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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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Unless attributed otherwise, all images are CC0 licensed.

BackSpacing: Pulling myself up by my bra straps

Life Stuff, Writing

No Tool Time Tuesday this week. We’ll get back into it next week!

BackSpacing posts will be personal posts, just as a warning. Consider it me going, “Whoa. Backspace. Let’s figure some stuff out.”

I have been very bad about writing lately. I keep putting it off or finding other things to do that are “more important.” They’re not really more important, of course. They’re just a convenient excuse. But this is also why the blog has gotten off track.

Last year, I spent most of the year in a different state being one of the primary caregivers for my grandmother, who’d broken her neck the November before. Being a caregiver is a lot harder than you realize when you sign up. Not necessarily physically harder (though sometimes that), but definitely psychologically harder.

I spent two to three weeks of every month with her. I wouldn’t change that decision if I had to do it again. I would make the exact same choice. It was absolutely worth it. But the consequence of being away that long is that much of my life at home fell away. Drifted. My relationship with my husband is rock solid, so it wasn’t that. But it was more that my socialness suffered while I was away. And my ability to be social, the energy it takes for me to do that, suffered.

Generally, I’m a very outgoing and social person. But after last year, I found I had fewer spoons for socialness. (If you’re unfamiliar with Spoon Theory, check it out. It’s a very clever way of explaining energy.) My grandmother passed away just before Christmas and so this year has been about rebuilding my life here at home.

What does this have to do with my writing? Well, I’ve found that in times of high stress, I have a lot of trouble focusing on getting words on the page. I have little motivation to do it. And that makes getting anything done very difficult.

National Novel Writing Month is coming up. (We’re prepping at The Writing Tribe, if you want to join us!) So I need to get my crap together. This year I’ve decided that I’m going to be doing short stories, rather than a novel. My reasoning is that I need some quick wins. I have a number of novel projects in varying stages of completeness; I don’t need another novel right now.

What I do need is something that gives me a sense of accomplishment. Writing a series of short stories totally 50,000 words will also give me several pieces that I can submit to markets right away. I can get some wins under my belt. Because forward progress always creates motivation. I am in dire need of both right now.

So I’m planning my stories for NaNo and hoping for a few wins! How are you getting ready for Nano?

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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Unless attributed otherwise, all images are CC0 licensed.

Be My Guest: Bestow Your Wisdom on the Masses!

Writing

Just a quick post today.

I’m officially inviting other readers, writers, editors, and publishing pros to come and be a guest on my blog! I’m open to topics so feel free to let me know what you’d like to write about. Some ideas, randomly:

  • who inspired you to write/edit/whateveryoudoinpublishing
  • your favorite authors/characters/worlds and why
  • how you launched your most recent book
  • how you got into publishing
  • what your writing process looks like
  • what your favorite genres are to read/write in
  • what genres you’re interested in trying out
  • how you navigate the social media world and get actual work done
  • what conferences/conventions you love to attend and why
  • how you got your big break
  • how the publishing industry has changed since you started
  • what you’re looking for in submissions (for agents/editors)
  • what marketing/promo stuff worked for you

That’s just a short list to get your brain going, but as I said, I’m open to discussing what you might want to write.

 

 

Interested? Head on over to the Contact Me page and drop me a line! Let me know who you are, what you do, what you’d like to write about, and a give me a link to your online presence.

As a note, I’m looking for people who take writing seriously — published and aspiring authors — not just “pro-bloggers” who are trying to get their link all over the web.

As always, stay awesome!

Back with a Fun Announcement!

Spec-Chic, Writing

What I’m Listening To: West Wing 10 year cast reunion on the Today Show – Can I vote for Jed Bartlett this presidential election, please?

Something Cool: I’m reading (listening to) Laurell K. Hamilton’s debut novel, Guilty Pleasures, for the first time (shhh…don’t tell her).

Anyone who’s followed this blog over the years knows that I’m pretty bad at being consistent over the long term. At least this time three years haven’t gone careening by!

I’ve actually been very caught up in life since about March. There have been various medical things going on with me and my family (both bio and chosen) that have kept me completely sidetracked. I’m getting back on track though, finally! Expect more updates on the writing and some publishing projects!

?Speculative Chic

The exciting thing today, though, is that I’m part of a new collaborative blog project called Speculative Chic! We’re a group of folks who are into specfic books, movies, games, tv shows, and pretty much anything else geeky and creative! And today is our official launch day!! Isn’t that super exciting? I’m completely stoked. We already have a lot of content up (check out our Sound Off on the new Ghostbusters movie!), so hop on over there and jump into the conversation!

Until next time!

?Venessa G.