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Too Close to Call
Photo by Michele Venne The second audiobook, Of Hoof Prints and Heartbeats, is done! It has been approved and uploaded and is ready for purchase on all retailers (as soon as the retailers approve it), including my website (already approved!). One more to go in the...
The Finish Line
Photo by Michele Venne This is the exact moment when the front runner's chest connects with the ribbon strung across the finish line! It isn't broken. Yet. The race isn't done. Yet. I've met my deadlines, but the projects are ready for publication. Yet. I've finished...
Desire
Photo by Michele Venne Epiphanies are like a sample from a bakery. They give you a taste but leave you searching for more. I had one this week. Quick context, I'm in a yoga collective where we study something different each month, learn about some yoga techniques, and...
Taking a Breath
Photo by Michele Venne I mentioned three months ago that I would be conducting some experiments. I've completed most of them. For a few, I wonder if I'll gain any usable data, or if there's a way to even find a beginning and know when it's done. For the rest, I've...
Two Steps to the Left
Photo by Michele Venne A couple of days ago, I let my graphic designer know that I had 12 pages left in the nonfiction. I figured I would finish it by Sunday and get it to beta readers early next week. I also told her that by the middle of next week, I would be...
Finish Energy
Photo by Michele Venne Joanna Penn, a fairly famous indie author in the UK whom I've followed since she began offering stuff for indie writers back in 2008, talks about "beginning energy" when she starts a project and "finish energy" as she nears the end of a project....
Next STeps
Photo by Michele Venne My beta reader finished The Bookie. I've been working this week on her suggestions/edits. I should finish those this weekend. I have a list of what to check, what to research, what to change. No major rewrites needed, just a tightening up of the...
Month 3 of 3
Photo by Michele Venne In this third month of my 3-month plan, I can say I've learned from my experiments. What I've learned that I didn't plan for is that life happens regardless of what my calendar says, and that some things are bigger than my determination. I guess...
The Next Experiment
Photo by Michele Venne Last Friday, after working for eight hours and staying up until 10 PM, I finished the first draft for The Bookie. I gave some hours on Saturday to making a couple of corrections, scrolling through and filling out my timeline, listing some...
Nearly There
Photo by Michele Venne Having been stuck in the weeds for so long with this manuscript, I'm kind of surprised that I'm looking at the climax of the story. A quick take down of a criminal, the tying up of a few plot threads, and one scene to lead into book 3, and I'm...
Moving Finish Line
Photo by Michele Venne I'm super excited that my first audiobook is done! Narrated, edited, processed, and is out for distribution to 48 online retailers. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out one thing, then was told that it's a no-thing. I don't need to do what...
Shifting
Photo by Michele Venne I received the audio files from the narrator! I've spent hours every day this week listening and making notes on what she needs to edit. I still have 10 chapters to go, and the deadline is Sunday. After hearing someone else read my story, I...
One Month Done
Photo by Michele Venne Big news #1: I received an email that the narrator finished reading Of Art and Air, and I have ten days to review and approve the recording. I started today, since I have a deadline. I'm reading the pdf I sent the narrator as I'm listening to...
Rain
Photo by Michele Venne It appears it's possible for time to pass quickly and slowly simultaneously. The days tick by, but my time spent writing speeds through. And when I look at what I've written, I'm not content with my progress. At 2K words/day on my main project,...
The Heat is On
Photo by Michele Venne The heat is on, and so is the self-imposed pressure! I vowed I would stick as close to my schedule as possible this week. As a result, I made progress on all my projects, but still did not accomplish everything. And this give me the opportunity...
Insight
Photo by Michele Venne With years of schedule making under my belt, I thought I had this 3-month plan ready to go. What I didn't account for? Life. Ha! Every day, I've had a meeting or errands or an appointment. Or course, my schedule is now off. I need to decide how...
Ideas
Photo by Michele Venne This week started my 3-month plan. Mostly. Each day I had a project to do that wasn't on my schedule. Tomorrow will be the same. My plan might already have gone awry because I forgot to include "life" in my schedule. Ha! But I've still managed...
Three-Month Plan
Photo by Michele Venne I spent a couple of productive hours with my writing friend today. She brainstormed with me about titles and tiers and the future. I came prepared with a list! I read off my thoughts on serials for Patreon. She gave me ideas regarding not...
A Tease
Photo by Michele Venne I've been jotting notes about a 3-month plan. This includes shuffling file folders, story starters within those folders, writing sticky notes about groups of stories that could be serials or novellas or another novel series, eyeing 3 nonfiction...
Holding Pattern
Photo by Michele Venne This is kind of what my mind is like, and my calendar, and my soon-to-be-added-to to-do list. My paid gig is closing down, just another 7 days. Lots will be happening around August, none of which I'm in control of, but I can make decisions once...
Mindset
Photo by Michele Venne If we pay attention, I think we're given opportunities to look inside ourselves. Creativity is an example. I've been struggling with this current story. Studying myself, I wonder if it's because I'm composing on the computer instead of a spiral,...
Standing on the Road Between Here and There
Photo by Michele Venne The narrator has started on Of Art and Air. I don't think I'll hear from her or Findaway until she's done. Then I think I need to edit it. After that, they package it and distribute. I'll be asking for a copy so I can put it on my website as...
Moving Forward
Photo by Michele Venne I met with my writing friend today. I feel like I need to record our meetings so I can replay them and catch the tidbits! We talked instead of worked, but sometimes that's what's needed. We shared ideas about our projects, where we are, where we...
Creative Space
Photo by Michele Venne This is the final day of 5 promos I had for Of Gifts and the Goddess. Though the book is on sale for all of April, and it's available in another promo that runs the entire month, I'm a little anxious to see what the sales numbers look like. As...
So Many Stories
Photo by Michele Venne In this month's newsletter, I mentioned that I'm working on a Patreon account. Instead of writing short stories and publishing them in My Voice, Volume 2, I decided to make some of them available to subscribers on Patreon. I haven't finished...
April Fool’s Day
Photo by Michele Venne It's the first of April! That means the first quarter of 2022 is officially done. We've had 3 months to observe how much of 2021 would influence the new year, to try out new intentions, to continue to make a new "normal," to make new habits or...
Wrapping Up
Photo by Michele Venne It seems like many of the tasks I do, don't get done with one go. I often have to come back to verify that the upload happened, that the error was fixed, that customer service received and responded to my request. This week has been a similar...
The End of spring Break
Photo by Michele Venne Tucson Festival of Books is back! Fewer attendees, but people came and bought books. I discovered that these readers prefer print to ebooks, even if they weigh a lot; they came to see authors they'd found in 2019; fantasy, science fiction, and...
New and Old
Photo by Michele Venne Tucson Festival of Books is happening this weekend! I've been preparing for months. Updating my books. Getting the short story ready to give away. Deciding how to sell ebooks at a live event. And realizing that none of the authors whose company...
Birthday Week
Photo by Michele Venne A few cool events happened this week in my life. First, my new computer arrived! My 10-year-old laptop could no longer update the operating system, so my apps didn't work optimally or at all. Do you know how tough it is to type on a keyboard...
Smelling The Flowers
Six days. That is how long I had the house to myself, and how many days in a row I did zero writing. Oh, I thought about my projects. I looked up the word count on MV2 to judge how close I might be to a novel-length manuscript. I also thought about where I left off in...
Going Around in Circles
I remember being on the ASU campus several years ago for a writing conference. During lunch, I went outside and saw this dog (his owner was there, just not in the picture) swimming laps in the fountain. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but the dog was a Lab, and they...
Holiday Story for a Holiday Weekend
Photo by Michele Venne Since life circumstances have settled some, I was able to finish the edits and formatting on The Hidden Gift. I'm waiting to hear from my web designer that everything is in place so I can notify my subscribers. One of the perks of signing up for...
Show Some Love
Photo by Michele Venne Happy first Friday in February! I hope this month for all of us is like the road above, shaded, smooth, beneath blue skies, and edged by green grass. In a time where good news is sometimes hard to come by, one friend got engaged (and shared the...
spinning plates
Photo by Michele Venne A writer friend jokes that I likely have four or six projects going at one time. Back in 2017, I did write FIVE different manuscripts! It took me another three years to edit and publish them. Now, in 2022, after creating a production schedule...
Dueling projects
Photo by Michele Venne Last week I finished The Hidden Gift and sent it to my beta reader. I also emailed information to my cover designer. I commented to a friend of mine, "This short story became a novella, and I'm okay with that. Now I think it has morphed into a...
Getting back to it
Photo by Michele Venne I had the pleasure of meeting with two other writers today. We all look forward to sharing a creative space, even if "work" didn't get done. As one friend said, "There's just something a little different about the energy of artistic people."...
so much gratitude
Photo by Michele Venne´ It feels more like the holiday season if the air has changed where you are. Here in Phoenix, we're enjoying wonderfully cool weather. In the desert, that means sweatshirts in the early morning and probably sneakers instead of sandals. I noticed...
Got balance?
Photo by Michele Venne It's official today, at least in Phoenix, Arizona. The Autumnal Equinox happened on September 22 (in the northern hemisphere), but a few longitudinal degrees north of the equator and we're looking at sunrise at 6:14 AM and sunset at 6:14 PM. Not...
so much new stuff
Photo by Michele Venne Here we are, the end of August, and dogs days or not, I've got a lot to share with you! Glad you're here 🙂 First up, this newsletter! You may not notice a difference and that's fine. After a while with one email provider, it was time to...
Midsummer update
Photo by Michele Venne Some of this, a sprinkle of that, a dash for excitement, and freeze overnight...sounds like just the thing to cool a body down. July has passed at the same rate as an ice lasts on the sidewalk in Phoenix at noon. I've been crossing items off my...
Popsicles in the shade
Photo by MIchele Venne It's summertime, and with the heat cranked up in the Southwest desert, we're all trying to live easy! It's the end of June and halfway through 2021. I've been spending more time than usual inside, and when I look back at my production schedule...
Spring flowers
Photo by Michele Venne Not that we've received much rain in the desert this winter or spring, but some of the desert plants are blooming! The ironwoods have been dotting the brown landscape with pale lavender blooms. The creosote shifted quickly from yellow petals to...
Choose your own adventure
Photo by Michele Venne I hinted at this back in the fall, so time to follow up on my idea! The Internet and online retailers have changed how people shop. Personally, I don't order much online. Sometimes I get stuff from the feed store, and sometimes I order through a...
Spring in flux
It's hot, it's cold, there's rain, there's snow, the power is out, the power is back on, a green holiday celebration, maybe vacation, jeans and a sweatshirt then a T-shirt and flip-flops, on and on it goes. I look out the office window and watch as storm clouds race...
Share Some Love
In celebration of the month of love, I'm sharing some. I know the concept of self-love and self-care have been around for a while. After reading about it and applying a few ideas to see what worked for me, I thought I had a good understanding of self-care. I created...
A New Calendar
Many of us purchase a new calendar around the end of the year. It could be with hope that the next year will be filled with lots of positive experiences or an attempt to organize ourselves. This past December I purchased two calendars: 1) a 5 x 7 daily and monthly...
