Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Upcoming release and ISWG

 It might be spring? Maybe? It's supposed to be, but the weather hasn't taken the time to fully read the memo. While I deal with snow alternating with rain and the occasional showing of sunshine, here's what's going on in the busy life of this author.

April brings the upcoming release of Kay-Kay The Littlest Chicken! Release date will be announced shortly, but look for this picture book at the end of the month. A children's picture book? Yep. And now for something completely different. :)

The early version of the cover. 

So much painting. Now that the book is finally complete, I can put my paints away for a little while and clean off my desk. While all the painting was fun, I'm looking forward to a break.

We had a little photoshoot for the back cover photo. Kay-Kay decided she would attempt to fly while she was so high in the air already. Her little wings can't actually do the job, but she gets an A for effort. 

She's a 10 month old silkie paint hen with one unusable leg.

While I wait for the proof copy and make any changes before release day, I've been busy reading. I have so many TBR piles around the house, I can't even keep track of what is new or old other than by how much dust is on the cover. One day, I may get to the bottom of at least one of them. 

Upcoming events:
April 14-16 Grand Rapids Comic Con Spring Fling - Kalamazoo, MI
April 23 Tulip City Comic Con - Holland, MI
April 28-30 Whitestown Viking Festival - Whitestown, IN
May 6 Bluestocking Bookshop - Holland, MI book signing with Kay-Kay for the release of her book. 

If you're not familiar with 
and find links to all the other 
participating writers.

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

Do you remember writing your first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are you now and how is it working out for you? 

That's a lot of questions!

#1 Yes. The first book (a very rudimentary effort) that I wrote was what eventually became Trust. The finished piece only very vaguely resembles that first effort. Before that, I wrote a lot of short stories (which were terrible) but made for good learning experiences. 

#2 Writing as a career path is an exercise in extreme patience. While you might be lucky and achieve blockbuster success with your first book, the odds are not in your favor. I work a day job to pay my bills. I write as my second job to pay some bills, but it is not my primary income. Maybe one day, but this is not that day.

#3 Currently, I'm releasing book #14, or #15 if you count the co-written one. I spend most of my weekends meeting readers and selling books. As far as second jobs go, it's quite fulfilling and I enjoy doing it. It's also nice not having it be my sole source of income so I don't have to rely on every event going well or specific sales numbers that I have to reach. I set my deadlines and goals. It's not high pressure, which means I can relax (sort of) and have fun with it.

7 comments:

  1. Your last sentence says it all. Having fun. Best wishes for your Kay-Kay book. Love your back cover photo.

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  2. Congrats on your new release! I can't believe how much you accomplish in your writing career when you have another job.

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    1. Thanks! No one ever said I was completely sane. ;)

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  3. Hi Jean - love the sound of Kay Kay's release - and what a fun story and I love your art work ... cheers Hilary

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  4. That is a funny picture! Congratulations on the upcoming release.
    As always, you are just so busy. But sounds like the time of your life.

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  5. It's nice to diversify and do something different. I envy multitalented writers like yourself. What a fun picture for the back cover.

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