January 25, 2023
Emotional State: Plodding on
Writing & Life
I’m six chapters away from finishing the audio review of The Dark Space Between. What this means is that I’m right on track to finish it by the end of the month. And then it’s another review, to add missing footnote citations, check all my commas are in the right place, and publish it in March.
I’ve also begun outlining my new series and started writing the reader’s magnet for it. I’m enjoying doing the reader magnet first – it’s giving me a better idea of who the character is before diving into a full book. It also means it’ll be more cohesive with the book series as a whole. And it’s small, so no pressure to get it all done while finishing up the edits on Book 2.
I didn’t think I could edit Book 2, edit book 2 of my cozy series, write a new series, and keep it all straight in my head, but apparently, I can. My biggest fear is that the characters will bleed into each other, but as two of them are edits versus writing, I don’t think it’ll be an issue.
I hope, anyway.
Of course, that’s all this month was, a test to see if I could juggle them all. It’s only the first month of the year and whether I can sustain this pace will not be clear until I’m publishing and writing three or four more books. So, the proof isn’t in the pudding yet.
In other news, I’m struggling with social media and interacting on it. I’ve made little traction on IG, even though I regularly post on it and try to interact. I’ve not posted anything to TikTok in ages and am rethinking my strategy with it. And my interaction on Twitter has stagnated, especially since the algo change made most of what I post invisible.
I wonder, though, if I need to do that at all. I’ve read some stories from other authors who rarely post on social media and have been successful in advertising their books. Maybe I need to go that way and supplement it with social media, rather than regular posts. We shall see. Once all three of my series are out, the real test will begin. Much like the test on my productivity this year.
Why can’t I just be good at it all at once? I have no idea. If I had a magic wand, I would be. But then I wouldn’t have the experience of learning from my mistakes and getting better over time. Isn’t that what life is — a journey rather than a goal post?
Maybe. I’d still like that wand, though.