Standing with Standing Rock

Hey everyone! I hope that everyone who celebrated had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was quiet, but I got to spend it with most of my family, which is the best way, I think.

Anyway, I'm technically still on my blogging break, and will only be back toward the end of the year, but Nicole from The Madlab Post got in touch with me and asked me to help spread awareness for the situation at Standing Rock.

Yes, yes, I know this is way out of the usual line of topics for my blog, but sometimes, it's just necessary to speak up.

And since December is a month of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, I thought it's a good time for me to help in my small way. I'm really far away from everything, and have very little chance of actually making a direct difference to the situation at Standing Rock, but I know some of you are in a position to help, so I thought I'd link up to this Blogathon.

So what's it all about? Well... I'm going to let the people of Standing Rock speak for themselves...


So what can you do about it?

At the moment, the best hope that Standing Rock has is to put public pressure on the various stakeholders in the pipe-lines. You can click here and here if you'd like to read up on some suggestions as to how to do that.

This blogathon, though, is about creating awareness by writing public letters.

The instructions are as follows:

PLEASE READ ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE SUBMITTING BLOG POSTS.

How To Participate:

1. Write an open letter to a bank of your choosing, in response to the film Mni Wiconi: The Stand at Standing Rock and publish it on your blog between Dec. 27 - Jan. 2. (e.g. Dear Wells Fargo, Why Are You Funding Water Contamination? or Dear Chase Bank, You Can't Drink Oil)

·         

• Must be written to one of the 38 banks involved (17 are directly funding DAPL.)
• A $1.4 billion loan is on hold while the Army Corps permit for drilling under the Missouri River is suspended. This means there's still time for the banks involved in this loan to cut their line of credit.

·        Only submit NEW posts. Previously published posts will not be eligible for the giveaway (see below). If you do not have a blog, consider doing a guest post for another blogger or posting your entry on Medium.

2. Add the blogathon badge to your post

3. Send us your post by filling out the form below:

4. Promote your post on social media using the hashtags #WaterisLife #Blogathon #DefundDAPL #BankExit

LINK-UPS

Nicole will post a list roundup of the participating blogs, as they are received and compiled, throughout the week and share the lists on social media.

GIVEAWAY

*courtesy of @MadlabPost & Do1Thing

On Tuesday January 3rd, Nicole will randomly select five participants who will win a 2017 Do1Thing wall calendar and an emergency swag bag filled with a water bottle, first aid kit, KIND granola, flashlights and related goodies. The first winning gift recipient who responds to her notification will also receive a Star Wars themed surprise. 

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope some of you will be moved to take part. I'm turning off the comments today, because it's one of those times when really, what you think and do is your own decision. 

See you soon! 

Misha

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?

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Hey everyone. It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. For those of you who don't know, the IWSG is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. Once a month, we share our insecurities, then visit each other and encourage each other. You're more than welcome to sign up. For more information and the entry list, please click here.

This month's question actually ties in quite nicely with my insecurities... 

In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?

I'd actually like to be writing (and doing writing-related activities) full-time by the end of next year. (Actually, I'm basically working as if I'm full-time already, but it'd be nice to actually make a living from it.)

Five years from now, I'd like to be making a very comfortable living from my writing.

As for my plan to get there:

I'm using my writing skills to freelance as an editor/beta reader/article writer on Upwork and Fiverr. I'm also working on building a Patreon following, and obviously I'm selling books. Right now, I'm putting all of the money I'm generating back into making more money (E.G. through marketing, or through paying for products that aid me in writing, editing etc.)

Eventually, I'll hopefully be in a place where my writing earns enough for me to make a living. And actually, it's not all that impossible. The lucky thing is that I live in South Africa, which means I'm earning in Dollars and living in Rands. So, if I managed to make $500 a month after expenses, I'd actually have the same income as a good starting office job salary. (And 2.5 times my country's minimum wage.)

My insecurity right now, though, is my life at the moment. I'm not going to go into exactly what's going on right now, but every time it feels like we've finally clawed our way out of the shit we'd been dragged into, something comes by to shove us back in.

So at the moment, I'm trying not to feel like I'm never going to get anywhere again, but the thing is, the thought is there. It exists. And the only way for me to make it go away is by pushing through and working anyway to build up the life I want.

It'd just be nice if I didn't need to worry as much.

How are you doing? Do you set five year goals? 

Finally! A chance to update.

I'm finally back, with enough breathing room to let you know how I did with my crazy goals bloghop. This... isn't really a good thing, but because I'm tired of complaining, I'm just going to ignore the reason why I haven't been able to spend time in front of my computer and leave it at that.

There's no point to talking about the situation yet, because I'm just going to depress myself when things could actually be okay.

So.

I ended up resetting my goal in September to allow for any income related to my writing skills to go toward my $7500 a month goal goal. (Which means, editing, ad money from a writing blog, money for hosting writing classes, royalties etc. all count.) 

On this new system, I'm taking a look at income generated and word-count, because I do really want my actual book writing to add the majority to my income. 

Generated Income

Last month, I'd set a goal for $300 generated which is the sum of incomes generated previously and future income. Yes, this means I count the incomes twice, but it works because I want to see how my income generation grows while also seeing how much I'm actually getting in every month.

This month, though, some royalty money I'd loaned to my family got paid back, and it was enough to actually boost my income so much that I lifted the goal to $500 about half-way through. (And then still managed to get over that.) 

But because most of this money is a real windfall (writing related as it is), I decided to keep the goal at $500 this month, because it's a nice, lofty goal to reach for, which should keep me busy for time being. 

What am I spending all this money on? Mmm... first, the programs I need to update my books. Second, I bought a new web domain (with a custom e-mail address.) Other than that, I'm buying a map for The War of Six Crowns and everything else will go into a kitty to either carry me if I happen to go into a lean month (which feels like it might happen this month) and marketing. 

I'm delaying most of my marketing plans until my books are updated. (Just makes sense to me.) So really, finishing those updates are vital. 

Writing

When it comes to writing, I didn't achieve most of what I'd wanted to do, but I did win NaNoWriMo. In fact, I ended up writing 60,000 words.

I still feel like I've got 100,000 words to go. (Yes, I'm aware this book is huge.) So, I have a bit of a monster task in front of me. Especially now that I have a fraction of my time available. 

So... I don't think I'll be able to finish the book this year. (Which makes me really, really upset. Deep breaths.) 

I also need to finish updating my books this month so I can start pushing with marketing. I'm hoping to start with this over the weekend. I'm just glad to have all the tools at my disposal again. I just need time. (Deep deep breaths.) 

So how are you doing? 

Checking in

Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting on Friday! I know I was supposed to update on my goals, but some stuff happened last week that threw a lot of things up in the air.

So, I decided to postpone until the 30th. Hopefully things will be settled down again by then.

Just stopping by to say...

I WON!!!

Four Tools for Revising Your First Chapter by Crystal Collier

Welcome Crystal Collier here today to share her new book and some writing tips!

In 1771, Alexia had everything: the man of her dreams, reconciliation with her father, even a child on the way. But she was never meant to stay. It broke her heart, but Alexia heeded destiny and traveled five hundred years back to stop the Soulless from becoming.

In the thirteenth century, the Holy Roman Church has ordered the Knights Templar to exterminate the Passionate, her bloodline. As Alexia fights this new threat—along with an unfathomable evil and her own heart—the Soulless genesis nears. But none of her hard-won battles may matter if she dies in childbirth before completing her mission.

Can Alexia escape her own clock?

BUY: Amazon | B&N

4 Tools for Revising Your First Chapter

Thank you Misha for having me here today!

We all struggle with beginnings. Let's face it. You've got an epic story, but that first sentence is the toughest to get on the page.

My advice?

Skip it.

That's right jump over that first sentence and just write.

What?!? Here's the deal. It's almost guaranteed you will come back and restructure your beginning. Hovering over the first sentence is like worrying what flavor of icing you want before deciding the flavor of the cake.

When you come back to revise, start as late into the story as possible. No traveling to the place where the story starts. No sitting and pondering the upcoming trouble. As a writer, it's your responsibility to drop us into a boiling vat, right from the get go. (Meaning trouble--not necessarily climactic action.) What inciting incident sets the characters on a journey? Start us there.

So if you're at the point where you're ready to revise and make your beginning kick trash, where do you start? Good editing is about asking good questions. Here are some aspects you should question about your beginning:

(Disclaimer: I will be using examples from my books, not because I hold myself as an authority, but because this is a blog tour for my new release. Now BUY MY BOOKS. *winks*)

The first sentence: We appropriately put weight on this one line, but it doesn't have to be a mind-blowing literary masterpiece. What it does need to accomplish is AT LEAST two of these things:

• Introduce a question or problem.
• Show us the viewpoint character. (Including the perspective of the story--1st person, 3rd person, etc.)
• Establish the mood.
• Give us a snatch of the setting.

Example: (MOONLESS) Alexia was reasonably confident that exiting the carriage was the equivalent of stepping into Hell. (Character, mood, setting, and problem.)

The first paragraph: By the end of this paragraph (or two), your reader MUST be asking a question. If you've done your job right, the reader will be immersed in drama, care about your character, and be anxious for the next line.

Example: (SOULLESS) Alexia’s eyes snapped open, heart thundering. Well, she wasn’t dead. Yet.

The reader might wonder, "Why does she think she's going to die?"

The first page: By the end of the first 250 words, the reader needs to be grounded with the basics:

• Who--is this character? (Name, gender, age, occupation, ethnicity or culture, orphan or surrounded by family/friends.)
• Where? Physical location, time, etc.
• What--is the problem?
• Why--should I care? (Did you hook the reader on this character?)
• and How--is the character going to face/overcome this problem?

If using an "all's-well" opening (where we KNOW life is good and it's going to be disrupted), there had better be a hint of trouble either foreshadowed or mentioned.

The first chapter: At this point, we all hope to have a bear trap clamped around the readers ankle. To do this, we need 1. a character they want to root for, or 2. a problem they need to solve, or 3. a metaphorical rug that got ripped out from under their feet. (Preferably, all three.)

1. This making us like the character, how does that work? Blake Snyder calls this the "save the cat" moment. The character has been placed in a circumstance where they have to show their inner convictions. In the first chapter of Soulless, Bellezza shows up to murder Alexia. Yay. Not only does Alexia escape her murderess by using her ability to freeze time, but faces Bellezza to interrogate her. (All while suffering through a blinding migraine caused by using her gift.) We see that she is angry and injured, but a person who confronts her fears rather than running away. There's something to root for.

Source

2. A problem that needs solving. We are all creatures of comfort. If there's a problem, it creates discomfort in the reader's mind, and a need for resolution. In the first chapter of TIMELESS, Alexia is battling the Knights Templar...eight months pregnant. (Yup. There's the problem.) They have hunted her and her companions from one place to another...all while facing the inevitable deadline of birth. Which could happen on the battlefield. Get to solving, Alexia!

3. The rug ripped out from under your feet. This is that moment, that last line or thought that makes you go, "Brrr?" The first chapter of Moonless ends with a mystery. A man straight out of Alexia's nightmares has appeared at a social gathering--the man she saw in her most recent dream standing over her dead host. Who here has met someone face to face who first appeared in their dreams?

In the end, formulating the perfect beginning is just about hooking your readers. Do that, and you've got it made.

What is your favorite/least favorite story convention for hooking readers?

Crystal Collier is an eclectic author who pens clean fantasy/sci-fi, historical, and romance stories with the occasional touch of humor, horror, or inspiration. She practices her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.

Find her and her books online HERE.

(Email address is required for awarding prizes.)

Huntress Found

Hey everyone. Not really in a head space where I can blog at the moment, but I wanted to stop by and give a shout-out to Alexia Chamberlynn, who has a new book out.

Title: Huntress Found

Series: The Timekeeper’s War, Book One

Author: A.A. Chamberlynn

Release Day: 11/11/16

Category: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, Mythology Mashup with Sci-Fi and Steampunk

Price: 99 cents!!

Description:

From the author of the bestselling Zyan Star fantasy series comes a new world of magic...

Evryn’s got mad skills at playing hide and seek. She can find lost children, hack the most secure databases, pretty much anything. Except for the one thing she desires most: the knowledge of who her parents are, why they abandoned her, and what her special talent means about who and what she really is.

So, when a guy named Seeker appears quite literally out of nowhere, claiming to know about her past and offering her a job, Evryn can’t say yes fast enough. Even if it does mean following him to another realm. As in, mind-blowingly, not Earth. Apparently she’s part of an elite clan of Hunters descending from Artemis who can find just about anything in all of time and space. As the last of Artemis’ direct lineage, Evryn is her clan’s best shot at finding a lost city before rival clans do.

Not just any city, but the flying, realm-hopping city of Skye. Aboard Skye is the Artifex, a magical device with the power to create or destroy worlds. Everyone wants the device, and with Evryn’s super-powered lineage, it means everyone wants her, too. It’s hard to decide who she can trust, even within her own clan. After she discovers a strange, alluring connection to the Artifex, she’s not even sure she can trust herself. Worse yet, the only person who may be able to help her is the Timekeeper, the sadistic ancient being who created the Artifex. An interdimensional war is brewing, and Evryn is right at the epicenter of it all.

Let the hunt begin.

Book Links

Goodreads

Amazon

B&N

iTunes

Kobo 

Alexia’s Social Media Links:

Website

Blog

Twitter

Pinterest

Facebook Page

Instagram

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads

Interview with Joylene Nowell Butler

Hey everyone! Sorry for my absence on Monday. I was going to post, but it was just one of those days, where everything that could delay my writing happened. :-/

Anyhow, I'm taking a quick break from my writing to host one of my old blogging friends, Joylene Nowell Butler, who's here as part of a blog tour for her new book, Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries.

The follow-up to Broken But Not Dead, an IPPY Award Silver Medalist

A murder enveloped in pain and mystery...

When Canada's retired Minister of National Defense, Leland Warner, is murdered in his home, the case is handed to Corporal Danny Killian, an aboriginal man tortured by his wife's unsolved murder.

The suspect, 60-year-old Sally Warner, still grieves for the loss of her two sons, dead in a suicide/murder eighteen months earlier. Confused and damaged, she sees in Corporal Killian a friend sympathetic to her grief and suffering and wants more than anything to trust him.

Danny finds himself with a difficult choice—indict his prime suspect, the dead minister's horribly abused wife or find a way to protect her and risk demotion. Or worse, transfer away from the scene of his wife’s murder and the guilt that haunts him...

Welcome to The Five Year Project, Joylene! Why don't you tell readers here a bit more about yourself?  

I’m a long-distance grandma, which makes me cry sometimes. My babies are 3000 miles away. We live on the west coast and they’re on the east coast. I keep busy so as not to miss them as badly. I have been writing since I was eight.  Storytelling is in the blood. Can’t imagine what normal people do for inspiration. (grin) I’ve been fortunate to have three books and one anthology published. I never take that blessing for granted.  

What inspired you to write this story? 

Mâtowak is the sequel to my second novel. I thought I was finished with the characters, but Sally Warner (minor character) began to haunt me. Finally, I stopped and listened. She was scary at first. Could I write a story about a woman losing her mind? Turns out I could!

What do you love most about your story? 

I love that they are decent people in extraordinary circumstances. I love that no matter how much money or prestige you have, happiness is not a given. I love that no matter how many times Danny gets kicked (metaphorically) he keeps getting up. I especially love that Danny has compassion for Sally despite the huge differences in their lives. Sally is privileged. Danny has had to work hard for everything he has. 

What was the most challenging thing about writing it? 

The most challenging aspect of writing Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries was staying in the perspective of a woman losing a grip on reality. How to do that and stay credible was an on-going challenge. I didn’t want her to be dismissed or laughed at. I wanted my reader to find Sally interesting, sympathetic, and appealing, while at the same time able to understand why she was mentally unstable. I’m thrilled that the reviews so far comment that I was able to pull that off. Thank you, Reviewers!

Where can people find you and your book? 

The ebook Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries is available at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com and Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C

The printed copy is available at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

Thanks and have a great rest of the week.

Thanks for visiting, Joylene! And all the best with your book! So, ladies and gents, don't you also think Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries sounds like interesting reading? 

See you on Friday! 

NaNoWriMo Day 4

I'm very actively sprinting at the moment, so I'm also sprinting this post in between sprinting sessions. Literally typing this while keeping my eye on the clock.

I did, after all, promise a more substantial post today.

What I didn't count on, though, was someone breaking into our house last night. Fortunately, most of our valuables were away from the break in area, so they only took one laptop and a camera, but it meant we spent hours making sure everything was alright, dealing with our insurance company, and the police. (Need the police case number to claim for theft.)

So yeah, yet again, I'm behind.

Although, if I'm saying behind... I actually mean I'm behind my self-imposed goal. At the beginning of the month, I decided to push myself this NaNo, so I'm not only going for 50k. I'm going for 150k.

When I'd started, I felt a bit frazzled and intimidated. So much so, I completely forgot about my IWSG post on Wednesday. (Sorry, Alex!)

I'm kinda glad, though. Because instead of spending time on writing out all my worries (and giving them air to breathe), I knuckled down and wrote. Got 4k on Wednesday, 5.4k yesterday, and I'm at 4k now and aiming for 2k more.

In other words, as of right now (which might change in two minutes), I've written over 14k words since Tuesday. To get to 150k, I should be at 20k, but you know what? If my word count ends up over 100k this month, a few thousand words here or there won't be the end of the world.

The amazing thing is... Right now I'm not feeling it.

I'm breaking up my writing into two or three sessions and writing. And more than that, I'm excited about where the story is going.

I mean, I'm always excited about The War of Six Crowns, but in these past few days, I've laughed, cried, begged someone not to do something stupid, and saw a little bit of hope. (Which I take to mean the readers will be going on one hell of a ride.)

Also, I've now written out 25 of (currently planned) 80 chapters. You'd think I'd feel a bit bleak to be hitting the middle, but really... these past five chapters were just perfect for opening up my way to the end. They just added another deep level of emotional complexity to what's going on, which will carry through, not only to the end, but even into the rest of the series.

So yeah. I'm stoked.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo? How are you doing? 

NaNoWriMo Day 2

Hey everyone. Before we get into my post, please do go give Linda Baten Johnson's guest post some love. Please and thank you!

So, as the name suggests, today is day 2 of NaNoWriMo. Yesterday didn't go so well for me. I started off with waking up late, and then just never seemed to quite catch up. I came in just under par.

Today's another story. I've already written 4k, and am trying to see if I can write 2k more before I go sleep.

So... I'm going to keep today's post short and sweet. I really just don't have time to put my thoughts together, but I'll be back on Friday with something better. Promise!

How's NaNo going for you? 

Linda Baten Johnson on Critique Partners

Hey everyone! Today, I want to welcome Linda Baten Johnson for a guest post. She's written about something quite close to my heart: critique partners.

Take it away, Linda!

In praise of critique partners

One of the topics Misha suggested was how to improve our writing. For me, that has been to join a critique group, a small number of writers who work together to improve by sharing tips, books, website postings, and reviewing each member’s work. Critique partners provide structure, accountability, discipline, and an opportunity to learn from reviewing the work of others and being reviewed prior to publication.

A critique group may meet in person or online. They may all write in the same genre, but that is not necessary. You may find critique partners in your neighborhood writing group, a book club, through your local library, or a national organization of writers in your genre. When forming a group, start with trial sessions and get a feel for the personalities, and the writing style of prospective members. If you think you could benefit each other, you’ll want to define the parameters--number of members, frequency of meetings, number of pages submitted for each session, and expectations. Some groups bring their work to the meeting and read aloud. My preference is having a copy in advance so I can read the submission more than once and then do track changes for my partner.

A critique session is not a criticizing session, but an evaluating session. Members should note the good things about the writing as well as how the selection could be improved. A flowery “this is wonderful” doesn’t help either the writer or the reader. Study the piece and tell exactly what makes it appealing, and if you have trouble seeing a scene or it doesn’t make sense to you, encourage the author to give more details.

The person being critiqued should listen, not explain or defend. The reader, your critique partner, doesn’t see what you meant to write, he only sees what you wrote.  Finding good critique partners is difficult. We all think we want to be in a group with more experienced writers in order to learn from their expertise, but some of the best critiques often come from a beginning writer. A person new to critiquing looks at the basic storyline, the characters, and descriptions, where more experienced writers may be caught up in the specifics of grammar or structure.

 I’ve been in several critique groups and I know that not all work. Some fail because of personal chemistry, different goals, or lack of commitment, but finding the right group is worth the effort. My critique partners have become dear friends who encourage me when I’m down, chastise me when I’m lazy, and cheer for me when I pass a milestone in my dream to become a better writer, and I try to do the same for them.

I hope you’ll find the perfect group for you, and that both your writing and the writing of the other members of your group will improve.

About Linda Baten Johnson

Linda Baten Johnson credits her critique group with getting her books ready for publication. With their help, she writes historical fiction for young readers and squeaky clean romances.

Linda and her husband live in Texas, but they love to travel and have visited all fifty states and twenty foreign countries. They love the national parks and have volunteered to work at some of them. A couple of years ago, they volunteered at a lighthouse in Michigan and lived in the assistant keeper’s cottage. Of course, the experience generated a book, Mystery at Desolation Point.

Please visit Linda’s website at www.lindabatenjohnson.com.

A magnolia means stability and grace through changing times, and times were certainly changing in Louisiana after the Civil War.

Energetic, hard-working Martha Bodine and her mother survive the war, but Captain Bodine does not return from the Confederate Army when expected, and the women must pay the back taxes or lose the family farm. A neighbor is eager to join his land with the Bodine property by marrying Martha, a solution which does not appeal to the young woman. In a desperate attempt to get the needed funds, the women rent a room to a controversial Northern gentleman, but this decision causes a rift between them and their neighbors.

Peyton Anderson, a soldier from the same unit as Martha’s papa, pays a visit to the farm on his way to join his family in Texas. He identifies their home by his officer’s description of the large magnolia tree in the front yard. Sympathetic to their dismal circumstances, he offers to help the feisty Martha and her gentle mother. Determined to honor his obligations, Peyton fears that even his best efforts may not change the course mapped out for Martha’s life or his own. 

Thanks for reading, everyone! Do you still use critique partners? How/where do you find yours? 

Up-boo! Day

Today is the last Friday of October, which means it's time for another Update Day. In case you're wondering what it is: Beth Fred and I host a blog hop, where we set crazy or crazy important goals. The idea is for everyone to chase down their goals, and on the last Friday of each month, we share updates on our progress.

You're welcome to join at any time, so if you'd like to sign up, or to see who else is taking part, please click here.

I have to admit, it's currently 9:30 p.m, so I'm cutting it close with my own blog hop. In fact, I almost considered cutting it even closer, because I have a deadline looming (more on that in a few), but I needed a break. So I thought: what better way is there to relax than to do a post mortem on the past month?

Huh?

Huh?!

Oh okay fine. I'll just get to it.

In cased you missed last month's post, I've hit reset on my 5-year goal and I decided to take this being-a-writer thing full-time. 

To make that happen, I'm setting monthly writing goals, along with writing business goals. The former deals with my activities in producing more stories. The latter deals mostly with marketing, and my ability to earn revenues from writing, and writing related activities. Just to clarify, if the money I earn relates in any way to me using my writing skills or knowledge, I'm counting it as revenues for my writing business. 

So, if I were to monetize this blog (which I won't do) and this blog generated an income, it'd show up in my analyses. But if I win the lottery, or suddenly become a millionaire doing something else... Nope. 

Basically, this whole exercise is to see exactly how hard or how easy it is to start almost from scratch and become a full-time writer. So I started last September with a budget of $10, and started working. 

Every month, then, I set a goal for Writing and a goal for Generated Revenue. 

So how did I do in October? 

Before I show the graphs, I should point out one thing: If I had to give October one theme, I would call it The Agony and the Ecstasy. 

Especially the week I just had. Life and other work (yeah, remember how I said I'm still doing other work too because it gives me so much time? BAHAHAHAHAHA *sob*) just went into full-blown hell mode. 

In fact, when I wrote my friend Connie about it, I couldn't even put a word to it. A day later, and it's finally occurred to me: 

Shell-shock

I'm not even kidding. This was a week I will not want to experience ever again. I'll get around to talking about it, as soon as I've really recovered. 

It's not all bad, though. This same hell-week also turned out to have something really good in it too. (And that doesn't count the fact that I've finally tasted (and fell in love with (even more passionately than I adore parentheses)) macaroons.) In fact, this exact same hell-week was nothing short of miraculous. (Again, more on this when I've recovered.) 

In short, the overall results of October were mixed. 

Writing

One of my major writing goals I have at the moment is to finish Book 3 of The War of Six Crowns before the end of this year. 

Basically, doing so means I have to write about 50,000 words every month, including October. 

Did I manage it? 

No. 

In fact, I've managed a slight bit under half of what I wanted to do. In my defense, pretty much every one of those plateaus coincided with some crappiness from the rest of my life spilling into my writing time. 

And sadly, most of the words added here were courtesy of my Insecure Writers' Support Group short story, but I did submit that, so that was one writing goal achieved.

As for my third writing goal (reformatting my books for updates to the content and covers), I've so far managed to start on The Vanished Knight. It's basically done, but I want to do yet another proofread. Not because I think I'll find anything, but I've found that Word does funny things to documents, changing formatting without permission, making words and phrases vanish... That sort of thing. Call me paranoid, but I'd rather be sure everything is where it should be. 

If you're wondering, if the hell-week is over, why I haven't started writing... I have a very good reason. More on this on a bit.

Goals for November: 

1) NANOWRIMO! Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment, but I'll be rebelling and trying to add 50k words to Book 3. In case you want to buddy up with me, my username on the NaNoWriMo website is iceangel. 

2) Published books. I have a lot to do here: 

2.1) Take my paperbacks out of Amazon's expanded distribution, so I can prepare to publish them directly through Ingram Spark. 

2.2) Finish formatting and proofreading all three of my books so I can do the updates I want to do. 

2.3) Plan something around the reveal of the updated covers. 

3) Post Ryan on Patreon. Ryan is a short-story from the same world as Endless. I want to share it with my patrons, and had planned to start this month already, but I just couldn't get to it. 

Generated Revenue

Every month, I'm setting a monthly revenue target. Then, I'm counting all of the month's revenue, which means I count revenue the moment it's generated (which I usually call future income or income generated in the month) and money that were actually generated in previous months. 

So, if I sell a book on Amazon and I get $5 in royalties, it will only really be in my account later. So, in order to show people where my income is coming from, I'll show the money in the month I first earned it, and then again once it's in my account. (It's all just to make the graphs make sense. I actually studied accounting and am aware that this is not how normal people count money. But I'm not normal.) 

Also, I have a few rules I've set for myself: 

The first one is: I set the target, and the target doesn't move until after I've reached it once. 

The second one is: The target for current and future generated income is equal to the monthly target minus accrued income. (So if I set a goal of $10 and that $5 royalty is paid into my account, I have $5 left to generate for this month, or for future months.) 

The third one is: If I hit the target, I have to raise the bar. 

And... well... I'm going to have to raise the bar quite a bit. 

See, in September, I set a $100 target for the month, and then came in under. But this month... this month I annihilated it.

That's right. I generated more than double my target revenue. In fact, I hit the $100 goal on the 14th. Which was part of the reason why I haven't been able to write today. Because I'm getting this income from Upwork, and I still have a deadline. 

On the positive side, I made enough to get Upwork to pay money into my Payoneer account, which also means I'll be able to withdraw my money. Which means I can pay for Photoshop etc. 

Goals for November

1) Boost book sales. Don't get me wrong. I really like when my target graphs look like this, but honestly, I need to see more book sales. Amazon was completely dead this month (except when they paid out a few royalties.) And really, my overall goal is to get my written works to pay my way, so I really need to make that bar graph a bit more colorful. Mainly, though, I know I didn't enough to get sales this month. I did more in September, to obvious results. 

2) Hit my next revenue target. Deciding on the target is a bit tricky, because most of the money I made on Upwork this month will be accrued income in November. So, if I set a $200 goal, it will basically only be $100 to go after. Instead, I'm lifting the goal to $300. 

That's it from me. How did your October go? Are you doing NaNoWriMo?

Sorry for being so quiet!

This week was a rough one.

Mostly, a lot of developments in my business-life (as supposed to writing-life or... well. life-life) meant that I had zero time for any writing or even social networking.

I'm not complaining. Any movement in the business is good, so I rather spend more time a day and get things dealt with than drag things out. Now we're basically back to the waiting part, which means I should have more time to write.

I have sooooo much writing to do, though. It's kinda starting to give me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's not a guilt thing. It's a stress thing. If I'm in stressful situations, writing helps me blow of steam, but when I'm too tired to write... I don't, and the stress keeps building.

You'd think that would mean the words just come rushing out as soon as I sit down, but you'd be wrong.

Cause the more stress builds, the harder it becomes for me to find my words. Which adds to my stress, which makes writing more difficult, which adds to my stress.

Yeah.

Not fun.

And I'd like to say I'll write this weekend, but I'm days behind on my editing goals as well. So now I don't know what I should do first.

I'll just have to figure it out over the weekend.

How are you doing? 

My Short Story is Out With CPs

I'm happy to say I managed to finish writing my IWSG short story in time to send it to the awesome people who'd volunteered to give it a read-over.

Most of them already sent back feedback. (I mean seriously. How's that for speed?)

So now, I'm planning to sit down and do the critiques I owe them.

I have to say, though, I love my story. The character has been sticking in my head ever since I edited The Heir's Choice, so I was happy to get a chance to write something for her. Fingers crossed that the judges also enjoy the story.

How are you doing? Sending in a short story for the IWSG competition too? 

Before and After: Teaser Graphic for Ryan

Hey everyone! Since you all seem to be enjoying my before and afters so much, I thought I'd share another one. Before I start, though, I just want to remind you to check out Monday's post if you're looking for a CP for your Insecure Writer's Support Group short story.

Before

I've seen people making double exposure images using Photoshop, and thought the result could work really well for a short story I'd written, called Ryan. 

Ryan is an immortal with a dark past, and he remembers the turning point in his life which set him on the course to become a doctor in modern-day New York City.

I really wanted to show that contradiction of old versus modern, while also wanting to give a sense of how much Ryan doesn't really like himself.

So to do this, I went looking on Pixabay for an image with a man's profile. Usually, double exposure images are done with nude faces and torso, but I liked the hoodie and I thought I could make it work. I'm actually glad with it, because the hoodie details I kept helped to ground the image and give it a bit more of a gritty texture.

Next, I went digging through Wikimedia Commons for an image of the London Blitz (mainly because the turning point happened during one such attack). It's really tricky to use London, though, so I settled for this image from Sheffield. The images from London that I could find all had some sort of focus on St Paul's. And although these images no longer have copyright on them, St Paul's itself doesn't allow the use of its image for commercial purposes without them getting some sort of fee. (Seriously, you don't understand how aggro certain landmarks are when it comes to commercial use of images.) Even assuming that I could pay said amount, it sounds like a huge amount of red tape to get through just for an image teaser. So some building in Sheffield it was.

I went through the process of doing the double exposure, but found that keeping a plain sort of background as is fashionable didn't really hit home the contradiction aspect for me, so I went in search of a New York City skyline and found this one on Pixabay (again).

The Result?

After: 

If you think Ryan sounds interesting and you'd like to give it a read, it's currently part of the Ghosts of Fire Anthology, and I'll also soon be pasting it week-by-week for my Patreon patrons. 

What do you think about this image? Want to see even more of my graphic design exploits as I find my way around Photoshop? 

Looking for Critique Partners for the IWSG Competition

Even though I despaired of ever writing anything related to The War of Six Crowns in fewer than ten thousand words, I've managed it.

This weekend, I finished the rough draft of The One Who Would Wield the Sword in about 5000 words, although I'll probably be adding a thousand more in edits. (I'm the consummate adder-inner. You know... the kind of writer who adds in words while editing. As supposed to the bodily organs of a snake. That would be weird.)

Wow. Let me rein myself in and get back onto the topic before I digress way too far (as happens when I blog this close to my bed time.)

Ahem.

Okay.

I'm going to do rewrites and edits this week, but I would ideally be looking for some extra pairs of eyes on my works (metaphorically.) before I submit my entry to the competition.

Which made me think I probably wouldn't be the only one.

So if you're looking for someone to trade short stories with, get in touch with me at mishagerrick(AT)gmail(DOT)com. I'll make the exchange on a first-come, first serve basis.

And, if you don't have time to read my short story but still want me to critique your story, I'm currently doing full critiques of short stories for $5 (and a service review) per story on Fiverr. It's a sale I have going to build up my track-record there. Fiverr accepts PayPal, and you can change the price into your own currency.

To qualify for the sale, you have to be one of my first 100 customers there (which is a distinct possibility.) and PM me from the site I linked you to. (There's a big green button that says "Contact me.")

Anyone entering the IWSG competition? Looking for critiques for your work? 

On Word Targets

It's the strangest thing how psychological this writing game is. 

People (and by this, I mean non-writers) always assume that writing is such an easy thing. After all, they write hundreds of words every day with e-mails and texts, right? 

Sure. The thing is... It's easy to just jot a few words with no particular word-count goal in mind. Ten words here. Twenty words there. 

Easy. 

But get told to write a 1500 word article. Or a 3000 word to 6000 word short story. Or just think and realize that the novel you're working on needs 150,000 words to get finished. 

Suddenly, a task that seems simple becomes much more complicated. Especially when you're starting out and wondering if the thing you're writing will actually hit the word-count target. 

Last night, I wrote an article, and about 700 words in, I couldn't imagine where I would find the remaining 800. 

When I started drafting my story for the Insecure Writer's Support Group competition, I liked the idea, but I just felt like the word-limit was this insurmountable mountain to climb. 

Odd to think it, but I find the 150k goal less intimidating, because if I come in under that, it's not like there will be repercussions. And that is actually the reason why I don't like setting a target for the length of any story I write. It just adds extra pressure I don't like feeling. I mean, I already give myself some steep deadlines to chase. 

The challenge is good for me, though. It's nice to know that, yes, I could actually write to demand and actually hit those targets. 

And you know the funny thing about my short story? I'm at 3500 words now, and wondering if I'll be able to wrap the story up in 1500 words or less. 

So that just goes to show you the importance of just writing. Even if we feel like we'll never make a word-count target, we can always surprise ourselves if we try. 

Are you writing a story for IWSG competition? How's it going?

Insecure Writers' Support Group: Like a circle within a circle...

Goodness! I've been so busy lately, I almost lost track of time! Today is actually the first Wednesday of October, which means it's time for my Insecure Writer's Support Group post. For those of you who are familiar with IWSG, it's a monthly bloghop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, where we share our writing insecurities and encouragements with each other.

For more information or to sign up (you're more than welcome!), please click here.

Also, if you'd rather read this post on Wordpress, please click here.

My Insecurity

My biggest insecurity this month is one I've been able to push aside for the most part, but once I've started looking at it, it's actually a big one. 

See, recently I decided to take this writing gig full-time. (Long story, but don't worry. I didn't quit the day-job either.) The biggest difference that this decision has made is that I'm actually devoting most of my day to either writing or marketing in an attempt to bring in money. 

The thing is that I started doing this with $100 in the bank, which is currently stuck there because Payoneer has a $200 pay-out limit. 

So. Paid marketing platforms are out for me at the moment. As is basically anything I want to do to my books until my money is out (because I need to pay for my Adobe programs.)

And while my advertising for beta-reading, mentoring etc on Fiverr by far gets the most clicks, I think people might be scared of booking me when I have no reviews. (Annoying, because I've done six years' worth of critiques for my blogging buddies already, so I have the experience.) 

Which means that right now, I'm pretty much stuck. I want to refresh two of my three books to get more readers for those... But... I either have to pay a formatter (which I can't.) or use at least Adobe Acrobat. (Which I can't.) 

I have $4 stuck in Fiver at the moment (because they have a $50 pay-out limit) and I can get $1 more to try out a $5 marketing spree (I can use the $4 as credit). But there's little point to doing that until my books are updated. I need every dollar to go to maximum effect. So I can't just spend $5 on something I don't think will make a difference until I have everything in place that I need in place. 

So it's a vicious circle. Because without effective marketing, I'm not going to sell more books, which means I won't be getting $100 anytime soon. 

And EVEN if I make $100 in book sales, it'll take at least two months before I get the royalties. 

*Headdesk*

Right now, the quickest way for me to get that $100 would be to make it on Fiverr, or if people pledged support on Patreon. (Because that would take until the end of the month.) Both will take time building up, though.

So yeah. It's a vicious circle. 

Now for the IWSG Question...

When do you know the story is ready? 

Depends on what the story is supposed to be ready for. 

I know a story is ready to be written when I know the climax and ending. 

I know it's ready for editing when I no longer feel as if every word in the draft is precious and needs to be protected at every cost. 

I know it's ready for publishing when I spend an hour moving a single comma around. (Or some such.) 

What about you? When do you know a story is ready? Thoughts on a way for me to break my vicious circle?

Whoops!

Hey everyone! Just a heads-up that I won't be posting today. My internet dropped on me on Friday night and it only got back to a semi-working state a few hours ago.

And now I'm so way behind on everything that I'm still trying to catch up. >_<

Anyway. I'll be back on Wednesday!

Update Day: Hitting the Reset Button

Hey everyone! Today is the last Friday of the month, which means it's time for another Update Day!

I thought I'd do things a bit differently, which means...

Tada!

Vlog post.



To sum up for those of you who haven't the time to watch the vid:

This month, I decided to stop moping around and approach my writing career as if it's already my full-time job. My thinking is that I'm a business person anyway, so I might as well turn this writing thing into a business.

Making this work meant I had to rethink the way I'm going about this.

So...

TL:DR:

I'm hitting reset on my goal. 

My five-year goal is still $7500 a month, but now it can be from any writing related activity, whether it's me actually writing, or me using my writing expertise in some way.

I'm starting over. 

This is actually year three, but the change is so major and the mind-shift so big that I decided to start again. So September 2016 is month one of Year One. I basically did this, because I want to track my growth. And since my income basically flatlined for the past three months, I thought it would be a good thing to start since this major change got brought in.

I've been keeping track since 6th (which was when I decided to kick things up a notch), so that's enough for me to actually get some stats in.

Speaking of stats...

I'm also going to change the way I report on my progress. 

I might get back to the to-do list eventually, but I can't help feeling that people really don't care about those all that much.

A lot of people have been asking me how I'm actually doing with my five year goal, so I will be reporting on my money coming in and going out, since this full-time-writer-with-almost-no-money-to-start-with thing is probably something that might interest a lot of people.

Which means that I'll be posting monthly stats for the year. Two, in fact, but I'll explain more in a minute.

So how did I do? 

Basically, this full-time thing has two components: Me selling stories and services I already have, and me creating more stories. For ease of reference, I will call these Marketing and Writing. 

Marketing

Since my marketing results can only be measured in terms of income, I'm keeping track of that instead of the hours I'm putting in. 

My income basically gets divided into three groups: Income from previous months (since there's up to a 3 month delay on royalties etc), income earned within the month and income generated for the future (so I'm keeping track of books I sold today so I know how much I'll get in three months.) 

I set my goal for Total Income Generated. Which means that if I say $100 is my goal, I'll see that goal as achieved even if $100 came in only from previous months sales etc. 

Since I'm also concerned about my income's growth, I'll be keeping track of how much income I generate within a month and for future months, separately. So there will be a separate graph, where the goal line is calculated by subtracting my Income Generated Goal from the amount that came in from previous months. 

Okay? 

Okay. 

So first, let me look at income generated in past months vs income generated within this month and for future months.

Basically, the income accrued in previous months is money from Patreon (which is currently around $10). 

As you can see, most of my money generated this month was for current or future earnings. Let's see how those look. 

So since starting this whole exercise, I've critiqued one short-story on Fiverr, and actually sold some books on Amazon (which is definitely an uptick, because my book sales have basically been dead lately.) The Patreon income is basically the $10 from patrons who'd signed up before and $1 from a new sign-up. It will show up again next month as income accrued from previous months, since every month's subscriptions only actually hit my account in the following month.

Goal for October: 

It's such a nice, round number, so for now, I'm keeping to $100 as my goal. Fingers crossed that I actually hit the line next time. 

Writing

This month I basically set writing goals as I went along, which is why my goal line keeps jumping up as I hit my targets. 

I basically only started writing on 11 September, and then only sporadically. Then, on 24 September, I started timing my writing and trying to write every day. The effect on my daily word counts are quite staggering....

Let me put that into words real quick. I wrote over 16k words this month. 10k of those were written last week.

Goals for October: 

I have three big ones: 

1) I want to finish this draft of Book 3 of The War of Six Crowns before the end of the year, which means I'll basically be chasing NaNo targets every month for three months. Thanks to timing myself, I know I can type 2k words in 80 minutes. 

2) I want to write the story I have in mind for the Insecure Writers' Support Group competition. 

3) I want to re-format and update my currently published books, specifically The War of Six Crowns to prepare for the new covers I made for them. 

There are, of course, more goals (we're talking about me, here), but these are my priorities. 

How did your goals go? What do you think of this new format for my Update Day posts? Are you interested in the outcome of this experiment of mine?