June has been a busy month of changes. Those changes come at a cost of my time and energy. That means that despite my best intentions, not much writing is getting on the screen. But positive changes can be a good thing.
Intentions
Instead of goals or resolutions, I use intentions. You can miss a goal. You probably break most resolutions. But an intention is a focus. When life gets in the way of your plan, take care of that event or disturbance, intending to return to your primary plan. Every morning begins with a renewed intention.
Making
There are three more days this month, but I doubt I’ll get any more making done. Somehow, I got my newsletter out and five blog posts written and posted. Beyond that, there’s a lot of thinking while doing other things and some note taking on two separate but related projects.
It will probably be September before I can make any real fiction writing progress. SIGH. Read on for the why.
Managing
Very little done in the managing area, not even keeping up with routine business chores.
Marketing
Even less was done in the marketing department, but I have plans… oh boy, do I have plans.
Home
Home has been where almost all of my focus and energy have gone. I am finally going to have my worn and stained and poorly patched wood floors repaired and refinished at the end of July. However, that means I have to move every stick of furniture, clothing, and anything else out of the main living areas.
My two-year-old grandson, J, visited recently and voiced his opinion of this:
“It’s a mess!”
Grandson J
Me: Yes, it is, J. It’s a huge mess right now.
My late husband and I may have been related to pack rats who fill their nest with all kinds of things. After almost thirty years in this house, the accumulation of stuff is overwhelming. Fortunately, my grandson, C, and son have been helping—a lot.
C and I held a garage sale during 95˚ F weather. We stayed in the shade, under a fan as much as we could, and drank a lot of water.
Cleaning out my late husband’s art studio has been… challenging and a long, slow process.
Going Forward
After I finish sorting and clearing out things I don’t use, need, or want any more, my son and grandson will help me move everything else into the garage or basement. Then I will attempt to paint all the walls in this three-bedroom ranch before they refinish the floors. Wish me luck in getting all of this accomplished in thirty days.
Writing time will continue to be minimal until the end of July.
While the floors are done and drying, I’ll start writing again. Halfway through August, I’ll begin moving everything back to the main level again.
Everything Changes
Big and small changes happen all the time. Some changes are more than not good. The SCOTUS decision to strike down Roe v. Wade is the worst. I am a Christian and am horrified at this outcome. Outraged that some states are taking it so far as to declare that they may prosecute a woman taking care of her personal physical and mental health. It’s terrifying how closely this resemble the religious totalitarian society in my series, The Fellowship Dystopia.
Taking away freedoms is NEVER the right thing, the Christian thing, to do. This SCOTUS decision will lead to more changes. We who believe in the right of free choice must make certain the next change is a positive one.
When bad things happen, we must commit to changing what we can, but we need also to lighten our load by looking for the good. Some changes are good for us. I choose to look at my long process of home improvement as a positive change for me. Ultimately, it should save me time and and make my environment more comfortable.
It’s the end of March and Kansas weather is teasing us with a day of spring followed by several days of winter with a spring storm to top it off. This is my progress report for the month of March 2022. It was a speed up-slow down kind of month.
Making
I began the month with the copyedited manuscript for If I Should Die and scrambled to make corrections and rewrite passages that needed clarification. As soon as I finished, I sent the manuscript to my proofreader.
With the manuscript out the door again, I stumbled around as if I had nothing to do for a few days. Then I got my act together—sort of.
I’m in the beginning stages of creating some fiction content for my newsletter readers. (I know… What newsletter? It’s coming. Honest.)
I completed only ten out of fourteen blog posts this month.
This wasn’t a very creative month… at least not in producing fiction you’ll see. You’ll never see all the background and behind-the-scenes work went on and is difficult to quantify. It’s all part of my process and it doesn’t feel very forward-moving.
I spent about thirty-seven percent of my work time on Making.
Managing
Learning more about managing this business was a big part of this month’s activities. I won’t bore you with the details.
I tweaked my website to get all the features looking and working in a pleasant and useful way. And I’ve been fine-tuning the integration of my new email service. That should be finished in a week or two.
I also spent a fair amount of time physically moving things around. Funny how small a house can feel when you put boxes of books on the floor in every room! SIGH. It will be worth it. The challenge has been to find places to put things and to put things where I can find them so I can continue to work. It will be another month before the office will show much improvement.
The new lights I had my son install in the office were way-way too bright to work on the computer. My son moved that overhead light to my kitchen and installed a new, much dimmer overhead light in the office. Thank you, son!
I spent sixteen percent of my time on Managing.
Marketing
Marketing took a huge chunk (forty-seven percent) of my time this month. Rather, learning and adjusting marketing strategies and tactics took most of the time. Yeah, no boring details here either.
If you are interested, I can recommend Mal Cooper’s Facebook Ads class based on my experience in her free class. Also, based on the few classes I’ve completed, I can recommend Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors class. Both of these are not currently open for new students, but watch their sites or subscribe to their newsletters for the next open enrollment dates.
Home
Housework is never done, especially when there are boxes everywhere. But having lights in the kitchen again is a blessing. Added to that blessing, I got to babysit my youngest grandson while his father installed the lights.
What I Learned
Oh, my gosh. I have enough pages of notes that I could write a book! There were several times during this speed up-slow down month of learning that I thought my head would explode.
On a personal level, I’m working hard to be a healthier me. I’ve never been a physically active person, but over the past few years, I’ve become too sedentary. And I’ve paid a price in flexibility and comfort. It has taken some work to get the kinks out, but I am seeing results and those are keeping me motivated to learn how to make exercise a habit.
Going Forward
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
Confucius
I will spend most of April finalizing the manuscript and producing the ebooks and print books for If I Should Die. Advance Readers will get your copies mid-to-late April. If you’d like to be an Advance Reader, please sign up.
The preorder will go up on May 1. the release date will depend on the response time of the copyright office. It’s likely to be in late May.
March was a speed up-slow down kind of month because I’m betwixt and between. It’s frustrating. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not in a race and that things are moving forward despite the fact that the movement feels slow and isn’t easily measured.
It’s the end of February 2022 and a new season is coming. I’m referring to more than the annual change of seasons. It’s a new season personally and a new season world-wide. First, a reminder for those who are new to my progress reports.
Intentions
Instead of goals or resolutions, I use intentions. You can miss a goal. You probably break most resolutions. But an intention is a focus. When life gets in the way of your plan, take care of that event or disturbance intending to return to your primary plan. Every morning begins with a renewed intention. For more information about intentions read “The Indie Author’s Three Hats.”
Making
The making area was pretty neglected this month. I spent less than a third of my work time working on stories or blog posts. Instead of starting the outline for the next book in the series, I took a much needed break. But never fear, I also jotted down the many ideas that I will use in And When I Wake.
I published all but one planned blog post this month.
At the end of this month, I received my editor’s notes on If I Should Die. Commas and hyphens are my downfall, but she loved the book. YAY!
Managing
At sixty-eight percent of my total work time, managing the office and education took a big chunk of February. I’m tweaking the website, making it function better. I finally found some the hidden buttons in the theme. (Really? Was it too hard to clarify where to change the color of titles? SIGH.)
I’m continuing to clean out my office in preparation for remodeling my work space. I’ve got one more piece of furniture to arrive then I’ll have all the parts I need.
Learning on multiple fronts is blowing my mind. I’m learning to use Mailerlite, about marketing on various online sites, and I’m learning about author branding. Yup. Brain overload warnings are flashing!
I had a huge SNAFU with my online payment for this year’s 20 Books Vegas conference that took several weeks to iron out. Thank goodness, it has been resolved.
Another SNAFU involved software I purchased to download on my computer. The vender told me I had already downloaded it when I had not. It took multiple emails and phone calls to the store and the vender, but that too has finally been solved.
Marketing
I placed learning about my business belonged in the larger bucket of Managing. So I spent less than five percent of my time on activities in the marketing “bucket” during February.
Home
Right now, home looks like someone doesn’t know if she is moving in or moving out. There are boxes of books and electronic equipment in every room. Multiple boxes clog some rooms.
Don’t ask me where a specific book is. I might get the room right, but it’ll take a day or two to find the box that holds that one book.
Of course in the middle of all of this, my overhead light (the only light) in the kitchen go dark. I ordered and then changed the light bulbs. No joy. The light itself has failed. It’s old. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I would have preferred later, but that’s life. A new light was ordered and has arrived. Now I must wait for my son to have a day off so he can install the new lights. (There will be more than one in there soon!) In the meantime, thanks to a friend’s suggestion, I placed a temporary lamp in the kitchen so I can see to cook dinners.
Events
My biggest personal event in February was the first anniversary of my dear husband’s death. I knew that would be hard. Planned for it to be hard. And it was. But I was able to go out to one of his favorite restaurants with the rest of the family. We had a delicious meal and remembered him with love.
If you follow me on Facebook, you know that Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine was upsetting. Miblart, the company that I hired to do the latest covers for the Fellowship Dystopia series, is based in Ukraine. I’ve grown fond of several people there while working together on those covers. I am worried for their safety. Please send good energy, donate if you can, pray for peace and their safety in whatever language or religion that means something to you. Thank you.
Going Forward
The big item for March is the next to last edit of If I Should Die. Once that’s finished, the book will go to my advanced reading team and to my proofreader.
I’ll continue my efforts to understand how to serve my readers better. My marketing education is a long range effort so that will be ongoing for the rest of the year.
After all the books and bookcases are removed from my office, I have a wall to repair. It will take another couple of months before the remodel of my office is finished.
What I Learned in February
In addition to the stuff I’ve learned about branding and advertising, I’ve learned more about personal loss than I ever wanted to know. As a nurse, I’ve stood beside the dying and their loved ones as an involved and empathetic caregiver. I knew their experience of their loved one’s death was many degrees different than mine. In this past year I’ve learned in a personal way that education, empathy, and sympathy are not the same as experience.
Otherness
I thought I understood the experience of being “other.” I have learned that my otherness came from the inside which is bad enough, but it’s not the same.
There have been a few times in my life when I knew that my very pale skin color made me “other,” where people around me saw me, defined me, as “different.” This only happened because I traveled away from my home.
I have been afraid for my life before when I strayed into a place of danger. I have never lived in a place of constant danger.
As a woman, I have chosen my clothing with care for fear that my looks might invite unwanted and violent attention. It’s close, but it’s not the same as not being able to put the hood of your hoodie over your head for fear of being killed for “looking suspicious.”
There is a huge difference between my life and my Hispanic daughter-in-law’s life, the lives of my grandchildren, and many, many others whose skin color isn’t white-enough. Huge.
My empathy and support are tiny in the face of the discrimination people of color face, but I am here. I will do what I can.
Fear
I have felt a tiny, tiny piece of the fear of invasion of my homeland. I lived too far from New York City and the Pentagon to feel the fear on a more personal level. I watched in fear. I worried about friends and family in the area. But it’s not the same as watching invaders drive their tanks down your street, or bomb your neighbor’s homeor bomb your own home.
I don’t say these things lightly. From the loss of my husband, to my fear of wearing the wrong clothes, to my fear for my country…all of those were and remain significant in my life. Neither your nor my losses and fears are lesser than the fear or loss anyone else has experienced. And yet…
Lost
Some of us are lost. Some of us are floundering. Some of us have closed our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to the suffering of others. They deny that such suffering exists. Sometimes they deny “others” capable of feeling. Often, the deniers have the loudest voices. And that can be scary to the ones with softer voices and hearts.
If we cannot learn from those fears and losses, if we cannot empathize with fear and losses across the street or across the globe despite our differences, then we—the human race—are lost.
Am I saying we humans are lost? No. As long as some of us fight the deniers, we are not lost.
Determination
It takes a special kind of courage to keep our eyes, our ears, and our hearts open. Fortunately, there are a lot of you out there who have done that. You are making a difference because of your determination and strength and courage. Some make a difference with a whisper. Some make a difference with a shout.
Strength
While our eyes are on the Ukraine right now, and their crisis seems the most threatening right now (at least to many), theirs is not the only crisis in your neighborhood, your city, your state or region, or your nation. Theirs is not the only crisis in the nation next door or across world. No matter which crisis you face or choose to address, no matter how loud or how quiet, know that you make a difference.
Courage
It takes courage and determination and strength to keep going in the face of fear, in the face of loss. Thank you and God bless those of you who keep going with your eyes, ears, and hearts open and ready to lend a healing word or thought or a helping hand. And God bless the brave, the fearful, the loud, and the quiet voices of support and resistance in the Ukraine and across the world.
The Lesson
I have felt small, insignificant in the face of discrimination and the suffering of others, especially in the light of the war waged on Ukranians.
What lesson have I learned? I’ve received flowers, and words of comfort, and a warm touch (actual and virtual). I know that the smallest flower, the softest word of comfort, and the smallest hand offered in a time of need, does help.
I have learned that a story read by the right person at the right time can do more than thousands of angry voices and raised fists. Sometime that one person will become a hero to one or many.
I’ve learned that though I can do little, the little I can do will help someone. If each of us do the same, if each of us helps one person, it will make a world of difference.
A New Season is Coming
Looking forward may be difficult, but a new season is coming (Spring for the northern hemisphere, Fall for those in the south) and will come no matter how the crisis in the Ukraine works out.
I am moving into a new season in my career and my personal life. It’s an unsettling time, but change always is. In the meantime, I hope to spread make a difference, one small flower, one soft word, and one warm touch at a time.
My month of shock and relief on repeat is almost a continuation of our 2020 trials and tribulations. But not quite. While shocks came, relief came soon after. Of course, the insurgency at the Capitol was an enormous shock. It remains the top shocking and horrifying event for the month. But there were personal shocks as well. And enough relief that I made some progress on my monthly intentions.
Making
Wish I could say I made substantial progress this month. I wrote a lot of words. I cut even more words, hopefully improving the manuscript. The second draft has reached the midpoint. Finally. *Smile*
I improved both the number of words written and the time spent on writing over January 2020, but my husband was in rehab a year ago.
I published twelve blog posts this month. Even gained a few new subscribers. Hello and Welcome! **Waves**
Editorial calendars are great tools, I’m told. But I have struggled to use one for my blog. This month I had a lightbulb moment that may be my way of using an editorial calendar. I won’t say more about this until my first quarter progress report. It’s not truly a success unless I can repeat it for three months. (Something that has not happened for me in the past nine years.)
Managing
This is a vast grouping of activities that I spend the least amount of time. I need to improve my focus on these things but am not yet in a position where I can.
That means I’m continuing not to be on social media much. I’m also not reading as much as I wish.
Marketing
In my role of marketing my books, I learned a lot this month. Mostly I learned how impatient I am. *Rueful smile*
Analyzing my book, sales markets, and my ad campaigns is finally making sense to me. In part because I have had mentors who’ve pointed me toward meaningful data. Plus, I’ve had more meaningful data to analyze.
Home
Optimism is my middle name. While watching the U.S. Presidential inauguration this month, my emotions took me by surprise. My optimism was shaken more thoroughly than I’d realized. Relief? You betcha.
Besides the events in D.C., we had a couple of scares here at home. For a few days, we thought my husband would need surgery again soon. Fortunately, it’s not nearly as serious as it sounded at first. It’ll be a wait and see situation. Shock and relief.
My son was exposed to COVID-19 at work. He had to quarantine for two weeks. Fortunately, the exposure was minimal. His employer was being extra cautious. My son is healthy and back to work. Shock and relief.
Is it any surprise that I got very little done on my intentions list under Home? Sigh. My Christmas tree is still up. And my poor dogs have shorter hair on only parts of their bodies. Yes, I didn’t finish grooming them. They look very strange, but cute.
What I Learned
What I learned is that while toward the end of last year I started scheduling some personal down time, it wasn’t enough. Like everyone else, I need time to process the events that affect me.
Marie Forleo reminded me that when I believe I’m not getting enough done to tweak my approach to scheduling—not to goal making. “Simplify to amplify.” Thanks, Marie.
Intentions for Next Month
Making: Much will remain the same. I hope to get the second draft of the next section of If I Should Die done. Publishing a blog post three times a week remains an intention.
Managing: I’ll be moving forward on some early book production items.
Marketing: Hopefully, I’ll continue to get meaningful data and learn how I can tweak my approach to advertising my books.
Home: I’ll finally get the Christmas tree down and finish grooming the dogs. And I’ll schedule regular me time to reflect and recharge.
Shock and Relief on Repeat
Hopefully, the rest of the year we’ll have nothing but more relief for everyone. COVID-19 will stick around for many more months, which means I’ll remain in self-quarantine. I’m supposed to hear from the county health department soon about receiving our vaccines. I hope each of you are remaining safe—wearing a mask and social distancing and washing your hands. Please get a vaccine as soon as you can.
Even though this has been a month of shock and relief on repeat, it’s ending on a strong relief note. How has your month been? What are you proud to have accomplished? What do you have planned for February?
