Interview with Socialpunk author Monica Leonelle

Ima would give anything to escape The Dome and learn what’s beyond its barriers, but the Chicago government has kept all its citizens on lockdown ever since the Scorched Years left most of the world a desert wasteland. When a mysterious group of hooded figures enters the city unexpectedly, Ima uncovers a plot to destroy The Dome and is given the choice between escaping to a new, dangerous city or staying behind and fighting a battle she can never win.

 

This is from a cool new book called Socialpunk. It is the first installment of the Socialpunk Trilogy and I had the pleasure of being able to get a personal interview with Socialpunk author Monica Leonelle and I want to share it with you.

Cocoons2Butterflies: What got you interested in writing?

Monica: It's not a career that you choose, it's something that chooses you! I feel like I mostly write because I can't help it. I love to write and that's how I express myself, day in and day out. I can never understand how people want to be writers or authors when they don't write. I always think, "Then why aren't you writing every day?" I organically average at least 2,000 words a day writing. When I'm finishing up a manuscript, I average closer to 5,000 words a day. This is just what I do, so I never believe people who say they're going to write something but just don't have the time.

C2B: What inspired you to write Socialpunk? What gave you the idea?

Monica:  I was inspired by the city of Chicago, by social media issues in our current world, and by the cyberpunk genre. The book is a bit like the Terminator series and I reference that a couple times just for fun. James Cameron is basically my favorite director ever, and he really inspires me with his world-building and storytelling skills.

C2B: Have you written anything else besides Socialpunk Series?

Monica: Yes, my Seven Halos series. Silver Smoke is the first book in that one.

C2B: How long did it take you to write the first book?

Monica: I don't know, maybe a few months? I don't really keep track because I have so many projects (marketing or writing) in the works at any given time.

C2B: Besides writing, what other things you love to do?

Monica: I'm an editor and a marketing consultant, which you can learn about at proseonfire.com. I'm also training for a marathon and love spending time with my boyfriend and my dog.

C2B: What are your plans after you finish writing the Socialpunk Trilogy? 

Monica: I'm probably moving into serialized fiction next, just because of my work schedule. I'm working on developing two different ideas at the moment—one, kind of like Game of Thrones meets Waterworld. The other is about superheros in the 1920's. These are super generic descriptions at the time, but that's all I have so far! Either way, I'm going to keep experimenting with new ideas. I'll probably never really leave YA.

C2B: If there was no obstacle, what is something that you would love to do?

Monica: Well, I guess that's what I"m working on right now. The obstacle to a full-time writing career is money, because frankly, it doesn't pay well until you've got either a bestseller or a solid backlist. As an indie author, I'm still building my audience and backlist. So I work as an editor and marketing consultant in the meantime (both of which involve a ton of writing, of course). Right now I have a laser focus on my writing goal, so I can't say anything more original here—writing is my life and I will succeed with time.

Monica Leonelle is a well-known digital media strategist and the author of three novels. She blogs at Prose on Fire and shares her writing and social media knowledge with other bloggers and authors through her Free Writer Toolkit.


You can purchase the Kindle version of this book now on Amazon.

Blood Cursed 2 - Blood and Bones Coming Soon.

Today I want to share with you something I'm really excited about! And it's the soon to be released second installment of the Blood Cursed Series, Blood and Bones.

I had the privilege of participating in this book by helping out with editing. and I want to introduce this series to everyone. This is an Adult Paranormal Series rated M for Mature.

    Quoted from the Facebook Page:              "Blood & Bones-----In the second book of the Blood Cursed series, we find Mia and her friends encountering several different groups of supernatural beings. Some are there to help, but others have ulterior motives. While they search for the ingredients needed to help save Nathan, Zarek continues to find ways to invade Mia's dreams. Mia embarks on several life changing journeys and finds out she is stronger then she thought. Blood and Bones continues the story of Mia's journey, and is filled with just as much adventure and passion as the first book. Even though it will answer some questions left from Blood Cursed, it will add new ones leaving you wanting more.


Blood Cursed is the first of a series of Supernatural Books by writer Bambi M. Gray. This book is full of supernatural action; you have Vampires, Werewolves, fairies, demons, Sorcerers, Seers, even Minotaurs. From the first paragraph you get hooked on the story line, the characters are very likable and you automatically feel like you are in that world and that you are reading about your own friends. The story is told through the eyes of a young female Damphyre, half vampire half human that has a curse in her blood that could kill the human race. The story follows Mia, her Uncle Nathan and their supernatural friends on a quest to save Mia, and save the world. The story line hooks you from the beginning and doesn’t let you go. It is filled with love, drama, humor, adventure; it’s everything you would want from a book of this genre. But Blood Cursed has a cliffhanger ending, and for those of you who have read it I know that you have been anxiously waiting for this second installment who is going to be available very soon.

 Bambi Gray did an excellent job on this story and I highly recommend it. If you haven't read the first part go on and buy a copy, you will be so glad that you won't have to wait to read the second part for long.

What is Instant Influence?

For my birthday my favorite cousin Karla gave me this awesome book as a gift.  She said she just saw it, and thought it looked like the kind of book I like to read. At first I was surprised, since I never would have thought to buy it just by looking at it, but once I started reading it I am impressed with the book and I absolutely love it.

I am not done with the book yet, however what I like is that not only it teaches you how to use Instant Influence with people at work and such, it is something that you can use with yourself. It helps you find a way to influence yourself into doing things that you believe you should do but haven't gotten around to it. Like exercising, or eating healthier.

It gives you tips on how to deal with people who are depressed, employees that are not being productive, kids who don't clean their bedrooms. (sounds like anyone you know?)

I carry the book around me all the time, trying to read it at any free time I have. The principle of the book is that you cannot convince people to do things based on your own reasons. The trick is to find a way to have the person find their own reasons why they would want to do the thing that you would want them to do. Find out what their true motivation is and that will create the influence.

When I finish the book I will come back and give you some tips that I found on the book. In the meantime, if this sounds like a book you'd want to read, click on the image above to be directed to the amazon website to purchase the book.

:)

Japan Society J-Cation

On Saturday me and the girls went to the 2012 Japan Society J-Cation. I must say it was an amazing event! The place was breathtaking, it had tons of fun activities and great yummy food.

We participated on workshops, a Game Show and even sang a little bit of Karaoke. I must say that the Japan Society did an amazing job. And on May 5/6 they will be having an Open House that we are sure to come by again.  If you are in the NYC area, please check them out.

Here are some pictures of the event.

Finding my artistic side once again and making new friends.

For the past several months I have been getting involved in the artistic side of my job. I have taken on new responsibilities and being in charge of a monthly Art Gallery Opening at one of my boss' buildings. Since I have been doing this I have felt a sense of joy and excitement that I have not felt in many years. I feel like I am really good at something, like I make a difference.

And not only that I have been meeting new people, making connections with Magazine Editors, Musicians, Galleries, Artists, Designers and Curators and I am fascinated of this whole new world that has opened up for me.

On one hand it saddens me to know that for the first time in 7 years that I have been working for the same company, that just when I am about to move to a different state I finally find out what I love doing the most. Now that I love everything about my job, now I have to leave. But on the other hand, I believe that this is the time to learn as much as I can about this world, and get involved in every aspect of it so that when I finally move to Florida, I will be able to pursue a job in what I am passionate about. I won't have to be a secretary anymore.

So today I took another step toward this new route. I took a class of Drawing through Observation at The Living Gallery in Brooklyn. I must say it was a bit hard, since I had not drawn in so long, but I felt really proud of myself for taking the initiative to get back into art. And then when we where on our way home I remembered that a friend had told me about this new art store that had opened up near our house and I asked the girls and it was a unanimous decision. I must say this store was amazing! It had so many things my head was spinning. The first area I walked into just happened to be the area about print making, and I must say that was my favorite part of art class. They had Silk Screen Printing and Print Making with Linoleum. It was a hard decision to make, but I ended up buying the Linoleum Kit as it was less expensive and I wanted to try and start small. The truth is that I got all excited! I couldn't contain myself. Now I just have to come up with a cool design and bring it to life!

Another thing that I have been thinking about is how it is good to have different kinds of friends. I must admit I do not have many close friends. But I have found to be so important to have at least one friend who shares at least one of your biggest passions. And if you have several passions then to have at least one friend for each one of your passions, unless you are lucky enough to share several passions with one friend (which doesn't happen to me too often).  For example, I feel passionate about Art, and writing, so it is important to relate with friends who love art and friends who love writing. Also note that your significant other doesn't have to be that friend who shares all your passions. I mean, if he is, then wonderful, but if he's not, it is OK to have friends with whom you share your other likes and dislikes. Your significant other should be your best friend and should support you on all your endeavors, but he doesn't have to share all your likes, just as you shouldn't feel guilty if you don't love ALL the same things your partner loves as long as you are both supportive and encourage each other to follow your dreams.

So today's question is: What are you passionate about? And do you have friends who share your passions?

How to avoid negative thoughts

For years I have been studying the Law of Attraction, the one that says that we attract things with our thoughts. If we think positive thoughts, we attract positive things, and if we have negative thoughts, we attract negative things.

Today a person that is very important to me called me with a concern. She told me that someone had made a comment to her that got her thinking and then she became scared. As she started getting all worked up and worried about what this person had told her, she remembered what I had told her about the Law of Attraction, and then she got more worried.  Negative thoughts bring negative things, what if I attract bad things to me because I'm worrying so much?

Well, the truth is that when a person worries too much about something, there is a higher chance that the same thing that she's worrying about will become a self fulfilling prophesy, but once you are all involved in the process of worrying it is harder to get out of it. So what can a person do?

The first thing I do when I am starting to worry about something is to find a way to get my mind distracted and replace my negative thoughts with positive ones. When the negative thoughts are too intense the thing that works the best for me is to find something funny to think about. It can be watching a funny movie, or TV show, or looking at funny pictures. One of my favorite distractions is the Cheezburger Sites  I even have the app on my phone so I can have access to funny images at any time day or night. It works like magic because scrolling through funny and cute pictures gets your mind away from your worries long enough to be able to see things in a different light.

Another thing that helps combating negative thoughts is being grateful. Pause for a moment and think about all the positive things that you have that make you feel grateful. Even go as far as finding an upside to the negative situation. If you are without work, be thankful that you have had some time to rest and relax before you go back to another job that will be even better than the one you had.  If you are worried about something bad happening to you, be grateful that nothing bad has happened to you. But don't stop there, take some time every day to find at least 10 things to be grateful for, starting from being grateful to be alive, to having water to drink, a bed to sleep in, food to eat, clothes, etc. You name it.

It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Buddha: " Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."

It is impossible to have negative thoughts when we are feeling grateful.

So, the question of the day. What are you grateful for today?

Want to know more about Social Media?

Yesterday I asked the question, What Topics Interest you the most? And our friend Liz Barnett answered with: Social Media.

So in her honor I will dedicate today to Social Media.

Back in September 2011 I signed up for a Social Media Marketing Boot camp from MediaBistro.com 
I was looking to learn more on how to promote your business with Social Media for my current job.
I must admit that the Boot Camp has been really helpful, yet at the same time I felt very overwhelmed with the amount of new information that I had to absorb in the 8 weeks it takes to do the course.

We learned about different topics:

• How to Establish a Brand Personality Through Social Media
• What Makes a Social Strategy Successful?
• How to Build Your Social Media Strategy
• Storytelling Through Social Media 
•  How to Grow Your Fan Base and Engagement on Facebook
• How to Use Twitter to Promote Your Company, Cause, or Personal Brand
• How to Engage with Your Community on Google+  
• The Power of Influence: Identifying Online Brand Ambassadors
• How to Monitor and Measure Your Social Media Efforts 
• How to Keep Up with Emerging Platforms and Trends
• Social Curation: How to Use Twitter and Tumblr to Build Authority and Engagement

These are the main topics discussed in the Boot Camp, and like you can see it is a lot of information. One of the things you have to think about before you embark in building a Social Media Strategy is identifying what is your goal with Social Media, what do you want to achieve? What kind of business or Brand are you? Take a look at some of your competition, see how they are using Social Media and which things you think are successful and which ones are not.

Do you want to sell a product? Promote your Store? Engage with Customers? Do Customer Support? Get more readers? etc. Then once you know your goal, then you can work on making a plan. Feel free to email me your goals and I will help you a bit more with some tips that might help your particular goal.

Next time I will write a little bit more on how to create your Social Media Strategy, but this is a bit tricky since it depends greatly on the type of business that you have, so I will give priority to those of you who take the time to comment or email me your specific goals.

Another thing that is very useful is to read daily the following websites:
All Facebook
All Twitter
Social Times

This will keep you up to date with what's going on in the Social Media World.

OK, Now for the question of the day. What Specific Topics regarding Social Media would you want me to discuss in my next post? You can choose one of the topics listed here or you can come up with a new topic of your own and I will try my best to answer you.

What topics are of the most interest to you?

Yesterday I called out to you my readers to find out what do you prefer in the structure of this Blog. Up to now I have only received one answer. I know it takes time, especially since I have been away for a month, but I am going to give it a bit more time.

Today I am going to ask you, which topics you like the most? What would make you interested in coming back again and again?

Like I mentioned yesterday the topics I have planned are:

Instant Influence
How to Focus and get the right things Done
Social Media Marketing
Secrets of Good Marriages
How to be more grateful
How to discover your children's best qualities and help develop them
How to raise confident children
Principles of the Law of Attraction
Dream Interpretation

and as fun bonus topics I will be doing some giveaways like the Mother's Day Giveaway that we currently have, interviews with writers, and our MyMemories Suite Freebies! Plus some pictures of the Week.

So besides the new format, what topics that I mention, interest you the most?

New Structure for Cocoons 2 Butterflies

When I created Cocoons 2 Butterflies, I did it because I was trying to find myself. I knew I had difficulty being true to myself and I figured that writing would help me get there. But that was not my only reason.

I made this page because in my quest to find my passion in life I encountered many other people who like me had lost their spark, and I wanted to be able to help others who where in the Journey to Self Discovery. People who go through life just wondering who they are, living day to day just surviving. I want to be able to help through my writing those people who also find themselves lost.

My third reason for making this blog was because once I became a parent I realized how important the role of a parent is. Our children depend on us to show them to way, to inspire them, to help them identify at a early age what their strengths are so they can develop them. We need to help our children find their true identities, or inner butterflies at a young age so that they can make the most out of every day of their lives.

Finding the best way to achieve this has been difficult, as there is so much information out there, so many things that I am learning day to day. It makes me wonder what is the best way to share all this knowledge with the world.

I am really grateful that since I started writing many events have occurred that have taken me from not knowing at all who I am to being certain of who I am and learning new things every day. Things that I can't wait to share with all of you.

My main obstacle right now is How to organize all this information.
At this moment I am studying several things:

Instant Influence
How to Focus and get the right things Done
Social Media Marketing
Secrets of Good Marriages
How to be more grateful

And I have planned for the future the following topics:
How to discover your children's best qualities and help develop them
How to raise confident children
Principles of the Law of Attraction
Dream Interpretation

As you may see these are too many topics, but they are topics that are constantly in my brain. I am reading, and studying and learning as much as I can about these topics that interest me so much.

I am also involved in the arts and graphic design and wish to learn how to make websites and be a better graphic designer, and also am interested in learning about Life Coaching.

However, I cannot do all this at the same time. I need some structure so I want to get your input.

Which ones of these topics interest you the most?

And what would you find more productive?
To concentrate on a single topic a month? Or have a different topic for each day of the week?

I have made a poll on my Facebook Page and I encourage you all to go there an vote. Your information will help me greatly.


Also if there's any other topic that you would be interested in me exploring, please share it here as well. Thanks to all of you for being so great and helping me out on my quest.

A Giveaway for Mother's Day!!!

All mothers deserve the best. That's why this year, voiceBoks, Planet Weidknecht, Good Steward Savers, Terri's Little Haven, and About a Mom Blog are throwing a BIG Mother’s Day Bash Event! together to help you celebrate the special day with yours truly.



This year’s Event features 3 Prizes!



1) The First Place Prize is a $600 Paypal CASH Prize for you to splurge on your mom.

2) The Second Place Prize will be a Spa Perfect Relax & Rejuvinate Tote worth over $100 from
Bea's Gift Baskets and Gifts

3) The Third Place Prize will be a 3D Family Portrait on Canvas made by Emsheldesigns.



3 WINNERS FOR 3 CHANCES TO WIN!
There are plenty of points and opportunities below to win the big prize!

Good Luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway





This giveaway was made possible by the following sponsors:



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Happy Easter Everyone!

I have been absent from this Blog for a whole month and I can't believe it's been so long. I have been putting off writing for this long, I guess I believed this Blog Dare would keep me inspired, but the truth is that I don't feel like writing about none of the topics that I have been given. So I didn't.
But I am going to start anew, once again. Writing a Blog becomes part of your life, and if you don't make it match with it then it can become something that you are not open to keep as part of your life. But Cocoons 2 Butterflies is a part of me, so I have to be true to myself and make it what I want it to be, not what other people say I should make it. So, starting off today I am going to share what I did on Easter. I'm sure many of you also had some celebrations so I want you guys to share with me what you did.

Here are some pictures of our day:

This year we had an egg hunt in the house. Last year we where in Puerto Rico and we where able to have the egg hunt outside in the grass, it was amazing, but this year we had to settle for indoors. We also went to Church, and had some lunch outside, and made tie dye eggs and Easter egg cupcakes, and we watched the Movie Hop.
How did you spend your Easter Holiday? Did you have fun? Are there any traditions that you would like to share?
So how did you enjoy your Easter?