NBTM Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: 365 Days of Gratitude Journal Vol. 2 by Mariëlle S. Smith @GoddessFish

365 Days of Gratitude Journal

by Mariëlle S. Smith

GENRE: Non-fiction; Self-help

BLURB:

*** Now available in black-and-white AND full colour! ***

‘The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.’ Mary Davis

Gratitude is not just about ATTITUDE.

Gratitude is about PRACTICE.

But how do you create a gratitude practice that sticks?

After the success of her first 365 Days of Gratitude Journal, writing coach Mariëlle S. Smith brings you Volume 2. Same journal but with an entirely different look!

After years of barely surviving her own emotional minefield, Mariëlle discovered the transformative power of practising gratitude. But, like no one else, she knows that cultivating an attitude of gratitude is easier said than done.

365 Days of Gratitude, Vol. 2 is an undated, guided journal. Complete with inspiring quotes, daily prompts, and recurring check-ins, it was designed to help you create a sustainable gratitude practice too.

Commit to the life-changing power of gratitude today and order your copy now!

Purchase 365 Days of Gratitude Journal on Amazon

All purchase links can be found on Author’s Website

Deluxe edition on Amazon

Black-and-white edition on Barnes & Noble

Deluxe full colour edition on Barnes & Noble

Excerpt:

Gratitude journaling brings me so much. It slows me down. It reminds me to take deep breaths in and out. It stops me from pushing myself too hard, too often. It brings me joy. Happiness. Appreciation. It reminds me of all I have going for me, no matter the kind of day it’s been.

It really has been the key I was looking and ready for when it showed up in my life.

But, even now, after years of practice, I have to consciously decide to do the work. That it came at the right time and with the structure I needed doesn’t mean I don’t get off track, especially when the going gets tough.

I used to become angry and utterly frustrated with myself when this happened, but now I simply sit myself down (read: force myself to take a break) and return to my practice. And because it’s such a simple, structured practice, it’s easier to pick up again than I often think.

Of course, some days or even weeks will be easier than others, but that’s another thing gratitude journaling has brought me. No matter how far I stray, I am grateful for having something to return to. For all the days I ignore my practice, I’m grateful for all the days I do pick up my journal and let the miracle that is life unfold in front of me.

Interview with Mariëlle S. Smith

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Just keep writing, no matter what everyone is telling you. They have no idea what they’re talking about.

What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?

That is a really difficult question to answer, since it depends on what kind of writer you are and what you want from your writing.

There are magazines for indie writers, such as Indie Author Magazine, women writers, such as Mslexia, and writers of every imaginable genre.

Before you subscribe to anything, it’s worthwhile to ask yourself what kind of writer you are or want to be and what your writing goals are.

Once you know the answers to those questions, you can search for magazines that sound up your alley and check whether they offer what you need the most right now. Because it might shift too, as your writing develops.

What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?

I don’t base my characters on any real people, at least not consciously. Of course, they’ll share characteristics with the people I know, including myself, but I’ve never thought ‘Right, I’m going to base a character on this or that person’.

I know people who write like that, and I was stunned the first time a writer friend told me that’s how they did it. It had never occurred to me to do so. In turn, they found it hard to imagine how I ‘made’ characters out of nothing.

But I don’t make them out of nothing, they just come to me, more or less fleshed out. If they’re based on the people in my life, it happens entirely in my subconscious.

What is the first book that made you cry?

Pijnstillers (pain killers), by Dutch author Carry Slee. It’s a young adult book about Casper, whose mother is dying of cancer. I don’t think any of her work has ever been translated into English though.

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Both, depending on what phase I am in. Outlining, or plotting, energises me, but writing first drafts drain me terribly. I love revision and editing, so once the first draft is done, I feel like I’m back in the game!

I’m currently in first draft mode, and it’s a struggle to even sit down behind my laptop every morning.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

I write what I feel is the right thing for me to write. It’s hard not to think about the market and whether or not a story has some sort of bestseller quality, but I’ve always managed to ignore those fears and focus on what I needed to say instead.

I honestly believe there’s an audience for every book, as long it’s written from the right place.

Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?

I’m not sure. My mum’s an avid reader, as is my grandmother, and we did live on the same street as the library—my mum still does—so my love for reading books can easily be explained.

Where the love for writing books come from, I don’t know. Writing was actually discouraged as I grew up—yes, by that avid reader of a mother—because it wasn’t perceived as a viable career option.

It didn’t stop me from writing though, it just made me hide and feel extremely embarrassed about it. I didn’t tell a single soul until I was in my late twenties, and only because that friend had just admitted they were writing a novel, too. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Mariëlle S. Smith is a writer, writing coach, and editor. She lives in Cyprus, where she organises private writer's retreats, is inspired 24/7, and feeds more stray cats than she can count.

Connect with Mariëlle S. Smith

Website ~ Facebook ~ Blog ~ Goodreads ~ Instagram ~ YouTube 

 

Giveaway:

$25 Amazon/BN GC 

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