We Can Do It! Jolynn Raymond Shares Her Secrets to Productivity

It’s a new year and I am determined to become more productive, so I thought I’d get some advice from the experts…my writing friends.

  Over the next two to three weeks, I'll be sharing their responses to a questionnaire that I created to probe all their secrets. 

I hope we can all learn something from each other and maybe get to know a few new writers as well.

First up, I is Jolynn Raymond.

Celeste Jones: Are you a full time or part time writer?

Jolynn Raymond: Part Time

Celeste Jones:  What other responsibilities do you have to juggle along with writing? Children? Aging parents? Exercise? A disturbing number of pets? Critiquing for other writers?

Jolynn Raymond: I hold a full time job that often has enough work for me to go in at 6:30 and work at home in the evenings, weekends and sometimes enough stuff for my wife to do for me. My wife cares for our fur kids. We have two granddaughters who we see a few times a month and two grown sons (stepsons), my mom is 87 and very feisty. She keeps all of us on our toes. I also have a seizure disorder that can be triggered by stress and exhaustion issues plus menopause wheeeee!

Celeste Jones: Do you have a set schedule for when you write? If so, what is it?

Jolynn Raymond: I do my best to write on the weekends. I can’t write after a day of work. My job is very tiring. I’m active and on my feet all day. I feel like I’m two people sometimes, an author and woman who writes romance and kink and lives a kinky lifestyle, and the other me who is secretive about my wife when it comes to work. I hate being stifled but I have to.

Celeste Jones: Do you have particular productivity goals for each day or week or just go for it?

Jolynn Raymond: I just go for it. I try to write every weekend but don’t force it. Sometimes it’s crazy to do my weekly blog kink post and then try to writer a chapter of the new book. I promised myself I wouldn’t force things. I never want to hate writing or have it feel like a job. Muse speaks I write. I often talk out loud with dialog and daydream in the soaking tub after work to channel ideas.

Celeste Jones: What is a typical day (if such a thing exists) like for you?

Jolynn Raymond: I get up at 4:45 a.m. sit and drink coffee, get ready to work to leave by 6:00. My wife Kathy often drives because I have neurological issues that cause exhaustion and vision issues. I have a very active never sit down job where I grab maybe a 15 min. lunch to just sit. I get home around 4:00, check books sales, answer emails, and usually eat dinner early. Kathy does all the cooking, she is a housewife. I take a long hot bath for a good hour and read, or doze and daydream. Reading and soaking for an hour is my stress release. After my bath I do any paperwork that needs doing and try to have time to sit with Kathy and talk or watch TV, bed by 9:00.

Celeste Jones:  Do you work on more than one manuscript at a time?

Jolynn Raymond: Nope, one story to focus on at a time. Muse may whisper other stuff and I have had writer’s block so bad that I let the book go for a time and went with what was pulling me. Never more than one at a time. I have to get so far into the setting of the book in my head that it would be impossible to do more than one story.

Celeste Jones: Do you use any special writing programs like Write or Die?

Jolynn Raymond: No, never heard of it.

Celeste Jones: What about promotion? Do you have particular time when you visit blogs or use other social media? How do you monitor your time?

Jolynn Raymond: My wife is my promotion person because honestly, I don’t have time. I usually choose where I want to run ads and create the ads, but she is the social media person. I have a blog where I post book stuff as well as write an informational BDSM post every weekend. It’s called Jolynn Raymond’s Dark Obsessions.

Celeste Jones: What about your blog? Do you have a set schedule or just blog when the mood strikes you?

Jolynn Raymond: See answer above.

Celeste Jones: What tips or pointers do you have to share to help others be more productive?

Jolynn Raymond: 

•  Find an activity that really allows you to clear your mind. I have to stop the static in my head in order for Muse to speak.
•        Find your fan base and target them.
•        Not everyone is going to like everything you write. Take the reviews that aren’t great in stride.
•        Appreciate your readers. They pay the mortgage and allow my creative spirit to feel free. If my writing wasn’t helping my family I would feel bad about the time I spent doing it.
•        If Muse speaks, listen. It may take you in a new direction but that’s okay.

Celeste Jones: What books are you working on now? What are your goals for 2014? 

Jolynn Raymond: I’m writing a new kinky historical romance called “His Lordship’s Wayward Wife.”  In 2014 I want to finish the Connelly witch series or at least expand on it. My Beneath the Shadows of Evil Trilogy and the Connelly Witch book are very dear to my heart. Shadows was a huge undertaking that took years. It’s a very, very, long story.

Celeste Jones: Anything else you’d like to share? 

Jolynn Raymond: I am thrilled beyond belief that I have such devoted fans and that I can call myself an author. People buy my books and want to step into my world and that is a very wonderful feeling. If it weren’t for my wife, I would have no social media. She does all the hard work with that stuff.

Connect with Jolynn Raymond: 

Blog:  http://jolynnraymond.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JolynnRaymond

Pintrest:   http://www.pinterest.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JolynnRaymond

Lucian’s Lair fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucians-Lair/1466128786947707

Other blog: http://jolynnraymondswickedcravings.blogspot.com/

Latest release is a non-fiction book called:

 Taken in Hand - A guide to Domestic Discipline, Power Exchange Relationships and BDSM Topics

Jolynn Raymond has written a book that shares the details of her own long lasting domestic discipline marriage and her experience surrounding power exchange relationships. It explains why these unconventional relationships work so well for so many couples. The book is an in-depth tutorial that takes the relationship past the simple act of discipline, to building a rock solid foundation that will ultimately create a deep bond of trust and love between those involved.

Taken In Hand will guide those interested in adding consensual domestic discipline, dominance and submission, and structure to their own relationship through the initial steps of communication, understanding and discovering both partner’s needs, creating mutual and realistic expectations, rules, and consequences, to the inevitable first spanking.

Taken In Hand will prove useful to those just starting out, as well as to those with some experience, as Ms. Raymond outlines the pitfalls, difficulties, and successes she has encountered in her own marriage. She also emphasizes the importance of consent, and pays special attention to the fine line between discipline and abuse.

The last part of the book examines the styles and types of spanking, gives an anal sex tutorial, talks about the responsibilities or being a dominant and gives tips for the submissive partner. Whether you need insight into BDSM as it relates to relationships or are trying to build a domestic discipline marriage from scratch, Taken In Hand will prove to be a comprehensive and practical guide.