Plowing through December

November's writing month was a success! While I'd hoped to get to more than one project, I did at least manage to finish i9. 66,951 words spewed from my head to the the keyboard.  The rough draft of i9 clocked in at 117K. There are definitely some spots than need fleshing out so I'm guessing that will increase a bit but we'll see how the edits shake out when I get that far.

I had a goal of at least 1K a day. Other than the one day 
I was gone at a comic con for long hours, I was able to at
least touch my WIP every day. Yay!

So what's next on the agenda? Editing? Nope. That story needs to rest for a bit. More writing! Those other two projects aren't going to write themselves. Sadly.

While I take a day to ponder which project I'll be diving into next, let's get to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other participating writers.

Do you write cliffhangers? Are they a turn off for you as a reader?

As a writer, I endeavor not to write cliff hangers. The book needs to end. Does the main conflict need to be resolved? Yes. Do the characters need to have meaningful growth? Yes. Can there be a few unresolved tidbits floating around to tease the next book? Yes, that is acceptable.

Would I ever end a book with: to be continued? I have strong words on that topic so we'll leave it at a HARD NO (see the toned down version below).

As a reader, if I invest time and energy into a book at it ends with any version of 'tune in next time to find out', that book is flying at a high velocity into the nearest wall and I will not read that author again. For the love of all that's holy, end the damned book! If an author cannot end a book,  my faith is lost in this little contractual thing we have going on. I purchased a book. I did not purchase a book with the unwitting obligation to by two to twelve other books to find out how it all ends. There need to be 'endings for now' along the way. If the author can show me a gratifying end to a book one and I enjoyed book one, I will likely give book two a try. Leave the choice to continue in the reader's hands.

It's Writing month!

November marks my 19th foray into pouring out a novel in 30 days. 

I used the last half of October to get back into the writing groove, because I'm here to tell you, if you haven't been writing at all seriously in nine or so months, the brain gets a little rusty in that department.

To get back into the swing of things, I set a goal to write (at least) 500 words a day from Oct 14 to 31. Setting a goal lower than I know darn well I can do helped alleviate the pressure of  'having to do the thing'. While it was a rough start and there were three days early on that I wrote less or nothing at all, I did manage to grease the gears enough that my brain and fingers remembered how this noveling thing works. By the end of the month, I was hitting my usual NaNo pace of 1,800 words a day.

I used Trackbear, a nifty new to me app to help set my habit goal that I can also use to set word goals and combine word counts to meet those goals across multiple projects. This is super handy and much easier than trying to math while in writing mode. Check out this free app if your interested in setting writing goals and establishing good wordy habits.

How do I have time to hit 1800 words a day with a job, surprise kids, pets, and all the usual life things?  When I'm in full noveling mode, I write three times a day. Morning (before everyone else is up) tends to be pretty productive. A quick twenty minutes after work but before making dinner. And then whatever time I have between after dinner and before running the surprise kids around / spending time with my husband / becoming unconscious. 

Can I crank out 1,800 words in one sitting? Yes. Can I do that in an hour and half? Sure. Do I like to? No. It's mentally exhausting and hard to maintain day after day. For me, anyway. Your word mileage may vary. Breaking up the word load over the whole day is easier to handle and less stressful. And who needs stress? Save that for your characters. 

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 Insecure Writer's Support Group question is: What creative activity to you engage in when you're not writing? 

I paint, doodle, go on random new craft binges, and when in the mood, do cross stitch. What do you like to do?

Oh Thank Goodness, It's September!

I made it through the six weekends of events in a row of the August frenzy! I won't say I'm coherent or brimming with anything other than good memories, money for groceries for the next few months, and a hankering for a week of nothing but naps and reading, but I'm here.

 August highlights include:

Author Joan Young and I spent a long weekend in Michigan's Upper
Peninsula at the Wild Blueberry Festival.

I made some time for a beer and a book on the shore of Lake Superior.

Author Ingar Rudholm and I spent a weekend meeting readers
at the South Haven Blueberry Festival.

Magical creatures at the Michiana Ren Fest enjoyed
 visiting with Laya and picking up her book.

It was a hot weekend at the Michiana Ren Fest, but I met lots of readers
and managed not to poke any eyes out with my fairy wings.

Now that I have Laya's Vacation out in the world, what am I working on next? Resting. Do I have projects lined up? Yes. I'll get back into them sometime between now November, when writing begins again in earnest for National Novel Writing Month. Until that urge returns: Naps and reading and one author event a month until the end of the year. A much more manageable pace.

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 portion of the post. This month's fellow co-hosts are: Beth Camp, Yvonne Ventresca, and PJ Colando

We're back to school and talking about English class and the one writing rule we learned that messed us up. But honestly, I can't think of any rules that I've had issues with or that my editors  repeatedly have thrown back at me. There are things I've forgotten and had to look up because it's been... umm, 35 years. Other than that, I loved English classes. I took all of them, even the elective ones! It was one of the few subjects, other than art and the sewing portion of home economics, that I was really good at. Let's not talk about math or science, well, the math parts of science, anyway. Numbers bad. Letters, good!

To stay on topic(ish) though, I was recently talking with my father and he mentioned running into his English teacher, who asked if he was still writing. He had stopped before I was born and I've never read anything he'd written (in a creative writing sense), but he mentioned I was writing and published, which his teacher was excited about. This is so very weird to me because: Numbers. My English teachers and my art teacher have passed away - people I would very much have loved to share my accomplishments with - from only 35 years ago. Yet, his teacher is still out and about and remembered that he used to write. At least one English teacher, even if it wasn't mine, is excited for my accomplishments. I'll take it. :)

 

New Release: Laya's Vacation

It seems like it's been a bit since I've had a new release. Ok, it was March, which, in the grand scope of things, wasn't that long ago, but I'd really hoped to have this book done by June and well, that just didn't happen. Will I have another book out this fall? Odds are not likely, but I won't rule it out.

But we're here today to celebrate the release of Laya's Vacation! Woohoo! After months of trying to do the illustrations in between events, work, and life stuff, I finally finished this labor of chicken love. Even more stressful than trying to get the book finished was the fact that Laya was ill twice and at four years old, I was worried things might not work out for her. How long do chicken's live, is a question I get asked all the time. The answer: not as long as you'd like. My oldest chicken is 9 and she's not in a good way, but she's still kicking so we let her go about her days until she's ready to tell me she's done.

The good news is that after some meds and a lot of love, Laya is back in good health and ready to promote the release of her book. Hooray!

This book is based on Laya's adventures with me last year in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We'll be returning there later this month so at least we made this book happen before that show. #goals

The art is all watercolor paintings and this book has more pages than the Kay-Kay book so I knew what I was in for, but still...I did it anyway. See also: Why it took so long to finish.

Short-tempered from the summer heat, Laya takes a vacation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, far away from her family and friends. She travels to Paradise, Whitefish Point, and Tahquamenon Falls to see what animals and sights exist beyond the chicken yard.

The official release date is August 10. You can order signed copies now from the "Buy Signed Copies" tab above (within the US) and I'll get those out as soon as I have books in my hands. The book is also available from all the usual online retailers including Amazon / B&N

You can also get your signed copy at these upcoming events:

August 10&11    South Haven Blueberry Festival 
August 16-18     Wild Blueberry Festival in Paradise, MI 
August 24&25    Michiana Renaissance Festival in South Bend, IN
Aug 31 & Sept 1 Newaygo Logging Festival 

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 Insecure Writer's Support Group question is about using AI, which is a topic it feels like we just talked about a couple months ago and my answer is still the same: No, I don't use AI for book creation, marketing, or research. All these weird and twisted people, creatures, and plots come from my brain. Yay me!

If we could get AI on washing dishes and doing laundry, maybe mowing the grass, and cleaning toilets, now that, I'd be up for. Leave the creative stuff to humans.

How Do You Write? July IWSG

June was busy. July will also be busy. August will be insane and then things get better. September through January are my writing months. I'm looking forward to those months. Nice sedate, quieter months.

Not that the busy months are all bad. During those months, book sales at all these events pay for my groceries, my house cleaning, a little extra income so I can have fun now and then, and they also have been subsidizing my major garden project. Thank you to everyone who has purchased a book so far this year. I enjoy eating.

Laya and I were included in a local news article about the Lakeshore Art Festival.

I'm wrapping up the artwork for Laya's Vacation and am aiming for an August release. When in August is yet to be determined. Am I running behind? Yep. Am I stressing about it? Eh, what can you do?

Critiques on I9 continue to bode well. Now I just have to continue writing it. Is it September yet?

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 IWSG question asks: What is your favorite writing software/tools/apps? My favorite is good old Word. Yep. I don't need bells or whistles. Let me count the ways I love thee:

I know Word. 

My fingers know Word. 

It does what I need it to do: sit there quietly while I put words on a page. 

It autosaves for me. 

It keeps all my current stuff projects in the 'recent' folder so they are easy to find. 

I don't get distracted from writing on an internet hunt to figure out how to use some feature of it. 

Both Grammarly and Pro-Writing aid have a plug in for it. 

The .doc format easily imports into InDesign when I'm ready to format. 

Everyone accepts a .doc or .pdf from Word for submissions and critique. 

The newer version has a built in narrator that makes read aloud edits super easy. 

If you set up your document correctly, Word event makes jumping around between chapters super easy with it's side bar menus.

Are there plenty of other options? Sure. But Word is what works for me. 

IWSG June?

How is it June already? Time flies when your schedule is full. And then you get a cold. Twice. And drop all the balls and then scramble to pick them all up. I don't have time to be sick! Get thee away from me germs!

I bought my spirit t-shirt.

How is progress on Laya's Vacation going that I planned to release at the end of June? Slowly. (see above). We're now looking at August or September. Not ideal (given my event schedule) but it is what it is.

Laya doodles

Writing in general? Out the window. I am getting some reading done after hours at events though, so yay?

Yes, September is a long way off, but I'm looking forward to quieter times. Does this mean I'll slow my event roll next year? Mmmm probably not. But I will attempt to better organize and protect my writing months (Sept-Feb) so I don't have to stress about fall releases. 

Sales have been good at events since April. Which is wonderful because Jan-March sales were pretty dismal. Now we're in tight inventory management times with 3-5 events per month. No stress at all. Everything is fine. *grimace*

The weather has been playing relatively nice, though this next ren faire looks like a rainy weekend. Ah, the perils of outdoor events. 

Meet Ziggy, my newest chicken buddy.

Other distractions have included: 

Building a large raised garden bed with 70lb+ blocks because my wooden ones rotted after 7 years. This giant bed is going NOWHERE:

Progress!

Sewing a ren faire outfit for my daughter:

Tunics for everyone!

Weeding flowerbeds (a losing battle that maybe I'll catch up on this fall) No pic needed here. Imagine a hill full of weeds and small unwanted trees with flowers poking up through them. Yep. You got it.

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 let's get to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question: In this constantly evolving industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider offering to members?

Clones. As long as my clone and I don't get sick at the same time, we could be so much more productive. One could stay home and work on the flower garden and sew and paint and write and the other could go off on road trips to events and work on Amazon ads. One of us could sleep now and then. That would be super cool. We might even make notable progress on my towering TBR stacks. Maybe. Hmm. But that might also mean two of us lose in the bookstore. Nope. Only one clone is allowed to buy books. We must have rules!

Ok, I should probably have a serious answer here but my brain to too scrambled to offer constructive suggestions.

May brings so many distractions

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 chaos of book-related events is in full swing now. What should I be doing? Writing. I was hoping to be adding more words to I9 now that One Shot At The Sphinx is out. If all had gone according to plan, I was also supposed to be wrapping up illustrations for Laya's Vacation.

Did things go according to plan? No.

What a perfect IWSG question for this month: How do you deal with distractions when you're writing? I'd love to say that I avoid them and diligently write. But the truth is, I dive into them full throttle.

Why? Because if I'm all in on a project, I can't be distracted. In fact, I often can't be bothered with things like sleeping or eating regularly. But if that urge is grabbing me, it's usually my brain telling me I need a break to recharge. And who am I to argue with my brain?

April's distractions on the downside from releasing Frayed and Sphinx, included all six seasons of Vikings among many other Netflix indulgences, and starting a random cross-stitch project after not having done one in years. 

And now that I'm over my Netflix binge, I'm back to painting so I can get the Laya book out this summer. 

Sometimes we need a brain break. 

Last month was also busy with Grand Rapids Comic Con Spring Fling, at which Nana Visitor 
(of DS9 fame, which is my favorite Star Trek, in case you were wondering) stopped by to pet Kay-Kay while she was taking a break from her table. Sadly, I did not get photo evidence.

The show mascot also liked Kay-Kay. Chickens unite!

I just got unpacked from a weekend at Viking Fest with Laya. It was generally good weather for once and we had a lot of fun. We survived the spring winds and rain showers and I managed to get a sunburn. But no hail this year and it was actually downright hot on Sunday so its a win!

I get this weekend off and then there are four weekends of excitement at which I'll be camping. Who scheduled this??? (That would be me.) Renaissance faires and comic cons oh my!

See you next month after a long warm shower. By then I'll probably craving another round of distractions. 

Warmer weather brings busy times

April showers bring May flowers and so many projects.

Yes, I normally juggle a few writing projects but it seems like everything is wanting to be written at once. And I'm excited about all of these things so it's hard to focus on just one. For the record, focusing on one project while pondering the others is how I would recommend managing this balancing act. It's just not working right now.

Currently on my virtual desk:

Painting interior art for Laya's Vacation (children's picture book)

Writing The Adventures of Nugget the Space Chicken (young reader chapter book)

Writing I9 (stand-alone adult Science Fiction Mystery

Finishing Interface (stand-alone YA sci-fi)

Writing Godmother (stand-alone YA fairytale)

Fleshing out this new idea for a funny post-apocalyptic zombie/ghost story that just manifested. 

Among other things that are not-so-patiently waiting their turn. OMG. If someone knows where the dial down on the idea faucet is, could they help a girl out? Please?

On the things I can check off my list from last month:

The refresh for the interiors of The Narvan series is done and uploaded. This was more of a 'for me' thing because I wanted them all spiffy to match the new novella prequel release of One Shot at the Sphinx. Which, if you didn't grab your copy from my last post, it's still free on Smashwords, B&N, and Kobo. 

In addition to several events, I visited with the members of the book club at Jason's Books and Coffee in Grand Rapids who read Destiny Pills & Space Wizards. (And yes, I look weirdly photoshopped into that photo, but it's legit. Crazy phone camera focus)

T-rex joined me for
the West Michigan Women's Expo 

Kay-Kay and I visited six classrooms for March Reading Month, talking about books, writing, and chickens. We had a lot of fun and so did the kids. 

My new distraction:

My flock grew last month. Meet Lucy. She's a Toulouse goose mix that is settling in nicely with my chicken ladies. 

When I'm not busy working out the yard, playing with my flock, or working on that list of projects, I'll be signing books at these fun places:

April 6: Cadillac Pop Con, Cadillac, MI

April 12-14: Grand Rapids Spring Fling Comic Con, Kalamazoo, MI

April 26-27: Whitestown Viking Festival, Whitestown, IN

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Speaking of doing lots of things, let's get to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question:

How long have you been blogging? What to you like about it and how has it changed?

It doesn't seem like this long, but apparently, I've been at this since January of 2010! When I first stepped into the blogging pool seemed like so many others were doing it too. These days it feels like our numbers have dwindled. It could be that many, like me, are still at it, but we don't post as often as we used to. Thanks to this group, I can say I at least post once a month. Hooray for that!

I met a lot of fun people through their blogs, had a great time doing various blog hops. The A to Z challenge was a particularly great one that pushed me to think of new ways to work that in each year. Sadly, these days, I don't have as much brain to devote to blogging as I did back when I was first starting out. At that time I was just getting into the publishing world, writing a lot of short stories and polishing my first novels. Now I'm busy going out to promote my bookstack and drowning in the perpetually running faucet of inspiration when I'm home. 

There are far worse problems to have. ;)

Keep blogging. 

You get a free book for my birthday month!

This has been the best winter ever in terms of weather. We had real winter for a month. That was just long enough to appreciate winter. Anyway, moving on to Spring! Yay! I can deal with occasional days of snow in between the good ones, but being able to work in the yard in FEBRUARY is pretty damn awesome. Especially when the months that I'm usually trying to squeeze in lawn clean up are filled with book events.

Between the stick picking up duties and bonfires, I'm putting the final editing touches on One Shot At The Sphinx. Which led to sitting down to re-read the series to make sure I have all the facts straight. Oh, the perils of writing a prequel after building the world for six books. And while I'm reading, I got the bright idea to reformat the paperback interiors to celebrate the series being tied up. Is it actually done? It might go on (there are notes for another book) but the core series is complete. I'm not changing the content, just doing a facelift. #projects.

Painting on Laya's Vacation is slow going. The cover is done but I haven't found my grove on the rest yet beyond doing a full mock up of the book. My brain needs to wrap up the series first before it has the power to delve into this undertaking.

Writing on I9 is on hold, also until the series is wrapped up, because it turns out that working on two sci-fi projects at once makes story details easy to entangle. Oops. #dontcrossthestreams

March is my birthday month, so this year, I'm offering sales on some of my ebooks. 

A Broken Race is only .99 Feb 26 - March 4 on Amazon

Not Another Bard's Tale and Dreams Of Stars And Lies are only .99 - March 3-9  on Smashwords

Sahmara is FREE March 20-24

Mid-Michigan Women's Expo 

My one February event was a blast other than a medical emergency with one of the other attending authors the morning of the first day. Nothing like a medical scare to start things off. Thankfully, everyone is ok now and we agree on the need for having an emergency contact list for group events like this in the future. 

18 Authors and so many books

March is full of fun author events. You can find me at:

Hall of Heroes Comic Con - March 2&3

West Michigan Women's Expo - March 15-17

Alma Con - March 23&24

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 Insecure Writer's Support Group question is:

Have you "played" with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?

This month's co-hosts are: 

Miffie Seideman  https://miffieseideman.com/  

Kristina Kelly    http://kristinaseyes.com/

Liza http://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/   

Jean Davis http://jeanddavis.blogspot.com/  

I'm not a fan of AI in writing. I don't use it beyond the common features of Grammarly and Pro Writing Aid. Even then, I don't like the more AI involved features those programs offer. #theresistance

Could AI help me write my synopsis? Sure. Can I write a synopsis? Also sure. Having done it a few times, writing a blurb or a synopsis isn't a terrible chore anymore. I've gotten fairly comfortable with it.

Could AI help me brainstorm scenes? Yep. I could also just sit here and close my eyes and brainstorm scenes. Again, having written quite a few books, I'm fairly comfortable and confident in my ability to keep the writing momentum going.

Could it help me pick out appropriate keywords for ads? Now this I might delve into a little because I'm not comfortable there yet. But that's not quite as much on the 'creative' end of the AI abilities as much as other aspects. Like all tools, AI has its uses. Just be responsible so we don't end up with #skynet blowing us up over bad grammar.

Not Feeling The Love

It's been a rough start to the year. We had to stay goodbye to our 16.5 year old terrier a couple weeks ago due to health reasons. This was in the wake of the unexpected death of our 11 year old terrier in November. I also lost two of my fluffy chicken friends to a nasty illness in January. Crossing my fingers that the rest of the flock is ok. So far, everyone looks good.

Say hello to my new shadow, 9 year old Skittles. He's currently curled up in my blanket next to me on the chair. He prefers to be attached if I'm stationary anywhere. Good thing he's small because my chair isn't that big.

After three weeks of distribution snags, Frayed is finally available at all your favorite online retailers. It's been a journey, guys, I won't lie. The writing, the finishing, and then the distribution hiccups that were out of my control. But here we finally are. Whew! Signed copies are available from the tab at the top or you can find  me at the Mid-Michigan Women's Expo in Lansing (Feb 9-11).

God doesn’t make mistakes. That choice to give man free will, though, that has caused nothing but problems. Problems that need fixing.

When an angel shows up to hand Samuel Mason a task he never asked for, his first reaction is to refuse. Killing the little boy next door is unthinkable. But there’s a contract with Sam’s name already on it and the angel won’t take no for an answer.

Fulfilling his task will ruin Sam’s life, his family, and devastate the boy’s mother. How long can a good kid hold out before he becomes the very thing society expects him to be?

Frayed

Davis, Jean

Buy Now

January was a month for getting behind the scenes things gone. I updated awards, back cover blurbs, and 'also by' pages on all of my books, printed new booth banners, updated my book racks, and made new bookmarks and new business cards. All of these things had to be done because... I have several new books since they were last done. #writerproblems 

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 portion of the post. This month's question is: What turns you off when visiting a writer's website or blog?

My number one turn off is: I can't find what I'm there for. 

Have clear tabs for things. Make it easy for your visitors to find what they want. Links to your books, about you, photos, your signing schedule, blurbs, your contact information and your blog or posts. Or any combination thereof. Put all of that in an easy to find spot at the top of the page. Please. Do not make me jump through hoops, because I don't do much jumping anymore. I'm busy. If you make it hard, I will just go away.

It's 2024!

As we slip into shiny new year, it's time to look forward to new things. Usually I have a one word resolution but I've yet to come up with one so I'm forgoing that this time around. As always, I'm hoping for a more relaxed year, but that never seems to actually happen. Doesn't hurt to hope though.

How did I do with my 2023 goals?

• Release Everyone Dies: A Collection of Dark Tales DONE!

• Finally finish Frayed, because OMG this has been a tough one to get from brain to page. DONE!

• Illustrate Kay-Kay: The Littlest Chicken (new) DONE!

• Write/finish one of the following projects: Godmother (new), I9 (new), or Interface (2016 WIP). 

    I did start I9 so I'm calling that somewhat done.

• Release one of those five projects. I released Everyone Dies and Kay-Kay so DONE!

• Don't keel over. I'm still kicking. DONE!

New books I hope you'll see in 2024:

Frayed - out with ARC readers

One Shot At The Sphinx - in the last round of edits

Laya's Vacation - waiting for illustrations

Projects I hope to get to or wrap up in 2024:

Godmother - currently just notes

i9 - first draft in progress

Interface - first draft in progress

Other goals for 2024:

As always, I'm hoping to read more. I have so many books on my TBR stacks and on my kindle. 

I'd like to get out in my flower garden more. We'll see if my body cooperates.

Maybe work a little less. Yes, I'm laughing at that one while looking at my 2024 events over there on the right, but we're back to that hope thing. 

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: Do you follow back readers on Bookbub or only other authors. 

Well, I don't use Bookbub, so we're going to answer with platforms I do use: Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. I mostly follow back other authors, but if I've met a reader in person at an event, there's a fairly high chance that I'll follow them back too. I tend to only follow people I actually know rather than amassing numbers. That's probably not the most marketing beneficial way to go about it, but that's how I roll. 

December updates

It's hard to believe we're back to December already. Maybe if I wasn't always on the go, time wouldn't fly by? Nah, it probably still would. 

November always flies by. Between Grand Rapids Comic Con and NaNoWriMo, its a flurry of people and words. 

Grand Rapids Comic Con went well. It was fun as always and Kay-Kay got to come to her first con. Petting a chicken sure made a lot of people happy. Lots of books found new homes and I had a great time chatting with the other guest authors each day. 

NaNoWriMo resulted in 50,000 new words! Of my projects:

Laya's Vacation is a complete draft

One Shot At The Sphinx (a Narvan Novella) is a complete draft

I9 (a stand-alone scifi novel) is 1/3 finished.

Godmother didn't get started yet

Overall, I'm happy with the month of writing and the drafts are all workable. Hooray!

I'm taking December off, not because I want to but because work is crazy thanks to the holiday shoppers, I have a five day trip to North Carolina for work next week, and three small book events on the weekends until Christmas. Somewhere in there, I need to decorate, wrap presents, bake cookies, and host two Christmas family things. A writing break is in order.

Alrighty, let's get onward to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question: 

Book reviews

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

 are for the readers. When you leave a book reviews do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?

The author isn't the book. I'm reading the book. Authors are people and many are like me, we write a lot of different things. We learn, we grow, our writing styles change. You may be reviewing the latest book they've written, but in the world of publishing, things move slow. That book could have been written three years ago and stuck in the publishing machine. 

Review the book. That book. Not everything else they've written that you may or may not have read. 

In a review, I will comment about what I liked or didn't like and why. I don't assume the author will ever read the review. Many don't. I rarely do. If you have something super nice or constructive criticism to offer, contact the author. The review is to help other readers decide if that book is for them.

If I don't pop on here before January, have a happy holiday season! Enjoy your family, your pet(s), or at least curl up somewhere quiet with a good book.