November is Writing Month

We've reached my high-intensity writing month of the year, AKA NaNoWriMo. I used October to finally wrap up Nugget #4 - which will be the last Nugget the Space Chicken book for a while. Now that is off to the proofreader and the illustrator and we're on to the next project on my list: Godmother.

Godmother, a YA fantasy stand-alone came to me in a moment of inspiration in 2023. I quickly committed a rough outline to a Word file and set it aside for November. Sadly, I only wrote one chapter before getting distracted by some other shiny new project. Oops. 

Now I'm working on expanding my YA book offerings so I need to get Godmother on the page. As of writing this post, I'm on chapter 6. I'm aiming for 60-70K, keeping this similar in length and with the fairy tale vibes of Spindelkin. 

Princess Poppy and Astra, her fairy godmother, initially agree to switch places for a few days. Astra is fed up with her life of granting wishes for others, wanting to enjoy life for herself for just a little while. Poppy doesn't want to marry a stranger, no matter if he is a handsome prince or not. The princess scrambles to keep her cover when the godmother council arrives to cite her for numerous negligent duty violations. If she doesn't figure things out quickly, her magic will be stripped and she'll never be able to return to her true life. Meanwhile, Astra falls for the prince. She doesn't want to give up her princess ruse, but if she's found out, it will ignite a war between two kingdoms.

If I manage to get a draft of this book done, I need to get back to one of my perpetual projects: Interface. That one is YA sci-fi, more geared toward boys so it will be a good addition to the book rack. Interface has been glaring at me since 2015 when I got 2/3 through the first draft on another November writing frenzy. It's been partly revised several times and is kind of a frankennovel at this point, but I have made sporadic strides this year toward smoothing it out. The story has promise, it just takes a lot of brainpower to sort out all the iterations of it into one coherent piece. And then there's the writing the last third of it.

Book Signings

I've only got one event for the rest of this year so I can concentrate on writing until March. My schedule is mostly booked for 2027 already. Hooray!

Life Beyond Books

The garden is cleaned up for the winter and I've decided to expand it for next year so that's under construction. The chickens are stocked and the coop is prepped for cold weather. Yard clean up is in progress. The flower hill was 95% completed with my reclaiming efforts this summer. I ran out of steam at the end, but it's back into much more manageable territory for next spring. I also planted a bunch of new plants so we'll see how those hold up.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the 

other participating writers. 

Onward to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question of the month: Do you have any favorite themes you like to explore in your stories?

Lately, I've been playing with what makes a person unique and how does it impact those around them - both in my children's books and adult. I like to find out what makes a character tick and what they can do with what I've given them once we get that sorted out.

I've also toyed with eugenics, and how grey I can make a character while still making them a redeemable/sympathetic MC. All of that is flavored with a healthy dose of snark and darkness.

Thank you to this month's co-hosts: Kalpana, Kim Lajevardi, Rebecca Douglass, Jennifer Lane, and Cathrina Constantine 

OMG, its the Squirrelpocalypse!

 Today we have a guest post! Welcome Shannon Lawrence, who has a Kickstarter for her new book. 

Putting the fun and gruesome back in horror, this tongue-in-cheek horror novel brings back the dark pleasure of creature features.

Today is the last day of the Kickstarter so get your fluffy tail to the link and help out.

The Squirrelpocalypse is nigh!

They're always around us, hidden in plain sight. They watch us from the trees, scurry past us in parks. They can even get inside our walls. 

And their tiny claws and teeth are so deceptively sharp.

A sudden outbreak of squirrel violence sends survivors fleeing for their lives. One moment, Lauren is giving her nephew a hard time in a hardware store, the next she's gathering a group of fellow survivors in an attempt to get to safety.

Across town, Lauren's husband David is at the gym when it's overtaken by the furry assassins, sending him on a mission to get back home or die trying. Without his belongings, he's forced to be creative when it comes to defending himself.

But nowhere they go is safe from the insidious creatures, and they must find a way to stay ahead of the persistent rodents if they want to see tomorrow...or each other.

Kickstarter Details:

Available in paperback and e-book, Kickstarter backers get the book before the official release date. There are also select online writing courses available as add-ons, along with my other books. Depending on stretch rewards, there will be some fun goodies to go along with the books.

The book will be released wide to regular stores, but not for several months.

How does Kickstarter work?

Campaigns (funding drives for creative projects) are run for a limited time, with backers pledging (agreeing to purchase if it funds) a certain amount for specific items. There are multiple reward tiers (typically), such as a tier that is just for the paperback and a tier for the e-book. A goal is set for how much will be raised by the end of the campaign. If the goal is reached, the project funds, Kickstarter processes the pledged funds, and the creator delivers the items promised. If it doesn't fund, backers don't pay, and the creator does not get any of the funds. 

A lot of fun can be had with Kickstarter campaigns, with things like special editions, exclusive items, merchandise, and book boxes. Since this is my first one, I'm keeping it fairly simple as a learning experience, but I've successfully self-published seven books, so that part isn't new!

A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her short stories can be found in over sixty anthologies and magazines in addition to her collections, novels, and her nonfiction title, The Business of Short Stories. You can also find her as a co-host of the podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem and a columnist for Rocky Mountain Reader. When she's not writing, she's hiking through the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings, where, coincidentally, there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster. Find her at www.thewarriormuse.com.

Writing Time and also Ren Faires, and...

I'm headed out to my last outdoor show of the year this weekend, a first year renaissance festival. This means October camping outside in Michigan. I figure it can't be more challenging than April camping (always my first outdoor show of the year), so we'll see if I just jinxed myself. LOL

Beyond that, just two more shows and then it's quiet time for this very tired author. I've already set up my schedule for next year and so far, it's down from 31 events to 24 so hey, I'm attempting to make it a more "relaxed year". We'll see if I stick to that. I wouldn't be opposed to adding one or two, but definitely not looking to top this year. I mostly dropped underperforming events, and really, not dropped, because I wouldn't be opposed to doing them again, but more of a giving them a year off kind of thing. 

My chicken sales ladies did a great job at the 
Newaygo Logging Festival, winning us the 
Crowd Magnet Award.

With the event season winding down, I've already started prepping for next year by purchasing new totes for my books. My old ones had been dropped several times and were being held together by duct tape. Nice, new, waterproof totes are now stocked and ready for these last few events. I also ordered a new stand up banner to replace my original one that I've been "making work" for most of this year. It was my original show banner stand and while I've replaced the banner a few times, the stand itself had seen better days about two years ago. I definitely got my $ out of that one. I've also designed a new cloth table banner and will be getting that ordered this week. My current one is four years old and faded. The new one features cover art from some of my more recent books and also mentions children's books and has my current tag line. If I can get another four years out of the new one, I'll be very happy. Beyond that, I've updated my promo materials and headers on various socials with this year's new books, along with my wholesale price list for direct sales to bookstores. Yes, I do that. And, I'm generally better priced than Ingram. 

This is why waterproof totes are very important. 
This year's Muddy Maumee Book Festival wasn't
so much muddy as very wet. Even with my old totes
no books were harmed, but that was sheer luck. 

October until March is my quiet time. I'm hoping to get some sleeping, writing, and reading done in the months where there's no place I'd rather be than under a warm blanket in my comfy chair. 

What's on the agenda for this year's writing months? 

Finish Nugget #4 - I'm currently on chapter 10 of 14.

Revise and finish Interface. This project is on the list every year and really really needs to get done. I've been working on this one since 2015. *grimaces* 

Finish Godmother. This is another one that keeps lingering on my list, though only on year four. I'm only two chapters in and I really like it. We just need to hope that some shiny new project doesn't bump it yet again.

Funky Ferndale continues to be my top selling event.
132 books went to new homes that weekend.

Our inaugural Holland Lit Fest was a big hit. We estimate around 1,000 people shopped 75 authors throughout the day. There were a few small hiccups, but that was to be expected, given it was our first year. We've already met about what we can do better next year and picked a date. Authors are eager to sign up for tables, but we want to revamp our website first so they'll have to hold on until early 2027. 

Our fearless lit fest committee. 

Also on the agenda for the quiet months is getting the author alley for the Mid-Michigan Women's Expo and the Lakeshore Art Festival filled. At least I can manage author wrangling from my comfy chair. 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the 

other participating writers. 

Let's get to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question so I can get back to my quiet activities. If authors who use AI should disclose that, should those who use ghostwriters, have to disclose that too?

Yes, they should. If someone else is doing the work, they should get credit. I think it's important for readers who know who is writing the book they are reading. Someone paying someone else to write the book for them without publicly acknowledging it is not any different than paying the smart kid to do your homework for you. 

Its Almost Writing Time

One more month of selling and then we'll be on to quieter times. Many people ask when I find time to write when I'm on the road signing books all the time. Well, that's what October through February are for. Writing and Resting. Am I ready for those months? Yes! 

I'm looking forward to having more time to do a lot more of this.

New Book Release: Nugget the Space Chicken Book 3

This is a long post this month because, well, I have lots of stuff to talk about. First up and most importantly, I have a new book! 

Nugget the Space Chicken and the Mermaid Treasure of Castalar goes live on August 6. It's currently available for preorder at all your favorite online retailers. You can also find me at any of my in person events to get a signed copy or order one shipped to you from the "Buy Signed Books" tab above.

This is the third book in the Nugget the Space Chicken series. These books are aimed at kids ages 5-9.

Reports say planet Castalar would be perfect for a human colony, but a wild lightning storm upon their arrival says otherwise. Their crash landing only makes things worse.

While their parents repair the lander, Jasper and Opal take Nugget for a walk to explore a small island. They discover that they are not alone. There are aliens in the water and angry pirate birds in the sky.

Can Nugget help humans become friends with the water people by recovering their stolen treasure?

I'm on the road again...

It's one road trip after another time of year. I recently did a seven hour drive to a new comic con in Iowa, which was my longest solo drive to date. I normally try to stick around five hours or less, but every once in a while, it's good to try something new. 

This was a fairly low cost table at an event center connected to an affordable hotel, connected to a very reasonably priced parking garage. The con was very well organized. I met lots of new authors, made new vendor friends, and signed books for readers who had never heard of me before. This wasn't a chicken-friendly event so I got to spend the weekend doodling with my new tiny travel watercolor set instead of tending to a chicken friend. Enter: flat chickens. LOL

While this was a fun experience, attendance was lower than all of us would have liked. That is an issue that they will be addressing next year, and I would give this one another shot. I didn't lose money, but I can't say as I made a good profit. On the plus side, I was gifted a photo op with Star War's actors C. Andrew Nelson and Susanna Malak and I did a lot of networking.

Keeping me company on the long drives, I've listened to the second and third books in the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne and I highly recommend them. I've got the next three audio books queued up for the upcoming weekends. You can't go wrong with irreverent fantasy filled with werewolves, witches, vampires, all sorts of gods, a talking dog and a druid.

Last weekend was a three hour road trip to Grayling, MI for the Ausable River Festival. This was a fairly good two day event last year, despite it raining on Saturday. This year we had no rain and perfect temperatures and books flew off the rack! I sold 110 books in those two days. That's my new second best sales day ever. If only every weekend was like that.

This month, I'm excited to have a couple events close to home, but then I'll be headed to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for the annual trip to the Wild Blueberry Festival. This was the event that inspired Laya's Vacation. These days, I'm traveling with Laya's daughter, Lola, who has taken to shows like a pro from the time she was just a few months old.

I'm excited to have a weekend off this month and then I have five more weekends full of events before my schedule slows down to the final three of the year. One of those is a literary festival I'm helping to organize. Whew boy, it's been a lot of work building something from nothing. If it all goes well, I'm hoping year two will be slightly easier. Fingers crossed for it to be a success.

November 16 can't come soon enough. That's the first day of my resting/writing season. I have so many projects I want to work on! 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the 

other participating writers. 

Let's to get to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group Post. This month's question is: As an author, is there something you wish you'd done differently in your writing process? 

Yep. The same thing that most of us do with our first self-published book. We publish it, thinking its fully proofread, but surprise, it's not. Nothing worse than being all proud of your new book, only to have readers report copious amounts of typos. How? How can this be? Well, it might have had something to do with the fact that we did not have have someone else proofread the book after the last round of edits. Yes, your editor may point out typos, but that's not what they're solely focusing on. Not to mention, you're making corrections, tweaking things, adding the additional details the editor is asking for. All of that is ripe for introducing new typos. 

Are books ever perfect? We can hope so, but even traditionally published books have a ninja typo or two. All we can do is have as many eyeballs on the work before it goes to print as possible to try to catch those sneaky buggers. 

The moral of this story is: You cannot be the proofreader of your book. You can take lots of steps to catch everything you can, but have an eagle-eyed grammar-gifted human make that final pass. It's worth it.