Jennette Marie Powell | Jennette Marie Powell

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!

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, 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 18, 2015

Dealing with stress–or whenever possible, reducing it–is a big part of my life as someone with Adrenal Fatigue. It’s one of the main causes–when our adrenal glands become too overworked due to stress, they stop functioning optimally, leaving us tired all the time for no reason. Even people who don’t have Adrenal Fatigue will often find themselves tired after a day of putting out more fires than usual.

Even Isis gets stressed out, though no one knows why!

Stress, and the fatigue it can bring on, is often a reason we don’t accomplish as much as we’d like. But these past couple of weeks, I’ve found the opposite to be true as well: not being able to get things done can make us stressed.

This became apparent to me in my day job recently. Normally, I like my job, but lately it’s become a real drag to the point that I almost dreaded going to the office. It’s not the workplace–I’m blessed to work with and for nice people, in a comfortable environment. But for weeks, I was stuck on both of the software development projects I’m working on. On one, I was stumped by a particularly tough bug fix. On the other, I was having problems with the software I needed to use not working properly. Then, last week I had a breakthrough on the bug fix. It’s still not done, but I’ve been making progress, whereas before, I was getting nowhere. And then I was finally able to get some tech support from the product vendor of the problematic software. With help, I got that working and have been moving along on that project.

Since then, my fatigue has been better (for the most part–I still have tired days, and am not as energetic as I was before A.F.). I realized it was because I was no longer stressed about my job. And that stress hadn’t come from worry that my inability to get anything done would have consequences–my supervisors on both projects were well aware of my problems and understood–but it was the simple fact that I was stuck and not moving forward.

We humans feel much better when we get stuff done, and have that sense of accomplishment. So having something on my to-do list that I know I’ll be able to check off is now an important part of my stress reduction plan.

Of course I always find time to read! That’s a big stress reducer too.

What I read this week: Smith’s Monthly #11, including the novel The High Edge by Dean Wesley Smith. I am now a year behind in these LOL. He writes them faster than I read! Well, he does because I read other things, too. As always, this one had some enjoyable short stories in it, plus a novel set in his Seeder’s Universe, which features a post-apocalyptic earth and the spacefaring humans who are trying to save and help what’s left of Earth’s population. Enjoyable, easy read and good for that stress reduction!

ROW80 Update: Things are moving slowly on the novella, and I finally figured out why: I over-outlined it. As an outliner, having a plan in place to give me a story map helps me keep on task and moving forward. I tried a process outlined in Monica Leonelle’s Write Better, Faster (an excellent book, with tons of helpful info) that includes sketching in the scenes before I write, but that turned out to be too much for me. I either have to toss what I sketched out, or fill in the details, transitions, descriptions, etc. and that’s making it not as much fun. Hence, more difficult to get to the computer and more slow going once I’m there. I will push through and finish this, but will stick with my simple, one or two sentence outline per scene for the next book. This week, I only got one scene drafted. Next week, I want to shoot for at least three, preferably more.

What about you–do you find it stressful when you can’t seem to get anything done? How did you overcome that? Have you read any good books lately? And whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, how are you doing on whatever goals you might have? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, October 12, 2015

It’s often said that writers need to get away from the writing and other hum-drum aspects of life to occasionally do something fun and “refill” the creative well. I hadn’t done anything like that in a long time, and was feeling it in my day job as well. And it’s not just writers–my husband calls this “recharging his batteries.” So this weekend, my husband and I took a long overdue getaway.

We rode on his Harley to Marietta, Ohio, which is a historic river town in southeast Ohio. The weather couldn’t have been better–we lucked out! We enjoyed a lot of lovely scenery, and stayed in the historic Lafayette Hotel. It’s supposedly haunted, but we had no problems. 🙂

We took a ghost tour that night just for fun and some history. Didn’t see any ghosts, though the tour guide tried to pass off a street light with a flag blowing in front of it as “flickering.” All the fun little historical tidbits and flavor through the tour made it worthwhile. I’m still not convinced there are ghosts, but anyone who worries that oral storytelling is dying out needs to take that tour, because our guide was a major storyteller!

The next day, we spent out on the motorcycle cruising the countryside. There are nine covered bridges in Washington County, and we saw five of them. Six were west of Marietta, scattered all over the county, and three were to the east, all off of St. Rt. 26 heading north through Wayne National Forest.

Click any of the photos to enlarge.

We started out on the west. These bridges were pretty far out, on some roads that looked like that hadn’t been paved in many decades.

The first bridge, above, was in the middle of nowhere and is no longer in use.

The second one, right, was even farther out, and the road to reach it was so bad we would have skipped it had we known. In the photo, it appears to be paved, but driving on it–especially a motorcycle–showed it to be little more than a gravel road. The bridge was in excellent repair and is still in use. However, given the roads, we decided to pass on the other bridges in the area and went over to the east side.

Travel was much better there, as it was a state route, and all three bridges were close to it. We met another motorcycle couple at the first bridge off of Route 26. I don’t know whose blanket and folding chair are lying on/against the guardrail there.

The second bridge near Route 26 was still in use

The last bridge, according to this website, had been washed away in flooding in 2004, and was rebuilt in ’06. Oddly enough, it’s no longer in use.

Something else we saw a lot of during our ride were old oil derricks. This one was right behind the last bridge near Route 26. Our ghost tour guide mentioned an oil boom. I found this an interesting bit of history, as I associate Ohio more with natural gas, but Ohio has also been a big place for oil, especially near the turn of the twentieth century. In fact, according to Wikipedia, one of the first oil wells drilled in the state was in Washington County, where we traveling. All the ones we saw were old and rusted out, clearly not in use for a long time. But on the way home, nearing Athens, we saw several that looked new–and one was active.

What I read this week: a novella that has not yet been published, so I can’t name it, but I will mention it when it is, because it was fantastic! I also put a book down because I couldn’t connect with the characters–the situation was interesting, but the characters were too perfect, too charming, and everything was going right for them so there was nothing to make me care. I read about four chapters in before I gave up on it. When I do this, I always think about why, because as a writer it’s worth learning whether it’s something not to do, or a book that’s just not to my liking. This one was technically well-written, but I think it’s a combination of both.

ROW80 Update: work on the novella is going slowly. I took my computer on our trip, but got very little done. That, combined with getting very little done earlier in the week, added up to Not Much Progress. I think I got maybe 2 scenes done, if that. Aiming to make this week better, with 4-5 scenes completed.

What about you–what have you done to refill your well lately? Ever done a driving/riding tour of covered bridge country? Have you put a book down recently? And how are you doing with your goals, whatever they might be? 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

Buy This Book Online

Find A Local Bookstore

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!

by Jennette, August 30, 2015

One thing with my writing that has been a constant struggle is how to divide my time between marketing and writing new material. Some long-time pros advocate focusing on the new writing, as the best marketing is to publish a new book. I observe other authors who seem to publish a book (or two, or three), then spend all their time marketing and networking. Both approaches can work, but the former begs the question, what good is publishing another book if they’re all invisible? And the latter often makes us cranky, because we got into this because we love to write, not because we love to market.

Clearly, some balance is needed. But after seeing so many marketing ploys either not work for others, or work only when those others have many more books out than me, I sort of gave up on it and focused on learning and writing. And no one was finding my books. Which brought forth all kinds of unhappy thoughts: if no one’s reading, why am I bothering to publish? I really needed to do something to keep my books out there.

I switched gears into marketing this summer. It has helped. I wasn’t happy focusing on that, but I couldn’t mentally switch from new writing to doing marketing each evening.

Isis has no problem with guilt – but is good at inducing it in others!

Then it dawned on me that some advice I saw for balancing the publishing tasks with writing could also work for the marketing: set aside one day a week for that stuff, and write the rest of the week. I’ve been doing this for stuff around the house for years–for example, Monday nights are when I do bill paying and bookkeeping for my husband’s businesses. Anything that comes in during the week goes into my letter sorter, and stays there until Monday. It’s so much more efficient than dealing with each piece of paper the day it comes in–or putting it off, and being late. I’ve read variations of this before, so I don’t know why I never tried it–until now.

Last week, I devoted Sunday to writing my blog, doing website stuff, and getting through a couple things on my marketing list. I didn’t plan to write that day, so no guilt there. And I got a lot done, in addition to the usual household stuff I do on Sunday.

I also did no writing on Monday, which is typical since that’s bookkeeping day. But I did write every other day this week, and again–no guilt over not doing any of the other tasks.

So we’re going to stick with this plan for the time being, and adjust if it doesn’t work. One catch is that sometimes Sundays are taken up by other things, like family get-togethers. I have one of those coming up next week. So on those days, I’ll just pare down my usual list to maybe one item that can easily be done after I get home, and ditch the guilt.

What I read this week: I’m only about halfway through this novel, so I’ll blog about it after I finish.

ROW80 Update: Last week’s goal was to write 5,000 words on the novella, plus do 3-5 items on the marketing/website list. I added 7500 words to the novella (though admittedly, some of those were copy/paste from my outline), plus I updated my headers on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, and set up a special offer for my newsletter readers, and sent out a newsletter. Speaking of which, anyone is welcome to sign up for that, which you can do here. I also received my upcoming novel back from my editor, so making the edits is my writing priority for this week. In addition, I’ll complete another 3-5 items from my website/marketing list today.

What about you–do you have certain tasks you delegate to certain days? Or do you try to do a little each day? If you don’t, do you get a bad case of the “shoulds,” or is it just me? What are some routines or time-management tips that have helped you? 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, August 23, 2015

Some people can live life spontaneously, sticking to a schedule only when it’s absolutely required: a job with regular hours, or kids who need to go to school.

I am not one of those people.

I’m one who needs a plan. (And yes, when I write, I’m a plotter.) That doesn’t mean the plan is inflexible; just that it exists and is mostly workable. But too much deviance in routine typically means I get nothing done. Case in point: no blog last week.

It is tough being the traveling dog!

The main reason there is that Sunday is my blog writing day, and my past two Sundays have been spent at DD’s house near her university. Two weeks ago, we moved her in. Last week, her roommates were all there, so we went back. DH wanted to do a brief teaching session on “house stuff,” i.e., breakers, water shutoffs, furnace filters, etc. Then there were a number of little things to fix–things that were our responsibility, since we’re the landlords. Isis went along too–her job was to keep the seat warm in the truck on the way to and from, and to look cute while there.

All things worthwhile to do, just meant that my writing has taken a back seat.

My other challenge in the writing is dividing time between creating new material, and marketing what’s already out there. Until this summer, I’ve pretty much given no attention to the latter, and since then, it’s been almost all marketing (mostly learning), making me grumpy because I haven’t written.

Both are necessary, but I have trouble shifting from one to the other. So this week, I decided it’s time to put into practice a good idea I’d read a while back: spend one day a week on the marketing, the rest on writing new fiction. Today is the beginning of that, so we’ll see how that goes.

What I read last week: Demonic Dora by Claire Chilton. This YA fantasy is categorized under “dark comedy,” and that’s a very appropriate description. The main character, Dora, is constantly annoyed by her religious fanatic parents and finally succeeds in summoning a demon–a bumbling, and very cute teen boy demon. She ends up going to stay with him and his even nuttier family in hell, and it’s one absurd situation after another (and I mean absurd in the very best way). As the stakes got higher, I turned the pages faster, and will definitely pick up the next in the series. As a side note, my favorite character was Dora’s fuzzy, brown pet demon named Pooey. The prequel is free on all the major retailers, and you can get Demonic Dora for free by signing up for the author’s reader’s group newsletter (I actually bought my copy before that offer was available, and it was totally worth it).

What I read this week: Short stories!

“Once Upon a Coffee” by Kait Nolan is a cute, contemporary romance. I generally prefer some suspense or speculative elements in my romance, but once in a while, this sort of light, fun read is just what I’m in the mood for. Next time I’m in that mood, I’ll definitely consider buying another in this series.

“Unintended Guardian” by Jami Gold is a paranormal romance series starter. It’s a shapeshifter book, but the worldbuilding and limitations on the character were very well done, as was the characterization. I really enjoyed it, and plan on buying the next one.

“Alien Mail Order Bride: Allyssa” by Meg Cooper was also a light, fun read. The sci-fi worldbuilding was on the sparse side, but that’s appropriate for this short a story. Also, the alien guy was pretty human–just taller (and hunkier) than most Earth men. The other side of that is this story came across to me more as a contemporary romance in sci-fi clothing, but it was still enjoyable.

All of these are free, so if they sound like something you’d enjoy, click the cover or title to get them on Amazon. “Coffee” and “Guardian” are also available at other retailers, for those who prefer to shop elsewhere.

ROW80 Update: Two weeks ago, my goal was to go over my front and back matter for my upcoming Saturn Society novel. I actually did get that done, but not much else since then. I did, however, start writing my next book, a novella tie-in to the upcoming novel. And I made a list of all the marketing tasks I have yet to do. So this week, the goal is to get through three to five things on the list (they are relatively small things), and write 5,000 words on the novella.

What about you–are you a spontaneous person, or do you do better with a plan? Have you had any disruptions to routine recently? And have you read any good books lately? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, August 9, 2015

This has been a “life happens” week, one where I knew I would not get much writing done. Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch calls times like this “life rolls,” and all we can do is just roll with it.

I had some family stuff going on, most of which was expected. When this stuff wasn’t actively going on, it was stuff that still occupied thoughts and sapped my energy. This was also expected.

It wasn’t all bad stuff–in fact, most of it wasn’t. For one, it was my daughter’s 20th birthday. We kept the celebration simple, and everyone seemed fine with that.

On a different note, I updated my computer to Windows 10. So far I’m happy with it. It’s everything the reviews have promised–all the best features of Windows 7, plus the best features of Windows 8 (and none of those people hate). I especially like the new Microsoft Edge web browser. I’ve been a Google Chrome user for years because it’s much faster than Internet Explorer or Firefox, but Edge blows Chrome away. I have noticed a few weird things on websites that don’t work exactly like in the other browsers, but they are minor (for example, the drag and drop photo upload to WordPress. Just use the old-style browse to photos). Definitely worthwhile! If you do the upgrade though, be sure to allow it at least a couple hours–it took a good while on my Internet computer to move all the files and update everything. And yes, all my programs work so far, including Photoshop, of which my version is over 1o years old!

We got the living room set up pretty nice!

We spent all day today moving DD into the off-campus house near her university, where she’ll live the next two years. I spent most of the afternoon taking her shopping, and helping her do things like put up curtains and hang pictures, plus fix a couple small things in the house while DH took care of bigger things. Isis went along and supervised, but we were all so busy, no one got any photos of her.

What I read this week: I have not had time to read much more than a chapter or so each night, and am less than halfway through, so I’ll discuss this week’s book when I finish it.

ROW80 Update: My goal this week was to make the last few changes to my WIP and get it to my editor. That is DONE. However, I still need to get all the front matter and back matter, so that’s what’s on deck for writing this week.

What about you–have you had any “life rolls” recently? Or at least a “life happens” week? How long did it take you to get back in the swing afterward? If you’re a Windows user, have you upgraded to Windows 10 yet? How are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Life and Love in Four Dimensions

Tag Archives: Jennette Marie Powell

Buy This Book Online

Find A Local Bookstore