ROW80 | Jennette Marie Powell

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!

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, 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!

by Jennette, January 24, 2016

No, this is not an athletic shoes commercial. This is what I had to tell myself yesterday to get the job done, the “job” being the scene that’s hung over me for the past three weeks.

Sometimes the hardest part of getting the writing done is just getting started, going to the computer, and overcoming inertia. But lately, my main problem has been staying focused once I’m there. I did some more experimenting with mynoise.net, having decided that Brain.fm was not working well enough to be worth spending $6.99 for a one-month subscription.

My conclusion? Sometimes/it depends. Which soundscape I chose definitely made a difference; some were too bland to aid in focus, as they were mostly intended to be noise-masking. Others sounded great, but made me sleepy (one use for these sounds is in hypnotherapy practice). I might try listening as I’m reading before bed to help me go to sleep. But that’s not what I want to do at the writing computer. I really like the Ice World sound, but this is one of those. However, My Noise lets you combine sounds, and combining it with Ethereal Choir is great, and did seem to help with focus.

I met with three of my writer friends yesterday, and one of them was having focus trouble, too. We talked about what we do when we come to a scene we don’t want to write yet, whether because of mood or something else. “Toss it out” wasn’t discussed, although that’s a perfectly viable option when the scene isn’t really needed for the book. We were talking about those that were definitely needed.

I just skip the scene and move on to the next, as I mentioned in last week’s ROW80 update. One of my friends writes out of order, so that’s a no-brainer for her. It’s easy enough for me to do, as my sketch/outline tells me what happens in the next scene. But one of my other friends does the same thing, and she uses absolutely no outline. She and I both write our scenes in order otherwise. But my third friend said he absolutely can’t write out of order. Lucky for him, he doesn’t come upon this situation very often.

Yesterday, I still had not finished either of the two scenes I’d wanted to for today’s ROW80 update. But meeting with my writing friends is always fun and energizing (at least creatively), and I came home ready to tackle those scenes. I hit the later one first, and finished it without a problem. Then I played computer games for about an hour, procrastinating on that scene I didn’t want to write, until I finally realized I was not going to hit that goal for the third week in a row if I didn’t Just Do It.

So I went back to the writing room, fed the critters, and fired up mynoise.net with a combo of Ice World, Ethereal Choir, and Coastline. I don’t know whether it was the music/sounds, or my determination to just get it written, but it worked. Took about three hours, and 2500 words, but it’s done! 🙂

What I’ve been reading: I finished Gods and Swindlers by Laura Kirwan last Sunday or Monday. I love, love, love this series, about a fifty-something, non-magical lawyer who lives in a magical town and is the only thing standing between it and magical baddies. This one was a little slow at first, but still kept my interest, and only got better and better as it went (much like the previous two books in the series). I hope the next one is out soon, though I’m willing to wait.

One thing I’ve noticed as a reader is that I can’t tell if something was written fast or slow, in order or not, outlined or written into the dark. Nor can I tell whether the author revised and fixed as s/he went, or did a big revision (or multiple) afterward. A lot of people have strong opinions on these, particularly the speed and revisions, but IMO none of them matter. What’s important is that we do what works for us for that book, at that point in our knowledge of craft. And it can change. (FWIW, I am a nominal outliner, I mostly write in order, my speed varies greatly even within one book, and I am working toward fixing more as I write, and revising less because I don’t enjoy it.)

ROW80 Update: As noted above, I made my goal to finish both the scenes I was working on (barely)! So this week’s goal is to write the last scene (yes!), and then go back and fix the things I know are missing. As a bonus, I’d like to do the read-through and proofread, to get it ready for the beta readers.

What about you–when you read, can you tell anything about how the book was written? What do you do to get yourself to Just Do It when “it” is something you keep stalling on? If you’re a writer, do you ever write out of order, and how do you handle scenes you don’t feel like writing? How are you doing on whatever goals you may have, whether or not you’re a writer? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 17, 2016

I ran across an interesting blog post last week about a website called Brain.fm, a tool that’s supposed to help us focus.

Like many writers, this is help I need, as when I sit down to write, I’m as susceptible as anyone to OOOOOH SQUIRREL! and thinking about things like how the gerbil cages really need cleaned, or how I haven’t yet done the daily challenges in Microsoft Solitaire. So anything that can help me focus without icky side effects? I’m so there!

Image via Morguefile.com

Brain.fm offers seven free sessions, so I jumped right in that night, selecting the “Intense Focus” option. They tell you to wear headphones or earbuds, and then you get a half hour or more (you can pick your session length) of what’s basically electronic ambient music that mostly fades into the background, but blocks out other noises, like my gerbils’ wheels, the bubbling of the aquarium filter, or the TV in the next room. I was especially intrigued by the comments on the above-linked blog post, where several people tried it and found it really helped them, even one who admitted to being skeptical.

I gave it five tries, plus one at my day job, where I also have trouble focusing (probably because the projects I’m currently working on are just not that interesting). So did Brain.fm work for me?

Uhhhh, maybe.

It did block out other noise effectively. And since I like electronic music to begin with, was decent listening. But I still wanted to do things like go pet the gerbils, or see what my husband was watching in the next room. If I had more free sessions, I would give it more of a chance, but it didn’t work well enough for me to pay $6.99 for a month, or $47.88 for a year.

I mentioned this to my daughter, who was home yesterday. She hadn’t heard of Brain.fm, but she uses a competitive site, mynoise.net. So I tried that one out.

The sounds on the sites seem fairly similar, with the main difference being that Brain.fm’s music includes percussion, while those I’ve tried so far on My Noise did not. There are a bajillion different settings on My Noise, too, so I spent much of my writing time last night fiddling with it. I did find some sounds I liked, and it had about the same effect as Brain.fm – and a one-time donation of as little as $5.00 unlocks all the advanced features. So I tried those out too.

I’ve only tried My Noise once, so not enough to decide how well it works. I’ll update you when I do!

What I’ve been Reading: Still working on the same novel as last week. It’s long, and I don’t get much time to read, but it’s very good. I’ll talk about it next week.

ROW80 Update: My goal last week was to finish the next scene in my WIP. I wrote probably half of it before I realized I was padding because I was not in the mood to write what comes next. So I skipped to the next scene, and got it about half done, too, so I’ll consider that a win. I also completed the writing workshop, and the instructor said I totally nailed the assignment with my scene from the Blizzard of 1950. So another win! My goal this week is to finish both, which should be doable as this week should not be as busy as the last one.

What about you–have you ever tried focusing aids like Brain.fm or mynoise.net? Did it help? Or if you haven’t tried them, does it sound interesting? These aren’t just for writers, but anyone who wants help focusing, relaxing or even to get to sleep. 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, January 10, 2016

There’s no shortage of blog posts and articles on writers’ block at any time, but there seem to be a lot of them now, with the new year. I’m one of those who doesn’t believe in writers’ block as a thing in and of itself, but I experienced a bit of block myself this week, when it came time to do the assignment for the writing workshop I’m currently taking.

Last week’s assignment I pretty much put off to the last minute, and wound up dashing off something I didn’t really find interesting, that I suspected wasn’t very good. The instructor called me on it (though nicely), which I totally expected.

This week’s assignment was a challenging one, and I put it off too.

I was blocked on it, and when I took a minute to think about it, I realized it was because I didn’t want to throw out more crap and get called on it again. But what that really was, was good old fear.

I believe that’s what’s behind most of what we call writers’ block. Fear of not being good enough. Fear of getting bad reviews, if we publish. Fear of rejection, if we’re sending materials to agents or publishing houses. Fear of… I don’t know. It’s kind of irrational when I think about it. As this very instructor has said in other workshops, what is there really to fear? It’s not like an agent, editor, or reader is going to hunt us down and shoot us for writing something not so good. If we send something to an editor or agent and it’s no good, it’s not like they’ll remember it–or the writer. Or if we self-publish, neither will readers, if they read it at all. And I have zero illusions that the instructor for my workshop remembers anything that students send in for these short, 200-400 word assignments. That’s just silly.

This week’s assignment was to write about someone in a blizzard. It helped that we had our first, real snow of the winter last night (one that’s pretty but didn’t stick to the roads, my favorite kind!). That led me to think of some cool Ohio history–something that interests me–so I wrote about a girl in the Blizzard of 1950 and sent it off. And yes, once I got going, it was fun to write, getting all those historical details in without coming out and writing a dateline. Here’s hoping that will show through for the instructor, because I’d like to think I’m learning something in that workshop. 🙂

What I’ve been reading: Still working on the same novel as last week, so I’ll discuss after I finish.

ROW80 Update: Here are last week’s goals, and how I did.

Finish two more scenes on the novella – Done
Complete last week’s assignment for the workshop- Done
Watch the workshop lesson videos for next week – Done
BONUS: Start the following scene in the novella – Done

Yes, really! I met all of them, even the bonus. It helped that I finally kicked the last of the crud last weekend, and have been feeling better this week (two weeks is an improvement over last time I got this sick, so my supplements must be helping :)).

So this week’s goals are:

Finish the next scene in the novella
Watch the workshop lesson videos for next week
BONUS: Start the following scene in the novella.

These look less than last week, but I expect the scene to be a long one, and I have plans all day Saturday, so taking that into consideration. Luckily, it’s the last week for the workshop, so no assignment.

What about you–have you had to fight through fear lately, whether writing or something else? Did the fear turn out to be something silly, and what did you do? How are you doing with whatever goals you have so far this new year, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 3, 2016

I’ve been away from the blog for a while, between holidays and fighting off the crud. Seems like everyone around here has had it: something between a bad cold and a mild flu. My husband and daughter kicked it in three days; it’s taken me a couple of weeks (thanks to Adrenal Fatigue). But I’m feeling better now, just in time to go back to work. Not how I wanted to spend the five days off I’d planned plus holidays, but I am grateful I was able to take the time away from the office, plus three more days.

Christmas itself was fine, other than me and my parents all being sick. We ate Christmas dinner at my house off of paper plates, so no one had to do dishes. That helped a lot. And everyone got gifts they wanted. New Year’s was a laid back evening with friends at my house.

One thing I did a lot of during my sick time was read. I read two unpublished nonfiction books by friends, one of which was pretty rough-draft, but both of which held my attention. I read several published books, too.

What I’ve been reading: I finished the other four stories in the Spirits of the Season box set. One wasn’t really my thing, but good enough to finish, and the others were really enjoyable, especially Bandit’s Hollow, by Diane J. Reed. (It was time travel; of course I enjoyed it!). I also read Dean Wesley Smith’s Smith’s Monthly #14. For those who aren’t familiar with Smith, he puts out a monthly magazine that is 100% his original fiction. Each issue includes four or five short stories, a couple of poems, one or two segments of serialized novels, and one complete novel. So each one is a lot of reading, and they are always entertaining. He’s due to release Issue #25–I’m only a year behind. 😀

And now it’s time for goals. In some ways, New Year’s Day seems like a silly holiday–we’re just celebrating turning over the calendar–but that’s also a perfect time to assess, reassess, and set new goals with a clean slate (which is worth celebrating). Like most writers I know, I did not get as much done as I wanted, but I still got a respectable amount of stuff done. I finished and released a new novel in my Saturn Society world, set up a Readers Group newsletter, and actually did a little promotion, something I’ve avoided thus far (and my sales have shown it). I also began a new novella related to that latest release, which brings me to this quarter’s goals–or ROW80, Round 1.

ROW80 Goals for Round 1: I am going to keep these simple, though I have several other goals not directly related to my writing–things I’m doing for Mythical Press, some website development and related learning, and so on. A lot of writers whose blogs I’ve read want to focus more on writing this year, and I count myself with them. I do want to keep doing promotion, but hope to spend less time on it now that some aspects of it are now setup and running (my newsletter and sign-up process, for example). I also want to keep learning, both craft and business. So here are my writing goals:

Finish 1 craft workshop (I’m currently about halfway through it), and practice what I’m learning there.
Finish the current novella in progress, and get it to beta readers, and if they turn it around in time, turn it in to my publisher.
Review what I’ve already done on Saturn Society Book 3, and sketch out (outline) the second half of the book.

And here are this week’s goals:

Finish two more scenes on the novella
Complete last week’s assignment for the workshop (due tonight)
Watch the workshop lesson videos for next week
BONUS: Start the following scene in the novella.

What about you–how were your holidays? I hope you and your family stayed well, or if you had the crud, that you’re getting better! How did your 2015 goals turn out? And whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, what kind of goals are you working on now? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, December 13, 2015

I thought about titling this post “Hacking the Holidays,” but that sounds really bad and doesn’t give the impression I want. Some people may not be familiar with the term “hacking” as meaning finding ways to be more efficient, rather than a synonym for chopping, or some other form of destruction.

And yes, I’m always looking for ways to reduce stress and make more time for doing the things I want to do. That’s especially important around the holidays, when we have a bunch of stuff added to our to-do list and may have stress resulting from too many obligations, some of which we may not want to do. I’m lucky not to have that any more, but my time, and especially my energy, are stretched to begin with, so anything to help get through the extra to-dos is good. Because what’s important during the holidays isn’t getting all the things done, it’s spending time with loved ones and doing the FUN things.

I wrote a post about how to simplify some of those to-dos last year, for those looking for some help, though this may be a little late. This year, I’ve added to it.

Probably the first thing to do is pin down what, exactly, causes you the most stress for the holidays. Is it a gathering with people whose company you don’t enjoy? See if you can get out of it! Or at least, come up with an excuse to put in an appearance, then leave when you can.

As noted in the above post, Christmas cards are my bane. I know people who don’t send them at all, even though they do celebrate. As tempting as that may be, it’s not an option for me, because I send cards to people I like, some of whom I don’t otherwise keep in touch with very much. The cards at least push me to do that once a year. Also, I do like getting a few!

So I started buying photo cards from Shutterfly. It may be more money, but my husband likes us to send something unique, and this is so much easier than designing them myself. It was also a relatively uneventful year (in a very good way), so there wasn’t a lot to write about in the annual letter that goes with the cards. So I made it a top ten list instead. Easy! Then this year, I took it a step further: I paid for pre-addressed envelopes with my Shutterfly order. I know at least one of my readers is cringing right now! 😡 But, she had another good idea: a pre-lighted Christmas tree.

I have not put my tree up yet. That will happen this week, when my daughter gets home from college (finals were actually over on Friday, but she’s staying a couple extra days to decompress and see friends). When I do put the tree up, untangling and hanging the lights is definitely a pain. I would get one of those pre-lighted trees in a flash if I could find a slim one with colored lights. But there aren’t any to be found at all around here, so… untangle lights it is. Maybe next year!

Once-a-month cooking is also a big time-saver, and no more so than this time of year. We’re just about to finish off the meals we froze on Halloween, so we’re due for another cook day, probably this weekend. It takes a lot of time on that day, but wow is it great to have real, home-cooked food for pretty much no effort for the next 4-6 weeks!

Of course, my favorite holiday stress-buster involves shopping. I do not love to shop. I hate crowds, and the time it takes to find just the right thing. But online? Yes! Bigger selection, no crowds, no traffic, and I can do it at 1 AM if I want, from the safety of my own home. I have done ALL of my shopping online this year!

What I’ve been reading: Since I’ve been less stressed over holiday stuff, I’m all into holiday cheer with my reading. That started with Heaven Painted as a Christmas Gift, the novel from Dean Wesley Smith’s Smith’s Monthly #13. This is the second Ghost of a Chance book, where ghost agents help save the world. I love this series, and this one was a very different sort of Christmas story, where it was up to the ghosts to find out why people weren’t believing in Christmas spirit any more, and what to do about it before it destroyed the world. Yet despite the stakes, it was a fun, light read. Highly recommended!

I then started reading Spirits of the Season, a box set that includes novellas from a couple of my writer friends, Athena Grayson and Diane J. Reed. Athena’s story is fantastic–it takes place in the late 60’s, in Japan, and talk about being transported to a different (and fascinating) place and time! I haven’t read Diane’s yet, but the other three, while more conventional, have been very enjoyable. You can’t beat the price: eight books for $0.99, or FREE if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

ROW80 update: Writing has gone slowly this week, as I’ve been spending more time shopping and other holiday stuff. But I still managed to get a couple thousand words out, and did the same last week. So my goal this week is to finish the scene I’m working on, which is a long, pivotal one. Ideally, I’d get another done too, but between decorating and cooking, that’s unlikely. I can try, though!

What about you–if you celebrate, how are your holiday preparations coming along? Do you find the holidays stressful, or do you have any tips to share to make them less so? Read any holiday stories lately, or if not, what are your favorites? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!