Tag Archives: goals

WANA Wednesday: An Interview with Maria McKenzie, plus ROW80 Update

by Jennette,

I have a special treat this week for WANA Wednesday. Today, I’m interviewing indie author and In Real Life writing pal Maria McKenzie. Her first book, The Governor’s Sons, was blow-me-away awesome! I have her new book, Escape, on my smartphone waiting to be read!

And now, here’s Maria:

JMP: Have you been published by a big publisher? Small press/epub? Independently? Please share your publishing experience. What made you decide to take this publishing path?

MM: I chose to independently publish my books. About two years ago, I tried to get traditionally published, but after multiple rejections I decided to try independent publishing, and I have no regrets. I knew other writers who were venturing there, but I think what pushed me over the edge was what agents and publishers were starting to ask for. One e-publisher asked that you submit your own artwork, and some agents were requesting publicity plans. Since more and more is required of new authors, I figured I’d do everything myself!

JMP: I don’t blame you! Those were all big factors in my decision, too. Now that you’ve tasted the control and flexibility that comes with indie publishing, are you still pursuing a traditional publishing contract, or perhaps an agent?

MM: No, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever try again. Right now I have complete control of all my projects, and I can write what I want.

JMP: Boy do I hear that. Big publishing is really risk-adverse to anything that’s a bit different, or doesn’t fit neatly into an established genre – which is definitely how I saw The Governor’s Sons. What do you do (or have you done) for a day job? Has this informed or inspired your writing in any way?

MM: I was a librarian for thirteen years. I resigned when I had my first child back in 1999.  I really enjoyed being a reference librarian and digging up facts, and I love history. Now I write historical fiction, and half the fun for me is in the research!

JMP: One thing I loved about your books is how I felt like I was there! It’s obvious how your former day job and love of research has served you well. What about other inspirations – have there been any particular events, places, things you’ve seen/heard/read that inspired the overall premise of a book, its events, or any of the characters?

MM: My first book, The Governor’s Sons, which I published last year, was inspired by Essie Mae Washington-Williams’s memoir, Dear Senator. Williams is the love child of South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond and his family’s African American maid. Her story really touched me and made me think, what would have happened if a southern governor fathered a son by a black woman, and that son grew up to become a civil rights leader.

JMP: Dear Senator sounds like a fascinating read, and has been on my non-fiction TBR list since I read about it. What inspired your latest book?

MM: My latest novel, Escape, was inspired by my own marriage. Not long after I got married, I thought about how sad it would have been if my husband and I had known each other 150 years earlier. We were an interracial couple living in North Carolina at the time, and a century and a half earlier, we wouldn’t have been able to marry.

JMP: I thought about that with the relationship in The Governor’s Sons, too. Living in a post-Civil Rights society, it’s hard for me to imagine – but sadly true. Tell us more about your current or upcoming release.

MM: Escape: Part One of the Unchained Trilogy is my latest release, and here’s a brief synopsis:

Daniel and Lori love each other, yet to live as one in 1856, they must escape from the unyielding society that imprisons them.

Lori was born a slave in North Carolina, yet by chance was raised alongside Daniel in a wealthy abolitionist household. The sudden death of Daniel’s mother catapults Lori back into bondage.

Relegated to chattel on a rice plantation, Lori lives in constant fear under the tormenting scrutiny of Daniel’s wretched Aunt Lucinda.

After Daniel fails to convince his relatives to free Lori, he is compelled to devise a daring escape. Although a life threatening endeavor for both of them, Lori’s freedom is priceless to Daniel, and he’s willing to pay such a price for her love.

People have asked about the trilogy and the significance of the titles, so here’s that information in a nutshell:  The title of the trilogy is Unchained.  Lori was born a slave, but escapes from slavery.  Her granddaughter, Selina, who passes as white, carries the secret of her African American ancestry like a painful chain, bound around her heart. Only when she tells her family the truth can she free herself from the pain of that secret. Escape is part one of the trilogy. While Lori escapes from bondage, her daughter, Lavinia, escapes from living as a “Negro.”  In part two, Masquerade, Lavinia becomes a great actress in New York, all the while hiding her true identity.  Revelation is part three, and in this story, Lavinia’s daughter, Selina, reveals the truth about her ancestry. For what to expect in each part of the trilogy, visit the novel page on my website.

JMP: Maria, thanks so much! I can’t wait to read Escape, and I know I’ll be looking forward to the next book as soon as I finish it! Your blog has some fascinating stories about famous historical people – including some in entertainment – that no one knew were of African ancestry.

What about you? Have you ever read historical fiction featuring interracial romance? Do you find it hard to imagine a time when interracial marriages were prohibited in many places? Do you have any questions or comments for Maria? We’d love to hear from you!

Maria’s books are both available on Amazon as eBooks, and in print.

Quick ROW80 Update: I haven’t received the print proof for Home for the Holidays yet. I did get a chance to mark revisions for Chapter 4 of Hangar 18. So far so good!

What is WANA? It stands for We Are Not Alone, a guide to blogging, social media and networking for authors by Kristen Lamb. It’s writers helping writers, whether or not we’ve taken the course, and proving that we really are not alone!

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.

ROW80: One Big Goal Down

by Jennette,

Three to go! It took awhile, and I ended up learning some new software, but that ended up being fun, and I got the holiday anthology formatted for both e-book and print, and the print proof on its way to me already. For my first two books, Word worked out just fine provided I proofed the whole book to make sure it wasn’t hyphenating words in stupid places (which it does). But this anthology was my first time using CreateSpace, which flagged a couple of graphics that Word had reduced quality of for file size – to a lower resolution than it should have. Therefore, I switched to Adobe InDesign, professional page layout software that my day job employer thoughtfully provided along with the web design components I regularly use. I’ve been mostly out of the graphic design field for fifteen years now, so I’d never used it. However, the overall functionality was much the same as what I used to use way back then, so it was more a matter of learning the specific commands of how to do a particular thing, like set up page headers that could be different for each story. And wow, did it do a much better job than Word!

Here’s my week’s progress in detail:

  • Format and upload Home for the Holidays anthology if all materials are received –  Done!
  • Physical activity 5x this week – Done!
  • Hangar 18 – review and markup Chapters 1-3 – Done!
  • Get it Together exercises 13 & 14 – No
  • I got some more outlining done on my “just for me” project.

Here are my overall goals for this round:

  • Format and release OVRWA holiday story anthology – Done and soon to be released!
  • Revise Hangar 18 – revisions/markup started
  • Keep up with my exercise, five times a week. – ongoing
  • Finish the Get It Together exercises (description of that here) – completed sections 3 – 12
For this week, I’d like to:
  • Finish Home for the Holidays print book, and if proof received, correct if needed; otherwise OK it and make available for sale!
  • Physical activity 5x this week
  • Hangar 18 – review and markup Chapters 4-6
  • Get it Together exercises 13 & 14

If you’re participating in ROW80, how are you doing so far? If not, how are you doing with whatever goals you may have made?

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.

ROW80: Not Bad

by Jennette,

This week’s ROW80 goals were a mixed bag. I’d forgotten to take into consideration that my RWA chapter was having a long workshop on Saturday, so that cut into my goal time. I also missed a workout, but that’s not bad. Here’s how it went:

  • Format and upload Home for the Holidays anthology if all materials are received – I got the last story and sent out to the authors to review. Didn’t get that back until Friday night, but I still managed to get the ebook formatting done. Didn’t upload, but that’s because I decided to wait until the print version was up, so I’m going to consider this one Done.
  • Physical activity 5x this week – Not quite – but I got 4x in.
  • Hangar 18 – re-order scenes (this was probably the biggest revision), and print out for markup – Done!
  • Get it Together exercises 13 & 14 – No
  • I also got some more outlining done on a “just for me” project that I may write for NaNoWriMo

Here are my overall goals for this round:

  • Format and release OVRWA holiday story anthology – moving along!
  • Revise Hangar 18 – revisions/markup started
  • Keep up with my exercise, five times a week. – ongoing
  • Finish the Get It Together exercises (description of that here) – completed sections 3 – 12
For this week, I’d like to:
  • Format Home for the Holidays print book, and if proof received, OK and upload ebooks.
  • Physical activity 5x this week
  • Hangar 18 – review and markup Chapters 1-3
  • Get it Together exercises 13 & 14

If you’re participating in ROW80, how are you doing so far?

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.

ROW80: Great Week!

by Jennette,

I had a successful ROW80 week! Last round, I let myself get over-optimistic about what I could accomplish, and didn’t meet a lot of my goals. This round, I started slowly, with goals I was unlikely to fail. It worked! Here’s how it went:

  • Format Home for the Holidays anthology if all materials are received – otherwise, get as much done as possible. – I’ll consider this one met, as I did get the last story on Monday, but am still lacking one more item. I have everything else formatted for Smashwords (which is where I always start) minus the “note from the group.”
  • Physical activity 5x this week – Done!
  • Finish list of major revisions for Hangar 18 – Done!
  • Get it Together exercises 11 & 12 – Done!
  • I also got some work done on a “just for me” project that I may write for NaNoWriMo, so that’s a plus.

Here are my overall goals for this round:

  • Format and release OVRWA holiday story anthology – moving along!
  • Revise Hangar 18 – list of major revisions completed
  • Keep up with my exercise, five times a week. – ongoing
  • Finish the Get It Together exercises (description of that here) – completed sections 3 – 12
For this week, I’d like to:
  • Format and upload ebook of Home for the Holidays anthology if all materials are received – otherwise, get as much done as possible.
  • Physical activity 5x this week
  • Hangar 18 – re-order scenes (this was probably the biggest revision), and print out for markup
  • Get it Together exercises 13 & 14

If you’re participating in ROW80, what are your plans for this round?

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.

ROW80: Gone!

by Jennette,

And it’s a wrap! As usual, I greatly overestimated what I thought I could do. But I still feel good about Round 3. Here’s how it wrapped up:

  • Work through Lesson 18 of How to Think Sideways – done through Lesson 12.
  • Complete Saturn Society short story – ready to submit to anthology. Done!
  • Release Times Two (combined ebook of Time’s Enemy and Time’s Fugitive) – waiting until I get other projects done
  • Complete Get It Together exercises and data gathering – completed sections 3 – 8.
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts per week – ongoing
Obviously, none of my bonus tasks got done. But most importantly, I got my story finished and ready to submit! The deadline’s this Saturday, and I just got feedback back from the last beta reader, so I’ll incorporate what I like from that. I did make progress on How to Think Sideways and Get It Together, if not as much as I’d like. I also made my fitness goals more weeks than not, so I consider that a win!

How did you do, if you’re doing ROW80? Are you up for joining us for Round 4? It starts October 1st, so get those goals ready!

ROW80: Going, Going…

by Jennette,

I’ve done a lot of walking the past few days. Friday night, my husband, daughter and I walked the 5k of the USAF Marathon. Yesterday, I took my daughter on a campus visit of nearby Miami University of Ohio, my alma matter, and anyone who’s gone there knows that a lot of walking is a way of life. It was a good visit, and I had fun traipsing down Memory Lane while she looked forward to the future.

Today, I’m doing a little more of looking back over the past week for my ROW80 update, which is itself going, going… as next week is the end of the challenge.

This week didn’t go too badly. Here’s what I accomplished:

  • Read Lesson 12 of How to Think Sideways – Done!
  • Short story – collect/write front and back matter for standalone release, start working on cover – Done!
  • Get It Together exercise 9 & 10 – No
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts – I technically didn’t do one interval and one short workout, but I’m totally counting the 5k and Saturday’s walking, so – Done!
  • Format a friend’s book for print if she gets me what I need – Didn’t get the material from her

Here are my goals for the quarter overall:

  • Work through Lesson 18 of How to Think Sideways – done through Lesson 12.
  • Complete Saturn Society short story – ready to submit to anthology. Done!
  • Release Times Two (combined ebook of Time’s Enemy and Time’s Fugitive) – waiting until I get other projects done
  • Complete Get It Together exercises and data gathering – completed sections 3 – 8.
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts per week – ongoing
  • BONUS: Release Hangar 18: Legacy – Needs revision based on beta reads – waiting until I get other projects done
  • BONUS: Plot out and begin writing first book in new series
And here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:
  • Read Lesson 13 of How to Think Sideways
  • Short story – edits based on final beta reader’s feedback, and cover design for standalone version
  • Get It Together exercises 9 & 10
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
  • Format a friend’s book for print if she gets me what I need

How are you doing, whether or not you’re doing ROW80? Are you on track for your overall goals?

ROW80: Getting Better

by Jennette,

My list doesn’t look much more green than it did last week, and yet I feel like I accomplished a lot more. At least a couple of the items are orange, meaning partly done, rather than red (meaning not done). Most importantly, my short story is out with four beta readers, two of whom have read my books, and two of whom haven’t.

However, I did end up doing something I’ve been meaning to put on this list, but keep putting off: I designed a real home page for my website! I like it a lot better than just using my latest blog posts. And, I incorporated my new author photos I had taken last month!

Here are the rest of the details:

  • Read Lesson 12 of How to Think Sideways – No
  • Short story – complete revisions – first pass and second – Done!
  • Request beta reads for short story – Done! Got four takers, and sent the story to them, too.
  • Get It Together exercise 9 & 10 – No
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts – Got two and two.
  • Format a friend’s book for print if she gets me what I need – She hasn’t sent me the front & back matter yet, but we nailed her logo/colophon design.

Here are my goals for the quarter overall:

  • Work through Lesson 18 of How to Think Sideways – done through Lesson 10.
  • Complete Saturn Society short story – out with beta readers
  • Release Times Two (combined ebook of Time’s Enemy and Time’s Fugitive) – waiting until I get other projects done
  • Complete Get It Together exercises and data gathering – completed sections 3 – 8.
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts per week – ongoing
  • BONUS: Release Hangar 18: Legacy – Needs revision based on beta reads – waiting until I get other projects done
  • BONUS: Plot out and begin writing first book in new series
And here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:
  • Read Lesson 12 of How to Think Sideways
  • Short story – collect/write front and back matter for standalone release, start working on cover
  • Get It Together exercise 9 & 10
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
  • Format a friend’s book for print if she gets me what I need

How are you doing, whether or not you’re doing ROW80? How do you recover when something changes your plans?

ROW80: Close, but…

by Jennette,

The week started out well. I got a bit done on my short story revision each evening, saving the last–and longest–scene for Saturday. I also put off some of the other tasks until Saturday.

Of course, plans change. I’d planned to spend the afternoon with my mom, but forgot to take that into consideration when setting the week’s goals. And then we ended up spending the evening with friends, which I hadn’t planned for, sooooo…..

Anyway. Here’s what I did this week:

  • Read Lesson 12 of How to Think Sideways – no
  • Short story – revisions, first pass – almost! But not quite. Edit: finished around 12:30 this AM
  • Request beta reads for short story – partial – requested one.
  • Get It Together exercise 9 & 10 – no
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts – ugh. No on this one, too. Just two intervals.
  • Format a friend’s book for print if she gets me what I need – didn’t get the back cover text so this goes over to next week.
  • Critique a chapter for another writing friend – Done!
  • Prepare another friend’s business cards for printer – Done!

Here are my goals for the quarter overall:

  • Work through Lesson 18 of How to Think Sideways – done through Lesson 10.
  • Complete Saturn Society short story – revision almost complete
  • Release Times Two (combined ebook of Time’s Enemy and Time’s Fugitive) – waiting until I get other projects done
  • Complete Get It Together exercises and data gathering – completed sections 3 – 8.
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts per week – ongoing
  • BONUS: Release Hangar 18: Legacy – Needs revision based on beta reads – waiting until I get other projects done
  • BONUS: Plot out and begin writing first book in new series
And here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:
  • Read Lesson 12 of How to Think Sideways (Lesson 11 is how to prepare a submission for traditional publishers – been there, done that, and I’m done with that, so I’m skipping it)
  • Short story – complete revisions – first pass and second
  • Request beta reads for short story
  • Get It Together exercise 9 & 10
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
  • Format a friend’s book for print if she gets me what I need

How are you doing, whether or not you’re doing ROW80? How do you recover when something changes your plans?

Edit: I wrote this at about 10:30 PM last night. After my husband went to bed, I wasn’t sleepy, so I stayed up and completed my revision pass! So even if it was after midnight, I’m going to go back and mark that one as done!

ROW80: Catch-up Day

by Jennette,

When I was a kid, I didn’t like Sundays very much, because they were boring. Even in college, at least starting out, I wasn’t crazy about weekends because I wasn’t a partier. My attitude on this changed by the time I graduated, and once I entered the work world and got a social life, I’m all for weekends.

For those of us with a traditional 8-5, Monday-Friday paycheck job, weekends are when we catch up on stuff around the house, spend time with family, and maybe once in a while, get to spend time with friends or do something fun just for us.

And once in a great while, we get a little gift of pure blessing: a day when we don’t have to go anywhere or do anything other than what’s on our own agenda.

I hardly ever get those days. But yesterday, I did, and I totally cranked on my ROW80 goals! Here’s what I did this week:

  • Work through Lesson 10 of How to Think Sideways – Done. There wasn’t much to do beyond reading, in relation to my current WIP
  • Print out short story and do initial read-through for revisions – Done!
  • Get It Together exercise 7 & 8 – Done!
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts – Done!
  • Format a friend’s book for print – Done, as much as I can until she decides on what trim size she wants and gets me back cover copy, etc.

Here are my goals for the quarter overall:

  • Work through Lesson 18 of How to Think Sideways – done through Lesson 10.
  • Complete Saturn Society short story – revision started!
  • Release Times Two (combined ebook of Time’s Enemy and Time’s Fugitive) – waiting until I get other projects done
  • Complete Get It Together exercises and data gathering – completed sections 3 – 8.
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts per week – ongoing
  • BONUS: Release Hangar 18: Legacy – Needs revision based on beta reads – waiting until I get other projects done
  • BONUS: Plot out and begin writing first book in new series
And here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:
  • Read Lesson 12 of How to Think Sideways (Lesson 11 is how to prepare a submission for traditional publishers – been there, done that, and I’m done with that, so I’m skipping it)
  • Short story – revisions, first pass
  • Request beta reads for short story
  • Get It Together exercise 9 & 10
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
  • Format a friend’s book for print if she gets me what I need
  • Critique a chapter for another writing friend
  • Prepare another friend’s business cards for printer

How are you doing, whether or not you’re doing ROW80? Have you had a catch-up day lately? Are you someone who likes a day where you don’t have to go anywhere or do you get antsy staying home all day?

ROW80: I’m Back!

by Jennette,

I ‘m back from my much-needed, thankfully-brief break.

Between a quick trip to Chicago and courting burnout, I did not accomplish very much, writing-wise, the last couple of weeks. My to-do list was overflowing and overwhelming, and even if I’d decided to ditch the to-do list, it still would have been lingering mentally. So taking a little time off from posting goals seemed the better option.

And it paid off. After venting a little bit, I ended up getting quite a bit done these past couple of weeks:

  • Finished first draft of short story
  • Got three interval workouts and two short workouts in last week, two intervals and two shorter workouts this past week
  • Picked up my new author photos from my photographer – very happy! I’ve begun updating my online profiles with the new headshot. Some of you may have seen it.
  • Finished web design/copywriting side job and uploaded to client’s web host
  • Finished several projects promised to friends – a book cover design, a business card design, and started on print formatting for another friend. These are all things I’m doing in exchange for editing, beta reads, etc.

Here are my goals for the quarter overall:

  • Work through Lesson 18 of How to Think Sideways – haven’t made much progress on this lately – need to pick back up.
  • Complete Saturn Society short story for holiday anthology – first draft done!
  • Release Times Two (combined ebook of Time’s Enemy and Time’s Fugitive) – waiting until I get other projects done
  • Complete Get It Together exercises and data gathering – haven’t made much progress on this either – will get back into it this week.
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts per week – ongoing
  • BONUS: Release Hangar 18: Legacy (Got it back from last beta reader – t’s going to need a lot of edits.)
  • BONUS: Plot out and begin writing first book in new series
And here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:
  • Work through Lesson 10 of How to Think Sideways
  • Print out short story and do initial read-through for revisions
  • Get It Together exercise 7 & 8
  • Three interval workouts and two shorter workouts
  • Format a friend’s book for print (this is a beta reader – she’s helped me; this is how I’ll return the favor)

How are you doing, whether or not you’re doing ROW80?