By The Numbers

I haven't started writing a new book yet, but I've been working on a lot of different things. Some of my work last week and this week is preparation for a board meeting of one of my writing groups. We only meet three time per year so there's a lot to cover. But there are other writing things I'm getting done before diving into a new WIP and looking back and forward to things happening and that have happened in my career.

By the numbers:

2 books I have a rough outlines and some plot completed.

3 online classes I've signed up to take over the next five months. Two have to do with marketing.

1 new contract for my most recent completed novel.

1 of my older titles available on KU for the first and limited time. The Marine's Queen was my first bestseller romance.

2,000 books on my TBR list. That's an estimate.

3 publishers who have closed their doors when they held my books under contract. Sigh.....

10.5 years since my very first book, The Greater Good was published. And it still earns some royalties every quarter.

23 books that I've written that have been published by various small presses. Still not rich or famous.

10 weeks until one of my favorite shows, The 100, returns to TV.

4 times I've re-watched season 7 of Game of Thrones. I embarrass myself.

This week I'm going to so some more plotting and next Sunday I'm going to start writing my next book.

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. I remember when we used to have this day off of school and government offices would close. Then they made up that President's Day thing and robbed us of a day off.

Wednesday is Valentine's Day. Hope you have someone to share it with or at least, some great memories to warm the day.
"A good heart's worth gold." William Shakespeare

Do you have a good number to share this week? Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? Have you ever used KU? Good results for selling or reading?

30 Days? Already?

Can we really be 30 days into 2017 already? My calendar says this is true. My word count says over 50K written in my new WIP in January. Haven't come up with a title for that one yet. Since I write in series, I always decide on all three titles at one time and a name for the series as well as the general plot for all three books. Still happy about the progress though as usual, crappy first draft is happening. Rewrites ahead.

A reminder that Wednesday is February 1st and that means Insecure Writer's Support Group post day. Lots of good stuff to talk about this week. If you want to use the question this week (you don't have to) it's an interesting one.
How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?

I read a good book this past week. The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Livingston, book one in an epic fantasy series. So many mysteries, twists and hints of a horrific history. Though the POV characters were young, it doesn't like a YA book. Even at the end, I'm not sure whose side everyone is on. I highly recommend it if you enjoy Brandon Sanderson or Michael J. Sullivan styles of storytelling.

I've managed to catch a few hours of TV lately also. I loved Pitch last fall. If you didn't watch it, you Lucifer has been fun this season. What could be better than finding out that God has a plan to redeem his fallen angel? And the 4th season of Sherlock didn't disappoint though it managed to break my heart a little. And this Wednesday, my current favorite show The 100 comes back on for its 4th season. It's such a dark show but so interesting. Last season the protagonists battled the AI that caused the nuclear holocaust while facing their own xenophobia and tribalism. Though the supposed heroes have been victorious each season, there's no happy celebration. To win, they always have to make decisions and do things that challenge their moral codes. There's never a perfect answer and always an emotional toll. This season they're facing a second radiation danger as the nuclear power plants left unattended for almost a hundred years start to meltdown. It will be good. And that's all the TV I currently have time for.
should even if you don't like baseball.

Did January sneak by you like a slippery eel going down a water slide? Have you accomplished what you wanted this month? Find some good books lately? Are you a fan of any of the shows I mentioned?

Cherished Blogfest 2016

This is my first year participating in the Cherished Blogfest hosted by Dan Antion, Sharukh Bamboat, Damyanti Biswas, Mary Giese, Peter Nena, Cheryl Pennington and Kate Powell where a group of bloggers write a short post about something they cherish and why, picture included or not.

On my writing desk, I have a 4 cards my daughter made for me for Mother's Day during her years at college. A little background here, I have five sons older than my daughter. To say we are close is a vast understatement. We're not needy but sometimes it seems like we're of one mind. We share so many of the same interests and that includes numerous TV shows. Once she went away to college, we couldn't watch them together anymore but we would often call each other the next day and discuss plots and make predictions. For Mother's Day each year, she would pick our current favorite, copy a picture from the show for the front and then write very heart-felt words of her own inside. Doctor Who, The Musketeers, Once Upon a Time, and The 100 have all provided inspiration. Can't share the words, they're too private, but if you're a mother, I guarantee tears. I look at those cards and I see love.

Thanks for those hosting this blogfest. And don't forget to read some more inspiring and lovely posts on the constantly updated list.

What thing do  you cherish?

Back in the Groove

What a great conference I attended this past weekend. I'll be telling you more about it in the coming weeks as I highlight some of the great workshops I experienced. I also have a few great guests lined up. Can't wait to tell you about them, but not today.

Weather is such a cliche conversation topic but if it doesn't stop raining every day in May, I'm going to ... I don't know what. Grow moldy, maybe.

Ankle is recovering. Ribs going a bit slower. Injuries sure healed quicker when I was younger.

A bad thing about writing conferences, I always come home with more books for my TBR pile. One of them was even free. I purchased the other two and got them signed. Both those writers on also on the future guests list. I surprised myself but getting quite a bit of writing done on my WIP at night after workshops and socializing was over. It helps when you can't sleep because of fricking broken ribs.

On the entertainment front, two of my favorite shows are done for the season. Once Upon a Time and The 100 both ended with terrific two part finales. One is a feel good fantasy about fairy tales come to life and the other is grim science fiction set in a post-apocalypse Earth. This summer, I looking forward the last season of Hell on Wheels and The Musketeers. Come on, BBC America, when are your bringing back those swaggering swordsmen with their cool hats?

The 100

The daughter is working from home for about four weeks until she leaves for Morocco for the rest of the summer. It's fun to have her around, especially when it comes to mowing the grass. If it ever stops raining.

Have you joined the IWSG twitter yet? Please stop by and give a shout out.

"Women with clean houses do not have finished books."  Joy Held



So is your house clean this week or are you reading and writing a lot? Any thing entertaining on TV for you this summer? Get yourself over to Twitter and join us.

The Week That Was

Writing
If you're a writer, stop reading now and visit IWSG and learn about keywords and SEO. Everyone hoping to do any kind of promotion needs to understand these mysterious and often confusing terms and how to use them to your advantage.

I didn't get much writing done of my new WIP last week but I did hours of work on my A to Z posts. I hope to have at least half of them scheduled by this time next week. Even though my daughter was home, she had a lot of work to do on her thesis so we worked together separately.

Home Front
I enjoyed my children as teenagers and they're great adults. I don't miss them being in high school, if that makes sense. Except for one of my sons, all my children were excellent in math. I'm not saying they loved it, but they did love this day, 3/14. Yes, math geeks, it's pi day. The math teachers at our local high school would have a party day and the students would bring in pie. I lost count of how many I helped my children make. If your school doesn't celebrate pi day, maybe you can do it with your child and teach them a little math love.

I hope to get more outside work done this week. Lots of bulbs poking their heads up. The geese have been flying over for a few weeks now and the hawks are back. For the past year, there have been a lot of crows around. A entire murder, I suppose. They are creepy birds.

Entertainment
I haven't watched much TV lately though my favorite show, Once Upon a Time, has returned from hiatus. I caught up to The 100 on Netflix. I don't usually like shows where so many of the main characters are teenagers but the kids on that show have grown up fast. I also like post-nuclear war fiction trope. And Daredevil returns to Netflix on March 25th. Can't wait for that. It will help me survive March Madness when my husband and sons watch basketball 24/7. At least it seems 24/7.

That's all for today. My desk is piled so high with things I need to do and a multitude of Post-It notes to remind me of even more things to do.

Are you having pie today for pi day? Needs some pointer on SEO? Are you into March Madness?