Tag Archives: online presence

Gettin’ Hot in Here

06 Tuesday Jun 2017

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 So, my weekends plans had me out and about this past weekend. I drove down to St. Louis, MO and had a wonderful time out in Tower Grove Park. If you live in the area and never been, I suggest it. If you’re visiting St. Louis and want a nice place to eat lunch all picnic in the park, I suggest it for that too. The park is absolutely beautiful.

Though, even more so when it’s packed for several blocks with vendors selling books, clothes, hand made soaps, jewelry, and the like. And even better when some of those vendors sell these amazing Kebabs and frozen lemonade.

I didn’t come home with a lot of items, except for a tarot reading and dream pouch from a beautiful and amazing woman, everything I bought was food. And only one of those food items came home with me. Normally I’m all over getting the cute things to hang in windows, or a book from one of the local authors that sells their books there. But this year I was really trying to scale back. I’m trying to take cleaning my house seriously, and for better or worse that includes not bringing stuff home from a big show like this.

The frozen lemonade though. Kept me running. This whole weekend was 100+ degrees. Thankfully a tree was kind enough to share it’s branches with me and keep me shaded for most of the day. What sun I received, that made me look like an angry lobster on Sunday, has already faded into a tan color. Being very pale (ancestors were Swedish, German, Polish, and Irish) it’s super weird to have a little color on me right now.

Between the heat and the activities, and the driving, I wasn’t able to write at all while I was away. And yesterday was writing fail. I came back from a four day weekend to find that basically everything was going wrong and the office I work for was sinking without me. Great for job security, not so great for being able to get a little writing in before hours, during lunch, and after hours. Coupled with my new mattress arriving, I was basically zonked out after I was able to lug it up to my room and get it all unwrapped and then sheet-ed. I’m hoping for a little more success with getting words on a page tonight after I get home. And while for you, my lovely readers, this counts as words on a page, I’m not counting it towards words on a page myself because it’s not words towards my WIP. So time to buckle down when I get home.

Granted, a lot of times I like to use my laptop and write from bed. The last couple months have been a little more difficult doing that because my mattress was uncomfortable and crap, so this new mattress should lead to more writing at night before I crash too. Here’s hoping anyway.

Until next time, let me know how your weekend went. Did you get a lot done? Did you relax due to the high heats? Leave me a comment below!

Updates and Cleaning

01 Thursday Jun 2017

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So, with family obligations – birthday party things Memorial Day weekend – I wasn’t able to get a lot of writing done before the end of the month. Which means that WIP isn’t all that finished. I was able to get a few words done on it though. Slowly. Very slowly. Though, sadly, I’m not going to be able to get too much writing done this weekend either.

I have a Picnic in the Park event that I’m headed down to tomorrow, one state over from me so tomorrow is travel day.

While I won’t get much, if any writing done though, it will still be a beautiful time. There are some workshops I’m looking to attend at the event, and I get to see a friend I haven’t seen in like a year. So pretty excited about that too.

And who knows. Maybe I’ll be able to find some more inspiration for new stories. Though, I’m not sure I need TOO much more inspiration, before I finish projects.

Which brings me to the cleaning part of this. I’ve been trying to clean up some. Spring cleaning and what not in the house. And I ended up finding three different starts to stories.

Three.

I’m adding them to my idea binder so that I can hopefully work on them later. All in told I think I have like five or six starts to stories sitting and waiting for me to finish, and a myriad more in a journal that are currently merely concepts that need to be seriously flushed out. Soon, my pretties, soon.

And if you’re wondering where I get the flower pictures I put in my blog posts, I take them. I dabble in photography, and flowers are my favorite subject. Most tend to be taken in my own garden, or the gardens of friends and family.

Cheers everyone. I hope your first weekend in June is bright, beautiful, and full of inspiration!

NaNo Flop & Moving Forward

23 Tuesday May 2017

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So, it’s probably easy to tell that I never ended up finishing NaNo. The lack of posts tooting my progress, explaining my struggles, and cheering my victory? They never came. Truthfully, a lot never came.

I could go into reasons, and I could give excuses as to why the words didn’t come, why the blog didn’t get updated, why I haven’t been on twitter all that often. But really, at the end of the day, I don’t want to get caught up in the past.

I want to get back on track.

I want to leave the past in the past.

I want to move forward.

So this is me, shaking off the past. I’m going to shed it, kind of like a second skin and leave it where it belongs. Behind me. This isn’t to say I’m going to forget why and what all happened. After all, those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it. But, I don’t want to focus on it.

I have a couple projects that have been sitting by the wayside for far too long. One novella needs to be finished – a cutesy cozy mystery, and one high fantasy that needs me to actually go through and do structural and line editing on it so it’s polished and I can finally decide once and for all if I’m going to be self publishing or going the query letter/traditional publishing route.

I know people have strong opinions about both, but after attending a panel at a convention where an author basically said you can do either/or, or be a hybrid, it’s up to you and what you feel is best for your novel, I’m back on the fence with trying the traditional way.

At the same time, I just watched a friend query a book and she had three agents write her back to tell her that they loved her book, but they wouldn’t be picking it up.  And it’s left her wondering, if they loved her book enough to say so, why. Because the letters don’t say. It’s a little disheartening to hear that, and my heart goes out to her because she’s trying to take a critical eye to her story and make some changes in the hopes that next time she sends out query letters maybe someone will love it AND pick it up.

The question for me is, do I really want to go that route? Spend time querying it, potentially not get any takers, and even if I do not see it released for a year or two based on any publishers wanting it, and if they do having it fit into their schedule for release and marketing. It’s a lot of time to sit on a finished product.

Truthfully, I don’t know. I’d love to see it published by a company, and on the shelves in stores. But at the same time, I want to see it sell period. And sitting in a publisher’s cue for one to two years, that’s a long time to wait for it to be released.

Choices, choices, as they say.

I guess I’ll mostly cross that bridge when I get there. When the novel is as good as I can make it after some heavy editing.

Right now, the novella needs to be finished. So my goal, I’m setting one officially, is to be finished writing the novella by the end of May. That way I can take a breather and then circle back to it mid-June for edits. This seems like a super short timeline that I’m giving myself, I’m sure. But truthfully, the novella is about one or two chapters from being done. So I’m hoping by setting this deadline I can really strive and push myself to get it done.

Here’s hoping, at least.

Life – Forever Tired & NaNo Prep

03 Monday Oct 2016

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Hello wide world of readers, I hope that your day, your week, is going well so far. Though, it is only Monday.

I wish I had exciting news about why I’ve been so missing, but in reality it’s fairly boring. With everything going on, coupled with a re-emerging issue with low iron, I’ve pretty much had no energy to do much of anything but sleep after I get home from work. Which, means that there’s also very little time for writing, editing, and plotting out new books. I keep hoping things will change, who knows, as I try to take iron to supplement the problem, maybe I’ll find it a little easier to try and get more work done. I can, as ever, hope.

And I’m sure you’re asking, well what about weekends? That would be a good question. Weekends have been fairly busy doing stuff for a non-for-profit organization that I’m part of. This last weekend, as we transitioned into October was the first free weekend I’ve had in a long while, and I spent Saturday DnD’ing with a group of friends to blow off some steam and have fun – we ended the night watching Deadpool, and Sunday ended up being a mass cleaning day. The always sleeping or out of the house hasn’t just affected my writing but also the cleanliness of my house, so I’m now trying to fix that some and create a better writing environment for myself.

Which does kind of bring me to my, hopefully, exciting news, which is that I’m going to dedicate my November to writing and participate in a new year of NaNoWriMo!

I’m thinking of doing a set of shorts, possible. Though I have a friend that’s been wanting to co-author a book with me, so if we can get that planned out and it works we may try to write that together for NaNo instead. I really need to dig into the edits for my two previous novels, but that will hopefully come in December, when I’ve gotten back into the writing habit and working habit, and with more iron in my system hopefully giving me more energy over all.

Wish me luck!

Are you participating in NaNo? Leave a note and let me know in the comments!

The Busy Girl and the Non-Existent Updates.

11 Monday Apr 2016

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Bellville clock Back in January I set up some goals for myself. Personal things I wanted to accomplish with this blog. And looking back on everything now, I’m left standing here wondering exactly where the last three months went.

Time. It’s something that everyone wants, and we just never seem to have enough of. I’ve been told I’m bad at budgeting my time, a fact that I make no mistake in denying. Working a 9-5 job Monday through Friday means that I have very little time left for myself personally, and my downtime, what helps me to destress a lot recently has been video games – specifically Stardew Valley and Sims 4. So when I could be writing, I’m playing video games for a little bit before bed. When I could be writing, I’m playing video games before mom’s up and moving and we’re starting our day on the weekends. A end up playing a lot when I’m not entirely in the writing mood, or too tired to really do anything else. But, I do also agree, I need to get back into better writing habits. Not just for my WIPs but for these blog posts as well.

I always have the best of intentions, and I don’t always follow through on them. I’m a serial procrastinator to boot.

So all I can do is try. Try to do better writing. Try to do better updating. Try to not let my 9-5 job eat so much of my time and energy that I don’t have any when I get home. I’m kind of a WIP myself, trying to do better and not fall into the same, old, bad habits.

I’ve been reading a little more, so I’m hoping to get a few reviews up soon. And hopefully more and more as I read more, and write more. Here’s hopin’ right?

2016 – Revitalizing and Refocusing

03 Sunday Jan 2016

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Hi everyone. If you’ve been around, or deduced by the handle of this blog, my name is Meri. If you’re new to my blog, welcome! If you’re returning, welcome back!

This blog was originally started back in 2013, as a way to keep up with thoughts, ideas, and things that came to me while writing, but also where I could review books as I read them and give my honest opinion on them.  And for the most part, that is what’s happened here on this blog, but at a very sporadic and nearly chaotic schedule.

To give a little background, I’m an aspiring author who is trying to make a living at writing. The catch is that, naturally, I have a life away from the computer. I have pets, a house to take care of, as well as a mother with cancer that I’m looking after – she’s strong, and doing well but I want and need to be there for her. And, as if that wasn’t enough, I have a full 9-5 job that takes up most of my time during the week, so most of the house things take up my weekend.

Every time I mark off that I’m going to buckle down, really get writing, and commit to doing better at this blog, life tends to throw me curve balls. But, with this new year I am putting my foot down and saying no more. I will find the time, I will put in the focus, and I will get posts done. Because I want to commit to this, I want to grow my online presence not just as a blogger but as an author. It’s not just good enough to put books and shorts up on Amazon, which I’m still working to get on a decent schedule as well.

sleeping kitten

My New Resolutions for this Blog are:

  • To post regularly (two or three times a week)
  • To read more books, there by writing more reviews
  • Update on my WIPs more – because as a writer I’m working on my WIPs more.

What are your resolutions for the New Year? Leave them in the comments!

New Year, Interesting Start

03 Sunday Jan 2016

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Happy New Year 2016 Quotes Happy New Year, Everyone!

The end of 2015 went out in one of the most challenging ways possible. And, truth be told, I’m fairly glad that it’s over and that we’re starting a new, fabulous new year.

The long of my last week of 2015 under the reader’s cut. If you want to skip it, the end is, I’m glad 2015 is over, I’m glad to have my internet back, and I am excited to start 2016! Stay tuned in the next few days for my goals and hopes post!

Continue reading →

Presentation: It’s not just about the Cover

24 Friday Jul 2015

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Presentation is a huge thing for an author, and for their books. You always hear the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But in reality, that’s exactly what everyone does. If the cover is striking, or draws attention, people are more likely to read the synopsis and potentially buy the book. It’s the first thing that a buyer, a reader, sees in the bookstore and so we use it to gain attention. It’s the author’s version of the red carpet in a way, there are beautiful works, and sometimes there are the ones that leave people wondering what they were thinking.

It’s why cover artists pay so much for copyright free photos – in order to work their magic, and why cover artists, whether they draw their own art or use the copyright free photos are paid so much to create the covers. We, as authors, are hoping to have a striking visual that draws people in, that makes people spend those few extra seconds to pick up the book – or pause on it in the ebook store, read a little about it, and hopefully if we’ve done a great job, add it to their cart.

But it’s not just the cover that has to draw people in. The books don’t always sell themselves, and any good author and publisher know that you need to market. It’s our job to spread the word, by tweet, blog, radio or tv ad, booths at trade shows or craft shows that fit the genre, giveaways, etc. If you can use it to get more attention, all the better, and all the best for getting the word out there that this wonderful piece of fiction, or non-fiction, that you, the author, dedicated so much of your time to is out there for people to buy. This great shining thing that you want to shout about is now available, all your hard work paid off because it’s written, it’s edited, and it’s being published (or is published).

But you, the author, need to be just as polished in some ways, as the book(s) that you’re trying to put out there to the people of the world. If you really want people to think that your book is worth reading, then you while you market it and get the word out need to be aware of how you present yourself as well. If you are constantly not using punctuation correctly, or not grammatically correct in your sentence structure, or using ‘ur’, no (for know), r, etc. it DOES, at least in my opinion, hurt your chances of getting people to buy your book. If you in marketing your book and trying to announce to the world that this great thing you did is, or will be, for sale, can’t properly write that announcement, than how can I trust that the book itself will really be great? You’re presenting poor grammar, and poor use of slang as the author in your announcement.

For me, not only is it hard to read and wade through to understand exactly what you’re trying to say, it leaves me with no confidence that this book will be worth my time. I don’t need a book riddled with errors, and that really is what your presentation of the announcement leaves me feeling I will get.

Just like people who go to a 9-5 job, and have a dress code, we as authors need to have a dress code of sorts, but on a more literary level. You need to present your best face when making announcements about a new book, give people the confidence that your book is worth the read because what you say flows, is legible, and makes them want to pick it up, not switch to the next available offer.

Long Days, Hard Nights

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

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Sometimes I really don’t know where the time goes. It’s not just a fairly used expression, but reality for me. I really don’t know where my days go sometimes.

For starters, I can’t believe that I haven’t been on this blog in almost a year. But at the same time, I stepped away from my work in progress for almost that long after I finished the final draft, so I guess I kind of can. I guess it’s mostly just the time passing that I don’t always catch. Wednesdays feel like Mondays, and I blink and it’s suddenly Saturday. Or I get to work at 9am, and I feel like I blink from under the pile of work I have to do and suddenly it’s time to go home.

Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m sinking under more and more work and I just don’t really know how to pull myself out of it. Every second of my days seem spoken for, and not one of those seconds goes to something I have a passion for, like my writing. And my reading has fallen into a quick second behind my writing.

I get home from work, and after I finally settle in for the night after dinner it’s nearly time to go to bed. I think I’m going to have a free weekend, and suddenly I have to be at an Aunt’s house for something, or a friend has an emergency that needs to be dealt with, or there’s medium work and house cleansing to do because my mom’s friend’s husband hasn’t moved on and wants to tell her something. There’s just this never ending parade of things to do. And I’m not saying I resent doing things for friends, or family, or spending time with both. That’s not what I’m saying at all.

I just, I guess what I’m saying is that it’s hard. Adulting and having responsibilities and a job that takes up most of the day is hard. I know it’s supposed to be, it wouldn’t be life if it wasn’t. But sometimes I wish that I could find a better handle on managing my time, and being able to fit everything in that I both want and need to without feeling like I’m dropping something on the other end.

Some people would say make a schedule, and stick to it, but well, I’m just not that organized. And I’m not exactly the kind of person that can follow a strict schedule. The minute reading my To-Be-Read pile feels like work, or editing my novel (or working on a few WIPs I have on the back burner) feels like work, I lose a lot of my motivation. My creative switch gets flipped and the lights go dark and I spend more time just staring at the screen, or piece of paper than I do actually reading or writing or working.

Maybe it’s because I really haven’t had a break in over a year, and I know some of that not getting a break is because Mom and I have a LOT of things on our plate. We never really found a balance after dad died, and we’re just kind of moving day to day as we can. And the one ‘vacation’ my mom and I take isn’t really a vacation because it’s a festival that I run and coordinate, and while I do enjoy it it’s not just a vacation – it’s work too.

Here’s hoping that I can work out something. I was able to finish The Red Queen, the first book I’ve really been able to finish in at least two months. I also finished editing chapter 1 of my roughly drafted novel. I’m hoping I can keep up the momentum, continue reading, continue editing, and hopefully get the short story I have in my head out and onto paper. Though the short needs to be a little more planned out before I can really get my teeth into the meat of the story, because it’s a mystery and I want to make sure it isn’t given away too soon into the book.

Poor Balancing of Time

08 Monday Apr 2013

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So it seems, or really it more than seems, that I’ve been neglecting this poor blog. I’ve never been a great manager of time, and maybe I need to set up in my schedule a better structured outline of when to make sure if I haven’t gotten back to here I should. I always have these passing thoughts through the day of what might make a great entry, and then by the time I still in everything I’m doing enough to actually do something, the idea is gone and I’m left scratching my head. Or worse, I forget everything all together because I never really stop. It’s poor of me as an author to not keep this blog up, at least in my personal opinion of myself.

Though that brings me to the topic I figured I’d write my thoughts on today. Balancing time.

Most people see huge authors like J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyers and think that authors have it easy. And really, what could be easier? A life where you get to explore the bounds and wonders of your imagination for a living. To create characters and make them do what you want to do, or to create worlds based on an idea or how you think a world should be run. And don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly fun. Though the difficulties that can come with that will better serve for a different post.

What I don’t think most realize is that as fun as it is, it doesn’t pay the bills as well as you’d expect. A good chunk of the authors out there have a mundane (or not so mundane pending what they do outside of write) job to help them get through the month as well, or in some cases extremely supportive significant others that work hard to pay the bills while the muses burn fuel. And in a lot of cases it ends up being a hard balancing act.

Outside of being an author, I work a regular 9-5 job which eats up a lot of my energy as well as most of my week. And sadly, a lot of the time after work I tend to crash. And on weekends I have family I live with and near so there’s usually something always going on there, or the occasionally in town friend. Some might think it’d be easy to just hang a little sign on the door that reads “Muses at work – All non-fiction people stay out” but it’s no that simple. Housework and laundry need to get done whether I’ve gotten two hundred words or two thousand words on my new WIP. Meals need to be cooked and eaten, and at some point whether I am ready for it or not, sleep will claim me some time between eleven at night and one in the morning. On top of all that I have other commitments too, as I Coordinate a week long outdoor Spiritual Get-Back-To-Nature Pagan Festival in Aug. (which if anyone has ever run an annual event, they know it’s a year long process), I’m getting a Newsletter up and running for the organization that hosts the Festival (which I will quote an acquaintance of mine, getting articles from people really is like herding cats), and I’m the Vice-President of said organization.

Needless to say, I’ve got a lot on my plate. And while I love it, for as Virgo as I am, I may possibly be one of the most scatter brained Virgos on the planet. Or at least in my state. Because honestly, I know I don’t always get to the things I should.

Work, as you’d expect, comes first. And my responsibilities to the organization I’m part of come in a high tied second with my family and friends. As an author, my writing itself comes third or I’d never have anything coming out in print. Which also means that some of my loves, and some of my other responsibilities get set on the wayside until I can get to them be it because of time or because of energy.

It’s a balancing act though. Because too much time without things I love, like reading or video games, makes me go a little stir crazy for the lack of. And yet too much time without an online presence and I’m not doing the greatest job I can as an author to push myself and my work — in the works as it is as yet.

So I ask you, dear reader, how do you manage to make sure you balance your time well? Any tips for this humble author looking to do better in all aspects of her life?