Featured Writer on Wellness: Marcy Hatch

I’m not sure if this challenge is singular to writers, but as someone who writes and has a day job, it’s hard to find/make the time to exercise.

Thankfully I have a dog who HAS to go for a couple of walks a day, which gets me outside.

A Change in Jobs Opened Up Time for Exercise

A change in my job situation allows me to have time in the morning to take my dog (and myself) for a walk, which we do fairly religiously, barring bad weather.

But I don’t do much “exercise” besides walk or hike, housework (that counts, right?), and yardwork (mowing definitely counts, imo!).

I do try to eat fairly well, i.e., more vegetables and fruit than anything else, not too much bread and pasta, but I do like ice cream. * sigh *

walking-dog-2
Marcy walking her dog, Jonah.

The Emotional Roller Coaster Hasn’t Made Me Want to Quit

I think the biggest disappointment for me has been not arriving where I wanted before now coupled with the many rejection letters.

The good news is the emotional rollercoaster hasn’t ever made me want to quit.

I suppose my mantra is, I can only do what I can do, and I’ll get there when I get there.

All I can do is practice my art as much as possible.

My alter ego Ash. who lives in Skyrim (Skyrim being a computer game...with dragons.)
My alter ego Ash. who lives in Skyrim (Skyrim being a computer game…with dragons.)

I also belong to weekly chat group of writers, some of us published, some not, and we often talk about the challenges of writing, which helps.

And of course there are all my blogger friends, all at different points along the writers path, who always have something to offer, be it some humor, encouragement, or a success story.

I’ve also given up comparing myself to anyone else because it’s pointless and non-productive.

I Can’t Imagine Ever Retiring from Writing

[What one thing has kept you true to your path?]

The fact that I have about a million ideas for stories but only a very finite time in which to write them all!

I can’t imagine ever retiring from writing so I guess you could say it’s a calling.

Advice for a Young Writer: No One Ever Got Good at Anything Without Practice

I would tell them that it’s a hard and sometimes lonely path, that they might find instant success, or work years for only mild success, or find none at all, regardless of talent.

I’d also say it’s a bit of a crapshoot, because unless you self-publish, you have to hope you hit the right agent at the right time and that they in turn hit the right editor at the right time.

There’s lots of luck involved, but there is also one sure way to better your odds and that’s practice. Because no one ever got good at anything without practice.

Finally, find a writing buddy/critique partner or two, someone to trade your work with and get feedback. I don’t know what I’d do without my CPs!

* * *

Marcy S. Hatch is the author of West of Paradise (think Tombstone meets Romancing the Stone) from WiDo publishing. She lives in Midcoast Maine, where she can walk downtown to the Damariscotta River and the award winning Maine Coast Bookshop, which has a webcam on its roof and a cafe on the sidewalk. If you want to see what her town looks like from up there, click here and you’ll get a bird’s eye view.

Find more information about Marcy and her work at her website, or connect with her on Goodreads and Twitter.


west-of-paradise-cover-2West of Paradise: Katherine Kennedy has it all: she’s beautiful, she’s wealthy, and she’s engaged to the perfect man. There’s just one problem; she can’t marry him.

Jack McCabe arrives home from the war with a pretty medal and a lot of ugly pictures in his head. Both of them are drawn separately to Paradise Tours and Cristobel Island where Louis Cade offers them the unimaginable, something neither can quite believe until the find themselves back in 1881.

For Jack McCabe, it’s the adventure he’s always dreamed of—until he meets a beautiful but deadly train robber. Katherine Kennedy can’t believe an ignorant bounty hunter has mistaken her for a criminal—until she sees the picture, which looks exactly like her. Neither of them can imagine how the past has a funny way of catching up with the present.

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

14 Comments

  1. Great advice and awesome tips. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Excellent post, Marcy! I am thankful that my dog demands walks, too. He helps me get moving.
    Writing is definitely a tough business, but it’s not something I can imagine not doing. It is just something that I do, even if I haven’t reached my goals yet.

  3. Great advice, Marcy. Especially the part about practice!

  4. My favorite form of exercise is walking, which gets tricky when it’s cold. Really, I could walk most of the year, but getting myself outside when it’s nasty and cold is hard. Getting a gym partner has helped me go to the gym regularly, though! Writing is definitely a lot of work, and often luck dependent. We keep trying, though!

  5. Awesome advice! I get up at 5:30 to get in time for my treadmill and physio exercises before heading to work. If I left it until later, it would never happen!! Keeping life in balance is so important 🙂

  6. Good advice, Marcy. I have an indoor bike for exercise when the weather doesn’t cooperate. I do miss my pool during the winter.

  7. Great advise! It’s funny. No one ever expects to pick up a violin and immediately play like a virtuoso, or to strap on a pair of new sneakers and immediately run a marathon, so why do so many writers get discouraged when their first efforts don’t earn awards, acclaim, and a boatload of money? No matter what the endeavor, it takes practice, practice, practice! And we have to be tough enough to accept that we may never play like a virtuoso, run a marathon, or write a best seller. Just do it for the love of it. (Kinda like breathing…)

  8. Marcy, I love your advice. In this day of instant gratification, everyone expects to put in minimal effort/heartache, and get mind-blowing results. That only works in stories, eh? 😉 (And not the good ones.)

  9. Yes, housework counts! 😀 We live in a great state to walk, so I think you’re taking advantage of a good opportunity.

  10. An honest and inspirational post. Thanks for sharing, Marcy!! I can’t ever imagine from retiring from writing either. I think that’s part of being a creative. One may have a break but there’s no stopping a creative mind – look at the Rolling Stones – off on tour again! Happy Thanksgiving and wishing you continued success on your writing journey.

  11. This reader is so very grateful for writer’s inspiration, tenacity and sheer hard work.

  12. Or you just hit the right publisher.
    Tapping into a good support system is key to surviving. That alone can keep us going a long time.

  13. Colleen, thank you so much for featuring me today!

    1. Author

      Thank you, Marcy! :O)

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