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Blogging · books · reading · Self-Publishing · Writing Goals

A Writer’s Plans for 2018

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Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a great New Year, and maybe found a bit of time for reading, much like I did. I’m glad that 2018 is here. The end of 2017 found me distracted and blue, and I’m ready for a new start. After a busy 2017 releasing Under Jupiter and The Torc, and drafting The Circlet, it is time for a new plan for 2018.

In 2018, I do plan to finish the Artifacts of Avalum Series, with Books 2 and 3 releasing in Sprint and Winter (most likely). But mostly my writing life will be shifting focus because I got a writing grant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This grant will allow me to take four months off from my day job to focus entirely on writing. For the grant, which I’ve received from the Saskatchewan Arts’ Board (thank you Arts’ Board!), I will be working on a very specific project, namely some literary short stories. This is very different writing that what I normally post about here, but I love it just as much. (If you want a sample of this work, you can find a free story here, at Broken Pencil Magazine, but again, it is very different than the genre fiction I write).

I’m very excited to have dedicated time that is all mine to explore some themes I’ve been pondering for a few years. I start my ‘writing job’ March 1st, and I plan on spending the first couple months of 2018 planning how I will structure my days. I imagine they will involve lots of tea, coffee, and pretty notebooks (and a lot of hard work).

In reading, I set my Goodreads goal yesterday for 53 books in 2018. This is less than the 62 I read in 2017, and for that there are two reasons: 1. I hope to be spending a lot of time writing and rewriting, and 2. I hope to read some longer books. I’ve found over the past year that when I have a goal for reading a lot of books, I tend to choose quicker reads. This means that a lot of books I’ve purchased in the past have been sitting on my shelves for years. (CONFESSION: last year I had 67 books I hadn’t read yet on my upstairs shelves, I now have over 100!!!!). It is definitely time to do some catching up, so I WILL NOT be purchasing new books (probably… well…. maybe… okay, maybe I should be reasonable and say I will not purchase more than 5 new books this year – I hope instead to do some book trading at my local used book store).

So, with piles and piles of books waiting to be read, and a day job to get back to (for the moment), I will once again say Happy New Year, and all the best in 2018. Do you have any big plans you would like to share?

JEH

books · nanowrimo · Writing Goals

It’s Halfway NaNoWriMo Day

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If you’re a 2017 NaNoWriMo participant, then you know today is halfway day!

I hope your novel writing journey is going fantastically! Me, I’m exactly on target, though I’m hoping to write more tonight and finish at least one day ahead.

My trusty NaNo mug has been reminding me to write. I’ve also been attempting to work on my final edit of The Torc: Artifacts of Avalum Book One, which can be previewed here: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/WNGLSOVB1GOP

The best news, however, is that I have finished my first draft of The Circlet: Artifacts of Avalum Book Two! I can’t wait to have these books out in the world, and to be done another successful NaNoWriMo!

JEH

nanowrimo · Self-Publishing · Writing Goals

Finding the Inspiration

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It’s another year of NaNoWriMo, and as usual I’m flipping up and down with both motivation and inspiration.

I had a great weekend marathon-ing with one of my writing groups. I drank plenty of coffee, brought out my favorite soundtracks (The Hobbit), and not only caught up on my word count but got a couple days ahead.

Fast forward a couple days later and I’ve slowed down again. Today, I’m currently sitting right on par, though I hope to get another couple thousand words done in short spurts throughout the day (yes, that’s often how I get my writing done).

As for the motivation problem, I’ve had to bribe myself again. This year, I’ve decided that if I win NaNo, I get to buy myself a three month subscription to a book box of my choice. I’m already excited, which means I better keep my fingers moving or no books for me! How is your NaNo writing going?

JEH

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The Torc Cover Art Reveal

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I’ve finally got to a good place with my new project, The Torc, and I’m hoping it will be ready for readers in a couple of months. Do you know what else is ready? The cover! Isn’t it beautiful? The art work was once again done by Leah Keeler. I love it, it might be my favourite so far, though the Twisted Currents cover is tough competition!

Torc Draft 3

Writing Goals

Writing 365,000 Words in a Year Update #29

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Well, this is it. I’m getting near to the end. There will be one more post after this one, to end on a nice round number, and then this series, and hopefully my goal, will be complete.

As it stands right now, I’m 43,767 words behind my target of 365,000, and I have until September 4th to get there! Now, I would be panicking if I hadn’t already signed up for the 3-Day Novel Wring Contest and have the entire long weekend booked off for writing. Not to mention that since I’ve returned from vacation, I’ve also returned to my writing groove.

Screen Shot 2017-08-27 at 8.04.14 PM

At the moment, I’m catching up on blogging (obviously), and then I’m going to get today’s words wrapped up, hopefully with a couple more than the required 1,000, so that I can make a dent in my deficit. Now that I’m nearing the end of my writing year, I’m realizing what a huge goal I set myself—especially considering that I have a full time day job and two small children. And then there is my 60 book reading goal for 2017! Next year I’m already planning to take it a bit easier, but more on that later. Time to get my daily writing done, sone enough it will be time to relax.

JEH

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Road Trips and Toadstools

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Recently, I went on a ten day road trip, which began with the conference I recently blogged about (if you haven’t gone to a writing conference and you’re a writer-Go!-they are amazing). Road trips too, can be an amazing source of creative inspiration. But they are also busy, so of course, I got little to know work done.

But what I did get was a great idea for the book I’m going to write for the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest, which runs from September 2nd to 4th this year. I’m at that stage where I’m sorting out characters and names and dramatic points, but it should, hopefully, come together in time.

Below are a few of my favorite scenic pictures I captured on my iPhone during the road trip. I took a load of pictures, most of which are still on my digital camera and have yet to be reviewed. I know I took more than a couple photos for inspiration. Mostly, I loved the woods.

JEH

Writing Goals

Writing 365,000 Words in a Year Update #28

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Well, it’s been a long time since I updated. Probably the longest gap yet. I’ve been feeling pretty guilty about this, yet telling myself that it’s alright because it’s summer and that means I’m on summer vacation, right?

Wrong.

A goal is a goal and I’ve been slacking. A lot….

Screen Shot 2017-08-07 at 3.20.27 PM

As you can see from the chart, writing has been sporadic at best. This weekend I’m blaming it on spending most of my time building a patio. But that’s done now, and I have four weeks left to make up 60,000 words. The good news is that I already signed up for the 3-Day Novel Writing contest, which means I will likely write at least 20,000 words at the end of the month, during those last four days I gave myself. I’m also going on real vacation – the kind one gets at a day job – this Thursday. First stop is a writing conference, which will hopefully get my mojo going and most of those words written.

Meanwhile, I’ve also spent a bit of time taking pretty pictures of my books. What do you think?

Here’s to a very busy month. I hope your own goals are going well.

JEH