in the evening). Apparently, you have to take K2 when you're taking D3 so you don't harm your cardiovascular system with excessive calcium absorption from the D3. Or something like that, lol. (I take 10,000 IU of D3 in the A.M. balanced by 15 liquid droplets in a spoon of the K2 at dinnertime.)
3. Lots of B vitamins. I understand they're very important for helping the nervous system handle stress and anxiety, which can build up when that seasonal melancholia comes along.
4. Bundle up and get outside for at least a 15-minute walk during daylight hours (such as they are this time of year!).
5. Exercise (Booo! Just kiddin. Gotta be done. Seratonin might be low this time of year, but at least we can boost our endorphins with some vigorous physical activity.) At the very least, I stick to a daily stretching routine so that I don't, you know, forget I have a body, and start to think I'm just a life support system for a head. :P
6. Schedule fun! Put some activities on the calendar throughout the winter months so you always have a few things to look forward to, especially getting together with people you enjoy.
7. Comedy and music! Keep it light! There've been studies proving that laughter really IS good for the soul (here's one from the Mayo Clinic!), so go out of your way to add a dash of funny to your life & keep it light! Turn off the stinkin' news. Did you know there are comedy channels on Pandora? (Spotify, too, I would imagine.) Put on upbeat music or some smart-aleck comedian's jokes to listen to while you're doing chores around the house. I like the PG-Comedy channel on Pandora. One of my favorite music channels to listen to in the winter is the Cuban music channel. Makes me dance around like I'm in sunny Havana under the palm trees! :P
9. And speaking of palm trees: greenery! Bring home some easy-care houseplants like palms, bromeliads and cacti to keep you company indoors for all those months when there's no sign of green outside. Baskets of mums here and there in the house in the autumn, poinsettias as the holidays approach...
10. Go cozy! Embrace the dark season with candles, a fireplace if you have one, a selection of cold-weather beverages like specialty coffees and teas or mulled cider, and a go-to favorite: MAKE SOUP!
11. Winter is also a great time of year for crafts and home projects. On my agenda is creating a family photo gallery on my hallway wall. Another idea might be homemade Christmas gifts as a fun craft project to work on. A lot of people go crazy with the baking, which is one option, but consuming too many carbs can lead to weight gain, and that can be really depressing if you're already fighting the winter blues.
12. READ! "Well, duh, Gaelen, of course I'm going to read," you say. *grin* Good! But you could make it even more fun by creating a reading challenge, "game-ify' it, as they say. Or join a bookclub -- even an online one or a Facebook group so you can still chat with other bookworms, even when you have NO intention of driving out there on a pitch-black, icy night.
A final thought: One of the best ways to lift your heart is to remember those who are less fortunate. As bad as we might feel now and then when the seasonal symptoms hit, it helps, I think, to remember that, in reality, most of us are SO lucky.
There are literally millions of people around the globe who would kill to have our "first-world problems." So instead of giving in to the temptation to wallow or ruminate, it's better to chase those scary phantoms away by thinking of others' needs instead. Of course, most of my readers are bighearted people, so most of you already know this ~ probably better than I do! But it's easy to forget about others when the bad feelings creep in and start preoccupying our thoughts with ourselves and our own situations.
From checking on an elderly neighbor to serving at a soup kitchen, to pitching in on the annual Toys for Tots drive or your church's angel tree ~ or my family's tradition, of singing carols at the VA Hospital to spread some Christmas cheer to our heroes who've served ~ it's ALWAYS a good time to remember others and count our blessings.
Side note: November is National Adoption Month. It's a great time to consider doing something nice for kids in the system who don't even have a home or a family of their own. For more info, check out this list of ideas of how to help:
https://www.kvc.org/blog/5-ways-to-help-a-child-in-foster-care/
So there you have it. My go-to strategies for keeping my head on straight during the dark & dreary months. One last tip? Just, you know, be nice to yourself! If you won't, who will? *g*
What have YOU found that works well for you to stay cheerful during fall and winter? Did I miss any good suggestions? Please share! You might have a tip that makes all the difference for other blog visitors here.
(PS: Good luck on my Knight Family November Giveaway!)
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Duke of Shadows
A heartbroken belle, a missing suitor, and a heroic duke in disguise.
A heartbroken belle, a missing suitor, and a heroic duke in disguise.
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