Blog posts update

Did you miss it on the blog?

Here's a round up of some of the posts I've shared on my new website and blog (which you can visits here) in case you've missed them:

BI-YEARLY CHECK-IN: WRITING VS. JOURNALING  

I've discovered the messiness of life and my muse don't co-exist all that well, so on those days when my creativity is hindered and I'm unable to write stories, it definitely helps to journal.

This is what I do to release the messiness on my mind so that my creativity agrees to come out and play.

Click here to read further...

PODCAST INTERVIEW...CHECK!

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Vikki J. Carter as part of her Authors of the Pacific Northwest podcast.

If you've read the Jorja Matthews mystery series, you're aware the protagonist is a bookstore owner and also a private investigator. You may be aware of my background as a P.I. and my writing process, but if you're curious to hear more, you can listen to my author podcast interview because it's now available!

Click here to read further...

QUARTERLY CHECK-IN...AND A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE

The first few months of 2020 made my head spin.

Here I discuss how I'm going to take the opportunity to appreciate slowing down, focus on what matters and discover what I can do to be better prepared when life gets busy again, so that I can continue to focus on what will benefit me the most, both personally and professionally.

Click here to read further...

MY #STAYHOME MONOTONY BUSTERS   

There's been so much uncertainty about how to manage a new routine when our lives changed so drastically so quickly.

Here's my take on how I tried to break away from the monotony. I shared this post with the idea that I'd only have to break the monotony for a month...having no idea that our days wouldn't return to normal in just 30 days! However, the ideas I share will continue to be useful now and for however long I'm going to need them during these challenging times.

Click here to read further...

I'll continue to update my blog feed on my website, which you can visit here, and remember you can always find the latest blog posts here.

Until next time...take care and happy reading!

Yearly Writers Conference…check. So, now what?

I look forward to this time of year, not only because I enjoy the arrival of fall (and wearing boots again J), but also because I look forward to a yearly writers conference not far from where I reside. The Southwest Washington Writers Conference is an easy drive and a great price for an all-day conference. In addition, all participants can appreciate the fact that money is donated to the Centralia College Scholarship Foundation to offer scholarships to students. It’s a win-win situation for all, in my book.

This year the conference had the addition of a master class for a half day before the actual event. The instructor we had the benefit of spending the afternoon with was New York Times bestselling author Hallie Ephron. I enjoy meeting authors who have been in the trenches and who are willing to share their experiences and expertise while they offer tips on the craft of writing from their perspective. I especially enjoy hearing from authors, like Hallie, who have been writing and publishing books for some time and who have experienced the change in times when it comes to the publishing world.

I’ll never assume to know it all when it comes to writing and I’m a total nerd when it comes to learning on a regular basis. I also thoroughly enjoy the inspiration I gain after attending a class or a workshop and this weekend was no exception. When it came to craft, I attended the master class and a workshop with Hallie while she shared tips on writing character-driven plots and character voice and point of view. The rest of the conference I focused on attending workshops related to marketing, my absolute favorite part of being an author. Um…not!

While I admit marketing isn’t my favorite part of being an author, it is an extremely important part, beyond writing the book in the first place. Marketing will forever be a WIP, especially when the online rules of engagement seem to change on a daily basis. During the conference, I enjoyed a workshop with one of my favorite speakers, Veronica Noize, where she discussed social media marketing. I’ve attended a couple of workshops over the past two years or so with Veronica and she is not only knowledgeable in her expertise, but also highly entertaining.

Beyond social media marketing, I sat in on a workshop on book launch tips offered by speculative fiction author Jill Williamson, as well as a workshop on email marketing tips offered by cozy mystery author Traci Hilton. And…now I have quite a few notes to review and websites to check out, forms to download, ideas to follow up on and some to-do’s to follow through with regarding my current WIP.

   

While I do enjoy attending conferences and workshops, and I leave feeling inspired, I’ll admit that I also feel a bit overwhelmed. There is so much to being an author beyond just writing the book and as much fun as it would be to only focus on writing, the book won’t promote itself. Attending workshops like these only confirm I still need to continue to do more when it comes to marketing. That fact can either put a sour taste in my mouth, or I can swallow the deed like a champ with a chaser of determination.

Case in point? Newsletters and email marketing. I’ve been working on the idea, I have a huge to-do list, and I’ve received so much advice I think it’s only paralyzed me when I think I’m finally ready to pull the trigger. However…I know that email marketing is the strongest and best way to keep in touch with readers and continue to gain sales. Should be a no-brainer, right? But it has been the one task that I keep putting off.

So, I’m taking responsibility for not yet having completed that task and I’m tossing it here on my blog so those who follow me can help keep me accountable. Go ahead…keep me on my toes and ask me every so often how I’m doing with that task. Tell me you’d like to join my list and receive regular newsletters from me, if I’d just get it up and running. J

Until next time…

So long 2018…it’s been great knowing you!

Another New Year is about to begin…are you ready?

Ocean Shores

I wasn’t sure what to expect from 2018, to be honest, since this was going to be my first year away from the day job, but as I reflect on this past year I will say I'm happy. When I reviewed my year with photos, I was reminded of all the fun this year has been, and when I reviewed each month with regard to my author life, I feel satisfied with how I tackled my first year.

In February I was finally able to publish the fourth book in the Jorja Matthews mystery series, Cross My Heart. This was perfect timing considering the next two months or so I was sidetracked with my new puppy, Jozee, who demanded much more of my time than I had anticipated. 

The rest of this past year I focused on writing the fifth book in the series, which is almost complete and has an appointment with my editor in February. I also published another book, this time trying my hand with nonfiction with Note to My Author Self. This was a book I decided to share with readers but which was written for myself; because I needed to. Some books are just born that way.

Over the past year I took part in multiple events to include speaking engagements and book signings in May, June and November, an in-person women’s business conference, an in-person writer’s conference, multiple business and author webinars, and full day or week-long online seminars. Now that I’m looking back at the number of events I took part in, I realize I could have provided updates on these events in order to share some of what I learned at each event. I can still do that, in time if I get to it, but this next year I plan to stay on top of those updates. Due to some extensive organizing this past month, I’ve mapped out a plan on what I need to do in order to accomplish that goal.

I’ve worked from home before, when I was a private investigator for over a dozen years, so I knew I could do it. However, I also figured I’d have to expect setbacks after going back to an office job for a handful of years before changing things up to work from home again. The first half of the year I winged it in a semi-organizational way, but eventually I had to concede to the idea that I had to get serious with the business of writing and finally create a business plan. Originally, I planned on quarterly business plans with the idea of moving to six-month plans, but I’ve since decided I prefer going over them every three months. I know that reviewing my plan four times a year will help keep me on task.

I changed the look of my blog, which was time-consuming but rewarding when I realized how much I preferred the final result. I teeter-tottered back and forth about whether or not I would join National Novel Writing Month in November but eventually decided not to let the challenge take priority over my current WIP, considering how close I was to completing it.

I’ve updated my writing calendar so that I can begin 2019 with fresh new pages for my writing updates and to-do’s and I’m currently working on putting together a new bullet journal for this next year. I first wrote about using a bullet journal in January when it was still fairly new to me and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to stick with it because my attempts at the end of 2017 were hit and miss. However, I’m pleased to say I was able to stick with it the whole year and I’ve enjoyed creating my new journal for 2019. I look forward to filling in each page as I move ahead in another productive year.

I hope you also look forward to the coming New Year and that it will be ripe with possibilities, full of inspiration and complete with satisfying results.

Happy New Year!

Productive writer = happy author

My blog has a new look! What do you think?

Giving my blog a facelift has been an item on my never-ending to-do list for quite some time, but I just kept putting it off. I finally put an afternoon aside and got to work, changing the tag line, adding tabs for readers and writers, and changing the whole look and feel of the blog. I personally like it and I hope you do too.

Booker has had a habit of sleeping on my desk since I got him -
and he takes up a lot more room now that he's 6 months!

Honestly, I’ve been down with a head cold for almost two weeks, but I’m happy to note that I’ve been quite productive. Not only did I keep up with my daily word count and give my blog a new look, I completed admin tasks necessary due to the merging of my paperback and eBook publishing distributors, promoted my latest book with an online book promotion, scheduled a book signing for next month, took part in an online webinar relating to author platform and also took part in an all-day online writer’s conference.

And now, with everything I’ve learned in a short-period of time, my head is swimming…I mean, seriously swimming and waterlogged with information. Due to that fact, I feel the need to organize, catalog, decipher, chart out, map out and make sense of all the tidbits of details circulating through my author-mind.

That tends to happen whenever I attend a writer’s conference like the one earlier last month or take part in an all-day online conference, as I did yesterday. The bulk of what I learned from the conference yesterday was mainly about marketing, and this is in addition to the author platform webinar, as well as a book launch webinar only a week before that.

I don’t believe I’m signed up for any additional webinars or conferences, so now is probably a good time to take a step back to evaluate what I’ve learned and figure out how I can utilize certain marketing steps that will benefit me the most. And just going through the notes I have now from the conferences, there’s plenty of information for me to create to-do lists that will last me through the end of this year. However, in order to stick with my business plan, much of what I’ve learned will be focused on after the first of the year.

There’s the acknowledgement that I should take a step back, along with the fact that I’ve had good momentum with my own writing, specifically number 5 of the mystery series, and I would like to keep it up without getting bogged down with too many to-do lists when it comes to marketing or platform building. I have to also consider time away due to upcoming holidays and other events, one of which is NaNoWriMo if I decide to join this year, not to mention “me” time for self-care so that I can hopefully avoid getting sick again. Besides that, at some point I have to figure out when to get on my editor’s schedule; if I reserve a spot too soon, I won’t be ready when my time comes up; if I wait too long, she won’t have any spots open when I’m ready for her services. It’s a dilemma that can be avoided with some planning, which is why my business plan is important. If I continue to follow it, the plan is meant to help me stay on task with a schedule so that I can set and meet deadlines.

So I’ll continue to work on my series, as I attempt to complete the current tasks on my business plan, while I also put together marketing to-do lists for the coming year based on what I’ve recently learned. Each will tick off a box for my creative self, my business side and the student in me and each will give me much to look forward to.

But right now, I’m going to take advantage of some “me” time and enjoy a nice quiet evening with my family and a few zombies (I’m a Walking Dead fan J).

Have a great week!

Bi-yearly check in – pat on the back or kick in the pants?

I’m staring at a blank page today, having some difficulty when it comes to what I want to say. That’s interesting, considering a check in doesn’t take much effort when I’m just looking back at what I’ve accomplished the first half of this year.

While it’s easy enough to go back through the past six months to take stock in what I’ve completed and make note of what projects I’m in the middle of, my focus is a bit…distracted. Funny enough, I don’t think I can put into words exactly what I’m distracted about.

I guess it’s just one of those days. It’s probably also the perfect time for me to do some free writing – might help me dig up what’s vying for my attention and figure out what I need to do about it.

But first, this post…

The first half of this year has gone fairly well, as I moved in to a new routine after finally deciding to give up the day job so that I could have more time to focus on my writing. I may have mentioned a change in circumstances and my schedule, but I have yet to really discuss what prompted the change or how it has been since I made the decision. It was not a decision I made lightly and has been quite a transition mixed with both uncertainty and excitement in what the future holds.

My distraction today may actually have something to do with my taking stock in what I’ve been able to accomplish these past six months. It means either giving myself a pat on the back for a job well done so far, or a kick in the pants for not being further along than I expected at this point. It means using the past six months as a gauge, and whether or not I’ll be happy with what the gauge represents.

 

When I look at the past six months, I see forward movement and that’s what matters most. I published my sixth book (4th in the series), took part in two events where I spoke about my books and my writing journey so far, attended a women’s business conference, took part in a number of online webinars relating to writing and the business of marketing, most recently which included a 12-day series for women entrepreneurs, and have continued to work on multiple book projects I plan to publish later this year and early next year.

Writing, researching, reading, learning – it all goes hand in hand and it’s what will help me continue to move forward. What I continue to learn, about myself and from others, gives me the ability to stay on task because I’m able to:

•        set clear goals,
•     ground myself daily,
•     commit to moving forward,
•     remain confident,
•     have clarity,
•     stay consistent,
•     manage my expectations,
•     be intentional,
•     inspire others, and
•     find balance between daily to-do lists and self care.

My favorite saying I heard most recently during the entrepreneur series was “where attention goes, energy flows.”

My attention has been focused on quite a few things, certainly, but each involve forward movement in my writing journey so for that, I’ll give myself a pat on the back.

The many moments in the month of May (so far)

A photo my son captured of Jozee 

while we were at the beach

Sometimes everything goes as planned, and sometimes they don't, but that's not always a bad thing.

I had planned to post on my blog over the weekend, but…it was Mother’s Day weekend so I took some time off to play. What I wanted for my Mother’s Day was at least one day at the beach, which did happen and turned out to be a great idea considering how perfect the weather was. If you are also from the PNW, you’ll understand my excitement about the fact that we actually had a nice day at the beach, and in the month of May!

While May is only half over, it has already provided me with a good feeling on how this next quarter will end. All I can say is, hooray! In addition to spending a lot of time on one of my writing projects, here’s what I’ve been up to:

I finally completed a business plan – why now, you say? I just kept putting it off, maybe because in the back of my mind I believed I didn’t really need it. But, writing is a business when you hope your efforts result in making a profit so, I finally forced myself to work one up. Right now I’m sticking with revising my business plan quarterly, so that I can focus on projects actually pending at this time, but I plan to work up to six-month plans once I move in to next year.

Session at Inspire:

Women's Business Conference

I attended a women’s conference the first week in May for business owners – again, thinking about writing beyond the craft and what I can do to focus on the business end of things so that what I’m accomplishing involves both my head and my heart.

The women’s conference was a nice day retreat for me since my days are usually spent by myself (unless you count my dogs and cats), I met some great women and business owners and from each session I learned some useful business sense tips.

I’ll enjoy attending more of these events if the business organization continues to offer them. 

I finally signed up to become a member of a local writer’s association. By “local” I mean Seattle, which is a horrible drive these days from my locale, so I won’t likely attend many of the monthly meetings, but I’ll be able to access the relevant meeting information online, as well as other member perks. I can’t honestly say why it’s taken me until now to do this…I enjoy attending conferences, and I attend them when I’m able (which takes actual physical effort), while the act of becoming a member of an association was such an easy task I could have completed a long time ago (um, can anyone say online registration?) but just kept putting it off. I can’t explain my delay, other than it must be that writer’s procrastination issue I hear so much about. 😊

I had some fun designing new business cards and bookmarks – time will tell whether I like the business cards more than my original design, but because my books now include a series and not just the first book (it’s been that long since I designed the first business card), I decided to make a change since the time to update them was long overdue.

I spent some time promoting my series the past two weeks, playing with the P.I. writing about a P.I. idea, then for Mother’s Day, and also for upcoming book events I have scheduled this month and next month. Speaking of which, for those who are local, I have the following author events coming up should you wish to attend where I’ll discuss my books and my writing and publishing process and sign books for those who have or will be purchasing them: 

The first event is this coming Saturday, May 19th from 1p to 3p at The Firs in Olympia (426 Lilly Rd NE)

The second event is scheduled for Wednesday, June 6th from 10:15a to 11:30a at the Olympia Center (222 Columbia St NW)

I'm looking forward to both events and in meeting new people, so if you’re in the area and can attend either they are both open to the public.

So, the month of May for me has been a productive one. I see the last half of the month following suit and I look forward to that!

Always a student, in life and in art

Life is full of lessons, along with a number of sides you look forward to or hope to avoid, and topped with promises and regrets. Regardless of the lessons we experience, we will usually learn something from them, whether about others or about ourselves and hopefully any change we go through is only for the better.

I’ve had my share of life lessons the past few years and while I’m not exactly sure how someone else might describe how these experiences have changed me, I would say that the lessons I’ve learned have brought about an intense desire to switch things up so that I can experience life differently. It’s been a work in progress, with some bumps and bruises along the way, but I am eagerly moving toward making those changes happen.

When we experience a change in ourselves, it may be immediate or gradual, or we may not notice it at all while others around us do. What we can only hope for, really, is that we don’t remain stagnant or unwilling to learn or refuse to understand how an experience has affected us.

That’s the way it is in life.

And that’s the way it is in fiction.

When life is hard, for readers anyway, we enjoy escaping by reading. Taking part in the lives of characters who are going through possibly similar experiences, or even if they aren’t, who are going through some sort of adversity which will help us take our mind off our own problems for a bit.

Characters we read about, with needs, fears, issues and family drama, jump off the page when we read about them, and if the book is written well, they appear to us as real individuals we continue to think about even when we aren’t reading. Books are truly magic and a great break from reality. 

As with real people, characters should not remain stagnant.  Readers appreciate changes in a character; it makes them more believable. As a writer, I get lost in the story I want to tell and might not always appreciate the fact that my characters, who are like real people to me, may not be showing the reader how much an experience has changed them. Or are they changing, but I’m not aware of it as much as I should be in order to express it on the page? I need to have a serious conversation with my characters, if that’s the case. J As an author, I’m continuing to learn the tricks of the craft and the art of writing and while I continue to learn, I trust it will benefit my characters and beyond that, those who enjoy my books.

This bit of insight, which I knew but might have gotten off track from, is the result of my time spent at a writer’s conference yesterday.  Attending these conferences never fails to increase my desire to continue to learn because I am reminded there is so much more to writing than just writing. It may seem daunting, I certainly won’t ever know everything, but while I continue to learn I’ll become a better writer and continuous learning will only feed my desire to live a creative life during my journey as an author.    

It's time for me to get back to being creative. Have a great week and keep reading!

August antics as summer winds down

Seriously, this summer is just flying by – how about you? Are you finding it hard to believe the month of August is already half over?

The past few weeks have just been a continuation of a very busy summer – with no rest for the weary!

This month I’ve been working through the edits on the fourth book in my series, and preparing the book for a final run through. I’ve really enjoyed the feedback from my editor and as much as I dislike editing my own work, I’m remembering how much fun it is to work through edits from my editor.  It’s also such a great learning tool for me – and feedback from a professional is so helpful when it can make you sit back and review your work from the viewpoint of another.

Ocean Shores sunset

In between writing/editing, there have been a number of other distractions this month involving my day job (we have a new boss after being in limbo for over five months), my health (my back, on-going the past six months…ugh), Piper’s health (yes, still), and just getting away here and there to enjoy what the PNW has to offer before our weather turns on us. One such trip was to the beach where my husband and I celebrated 26 years married this month. I’ve wanted to get to the beach all summer but haven’t had time, so I’m glad it worked out for our anniversary. The month of August also marked the one-year anniversary of my mother-in-law’s passing; it’s always the “firsts” that are the most difficult to get through after a loved one passes away. I saw a quote on Instagram recently from “The Walking Dead” that kind of hit home for me…“The pain doesn’t go away. You just make room for it.” Sad, but so very true.

I also agreed to commit to an author event for the first time in…quite a while. I won’t call it a book signing, really; more like a meet & greet, since I’m not sure how many of the attendees will have actually read any of my books when I come to meet them. What is cute, though, is the woman who is putting the event together. I sent her a copy of No Mother of Mine in preparation for the meet & greet. She’d heard about me and wanted to plan an event with me, but apparently hadn’t yet read any of my books. The book was mailed on a Monday and by the end of that week, she called to say she had already finished the book and really enjoyed it. Again, although I’m a reader myself, it still amazes me how quickly readers get through my 400-page books! I still pinch myself because it is surreal when I take in the fact that readers are enjoying my work and literally devouring my books when they get them. 

The meet & greet isn’t until next month, which is probably a good thing considering how busy August has turned to be. Which means September will be a fun month, not only with the author meet & greet, but also an upcoming writer’s conference, and time spent finalizing the fourth book in the series in preparation for publication. And soon I’ll have the fourth book in the series published, so that I can finally complete my young adult novel and also get to work on another book before the end of the year. 

But I need to get my focus back to August – there’s too much to be done yet this month.

That said, I’m taking a blogging break the rest of this month and I’ll post another update in September. 

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Monthly check in – May we look forward to May?

It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of April already…I hate to say it, but where the heck does the time go?

I haven’t offered an update on my monthly intentions since February, and I thought now would be a good time to check in.  So where am I with my tasks and expectations? When I review the words that came to mind when I thought about 2017, there are a number of them I’ve been working on the past few months. 

Instagram post for my idea of Serenity

Reading and writing – I’ve been reading pretty much every day, whether fiction, magazine articles, writing books, whatever I have on hand at the time I have the time to read. With my writing, I’m taking some time to continue to review, edit and make changes to the fourth book in the series since I still have some time before my scheduled professional edit. As long as it’s in my possession, I’ll probably continue to find something I can correct…or change…or add. In the meantime, I’m also working on my young adult novel. And of course, I’m always journaling. 

I’m also planning on which writer’s conference(s) I want to attend this year – one for certain I’m already signing up for, and the other I’m still thinking about since it’s a 4-day commitment. Whether I attend just one or both, I look forward to the continued learning opportunity and meeting other like-minded individuals.

Less clutter – I spent a couple of weekends going through closets and drawers and boxes until I finally had enough items to stuff my SUV and then I donated everything. The amount of clothes and household items we were able to donate was incredible. We just don’t need that much stuff! I’m still working on clearing out some other areas and items, as time permits, and I’m hopeful by the end of the year I will finally feel free from the clutter. 

Reflection – I’ve been doing a lot of this lately…and it’s still a work in progress. I don’t know what answers I’m looking for, but eventually I believe some changes will be necessary and for someone who isn’t terribly great with change, this can be a scary concept but I’m working myself up to appreciate it can also be exciting.  

Be present, find beauty, create – I took part in a photo challenge during the month of April, and I really enjoyed finding different ways to take photographs to show my point of view or my interpretation of what it was we were supposed to be sharing with others. 

Because I really enjoy monthly challenges, I’ve signed up to begin a new challenge tomorrow – it’s a routine & habits challenge. I’m interested to see what I might learn about my habits, or about myself.  If the challenge proves to be useful, I’ll share what I learned.

Travel, adventure, family – I recently took a trip to Vegas and had a terrific time with my family; I’m now planning and looking forward to my next travel adventure. If I’m going to spend money on anything, besides books, I’d much rather spend it making memories with my loved ones, instead of buying stuff to add to the clutter.

Movement, strength – I enjoy Yoga, cardio and other attempts to stay active, and I’m still really enjoying my new Fitbit, as it continues to remind me to move my butt every hour throughout the day, which is so very helpful when my day job has me sitting more than I’d prefer. And there it goes…I just received my notification that I need to get up and move to reach my step count…

...I took a quick walk to reach my goal.  It’s always nice to be rewarded when I reach my step count – the little dancing person icon on my Fitbit is cute – it would be fun if I had a similar little writer icon who could jump with happiness while throwing pages in the air when I reach my word count.

Now that’s an idea…  J

The past few months have been encouraging as I continue to work on my intentions, and besides giving me a sense of accomplishment, I enjoy moving into a new month with a renewed interest in upcoming expectations.

Hello May…let’s do this!

What’s good about a drought? The growth we see afterwards.

You might not think September is synonymous with drought, or even growth, as the rain has already visited us and the trees outside are losing their leaves as I write this. But when it involves creativity, I will think of September as the end to my drought.

I recently attended a writers’ conference and while I may not have attended with any actual thought of what I wanted, the conference provided me with exactly what I needed. With a great lineup of speakers and a full day of learning, I was able to connect with like minds, find new inspiration, learn helpful tips and tricks relating to writing and marketing and most importantly, add a good amount of nourishment to my creative soul in order to fuel my passion for writing.

What did I learn throughout my day at the conference?

Here’s an overview:

• Useful approaches to great book cover designs – you really can’t deny that readers usually judge by the cover.
• Artistic Perseverance – remembering why I want to write and committing to that; consistently putting in the work while also reading, studying, and connecting with others; building my life around the necessity to write; and remembering that we’re not all perfect, it can take time and sometimes you have to surrender and move on to something else but to always remember my reason for writing and to never give up.
• Developing characters and crafting conflict – since my characters and I have had an on-again, off-again relationship for awhile, this class was well worth my time as it made me think about questions I should be asking while the characters navigate through the story and interact with each other. 
• Social media strategies – the presenter provided many useful tips and so many ideas about different tools to use that I have to find some time to check them all out, but I’m excited about utilizing many of them.  I feel like I’m starting over again, in a way, when it comes to my online presence and many of her ideas will really help me as I complete and publish my next book.
• Marketing strategies – this has always been the subject I dislike the most…selling yourself is not an easy thing to do for many.  But this presenter was excellent.  From creating a plan, to creating systems, investing in yourself, networking with others, creating newsletters, promotions and sales…and everything in between, she was excited about her work and she made me excited about it too.  She provided useful ways to tackle this difficult part of the business and even more surprising, she made me believe I can succeed, and possibly have fun at it, as well. 

With everything I learned from each presenter, what I really gained from the conference was this:  excitement. It is addicting. And I refuse to let that feeling go. 

The creative nourishment I gained at this conference has already caused me to lose sleep because I can’t wait to completely dig back the layers of noise in my head that have kept my characters muted for so long. I know this will sound weird, and if you’re not a writer you might not understand, but I feel awful about shutting out my characters for so long. 

The drought I’ve been in is over. 

Period. 

I’ve had a rough go for long enough, with a wild roller coaster ride of emotional ups and downs that has been difficult to maneuver through. The control freak in me has definitely felt out of control.  But it’s time for me to take back control of what I am passionate about, remember why I’m passionate about it, and make a conscious and constant effort to stick to the path I started a few years ago.

So long drought – hello creativity.

Have a great week!

Starting off the New Year with numbers.

It’s been awhile since I reviewed my stats and what better time to start a habit…new, old, revised, or otherwise…than the first of the year?  My plan is to at least continue to check my stats quarterly, in order to keep track and to see if I can find any contributing factors for the reasons behind why my author rank or sales rank for each book may spike or plummet.  It’s not my plan to live or die by the stats, or let the numbers ruin my day if they are not as I would hope.  My plan is just to use them as a reference, especially when I want to compare them as I move on from one season (or one book) to the next.

For my sales rankings, I found that all books spiked recently, except 1313 Psycho Path (which did better near Halloween), but mostly when it came to the eBooks rather than the paperbacks.  “11:11 Anna’s Awakening” is the only book that spiked in sales for both paperbacks and eBooks; but it is also the most recently published book. 

The eBook version of “11:11” spiked a few weeks before Christmas:

While the paperback spiked just after Christmas/right before the New Year:

For the other books, the paperbacks weren’t the high sellers but the eBooks for Best Kept Secrets and Ties That Bind took off a week or so before Christmas:   

 

While No Mother of Mine spiked just after Christmas:

When the holidays aren’t upon us, it can be difficult to guess what may cause a spike in sales but as I continue to publish additional books, I do hope to see continuous upward movement and not just around the holidays or each time I attend an event or publish a new book. 

It’s great that Amazon will allow me to view my sales rank from a 2-week viewpoint, up to months, years and even the lifetime of a book.  I don’t know if there’s ever a cut off for the lifetime viewpoint of a book, but No Mother of Mine has been out since 2012 and I can still view the sales rank from 2012 until now:

While the sales rank for No Mother of Mine continues to jump up on fairly regular intervals, there is a continuous downward motion that I wish to change.  I’m hopeful that as I publish more books, and as I get back into some serious marketing and branding again later in the year, the sales rank for this book will run on a more even, horizontal level between spikes, which is what the sales rank for Best Kept Secrets and Ties That Bind have continued to do. 

What the sales ranks also show me is when I’ve been ‘quiet’ or just not quite out there as an author, which is a good indicator when there is little movement upward or when there is continuous downward movement for a long period of time.  See the obvious lack of spikes for Best Kept Secrets during 2015 from January through October in the chart below?

That’s what happens when an author goes off track for awhile.  There is no mystery as to the reason for the lower sales rank during this time…this is obviously the time period I was not writing much or putting myself out there while I was trying to deal with the unexpected death of my Dad.  But when it comes to staying on track creatively, it is definitely something I wish to avoid from happening again.

In the past when I reviewed my sales or author rank, I would notice an obvious jump after I took part in large book events or author signings.  I’m not able to hold a signing on a quarterly basis right now but it would be nice to be at or near that point sometime in my author life, or at least part of something that continuously helps build my author brand and gets my name out there. 

Now that I have reviewed my author and sales rankings to get an idea of where my numbers are the beginning of the New Year, I can get back to the numbers that are important right now, which includes:

4 - for the fourth volume of the Jorja Matthew mystery series which I plan to complete/publish the end of this year and…

1 - for the first young adult book I hope to continue working on as I’m able so that I have a final draft completed by the end of this year (I’m already at 30,000+ words so it has quite a head start). 

Don’t worry, for those who are waiting for the 4^th book in the Jorja Matthews series, it will take priority over any other book and will be published next, I promise.  J

Carry on, create and have a great week!

A walk down memory lane…

I’ve been able to spend some free time reviewing my short story, with the expectation that I’ll have it out by November.  That is still the plan, and I’m optimistic and hopeful that the plan stays on track.

After completing another run through of my short story today to finalize what I hope will leave me much closer to a final edit, I became just a bit nostalgic.  As with many of my story ideas, this one came to me quite a few years ago and when I saved yet another draft on my computer today, it hit me just how  many years ago I first began to type up my notes about this particular idea.  It was actually in November 2011, which is fitting, considering my short story has been dubbed “1111” during the whole creation stage. 

It’s interesting to me how some stories are born.  The stories behind my Jorja Matthews mystery series all began with a simple idea that formed in my head years ago; however, many of the mini-mysteries in that series were all conceived as I created the main mystery surrounding Jorja and her family.  The story behind 1111 was conceived about four years ago now, while the story behind my short, short 1313 Psycho Path was created after a simple brain-storming session with my boys when they asked me to write a scary ghost story. 

The first draft of 1111 was written in early 2014 and I hadn’t planned to put off this novel for so long, but with the other books I’ve been working on, it just took a back seat.  I believe this is the only book that has actually sat for long periods between each revised draft, making the review less subjective on my part than with my other stories.

It’s a remarkable task, reading something you’ve set aside for awhile.  You can almost pretend you’re reading something written by another person.  Kind of like when you dig out your journals from when you were twenty-something or when you were a teen…for those who have kept their journals that long.  Stephen King is one author who suggests putting your manuscripts away for a period of time before reviewing them – to better gain some objective.  It’s an understandable concept and probably works quite well.  I’m just not a very patient person and have a hard time putting the review off for that long.  But I’ve had those rests between reviews of 1111 and it does give me a different perspective when I’m not as close to the story as I was when I had just completed the first draft.

As stories take time to bloom into what’s been imagined, authors also develop and flourish as they continue to write from year to year.  I am one who enjoys writing stories as well as blogging and as with authors and the books we write, those who blog also develop their voice as they share their passion. 

Ever since I wrote my very first post back in December 2011, I’ve continued to blog about my writing journey and that’s where my walk down memory lane occurred.  I thought about that first post I authored back when I shared my dream of writing with others.  It will actually be four years this December since I began this blog and shared my passion.  That’s incredible to me.  After re-reading my first post, I decided to read through some other posts, just to see what it is I had to say back then.  It was surreal reading back on old posts; I know I wrote them, and I remember many of them very well, but I’m reading them again from a more objective frame of mind. 

And the best thing about my little jaunt down memory lane? 

I still enjoying reading my old posts and referring back to them.  Maybe I’m a little less objective than I thought.  J  Here are just a few examples I’d like to share with you:  when a huge storm stopped me from using my computer for almost a week; my love for my dogs; my exciting news about my first book cover reveal; my first book signing; how I deal with distractions; when I entered my first book contest; note to self about how to relax more often; how much fun it is to attend different writing or book events; and how to work with others to make your book the best it can be.

Just some light reading for you, as I share with you my walk down memory lane. 

Have a great week!

Getting geared up for summer!

It’s the beginning of June already and the way our weather’s been lately, it feels like summer’s coming in with a bang.  I enjoyed myself this weekend, taking a break from the computer and spending most of Saturday and Sunday working outside in my gardens to finish with the last plantings, lots of weeding, rose feedings, overdue watering and garden decorating.  It’s the time of year I really look forward to…when the gardens and lawn look inviting and we can finally move all our lawn furniture outside. 

I took a break from the computer, not only to get the necessary work done in my gardens, but also because I’m finally editing the third book in my mystery series (yeah!) and I felt I needed to take a break before I begin to review the manuscript.  I’m further behind with this draft than I planned to be but because November didn’t pan out completely as far as writing the series goes and December was mainly focused on 1313 Psyco Path, I wasn’t able to really get into the third book until January.  Even so, considering the first and second books each took four months to write, I guess I’m doing okay.

June will keep me busy as I edit my book and work on necessary revisions before I can make it available for the next phase of edits with a professional editor.  Now that my gardens are looking and smelling so nice (the herbs…they are wonderful for the senses) and my patio table and umbrella offer an inviting retreat nearby, my hope is that the weather stays fairly nice most of the month so I can edit my book outside when I’m home.  The trick for me is knowing when to read and when to weed and when I’ve done enough of one before I get back to the other. 

I don’t really plan on participating in too many book events this summer but I am scheduled to take part in another book event this month.  It’s a meet and greet book signing event scheduled for next week at a local senior center and I’m really looking forward to it.  I’ve also decided to sign up for Camp NaNoWriMo in July so that I can begin working on my next project.  It’s like what I took part in for NaNoWriMo in November 2012 and 2013 but on a less rigorous scale.  You can write as few as 10,000 words or as many as 999,999.  My word count goal is at least 25,000 so that I can work on another short story I’d like to have published by this November.  I’m really looking forward to beginning a new project.

So, let me think about this more clearly…I’m taking part in only two events that I know of this summer but just those two events will monopolize 32 days of the summer? 

Well, that’s okay.  I’m ready for anything right now.  I’m ready to dig deep into editing.  I’m ready for a fun event with the senior citizens.  I’m ready for a month of participating with other writers in a virtual creative retreat where the community spirit and encouragement will keep me excited about my next project.   

     

And I’m ready for summer. 

How about you?

Busy week of writing events…and my head’s still swimming

If any Sunday needs to be a day of rest, today would be it.  On top of all the normal everyday stuff I deal with week on and week off, this week has also been packed full of writing events.

And it’s been a fantastic week in that regard.  This post might run long as I update you on my week so this is your fair warning…

First, I took part in the on-line conference at Indie Recon from Tuesday through Thursday.  Fortunately, it was an on-line conference and one that I could attend whenever my schedule allowed, which was only in the evenings after a full day of work and a little bit of time spent with the family.  The conference involved all subject matters surrounding writing, editing, marketing, publishing and time management.  With a selection of posts to read at my leisure, there were also Facebook and Twitter chats, as well as some video posts from some of the presenters.  Overall, it was another great conference put on by the Indie Recon team.

On Friday, I went to my very first book signing of Pacific Northwest local author J.A. Jance, who is also a New York Times’ bestseller.  I have to admit, I’ve been an avid reader for a very long time but I’m surprised at myself that I’ve never attended a book signing before.  It’s possibly because none of my favorite authors have actually held a book signing near where I live or if they did, I just never knew about it.  And I’m not one to travel across multiple state lines for this type of event so when I discovered a big time author was holding a book signing only five minutes from my office…well, I just had to attend.  Being a new author myself, this is part of the research I need to take part in as I move along in my life as a writer.  How do others do it?  How do readers react to them?  What would I do the same way and what would I do differently? 

The author event was held at a local community college and Jance held her audience captive in a large auditorium at the Arts Center.  She has an infectious laugh, the type of laugh that can make others laugh as well even if the subject matter itself isn’t all that funny.  Jance was good about putting her audience at ease by sharing more than what her characters were about, but also what she’s all about…how she deals with these types of tours, why her dog Bella couldn’t take part in this tour, how and when she fits writing into her busy schedule, how she communicates with readers whether they are offering her praise or protest about her work and where some of her ideas come from.  

Some of her subject matter was light and funny while some is dark and gives me a better understanding of why she has become the writer she was probably always meant to be.  She spoke for a little over an hour and actually ended the event by singing a song – can’t say you could ever expect this from me at one of my book signings.  In fact, I can say for certain you can never expect this from me.  Fortunately for Jance, she actually has a good singing voice and most of the audience seemed to enjoy it.  

Afterwards, Jance moved to another location in the building where she quickly had about thirty fans in line waiting for her to sign their newly purchased books.  I wasn’t able to remain at the event since I was running a half hour late getting back to work and while Jance did say those with mobility issues or those who were late for something else could cut in line, I could not bring myself to actually cut in front of elderly fans whether mobile or not.  Since I had to leave I didn’t get a chance to personally speak with Jance, which is too bad, but during the event she did say she responds to every single e-mail she receives so maybe I’ll just send her a note. 

As if the conference and an author event with a bestseller weren’t enough, I was still anxiously looking forward to Saturday…which involved the long-awaited AWP Bookfair in Seattle.  There is only one word I can use to sum up that event:

WOW

That’s it.  Wow. 

Ok, I’m a writer, I know, and I should be more descriptive…

How about, wow, wow, wow?

Really, it was all just so overwhelming, it was hard to wrap my brain around all the booths, all the vendors, all the attendees, all the swag, all the…walking.  I can’t imagine how people felt who actually took part in the conference and bookfair all week long because I was overwhelmed just by the one day.  Granted, I had to fit the whole book fair into one day versus a whole week, which is difficult, but there was just no other way.  I’m glad I went, only to see for myself what it was like.  I’m also glad I went so I could confirm whether the event was a useful tool for me as a writer.  I’ve read various blogs and there are multiple views about what the event is good for.  While it was fun to take part in, I’ve now seen for myself it isn’t necessarily an event that I have to partake in as a writer.  The bookfair involved mostly book presses, journals, reviews and colleges offering MFA courses and writing classes.  I saw very few authors who were signing/selling their books and there were only a few tables relating to upcoming writer’s conference on this side of the coast.  Even fewer still were vendors selling books for writers or merchandise relating to writing.  I finally found one vendor who was selling writing books I had actually planned on buying anyway and with the two books I purchased, I also got some very cute typewriter note cards.  For only $25, that was my biggest and best score of the day.  There was one vendor I saw who had a bunch of funny t-shirts, coffee cups and postcards for writers but that was about it.  Regardless, I did come home with tons of swag and the pain in my shoulder is evidence of how heavy those bags can get. 

Swag from the AWP Bookfair

Now I can say I’ve been there, done that.  I would like to eventually attend a writer’s conference but rather than attempt something like the AWP conference where the multiple class choices might make it even harder to make a decision, I’ll focus on attending something smaller like the Whidbey Island Writer’s Conference I missed last year but would love to attend this year.  I love their motto…for writers, about writers, by writers. 

So there you have it…it was a packed week and now I’m mentally recharging so I can get back to my own writing.  While I do enjoy  events like those I took part in this week, I do miss having large chucks of time to write so I look forward to getting back to it this next week.  There’s just too much going on with Jorja Matthews and the other characters to leave them alone for very long.