Wednesday, September 5, 2018

I Want to Believe But Trust No One #IWSG | Bookworm News #SpecFic

The Insecure Writer's Support Group was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. September's co-hosts are Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler. Please visit the other participating blogs.
I apologize for skipping IWSG last month. I was deep in an autistic burnout that left me physically ill (sore throat, headache, no energy, and eventually swollen lymph nodes and laryngitis). The mystery illness lasted over two months and took two rounds of antibiotics, some corticosteriods, and several sporadic days off work where I would sleep 12+ hours at a time to start to feel better. I'm still not at 100%, but I am finally getting more energy to do things.

Optional IWSG Day Question: What publishing path are you considering/did you take and why?

My path to publication may have started with small publishers, but I prefer self-publishing and plan to continue publishing my own work for the foreseeable future.

Why you might ask? In my school days, I was never much of a group project girl. I just didn't trust anyone with my grade, and I'd been burned by such groups in the past. I have similar feelings toward publishers. I do believe most are honest, knowledgeable, and do their best for their authors, but I prefer to keep the control and do things myself. That way I know the work will live up to my rather high standards.

What are you insecure about today?

Because of the burnout, I was slow in proofreading Elements of Untethered Realms, which I finished on August 30. We're still on schedule to publish the anthology collection in early October. I'm waiting on any proofreading changes the authors want to make on their stories. Then I'll make changes to the print document and create the ebook versions as well as update the single anthology titles too. Then it'll be publishing time!

This month, I'm taking down Reborn, Determined, and Marked from retailers and Reborn from Wattpad. The reasons why are here. This change also affects Untethered Realms' box set Fantasy Uprising. We'll be putting up a second edition which will include several short stories from my People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors instead of Reborn. I'm hoping to make the changes to the box set and have it reloaded to sites soon.

I also have a short story idea for a certain anthology--you can probably guess which one--so I'm hoping to write the story and have it edited before the deadline.

I also want to start seriously planning to write Entangled, a UR Worlds' story.

We'll see how things go.

What are your goals this month?

2018 Stats
20,257 words written
43,416 words edited
303,449 friends' words edited

Since I missed August's bookworm news, I've decided to add it here.

BOOK READ
Elements of Untethered Realms by Various Authors (myself included)

BOOKS RELEASED IN AUGUST
Nightblood by Elly Blake
Queen of Thieves by Katherine Bogle
Eye of Truth by Lindsay Buroker
Bloodlust by Midnight by Deanna Chase
Hunted by Darcy Coates
What Gods Incite by Clara Coulson
Shadow on the Stairs by Blair Daniels
Blackout by Dannika Dark
Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest
Relic by Alan Dean Foster
Iron Bones by Yasmine Galenorn
Quintus by Kym Grosso
Serpentine by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Immortal Queen by Jennifer L. Hart
A Girl of White Winter by Barb Hendee
The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
Do Not Go Alone: A Posthumous Mystery by C.A. Larmer
Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas
Elemental Thief by Rachel Morgan
Seafire by Natalie C. Parker
Echoes to Ashes by Ainsley Shay
Queen of Iron and Blood by Melissa Wright
The Girl Who Sees by Dima Zales

44 comments:

Tonja Drecker said...

I'm sorry to hear you weren't doing well. It sounds like you have a lot going on in the writing end...and good things to come.

Crystal Collier said...

Keep it easy on yourself, eh? Definitely don't need to relapse. =)

I hear you about keeping control. That's important to me too, which is why I'm having a hard time right now. We have to let go at some point, eh?

Anyhoo, wishing you a healthier month.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's a long time to be sick. I'm glad you are doing better. You're in control so don't kill yourself trying to hit deadlines.

Christine Rains said...

I'm glad you're doing better. And you did a fantastic job with EoUR. :) Come to think of it, I was never a group project kinda gal either. Heh. My August goals went kaput, but hopefully I can make some progress with September's goals writing TSS and revising OGaS.

Toi Thomas said...

Happy IWSG Day!

Sorry to hear about your illness. I am glad to hear you are feeling better, though.

I agree it can be difficult to trust, but don't completely discount it. You may someday find a group you trust. I too like to be in control, but I'm learning to sometimes share the control. In any case, do what works for you.

You have a lot of goals set for yourself. It's good to have goals, just don't let them overtake you.

Thanks for sharing your story.

K.M. Jenkins (Katie) said...

Hi Cherie,

I'm new to ISWG. Sorry to hear about being so ill over the month of August. Being sick is no fun. I hope your September is a better month for you.

I never liked working in groups when I was in school, didn't like having to give over control to someone else. In college I had to go outside my comfort zone on several big projects due to being in the graphic design and mass communication departments. It never ended well with clashing points of view and people being lazy. I did meet awesome friends that I work together with today and would only trust them with working on projects.

Sometimes experimenting with projects and working with different people can lead you to the genuine individuals that will be long friends and great project partners.

Carrie-Anne said...

Sorry to hear about your health! Focusing on health is always the most important thing.

I also like the complete creative control afforded by going indie. I'd be too afraid a traditional editor or agent would demand I split my long books into a pretended 2-3 books each, or remove important characters and storylines for no other reason than to adhere to an arbitrary length at odds with traditional historical fiction like mine.

Jemi Fraser said...

Eek! Hope you're feeling better and up to 100% soon.
I do like a lot of control too - but I'm still deciding on my publishing path

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I hope you are over the worst of it now.

You had great success with the first story you submitted to said contest!

Loni Townsend said...

I'm glad to hear that you're improving, and I hope you get to full health soon.

I guess I'll have to horde my e-book copies of your books since they're going to be in 0 supply soon.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well, but glad you're getting past it.

Tyrean Martinson said...

I'm sorry you've had health issues. I've struggled with those a lot in the last few years and in two words: they suck. So, I sympathize/empathize and hope you are feeling far better today and that you continue to have improved health this month and the rest of this year and beyond.
You are an amazing, dedicated editor, author, and blogger. Way to go with all you do!

Rachna Chhabria said...

Glad you are feeling better. I've a few writing projects that I want to complete this month.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

I'm glad you're feeling better!

I think people with great organization skills and creativity are naturals in the self-publishing realm. Honestly, I've tried it and I wasn't very good at it. It's hard work! I'd do it again, but I'd do more research and force myself to be better focused.

M.J. Fifield said...

I had the same problems with group projects in school. My last semester of college, I had a class with a couple of really big group projects and I swear I terrorized everyone because I didn't trust them to care about my GPA the same way I did.

So maybe that's why I'm now an Indie author. I didn't think of it like that, but it makes total sense. :)


Sorry to hear you've been ill—hope you stay on the road to recovery!

Cathrina Constantine said...

I'm so very sorry to hear how badly you've been feeling, and for so long of a time. I will keep you in my prayers. Take Care and I hope you're feel top-notch as soon as possible.

emaginette said...

You're amazing. Wearing so many hats and still keeping your focus. You go girl. ;-)

A refresher does wonders.

Chrys Fey said...

I'm glad you're feeling better!

The comment you made about being in school and not liking group work sounds a lot like me. I didn't trust the other students, either. But I actually like the help that comes with traditionally publishing. And that's why it's so great that there are different avenues so that authors can choose what's better for him or her.

Good luck with all of your plans.

Mel Chesley said...

So sorry to hear about your health! I hope you start to feel back to your normal self soon. I understand completely why you choose self publishing. It's good to be in control of certain things. I self publish for similar reasons, but have yet to put out anything new these days. That will soon change. My goals are long at this point, so I won't bore you with the details. ;)

DMS said...

I am glad you are doing better and have been doing what you need to do to feel better.

You have lots going on- so I will wish you well with all of your upcoming projects/edits, etc. :) Don't forget to take care of yourself along the way.
~Jess

Arlee Bird said...

Sorry to hear of your setback with illness. Two months is rough!

I can understand your thoughts about having sole control over a project. If self-publishing works well for you then that's a good road to follow.

Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out

Natalie Aguirre said...

Sorry you are still having health challenges. It can have such a negative effect on energy and productivity. I admire you for trying to keep up with your goals.

Juneta key said...

I hope you are feeling much better and continue to do so. You are awesome at what you do.

Olga Godim said...

I hope you're getting over your illness. Best wishes with that.
I'm with you on the self-publishing front. I never was a 'group' creature myself, and the lack of control I experienced with my small publisher was maddening. Now, I own all the rights to my books, but I'm still procrastinating with putting them up online. Go figure...

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Hope you feel 100% soon. Good luck with all the anthology stuff.

Gwen Gardner said...

I’m glad to hear your health is recovering. You’ve gotten a lot done still. Take care and remember to be kind to yourself. (((Hugs)))

dolorah said...

Feel better soon Cherie, but take it slow and easy. It sounds like you were still extremely busy during your illness, and will be quite busy in the months to come.

My goal is simply to write something, even a book review or two.

Cathy Keaton said...

Wow, you've been through some awful stuff, lately! I hope you let your body rest (read my blog post to see what I mean) and recover. It will if you treat it right.

I'm super curious about your autism, since the only autistic person I know is my nephew, but he is profoundly low in intelligence. I gather it affects people differently, since you are clearly not low in intelligence (high, rather). I'm curious about what the symptoms are and how my nephew ended up being unable to learn to read, even.

Chemist Ken said...

It wasn't the same thing, but I had this mystery illness many years ago which left me exhausted all the time. The doctor checked me for all sorts of things, but everything came back negative. His final diagnosis was that it was stress. Still not sure that was correct, although I was going through some stressful stuff at the time, but eventually it went away over the course of many months. And I couldn't do anything creative during that time, so I understand.

I was never a project group guy back in school either. It always seemed like I ended up doing all the work since no one else cared. I'm happy to be on my own. Hope all your changes to the Reborn series works out well.

The Cynical Sailor said...

Sorry that you've been so unwell. It's so hard when you're not feeling well for such a long period of time. Your 2018 stats are really impressive, especially all of the editing you do for friends.

Jennifer Hawes said...

I skipped last month too. Wow, what a roller coaster of events this summer for me too!! I admire your self-pub path.

Lisa said...

I absolutely love the cover for the anthology! Wow, who does your covers? You? Glad you're feeling better and sorry you were out of it for so long. I know being sick can really drag you down. Thanks for commenting on my blog. And again, I really love that cover!

S.A. Larsenッ said...

It's commendable that you know your publishing tolerance and decided to take care of you. I really admire that. You always seem to know what you're doing. :)

Glad to hear you're feeling better.

Sandra Cox said...

So sorry to hear you weren't well. Seems like it takes forever to get caught up after being sick doesn't it?

Juneta key said...

Hope you are feeling much better. Happy Belated IWSG Day.

Yolanda Renée said...

I'm so glad you're finally feeling better. Seems to be that kind of year for some reason.
I find trust is hard too, I've been lied to, too often not be leery.

Wishing you health and success!

cleemckenzie said...

Sorry about the health issues. That's never something you want to deal with while trying to write and do everything else in your life.

You're amazing with all of your plans for publication. Thanks for the list of August releases.

M Pax said...

I have to go over my proofs. Life is nutty lately, but I won't go into it. Glad you're starting to feel on the mend.

I love the control of self publishing, too. I have a story to write for Unrealms as well. I fell like I've gotten nowhere, but we have another schedule change at work. I'm hoping that will give me more time.

Nick Wilford said...

Glad to hear you're starting to feel better. I know what you mean about wanting to keep control and I think your plans illustrate that - not sure how many publishers would want to take books off the market because the author wants to refine them, for example. Good luck with it all!

Tamara Narayan said...

I didn't like group work as well as a kid. I usually ended up doing everything. Good luck with all of your goals and I'm glad you are feeling better!

Sandra Cox said...

I love the cover of Elements.
Hope your weekend has been both productive and pleasant.

Heather R. Holden said...

Oh, gosh, so sorry to hear about that dreadful, extensive burnout of yours. So glad you're finally regaining some energy again. Hope you feel even better by month's end!

And I know exactly what you mean about control. That's why I gravitate toward self-publishing, too.

And how exciting about that short story idea! Best of luck meeting the deadline for this!

Dawn Simon said...

Yikes, that sounds awful! I'm glad you're feeling better. Hope you are at 100% soon!

Exciting about the short story idea! Good luck with it!

Misha Gerrick said...

Oh I'm so sorry! Burn-out is a total bitch. Feel better soon and let me know if I can help with anything.