It was all calm until April hit

While the weather is warming up outside, my task list is heating up as well. And just in time for my event schedule to kick in full swing! Yay?

With the snow melting away, that means lots of yardwork to do. Thousands of sticks to pick up, leaves to rake, the garden the plant, flowerbeds to clean out, and a new chicken run to put up. Just a few things.

And then there are writing projects:

Seeker: Book 4 of The Narvan is off to proofreaders.

Spindelkin is in final line edits.

Frayed is hanging out, waiting for an editing pass before getting started on Kindle Vella. It may be venturing out to my local critique group for a while while I juggle everything else.

A possible second Narvan Novel announced itself in my brain today - taking place four years after Seeker. OMG, stop the muse train. I need a moment to breathe.

I also need to write blurbs for both Seeker and Spindelkin and get the cover art finalized.

And I'd love a little quiet. The chicks I posted photos of last month are all growing fast and as soon as the nights are reliably above freezing, will be moving out to the coop. They are currently peeping away at each other signaling that its time to get on the roost for the night. They do this for about forty-five minute straight. It sounds cute. And it is for the first couple nights...

While I do all that, I've been busy finalizing my 2022 event schedule. With the possible addition of two more single day events, I'm done. Stick a fork in me. Maybe that will hold me down. 

Can I effectively juggle my book inventory during all this? Tune in to find out.

Coming up soon:

April 8 - 10 Grand Rapids Spring Fling Comic Con

April 22 - 23 Penguicon (virtual attendance)

April 24 Tulip City Comic Con

April 29 - May 1 Viking Festival

May 7 & 8 Royal Stagg Ren Faire

May 27 - 29 Newaygo Memorial Day Art Fair

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Which brings us to the Monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group portion of the post. This month's question deals with audio books. I haven't yet ventured into those. I've had plenty of readers ask for them, but that just hasn't been on my priority list yet. 

So I'm going to jump to another topic instead. Too many projects. How do you manage them? 

I try to prioritize what needs to happen when so that I have a new book in the spring, and one in the fall. That's my goal. However, this year, things seem to have gone hilly nilly right out of the gate. Seeker was supposed to be my spring launch, but there were a lot more edits than anticipated, which added significantly to the word count (not complaining, I love how it turned out), which made line edits take much longer than planned. Then we add me picking up twice as many ren faires as I've done in the past, which lit a fire under my behind to get my YA fantasy Spindelkin ready for print so I could launch that early summer instead of fall. That derailed my plan to spend a month getting Frayed up on Kindle Vella. And then this new Narvan novel shows up, pounding on my door with a vengeance. Deep cleansing breath.

Writing is a juggling act. I'm going to attempt to stick with softly inflated beach balls rather than chain saws. Wish me luck.

Marching into Spring

There may still be snow on the ground but at least the sun is shining now and then. Soon enough yard work will be back on the weekend agenda. Until then, I'm busy working on Seeker : Book 4 of The Narvan. The fine tuning edits are going slowly but I'm nearing halfway done. The final book in the main series is shaping up to be a long one, but hopefully also fulfilling for all the characters and wrapping up the series plot. 

Spindelkin is leaving Kindle Vella as I type this. The YA Fantasy novel is next up for going to print once I get Seeker out to proofreaders. 

Frayed, a YA urban fantasy (work in progress) will be hitting Kindle Vella as soon as I have time to get the first chapters edited and uploaded. Here's the cover so far. I'll be playing with it for months, I'm sure. I'm still playing with the cover for Spindelkin, for goodness sake. Nothing is set in stone until it goes to print. 

Upcoming book signing events:

Hall of Heroes Con in Elkhart IN - March 5-6

Grand Rapids Women's Expo in Grand Rapids, MI - March 18-20

Grand Rapids Spring fling Comic Con in Grand Rapids, MI - April 8-10

Tulip City Comic con in Holland, MI - April 24

Whitestown Viking Festival in Whitestown, IN - April 29 - May 1

And speaking of the Viking Festival, I finally finished sewing my new garb.  I had to relearn how to weave. It's been a long time since the fiber arts weeks of art class in high school. All the trim is tablet woven, which, in theory was going to give me some time to kick back and watch Netflix while I worked on it, but it turns out you have to have to actually pay attention to what you're doing. (My first strip has a about five different patterns in it because I kept losing count.)Well, crap. I ended up switching to an easier pattern for the rest of it and still had to keep flipping a paper to remind myself whether I was going forward or backward. Short term memory and I are not great friends. 

Lots of layers for all weather. 

Squeezing out the last wavering inches of tablet weaving.
Its is professional? No. Will it suffice? Yep.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Which brings us to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question: 

Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to your story?

The short answer: Yes, but I almost always write them anyway. It's just whether I let anyone else ever see them. 

But seriously, I'm just gonna go ahead and overthink that question. Long answer: Sure. But for multiple reasons. 

A. The story or scene is too close to home. I'm pretty sure I touched on this one in a previous IWSG post. Writing is a good place to work though difficult emotions or situations, like therapy, able to distance ourselves a little and see it through a character instead of ourselves. But sometimes those things are too private or sensitive to share or might offend family members if they see through the thin veil of fiction.

B. I'm just not ready to tell that story. I don't have enough experience or knowledge of a topic or lifestyle to accurately covey what I want to show. Or it's not a genre I'm comfortable writing yet. There are a few stories lurking on my hard drive that are waiting for me to do research/gain life experience.

C. The scene might not fit in the book as a whole, but I'm jonesing to write it anyway. I almost always give into to this urge and see where it goes. It's about 70/30 in favor of ending up in the book, often with major edits to make it mesh, but these are usually great emotional moments or add depth of character.

And if you've made it this far though this month's blog post. You deserve chicks. Meet the newest additions to my flock. 

Olive Egger

Midnight Mystic Maran

Blue-laced Golden Wyandotte

Congratulations, you made it to the end. :) What are you up to this month?

2022 One Word, IWSG, and Upcoming Events

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to start looking forward in to the new year. Tiptoeing. Quietly. Not touching aaaanything.

I haven't had much luck with my One Word Resolutions the past few years due to the world falling apart and various other things out of my control, but hey, why not play along like this year might be different? I'm going to play it safe with RECOVER. 

Currently I have a cold. Just one of those plain old chest colds that due to the coughing, make everyone run for the hills. I've had Covid. I'm sure I can handle a cold. Other than recovering from that, I'm looking forward to recovering some spring events that were still cancelled in 2021, some mythical 'free time' that went to taking care of my MIL and my daughter during their heath crises, and some mental wellness by doing some of the non-writing hobbies that I haven't made time for in years. 

One of those is a cross stitch that I started at least fifteen years ago and has sat untouched on the stand, 2/3 done, staring at me longingly, for the past seven years. Current goal: finishing this thing! It matches a plate that my grandmother gave me. I'd like to get them framed together. Eventually.

Those events I'm hoping to recover? Here's my spring line up:

Feb 5 Byron Rec Comic Con

Feb 11-13 Lansing Women's Expo

March 5-6 Hall of Heroes Con

March 18-20 Grand Rapids Women's Expo

April 8-10 Grand Rapids Spring Comic Con

April 24 Tulip City Comic Con

April 29- May 1 Whitestown Viking Fest

And that brings us to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question:

What's the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

 overcome it?

Biggest regret: not having more proofreading early on in my writing career. It seems there are always typos, however, the goal is to have as few as possible or if the angels are smiling upon you, none at all. I've found typos in short stories I've had in various magazines and anthologies. Even in my books that were published by a publisher. So it's no surprise that self-published books often have typos too.

I've learned not to expect anyone else to find them all during the editing/proofing journey. Everything I submit anywhere now goes through a process to eliminate as many of those pesky buggers as possible. This way, editors and proofreaders can hopefully catch the few that are missed rather than being overwhelmed by the brunt of the typo load.

The super secret process? Read the story on screen. Find typos. Print the story, read the pages. Find typos. Have the computer read it too me. Find typos. Read the whole darn thing again. Find significantly less typos. Then it goes to other eyeballs. And still, when it comes back for the final proof before printing, I'll read it again, and find a few more to fix. Every. Darn. Time. 

We're all human. Typos and all.

IWSG April: Upcoming Release - Not Another Bard's Tale

It's April, the weather is awesome. It's finally warm! And there is sunshine! Why am I inside??? Oh yes,  must work to pay the bills. 

Spring is busy doing it's springy thing around here. there are flowers, I've got the itch to finish out my flock with a few new chicks and my ducks are now a year old and are busy being happy ducks. I've also been writing. Well, editing, mostly, but that still counts.

April also marks the upcoming arrival of my next book, Not Another Bard's Tale. NABT was first drafted in 2008 as my third NaNoWriMo novel. It's gone through some significant revisions over the years and sat in the cold dark of my hard drive for long spans until finally Covid shut everything down for a year (and then some) and hey, I had far more 'free' time than usual. So I was productive and did a lot of writing as well as editing to get several books ready to release this year. 

Not Another Bard's Tale is a comedic fantasy novel following Bruce, the not-so-esteemed knight, his plucky side kick Mydeara, and the negligibly talented bard Harold as they journey to a far off land to find Bruce's destiny. Along the way they face an evil overlord with looming prophecy issues, a hungry dragon, and a love-sick troll. This adventure through fantasy tropes will be out at the end of the month! 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Funny that this months' IWSG question is: Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

Because yes, I do like to experiment with different things with my novels. That's the nice thing about doing stand alone novels and short stories, they're far easier to try out new POVs and styles than delving into an entire series. 

Not Another Bard's Tale is different than many books as it's told through a progression of POVs. Each of the characters get to carry the adventure for a chapter. Some of the core characters repeat in the second half of the book, other do not. The chapter lengths also vary greatly, but are geared toward giving everyone the part that best conveys their character's part of the story.

IWSG: March Project Updates

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

It would seem I'm celebrating (does one celebrate this mess?) the one year anniversary of Covid disrupting our lives by getting the news that all of my upcoming April, and almost all of my May events are being bumped to 2022. I'm so very sick of all this disruption!

In other, more positive news progress has again been made on my 2021 project list:

Bound in Blue was released last month! Hooray!

Spindelkin has been relegated to a summer project.

The Minor Years will be back from beta read this month.

Seeker has also been bumped to a summer project

Not Another Bard's Tale is back from the last reader, has gone through voice read, and is now the first of two last edit/polish passes by me before heading to the proofreader. 

Why have a couple projects been pushed off? It would seem I was sailing along too free and productively. Life decided to hand me my 90 year old MIL to care for 24/7 for several months before we can get her into an assisted living facility. While I do still have a little free time to work on writing, my brain is mostly mush from the lack of sleep and disruption in my daily schedule/sleep disruptions. So I shall plod along as time and energy allows.

I'm also happy to announce that Trust won an award this month.

This month's IWSI G question is: Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about your reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice? 

Well, before I was handed a house guest, I'd been doing a little recreational reading for a change. It had been awhile since I'd had time for that. Glad I jumped on it in the little window that I did. While I write Science Fiction and Fantasy and enjoy reading both of those, I also enjoy reading Paranormal Romance and Historical Fiction and pretty much anything that falls under the Speculative Fiction umbrella. I'm also not opposed to mystery and general fiction. If the story sounds interesting, I'm in a mood to read, and the book is in reach, I'll probably read it.

Here's what I read last month:

It's a New Year!

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

I'm attempting to be optimistic. However, so far, 2 of my 3 first events of the year, in April, no less, have already been canceled/postponed. This means one of my 2020 rollover events is now bumped to my list for 2022.  😢 

You may notice I'm not even posting my event list for 2021. Once I have confirmation that an event is really happening, I'll post it.

Productivity trudges onward despite the cautious outlook. Eventually, stuff has to open up, doesn't it?

Updates from last month: 

Bound in Blue has a release date of February 20!

Spindelkin has editing notes and is next up on my list.

The Minor Years is still out with a beta reader

Seeker has seen no progress.

Not Another Bard's Tale is DONE and now out with a reader! That only took thirteen years...

On the other end of writing, I have some editing to do for two other authors and a formatting job in the wings. Busy busy!

And now onward to this month's IWSG question: Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?

Indeed! In fact, if you're commenting on this post, you're likely one of those people. Very likely one of the people I meet blogging years ago when I was much more active on this platform. I appreciate you sticking with me and when your name comes up in the comments section, please know that it makes me smile. 

Welcome to 2021!

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Thankfully the dumpster fire that was 2020 has burned to a close. Let's hope this next year is a whole lot better. Just in case, I'm sharpening my machete and stocking up on canned foods, getting ready for the zombies. 

Normally, I'm announcing my one word for the new year in this post, but I don't have one this time around. If I were being optimistic, I would say: Better. But jeez, why tempt fate at this point in the crappy game we're stuck playing? Instead, I'm going to sit quietly over here and use this downtime productively so that when we can get back to being in person again, I have even more to offer.

Bound in Blue is formatted and waiting on a print proof and release date.

Spindelkin is ready for second edits. 

The Minor Years is out with a beta reader

Seeker is ready for round three of edits.

Not Another Bard's Tale is going through yet another round of edits in slow motion, but progress is being made. 

And there are several other projects in the wings.

I've also been busy sewing multi-pocket dice bags - because I found a pattern I liked and I have so much fabric sitting here from my days when I worked at a craft store. I look forward to seeing all the gaming folks at comic cons and renaissance faires soon.

After being off Netflix for two months of high productivity, we've taken a short dip into Hulu. I'm working my way through a few shows there while sewing. I must multitask! 

And, as this is my monthly blog post, it's time for an Insecure Writer's Support Group question: Being a writer, when you're reading someone else's work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people's books?

Since I'm not limited to one, here's my top two:

1. Head-hopping without a clear pov change marked with a scene or chapter break.

2. A cliff hanger ending. Dangling a few unresolved subplots is fine if it's a series, but end your damn book!

IWSG: Whew! That Was A Productive Month

 Last month flew by while I was wrapped up in so many things. Getting back out to meet readers in person felt really good. As did just being out among people again. 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

The first day of the Newaygo Logging Festival was a tough one. The crowd was fairly steady for a scaled-back event and our booths were all quite spaced out, but it had been nearly seven months since I'd spent a full day being social. I spent the hour ride home in much-needed silence. By the second day, I was feeling more in the spirit of things. By the next weekend at the event in Charlotte I'd found my stride again and everything went smoothly. I've done two more events since. If we connected at one of those shows and you're reading this, it was nice to meet you! 

Thanks to relaxing guidelines, I do have one more show in November in Kalamazoo. I'm still waiting to hear on Grand Rapids Comic Con. With both of those being indoors, things are up in the air with restrictions that seem to change every single day.

In addition to finally getting out to talk to readers again, I've been hard at work on Bound in Blue: Book 3 of The Narvan. The last round of edits is wrapping up and then it will head off the to the proofreader and then it's onward to formatting. Without further ado, here's the cover:

                                        

I've also been busy writing the blurb for the back cover, critiquing chapters for other authors, reading a couple books for fun, and doing a proofread of a book for a local author friend. I'm also plotting my upcoming NaNoWriMo projects and toying with cover art for Seeker: Book 4 of The Narvan and Spindelkin. I've been on kind of an artwork kick lately. On the plus side, I started drawing again. I haven't done much of that in a very long time, like probably around twenty-some years.

How was the end of summer for you?

 

Release Day: Dreams of Stars and Lies

Today is the release of Dreams and Stars and Lies. This collection features five short science fiction stories. They are all unrelated but two take place in far flung corners of the greater Narvan universe, though also not directly related to the series. 

Last year, when I received the news that Caffeinated Press was closing and the first rights for Sipper would be returned to me, I decided to pull this book together. Sipper had been contracted for an anthology so this seemed an appropriate new home. 

Destiny Pills and Space Wizards, my first short story collection, features more lighthearted YA-friendly stories. With Dreams of Stars and Lies, I focus on deeper plots and longer stories more intended for an adult audience. 

The cover features Sipper, one of the two anchor stories of the collection.

Poverty has shaped Tia’s life since childhood, labeling her a roach. A day without hunger pains or despising looks is pure fantasy until she accepts a job offer to explore a wondrous deserted city on a distant world. All she can think about is the life-altering payout she’ll receive in six months. 

A hundred roaches are set free in the city of crystal spires. Their mission: To learn what they can about the previous occupants and to verify that the place is habitable for the host of wealthy future occupants waiting in orbit. 

Well-provisioned, Tia and her fellow roaches scatter to explore the dunes and spires. Then people start to disappear. Are they being picked off to lessen the payout or is there a killer among them?  All the credits in the world won’t matter if she’s dead.

What are readers saying? 

“Davis shows us a new frontier of space discovery, but there is no rover facing the space dust. We are the guinea pigs, and that adventure is not for the meek."  

- Stella Telleria author of Across The Wire

”Jean Davis speculates on a future that seems all too believable. Her stories will entertain, and they will make you think. Don't look in Dreams of Stars and Lies for easy solutions.”

- Joan H. Young author of Accidentally Yours

$9.99 print / $1.99 ebook. Want it free? Review any of my other books on Amazon, let me know when your review has posted, and I'll send you a free ebook of Dreams of Stars and Lies.

Dreams of Stars and Lies can be found in both print and ebook on Amazon and in ebook through Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo and more.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 
and find links to all the other 
participating writers.

This month's ISWG question: There have been many industry changes in the last decade, so what are some changes you would like to see happen in the next decade?

I would love to see either Amazon playing nice with other online book sales outlets or the other way around. Mostly, if they could all just get along, that would be super helpful and make things easier for authors when publishing their books. I get that many readers don't want to feed the Amazon beast, but Amazon does make it very simple for authors to publish through them. Other places are getting better, but they don't like Amazon, which means if we want to sell elsewhere, we have to publish in multiple places and that often means setting up separate files (because the publishing specifications are different), tracking sales in multiple places, and can cause problems if you want to run a sale. 

On a related note, I wish IngramSpark would reduce or do away with their charge per publishing platform because at least they are a one-stop place to publish. If you don't mind paying for it or if you're lucky and happen to have a promo code to bypass the charge. 

ISWG: June and Cover Reveal for Dreams of Stars and Lies

How is it June already? Even with most everything closed for a couple of months, you'd think things 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 
and find links to all the other 
participating writers.

would be more relaxed, but it sure doesn't feel that way. I've been finding plenty to do and because my day job is half e-commerce, I've still been working too. 

Since it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post, I'll start with writing-related happenings. The question this month is: Writers have secrets! What are one or two of yours, something readers would never know from your work?

Well, it's not a big secret that I have a new book coming out soon. Dreams of Stars and Lies will release late June or early July. With all my usual signing venues shut down right now, I'm feeling a little more relaxed with the publishing schedule I'd originally set up for the year.

Dreams of Stars and Lies is a collection of five short science fiction stories. The front cover features a scene from the story, Sipper.

Poverty has shaped Tia’s life since childhood, labeling her a roach. A day without hunger pains or despising looks is pure fantasy until she accepts a job offer to explore a wondrous deserted city on a distant world. All she can think about is the life-altering payout she’ll receive in six months. 

A hundred roaches are set free in the city of crystal spires. Their mission: To learn what they can about the previous occupants and to verify that the place is habitable for the host of wealthy future occupants waiting in orbit. 

Well-provisioned, Tia and her fellow roaches scatter to explore the dunes and spires. Then people start to disappear. Are they being picked off to lessen the payout or is there a killer among them? 

All the credits in the world won’t change anything if she’s dead.

In other news, I'm trying my hand a co-authoring a book. An early YA book. Secret? I've never managed to write a story for that age group, though I've tried. We'll see if I can keep my dark and twisted plot brain harnessed.

And an actual secret? Long ago, the genre I first wrote in? Mystery. I was surrounded by mystery books as a kid. My mother was addicted to them and so when I started reading chapter books, guess what area of the bookstore I was introduced to? Yep. Mystery. While I do enjoy working that angle into my stories now, it's not something that ever quite clicked for me as far as writing. I still enjoy reading it though. 

ISWG: May Flowers and Rituals

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 
and find links to all the other 
participating writers.

Welcome to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group post. It's finally spring here in Michigan, meaning the weather is generally above freezing now, even at night. Is it warm? Not reliably. One day it's 70 and sunny the next it's 35 and raining with occasional spurts of snow flurries. But, on the bright side, flowers are finally blooming and my ducks are growing up.

But before we get to flowers and ducks, I should probably talk about writing. There hasn't been a lot of that going on. Though I did manage to read a book so that's progress - more so than binge-watching 8 seasons of Vampire Diaries and season 4 of The Last Kingdom.

Dreams of Stars and Lies, my next upcoming release, is progressing nicely. I have two short stories to finish formatting and then I'm waiting on the cover art. Look for the release of this collection of sci-fi stories mid-summer.

Bound In Blue: The Narvan Book 3 is going through another round of edits before it hits proofreading, but that is also on track for a Fall release.

Book signing events continue to be cancelled, with my next possible one now in July. I miss talking with readers and networking in person with my author friends. This is part of my lack of motivation. I usually come home from events all energized to work on whatever next project I have on deck, but right now life is a too quiet.

This month's question is: Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the zone?

My writing rituals usually include, turning off the lights in my office, sitting in my comfy chair, lighting a candle, maybe some incense, and making words happen until the story starts coming out of my fingers. Sometimes that means writing with my eyes closed to further block out distractions. It's often the getting the fingers going on the keyboard that is the most important step. Once that happens, the story isn't far behind.

And now... flowers and ducks

The ducks are getting their wing feathers, not that they will be doing much flying.

Violets are one of my favorite flowers

Fancy daffodils after one of the many spring rains

Yep, we had more rain

Not a stick! This Easter Hognose snake slithered through the yard.

Nap time for duckies

Visiting Donald Levin's Blog

Today, I'm doing a blog visit for author Donald Levin's Indie Monday. We talk about The Narvan series, writing, and my upcoming projects. If you like Mysteries and Michigan Authors, check out his books while you're there. We've done several author events together and he's a great guy.

Online reading of Trust

Last week I did an online reading session with How Writers Write with my long distance poetry buddy Michael D Jones. He's got a new book out too.

We talked about Trust, The Narvan, Chain of Grey and writing in general. Check it out here

January IWSG and 2020 Goals

This year launched with a stressful and exhausting beginning. I haven't had a quiet day since Dec 28. It's been one long exhausting day and overtime after another. Great for paying bills, as far as the overtime goes, but with everything else on top, it's been a lot to deal with. The other stuff is mostly health issues for other family/extended family members but it's beginning to take a toll on me too. Thankfully, I don't have anything author-related planned until early February. I hope to be more awake and alert by then.

My annual one word resolution is READ. I've been so focused on writing/editing for the past couple years that I haven't had much time for kicking back with a book.  I hope to do better with that this year. To get me in the right mind-set, I'm looking into a book club at a nearby indie bookstore. Beyond that, my TBR stacks are spawning baby stacks. It's out of control...but I keep coming home with more books. So yes, I need to tame those a bit.

2020 Goals:
1. Due to the publisher of The Narvan closing down at the end of last year, first on my list is republishing Trust myself.
2. Chain of Grey: The Narvan - Book Two, is proofed and awaiting formatting and then is next up for publication.
3. Publish a second short story collection. The stories are all written, but await a final edit and then the whole proof/format/publish routine.
4. Publish Spindelkin - a MG fantasy/fairytale. This was my NaNo 2019 project. It needs an ending, but is generally outlined and then onward to editing/beta reads and the rest.

I'll be doing slightly less events this year so I (in theory) have time to accomplish these goals. I'll be updating the list over there ---> as events are added throughout the year.

If you'd like updates on when any of those projects are published, please sign up for my newsletter. Also over there ---->

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 
and find links to all the other 
participating writers.

And now, its time for the first Insecure Writer's Support Group post of 2020. This month's question is: 
What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it teacher/coach/spouse/friend/parent? Did you just "know" suddenly you wanted to write?

This is a popular question. Which, thankfully means it's an easy one to answer. My third grade teacher launched me into writing with a Scholastic writing competition. I wrote a horrible little story about a dog who got lost, complete with pictures, and won for our grade. That meant I had to go to the local college to an award ceremony, which was utterly terrifying for an extremely shy kid. A year later, my fourth grade history teacher and I clicked and I started slipping her short stories (which were also awful, btw), and she would covertly slide them back to me the next day with encouraging notes on them.

So for all you teachers out there, doing your little one on one things with what little time and energy you have in light of everything else, it's greatly appreciated, even it's not apparent at the time.

December IWSG and Post NaNo Wrap up

Another month has sped by with a flurry of activity.  

Writing:

I was busy writing away on my new project for November's annual effort during National Novel Writing Month. In my many travels at book selling events there's been a need for more kids books in the sci-fi fantasy genre. Something around upper middle grade, but not quite young adult. So many kids pick up my books but sadly, its the ones not appropriate for their age. While A Broken Race and Destiny Pills & Space Wizards does fit for teens, I have nothing to offer in that 8-12 year old range. So, this November, I set out to fill that gap in my book offerings. Thus, Spindelkin was born, a fantasy story about an 11 year old girl and her journey to find out who she truly is this fairytale world.

In my usual rebel NaNo form, I also had a second project going, working on whichever story fit my brain on a given day. The second project? A companion book within The Narvan universe. So, sort of  Book 5, but in actuallity, Book 1.5, as it takes place in the gap between Trust (book 1) and Chain Of Grey (book 2) that gives some of the other characters time to have the spotlight for once.  Confused yet? Sorry. It's a book that I'm working on. We'll leave it at that. 

Publishing:

Several people have asked when Chain Of Grey is coming out. My hope was Fall 2019. However, the publisher had delays and now has announced they are closing shop as of the end of the year. Which means, my best answer for you is Spring 2020 when I release it myself. 

Also in the works is a new short story collection (currently in need of a witty name), featuring several longer science fiction stories along with a few shorter ones. From my recollection of said stories (one of which was also on a couple year hold for an anthology through said publisher) I believe this collection will also be YA friendly. 

Events:

Oh. My. Goodness. What a November. And also December. I've really enjoyed meeting those of you who are readers as well as reconnecting with author friends when we share a table/booth. If you read a book and are looking for another one or haven't made it out to meet me yet, you can find me at:

The Beechwood Church Craft show in Holland on Dec 7 with author Diane Burton (mystery, science fiction romance and MG Science Fiction

The Holland Civic Center Holiday Craft show in Holland on Dec 14 with author Joan Young (mysteries for adult and MG and nonfiction hiking adventures)

Author Pop Up Night at the Bluestocking Bookshop in Holland on Dec 19 with authors Vera West (sci-fi romance), Diane Burton, and Troy Wymer (sci-fi and sci-fi romance)

Muskegon Barnes and Noble on Dec 21 signing books with multiple authors to suit all your last minute bookish gift giving needs.

Life: We launched a new home-based business last week and got our first customer today. Because we're already running several home-based endeavors so why not?  Income is always good to diversify!

This was also my 10th and final year acting as Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo. My schedule just doesn't allow for as much time to devote to all the planning and events as I used to have. When I stepped into the role of inciting writers to get out of their homes to write together, to meet one another, to hopefully make long-lasting friendships, I had no idea what to expect. As it turns out, my little region flourished. I've watched writer kids grow up through high school, go off to college, and get engaged. Socially awkward and introverted people made connections and have come back year after year. Writers became more confident. Some even began to pursue publishing. It's been a wonderful journey and many friends have been made. Fortunately, I had two talented people pick up my torch this year so the region is in good hands for the future.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 
and find links to all the other 
participating writers.

This month's question is: Let's play a game. Imagine. Role-play. How would you 
describe your future writer self, your life and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream? Or if you are already there, what does it look and feel like? Tell the rest of us. What would you change or improve?

Am I living the dream? Mostly, sorta, yes. So here's what I can tell you if you're not quite there yet. Finish something. Then put that down and finish something else. Keep writing. It's how you discover what you're good at and what you need to work on, and your voice.  

Make writer friends at all stages of your journey, they will help you along the way. 

Realize that finishing a book is just beginning to write the book. 
Revision and editing are what actually makes a book good. 

Understand that getting something published or publishing something yourself doesn't mean you're going to sell thousands of books. You will need to work for it. You will need to talk to people, readers and interviewers. You will need to invest in ads and/or events to get your book in front of people. You need to be active on social media. Selling books is not just about writing books. 

The best part about publishing a book is talking to readers. Yeah, that talking thing again. But having someone come up and tell you they enjoyed what you wrote is a great feeling. So back to that first thing, finish something. :)