A Lesson Learned #IWSG | Writing Goals | Bookworm News | Smashwords Sale

The Insecure Writer's Support Group was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. July's co-hosts are Tamara Narayan, Pat Hatt, Patricia Lynne, Juneta Key, and Doreen McGettigan. Follow the other IWSG bloggers or sign up for the blog hop here.

July's question: What is one valuable lesson you've learned since you started writing?

Although many answers come to mind, the one that sticks out the most is that each writer's journey is different and valid. We may have many things in common, but we each find our own way to write and that way is just as valid as any other way. Too many times we get caught up in the "rules" of writing, but they are just guidelines. It's up to each of us to find what works best.

For example, I'm a plotter. I need an outline before I write the first page. I will also come up with ideas and not get around to writing them for months or even years. The outline is where I learn the story. Writing that first draft is where I learn the main characters. In edits, I expand upon the world and solidify who people are. That's my process.

Yours will most likely vary, and there's nothing wrong with that.

What are your insecurities this month?

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I'm writing up this post on June 27, even though it won't go live until July 5. Why? I'm off work from June 28-July 4, which means no access to unlimited internet and a fast internet connection.

After all I completed in May and early June, I've felt rather exhausted the past few weeks. I did catch up on blog comments and emails; however, I did not write any new reviews, edit the outline for Destined (The Fate Challenges #3), or update my websites/social media. I did finish editing the stories for Spirits in the Water, helped my friend with her fantastic novella series, and I made progress in editing Forged (The Fate Challenges #2).

My July goals include:
- Continue editing Forged.
- Continue helping my friend with her novella series.
- Catch up on writing reviews for books I've read.
- Update my websites/social media.

Oh, I also realized that July 1 is my two year anniversary of writing every single day. Since I'm editing a lot, the added words are much fewer than writing-writing days, but so far I've worked on a project and gotten new words down every single day since July 1, 2015.

What are your goals for July?

2017 Stats: 84,951 words written and 513,456 words edited

(January 1-June 27)

In June, I read Sacrifice Moon by Julie Fortune. This is a Stargate SG-1 series book, and I loved it. If you're a fan of the show, you should enjoy it too.

SPECULATIVE FICTION BOOKS

RELEASING IN JULY

The Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan

MIND: The Vision by Jenn Nixon

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine

Cracked Open by Susan Kaye Quinn

Enigma by Tonya Kuper

Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn

Heroine Worship by Sarah Kuhn

Shadows Fall by Christine Rains

Children of the Fifth Sun by Gareth Worthington

Gork, the Teenage Dragon by Gabe Hudson

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Smashwords is having its month-long sale from July 1-31. You can get the Untethered Realms' anthology Twisted Earths for free, my fantasy short story collect People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors for a dollar, and my paranormal horror collection Once upon a Nightmare for just 99c.

FREE

Coupon Code: SW100

Twisted Earths on Smashwords

$1.00

Coupon Code: SSW75

People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors on Smashwords

$0.99

Coupon Code: SSW50

Once upon a Nightmare: A Collection on Smashwords

Writing Update: February Goals and My Writing Space

 

Happy Wednesday!

Since there are five Wednesdays this month, I have my goals post today. Otherwise, it'll be with Bookworm News posts.

Here are my February goals:

• Create a map of the Kingdom of Amora. I know how long it takes the characters to get from place to place. Now it's time to figure distances and draw the map for the trilogy.
• Finish outlining Redestined. I've finished through Chapter 27 in my outline for book three of The Fate Challenges, but I still have a few chapters left in Part II and all of Part III to outline. My guess is Redestined will have around forty-five or so chapters and will be the longest book of the trilogy.
• Continue working on Reforged. With NaNoWriMo 2013, I wrote up to Chapter 16 in Reforged. In January, I've been editing/rewriting the beginning. I'm hoping to be able to write new chapters by the end of February.
• Edit an old short story. Untethered Realms is putting together an anthology. I originally thought about writing a new story, but I found an old story of mine that'll work, I think. It's time to do an edit on it, so I can get it ready for the anthology.

I'll be taking a break from Reborn as soon as I finish this final edit, so my proofreader can have a go at it. If I get it back sooner than March 1st, then I'll start working on it again in February, but it can wait until March. I'd like a fairly clean copy to go to my reviewers in mid-March.

I've also made a decision about Neighbors of Foxwick. Originally, I planned to release this seven-story collection in February. With the stress of Reborn as well as having some health issues (I'm having some out-patient surgery on February 12th) and editing so much in December, I was finding it difficult to get into the right frame of mind to edit these stories. I had planned to tackle them again in February, so I could still release the collection in late February or sometime in March, but then I realized something. This Fall, I'm publishing People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors, a collection which will include Women of Foxwick, Men of Foxwick, and Neighbors of Foxwick, so instead of publishing a new collection and then combining all three, I can just combine all three and publish them, so there will be new stories for people. [By the way, here's the cover art for People of Foxwick. Isn't it lovely? The talented Laura Sava illustrated the cover art like she did with Reborn. The cover features Umbria a.k.a. Lady Death and her pet black unicorn. There is a back cover too, since the collection will be in print and ebook formats, but you'll have to wait to see it.]

Personally, I've found most people want the complete collection instead of individual ones, especially when it comes to shorter works. For example, I sell almost two times more Gravity: The Complete Trilogy than I do the individual ebooks put together. Last year, I had four months I didn't sell a single copy of Defying Gravity, nine for Fighting Gravity, and ten for Pull of Gravity, yet I sell copies every month of the complete collection. It's different for my horror works, since I had Once Upon a December Nightmare free for so long, but I'm curious to see if that changes, since it's $0.99 again (sequel is $2.99 and entire collection is $2.99). I know they say having more works out there leads to more discovery of your work, but to be honest, I sold more when I had one ebook out than I do now.

I'd like to eventually take down the individual ebooks and keep the collections only of my shorter works. I'll likely do that sometime this year with Gravity and do the same with my Foxwick Chronicles short stories. So if I'm going to take down the shorter collections this year, then why put a new one out when I'll likely take it down in six months? I can wait and release the entire People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors (an 80,000-word short story collection) and put it for a cheaper introductory price for a couple weeks and then raise it to its normal price. That way people who have purchased the shorter collections can get the entire collection for the same price I would've sold Neighbors of Foxwick.

That said, I plan to start working on People of Foxwick in May/June, since Reborn will be out of the way. I will likely write Loveless (Book One of Less Than Princess Perfect series) during this time, since it's part of the Foxwick world. Then, it'll be time to go back to Amora in August/September for Reigned (Prequel) and then Redestined (Book Three) after that.

Also, A-Z Blogging Challenge sign-ups are going on! Unfortunately, this year I won't be able to participate on this blog. With publishing my debut novel in May, I just have a bit too much to do in April, but I will be participating with the authors of Untethered Realms. We're going to be talking about creatures--and not the normal kind.

What are your goals for next month?

2014 Stats

4,095 Words Written

259 Pages Edited

*Stats taken from 1/1/2014 - 1/28/2014*

Also, I'm over at Nutshell's blog today where she featured me and my writing space, so pull up a chair and see where the magic happens.

October Goals

It's October now, so it's time to wrap of how my writing life went in September and make my October goals.

Here are September's stats:
Submissions: 3 ("Magna's Plea," "Melek Katili," and "Lady Death")
Rejections: 4 ("Government Project 103-1-10," "Changeling," "Eat Your Heart Out," and "Melek Katili")
Acceptances: 0
Short Listed: 1 ("Magna's Plea")
Releases: 1 (Bloody Carnival)
Total Word Count: 11,225

It's not bad at all. I also wrote several short stories in the month of September and flash fiction pieces for Flash Fiction Fridays.

I'm changing things up again in October, and my word count will likely be way down this month, although it won't be because I'm not writing. I will be, but it'll be more rewriting and preparing.

I am trying to do a quick rewrite of Virtuoso this month. I'm literally retyping it from third person to first and making changes as I go. I'd like to finish this rewrite before the end of the month for two reasons. One, I can't do anything about the novel in November. For two, I want to get it to my critique partners, so I can know what they think. In December, I'll be submitting the first chapter and synopsis (which I'm also writing this month) to Wyvern Publications' novel competition. They don't choose the winner until May, so I'll have time to make a better revision of the novel before then.

This month, I'll be writing horror flash fiction for Flash Fiction Fridays. Don't forget to read yesterday's "She's a Real Doll."

I am also going to be working on a synopsis, outline, character sketches, etc. for Sarah's Nightmare. I want to have as much planned out as possible, so I can go into November 1 and begin writing.

I will also be finishing any November writing (the flash fiction, story for Raven and the Writing Desk, etc.) in October, so I don't have to bother with any of it in November.

And, to a few updates:
"Melek Katili" didn't make the semi-finals for All Romance eBook's Just One Bite contest. It's okay. I submitted it to More Scary Kisses anthology.
I sent the first 500 words of "Lady Death" to Rogue Blade Entertainment's Assassins: A Clash of Steel anthology. I received an email yesterday requesting the rest of the story, so I read through it once more and submitted it this morning.
And, I saw on Wyvern Publications' Facebook page the cover art for Mertales. It's an anthology Aubrie Dionne, Nicole Zoltack, me, and others are in. My story is "Neptune's Treasure." Here is the cover art:

Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait to get my contributor's copy!

Well, I'm off to prepare for the James River Writers Conference on Thursday and work on rewriting more of Virtuoso.

September Goals

A new month, a new set of goals.

Since I began writing more consistently in July, I've written approximately 24,000 in the past two months. This month's word count most likely won't remain the same for one reason. I'm going to edit my novels.

That's right. I'm going to put most of my focus in fixing The Phoenix Prophetess and Virtuoso. However, I do have short stories to write and, of course, my flash fiction for Flash Fiction Fridays.

Today, I hope to work on my short story for Raven and the Writing Desk. Tomorrow, I want to write my flash fiction piece for Friday, and this weekend, I want to work on "Lady Death" and "Fallen." It would be nice if I could finish all three short stories for this month by next Tuesday (day after Labor Day in the States). We'll see.

For Once Upon a December Nightmare news, I discovered you can purchase my e-book on OmniLit and Book Strand besides Wild Child Publishing's website and Amazon.com. If you do read it, please let me know what you think. *smiles*

Also, today I reviewed Kit Wylde's Hieroglyphs on my Surrounded by Books Reviews blog. You can read the review here.

I submitted two stories yesterday, and I have three more that have been out of submission (one all the way from October 2009!). So far, no news, but it might be a while before I hear back from anyone. I'll keep updating.

And, last night I was thinking about Aubrie's fantastic haiku's she put up on Raven and the Writing Desk and Lisa's idea for a cat haiku. This one stuck in my mind as I was trying to fall asleep. Here is my cat haiku:

Her behind twitching,

Pouncing on the catnip mouse.

A cat's life is bliss.

Out like a lamb

It's the end of March. Another month has flown by. It seems hard to believe. Thankfully, March weather has been much better here than February or January's. Today, it was bright and sunny and a warm 76 degrees. Of course, this isn't the norm for Virginia, but I'll take it after all that snow in the previous months.

I was very bad in my writing goals this month, too. It's sometimes hard to maintain focus and to start and sometimes finish new projects. I've been even worse about going back over and revising my two novels.

Overall, I'll take a look at what happened in my publishing world this month.

Word Count: 6,541

Submissions: 6

Rejections: 3

Acceptances: 3

Stories Published: 1

Stories Written: 2

It wasn't a bad month at all, especially with the three acceptances. I'm very excited about them. I still have six stories out there in publishing world, so I'll have to wait and see what happens with them in the coming month.

Now, for April's goals, I have some things I really need to work on. I want to write a story for Pill Hill Press's A Whodunit Halloween. The deadline is April 15, 2010, so I must finish the story by the end of next week. I must finish editing/rewriting my NaNoWriMo 2009 novel, Virtuoso, so I can send it to my critique buddies, get their critiques, make changes, and have it ready to get my free copy from Createaspace by the end of June. I, also, need to write my Mother's Day story for the blog Raven and the Writing Desk. The story is titled "A Mother's Gift," and I really should finish it by the third week of April, so it'll be ready to put up on the blog in May.

I'd like to take a moment and talk about Raven and the Writing Desk. This blog came from Lisa Rusczyk. She wanted to create a blog where we can put up some short stories and draw more interest to our works. She roped me and Aubrie into it, although I think we were glad to comply. Basically, we will be writing a short story a month and putting them up on the blog for all to read. We will also have interviews with people in the publishing world, book reviews, and anything else writing related. Our first story will be out on April 2, and we'll each be putting up two stories in the month of April to get the blog rolling. Please stop by and take a look at it and follow the blog. We're also on Facebook.

I hope everyone had a good month, and here's hoping for a better month in April.