Visiting a lighthouse, using planners, and staying motivated

Well, it's the middle of February so that means I'm still plugging away at my goal-oriented planning.

From the photo above you can see that I have been outside and getting fresh air. Last weekend Mister Pick and I took Daisy to Souter Lighthouse which was interesting even though Daisy acted up and tried to jump on every dog and human that came close to her. (Goldendoodles are insane, I tell you.)

I went in the lighthouse on my own while Steve took her for a walk and the gal at reception told me that it was 75 or so stairs and the last bit was very steep. Now, me being me, I heard that and thought immediately, "Well, I won't be climbing that then, will I?"

But I did.

It was freaky though because on the way back down you have to go backward like on a ladder and my life flashed before my eyes a bit because I could see myself falling straight back and them having to find Steve on the beach to tell him that his wife had broken both of her legs in a freak lighthouse incident.

But I didn't, and I was proud of myself.

I'm such a wuss, I swear.

Anyway, so I was pleased with myself after that and looked at the little lighthouse cottage before going outside and hanging out with Daisy while Steve took a look inside.

Having a National Trust membership is nice when the weather permits you to explore things nearby.

We also took a walk down the coast, hence where this photo was taken, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

I was off on Wednesday and that was the first time that Daisy went to doggy daycare when I was home so I felt like a free woman who didn't have to check on the baby every five minutes. I went to the dentist, the gym (hooray!), Weight Watchers (lost 3 pounds -- more hooray), and bought myself a bike because I want one. (I totally need a wicker basket for the front of it!)

Valentine's Day was good. We had M&S Dine in for Two (tradition) and I got my super cool Cath Kidston Bambi bag!

Today we took a walk along the river and I found lots of nice paths where I can ride my new bike, so I'm super excited. This bike is by no means the fancy cool Trek that I have left in Florida, but it's cute and comfortable from what I could tell from the showroom, so I'm ready to take up casual cycling again.

We also had a chance to look around our new neighborhood and was pleasantly surprised at all that was going on. We even had a couple of people stop to chat with us and we get the idea that we're notorious (in a good way) because the couple who owned our house before us were well-liked around here, and I'm sure they let everyone know that we'd be turning up with this mad dog.

Now, I've focused on my good things because all of this is part of my planning for achievement and working on spending family time as well as my fitness which really, really needs for me to keep myself accountable for each week.

Again, I'm really stoked about my Passion Planner, and my This is My Era planner. I still find it so easy to be lazy and procrastinate but this has helped me put things in perspective, even if it's small personal objectives. Not that health and creativity are small topics.

Like, one of my objectives is to amp up bookblogarama.com but it's going to be so much work and it's so much easier to just not start getting involved. However, I really want to have more book reviews and interact with more book bloggers so I'm going to have to just dig in and get that started.

I'm also listening to podcasts which I never did before but it seems to put me in a better frame of mind for the rest of the day, as opposed to music where my mind can wander.

The writing is okay too. I at least work on something most days, so that's a huge accomplishment considering how little writing I was doing for the last few years, honestly.

And with that said, here's hoping everyone had a fab Valentine's Day and enjoys the rest of their February!

Our trip to Amsterdam

This week I went on my first continental European trip. I’ve lived in England for six years and I’ve never had the holiday time or the money for a city break. This year I made sure that we celebrated Steve’s birthday with something new and fun, and off to Amsterdam we went.

The trip from Newcastle is only about an hour’s flight time, and while we had the option of the ferry from North Shields, the advice by my friends was that we should take a flight so we had more time for museums and sightseeing. Everyone I know here has been to Amsterdam a bunch times, so it being my first journey I was so eager to see everything because the place had been so highly recommended.

We stayed for three nights and the weather was glorious. We stayed in this amazing little apartment all of our own in a busy area of the city. We were around the corner from the Anne Frank House and Westerkerk the church with the bells that Anne Frank found so reassuring.

Going to see the Anne Frank House was surreal. My first aspirations for writing came from my sixth grade teacher reading us The Diary of Anne Frank, so I was ready to spill tears all over the place before I even got into the museum – I was so moved by the whole experience. I soldiered on though, and I enjoyed seeing the museum. A lot of information about the family was stuff I knew from my own curiosity, so I’d seen some of the videos they played (thank you, internet) but it was fascinating and heart-breaking just the same. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, and now I’ve done it. I even brought home something I’ve always wanted – a red, checked diary like Anne’s. (I love gift shops.)

We also saw the Van Gogh Museum. Steve and I liked getting up close to the paintings and seeing the intricate detail of the brush strokes. I cannot believe that he did so much in only ten years. I was also very impressed with myself that I had watched enough documentaries on artists to know how to pronounce the other artists names like Toulouse-Lautrec and Gauguin. Also, I decided that I love this painting of his the best. I just love the colors and the brush strokes, especially in his eyes.

We spent a lot of time at the Rijksmuseum and I can tell you that we saw so much culture that we were cultured out. I loved the Rembrandt painting and Napoleon’s pistols. I walked a total of 7 miles that day, and my feet were on fire, so I didn’t get to enjoy it all as much as I wished I could. But we went to every floor and saw as much as we could that afternoon.

It was Day Three of walking, drinking Heineken, eating pancakes, stroopwafles, and burgers. I had seen the Red Light District, a ton of bicycle riders, about as many American tourists (*waves flag*) and taken a canal boat cruise. All in all it was a perfect, lovely mini holiday and we’re eager to go back again. We only scratched the surface on all the things Amsterdam has to offer. We even talked about moving (though we hear it’s super expensive to live there) and I want to learn some Dutch for next time.

Anyway, this review sounds fairly juvenile and basic compared to what we saw and how we felt about the place, but it’ll have to do for now. If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend seeing the place yourself. It’s a beautiful, laid-back city with all sorts of things to see and do. We hated to go back home but, alas, here we are and we’re back to work tomorrow. Oh well, Steve has had a good birthday.

What up Wednesday 12 Dec 2015

Here’s another example of why writing is hard: recently I finally got into the groove of writing a story that had a nice voice. That’s kind of hard to keep going once you walk away from the story and come back to it later. When I have thought about how the story is going to go, I end up listing things that happened, rather than letting the character in all her glory, explaining how things happened.

It’s really frustrating.

Again, it’s that thing someone said before about how you make your own work and you’re not that excited about it because you know you can do better. You’ve seen other people hitting the mark that you want to reach, and when you do subpar art, it makes the effort less of an achievement.

Also, I’ve finally accepted that I shouldn’t work on anything that I haven’t spent a long time thinking about. When I have the story in my head, I can sit down when it’s working time, and get into a scene I already know will happen. Not following an outline so much, because those always change as the story goes along, but having seen scenes in my head a bunch of times already. That makes it easier to sit down cold after a few days of letting life get in the way.

So, I have 8 days of work left until my Christmas break. Today’s my last full day off until then. (Not including Sunday.) Then it will be days and days of being festive and enjoying time at home.

I really love being at home, especially when I’m busy most of the time.

And, my foot is driving me crazy. First they told me I had plantar fasciitis, which isn’t surprising since it started when I started working in the library this time last year. I went to the doctor and the physical therapist all for my stupid foot. Also, my lack of Weight Watching has greatly contributed to this foot harassment. That’s another pain in the butt, because I’m trying to walk more, but with a dodgy foot, activity is something I can’t really do without pain. Yesterday, for example, my arch was feeling better, but then the top of my foot started hurting when I put my old shoes on. I have to wear these big, clunky athletic shoes with arch supports, and it’s just annoying.

Anyway, today is a day of rest and writing. Happy Wednesday!

Update for December

I may as well make an update while I have a chance, because I’m not really going to be able to until Christmas time.

I started my IT job last week and it gives me even less time to write or do much work. I have six people in my office, and most of them come in really early, so I don’t really have alone time. I could bring my laptop in and hide in the staff room at lunch, maybe, but I’ll have to gauge how the job will work. No one stays in that office all day – they’re always on call to other libraries.

So my creative time is at an all-time low. I’ll work some today, and try to get back into the feel of the story, but that’s going to be a one shot deal. I recently saw a GIF that read, “All I want for Christmas is time to write,” which about sums it up.

But aside from that, I’ve been reading Elizabeth is Missing, which is something different for me as well. Every morning, I leave early, take my one bag because I have to travel light now – never know what library I’ll end up in – that holds my Kindle. I have an hour commute because I don’t drive at all over there. I just get on with it, in the fine British tradition.

So, no, I didn’t get a complete or even a half manuscript done in November. I can only plod along at my own leisure. I read a quote this week, saying you should write without an audience in mind, like, just write for yourself. I don’t know if that’s entirely possible. Everything I write is a key away from being published online for someone to see. Everything we do, we know we can publish in some form or another, and naturally I think, “People would like this, no, maybe they won’t.”

But no matter, it has to get done one way or the other.

What Up Wednesday 11 Nov 2015

For my second instalment of What Up Wednesday, I can offer some information about my current NaNoWriMo project.

I’m always second guessing what project I should be working on. Last week I decided to work on the Wattpad story I started on vacation in September. Of course, the moment that I made the decision to work solely on this story for a whole month, the second guessing came back.

“Why not work on this book? That other book? Why?”

But then it hit me in the most simplest way – it doesn’t matter.

I can work on one thing for a month and ignore the other story ideas I have for a while. There’s always next month and the month after to go back to them. What I didn’t work on last month, or even what I was working on, can wait a month while I do this gut instinct response project.

It doesn’t matter.

So far I have 4383 words of the small 25,000 word goal I set myself for my own personal NaNoWriMo experience. I think putting things in perspective and aiming for smaller goals sort of makes it easier on me. Too often I have the grandiose idea of what the whole series and all the characters will do. Granted, that’s fun in itself, but it means trying to work out too much all at once. This way, I’m taking it in smaller chunks.

It’s been too easy for me to get involved with the routine of work, even though there’s not much going on at the library at all. Without the word count aims, no matter how small for each day, I would only have the day job to place my aspirations in. That’s just not enough.

Steve and I have been talking about how day jobs suck the creative opportunities out of it for us. At the end of the day, what do we have to show for what we’ve done, especially if we’re just working on something that someone else has given us as a project to do. We’re a small piece of the puzzle there. At home, with our own work, we can take pride in doing our own book or our own artwork. There’s more self satisfaction and pride in that kind of work.

Anyway, for my book inspiration I’ve been reading The Secrets We Keep and Life and Death. I’ve been using Word, Scrivener, Wattpad, and Evernote to get my word count down. I even added my story to Inkitt for the NaNo contest. Wish me luck!

Writing by the seat of my pants

Write. That’s the most important thing, right?

I was watching a documentary on Ian Fleming, and his advice about writing was to just get the story down.

Writing about 2,000 words in three hours every morning, 'Casino Royale' dutifully produced itself. I wrote nothing and made no corrections until the book was finished. If I had looked back at what I had written the day before I might have despaired.
~ Ian Fleming

Now, my biggest hang-ups are indecisiveness. What should I write about? Is what I’m writing the right thing I should be writing at the moment? Is this anything anyone would read? Would I read this? Etc.

So, what I started working on today was what I started working on in Wattpad while I was back home in Florida in September. I’ve always wanted something contemporary and girlie like Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars, and the beach made a perfect setting.

But I have no plot. I have no outline. Just a basic idea. I’m just going to write stuff and make a huge mess and see where it leaves me. I’m not expecting to get to 50k this month, maybe 25k if I’m lucky. But that’s fine for me at the moment.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great NaNoWriMo. Keep on writing. The finish line will be there, so we have to keep running, walking, and even crawling toward it.

Kicking writing butt in October

Well, we’re back from our holiday in Florida. We spent two weeks of soaking up the sun, swimming, going to Hollywood Studios, dressing up for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and feasting at EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival.

My favorite part of the trip always is lingering at the pool and playing on the beach. I never was a big beach person until I moved away and realized how much I miss the sunshine.

After our visit with my parents, and the plethora of supplies we can get from Wal-Mart and Target, we pretty much decided that we’ll have to move back to the U.S.A. soon.

HOORAY!

It’s not that I don’t love out little home, and the fact that I’ve been able to get things done over here, writing-wise. I just think we’ll have way more opportunities now than we will here.

But until then, I’m back to working on my stories. Since I’ve been working at the library non-stop (and trust me, I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow at all) I’ve not had a lot of time to be creative. That is a number one bummer for me, and I’m sure most people can empathize with my plight. So, I’ve spent some of the holiday and most of this weekend getting writing ducks back in a row.

I started working on the stories that I have kept in the back of my head, but haven’t done much with them. I’ve made a handy books page on the author site (which I’m cross-posting to from here) to give me a good boost of motivation.

If you can see it, you can believe it.

Also, I was just looking at my NaNoWriMo account, and it suggested that those with book covers get finished. So, I’ve made myself some covers to guide me.

I’m also going to start updating my stories on Wattpad more. I think that’s going to be a good homework assignment/deadline/goal to reach for, especially if there’s a potential audience out there.

Therefore, I’ve put the first working prologue of Club Paradise on Wattpad.

It’s contemporary, it’s fun, it’s YA, and it’s everything I’ve been wanting to write for a long time. With that in mind, I’ll be sure to keep the story up-to-date, as well as the blog.

There’s nothing like a nice vacation to clear your head and make you more determined than ever to work your butt off!

The end of July

I have about five minutes to type until I have to leave for a doctor’s appointment. I have the sneaking suspicion that I have a bone spur in my left foot, so I’m going to have to get that sorted before the usual Florida/Disney holiday in Autumn.

I’m still working at the same branch at the library, and we’ve just been asked to apply for permanent posts within the council for said assistant jobs. I applied for a three month Info Manager (“librarian”) job, but since I’m going to be on holiday, and I wouldn’t be able to go back to my branch for sure, I decided to withdraw my application. My manager said I was mad not to take the opportunity, but I didn’t get the idea that I would be hired for it anyway. Oh well.

Everyone gets changed around frequently, so no one stays at a branch for long, so the possibility of my being moved is there anyway, but if I were to take a 3 month job in a manager role, it’s guaranteed that I won’t be able to go back there.

For writing, I’ve lately figured out that I can get 500 words done in the morning if I go to work early, sit at my desk, and churn something out for fifteen minutes or so. This isn’t ideal when I’m on a role, but it will have to do for now. This is the kind of job when you’re needed constantly, so sitting down to collect your thoughts isn’t really possible.

And here they thought people in libraries just read books all day. I wish!

Steve may be going on to another job nearby soon as well – right now we’re not sure how that will pan out. So, by and large, we’re getting on with it and keeping our heads afloat as usual.

I applied for an IT Manager job, separate from the library before they told me I could be permanent, but I didn’t get it. Not enough experience with the server they were using. Still, that was my first manager interview. Pretty cool, huh?

An update for July

It’s been hot lately, aside from the awesome thunderstorms and rain we’ve had a few days here and there. English weather is weird – it will change every five minutes. At least in Florida, it rained for a few minutes, then went back to humidity and heat. Here, it’s cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon. You always need an umbrella, and it’s nice to keep a jacket just in case.

We went to York again last month and saw some more sights. Since the weather was better, my photos were better – even the ones of the prison as pictures above. I was also able to call my my parents in Florida with FaceTime and show them York in real time. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? I know it’s funny for most people in Europe to not imagine nativity when it comes to public transportation, but just a video call from the train is a revelation to most of us from Florida. We simply just don’t do all that. The Metro is something discussed in French language lessons and the train is a novelty item, as in, “How cute. They’re taking the train to Boston.”

Aside from that, the library has been busy-ish. I’ve had lots of class visits to get a push for Summer Reading Challenge. Having never worked at the library here over the summer, let alone this branch, I have no idea what to expect as far as event numbers. But I’ve made an effort, which is something a lot of people have told me not to bother with.

I plan on writing a whole post about the realities of working in the public libraries, but since it’s my Saturday off and I rarely get these anymore (another topic of mention for said future post) I’m going to enjoy it with Steve.

The weather is lovely and there are groceries to be bought. There’s a park to walk through, and a lunchtime excursion to be had. It is true – you take for granted all the things you miss when you’re not working. Having a day off is one of them. We appreciate these things so much more when we rarely have them.

So without further adieu, I plan on working on my current book project which is slowly but surely taking some form. I’d love to sit in an empty office for a week and just bang out half of this novel, at least, but that’s another thing I miss and took for granted when I had the time to do it.

Having said that, I did get some first drafts done when I was off work, so I can’t be too hard on myself. As always, I’m trying to have everything and it’s really difficult. I’ve at least started reading more, which helps my mental well being. After much book hopping, I finally got back to the Life As We Knew It series, which I adore.

We’ve also started watching True Detective which is as great as they say. I never thought I was big into mysteries and crime drama, but lately I’ve been into this, Sherlock, Elementary, Breaking Bad and Gone Girl, so maybe my tastes are changing.

With that said, I’ll get back to the wonders of the real world and some writing about the fictitious world for good measure.

But before I go, just to mark the occasion. Today has been an extraordinary day because of this right here.:

Go on, shed your tears of joy. I know I did.

June means Write More!

It’s my day off, so I actually have about 15 minutes to write a blog post. Imagine that.

So, JuNoWriMo is in full effect. I’ve been lucky enough to have two of the last three days of the challenge off, so I have some words down. Words that make sense. Words that actually have something to do with the original intent of my book. Yay, me.

I was also finally able to send in some edits and comments to my CP whom I hate leaving on the back burner like I have been lately. As I tell her over and over again; the dang work schedule is getting me down.

So, I have an hour commute each way to work. I spend all day dealing with customers and co-workers. For introverts, this is pretty taxing activity. By the time I get home, I’m exhausted. Plus, this weekend, I got sick (again) so I spent Sunday on the couch instead of going out to celebrate Steve’s birthday. Not cool.

Actually, we had a nice time anyway because we went out for tea and saw Mad Max: Fury Road on Saturday. (The movie wasn’t my cup of tea, never mind the pun, but Charlize Theron’s character is awesome.)

Aside from the sickness, I did go back to work yesterday and will have my extra Saturday to work this week as well. Since I’m keeping up with JuNoWriMo with at least 500 words a day, I’ll have to just make time when I get home, and try to stay awake long enough to write something coherent.

I’ve tried writing on the bus. I’ve tried writing at lunch. Nothing works right. I end up feeling like I have to furiously get a word count down, so it’s usually unusable material. (Or, on the bus, I get bumped around so much, I have to retype things on my phone three times.) So, at my desk, at home, door closed, mind serene, is the only way I can get decent work done.

Starbucks, though. I’m good with Starbucks and a laptop.

Also, I have to add this ecard I found, because it’s pretty funny and especially in some instances.

May and the set up for JuNoWriMo

Once again, the promise of getting a novel written in one month appears in JuNoWriMo. I have signed up to do this so many times, and something always happens. Granted, I have done better in the summer than in autumn for 30 day writing challenges, so maybe by some stroke of luck, I’ll be able to get something done in June.

At least the JuNoWriMo has lots of pre-writing advice and tips on their blog to get me prepared for the actual writing process.

My main problem now is not the actual writing, it’s the time to do it. I work full time and have a long commute. I’m exhausted when I get home. I’m never alone during the day. Getting writing done is really, really tough.

Granted, we all have goals to be set, or a list in your head like I do (I really should write that list down every day - too much in my brain as is). When I do have some time to sit and write, I feel like I keep rehashing a scene, or adding only a small piece of the big puzzle. A small piece is better than none, and I did get my first sci-fi YA book in a first draft by just hit and miss writing that was fused together during early editing.

Anyway, I’m going to jump in with JuNoWriMo again this year, but I’m going to aim for 15k of the novel to be done by then. When you only have a bit of the story down, and have rewritten that ten times, there’s little hope for ever getting a decent chunk done, let alone the whole novel. What I’ve been wanting to work on for over a year now is a YA urban fantasy – something I’ve not done yet.

Then there’s that Middle Grade book I want to do – three, actually. Plus, I have the rest of my YA sci-fi books to do, there’s plenty of those. And my other New Adult books …

Time. Organization. Concentration. Coffee. That’s what I need to get everything done.

But in the meantime, I hope everyone who feels compelled to work on JuNoWriMo does. It’s helped me before because you have a set goal for each day and a set of deadlines that you can adhere to if that motivates you more. (Deadlines definitely motivate me.)

Getting through a first draft

Get through a draft as quickly as possible. Hard to know the shape of the thing until you have a draft…when I wrote the last page of my first draft of Lincoln’s Melancholy I thought, Oh, shit, now I get the shape of this. But I had wasted years…writing and re-writing the first third to first half. The old writer’s rule applies: Have the courage to write badly. ~ Joshua Wolf Shenk

I’ve been working on a project that I really like, but can never get past the first section. I have changed the setting a few times, and I try to start again when the scenes all end up being pretty much the same. Basically, I’m stuck in first gear, and I can’t just get through a first draft, then clean up what I want later.

Since I’m usually busy with everything else in life and can no longer pay attention to the important writing stuff (seriously, I never have quality time with my computer anymore) I was glad that a cold snuck up on me and kept me home today. I did two sprints and worked on the outline.

Of course the original idea makes me want to jump in and start writing, but I’ve figured out the hard way that it has to settle. Different elements of the story jumped up in my head when I least expected it, so now I have a better grasp of where I want the plot to go.

Bottom line: don’t waste a bunch of time on the first part of the book. The book will change as you go, at least it does for me. By the time you get to the nitty gritty in the middle, you understand what the story is a bit better. When you’re tired and dragging yourself across the finish line of the first draft, you can go back and write the book how you think it really should go. At least with a first draft, you’ve got material to work with – otherwise, you’re punching in ideas and getting no where. Things are going to change too much in first gear.

Extroverts and writing every day

March has been ticking along nicely, and the idea of Spring turns up here and there. I’ve at least been able to put my snow boots away. (Well, at least moved them from the bottom on the stairs.)

Last week I was fairly busy at the library. There’s still lots to do, but I’m confident that something good will come of our efforts to revamp the place. It’s definitely along the lines of the job I wanted to have when I first started my MLS degree.

Now that I’m working, we’ve been doing some travelling. We went to Edinburgh at the beginning of the month, and next we’ll want to visit York. Steve has been to Europe before, so he wants us to go on some city breaks this year as well.

But the writing, oh the writing. It’s not been happening. The full-time work plus commute is just exhausting, so if I don’t write over lunch or before work, I’ll never get anything done. The problem is, without the consistent writing day after day, it’s hard to get back into the swing of the plot. As is, I can only type down a scene or two without really getting anywhere. On my days off, I can organize and plot things, but getting both the outline and the content to happily coincide is another issue.

Aside from the writing, I need to spend my free time at home with Steve. I feel so relaxed just watching Fail Army on Youtube, or Downton Abbey when I’m by myself. I’ll be super glad for the Easter holidays to turn up so I can have a few days to reboot my goals and feel more like myself again.

When I’m not writing every day, even a little, I do feel like the day’s been wasted.

So am I a “real” writer anymore? I don’t know. I don’t have time to really care. I know that I want to write and I do it when I can. When I’m not writing, I think about writing. I miss it, and when I get back to it, I don’t know where to begin again.

It’s tough work, especially for people who tend to be extroverted. I am an extremely chatty person, but it drains me to be on duty all day. Without the days off and quiet time without a need to leave the house, it’s ten times harder to settle my brain down to work in the middle of the daily routine. All the other important things just distract me way too easily.

Plus, all these books I wanted to get put online and get covers sorted for – that’s been on the back burner for ages. No idea when I’ll ever be able to get any of that done either.

Unfortunately or not, it reminds me of this Anne Rice quote I saw the other day:

I've often said there are no rules for writers. Let me share the WORST AND MOST HARMFUL ADVICE I was ever given by others. 1) Write what you know. 2)You'll have to polish every sentence you write three or four times. 3)Genius is one tenth talent and nine tenths hard work and 4) You're not a real writer if you don't write every day. --- ALL OF THAT WAS HARMFUL TO ME. ALL OF IT. IT HURT AND IT SET ME BACK. ----- So I say again, there are no rules. It's amazing how willing people are to tell you that you aren't a real writer unless you conform to their clichés and their rules. My advice? Reject rules and critics out of hand. Define yourself. Do it your way. Make yourself the writer of your dreams. Protect your voice, your vision, your characters, your story, your imagination, your dreams.

What happens before breakfast?

I’ve heard it said many times that our best time to write is when we’re sleepy. Some writers feel better getting to work before dawn, and some write better late at night. When you’re working full time, what works best for keeping your writing goals in check?

I don’t have any word count goals right now because I’ve slacked so much on the actual butt-in-chair aspect. When I have time, I sit at the computer and churn out some outlines of book ideas that have come to me. I explore details of each to see what would fit or work better for each story. Of course, it won’t be until I get the writing underway that I’ll know what will actually work.

I have such a hard time getting my head out of the real world and into my own, that when I’m running around, I can’t focus on getting words down. I don’t know what could change that problem other than trying different things until I find something that works.

So, what do you do to keep your writing afloat? Do you work late at night, early morning, during lunch? Here are some ideas of what worked for other writers:

• The Daily Routines of Famous Writers
• The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People
• Famous Writers’ Daily Routines

Writing and publishing goals for the New Year

Now that I’ve been working in libraries for a few months, I’ve come to a strange conclusion about books – there are a lot of them, but only some really popular ones.

In our library, the authors who move the quickest are Stephen King, Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, Martina Cole, Marian Keyes, and Richard Patterson. Aside from King, I’ve not read any of these authors, just because they aren’t really my taste in books. With the kids, they still check out Jacqueline Wilson as well as the Tom Gates or Wimpy Kid books. That’s about it. Everything else is hit or miss, and their popularity seems to go as quickly as it came.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t good books. I’m just now reading Gone Girl, but we have copies sitting on the shelf – the peek of “gotta have this” has passed.

So what does this mean for authors? We all want to be loved and adored by readers, of course, but the lasting power, the importance of one book – is it really something we should be striving for?

I’ve decided that, no, that’s not how I should be looking at my books. I like to get the stories in my head out and into words. I like the idea of sharing my stories with others and readers like my stories. And I don’t want to waste my time not doing something I enjoy.

This is why I’ve pretty much hooked into the self-publishing for this year. My YA sci-fi got some great feedback from potential editors, so I’m pleased with that, but it just means I want to keep working on them, edit and publish them myself.

My NA Thriller that’s the Shakespeare retelling wasn’t a hit with anyone I queried. But I like it and I told it the way I saw it in my head for years. I can self-publish that as well and move along without getting upset or have hurt feelings that my story wasn’t what someone else was looking for.

I’ve also found great solace in not fighting the publisher race as well. I’m fine with Wattpad and Smashwords. I’m fine with just doing what I want to do and getting on with it. It’s not to say that I won’t query editors later on, but for now I’m fine with being on the solo mission.

I hope everyone has been having a great New Year. Keep writing and keep on keeping yourself happy in your work!

Four more sleeps until Christmas

For the first time in a long time, I’ll be working the week of Christmas. I have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (Christmas Eve) to make my appearance at the library. Luckily the agency staff all got a couple of extra days off as well, so I’m free to hang out at home with Steve. (We may actually have a change to drive somewhere and do something outside of town!)

Today the Christmas turkey arrives so we can put that in the fridge. We may also brave the retail mall for some big TV shopping. On Monday we’ll have to get the rest of our Christmas necessities: biscuits, milk, oranges, and kitty litter. Tuesday is the late night at the library, and Wednesday I’ll be donned in my Christmas jumper. At least we close early that day.

My new job is turning permanent next year, so the boss in the process of getting my contract sorted. This means chasing up references, and producing a proof of address in order to get the ball rolling.

Lately, as I’ve said more than once, I’ve just been busy doing my daily routines. I finally was able to get my hair done last week, so I don’t look like some ragamuffin who looks in the mirror and think everything’s okay. I’m also done with the Christmas shopping (aside from the television shopping today). Of course, every time I think I’m done, I think of or see something new to add to the stack of presents in the closet that needs wrapping.

That wrapping never ends!

I haven’t been reading as much since I discovered that looking at an electronic device on a bus makes me sick to my stomach – bummer. The same goes for my writing, even though I have a set plan of events for my YA sci-fi series. I’ve been editing the first book with my CP and writing the second book slowly but surely. (Very slowly.) Since I’m not in the midst of the Twitter/PitchMad fever lately, I’m not as worried about getting things done in a rush and it, inevitably, ending up sub-par.

I also have my NA Thriller that still needs publishing on Smashwords. Maybe I’ll get to it early in the New Year. My schedule will change soon, so I may end up with half days on Wednesday and every other Saturday off so I can catch up on the book stuff much easier.

Anyway, with that update, I want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas. Hope you have a great holiday!

Being busy and being productive

Busy. We're all busy. We feel guilty if we're not busy, but we have to pace ourselves.

Now that I'm working full time, I've decided that I do want it all - work and writing. But I work late hours and only get one day at a time off (usually). So I have to give myself time to do all the other things I want to do when I can and in whatever increments I can handle at the time.

I read on the bus during my commute. I've tried writing on the bumpy bus, and it's more bother than it's worth with the typos.

Steve and I have given up on going to the grocery store on Sundays. We want to sleep in, eat breakfast, drink tea and coffee, and chill out. Since stores close at 4PM here on Sunday (even "24 Hour" stores aren't legally allowed to be open late) we simply don't have time to get the shopping done.

I've figured out that if I do the laundry right when I get home on Saturday night, I have a better chance of dry socks and work clothes by Monday morning. Before, I was trying to do that and shop and have family time all on Sunday. It just isn't feasible.

So, I've adjusted my schedule. I tackle what I can each day.

We're so worried about word count, but I really need to take the time to edit too . Now I know that the editing is the hardest, most time consuming process and I just can't think about submitting to a publisher or Smashwords before I do some editing and rewriting bit by bit, when I can.

I have a list of things to do every night when I get home: eat dinner, take a shower, talk to my parents, visit with Steve, pack Steve’s lunch, and get into bed by 11PM at the latest. It doesn’t look like much as a short list, but everything needs time and with only 4-5 hours each night to get everything done, there’s a lot of other things I’d like to do, but I just can’t.

I started to believe that busy was productive, and the opposite of lazy. The "no excuses" opinion of the masses is that we should have time to do everything , every day. If I have errands, I can't go to the gym. If I go to the gym, I can't get errands or shopping done, plus get writing and editing done. There just aren't that many hours in a day. Plus, if you run yourself ragged, you never have time to recuperate from the rushing around you do the rest of the week.

So, take your time, do what you can, do your best, and don't let the world pressure you into being on half empty all the time.

Making time to make NaNoWriMo your own

Today is my Saturday. That means I can eat sausage rolls, drink coffee, and get things done around the house. It also means that I have time to sit at my computer and get some writing done. (Obviously, I’m not doing it right now because I’m typing this blog post, but whatever.)

As usual for me with NaNoWriMo, I am otherwise engaged with a new job. That means working at a busy library, and a long commute to and from. No, there’s not a lot of time to do anything at home other than hang out with Steve, eat, watch TV, and pass out for the night.

However, I have found that the commute is handy for reading. I really like sitting on the bus with my Kindle for the better part of the journey, letting myself relax with a book first things in the morning. If I can find time to read, surely I can find some time to write.

I know right now that getting 1,667 words per day is going to be too high of a goal, but as I’ve found out the hard way, rushing to get a project done really isn’t always the best way to go about doing something.

So, I’ve made out another handy list of articles devoted to finding time to write. Even if you’re like me who just wants to get something down each day, you can do NaNoWriMo in a way that suits your current situation.

• Master the art of snap-writing.
• Resist the impulse to overdo it.
• Time yourself.
• Set realistic goals.
• It’s not about finding time to write; it’s about making time to write.
• Remember you are doing this for you.

There’s always going to be the debate between plotters and pantsers too. Whatever works for you is fine. Personally, I do better by just writing out notes, then letting the story take shape on its own. Too much planning makes me feel stifled (sometimes, not always).

Bottom line is to enjoy the journey. We’ve all been through the same issues of finding time, or having so much time on our hands that we procrastinate. Just get what you can done because in the end all you have to really do is write.

Libraries, jobs, reading, and writing

I came back from our Florida holiday on 7 October. That night I applied for a rare public library job through an agency. Steve went to an interview locally that Thursday and while I waiting on him in the car, I got a call saying I was to start my library job on Monday. Friday Steve was offered the local job which he eventually took and has already been working at for a week.

We get to stay in Newcastle. Both of us are working. Hooray!

I have a bit of a commute, which works well for reading. So far I’ve been reading The Princess Diaries and Harry Potter because I really don’t want to tackle something heavy like Gone Girl at 7:30AM.

Since I’m not able to have sit down time to myself as much, the writing is going to be sporadic, but I will definitely treasure it more.

This means that, once again, NaNoWriMo is not something I’m going to have time to do. It’s always the way, so I’m not really that gutted about it. I’m working Saturdays as well, but this means my one weekday off gives me the much needed Zen-like state to be alone at my desk, or with my word processor at a Starbucks, getting some words down.

I have too many ideas, notes, and outlines to give up on my writing projects now.

It will leave for a much happier Christmas too, if I have cash of my own so – yay! Things are going well. The blog won’t be updated as often (unless I do short, on-the-go post but, honestly, isn’t that what Twitter is for)?

So with that, I wish you all a very Happy Halloween. Good luck on NaNoWriMo. Make us proud!

A reading list from a child of the 80s and a teen of the 90s

My husband, Steve, is pretty smart. We had a conversation about my writing and what kind of projects I’d enjoy working on next. He asked, “Well, what kind of books did you want to read when you were a kid? Write one like that.”

It seems silly, but I never really put it into perspective that way. Of course in the 80s and 90s teen books were quite different than they are now. We didn’t need some super flashy action sequence or a hero’s quest in our books. We had nice, slice of life books that made you connect to the characters – at least that’s the kind of books I liked.

So here’s a small list of books that I remember enjoying.

Elementary School:

• The Babysitter’s Club series
• Where the Red Fern Grows
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• Tiger Eyes
• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
• Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade
• Pen Pals series
• Choose Your Own Adventure series
• A Summer to Die
• Hail, Hail Camp Timberwood

Middle School:

• Fear Street series
• Christopher Pike novels
• Flowers in the Attic
• Goosebumps series
• The Face on the Milk Carton
• The Girl in the Box

High School:

• Catcher in the Rye
• The Sorrows of Young Werther
• Go Ask Alice
• The Outsiders
• Hamlet
• The Bell Jar

Bottom line: no fantasy. Yes, I liked some of the horror and mysteries, and as I was older the dark and emotional, but no dragons, wizards, elves, etc. I liked books that I could connect with, and books that dealt with “creatures” always felt weird and wrong to me. In fact, I remember being grossed out when we watched the cartoon version of The Hobbit, and they talked about the hair on their feet. And the dwarf peeing on the wall of in Labryinth? Grody to the max, man.

If you’d like to dig up your 80s and 90s teen book past, here’s a handy list of paperbacks to browse through. I know I recognize a lot of them from back then. Also, it just occurred to me – Where did we buy our books in the 80s anyway? Barnes and Noble wasn’t in our tiny Midwestern town, that’s for sure.