Blog | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, March 29, 2020

That’s pretty much what everyone is doing right now, with what’s going on in the world. I have been fortunate so far, as I still have a job, and it was already work-from-home, so that part has been figured out for a long time as well. So I’ll leave commentary on that to others. One of my commenters last week noted that she’d spent too much time reading news about the pandemic, and I got caught up in that, too. I dialed it back a little this week, which helped.

Most of my figuring-out had to do with my writing. I already have a good routine for work, and had been settling into one for taking care of the house (a.k.a. cleaning), since we moved away from the friend who cleaned for us. But I never developed a good routine for writing.

One thing I noticed recently is that I tend to put off the writing until the very end of the day, after I’ve done everything else that needed to be done (and taken necessary breaks). I suspect this mostly comes from the fact that writing is fun (or it should be), and like many, I grew up with the mindset to “do your homework first, then you can go play.” The problem was, by the time I got to the writing, I was tired and didn’t feel like it (or care enough to push through). Something needed to change.

My husband wound up going out of town for a job last week, so it was the perfect time to develop a new routine: doing my writing right after dinner, and giving it enough importance to be okay with it. Even if I spent 1/2 hour to an hour on the writing, that would still leave me with time to relax and spend with my husband afterward on most days.

Well, it WORKED! I spent at least 1/2 hour every day on my writing, right after dinner, and also wrote about 3300 words of notes. Even better, my husband was gone for three days, and I kept this up after he got back. I also enjoyed it more, I think because I wasn’t trying to pressure myself into doing “real” writing, but just made notes.

Which is where the other part of “figuring it out” comes in. The act of making notes helped me tons with figuring out what needs to be changed in what I already have, and where my story is going. I haven’t figured it all out, but at the rate I’m going, I should be good to spend another week making notes and doing some rough outlines (with the caveat that it all can change!), then I should be good to get back to the actual writing. And since I’m no longer bored with it, that should be fun as well.

What I’ve Been Reading

I didn’t finish anything this week, but I have been enjoying a novel that I will write about here next week.

What I’ve Been Writing

A lot of notes! ROW80 ended for the quarter on Thursday, so I guess it’s time for an end-of-ROW wrap-up. I changed my goals midway through when I started bogging down, but that was still not enough. I made my January writing goal, but got next to nothing in February or March. But hey, next week is a new Round, so time to start back in then. I’ll have a better idea of what I can do for Round Two, so I’ll blog about that next week. This week, I want to continue making notes to get the rest of the story figured out, and either start back on the WIP, or be ready to next week.

I am almost done with my learning goal, too. Since I set my goal for three months, and we still have a couple days left, I should be able to finish that online workshop by Tuesday, and meet my goal. I also wanted to learn something about copyright once a month, so I also need to get on that if I want to meet my goal–I sort of forgot about it last week, when it was on my to-do list. So this week for learning, I want to finish the online workshop on Secondary Plotlines, spend a little time reading about copyright, and start another online workshop–still not sure which one.

So that’s a wrap for ROW80, Round One! Tell me, how are things going for you? Have you been affected by the pandemic? I hope you’re staying healthy and employed! How are you doing on your goals, whether writing or something else? Please share in the comments–I 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, March 22, 2020

Still haven’t made progress on the WIP this week. Part of that has been because my mind is elsewhere, as I’m sure it is for many right now. The other part is because I’m still stuck on boring. Time to change my approach–more on that below.

As it has everywhere else, things have been quiet here. Except here, that’s pretty normal. I work from home already, so no changes there (and I’m thankful I still have my job). My husband is retired, so he’s mostly been working on the property, though bored on rainy days because there’s not much for him to do inside. We’re very fortunate.

Tennessee has not shut down to the extent others have, especially Ohio, where my family lives and my coworkers work. My husband and I went out to dinner on Thursday for our anniversary (our 26th!). The place was pretty deserted, and the next day, the Mayor of Knoxville ordered restaurants to close except for carryout and delivery. All bars in our county were also ordered to close on Friday, but restaurants were allowed to remain open at reduced capacity. We’ll see what happens this week, but plan to remain hunkered down.

What I’ve Been Reading

Last week, I finished The Bastard Prince by Patty Jansen. This is one of my favorite authors, and I read all of her Ghostspeaker Chronicles, the 6-book series that takes place in the same world. I enjoyed this one every bit as much as the others, though luckily I bought the whole 3-book series, as it ended on a cliffhanger. Normally I hate those, but Jansen tends to write 3-book series that are more like one big book, so I knew to expect it.

What I’ve Been Writing

As mentioned above, not much. I have bogged down in not knowing what happens next, or even what I’m working toward. I didn’t outline my last book, and it worked–I ended up figuring out the end just fine, though I might have run into a few stops along the way. And it was better than I expected, with some cool twists I doubt I would have outlined at all. But this time, it’s time to just sit down and figure out what happens. If the characters wind up with other ideas, I can go with the flow, as I’ve done before and toss the outline–which is the main reason I stopped doing them. But this time it’s not working, so it’s time to outline. That’s what I’ll be doing this week.

I’ll be keeping on learning, too. Last week, I took a break from the Secondary Plotlines workshop and did a short one on Starting or Restarting Your Writing. It helped, and I got some good ideas there I’ll be trying as well. This week, I’ll go back in on the Secondary Plotlines workshop. I’d originally planned to finish it this week, but since I didn’t work on it last week, I’ll shoot for getting week 5 done, with week 6 (finishing) as a bonus.

We’re also coming up on the end of ROW80 Round 1. Obviously, I haven’t met my writing goals at all, though I did well on learning. So this week will also include reevaluating and figuring out what I can do for the next Round.

What’s going on in your part of the world? Are you staying in, or are places still open? If you’re off work, are you getting extra time to work on your goals, or are other things (childcare?) taking over? Please take care of yourself, and drop me a line in the comments–I love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 15, 2020

You would think I could have gotten a lot done this past week, given that my husband went to Florida for Bike Week, leaving me here with the critters. This is what my mom refers to as a “vacation.” :D. But no.

He came home Friday night, which was just as well as Bike Week shut down early due to virus fears (and not a bad call either). He and his friend actually didn’t participate in Bike Week at all, as they were staying with his friend’s relative, and wound up just cruising through the center of town where the activities were supposed to be. Attendance was sparse, so they just rode through and didn’t even go into any of the bars or music venues. My husband came down with a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well for the ride home, but he made it safely and was feeling better the next day, leading us to conclude he just had a cold or mild flu. However, he’s staying home, just in case. As for supplies? We’re lucky to have made our regular monthly Costco run a week before the panic struck, so we’re good. And I already work from home, so I’m fortunate there as well.

What I’ve Been Reading

I’ve been reading a couple of nonfiction books, as well as novel that I’m really enjoying, but I didn’t finish anything this week. So this too, will have to wait until next week.

What I’ve Been Writing

Part of my slow writing week may be that I had some extra bookkeeping to do for our businesses, finishing up things for taxes and such, and updating records since we sold our old house. That was in fact the case–but not all week.

I’m still having trouble keeping going on the WIP without knowing where it’s going. I mean, I have an idea of how it will end, but no idea of how what I’m writing now will lead to that or even tie in.

I got about 700 words written before totally bogging down again. My WIP is boring to me, so what else could it be to readers?

Time to regroup–AGAIN. I need to just spend the week getting a better idea of what will happen, and maybe even do some rudimentary outlining. I never end up following the outline, which is why I quit doing them, but maybe my creative brain needs something to latch onto before it can suggest something better. We’ll see!

On another note, I did get my learning done, and completed another week of my online workshop. I want to do another week of it this week, as well as do some reading on copyright.

How has your week been? Have you been affected by the virus pandemic? I hope you and yours are staying healthy! How are you doing with whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 8, 2020

This past week, we finally sold our house in Ohio! We actually got a contract on it a month ago, but we knew not to count on it until closing. That happened Wednesday, so we are now free and clear of it–and its bills!

The other good thing is that I finally made a writing goal. More on that below.

What I’ve Been Reading

This is a book I’ve been waiting to see published for a long time: Torn Between Worlds by Linda Chalk. Linda is a writing friend, and her book is pretty unique: a Native American historical romance where it’s the heroine who’s a Native American. Except in a way, she isn’t–brought up by white settlers from a very young age, she knows nothing of her heritage. She gets a chance at finding it when she joins a wagon train to California. The story is set in 1848 and covers the journey on the Oregon Trail, along with Lydia’s many discoveries, starting with the sexy trail boss Joe. I really enjoyed the historical detail that really brought this story alive–highly recommended!

What I’ve Been Writing

My goal this week was small–only 1000 words–but that did the trick. I met that goal, and also completed the next week of my online workshop on Secondary Plotlines. I also got a book about one of the time periods in my WIP, and started reading that.

This week, I’m going to keep my writing goal small, as I still don’t know where this book is going and that slows me down. So I’ll go for 250 words/day, for five days, or a total of 1250 words. I also want to read my research book, and complete another week of my online workshop.

What about you–what good things are happening in your life right now? Have you read any good books lately? How are you doing with whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 1, 2020

It’s now March 1st, and I’m nowhere near where I’d hoped to be with my WIP.

I actually had a good week, a nice, relatively-uneventful one. Even better, my migraines have backed off a bit, and I only had a headache two days this week, and just regular headaches at that. Still unpleasant, but not migraine-unpleasant. Yet I can’t seem to figure out what happens next in the WIP, and am even drawing a blank with my lists of 20 things. So I started back into learning, this time with WMG Publishing’s Secondary Plotlines online workshop. Just watching a few of the videos knocked some ideas loose, so I did start back into the WIP for 650 words, most of which were on one night, so yay! However, it’s a long way from what I set out to do this month. More on that below.

What I’ve Been Reading

The novel I’ve been reading is a long one, so I’m still not finished with it. I’m enjoying it, so I’ll definitely discuss here when I’m done. In nonfiction, I read 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam. This book was published ten years ago, but is every bit as relevant now as it was when it came out, and very well could become a time management classic. One of the basic exercises the author suggests is to track how you spend your time for a week (Dean Wesley Smith suggests this too, in his Carving Out Time for Your Writing video lecture). It’s really eye-opening to see how we really spend our time. I spend more on Facebook and playing games than I thought. I know I need a lot of downtime, so overall, it wasn’t a surprise. The rest of 168 Hours is also good, and it deals with both work and home. Recommended if you want to see how you can find more time to do the things you want to do, and less on things you have to do.

Copyright Learning

I also spent some time reading The Copyright Handbook this week, meeting my goal to learn something about copyright each month. Chapter Three deals with registering copyright. As I mentioned last month, registration is not necessary to have copyright–as soon as you commit your work to a tangible form (that includes computer data), it’s considered copyrighted. However, if someone infringes your copyright, you can’t take them to court unless the work is registered. And if you register after the infringement occurs, you can only go after actual damages, which can be hard to prove. The exception is with a newly-published work: you have up to three months after publication to register, even if the infringement occurs prior to the registration. The catch here is that some courts consider registration to happen upon submittal, others consider it to happen when you receive the certificate, and still others (including the federal court for my area) are unspecified. So bottom line, if you’re an author, register your work ASAP after publication for the most protection!

Registering a work where the same entity owns the rights to all components–the text, front matter, cover design, and back cover copy for a book, for example–is a simple matter. But when those components’ rights are owned by different people, each owner’s portion should be registered separately to get the maximum benefit in case of infringement. Same goes for an anthology, where the works within are copyrighted by different authors.

What I’ve Been Writing

As noted above, my WIP is slow-going. My goal for February was to write 12,000 words. I barely got 3,000–and that was more than I thought I’d written. So it’s time to revise those goals. For March, I’m going to shoot for 5000 words total, starting with 1,000 this week. If I hit the March goal, that will bring my quarterly total to 16,000–about half of my original goal but still something.

I did meet my learning goal this week, which was to go through the Week 2 videos and do the assignment for another online workshop on Secondary Plotlines. I’d already done the first week a while back, so I reviewed my notes for that first.

What about you–have you had any goal changes lately? Have you ever tracked how you spend your time? If so, what surprised you? If not, what do you think you’d find? And how are you doing on whatever goals you have, whether writing-related or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 23, 2020

…to follow and uneventful one, of course! Mostly this was travel–no wait, it was all travel. I had to go to Ohio for work, so that pretty much consumed my week, and as you might guess, no writing got done.

Work went well, and my teammates and I accomplished what we’d planned to do during my visit, so that was good! I got to spend a couple of evenings with my parents, one with friends, and also got to see my daughter and her partner. So overall a great time! It just didn’t leave much time for anything else–and that’s OK.

What I’ve Been Reading

I finished a novel before I left, The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club, Book 4 by Ann Warner. This is a cute, cozy mystery series about people who live in a retirement community. In this book, the main characters are handed several valuable pieces of artwork that were stolen in an infamous heist decades before, and now must return it while avoiding being charged with the crime themselves. A fun and delightful installment in a series I really enjoy! Highly recommended!

What I’ve Been Writing

Ummm…. nothing. Just too much going on this week. I also didn’t have a chance to watch any workshop videos, so that too is a big fat zero. I don’t regret it because family and friends are more important, and I don’t get to see them often, since our move. But this is a new week, and I’m going to fall back on the same goals: for the writing, make a list of 20 things that could happen in each of the next three scenes; for the learning, I want to watch the first week’s videos and do the assignment for a WMG Publishing online workshop in Secondary Plotlines. Actually getting into the writing will be a bonus.

What about you–ever have one of those weeks where you make no progress? Have you done any traveling lately? How are you doing on whatever goals you’re working toward, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 16, 2020

This has been another of those weeks that were largely uneventful, but unfortunately, not one of those where I got a ton of writing done.

What I Read This Week

I am currently reading a cozy mystery that I’m really enjoying, but haven’t yet finished, so I’ll post about that next week.

I did finish a nonfiction book, Fair Play by Eve Rodsky, that was entertaining and really interesting. It’s a solution to the outsized mental load that most wives/moms carry in their households, by basically making a card game of it, the main purpose of which is to shine a light on all the “invisible” work we do, open up discussion, and ultimately, help couples work out a way to divvy this stuff up more fairly. While I definitely bear more of the mental load in my household, this book also made me realize that I have it pretty good compared to a lot of people, so I don’t know if I’ll suggest playing the game or not (printables of the cards can be downloaded from the author’s website). But next time I have a ton going on and my husband asks what he can do to help, maybe I’ll try it! If this is an issue in your home, I highly recommend this book–good food for thought, if nothing else.

What I’ve Been Writing

Ehh, not much. My goal this week was only 1,000 words, and I didn’t even hit that. I did finish out the scene I was working on at just over 500 words, then I needed to do some research. While I figured out a few things, I did not find the inspiration I was looking for to figure out what happens next–and this applies to the next three scenes, so I really need to figure it out. Looks like it’s time to make some lists of 20 Things.

This coming week is going to be a busy one, as I will be traveling for work. I never know if I’ll have the time and space to get to the writing. So I’m going to go with an easy goal: make a list of 20 Things that might happen for each of the next three scenes. I was also going to start back in on a workshop this week for my learning goal, but due to the travel, that might not work so well, so I’ll consider getting anything on that a bonus, as well as any writing beyond figuring out what comes next.

What about you–do you ever have trouble figuring out what comes next, whether in writing or something else? What do you think about dealing out household tasks like a card game? 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 26, 2020

This week around the house, I finally got around to unpacking some lingering boxes. Three of these were in the master closet, along with a garbage bag full of my husband’s clothes (that he obviously hasn’t really missed, but oh well…). DH installed the final closet organizer and shelves, so I did the unpacking.

What’s surprising is the amount of empty shelf space, along with half of a clothing rail. The rail will be filled when we bring up our extra coats from the basement, but the shelves? I guess I did a better job of decluttering before the move than I thought!

The other thing DH did was to tidy up and hang pictures in this little nook off of the great room. On the right is the door into our bedroom. I finally unpacked the several boxes of books there, and filled the bookshelf, and DH hung his family memorial items. I’m happy with how it turned out! There are still plenty of projects, but getting these done is a good feeling.

Learning about Copyright

This year, I set a goal to learn something about copyright once a month. Copyright is so important to writers, as it’s what gives our work value and enables us to make money from it, by preventing others from doing so without our permission (legally, at least). But there is so much nuance to it, and so many details.

A couple years ago for Christmas, I received The Copyright Handbook, by Stephen Fishman. I already knew the basics, like the fact that we have a copyright in our work as soon as it’s committed to paper, hard drive, or whatever other fixed form, and that holding a copyright does not require registration. I re-read Chapter One, which is a good reinforcement of the basics. On one level, I knew that it’s not required to put a copyright notice on the material for it to be copyrighted, but what I wasn’t clear on was that this isn’t even required by a publisher. The notice is more to reinforce the fact that it’s copyrighted to anyone who might be thinking of infringing, and deter those who might otherwise not realize the material is copyrighted. I also learned that the disclaimers that are inserted by publishers are mostly a tradition (and reinforcement to those who might unwittingly use the material otherwise), but not a requirement, though they were historically. The words “all rights reserved” were never a requirement except in Brazil and Honduras.

If infringement does occur, the author is likely to get a better settlement if the material bears a copyright notice. Without the notice, the infringer might owe a lesser settlement due to the possibility that they could have thought the material was in the public domain (i.e., not copyrighted).

What I’ve Been Reading

I’m still reading the final book in that fantasy box set, which is actually six short novels. That box set has been quite the deal, at $ .99, and has given me many hours of entertainment! I’m really enjoying the current book.

In nonfiction, I read Playing with Fire by Scott Rieckens. One thing I love about reading personal finance blogs is reading about the author’s journey out of debt and/or to being financially independent. Playing with Fire is such a story, about when the author realized he and his wife wouldn’t be able to retire until they were over 70, due to their paycheck-to-paycheck, luxurious lifestyle, and goes over the changes they made to get out of that cycle and work toward the life the really wanted. Recommended!

What I’ve Been Writing

I met my writing goal this week of 450 words/day for five days, and a total of 2250 words. Actually, I exceeded it a little, and got over 2400 words, so that tells me I’m good to bump up my goal again! So this week, I’m going to shoot for 500 words/day, for five days, and a total of 2500 words.

I met my learning goals this time too, by learning something about copyright as noted above, and I also completed Week 4’s videos and assignment for the WMG Publishing “Teams in Fiction” workshop. This week, I want to complete the videos and assignment for Week 5.

What about you–have you unpacked anything interesting lately? What have you read recently? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing-related or otherwise? I’d love to hear from you–please share in the comments!

by Jennette, February 2, 2020

This week, we finally got our wet basement issues fixed (we hope, but so far so good). We’ve had moisture on the basement walls with a big rain since before we moved in. At first, the builder passed it off as from not having final grading done. But even after that was complete, the front wall of the basement still got wet whenever we got a good rain.

We also had leaky gutters, and when the gutter guy no-showed for a fix, my husband took care of it with some extra caulk. We thought that might fix the basement issues, but no.

Given the builder’s disappearing act, we went right to the waterproofing company. They responded quickly, came out and took a look, dug down a little… and found a big ledge of concrete along the front porch wall about a foot below ground level–right where the moisture was appearing inside. They eventually determined that when the front porch was poured, the concrete crew just did their cleanup right there, dumping the remnants of the concrete right next to the house instead of taking it away, like they should have. Or at least dumping it a little distance away! There were also punctures in the waterproofing layer, caused by using too-large gravel beside the house.

It took a few weeks to get the fix done due to the rain, but they finally came out and dug up the yard along the front porch. Fortunately, we had not done any landscaping, because we knew this was an issue and it could come to something like this. They removed the concrete, reapplied the waterproofing, and later came back to replace the dirt. Now we need to let it sit and compact for a few weeks before we replace the stone slab steps. At least it’s done! And yes, the builder will be paying for it–the waterproofer does a lot of work for him, so they’ve been in contact.

*Coming back from walking the dogs required using the side door that day!*

What I’ve Been Reading

Finally finished the fantasy box set! And I really enjoyed that last story. I will probably buy the next in series from several of these authors, and when I do, I’ll include those here.

What I’ve Been Writing

Not as much as I’d hoped–my goal this week was to write for five days, 500 words/day. I did write five days, but only hit that wordcount twice. I just couldn’t get myself to keep on writing. Luckily, I figured out why last night: I’d taken a wrong turn with the scene I was writing. As in, it wasn’t needed at all. I was bored writing it, which was why I struggled to get to 500 words. And if I was bored writing it, readers will be bored reading it, so it has to go. No big deal, I will just work the necessary information in elsewhere and start in on the next scene, which I am looking forward to writing.

The good news is that while I didn’t meet my goal this past week, I still met–and exceeded–my January goal of 8,000 words. I’ll take it!

This week, I want to shoot for 500 words/day again, for five days.

I did meet my learning goal, and completed the week 5 videos and assignments for my online workshop. This week, I want to complete week 6’s materials, which will complete the workshop.

What about you–any unexpected setbacks lately, whether with your writing or something else? How about your goals? And have you read any good books recently? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 9, 2020

Today is the first day in a week that we’ve had dry weather. It has rained since Monday, only stopping on Thursday and Friday to switch to snow. Our driveway’s a mess, and I’ve had migraines all week, thanks to the weather. And yes, we’re still getting water in the basement, now in different places than before. DH has already been in contact with the waterproofing company, and the owner says they’ll be back out to work on it once it stops raining on a workday (it’s supposed to start back up tomorrow).

I can’t complain too much–our basement water is just some seepage through the walls. But our area got over 5″ of rain in two days, and some people have had their homes flooded. DH is out on the tractor fixing the driveway now, I don’t have a headache now, and we have a lot to be grateful for.

*The freeze we had a couple weeks ago didn’t hurt our wild daffodils*

What I’ve Been Reading

Fellowship, by Lynette M. Burrows. This is a prequel to her debut novel, My Soul to Keep, set in the same alternate-history, dystopian world, about four newly-orphaned kids on the run in Appalachia. I loved the first book, and loved this one too–the characters are engaging, and the theocratic U.S. in an alternate 1960’s fascinates me. Highly recommended! I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!

What I’ve Been Writing

Once again, I did not make my goal (sigh). The headaches are part of it–I just haven’t felt like doing much. I did manage to write four days this week, and got about 1800 words in–so not a total bust. But I am also again at a stuck point. This time, it’s a need for research. I have characters in three different time periods, and two different places, neither of which is Dayton, Ohio. So it’s time to do some research and figure out what could happen next in these time periods and other places. So this week’s goal is to research at least 15 minutes a day or until I figure things out, and to get 1000 new words, whether that’s 200 words five days, 500 words two days, or something in between.

I did meet my learning goal, and finished the WMG Publishing workshop on Teams in Fiction. Definitely helpful, and a topic I’d never given much thought to before. I am going to take a week off of workshops while I focus on my research, then will probably jump into another one next week.

What about you–how’s the weather where you are? Has it impacted what you do? Have you read any good books lately? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!