ROW80 | Jennette Marie Powell

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!

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, August 2, 2015

One blog I read almost every day is Dean Wesley Smith. For those who don’t know, he has been a professional fiction writer since the mid-80s. Over the past two years, he’s blogged about his day every day without fail.

Would I do this? My first thought was “how boring that would be!” There’s a reason I write fiction, people. 😀 Most of my days are pretty much the same, and would not be of interest to anyone reading.

Then I realized most of Smith’s days are also the same; he just does different things than I. For instance, he goes to the bank and the post office every day, and runs errands for his businesses (he owns a publishing company and a memorabilia shop, among other things). Then he goes to meetings at the publishing company, works on stuff for his workshops, goes home, eats dinner, does the dishes, watches TV, takes a nap… and finally gets around to writing about 12 hours or so after he got up that day. And he writes a LOT in that time.

Isis chooses to lie like this while DH watches TV

So what do I do? It turns out, my days are not so different. I go to my day job (Smith considers the work he does for his businesses his day job). After I get home, I play games on my tablet for a little while as DH watches TV. Then dinner, cleanup (if DH or DD cooks), the feed the turtle and gerbils (Isis eats when we do). After that, I get to the writing, which is 12-13 hours after I got up. I don’t have the kind of productivity Smith has, as I’m still juggling marketing and promo in with that, while he does those things as part of his publishing company work. But when I am writing new words, I can usually get 1,000 in an hour, which is about what he does. (He has way more energy than me, so puts more time in.) I’m not comparing, that’s just what I can do.

Usually, no writing happens on Monday. That’s when I pay bills and do the bookkeeping for my husband’s businesses. The first and last of the months are usually the busiest–that’s when we collect rent, and when the bank statements need to be reconciled. Sometimes I am able to squeeze writing in mid-month.

Sometimes other things happen, like family commitments. There’s some of that coming up this week. The thing with that is, to just roll with it as much as I can and don’t get annoyed that I can’t do the writing on those days. But no matter what else is going on, I usually manage to read a bit before I go to bed. Which brings me to…

What I read this week: Miracle Pie by Edie Ramer. This is a contemporary romance, something that’s normally not my thing. But I loooooove Edie Ramer’s books, and while I usually prefer some suspense or speculative elements in my contemporary fiction, her Miracle books have just enough magic in them to keep my interest (I would consider them magical realism). Also, this book has a dog in it. 🙂 Highly recommended!

ROW80 Update: My goal for the past two weeks was to get the edits done from my beta readers, who basically serve as first-round editors (my editor says my manuscripts are among the cleanest she sees; this is why.) I got them done, so that’s a win! For this week, I need to review the outline for the new, related novella to see if there’s anything I need for continuity’s sake, then send it off to my editor. Newsletter subscribers will get a sneak peek later this week (or maybe next, depending on the family stuff coming up). So if you want in on that, sign up here, and get a free copy of my short story “Time’s Holiday” as a bonus! I won’t spam you and you can unsubscribe anytime if it’s not your thing.

What about you–what’s your typical week like? Do you have trouble sometimes fitting in the things you do because you want to? Have you ever seen a dog lie on someone’s lap like Isis? 😀 Whether you’re a writer or not, how are you doing on whatever goals you might have? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, July 21, 2015

I seem to be leaning toward a “blog on Wednesday” rather than Sunday lately, so let’s go with it. Sundays have been busy of late, so that’s the main thing. This past Sunday, I worked on formatting a print book for a friend, and by the time I finished, it was pretty late and I didn’t feel like blogging. The print book turned out nice, though!

That was the last of several days in a row devoted to friends–a good thing!

Mondays and Tuesdays are usually pretty quiet around here. Mondays, in particular, I spend most of the evening doing bookkeeping for my husband’s small business. Tuesday is for catching up other things, and maybe some writing!

Last week’s friend activities began with a special, four-legged friend in need–and no, not my dog Isis. No, this time it was another of our critters who needed attention–as in, a visit to the vet, for Sanddollar, our turtle.

Sanddollar is a Red-eared Slider, an aquatic turtle. She came to us six years ago in the form of a request to pet-sit, for one of my daughter’s friends.

The turtle was surprisingly inquisitive and interested in whatever we were doing when around her container, and DD and I quickly grew fond of her. At the time, she was maybe four inches long, and arrived in a plastic container barely large enough to turn around in. DH and I thought, “that can’t be right,” and did some research on the ‘net. It turned out Sanddollar needed a 40 gallon aquarium! Not to mention lights and a platform on which to bask. It also turned out that DD’s friend wasn’t really that into the turtle anymore, so the turtle stayed. She is an enthusiastic eater, and often swims to the side of the tank when someone comes in the room, and splashes to get our attention (and hopefully, a snack).

Except that for the past couple of months, her appetite has been diminishing, to the point where she hadn’t eaten anything–even her turtle pellets–for a week. She was also doing nothing but bask–which she’s always loved to do, but not to the point where she even slept on her basking platform. Reptiles can go a long time between meals, so in itself this wasn’t a big deal–but this wasn’t like Sanddollar.

So to the vet we went, where Sanddollar got poked, prodded, x-rayed, and injected with vitamins and antibiotics. Let me tell you, that was one ticked-off turtle! But we also went home with a new bag of a different brand of turtle pellets, and when we dropped some in Sanddollar’s tank a few hours later, she ate! And was also back to being her more active and curious self.

Oh, and I learned something new–how to give a turtle a shot! She needs a full course of antibiotics, so every three days, DD has to hold her and restrain her from biting (plastic cup works really well here), while I pry the turtle’s front leg out and give her the shot. Definitely a bit tricky!

The next few days were more standard fun with friends. I saw my writing group on Saturday, and then had one of my best friends from high school over for dinner. Then on Sunday, one of my best friends from college came over and went to lunch with us. The rest of the day was spent formatting that print book, for a good writing friend.

And now for the FREE: To spur interest in my Saturn Society books, my publisher has made the ebook version of Time’s Enemy, the first in the series, FREE on Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords, and Google Play Books. Click the Buy Now button below for links. Barnes and Noble wasn’t yet free last time I checked, but will be soon. So if you’ve thought about trying my series (or maybe you are now? :D), now’s a great time to give it a read!

Buy Now

Buy This Book Online

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Saturn Society Book 1

ISBN: 978-0983909729

One unwanted gift.
Tony Solomon never wanted to be a time traveler. But a brush with death leaves him a time traveler—and an unwilling initiate in the Saturn Society, a secret society of those with his ability.

One great wrong.
Tony vows to use his gift to prevent his daughter’s murder—if he could figure out how. Never mind that this violates the Society’s highest law, branding him an Enemy for a crime he has yet to commit. Determined to thwart the Society, he seeks help from Charlotte, the woman whose life he saved decades before he was born.

One chance to make things right…
Tony jumps to 1933 in search of answers, but lands on the wrong side of the Society, a fugitive on the run. Thrilled, yet terrified to see her childhood hero, Charlotte offers him sanctuary…and unexpected love. But Charlotte hides a terrible secret: loyal to the Society, she must bring to justice those who manipulate time for their own gain. By sheltering Tony, she faces a terrible choice: condemn the man she loves and to whom she owes her life, or deny her deepest convictions by helping him escape, and risk sharing his sentence.

Not your typical time travel romance, Time’s Enemy creates a wonderful blend of romance and science fiction, an exciting adventure through time rich in action, romance, and history.

More books in the Saturn Society series

What I read this week: Smith’s Monthly #10 by Dean Wesley Smith. I read the short stories and serial segments last week, and this week, read the novel, Heaven Painted as a Poker Chip. It’s a story about ghosts, with a really unique treatment of the ghosts and their abilities. It also had next to nothing to do with poker (not a bad thing for me), other than it was mostly set in Las Vegas. This story is also available standalone. I’m really looking forward to reading more in the series. Highly recommended!

ROW80 Update: I finished the outline for the new novella, so that’s a win! For this week, the plan is to go through the beta readers’ notes on my upcoming WIP, and get the revisions made from at least one of them, preferably more.

What about you–what kind of pets do you have, and do you have any interesting stories to share? Learned anything new this week? Can you imagine giving a shot to a turtle? O.o How are you doing on whatever goals you may have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, July 12, 2015

The great thing about ROW80 (besides it being “the writing challenge that knows you have a life”) is the fact that it’s perfectly fine–encouraged, even–to change our goals when needed. After meeting with a writing friend to discuss my upcoming release, I’ve decided to do just that. Not with the stuff already in process, but with the later goals for this round.

Since Isis likes glasses so much, we figured she should try them on

But leading up to that: Monday was Dogs night at the ice cream shop, and Isis had been good, so she got her custard cup. Then after we got home, she chewed yet another pair of DH’s reading glasses! This is the sixth pair–good thing they’re cheap!

After that, it was a pretty quiet week until Thursday, when Traveling Daughter came home from Germany. What she was most looking forward to: unsweetened iced tea, and Mexican food. So the first place we went after picking her up at the airport was our local Mexican restaurant, which she greatly appreciated.

Friday was a take-it-easy day, especially since DH spent the weekend camping for the NASCAR race in Kentucky. Then on Saturday, my writing friend came over, kids and dog in tow. Our neighbors’ son moved, so Isis hasn’t had her friend over for a week. Yesterday, she got another play date with a new friend. My friend and I were so busy trying to corral dogs and kids that no one got any pictures. But not to worry, I got a photo after DH got home.

Between interruptions, my friend and I got some great brainstorming done. The result is that the next book I’ll be working on is a novella, to fill in some of the blanks between The Saturn Society Book 2 and Book 3.

What I read this week: Smith’s Monthly #10 by Dean Wesley Smith. I read the short stories and serial segments, and started the novel, which I’m really enjoying.

ROW80 update: My plans for this week were to finish assisting my publisher getting the updated versions of my books onto the retailers’ sites. That’s all done, except for Apple, which they are working on now. So I’ll consider that a win! The other part of my goal was to review the beta readers’ comments on the upcoming novel. Instead, I sussed out the interim novella, and began outlining it, hence the start of the change in goals noted above.

Which brings me to my overall goals for the quarter: instead of finishing the first draft of the next novel, I’ll be outlining and writing this novella. I don’t have a title for it yet, which bugs me, but I’ll come up with something. The other goals remain the same. I want to get the novella outlined before digging into revisions for the novel, as I might need to add a couple of references to the new novella. So the plan for this week is to keep working on getting Time’s Enemy available for free everywhere, and to finish the outline for the new novella. My Saturday will be busy, so I’ll do well to get those things done.

What about you–have your goals changed lately, whether or not you’re doing ROW80? Do you think those glasses are “it” for Isis? Have you read anything good lately? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, July 8, 2015

Once again, I’m a day late and… never mind. Let’s just say last weekend was a busy one with the holiday and all, and I didn’t realize until almost midnight that I hadn’t yet put up my blog. And it was the start of Row80 Round 3! But now that the round has begun, I should be good with my usual routine.

I took the week before off, since there was no ROW80 to report to, and also because there wasn’t much to report.

It is exhausting to be so beautiful!

But the following week–at least the weekend–plenty was going on. For starters, Isis got another Goddess Treatment on Wednesday. When I got home from work, she was crashed on the couch! Such an ordeal, LOL!

We went to some friends’ house for a party on Friday night. These friends really go all out, with fantastic, catered food and major fireworks. We took Isis last year, and the fireworks didn’t bother her, so we figured she’d be fine this year, too.

WRONG. Of course, the fireworks started while DH was off talking to someone on the other side of the house, and Isis freaked! And of course, I was holding her leash, trying to keep her from running.

That wasn’t happening, and I ended up playing George Jetson until one of our friends joined me, right as Isis dragged me through a flowerbed.

I felt like Isis in the photo above by the time my husband got there to calm her and take over.

But otherwise, the party was fun.

We went to my brother’s on the actual holiday, where we had our typical (with him) very late cookout, then more fireworks. This time, we left Isis in the house. When we went to look for her, she was on my brother’s bed, in the farthest corner from where we were setting off fireworks! DH brought her outside, and she actually started to get acclimated to them by the time we left. Then again, our fireworks were nowhere near as big or loud as our friends’ the night before.

The main thing I’ve been working on lately is to get my newsletter signup system in place. Yes, I have one! A few of you may have even signed up for it, eons ago, and have yet to receive a newsletter. That will soon change. If you’re not already on the list, sign up and get a free ebook of “Time’s Holiday,” my Saturn Society short story prequel. If you’re already on the list and haven’t read “Holiday,” just let me know and I’ll be glad to send it to you.

What I read this week: Son of the Moonless Night by C.D. Hersh. This is the third book in their Turning Stone series, which features a very different take on shapeshifters. Also an excellent follow-up to the first two, as well as a great lead-in for a fourth book, which I am looking very forward to!

ROW80 Update: It’s time to set goals for Round 3! Most of mine are stuff that didn’t get done last round. But even so, I still accomplished a decent bit. So let’s hope for more of that here. This is what I plan to do:

Work with my publisher to get Time’s Enemy made free for promotional purposes.
Make changes suggested by my beta readers that I agree with on my upcoming release, and submit it to my publisher (it’s already contracted, so no worries about acceptance).
Make changes suggested by my editor, and approve for publication!
Dig back in to my next Saturn Society novel that’s about half finished, revise the outline, and complete the first draft.
Send out newsletter once a month (maybe twice if I have major news).

Not ambitious at all, huh? 🙂 Actually, this stuff should be quite doable if I don’t get sick, have a family member injured, or anything like that.

This week, I am helping my publisher get my existing Saturn Society books reformatted (so they’re prettier and work better on a variety of devices), and re-published at the various retailers. I also want to review my beta readers’ comments on my upcoming work, and start revisions on that.

What about you–if you’re in the U.S., did you have a fun Fourth of July (Or July First, if you’re in Canada)? If you’re participating in ROW80, what are some of your goals for this round? And even if you don’t do ROW80, how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 24, 2015

Catching up now, because I didn’t blog on Sunday. Did you miss me? (No, don’t answer that, LOL.)

Lots going on. Of course, there were Fathers Day festivities, held at my house. The traveling daughter called too, which is always good! We also celebrated my mom’s birthday, which was last week. We tend to combine birthday and holiday celebrations in my family: mine and my husband’s go with Mothers Day, my mom’s goes with Fathers Day, my brother and my daughter’s go together, and my dad’s goes with Labor Day. Thanksgiving used to also be to celebrate my Grandpa Powell’s birthday, which sometimes fell on Thanksgiving, and my other grandpa’s was often combined with my dad’s and Labor Day. Only my grandmas had birthdays that weren’t near a holiday or anyone else’s. I like combining them; it’s easier on the person hosting the celebration, and also fun!

But the main reason I didn’t blog last week was because I moved my website to a different server. I was working on the site last Thursday night and started having problems getting pages to come up, etc. to the point that I called GoDaddy tech support. Calling ANY tech support is usually a last resort for me, as it seems to always involve long hold times, then a long conversation with a tier-1 support person reading from a script, talking to me like I’m a clueless user, and asking me to do things I’ve already tried. I was pleasantly surprised with GoDaddy’s tech support. They picked up right away on the fact that I’m a programmer and not clueless, and took care of the immediate problem–then informed me that one likely cause for the slowness was the fact that my site, set up in 2008 (!) was on an “ancient” server (his words). He offered to set up a hosting plan on a newer, faster server for me, and credited me for the unused prepaid time on the old one, and got me a new customer deal for another year of hosting which came out to be about half price.

There were a few hitches in making the move, and a few more calls to tech support, but it’s done, and this is now running on the newer server. Google likes faster (not to mention everyone else), so that’s a good thing. I had my writers group meeting on Saturday and did a lot of venting (which I really needed to do). I felt much better after that, plus it’s always fun to see my writer friends!

Much better than Hand Under Blanket, it’s Foot Under Couch Cushion!

Isis has been naughty this week, too. She has chewed up THREE TV remotes, two in one sitting! Unfortunately, DH was too angry to think to get a dog-shaming photo. She is now not allowed to roam the house when DH and I are gone or asleep, and has to go back into her crate. Although I do wonder if perhaps she’s trying to tell DH he watches too much TV? 😀

What I read this week: still haven’t finished the current novel, though I am enjoying it! I’ll report on that next week.

ROW80 Update: This week–Thursday, actually–wraps up ROW80, Round 2. I am continuing to get my newsletter goodies and promo stuff in place, though I really didn’t accomplish much due to the website move. I still have another website to move, for another business, so plan on getting that done later this week, now that I’ve (I hope) discovered all the gotchas involved. I also want to resume the marketing stuff that got interrupted by the aforementioned gotchas.

As for Round 2, my primary goal was to get my WIP finished, revised, and off to the beta readers. That was DONE about three weeks ago–and three of the four readers have returned it to me. So far, the feedback was just what I was looking for. No worries on the fourth, because I’m still working on this promo stuff, and want to get that done before digging into edits. But so far, so good. I didn’t get everything done I would have liked, but I did get the most important thing, and made a lot of progress otherwise.

What about you–did you have a nice Fathers Day? Does your family combine celebrations like mine does? What do you think about that? Do you think Isis was trying to tell my husband something? And how are you doing on whatever goals you set, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 14, 2015

This week went a bit more slowly than last, as far as getting things done. It’s been a bad one for headaches, and also the second week of the month, which is the busiest in terms of bookkeeping work for my husband’s business. Although, when I look over what I did get done, it’s more than I thought.

I was hoping to finish decluttering in the kitchen; that didn’t happen. I did get three more cabinets done, leaving two to go, plus the drawers. I also did the freezer last Sunday. So that’s something. It actually wasn’t bad, except one of the door drawers’ bottom was covered in a greenish-purple Popsicle sludge LOL. Didn’t even know that was there–it’s been a long time since we’ve bought Popsicles! But it’s done now, and great to be able to find stuff!

Isis had more play dates, too, but no new photos.

What I read this week: Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode 12 by Athena Grayson. Wow, what a fantastic finale to the series! Full of surprises, and some I’d guessed, though there were also plenty of questions still unanswered. This has been such an awesome read, one of the best I’ve read this year (if not longer). I’m honored to have been the cover designer for these. I’m so looking forward to the next season!

ROW80 Update: This is the last full week of Round 2. I did get that third book formatted, but not until today, so it doesn’t quite count. And I did not get any of the mailing list stuff done. But still progress, so that’s good. This week, I want to finish the website and mailing list stuff. When it’s ready, I’ll announce it here first!

What about you–ever have one of those weeks where things just don’t get done? Or one where you feel like you didn’t accomplish much, but when you really think about it, you did? Read anything good lately? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, June 7, 2015

Isis and friend get some human greetings

I’m happy to report that last week’s pattern of getting stuff done has continued (and no funerals).

I’m continuing to declutter one cabinet or cupboard in the kitchen each evening, and am making progress there. Yesterday, I cleaned out the refrigerator, which hadn’t been done is waaaaaaay too long. Not going to say how much, because my mother reads this blog. 🙂 That took a good bit longer than fifteen minutes, and now, I know some of my writer friends are thinking, I must be trying to avoid writing, or just “why???” Actually, I’m not trying to avoid writing; I’d rather work on that. But it was getting to the point where I was afraid my daughter would call a HAZMAT crew when she returns from Germany in a few weeks, so I cleaned it. (She mentioned that when she was home for spring break–back in March.) The good part? It’s like having a new refrigerator! DH said now when he opens it, he wonders, “is this OUR refrigerator?” then opens the freezer, and thinks, “yep.” That’s today’s decluttering task, and should take a lot less time, since there should be no spilled gunk to clean.

Isis had some more play dates–in fact, her friend is over now, as I write this:

This is the typical speed of a doggy play date

I did some book covers this week, one for Athena Grayson’s Huntress of the Star Empire series, this time a bundle of the first three novellas. The second cover was for another writer friend whose small press publisher went out of business, and who kindly gave its authors their rights back. I’ll show the cover here when she releases the book, as it’s currently not available at all.

What I read this week: Unleash the Moon by Zoe Winters, and Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode 11 by Athena Grayson. I picked up Unleash the Moon when I ran out of Huntress episodes, then had to finish Into the Savage Country, which I discussed last week, because it was a library book. Finally, this week I got back to Unleash and finished it. As with all of Zoe Winter’s books, it was an enjoyable read, although this book felt a little anticlimactic after Forbidden, the prior book in the series. Still good, and still worthwhile, this book is the conclusion of her Preternaturals series.

Huntress just keeps cranking up, leading to the next, and last book in the serial. In this episode, the intense action of Episode 10 lets up, as the Huntress begins to come to grips with who she really is.

ROW80 Update: My goal last week was to get the prequel short story in my series reformatted (my publisher wants to upgrade the interior look of their older ebooks, and I do this for them as a contractor), and get it and the first book to my publisher. Did that, so this week’s definitely a win! So this week, my plans are to reformat the next one and get it to the publisher, with some additional mailing list setup stuff as a bonus.

What about you–how has your week been? Have you read any good books lately? Do you ever stop reading one book, then come back to it after finishing another, and if so, why? How are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, May 31, 2015

Aside from one evening, this week has been an uneventful, yet busy one. I’ve had a little more energy lately in the evenings, so I’m trying to get back into a habit of decluttering, starting with the kitchen. The clutter finally got bad enough that I decided I’m tired of living in CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome*), so it’s time I did something about it.

I started with the countertops, which had become a dumping ground for STUFF (“Something That Undermines Family Fun*) we were being too lazy to just put away. And as FlyLady suggests, I gave the sink a good cleaning and am also working on a habit of making sure it’s clean before I got to bed each night. Wow, did those two things make a difference! Even DH is now putting things away, because he likes it tidy, too. And it’s so much easier to fix a meal in a kitchen that’s not full of clutter!

Of course, the cabinets and cupboards still need work–lots of it!–so I’m going through and decluttering one a day. Typically, this takes no more than fifteen mintues–FlyLady’s recommended amount of time to spend, so we don’t get burned out. I highly recommend FlyLady’s website if you want to learn to get your home under control using baby steps. I discovered her many years ago when I was laid off, and had my house looking really nice before we all slacked off and started letting clutter accumulate. I will admit it’s easier when one doesn’t have a full-time job and a second, part-time one (my writing), but it’s still doable.

Friday night was a quiet occasion. A good friend’s sister passed away, so we went to the funeral visitation. It was one of life’s sad ironies–this woman had beaten breast cancer twice by age 40, when she’d been given a low chance of surviving another year. She was 42 when she passed–from an accident on an ATV. It’s the kind of thing that really makes us think of our own mortality, especially given my husband’s two close calls last year.

Saturday morning, Isis had a play date–our next door neighbors are dog-sitting for their son, so they let his dog run around our backyard with Isis for a while. They both totally wore each other out! I did not get any pictures because every time I got my phone out, they ran around the other side of the garage, or were just moving too fast!

What I read this week: Into the Savage Country by Shannon Burke. This a bit of an aside from my usual fare, a Western/historical fiction about a young man’s adventures as a fur trapper in 1820s America. A writing friend recommended it to me, and since the hero of my upcoming book is also a fur trapper (albeit 70 years earlier, and about 700 miles east), I read it partly for the time period, and partly for the research. It started out kind of slow and episodic, but got better as it went. The characters and their relationships were complex and well-developed, and used the same inventiveness and determination that got them into trouble, to get out of it.

ROW80 Update: My goal last week was to rewrite/tweak the blurbs for all of my already-published books. I did that for one, but decided I would rather focus on one book at a time and instead worked on reformatting it (my publisher wants to upgrade the interior look of their older ebooks, and I do this for them as a contractor). That took a while, and it’s not out yet (I need to do more testing and tweaking), but so far, it looks much better. I also did some website stuff that isn’t ready to roll out yet, but will be soon. I consider it a win, and plan to continue in this vein this week. So this week, my plans are to finalize that book and get it to the publisher, then reformat another, probably the short story.

What about you–how has your week been? Have you worked on developing a new habit lately? Have you read anything outside of your usual type of books lately, and if so, how was it? How are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing-related or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

* Definitions for CHAOS and STUFF are FlyLady’s.

by Jennette, May 25, 2015

Isis waits patiently for playtime

We’re not supposed to work on vacation, right? Except I did–because in this case, “work” was something fun–writing!–and I didn’t go anywhere.

On Thursday, DH and I saw our daughter off to Germany, where she’s doing a study abroad for two months (Heidelberg and Berlin, if anyone’s curious). Then DH took off on his motorcycle for his annual pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., where he participates in Rolling Thunder, one of the largest rides in the U.S., to honor POWs, MIAs, and other vets.

I took Friday off of work, hence “vacation” for me, too. I took Isis for her daily walk and went out to dinner with my parents, but otherwise, I stayed home and spent time writing. I also played a lot of ball with Isis. Let me say, it’s a challenge to get editing done when a dog is dropping a ball into one’s lap every thirty seconds!

What I read this week: Still working on the novel I started the week before, but also read–wait for it!–MY upcoming release! I will post a cover reveal and tell all about it here once it gets back from my editor.

ROW80 Update: I finished my revision, and did a read-through. And it was a good thing I did, because this book was written more out-of-order than any I’ve ever written, and there were quite a few piddly little continuity errors. The more I catch before handing off to the beta readers, the better. I actually enjoyed reading my own book, which is good, since I write the books I want to read! It’s now off to the beta readers, so that’s something to celebrate. So the remainder of this ROW80 Round, I plan to focus on marketing tasks. Up this week: rewrite the product descriptions (i.e., blurbs, or back cover copy) for my existing books, as well as the upcoming book. I hope to get more done than that, but I also have a cover design to do for one of my beta readers, so any other marketing tasks will be a bonus.

What about you–did you do anything fun this holiday weekend? Do you consider it a vacation for you, too, when your partner goes out of town? Do you work when you’re on vacation? And if you’re a writer, do you read (and enjoy) your own books? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Life and Love in Four Dimensions

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