Blog | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, April 17, 2016

Most of you reading this blog probably would agree with me what that is: BOOKS! Yes, that’s what I’ve been working on this week in my ongoing decluttering efforts. And like most writers, I have a lot of books.

I have an antique book case in my dining room that’s stuffed full, about three feet wide by five feet high. I haven’t touched that yet. What I’m working on now is the built-in bookcase in my study. That’s about nine feet long and three shelves deep. These were not only stuffed, but double-layered on about half the shelves that were full of mass-market paperbacks.

My bookshelf runneth over

About half of these are mass-market paperbacks I picked up at various RWA conferences and have never read. The last RWA con I attended was in 2011. They looked good at the time I picked them up, but I figure, if I haven’t read these books by now, I’m probably not going to, especially since I prefer ebooks now.

The other half are books I have read and enjoyed enough that I just couldn’t give them away before now. Yes, most of us have keepers, and while decluttering, I did indeed find plenty that I love enough to move, even though I seldom re-read fiction. But there were many that I loved, but don’t see myself re-reading… and definitely don’t want to move.

So rather than just give them to someone to sell, I decided I would rather give them away to friends. I have a dozen paranormal romances boxed up and ready to go. The giveaway will be offered to those subscribed to my Readers Group. If you would like a chance to win, but aren’t there yet, you can join here! The giveaway announcement will go out sometime this week, probably Tuesday. I have lots of books to give away besides paranormal romance. Future giveaways will include suspense, romantic suspense, contemporary romance, historical romance, and fantasy/sci-fi. Oh, and there are also a bunch of writing craft books that I liked and found useful, but know I won’t re-read.

The other interesting thing I did this week was attend a fashion show. This was at my daughter’s university, and I’ll admit, the only reason my family went was because my daughter was a model in it. I don’t have any pics, because all I had was my phone camera, which is no good in that sort of venue (dark with just the performers lit). No matter anyway, because my daughter had to be in the most unflattering outfit in the whole show! It was a short, pouffy white dress with a huge bustle in the front. It made her look about twice her weight. I described it as “marshmallow Tinkerbell,” but I think her description was better: a walking wedding cake. She said it was an interesting experience (as was watching it), but not one she’d care to repeat. I have to agree. Just not my thing.

I have to give the fashion design club major props on one thing: the models weren’t all tall and thin. They included several short girls (one was my daughter), and most were a good, healthy weight. They even had one model with Down’s Syndrome, who the audience loved. The show also went off well, as far as the audience could tell, though my daughter said several things went awry. So an interesting experience to do once!

What I’ve been reading: Still not done with the science fiction book, though I’m close!

ROW80 Update: I did not get done what I wanted this week. I finished the cover and sent that to Mythical Press, but did not get the book description done for them yet. So that’s up for this week. They are also asking for my front- and back- matter (Acknowledgements, Author’s Note, etc.) so completing those are my goals for this week.

What about you–do you have a lot of books? Do you find it hard to get rid of them? Have you ever attended a fashion show? Or have you had another new experience recently? How are you doing on whatever goals you might have? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

by Jennette, April 3, 2016

I’ve been absent from the blog for a couple of weeks, but I have a good reason: my family. While I like writing my blog and chatting with those of you who comment, my family is my priority.

Nothing bad happened–I just had opportunities to spend time with family I don’t see often, so that was more important. Two weeks ago, my daughter arrived home for Spring Break. She had a lot to talk about, so I wanted to spend that time with her, and the blog never got written. I thought about posting it on Monday, when she was off visiting friends, but got busy with typical Monday things. I could have pushed, but being kind to myself is best for my health, so I let it go.

Then last week was Easter, and I hosted the family gathering. My family is small, and Mom and I are old hands at planning ahead for these (we do the same thing every year, food-wise), so it’s not a big stressor. We had the added blessing of hosting my mom’s cousin, who lives on Vancouver Island and was here for the holiday. He’s extensively well-traveled and well-read, and is a fascinating and fun person to talk to, and it was also fun to catch up on what’s going on with his family. So, not a stressful day, but a busy one, between cooking, spending time with my family while they were here, and then cleanup. My mom and daughter help with that, but it’s still a big job. So I decided to let the blog go once again.

What I’ve been reading: I always make sure to take time to read, and I finished Holly Lisle’s World Gates Series, which I binge-read. Book Two is The Wreck of Heaven, and Book Three is Gods Old and Dark. (Book One is Memory of Fire, mentioned in my last post.) This was one of those series that’s so mind-blowingly awesome it could be depressing for a writer in an “I could never write something this good” sort of way. Luckily, I enjoyed it too much to think much about that. But wow, enormous stakes, heart-rending emotion, and one of the freakin’ best villains I have ever read. You know, one of those that’s horrendously evil, yet so well-developed we can still feel a twinge of sympathy and understanding of how he became that way. And an immensely satisfying ending that didn’t tie up everything neatly into a bow, but where we knew the characters were on their way, with plenty of hope. Flipping AWESOME. If you like epic and/or contemporary fantasy, this series is a MUST read!

ROW80 Update: ROW80 Round One ended last week, and I didn’t even realize it at first, LOL! I met some of my goals. I finished the first draft of Time’s Dilemma, and got it to my beta readers. However, I did not finish the revision, because the beta readers found a lot more work it needed than I expected. So I am still working on that. Still working on the cover for it, too. Round 2 of ROW80 starts tomorrow, so my goals for that are to finish Time’s Dilemma and get it to my publisher, hopefully in time for it to be released this quarter. I would like that to happen in time for me to get a start on the next long Saturn Society novel.

What about you–how are you doing on your goals so far this year? Do you sometimes have to shelve one thing you like to do for another priority? How has the weather been in your area, now that it’s officially Spring? (Ours has been all over the place!) Have you read anything awesome lately? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, April 10, 2016

I tend to stick with things for a long time. I’ve been in my current job for over eight years (a really long time for a software developer). A few weeks ago, my husband and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary. We’ve lived in the same house for that long, too.

Those are all good things. But being in a good rut is still being in a rut, and both my husband and I have been feeling a need for a while to shake things up.

My family is a real blessing, so we don’t want to shake that up. And my job has been good–I’m blessed to work with and for nice people, in a relatively low-stress environment, and it pays decently. It’s not always challenging and interesting, but it is enough of the time that it’s good.

But neither of us has ever lived outside of southwest Ohio. My husband has never even lived in a different city. It’s been a good place to live, aside from some crappy winter weather and presidential campaign seasons. But we’re feeling a need for change, so we’re looking to move south. Not any time soon, but probably in 5 years or so. Just because we feel we need something different.

He’s actually been talking about this for a couple years. It took me a while to come around, but gradually, I did. Now that I have, it’s exciting to think about. This is one reason why I’ve been particularly inspired by Patricia’s story of leaving California and following her and her husband’s dream to Mississippi, where they bought a bed and breakfast (that I definitely hope to visit sometime!).

The main reason for our timeframe is that we want to get our daughter through college and pay off the remaining debt on our rental properties. The other reason is the massive amount of decluttering this house needs. It needs a lot of little nitpicky repairs too, but the clutter has to go first.

So I’ve gotten back into Flylady. I joined Flylady back in 2002 when I was laid off for a couple of years because there were no software jobs around here. I wanted to get my house in order, and learn how to keep it that way.

It took a while (I honestly don’t remember how long), but I did pretty well. The only thing I didn’t get to was completing the closets, and the basement. And when I went back to work, a lot of the Flylady habits fell by the wayside.

Some I’ve kept up. I do have a morning and evening routine, and I relegate my bill-paying and bookkeeping to Monday evenings. But I now have a lot more motivation to get back into decluttering.

I normally spend only 15 minutes a day on this, as Flylady suggests. And it’s already made a noticeable difference! For example, I have a huge built-in bookcase in my office/study that’s three feet high, by about twelve feet long. The top of it was completely full of clutter! I spent fifteen minutes putting stuff away and throwing trash out, and it was DONE (the top, not the contents. That will come later). We didn’t have anything suitable for the giveaway bag, though normally that’s a part of my decluttering, too. This bookcase top was just one of those things we think will take a long time, but if we just do it, it doesn’t. I did the same thing with an occasional table in the dining room that seemed to have a sole purpose as a home for junk. Fifteen minutes was all it took! I can’t believe I forgot this basic truth. Even things that took more than one fifteen minute session to declutter were easier than I thought.

Having the additional motivation is a big part of it, I’m sure. Now I not only think, “Do I use this? Do I love it?” I also think “Would I want to move this?” If the answer to all three is No, out it goes!

What I’ve been reading: In the midst of all the decluttering, of course I still have time to read! That’s even more so now that I’m trying to establish a habit of walking at least 15 minutes every day. If the weather’s nice, Isis gets another walk. If not, I walk on the treadmill–and read! Right now, I’m reading an advance reader copy of an exciting science fiction novel. I’m about halfway through it, so should finish by next week. I’ll discuss it then.

ROW80 Update: I finished the revisions based on my beta readers’ comments! Part of this is because I decided to stop dawdling over those from one reader, whose suggestions for changes were quite extensive. I initially agreed with her comments, but the more I dug into the book with them, the slower the revision went, and the more I balked at making the changes at all. I finally realized that this was because those changes weren’t right for the book–they either would have deviated from my vision for the story, or they would have made it different, but no better. I did work in her more overall suggestions, so it’s still a stronger story. Now I’m having them look it over again, along with a third reader, because I want to make sure the changes make sense. For this week, I really need to buckle down and get the book description to my publisher, plus a cover comp. I also need to complete another cover for a Mythical Press client.

What about you–have you ever felt the need to shake something up? What did you do? Has clutter taken over your home, or are you good at keeping it under control? Have you tried Flylady’s system? How are you doing on whatever goals you might have? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 13, 2016

I’m talking about reading–but of course!

It doesn’t make you gain weight. It isn’t mindless. It can even encourage physical activity–for example, I stay on the treadmill longer if my book is really good.

For the most part, this week’s been uneventful, and that’s fine with me. I had a chance to read a lot while waiting for a doctor’s appointment (a doctor I’m not planning to go back to, because of that). I didn’t get as much writing done as I wanted, though I can’t really blame the reading for that. My fatigue’s been acting up a bit, so I did more lying around watching TV than I’d have liked.

Critter Update: On the good news front, I have not had to go back to the vet’s office–so far, my gerbil Spaz has not resumed chewing his foot, and it’s finally starting to heal.

What I’ve Been Reading: Memory of Fire, by Holly Lisle. This is the book I happily devoured last week. It’s the first in her World Gates series, a blend of contemporary and epic fantasy. And it’s so awesome, I decided to do something I can’t remember ever doing before: I immediately bought the next book in the series. Usually, I read a few other books before going back to a series, but I know a lot of people binge-read, so I figured this was the series to try it out on. These books feature likeable, relateable main characters, and they’re massive in scope and stakes: not only one world’s fate hangs in the balance, but many. These are richly-developed worlds where everyone, including the bad guys, is fascinating and even they draw sympathy. I fully expect to pick up with the third as soon as I finish with the second, The Wreck of Heaven, which I’m reading now.

Something else interesting to note: I picked up Fire for $.99, on sale. It’s not an indie book, but was published by a Big 5 company: HarperCollins. The big publishers get a lot of criticism for overpricing ebooks, and while they do run sales like this, they tend to price other ebooks at $9.99 or more–higher than the paperback version. I fully expected to find that with Wreck, and figured I’d get it from the library, as I don’t like to pay that much to greedy publishers. I was pleasantly surprised: books 2 and 3 are $4.99 and $5.99, right in line with indie fantasy novel prices. So it’s good to see that someone at a Big 5 publisher has their head out of their posterior region, and I have no problem supporting that. 😀

ROW80 Update: I did finish the scene started last week, but instead of revising the next two, wrote another (short) new one. So… a semi-win, I suppose. For this week, a third (very short) one is next up, then finally I plan to get back to revising the existing material. I have my writers group meeting coming up next weekend, and some other stuff going on, so I’m going to shoot for just one edited scene.

What about you–do you binge-read? Or binge-watch TV series? (I’ve never done that, either). Have you read any good books lately? And how are you doing on whatever goals you may have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 6, 2016

One thing that’s taken some of my time lately has been our pets. Now, I love animals, especially mine, so this isn’t really a problem. I got a new tank for my goldfish a couple weeks ago, and while that took some time to set up, it’s so much easier to clean than the old one–and the goldfish loves it.

Birthday girl is worn out!

Isis had a birthday, too–she’s now officially a terrible two. Well, not really too terrible, as long as we’re throwing the ball to her. For her birthday, a trip to Pet Supplies Plus was in order, where she picked out not one, but three new toys. Now I’m waiting for her to chew the squeaker out of them. After that, we went to the ice cream shop, even though it wasn’t Dogs Nite Out, and got her a doggie cup (and treats for DH and me, too).

But what’s taken more time is one of my gerbils.

It all started back in November, when my dad stopped by after visiting a rental property that was infested with fleas. He didn’t come into the house, but Isis was in the yard, and she brought them in. A trip to Wash Your Dog took care of her, and we thought, the fleas too.

Then I saw fleas in my gerbils’ tanks. I immediately cleaned the tanks, then brought them (and the turtle) to the dining room, and bombed their room. One of the gerbils was fine. But the other one, Spaz continued to scratch like crazy, because hey, freak out and get stressed is what he does, hence his name. A few days later, he’d scratched himself bloody.

So I took him to the vet, who found Spaz had mites (carried by fleas) and mange (carried by mites). He also had an ear infection, and had chewed the toenails off of one foot. Some gerbils do that when they’re stressed, but the problem with Spaz is, even after the mites and mange were cured, he kept going.

This is one ticked-off gerbil

Now Spaz has no toes on one foot, though a month ago, it looked like he’d finally stopped.

Until I took him to the vet for a follow-up. Right after that, he started back into chewing, and this time, the vet went to what he said was the last resort, short of amputation: an Elizabethan collar.

As pitiful as Spaz was, the vet assistants and I couldn’t help laughing at his antics trying to dislodge the thing. It did its job in that he has not chewed his foot since then, even after he finally got the collar off about ten hours later (by doing somersaults!). Now to see if he continues to leave his foot alone.

What I’ve been reading: This vet is very good–he treats my turtle, too–but the wait times are way too long. Usually it’s an hour. Yesterday was two hours. I actually didn’t mind for once, because I had nowhere else I needed to be, and it was an excuse to read the really good book I’m working on right now. I’m not going to share about it just yet because I’m not finished, but I will next week. I know I’ll finish soon, because this is one of those I can’t wait to get back to–as in, it’s done a great job getting me to the treadmill, but it’s also one I have to fight the temptation to read, rather than do my own writing.

ROW80 Update: It took until yesterday, but I finally did get started on my revisions. Still not sure about the new scene I’m writing, but at least I’m having fun again. What I finally figured out: even though revision uses the critical part of the mind, I couldn’t get myself to focus on it at my Internet computer. Only when I went into the critter room and sat at my writing computer did the resistance fade. So I guess that computer is not just for new writing. I didn’t get as much done as I’d have liked, but I did get through one revised scene, plus part of a new one done. For this week, I’m going to shoot for finishing this new scene, and revising the next two.

What about you–what has kept you from reaching your goals lately (or what has tempted you)? Do you ever have to fight the urge to read, rather than write? Do you have pets? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 28, 2016

The title pretty much sums it up when it came to writing this week. And blogging today–that’s why this is coming so late. But I decided not to break my streak of blogging every Sunday this year, so here I am.

I did have somewhat of an excuse: I went for a motorcycle ride with my husband this afternoon. We’ve had some great weather for Ohio in February, so we had to take advantage. It was windy, but otherwise wonderful, a fitting end to a fine week. And yesterday, I went out looking at new kitchen cabinets, and met with a designer at Lowe’s. We’re not actually going to start on the kitchen until late July, but we learned at our meeting that now is the time to start planning. When I got home from our motorcycle ride today, I wasted all kinds of time looking at kitchen stuff and pinning on Pinterest. Yes, I’m there, I’ve just never used it until now. My page is here if anyone’s dying of curiosity. 😀

My cooking day last Sunday went well, too, and there are now 25 meals in my freezer. 25 instead of 30, because we already ate a few. Some were fantastic “make-this-again-every-week” good, and some were… not so much. Not because of my cooking, but the recipe just wasn’t that great. But that’s one cool thing about once a month cooking, is that it keeps us out of a rut and trying new things.

What I’ve been reading: for reading this week: I stuck with the tried-and-true: Smith’s Monthly #16, by Dean Wesley Smith. I read all of it this week, both the short stories, and the novel, Lake Roosevelt, another of his Thunder Mountain time travel series. The last two were much better, but this one was still enjoyable.

ROW80 Update: I’ve got nothing. This is the I Don’t Wanna part–revisions. Every time I sat down to work on them, I found myself doing anything else I could. After several days of this, I tried to figure out why, and realized it was because the two new scenes I’d planned were not the right way to go. For one thing, both were mostly just characters talking, which = boring! But I didn’t want to add more complexity to them by making more going on in them. So I’m going to just plow ahead with the revision , and try to work in the information and thematic stuff my reader and I talked about into the existing material. I suspect it’s still going to be slow going, so I’m going to shoot for getting through two chapters this week.

What about you–ever have one of those times when you just don’t wanna? What did you do to get through it? How are you doing on whatever goals you may have, whether writing or not? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 21, 2016

Anything that saves time in chores gives us more time to do the things we want to do, so when I saw that my local Meijer store was offering online ordering and curbside pickup, my husband and I said we definitely wanted to try it some time.

I’m getting ready to do a big cooking day, so this week was that time.

I made an account on Meijer.com, and started ordering. It was so much easier to just type what I wanted into the search bar, and then choose from all the choices, than to hunt for the item in the store! I also tried drilling down through the categories, as in Grocery –> Produce –> Vegetables, and that was also easy. Everything was pictured, so I knew what I was getting. It took me about an hour and a half to put together the massive shopping list that my cooking day required, over 80 different items. It takes me about half that long just to put together the shopping list for my husband, because it needs to be Very Specific. Then when he goes to the store, that takes 3-4 hours, plus a stop at Starbucks. That alone was a trade-off for the $4.95 pickup fee, plus my husband had one less super-sugary drink he didn’t need. 🙂

At the end of placing my order, I was able to select the exact pickup time my husband wanted, and it was ready when he drove up to the pickup area. We ordered two days ahead, but orders can be placed as little as three hours in advance, or one hour for 12 items or less. Store staff does all the loading–my husband didn’t even need to get out of his truck.

Overall, it was fantastic, and we will definitely do this again. My only complaint was regarding pre-packaged meats. Oh–as for quality, Meijer says they pick out the best meats and produce for curbside customers. I have no complaints there, but rather about the quantity. My cooking day required 11-1/8 lbs. of chicken breast, so I ordered two family packs that were supposed to be approx. 5 lbs. each, plus a single pack of approx. 1-1/8 lbs. I realize meat weights vary, so I noted in the comments box that I would rather have more than that, than less. But I got two 4-lb. family packs, plus a .8 lb. single. This is a new service, so I expect there to be some bugs to be worked out. They emailed me a survey link, so I put there that I’d like to be able to order meat by the pound, as I was able to do with produce, rather than by package. Luckily, I had some frozen at home, so I had enough for my cooking day without having to go back to the store.

What I’ve Been Reading: “Once Upon a Snow Day” by Kait Nolan. This short story is part of her “Meet-Cute” series, which aptly describes it. Not my usual fare, but I like something light and fun like this every now and then, and it fit the bill. Recommended!

I also read Gimme Shelter by TS Hottle. This science fiction novella is set in the same universe as his prior release, The First One’s Free, which I read a few months ago. These books are the opposite of the one I almost put down in that he does a great job pulling the reader down into the characters, and making us interested in what happens to them, even those with less than charitable intentions. Like Free, this book is laced with evidence of his prior crime fiction work, full of characters with shifting and questionable loyalties and alliances in a complex, diverse, and well-developed universe. Definitely recommended!

ROW80 Update: I got a little done on my blurbs and cover, but they’re far from finished. Still, with all else I have going on, that’s a win. I did get the print book and cover for Mythical Press done, except for a few minor text tweaks from the author. I met with my writing group yesterday, which was fun as always. They are both among my first readers for my current WIP, and the one who got it back to me already had lots of changes to suggest. I agreed with most of them, but wasn’t sure how to implement them–actually, I was a bit overwhelmed–so she met with me to go over them. That helped tons, and now I have a plan for my revision. So this week’s plan is to write the two new scenes we identified.

How about you–what other strategies do you have to save time at the grocery store? Have you read any good books lately? And how are you doing on your goals, whatever they may be, writing or not? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 14, 2016

I got pretty much nothing done on the writing this week, mostly because my focus has been elsewhere. Fortunately, it’s because of something good–my husband and I, after living in this house for 23 years, decided it’s time to remodel the kitchen. This kitchen was the worst part of the house when we bought it way back when, and aside from some new appliances early on, it’s only gotten worse since. It’s very small, and it’s arranged haphazardly, with useless, inaccessible corner cabinets and wasted space. Not only that, the cabinets were not in great shape when we bought the house, much less after 23 more years of use. We can’t change how much space there is, as knocking out exterior walls and adding on is not in our budget, but we can fix the layout woes and make better use of what space we have. Therefore, much of my week has been taken up in planning, getting ideas, researching, and then creating a fun 3-D diagram in Lowe’s Virtual Designer (don’t know if we’ll buy cabinets there or not, but the software is cool). Even when not actively working on it, that’s what my mind has been on, rather than book cover design and description.

What I’ve been reading: I did find time to read, of course. I even finished the book I mentioned last week. Since I’ve been critical of it, I’m not going to mention the author, title or even genre. It never did get any “deeper” with good setting and description, but the storytelling got better as it went, and was enough to keep me reading. However, I don’t plan to continue with the author’s next book. Too many better stories to read. But it does go to show that depth in setting and character building is important, but good storytelling can make up for a lot.

ROW80 Update: Nothing to report here. I’d like to keep the same goal this week (book description and cover design), but that could be stretching it, since I see some shopping in my near future, and I also have my monthly writing group meeting next Saturday. Plus, I have a print book to layout to do for Mythical Press, and also a wraparound cover to design, as the book currently has only an ebook cover (i.e., front only). So with that, anything I get done on my book will be a bonus.

What about you–ever have one of those weeks where your focus was completely elsewhere than where you’d expected? Any suggestions for cool stuff for my small kitchen? And have you read any good books lately–or bad ones? (Please don’t share identifying details on the latter, but do tell us what you learned!) Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 7, 2016

This was one of those weeks where I didn’t do a whole lot besides the usual go to work, write, and of course, read. I finished last week’s book early in the week, so picked up another. This book was a type of story I love, so I expected to really enjoy it.

Despite its interesting story and premise, I kept finding myself distracted by all kind of other thoughts, and frequently putting the book down to think about something I’m working on instead. I couldn’t figure out why–it didn’t have any of the typical things that make me put books down, like excessive background information, repetition, or just nothing happening. Then I remembered the online writing workshop I recently completed.

Depth-Workshop-Cover2-e1402637242834 Like Stacy commented on last week’s post, sometimes we learn the most from the books we don’t enjoy. When I put a book down–or am tempted to, I always try to figure out why. The workshop I took last month was Dean Wesley Smith’s Depth in Writing (highly recommended if you’re a writer, btw). In it, he discussed how the bestsellers–and all good fiction–pull readers down deep into the story, quickly. This is something vital to keep readers reading, and to make them want the next book.

One part of accomplishing this is to draw the reader into the setting through vivid details, using all five senses–yep, even taste. (I’m not giving away any of the workshop either–he’s mentioned this on his blog before.) I skimmed the openings of the book’s prior chapters, and sure enough, this was what was missing. I couldn’t find any descriptions of smells or tastes, which are strongly connected to emotion, and only in a couple places could I find sounds or touch/temperature.

Now, I have never been overly fond of a lot of description in my reading, and it’s something I have had to work on in my own writing. But done right, it’s not a big chunk of bore, and won’t even be noticeable to the reader. This book was a perfect example of how important that is.

Sometimes, lack of depth can be compensated for with good storytelling, and that’s why I haven’t put the book down yet. It’s an engaging and interesting plot, and I want to find out what happens next just enough to keep on.

What I’ve been reading: I definitely enjoyed the book I finished early last week. That was Smith’s Monthly #15, by Dean Wesley Smith. The full novel therein was Cold Call, a really twisted murder mystery featuring retired cops who get together to play poker and solve cold cases.

ROW80 Update: last week, my goal was to complete my first draft revision, and get the novella off to the beta readers. That is DONE. I contacted my publisher, and they already have my final editor lined up, and expect to have the book out by mid-March, barring anything unforeseen. Since I do cover design for Mythical Press, I also design my own covers, so that’s what’s up for this week–the cover design, and a short blurb suitable for back cover copy, something else the publisher needs. As a bonus goal, I need to collect all the front- and back-matter for the book, which I’ll need to supply to them as well.

What about you—have you put down a book lately, or considered doing so? Do you know why? How do you feel about description in fiction, whether you’re a writer or from a reader’s perspective? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have? Please share in the comments—I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 31, 2016

As a writer who has a full-time job, helps with a spouse’s business, and has limited energy, how I spend my time is of great importance. Actually, I don’t know any writer who has enough time to do all the things they need and want to do, regardless of employment, health, kids, or whatever. So I often find myself evaluating the ROI–Return on Investment–of a given activity, the “investment” being my time. So maybe ROT–Return on Time–is a better way to describe it.

This is a concern for many writers especially when it comes to time spent on Facebook, Twitter, and the like. What do we get for our time spent on social media, and is it worth it? If one considers them fun, then that should definitely be taken into consideration. I don’t enjoy them, so for me, they’re low ROT, and the answer is to spend very little time there. I do like reading blogs, so I spend more of my time with them.

Other activities where I need to consider ROT is the time it takes to come up with a clever blog title, as well as what to write about. I’m not very good at titles, so I honestly don’t spend a lot of time on them. I am skeptical that I’d get many more pageviews if I did spend a lot more time with them, and anyway, this blog doesn’t sell books, so… not a good ROT.

I received a flyer in the mail saying that Meijer now offers order-ahead pickup. Order online, then go pick it up at a drive-thru area a few hours later. We can get our first order free (the pickup fee, not the purchases) if we order by Feb. 13. After that, it’s $4.95.

The only time my grocery store is this deserted is like at 3 AM… or during the Superbowl.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a totally killer deal. There’s no maximum or minimum, and instead of spending an hour+ grocery shopping–a chore I hate–I can order online and pickup. Even if I had a household employee to do this (LOL–right?) their hourly wage would be much more! So with this, grocery shopping is something else where I can consider ROT–and it’s definitely worth more than $4.95. That goes double for a big grocery haul in preparation for a once-a-month-cooking day. My husband normally does the shopping, but those take him three hours. The fee would be worth it to him, too, because a marathon shopping session like that requires a stop at Starbuck’s–which is about the same amount!

We have had crazy warm weather here in Ohio the past couple of days, so last night, my husband had a fire out back. I took some time away from writing to go sit with him, and that was time well-spent. Time with our family has a high ROT.

So what did I do this week where I was thinking about time spent? Of course I did some reading, because that’s something I enjoy a lot, and writers need to read. So reading is almost always worth the ROT for me. (I say “almost” because there is the occasional book I don’t enjoy and end up setting aside.) I didn’t finish yet, so I’ll go over that next week.

ROW80 Update: I did meet my goals this week, and finished the first draft of my WIP! I got that last scene written, and went through and added a few things I knew were missing. So this week’s plan is to proofread and correct, and get it to the beta readers. A bonus would be anything I get done on the cover or book description.

What about you–for what activities do you consider ROT? Whether or not you’re a writer, what’s worth your time, and what isn’t? Would you consider ordering your groceries online and saving the time shopping? What’s the weather like where you live? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!