Monday, December 19, 2016

Checking in.

Eek! I can't believe how fast time has been running away from me. December just seems to be one of those months. Too much to do.

Today, my mom, gran and I spent most of this morning baking cookies for Christmas. It was a bit dodgy at one stage, because for some reason, all of our batters came out too sticky, so I we had to improvise. Thankfully, though, no flops.

Other than that, it just feels like there's a black hole around here somewhere, happily sucking up my time. I've only manage to write three times this month, which, given how much I still have to do, is a bit horrifying. Worse still, I'm not sure what I spent that time on. Some of it I do remember. Mostly, though, it feels like I've somehow managed to waste two thirds of the month, even if I haven't.

It's just that sinking feeling I get when everything I'm doing now is going toward a long-term goal.

One short term thing I've done that you actually can see: I updated the banners to all of my social network sites except for YouTube to show off my books a bit more. I think it came out beautifully, but you can see what all of my sites look like by clicking in the links on the sidebar. (Those link buttons are also new.)

It was something I've been wanting to do for a while now, but just kept putting off. Now I'm glad that it's done.

I've also imported all of my blog posts to Wordpress and replicated all of my pages, so there is no longer a difference between the content from one blog to the other. (Which was the point, given that I'm just cross-posting between the two so my Wordpress friends have an easier experience with my blog.)

I've got a whole lot of stuff that needs doing, and even some posts that I've got lined up in my mind, but my map for The War of Six Crowns is done, which means there's nothing hampering my updating the first two books, save for the fact that I still haven't finished all the other stuff I wanted to do to those books.

Sigh.

So. As much as I've wanted to finish Book 3 before year-end, it just makes sense to focus on updating my published books first. It's just... really distracting to have these updates looming in the back of my mind. And the sooner I have them done, the sooner I can start pushing with marketing tactics. (No point doing them when I might change up the book at any moment.)

That's basically where I am at the moment.

I'm probably going to be a bit absent until next week, since I really want to push to get stuff done. We'll see how that works out, though.

How are you doing? What are you rushing to finish off before New Year's Eve?

15 comments:

  1. The new banner looks good!
    It's the holiday season. Don't beat yourself up for falling behind. Just enjoy those cookies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Long term goals can feel overwhelming, so I always break them down into smaller chunks to focus on. Right now critiquing and editing the sequel to Ghosts of Innocence and working on worldbuilding plans to post to my website.

    The new banner looks great! And I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The new banner looks awesome! Don't worry about not having written as much as you would have liked. Life and the holiday season has a way of getting in the way for all of us. Enjoy your cookies and the holidays.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My kids and I always baked sugar cookies on Christmas Eve. I'll never forget the Christmas Eve that I had to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. When I got home, my daughter and daughter-in-law were taking the cookies out of the oven. I was so happy that they carried on without me.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  5. Have a Happy Christmas! You'll get everything done when it's supposed to get done.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi there Misha. Even though Christmas is sucking up your time, you have much to be proud of with your achievements in 2016. I wish you a happy, writerly New Year in 2017!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This time of the year takes up most of our free time... once you get into 2017, I am sure you will be more productive. The only think I want to do before the end of the year is to finish organizing 2 dressers, that would have me pretty organized in my home. Then I could write more too... xox Happy holidays to you and your family Misha xox

    ReplyDelete
  8. It sounds like you've actually been more productive than you think, but I hope that things get better and you are able to have more time to work on your books sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nothing. I have decided to take my time and try to proportion things better. Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love the banners! I'm also working on a long term goal - it kinda sucks, but I'm someone who likes things to happen instantly, but I know the pay-off will be worth it if I can just stick with it! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Impressed as usual by your goal setting and productivity (even when you don't get everything done!) My lists are week by week at this point.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The new banner is much better. And frankly, it's what you need to do to market your books and make some progress on the five year project.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Time does feel like it's being sucked away, doesn't it? I hope you have a very happy Christmas. And here's to a much better new year for all of us!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Glad you feel inspired by seeing your family:) Also, a few days of writing is better than none. Time for some new years resolutions then:) Have a happy holidays! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Good job sticking to things and getting everything updated! Me, I have no plans to finish anything before the new year. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! I love to read what you think.

Feel free to ignore the check-box saying "Prove you're not a robot." My word verification is off, but I moderate comments to posts older than two weeks.