writing career

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Jilly: Picking Your Brains on Audiobooks

Do you listen to audiobooks? What do you like or dislike about them?

I adore fiction, but my medium of choice is the written word. Dead tree or e-book, either works for me. I just love the way reading loads a story directly from the page into my brain, allowing me to imagine and interpret the author’s words in the way that’s most personally powerful to me.

I enjoy visual media like movies, TV, and the theater, but I’d choose a book over any of them, any day. My subconscious clearly wants to be the sole interpreter of the story. I guess it’s no surprise that I’ve never even thought of listening to an audiobook.

That may have to change. I’m planning to publish my debut novel, The Seeds of Power, later this year, followed by other stories in the same world and series. I’ll start with e-books and print, but then I think I should add audiobooks. Partly because people who know more than I say that audio is a fast-growing sector, less crowded and thus offering more discoverability to a new author. Mostly, if I’m honest, because it would be something new to learn and I think it would be cool 😉 . Continue reading →

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Nancy: Post-Book Blues

A few weeks ago, I finished the complete draft of my Victorian romance that will come out this fall. It’s a bit more than a first draft, having already been through first-round revisions along the way, but it was “the end for now,” and my coach asked me what I was doing to celebrate. Around the same time, I was answering a series of interview questions, and one of them was, “How do you celebrate when you finish writing a book?”

I didn’t have an answer for either of them.

The truth is, I don’t celebrate the end of a stage of the creative process so much as mourn it. And curling up in a blanket on the sofa, rewatching episodes of Dead to Me and Santa Clarita Diet, staring at the pile of TBR books I’ve been so anxious to read but now don’t have the energy to tackle, probably isn’t the answer they want to hear.

Taking Comfort in Community

As it turns out, the post-creativity slump isn’t all that unusual. When interviewed for an article on the Fast Company website, film writer/director Jeffery Lando talked about having post-movie depression. He captured one of the elements of my own creative journey. Continue reading →

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Nancy: Still Workin’ It

Last month at about this time, in my February accountability post, I circled back to my New Year New Writer approach for 2019, something-something zen, something-something balance. Okay, to quote our mentor Jenny Crusie, it’s a process, people!

I’m continuing to clear detritus, both in the business and personal spheres. I’m learning new things about the marketing side of writing, and reminding myself that I actually love learning new things when I allow my brain enough time and space to absorb the lessons. Still, the most important part of this whole process is getting the stories out of my head and onto the page, so here’s a summary of last month’s progress and this month’s plan. Continue reading →

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Nancy: Clearing the Decks

As I mentioned in my last post of 2018, New Year New Writer – Zen Edition, in 2019, I’m working on balance. Balance between extreme fitness goals and creature comforts, online life and IRL friendships, work and play. One of the things I need to do to before I can even think about balance, though, is whittle down my to-do list du jours.

Some people might suggest not writing a to-do list every day. To those people I would say What is wrong with you? And when I’d recovered from my shock, I’d politely point out our brains must work very differently, and I’d spend the rest of the day wondering how anyone functions without a to-do list. Continue reading →

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Nancy: Progress and Plans

Welcome to December! While I’m labeling today’s post accountability thread, you’ll note that in place of the runners jumping over hurdles image I usually include, I’ve chosen a picture of a woman in a zen pose as she looks out at the mountains in front of her. That’s in honor of the kinder, gentler approach I’m going to take this month to scaling all the cliffs in front of me. With the holidays, family obligations, and some exhaustion setting in from the breakneck pace I’ve been trying to keep, I don’t have much choice.

By this time in January, I might be lacing up my Sauconies and hitting the trail, sprinting up the side of the next mountain. But for today, I’m going to calmly celebrate November’s accomplishments and peacefully prepare my December plans. Continue reading →

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Jeanne: The Chunky Writing Method

Chunky candy barThis weekend my RWA chapter, Central Ohio Fiction Writers, hosted Allie Pleiter, inventor of the Chunky Writing Method. The Chunky Method is a way of scheduling your writing time to make yourself more productive, based on how you naturally write–in big chunks or small chunks.

The size of your natural chunk can be determined by how many words you can write on a normal day before you run out of energy/creativity. In the absence of writer’s block or incomplete research, which will stop any writer from moving forward, each writer will still hit a point where they just run out of steam.

Big chunk writers, according to Ms. Pleiter, can write thousands of words before that happens. Small chunk writers run dry after only a few hundred words–or even less.

But, she says, don’t despair. By figuring out which kind of writer you are, you can adjust your writing schedule to make the most of the way you write. Continue reading →

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Nancy: Accountability Thread and…Free ARCs!

It’s the first Monday of the month, and that means accountability here at Chez Nancy. However, today I have something else to share first, and since I used the titillating word “free” in my post title, I’m going to start with that. You see my novella book cover over/up there in the image? That cover and the words attached to it (aka my book) will be released at the end of November. Yippeeee!

Now it’s time for me to think about the care and feeding of Too Clever by Half as it goes out into the world. In this day and age, a big part of a book’s survival is garnering reviews, primarily at booksellers that carry it (mine will be Amazon-exclusive for a bit), secondarily at popular reader sites like Goodreads. To get the review party started, authors give away advance review copies (ARCs) before release, with the request that recipients post a review in the first few days of a book release.

Starting today, I’m looking for my ARC readers! If you think that could be you, you’re just a few clicks away from requesting one. Just go to my author website contact page, where you can choose to email me (please include ARC in the subject line), or continue onto my FB author page to message your email address to me. Easy peasy!

A few important deets: I’ll send out a limited number of ARCs on a first-come, first-served basis. ARCs will not include the pretty pink cover you’ve been seeing for the past few weeks, so don’t be surprised by that! I will NOT collect your email address for nefarious purposes or, well, for any purpose other than to send you the e-ARC and a quick note with the basics about ARC reviewing, and a follow-up reminder to post your review on or after release day.

Now, back to Monday and that accountability thing… Continue reading →