It’s spring! We are about to enter the second quarter of 2025. And that means it’s time to review the first quarter.
Though writing books is what I love to do, there’s a lot more to the business than just writing. The first quarter of 2025 has been challenging and exciting. I’ve learned a lot and am stepping out to try new things for my business.
I spend a good chunk of time each month analyzing what I’ve accomplished, what is still in progress, and what is still on my never-ending to-do list. To help me see that progress and plan for continued accomplishments, I’ve divided my to-do list into two major “buckets.” Writing and Home, the two major buckets, then have smaller buckets within them. I look at things like the number of words written, the time a task took, and the results I see based on the “public-facing” side of the business. What I want to see is some kind of positive change each month. And in the first quarter of 2025, there have definitely been changes.
Learning about Goal Setting
I used to use the term intentions rather than goals. I still think that’s a suitable term, but I’m looking at my intentions slightly differently. That means I’m trying to prioritize my intentions to give some more weight or importance than others. Historically, I’ve held extremely high expectations of what I can accomplish in the limited time I have available. So I’m working on setting more realistic expectations for myself. Another change you may notice is that I won’t be listing things I didn’t accomplish. For me, those DNF lists became an anchor, dragging my spirits and sense of accomplishment down. So here we go.
Making
The draft of the third book in the Fellowship trilogy, close to being finished. As in, 5 chapters to go. There’s still a lot of work to do on the draft, but I can see where the story is going. Expect to see a cover reveal post in the next two or three months.
Obviously, I’m still blogging both here and for the Writers in the Storm blog.
And I’m exploring ideas about writing a short story or novella as a prequel to My Soul to Keep. I’d love to have you comment below and tell me which character you’d most like me to write about in such a prequel. Currently, I’m considering doing one for Miranda, Beryl, Gert, the first Azrael, or Kara. Which interests you the most?
Plus, I’m making notes about a new book or series. More on that in a future post.
Managing
Managing is a catch-all bucket. It includes maintenance and improvements of the website, ordering designs for logos and book covers and other images.
Like my publishing imprint’s logo which I had redesigned to go with my new website logo. What do you think?
This is also where I record lessons learned. I’ve been consuming a lot of video-based lessons on the areas I feel I am weakest: marketing and branding for authors. You’ll be seeing changes here on the website, on my social media over the next year as I implement some lessons I’ve learned.
Marketing
If you follow me on Facebook, you know I took part in a Local Author Book Fair this past weekend. Since I’m writing this report before the book fair, I can’t report on how it went yet.
In May I’ll do another in-person book sale in another part of town. I’m also scheduled to do a reading and book sale at the Parkville Coffee Shop again this summer.
Preparing for these in-person events is intense, but fun. If you’re local, I’d love to see you there.
Home
I’ve completed all the major remodeling. There are a ton of little finishing touches I still plan to do. But for now, the in-person book sales and finishing And When I Wake are my top priorities.
My biggest lesson in this bucket is how my emotional health has changed. I thought I was handling the death of my husband pretty well. And overall, I still think that. What I didn’t understand was how “muted” everything was. By everything, I mean everything from my energy levels to my attitude toward others to my ability to think and work. I could function, but in the past 4-6 months it’s been as if I’m waking up after a long, hard sleep that left my thoughts extremely cloudy.
Going Forward
I’m so very grateful for the support, kindness, and patience you, my readers, have shown me. I absolutely love writing. I love hearing from you, and I can’t wait to release And When I Wake. Here’s the cover of the book and a tiny sample of Miranda’s journey…
For a moment, Miranda stood very, very still. Fought the urge to knock Leslie and Wanda aside and run across the street. Struggled to keep from blurting out, you don’t understand. Struggled to calm herself. Struggled to find that daughter-of-the-counselor mask she’d used so easily before.
The Fellowship…Men like that…they won’t stop. They have to be stopped. But neither Leslie nor Wanda could see that. Miranda unclenched her fists, slowed her breathing, and deliberately relaxed her shoulders. Smiled at the irony of using her daughter-of-the-counselor mask on Wanda and Leslie.
“You’re right, now is not the time,” she said in her calmest voice. Next time, Mr. Agent, you won’t be so lucky.
Excerpt from And When I Wake, Book Three of the Fellowship Dystopia series by Lynette M. Burrows. ©2025 All right reserved.
How do you stay informed of when the book is being released? Join my Reading Rebels group and get a free e-book of Fellowship, my weekly blog posts, and monthly newsletter by email. Or you can check the My Books page on this website. Follow me on Facebook or Amazon or your favorite online bookstore. I’m also on Goodreads, Pinterest, Bluesky, and Mastodon, though I’m on them less often than Facebook.