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State of the Book (and Arm) – February Edition

Blog news, Book news, Life Stuff

Time for another State of the Book!

The first draft of Soul Cavern 2 is almost done (I know, I’ve been saying that for weeks!). It’s so close to being done, I’ve already started revising the first part and sending it out to beta readers. I’m still hoping to get it out in April.

I’m also getting ready to commission the cover art for SC2 and SC3 before the end of the month, so should have something to show for that in the coming weeks, as well!

Obviously, I’ve done this surgery thing before…

My overall production schedule is going to slow down, though, as I am having rotator cuff surgery on 2/13. I’ve been dealing with pain since June, but more aggravated pain since November. The MRI I had last month showed a 5mm tear in one of the muscles (or tendons? Dunno) in my rotator cuff. So… surgery.

My arm will basically be immobilized for 3-4 weeks, then 4 weeks of movement therapy, and then 4 weeks of strength therapy. So, yeah, 3 months. Whee. I am not entirely sure how the immobilization is going to affect writing. I’ll be doing some work with Google Docs and their free voice to text function, but I don’t really know how well I’ll do with dictation. We’ll see.

The last couple weeks I’ve been working on a website redesign (mostly randomly) and that only takes my mouse hand, for the most part, so perhaps I’ll do more work on that! I’m really excited about it, because it’s going to be gorgeous! 🙂

And I’m set to start outlining Soul Cavern 3 this month also. ALL THE THINGS!

So there’s the State of the Book for February! Thanks for hanging with me 🙂

Happy New Year! And stuff!

Blog news, Book news, Publishing

 

Yes, yes, I know we’re already a week in, but that’s okay! It’s still pretty new and sparkly!

If you read my last post, you already know what’s going on and what my goals are for this year, as far as publishing. I wanted to drop a quick line and let you know about my goals for content for 2019, as well.

Early last year, in February, actually, I made the announcement that I was going to be making a change to my posting schedule for this blog. Instead of weekly posting, I would be posting every other week. This was to free up time for my fiction writing.

That was a good plan, but what ended up happening was that I no longer felt accountable to post anything here. So every two weeks became every three weeks, which became…eh…whenever.

I am recommitting to posting every two weeks. Now, the posts may be updates, they may be reposts, they may be Tool Time Tuesdays, they may be Quick Edits, or they may be the more in-depth posts that I used to write regularly. I’m not committing to any particular type of post. But I am committing to at least 26 posts over the course of the year. I promise. As we say in my family, “Fingers up to heaven.” (I’ll tell you about that sometime, if you’d like.)

Are you a writer?

 

Most of my posts here have been about writing, rather than books or random things about my life. Maybe you miss that content?

Since last spring, I’ve been on a new journey of indie publishing. I’ll be posting some about that here, but I’ve also created a new avenue for that content! I started my own YouTube channel!

My channel is going to be really focused on my journey as an indie publisher. I’ll share the ups and the downs. I’ll likely be sharing more detail about the whole process there, because it’s quicker to talk about a thing than to write about it 😉

Don’t expect anything super fancypants. But I may also occasionally do the YouTube live from somewhere that is not my desk, surrounded by bookshelves 🙂

Here’s my intro video! Check it out and, if you’re interested, head over to YouTube and subscribe to my channel!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksc85EUzVuQ

 

ALL THE BOOKS!

And don’t forget, Blue-Edged Soul will be released NEXT WEEK!

I should have the cover this week and will be doing a reveal very soon!

The 12,000 word short story occurs concurrently with the climax in Jivaja and features Ken, David’s brother. He has just arrived in London to protect Carolyn and Jenny Barron, at the request of his brother. But what he finds will change all of their lives forever!

Read Jivaja and then read Blue-Edged Soul. You won’t be sorry 🙂

And remember: If you’re a member of my Reader Group, you will be able to get Blue-Edged Soul for free! Make sure you sign up to get your copy!

 

 

I’m also going to be playing with a new website design, because this one is really old and tired at this point. So, yknow, in all my free time, I’ll be working on that too. LOL

Okay, that’s it! I’ll talk atcha later this week with the cover reveal for Blue-Edged Soul 🙂

Ciao!

 

Unless attributed otherwise, all images are CC0 licensed.

Also, links in this blog post may be affiliate links. This means that if you purchase something, I will get a small percentage of it, though it does not increase your cost in any way. I appreciate you using my links 🙂

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes…

Blog news, Website Update

I’ve decided that I will be updating the blog bi-weekly, rather than weekly. I’ve been writing (mostly) consistently for a year and I still have no engagement on the blog, so I feel as if devoting writing time to a post weekly isn’t as good a way to spend it as I’d hoped. So I will be cutting down. Tool Time Tuesday will still be monthly, usually around mid-month.

However, beginning in probably April, I will be adding a Fiction Friday feature, which will be weekly, so there is that. 🙂

I will be using the extra time I will free up from blogging to work on my fiction, which is to be focus for this year anyway. So win-win! 🙂

I’ll still be here, of course. I’m relatively active on Twitter and I poke around on Facebook. You can find me most often at The Writing Tribe. Feel free to join up and hang out with us!

Happy writing!
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Happy Freaking New Year! :)

Blog news, Writing

Happy 2018!

Are you ready for the new year? I am getting back on track after the tail end of 2017 laid me out a bit. I had to have surgery in November and, man, it hit me a lot harder than I was expecting. I was pretty much in bed for a month. But I’m doing much better and getting back on track. This year, I’m going to be focusing on a few different things, but only a few.

My Writing

I’ve been editing for almost ten years now and one of the things I’ve noticed is that my writing skill has declined with the lack of practice. So 2018 is going to be the year of getting back to the words.

I’m going to be cutting back drastically on editorial clients (but I will still take some, so if you’re looking, be sure to check out my editing page) and will be focusing almost exclusively on my writing.

What will you be working on, Venessa?

Thanks for asking! 🙂 Some folks know, but most don’t, that in addition to speculative fiction, I also write smut under a pen name. I call it “smut” affectionately; it’s mainly erotic romance. The publisher has decided to close its doors, so I will be spending the first quarter of 2018 self publishing a few things in that genre.

The second quarter of 2018, I will be working on my speculative fiction stuff. Here’s what’s what:

1. Soul Cavern – This is a supernatural thriller that I plan to serialize right here on this website! I’ll be releasing it weekly, in small chunks, but will also self-publish for those who don’t want to wait or who just want to support the author. 🙂

2. Hovel Rats 1 & 2 – I accidentally wrote most of the second book before realizing it was a second book. Then I had to write the first. Both of these are currently in the rough draft phase and about 75-80% complete. They’re set in a post-apocalyptic world where all the adults have gone crazy — regressed to almost animalistic tendencies. Kids have to learn to fend for themselves and figure out how to survive. At least, until they start going crazy too.

I’ll be finishing up the first one…well, first. I’ll also be looking for some beta readers for this, so keep an eye out here come the spring if you’re interested in reading. Ultimately, I think I’ll be submitting this one around to agents and hopefully going the traditional route.

3. Short stories – I really want to kick out a few short stories this year, as I haven’t written any in a long time. These will likely be horror, since that seems to be what most my shorts end up being. 😉

I’ve got a number of other things in various stages of done-ness, but I think that’s going to be more than enough to take up three months!

So that’s what’s on deck for the first half of the year! Think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew? That might be the case!

I definitely want to get back to writing regularly here again too, so expect more blog posts! I might even post about things I’m reading, since that’s going to be another habit I want to get back into. I haven’t read for pleasure regularly in ages and I really, really miss it.

Oh and I’ll be hanging out a lot at The Writing Tribe. If you haven’t joined yet, you should! We’re a small group of writers supporting each other. 🙂

How about you? What are your writing-related goals this year?

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Blog break! But gearing up for National Novel Writing Month!

Blog news

I’m gonna take a bit of a break from the blog for about two weeks. I’ll get back to posting on October 9th and we’ll have a new Tool Time Tuesday that week as well!

I’m still around on social media, in general. I’m on Twitter: @troilee.

Also, if you haven’t yet checked out The Writing Tribe group on Facebook, now’s your chance. I’ll be posting Gear Up for Nano posts all through October and we can get Nano prep done together! It’s 100% free, so come on out and join your Tribe!

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No blog post today: Rebooting my brain & my schedule!

Blog news

So I just finished up a crazy 3 cons in 3 weeks in 3 states cycle. I had pre-written most of my content for those weeks, but I didn’t get *past* them. Apparently I assumed I’d get on them last weekend.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. So the blog is taking this week off! I’ll be back next Monday with more great content and another Tool Time Tuesday for next week!

Go get some writing done!

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Back, with a Vengeance!

Blog news

Did you miss me? I’ve been away for awhile. 2016 was a rough year for me, both professionally, but more so personally. I spent most of the year dividing my time between my home in Atlanta and my grandmother’s home on the west side of Tennessee. She’d had a stroke, fallen, and broken her neck back in November 2015 and so when she went home in May, I became part of her caregiving team. I would spend two to three weeks at a time in TN. It was hard, but I wouldn’t trade that extra time with her for the world.

As a result, though, all of my work suffered. Daily structure was non-existent, since the times she was up and awake were different every day. Her naptimes would vary in length and I just found the lack of structure damaging to my productivity. But I wouldn’t have done it any differently, even knowing the hit I would be taking in terms of work.

A couple days before Christmas, my amazing, badass grandmother passed away. She was ready. It was time. But that means I have to get my crap together for 2017. And that’s what I’m doing! For me, and for my Gram.

So, what you can expect from me in 2017:

  • regular blog posts (at least 1x week, on Mondays, with the possibility of additional posts as well)
  • a really cool bonus in exchange for your e-mail address, which I’m hoping to roll out this week, so make sure you check back!
  • a new educational site for writers — I’ve got a target date for launch around mid-late March
  • I have a lot more in my head, but let’s start with that as a to do list start!

I’m also thinking about doing regular Facebook Live Q&A/Writing discussions. What do you think about that idea? I’d love your input!

Okay, so get ready! We’ve got some bit changes coming!

Website revamp!

Blog news

We’re working on revamping the site, so things might look a little odd at times, or things might change unexpectedly. We’re still playing with how all the new bits are going to fit together. So just bear with us! 🙂

I’ve got a lot of stuff planned for the site, so be sure to sign up for the newsletter to be kept up to date! Plus you get free stuff!

Soooo… back to WordPress!

Blog news, Website Update

Though I loved the look of my blog at BlogEngine, it just didn’t work as well as WP, so we’re back over to the original platform. Please be patient as I get all my ducks in a row again. I have to work on getting the links active, re-adding my Twitter feed, and various other things. Maybe I’ll make a “to be done” list and make it a sticky post!

Thanks again for your patience! The dust will clear soon and I will make good on that resolution I made two months ago!

Resolutions

Blog news, Writing

Happy New Year!

I’m not usually one to make new year resolutions. I like to think that I can resolve to do anything anytime. I don’t need the new year to do that. And, for the most part, that’s true. But this year, I’m going to make one and it pertains to this blog.

As you’ve probably noticed, I suck at keeping up with blogging. I don’t know why. It always ends up on the back burner. So my resolution is to post at least once a week, although I’m going to try for more. Some posts may only be a few lines, some may be more in depth. I suspect part of my issue is that I think every post must be long and brilliant. Well that stops now, I tell you! 🙂

Let me know if there are topics you’re interested in. I can always use inspiration!

Bring on 2011!