Planning promotion; picture by author
I felt like I was making some headway this week when, truthfully, the most work went into The Cost of Power. I’m now at the halfway point in the book and am pleased at the way the hinge point neatly manifested itself. It wasn’t what I originally had in mind, but all the same, I liked what the results were. However, poor Federation Cowboy hasn’t had any work done on it. Neither have the Goddess’s Vision outline nor the Raven Alliance potential Vella serial. All the same, 14,000 words for the week (not counting today) is getting back to the pace that I should be writing. More on that later.
However, I suspect that once I sit down with the Federation Cowboy notes and put the pieces together, it will take off. I needed the processing break in order to work through some issues because, again, it’s hit a hinge point and stuff is gonna happen fast. I had to do that with Power, which was also at a hinge point. We won’t talk about the potential scenes that I–sigh–will most likely NOT be writing for Power. Then again, they might make nice little outtakes. I’ll consider that.
Another thing that just didn’t happen this week was any sort of significant promotional activity, and it shows in my sales. That said, I also think it’s a good idea to take a week or so off every now and then, to avoid promotional fatigue. I’ll be working on new promotions this week and may start doing some of those more aggressively.
I’ve started seeing results from setting my alarm to get up at the same time every day. I may push it back another hour because I just plain start getting fatigued by the end of the day, no matter what time I get up. It’s mental fatigue as much as it has been physical. Interestingly, I’ve had a couple of nights where thoughts about Power meant I was writing late into the night. Most of the time, I’m also getting words down in the morning, which is quite helpful.
Non-writing stuff is also making progress. I crafted two tote bags–at least one for a donation as a door prize, along with some books. Then I made a couple of decorative spring runners for us–they’re very pretty. Almost marketable, but I made these for us. I also have plans to make similar ones for summer and fall–this started with making them for Christmas/winter, and then I decided, why not make more and incorporate them into my regular seasonal decor? I think I’m also going to start making some for fall/winter online sales/swag/stuff like that.
Along the same lines, I celebrated the equinox by putting away the winter decor and bringing out the spring stuff. Haven’t done the same switch with clothing yet because…we’re still getting snow and cold. Old mare decided that it was blanket time. She’s a lot happier with life now. She does well for the most part in winter without being blanketed, but the last few springs, once she starts shedding out, she seems to be uncomfortable. Well, old mare, damp and cold instead of dry and cold, so it’s understandable.
Overall, then, a decent week of things accomplished. I have to remember that I’m now sixty-five, so…need to plan and channel my energy effectively. To that end, I bowed out of participating in an anthology series. I didn’t get a lot of positive reviews in comparison to the other stories in the first volume, and while I had a story ready to put in the second one, it wasn’t the best of fits.
Onward.
