Still Playing Around With This Site
One of the aspects that lead me to dither about it is the fact that the site is composed of multiple businesses, in addition to writing. If my agency business takes off this year - as I believe that it will - I will look to splitting into two entirely different sites. Until then, I'm planning to limp along with this setup. I'm making good progress, both on getting my Medicare/Medicaid/Obamacare (ACA) businesses off the ground, and in - FINALLY - completing/advancing some writing projects. I might have reached the finish line earlier if I'd narrowed my focus, but this broad focus seems to work with my life and character. Additionally, this allows me to post some chapters of work-in-progress - mostly the Leftism 4 Beginners book - and get…
Late March Update
Great news! I passed my insurance exam, got the license, and will have the paperwork/admin work done by April 1 (hopefully) to start signing people up for insurance. I'm clearing the decks - taxes, organizing the house/office area/getting ready for Den's foot surgery (minor problem) - completely busy this week, and most of next week. I've just been tidying up some small stuff, clearing my plate (and desk - but, that's a never-ending task), and mentally getting ready for the next few months. It will be different. My husband will - FINALLY - retire from full-time work. I have no doubt that he'll find a couple of part-time jobs and projects to MORE than fill his time. But, it will be the start of a new chapter in our lives.
Wahoo! I’m Finally Getting Some Progress Made!
I've been working on several alternatives to my first book, The Lost Part of Me. I don't plan to scrap it, but I did want to delay it for a while, as the structure was more complicated than I was ready to handle. Things I did, instead: Continued with blogging, both at Right As Usual and Bastion of Liberty. Wrote a couple of short stories, and published them. Worked out the plot of a less complex story, and will start writing early next week. This is both shorter than TLPOM, and a more straightforward framework. Am - in my spare time - working out the plot of a sci-fi novel. I started it, then realized that I needed to plan it out more thoroughly. I'll get it re-booted after I…
Running on Empty
Cedar Sanderson writes about this phenomenon on her blog. She finds that she is low-energy in many aspects of her life. That's truly where I am at. Periodically, I find the resources to make a blitz - writing/updating my blogs, working on a short story, blocking out/outlining my next book, making a mad dash through my house and clearing up the worst of the mess. SOME of that is physical. My recent ankle injury had made it difficult to move around, or even sit comfortably for an extended time. Some of that is related to the difficulty I am experiencing with the book revisions. I've just about gotten to the point where I am planning to take a hiatus; to put this book aside until I've written a few other…
What I’ve Been Doing
I've been distracted for the last several months - traveling - and, now, fairly regular work as a substitute teacher. It's a good school system, well run, and the work is not too tedious. In some ways, it's better than what I'd been doing. With the need to organize my day more stringently, I find that I am accomplishing more than usual. So, for now, I'll be doing this. Right now, I'm working 3-5 times a week. Next fall, I'd like that reduced toaround 2-3 days a week. My only loss is time with my garden. I'm way behind on planting, weeding, and maintaining. My first short story is on Kindle Select - if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read it for free, until June 20. It's priced at…
Haven’t Checked for a Few Weeks
Until I looked here today, I hadn't realized that I'd not updated on my writing for some time - more than a month! I've been busy: No flu, but nasty respiratory infections - both myself, and my husband. We're better now, but still not up to full recovery. House! I've been working on organization, clearing out old paperwork, and preparing for taxes. I'm really looking forward to next year - we may even try the short form. Writing. I'm still not finished with the edits - I've frankly neglected them for many weeks. However, I did start a short story (never wrote one before), and I'm about 2/3 finished. When I'm done, I'll put it up as a freebie on Amazon, and set the download link here. That's really it.…
The End of the First 6 Months of Retirement
It's been interesting. Lots of little accomplishments (my house has reached a level of clean/organized that it hasn't been in ages), interesting experiences - the Eclipse (it was amazing!!!!!), getting to know my grandson, learning to handle unstructured time, and slogging away on the first book. That last has been the most challenging. Not the writing - that's relatively easy. No, the problem is that I have discovered that I contain massive amounts of insecurities. I doubt that I can write anything worth reading, I worry that I will be a failure at something I deeply and earnestly want to do, and that I will not be able to find an audience that wants to read what I write. In short, the possibility of being judged, and found wanting, is…
Not Working Right Now, But Reading
I've been curiously unable to get down to the revisions (fear? doubt? laziness?), so I've been catching up on other things - home organization, fitness, cooking, reading. That last thing, reading, has led me to some interesting authors, including: Kat Howard - here is a link to some of her short stories - quite engrossing. Kristine Kathryn Rausch - she blogs at Kriswrites, and has put together a Holiday-Themed Bundle (bundles are an opportunity to get LOTS of reading for a small price - a very good deal). BTW, don't stop with her fiction (good as it is). She also writes with a cold and clear eye about the business of writing. Michael Connelly - on both audio and book (Kindle) format - I've been catching up with some of…
What a GREAT Day!
I got right to work today on my writing. When I had finished my day's quota (self-imposed), I was delighted to see that I had reached a percent completed of 21% for Alien8, and 10% for Retiring Without Falling Apart. I've set up a Google Sheet to track my work. It's simple, just 4 columns: Date Words that Day Total Percent Complete I'm big on tracking progress. I think it's hard to keep focused on big projects (which a book is, generally), unless you can see how your efforts are paying off. It's the same with weight loss - those who don't keep track get discouraged. So, along with the numbers being updated, I also added a…