goals | Jennette Marie Powell

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!

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, 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 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!

by Jennette, November 29, 2015

Efficiency–that’s something most of us need now more than ever, with the holidays approaching fast, and that many more things to do, while none of the usual things to do go away. These past two weeks, I’ve been working on developing more focus while writing, so I can get more written in less time.

I’ve also been doing some website work–not for me, but for one of the Mythical Press editors and cover artists. Her sites were old, and slow, the latter for several reasons. One was that it was hosted on an old server, so a server move was in order. This is something that should be easy, but I’ve done several of these recently (including this site), and it always ends up being a big job. My client’s sites were also using old themes, which needed to be rewritten from the ground up (these are custom themes that she liked, so we didn’t want something new). They were also not mobile-friendly, so I added code to make them fit well and display quickly on mobile screens. And finally, we decided that she should have a separate site for her independent cover design business, so that’s now in progress.

If that sounds like a lot of work, it’s because it was. But the thing is, I enjoy doing this stuff (so much more fun than the ones for my day job!). So I didn’t mind spending my time doing this.

I’ve also been working toward more efficiency in my writing time. Often, I have trouble staying focused on the writing while I’m there. (Like a lot of writers, I have “OOOH SHINY!” syndrome.) Having a separate writing computer helps–a lot–but recently it’s still been a challenge. So I took what seems like a counter-intuitive step: I’m spending less time there now. Last week I spend only 15 minutes/day writing, and to my surprise, I got as many words done as I’d been getting spending 2-3 times that much time. This past week, I bumped it up to 20 minutes, and stayed the course. I think knowing that I have a limited amount of time makes me buckle down and do the writing. Next week, I’m going back to 25 minutes–the classic Pomodoro method time–so we’ll see how that goes.

What I read last week: Hallowed, by Monica Leonelle. I figured since I read a lot of her craft and business books, I might as well see what her fiction’s like, and this book was free, so what was there to lose? This YA contemporary fantasy was great! The only bad part was that it ended on a cliffhanger, and the rest of the series isn’t currently available. I believe it was at one time, but she’s reworking them, I seem to remember reading somewhere.

I also read Break Writer’s Block Now by Jerrold Mundis. I don’t have writer’s block–in fact, one of the book’s main points is that there is no such thing–but I was hoping for some tips on staying focused. This is where I got the idea to spend only 15 minutes/day writing, then work up to more time. So it was very worthwhile!

This past week, I read the short stories and serial segments in Smith’s Monthly #13, by Dean Wesley Smith. I’m only a year behind on these now. 😀 As always, they were fun and entertaining.

ROW80 Update: I’m now about halfway through drafting my novella, thanks in large part to the tip in Break Writer’s Block Now. With the holidays and all the extra stuff to do that they entail, I don’t expect to speed up by much, so my goal is to complete at least one more scene, ideally, two.

What about you–have you discovered a way to be more efficient with anything recently? If not, what would you like to do more of in less time? Whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, how are you doing with any goals you may be working toward? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, November 15, 2015

Skipped blogging last week, because when I went to post, found that an update had hosed my newsletter signup. So I spent the time I’d set for blogging, fixing that instead.

I did make progress on the WIP, however. It helped that not much else has been going on. And yesterday, I met with my writers group–actually, there were just two of us–but that’s always fun and invigorating for the writing. I came home and finished a scene and fixed some inconsistencies in another. More on that in a few.

What happened to My Town Monday? On another note, Karen McFarland, one of my online writing friends, left a comment on my last blog asking about My Town Monday, a feature I used to do where I shared cool bits of Dayton history. She said she always enjoyed these posts (thank you, Karen!) and was I going to do any more?

The main reason haven’t done one in a long time is they take a lot of time and energy I no longer have. Time to research, find photos I can legally use, and a lot more time to write. Also, they were part of a blog hop, where several writers blogged about something cool–whether historical or contemporary–about their hometown. It was fun to go visit other participating bloggers, but that died out a couple years ago. I still love local history, so who knows, I may post another some time. Just no specific plans right now.

What I read last week: Crushed, by Laura Kirwan. Normally, I space series books out more, partly because I like variety, and partly because I want to draw out the enjoyment when it’s one I really like. I read the first book of this series, City of Eldrich, a few weeks ago, and it was awesome. I couldn’t wait that long to dig into this one, and it lived up to the first! The bad thing now is that I have to wait for the third, and she doesn’t have a newsletter, nor does her blog have an RSS feed or email signup. So I followed her on Amazon, hoping they’ll send me an update when she releases the next book. Can’t wait!

Smiths-Monthly-Cover-12-web This past week, I read the short stories and serial episodes in Smith’s Monthly #12, by Dean Wesley Smith. There is sometimes one short in these that just isn’t my thing, and yes, there was one I skipped here, but the rest were entertaining as always.

ROW80 Update: As noted above, I’m finally moving forward on my novella. But it took some more analysis, and last week I found the real problem: there wasn’t enough conflict. Oh, the process I was trying didn’t help either, but this was the main issue. The couple were both into each other, and there wasn’t enough keeping them apart, which made for a boring book. And if it’s boring me, it’ll certainly bore my readers. So I started over, with some conflicts hinted at in one of the related novels, that I’d pretty much glossed over in my initial version of this one. A couple scenes from the original were still applicable with minor changes, so I kept those, and wrote three new scenes. Moving along much better now! My goal for this week is to keep up that level of progress.

What about you–have you ever thought one thing was stopping you from moving ahead on a project, only to find it was really something else? Have you read any good books lately? And whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, how are you doing on whatever goals you may have? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, November 1, 2015

I spent all day yesterday cooking. No, I was not having a party–or even dinner guests. I was preparing a month’s worth of meals ahead of time.

I’m not participating in NaNoWriMo this month, but once-a-month cooking would be ideal for those who are, and have to either prepare meals themselves, or subsist on junk for a month. I got into it because cooking is the last thing I want to do when I come home from work at night, and DH and I have been eating out way too often. Last month, I tried a “mini” menu by onceamonthmeals.com. This was 2 meals each of five recipes, intended to be made all at once, then frozen. It was a lot of work but worth it. It was so nice to just take something out of the freezer the night before, then come home and just heat it up and throw together a couple of side dishes! And they were very good.

So I subscribed, and yesterday, I went all in with a full menu. Or, I should say, over the past few days. DH did a marathon grocery-shopping trip Wednesday (a chore I despise that he doesn’t mind doing), I chopped and prepped Friday night, and did the cooking all day Saturday. I only ended up making 12 of the 15 recipes. One I’d planned to leave out, as it was a breakfast meal we wouldn’t eat. One of the others I missed an ingredient, so will pick that up and finish tomorrow. The other needed half of a beef roast–I goofed up and used the whole thing on another meal, but that ended up being a good thing because the meal I made is an easy heat-up on serving day, while the one I missed would have taken more effort (and been relegated to weekends). The meal I unintentionally doubled was French-dip sandwiches, part of which I left unfrozen so we could eat it now. It turns out this is something DH loves, and already gave it a big thumbs-up!

Isis waits not-so-patiently for her walk while Daddy is in the hot tub

Isis waits not-so-patiently for her walk while Daddy sits in the hot tub

I will admit that, between my fatigue and the fact I’m not used to being on my feet all day, cooking day was exhausting. But as much as we enjoyed the mini menu, it will be worth it. The main thing I like about this is that it’s really efficient–grouping the shopping, prep, and cooking all up to make it take less time total. It’s kind of like when I’m fixing bugs in a software project, it’s much more efficient to fix a bunch at once than one here, one there, etc.

It’s also time-change day, when we gain an hour to switch to Standard Time. I hate Standard Time. I don’t like getting up in the dark (makes it that much harder), but I hate even more that it gets dark as soon as I get home from work. Bleh. I also hate the adjustment–it seems the older I get, the longer it takes me to adjust, although the springtime set-back is much worse. As you can see at the left, Isis is unconcerned with time change. 😀

What I read this week: This has been a slow week, both for writing and reading. I’m really enjoying the novel I’m reading, but am only about halfway through it, so I’ll write about it next week.

ROW80 update: I got a couple scenes drafted last week, and another couple this week. Not the kind of progress I want to make, but this book seems to be going more slowly, mainly because the process I used turned out not to work very well for me. But I want to write this one, so keeping at it. So shooting for three scenes this week.

What about you–have you found a way to make a task more efficient? Do you like the idea of cooking a lot at once, or do you like to spread it out, like my daughter does? How well do you adjust to the time change? How are you doing on whatever goals you may have lately? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, October 4, 2015

I didn’t blog last week because ROW80 was on break, and I just didn’t feel like it. I also had not met the goals I set for myself, so needed to adjust them. More on that below.

Among other things going on these past two weeks, I’ve been experimenting with freezer meals. I’m not good (as in consistent) about meal planning, and my husband refuses to do more than a couple dinners’ worth, when he goes grocery shopping. This has led to us eating out far too often, which is not only bad for the waistline and wallet, but takes too much time! Then I read about some crockpot freezer meals here. This is nothing new; I’ve heard about them before, but cooking is one area where I am Not Creative At All, nor am I organized. Without a system in place to organize and make the process easy, it would be nothing but a big, time-wasting, chaotic mess if I tried it. But breaking it down into shopping lists and sequential instructions? I can do that!

I picked a set of four recipes from this site, but only made one of each as I wanted to be sure DH and I liked them. We ate three of them over the next couple weeks, and all were delicious! We still have the vegetable soup, but with the arrival of cool weather, that will go in this week. The author has a set of three cookbooks out, so I’m planning to get them.

After that success, I wanted more. I found this site while cruising links, so downloaded the free sample menu they offered in exchange for a newsletter signup. The sample was five recipes, each doubled to make two meals of four servings. I went for it all, which took me about four hours to prep and assemble last Saturday. One recipe actually made three meals, so we had that the following night. It was delicious! So were the other two we’ve had so far (well, to me–DH didn’t like one of them, but would with less seasoning). They provide the meal plans, recipes, shopping lists, and labels for a monthly subscription. If I decide I want more than what’s in the cookbooks from above, I’ll definitely try out a full subscription. It is SO nice to have good food with little to no prep that night, and not to have that “what’re you hungry for?” conversation all the time.

What I read the past two weeks: two novels I really enjoyed, plus a nonfiction book that was just not for me.

Last week, I read Impervious by Laura Kirwan. Of note: I found this book because the author had mentioned it in a comment on a blog I read (it was pertinent to the topic, so not blatant promo). I was intrigued about this contemporary fantasy featuring a 50-year-old heroine, so I checked it out. It was fantastic! I loved the take-no-crap heroine, plus the quirky people in her new small-town home, as well as the magical people. I will definitely get the next one!

This past week, I read The First One’s Free, by T.S. Hottle. This is the first in a new science fiction series, and as the title notes, it’s free. 😀 The author is one of my writing friends and has published crime fiction under a pen name, which is evident in this novel as well: along with superb, detailed worldbuilding, this book is full of political machinations and people whose motives are uncertain. Game of Thrones in space, anyone?

I also picked up The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield. I’ve heard of this book many times, and a lot of authors find it really inspiring. I did not. It was on sale for $1.99, and I’m glad that’s all I paid for it. I found it to be full of empty platitudes and flowery feel-good stuff, and short on actual actions we can take to be more productive in our writing. It got so silly near the end that I didn’t even finish it. It may work for you; it just didn’t for me.

ROW80 Round Four starts tomorrow. To that end, it’s time to state my fourth quarter goals. My primary focus is finishing the related novella that goes along with my new release, Time’s Best Friend. I also have some work to finish up for my publisher Mythical Press, and some promo tasks. I’ve already outlined and sketched in the WIP, so now I’m working on the first draft. About 1/4 done there, I would like to draft 4-5 more scenes this week. I also have a book interior to typeset for my publisher. Next weekend is going to be a busy one for me with some family stuff, so this is going to be a stretch.

What about you–if you’re in ROW80, what are your goals this round? If not, what are some of your goals anyway, whether writing or otherwise? Have you ever tried freezer cooking? And have you read any good books lately? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, September 20, 2015

A Fantastic Feast!

The weather has been changing here in Ohio this past week. We had a couple of hot days, but now, it’s a wonderful mid-seventies and sunny. The sinus headaches due to the change have passed (I hope). Yesterday we had some friends over for a crab boil, much like we did last year. Unlike last year, everyone has mostly stayed healthy and uninjured. My husband calls these gatherings “Family, Friends, Food, and Fun!” And it definitely was all of the above. Isis’ “boyfriend” even came over. 😀

Isis and her buddy

Earlier this week, I’ve mostly been busy preparing for the release of my newest novel, Time’s Best Friend, which releases tomorrow, September 21. My publisher plans to raise the price from its preorder sale in a couple of days, so if you’re thinking about giving it a try, get it soon. Isis has, as usual, been preparing by practicing lots of ball catching. The other night, she even fell asleep with the ball in her mouth (and snored around it, LOL!). I still had a chance to read, too, but did not yet finish the novel I started a couple of weeks ago (and it’s fantastic, so that’s more a reflection on how much I’ve been doing than on the novel).

What I read this week: I didn’t finish the novel, but I did squeeze in a short story. “Donald Trump: Zombie Hunter” by Jon Davidson looked too funny to resist, so I gave it a look. It did not disappoint! Even better, with the level of absurdity therein, it’s funny no matter where you sit on the political spectrum, and well worth the $.99 it cost. All it lacked was a decent cover.

ROW80 Update: This past week went well, though I slacked off on the writing earlier this week so had to push it a bit yesterday. But I got 2500 words in before the gathering, so all good and goal met! Round Three ends this week, so this is also my quarterly wrapup. Here’s what I laid out as my goals back in July, and how I did:

Work with my publisher to get Time’s Enemy made free for promotional purposes. DONE!
Make changes suggested by my beta readers that I agree with on my upcoming release, and submit it to my publisher. DONE!
Make changes suggested by my editor, and approve for publication! DONE!
Dig back in to my next Saturn Society novel that’s about half finished, revise the outline, and complete the first draft. Not done/goal changed.
Send out newsletter once a month (maybe twice if I have major news). DONE!

It was an ambitious plan, but I accomplished four out of the five items on the list. The last one changed due to some feedback from my beta readers on the current release. There was a bit of backstory in that book that they wanted to see more fully developed, but not in that book (which was already long enough, and the backstory would have just been a side trip). Instead, they suggested writing it in a tie-in novella. So that was the changed goal. While I would have liked to finish drafting the novella, edits and proofreading my galleys took longer than I thought. I did get it completely outlined and am about 1/4 of the way through it. So that’s what I call a successful fail!

What about you–how has the weather been in your area? Have you ever done or attended a crab boil? Read any good books lately? How are you doing on whatever goals you may have set for yourself? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, September 13, 2015

I’ve spent the past two weeks making final edits to my upcoming Saturn Society novel, Time’s Best Friend.

That’s right, I can finally announce it, as my publisher has fast-tracked it for publication – and the release date is next Monday, September 21! Even better, they’re offering it for a special preorder price of $2.99. After the release, it goes up to $4.99. Of course, you can score an even better deal if you join my readers group email list (hint, hint). Anyway, here’s the scoop on Time’s Best Friend:

Buy Now

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A Saturn Society Novel

ISBN: 978-0-9839097-9-8

A Chance She Can’t Miss
In 1939, time-traveling, Appalachian farm woman Florie LeBeau fell in love with an 18th-century frontiersman, and vowed to cross time to be with him again. Then war broke out, forcing her to wait four years to travel back two hundred. But when she arrives in 1756, she finds her frontiersman doesn’t know her, Nazi soldiers occupy her historic home, and her only friend a mysterious dog who just might be their spy.

A Tale He Can’t Believe
Ousted from his home by strange Hessian soldiers, fur trapper Zeke Allen can’t believe his luck when his new hunting dog brings him a woman. Knowledgeable in the ways of pioneer life, the lovely Miss LeBeau could make the perfect wife, if not for her crazy tales of time travel, a club called the Saturn Society, and an impossible war in the twentieth century she insists she comes from—and to which she must return.

A Predicament They Can’t Escape
Slowly, Zeke begins to believe Florie’s crazy stories as his fondness grows into a love she returns. But the men she calls Nazis tear her away from him, plunging her into a future where she must deliver information that could change the outcome of the war. Finding her way back to Zeke proves difficult. Harder still: convincing others of the truth–and saving her canine rescuer and herself from the Saturn Society, the very people she thought would protect her.

Readers who enjoy the Saturn Society won’t want to miss this standalone addition, while those new to the series will find this introduction an unusual time travel story rich in action, romance, and history.

More books in the Saturn Society series

That has taken up most of the past week, though there was also a family birthday gathering and my professional writers group meeting in there. I still found time to read, though!

What I read this week and last: Hell on High by Holly Lisle and Ted Nolan. This is the third and final book of Holly Lisle’s Devil’s Point series. The main premise of the series overall is that several hundred thousand denizens of hell have been released in North Carolina, for a chance to repent and become what they once were. It’s a contemporary fantasy with a lot of humor. I liked this book, but not as much as I liked books 1 and 2. I think the reason was that there were many different points of view, and it took a while before it focused on the main characters. However, it got better as it went on, with a nice romance in there, too.

I also read a couple of short nonfiction books for writers: The Eight-minute Writing Habit, and Dictate Your Book by Monica Leonelle. The first book is great if you’re having trouble finding time to write, or when you do have time, you don’t write. It distills the things that keep us from writing into short, yet comprehensive lists, starting with the number one detractor: fear. While it also deals with getting to the writing when we have limited time, it focuses on fears first, which IMO is exactly what most of us need. What is especially helpful is it then gives writers a plan for conquering each of the fears and other things that keep us from writing. While it is geared more toward beginners, those who have been writing for a long time and even published will find many useful tips here.

The other writing book, Dictate Your Book (also by Monica Leonelle), gives some great tips on how to get started with writing by dictation–some fast, easy ways to try it out, software to use, device and hardware recommendations, and more. It starts by giving some good reasons to give this a try and how to go about dictating if you’ve never done it before. I hadn’t really considered doing this, as I don’t like talking to myself and tend to fumble with my words when I speak, but after reading this, it’s something I want to try.

ROW80 Update: Last week’s goals were to get my edits done and back to my publisher. Then this past week’s primary goal was to proof my galleys when they sent them to me, and get them back in a timely manner. Both of those are DONE so that’s a big win! It also marks a big goal that’s been on my list for over a year: to finish this story for publication. Luckily, my publisher was understanding when what started as a short story turned into a novel, and adjusted my deadline accordingly. This week’s goal is to get back on the related novella (which I am pretty sure will stay a novella) for 5,000 new words. In addition, I want to do another 3-5 things on my marketing/promo/website list.

What about you–have you met any big goals or crossed any big to-dos off your list lately? How are you doing on any goals you might currently have? Have you read anything good lately, whether fiction or nonfiction? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Life and Love in Four Dimensions

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