Betsy Horvath

Everybody has a story.

Betsy’s Blog

  • HOLD ME is live! Again!

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    Well, I am both happy and relieved to let you know that, in between shoveling the massive amounts of snow falling on the Palatial Horvath Estate over the last week or two, I was able to set up everything I needed to re-release my first book, Hold Me.

    That’s right – the book that launched me on my author journey lives again! I actually got the rights for it back at the beginning of 2020, but then, well… 2020.

    But now it’s finally out again as an ebook and a paperback.  The ebook should be available on most stores as I write this post. The paperback takes longer to get into the system so it’s still percolating through. But soon it will be available for purchase, download, or order pretty much everywhere. (more…)

  • The Trouble With Assumptions

     

    I think that the trouble with making assumptions is that you believe they’re true even when they’re not. That’s especially a problem when you’re making assumptions about yourself. Please do not misunderstand me–it is certainly a huge problem when we make assumptions about other people, too, but in this blog post I’m talking about issues that come from making assumptions about ourselves, how we work, and our creative process.
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  • Writing Catch Up

     

    Hello, friends!  This is just going to be a quick-like-a-bunny post about my writing and where things stand at the moment. Because, you know, I actually do write. I just haven’t proven it much lately. (more…)

  • Moving Forward

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    Author’s Note – I debated whether or not to write a blog post this week. The events swirling around all of us, combined with a very sad loss for me personally, seemed so much more important than anything I could possibly have to say. But then I realized that was exactly what I had done in 2020. I held off on my creative journey and kept waiting for a good time to move forward again. Except there never was a good time. Something always—always—happened. The result was a creative paralysis that I’m still trying to break.

    So I decided that I had to keep moving regardless. Like a shark. Even if my little creative light is feeling kind of dim at the moment and all of us are dealing with much bigger things.

    And thus, a blog post was born.

    This post features Betsy, of course. Also present is Harry, who a White Rabbit and the Guide on Betsy’s Quest to become a successful independent author. Better still, The Muse, who needs no introduction, has decided to show up to offer some guidance. Thank heavens.

    Let’s see what’s going on… (more…)

  • The Quest Continues…

     

    Oh, my goodness, but hasn’t it been a while since we’ve checked in with the crew living in Betsy’s brain!  As you may, or may not, know/remember/care, these are the ones helping Betsy pursue her Quest to become a Successful Independent Author. Or perhaps they are just disembodied voices who speak to Betsy night and day, whispering suggestions for her to follow. Perhaps we should all be afraid.

    Very afraid.

    But no! Nay! These are good voices, mostly! Fear not! Instead, let us meet them again and become reacquainted. (more…)

  • Simplicity – Focusing on What’s Important

     

    Maybe, probably not, but maybe, you will recall that I’ve been sporadically writing a series here on the blog about  five words that I am using to try to build the house I am making for my life. These words are not goals in and of themselves. They are more like signposts, or structure, or direction. Or something.

    In my previous posts, I said that the five words I’m looking at are: Energy, Strength, Independence, Simplicity, and Creativity. They are in this order for a reason, and in my mind each word builds on the one that comes before. (more…)

  • Further In

     

    Let’s face it, most people have found 2020 to be pretty darned stressful in a whole lot of different ways.  As thing, has piled on top of thing, has piled on top of thing, the pressure has mounted for just about everyone.  There is SO MUCH change happening right now, and it seems to be happening all at once. I mean, seriously, can we just have ONE normal week? Just ONE? (The answer to that is probably no, by the way.)

    And now, in addition to everything else, we’re coming into the holiday season, which most of us think is stressful in a good year. Thanksgiving during a pandemic. Yikes!

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  • Some Thoughts About Waiting

     

    If nothing else, I think everyone here can agree that 2020 has been one heck of a year so far. It has been so difficult in so many unexpected ways for so many people, and it’s not over yet.  Everywhere I turn, I see people talking about what a horrible year it’s been, and how they can’t wait for it to be over so they can get going with their lives again.

    Hey, I get it. I do. I’ve felt that way, too–especially as I wrestled with some stressful personal challenges on top of all of the world challenges. Can’t this year just be over already?

    But here’s the thing – this big old universe of ours doesn’t give a damn that people think 2020 ends on December 31 and 2021 begins on January 1st. The world doesn’t care about no stinking arbitrary divisions of time. All of the problems we are facing today are not going to magically disappear at midnight on December 31st. They will all probably still be with us, with some new ones added for good measure.

    Sorry. (more…)

  • Independence – Find Your Own Way

     

    As you may, or may not, know, I’ve been writing a series of blog posts on five words I’ve identified as sort of sign posts for my life. These words are not goals in and of themselves. Instead they are the building blocks of the house I want to live in.

    Hmmm… Maybe the analogy would work better if I starting talking about building a ship instead of a house.  After all, once a ship is finished, it can be pointed in any direction, set sail to any horizon.

    But I don’t know how ships are built, so I’m going to stick with houses. (more…)

  • Dreams About Dreams

     

    I used to have a recurring dream about birds.  Not a, “tra la la, I’m dreaming that I’m skipping through the woods and look at all of the happy birds,” kind of dream.  This dream was not a happy one.

    First, some background.  I used to own pet birds–specifically zebra finches and peach-faced lovebirds. Nobody loved the lovebirds but me.  They tended to be loud and obnoxious and their screech could resonate through the house and reach down deep into the pit of your soul. It could get very annoying. The zebra finches tended to be cheerful and weren’t nearly as bad. (more…)

  • Strength – Say Yes to Life

     

    As you may know if you’ve read the blog recently, I’ve come up with five words to use to help give my life some direction.  These words are not goals in themselves, but they are guidelines I can use to help me make decisions and set priorities.  They are identification markers for what I think is important to me. (more…)

  • Energy – Build a Strong Foundation

     

    As I mentioned in my blog post two weeks ago, I’ve been reflecting lately on the puzzle pieces of my life and how to put those pieces together to make the best picture for myself. It’s hard, because to know how the pieces fit together, you have to know how to assign priorities. You have to know what things actually are important, as opposed to the things you only think are important.

    I settled on five words to use to help me find a way to figure that stuff out. To be clear, these words are not goals in themselves. They are watchwords to help me put the pieces together. They are a way to help me build the house I want to live in. The edge of my puzzle, if you will.

    Anyway, the five words I’ve selected are:  Energy, Strength, Independence, Creativity, and Simplicity. (more…)

  • Start With Today

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    This isn’t exactly what I thought I’d be writing about this week, but, as we’ve seen this year, plans change.

    So, right around Tuesday last week, my life-train suddenly derailed.  Not a horrible derailment in the grand scheme of things, but a derailment nonetheless. (more…)

  • Puzzle Pieces and Five Words

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    Sometimes I feel like my life is a giant jigsaw puzzle with all sorts of puzzle pieces scattered on the floor around me.  The challenge is putting those puzzle pieces together to make some sort of a picture.  Which means there’s a lot of trial and error involved to find out how they fit.  Sometimes more trial.  Sometimes more error.  And sometimes I just pound the pieces to make them go together because that’s the way they SHOULD go! Goldarn it!

    Very often I think I know how to put the pieces together to make the perfect picture, pound them until they fit, and then go about my business.  Eventually it dawns on me that… “Heeeey! The reason things aren’t working is because I didn’t put the pieces together correctly.”  (more…)

  • Finding Level

    I’ve been thinking about one of those toys that people keep on their desks.  You know, the things you get for  co-workers or relatives when you don’t have the slightest clue what else to give them. “Well, I know that they have a desk.” Personally, I used to have a bunch of Funko Pops on my desk. I don’t have room for them now, so they’re in boxes in a closet.  Because everything changes even when we don’t see it coming.

    Anyway, the toy I’ve been thinking about is called a liquid wave paperweight.  There’s liquid in an acrylic case, and then sometimes there are things inside floating on the liquid. This one is the Titanic (fitting).

     

     

    But you can also get cute penguins surfing or a sailboat (or other things, I imagine).

     

    (more…)

  • Simply Start

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    I love the beginning of a new year. I know that the divide between years is an arbitrary construct people agreed on so we wouldn’t get confused, but still.  I always think of the end of the old year as a yellowed piece of paper full of scribbles finally being yanked off a tablet.  And underneath is the new year—a fresh, bright, clean page.

    Which is part of my problem.

    See, that bright, clean piece of paper, the new unsullied year ahead, if you will, just begs me to set goals.  Where do I want to be when this new page is full of scribbles and gets yanked off?  Where do I want to go this year?  In the next ten years?  What steps do I need to take to try to get there? (more…)

  • Taking Breaks

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    I’ve been concentrating a lot on productivity in my writing lately.  I am intent on working more effectively, efficiently, and consistently.  Getting things done more quickly.  Not lallygagging around.  Focused.  Feet to the fire.  That’s good because these are issues I’ve been needing to address. (more…)

  • Driving Into Change

     

    Yesterday, I drove down a road that I haven’t taken in months.  Actually, it’s been almost a year since I drove down that particular road with the intention of going to that particular destination.
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  • A Story From Hardy Falls

     

    Hello, friends!

    It has been quite a week here at The Palatial Horvath Estate.  I struggled to catch up on cleaning and end-of-season yard work (boo), but I was also able to reconnect with an old friend, read a good book (or two), and basically decompressed a bit from the pressure that comes from releasing a new book into the wild.  There are so many little tasks involved in publication–none of them are especially hard, but there sure are a lot of them. Plus I, a woman of a certain age with a sporadic memory, have to remember what they all are!  Insanity!  Lists upon lists upon lists…  I really have to figure out what I’m doing at some point.

    I didn’t get around to planning anything for the blog this week, so I thought I’d share a story from the world of Hardy Falls, the little town where most of my books are set. (more…)

  • New Release!

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    Hello, my friends!  I’m pleased and proud to tell you that I have a NEW book out!  A NEW one!  I KNOW!  I’m as shocked as you are!

    Choosing Love is finally out in the wild, and available now wherever fine ebooks are sold!  Paperback version coming shortly.

    Here’s the information – (more…)

  • Too Much of a Good Thing

     

    I am a voracious reader.  I always have been.  One of my clearest memories as a child (in first grade, I think) is lying in bed reading The Boxcar Children, and yelling to my mom asking her to tell me what the words meant when I didn’t understand them. Later in high school, I remember sobbing because I loved a book so much and I had to return it to the library.  We talked the library into selling it to us so I could keep it.  I still have it. (more…)

  • The Assumption of Failure

     

    When you start something new do you assume you will be successful?  Or do you assume there’s a really good chance you’re going to fail?  No…not a chance.  A likelihood.  Asking for a friend…. *whistles casually* (more…)

  • Running Uphill

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    Betsy is climbing the mountain of her aspirations, again, struggling to reach the summit.  Again.  Except this time, unlike in the past, she isn’t carrying just ONE boulder that is her work in progress, she is carrying TWO of them!  TWO works in progress!  What the heck! (more…)

  • Order and Planning and Schedules

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    One of the most jarring things about losing an established routine is having to come up with a new one to fit completely different circumstances.  I’ve found it to be very challenging to move from an extremely regimented life, where schedules were imposed on me from the outside, to one that is a lot more self-generated, self-motivated, and self-sustained. (more…)

  • Finding the Beginning

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    When we last left Betsy, she was actually doing pretty okay.  Well, she was doing something anyway and that alone is a step in the right direction.  There was much rejoicing in the land.

    But Betsy would like this streak to continue, which means she not only has to finish what she’s currently working on, she has to figure out what to do next. (more…)