Maybe it’s premature. Maybe I’m counting chickens before they’re hatched, or whatever other idiom you’d like to apply to this situation. But today I took professional Author Headshots.
My thinking was this: I am a writer seeking professional publication. I’ve worked on my craft for almost ten years, and I’ve grown in leaps and bounds over the last five years in particular. I ought to have photographs on my site and my social media that reflect who I am now, not who I was almost a decade ago. Plus, let’s be real. Writing isn’t just the art side of sitting down and birthing words into stories. It’s also a business, and this is one aspect of it that I was hesitant to do.
I’m not a fan of having my picture taken. I don’t photograph particularly well, and I’m really good at nitpicking my appearance in pictures. But, this was something I felt needed to be done. I wanted to have professional photographs on hand for when I might need them.
So, I contacted a friend who had recently launched her own photography business. I’ve followed her progress online, had seen her work and been wildly impressed by the skill she’d shown so early in her career.
And today we spent about an hour traipsing around downtown Salem, visiting my favorite businesses and drinking inordinate amounts of coffee. We caught up on life, talked about tattoos, my writing, her photography, and our mutual experiences working for Starbucks.
It was fun, casual, and totally worth it. But I’ll let you decide that for yourselves.
There are more photos, but these three are my favorite. They make me feel very pretty, and incredibly author-like. So, I’m gonna bask in this self-love for the rest of the day, and let it help me get past the fact that I’ve barely written this week.
I’ll see you all tomorrow to talk about this week, as usual.
This past week was oddly eventful, which of course means I didn’t get all that much done. At least, in my estimation. Let’s see what the blog has to say about it.
Last Week
Publish two blog posts
Barker line edits
Finish reading The Hanging Tree
WRITE!
How’d I do?
Publish two blog posts
Nope. Not for the first time this year, but it has been a much rarer occasion than in previous years, so this is still a bummer.
Barker line edits
…No. BUT, I’ve got them downloaded and should be able to dedicate some serious reading time to them this week.
Finish reading The Hanging Tree
Yes! Finished it on Saturday.
WRITE!
YES! I’m writing pretty consistently, and while it isn’t happening every day, my word count average for November so far is 922. My goal is 800, so that’s rocking steady.
Weekly Word Count: 4,566
So, this last week was a bit of a wash. I got the “important” things done, but at the expense of the other goals. I’m pleased with my word count, although it is about 1k words shy of where I should be. Thank goodness for that 1,100 word cushion I came into Nano with, hehe.
As expected, my reading has slowed, which is unfortunate since there are so many good books out this month. I’ve got a copy of A Map of Days on my nightstand, a copy of Sanderson’s Skyward on the hold shelf waiting for me at the library, plus the next Peter Grant book is out this week and N.K. Jemisin’s short story collection comes out soon!
Yikes. That’s a lot of reading to get done before the end of the year. But, I only need to read three more titles in order to reach my goal of 65 books this year. I’m confident that I’ll pull it off. Especially since I read The Hanging Tree, WicDiv vol. 7, and Saga vol. 9 this week.
What’s Next?
Publish two blog posts
Barker line edits
WRITE!
So, all in all, a pretty straightforward week. I’ve got the review for The Hanging Tree to post this week, so I should have no problem with that goal, and with nothing else but writing, I should FINALLY be able to get those line edits done for Obadiah. Then I can get back to reading The Audient Void submissions.
This is a good opportunity to remind you all that The A.V. is open for submissions through the 15th of November! There’s just a few days left to send your Weird/Dark Fantasy poems and short stories to us!
I’d love to say I could finish reading A Map of Days this week, but it’s almost 500 pages long, and with my work schedule and Nano there’s just no way I can get it done in a week. But, if it’s anything like its predecessors, it will go fast for its size. Fingers crossed.
Fall has finally arrived in Salem. The clouds and rain and the wind have all showed up today, greeting Monday with a pleasant dreariness.
Last Week
Publish two blog posts
Finish That Which Illuminates Heaven
Continue editing The Charlatan and the Coinshot
Barker line edits
Continue Research/Outlining
WRITE!!!!
How’d I do?
Publish two blog posts
Yep. The Nano prep post is up now!
Finish That Which Illuminates Heaven
Yes! I am super proud of this story and have sent it out for submission!
Continue editing The Charlatan and the Coinshot
Yep. Got these edits all done, and the first chapter is up now!
Barker line edits
No. Sad to say, but I’ll have to work on them this week.
Continue Research/Outlining
Yes. I got more research on the catholic church and demons in general done.
WRITE!!!!
Oh man. Did I ever? My goal was 800 words a day, and I made it!
Weekly Word Count: 4,446
In four days I wrote more than I did in the entire month of October. I’d say that’s a win. It’s been an interesting NaNo already, mainly because I’m not used to writing an original novel for the month. Last year I wrote fanfic, and the words came much easier then than they do now. It’s also been years since I set out to write a new novel so I’m trying hard not to let my mind overthink and stymie my own work. Easier said than done.
I sent That Which Illuminates Heaven out on Friday, but I won’t hear anything back on it until the first week of December. It’s kind of nice to know to expect silence. It keeps me from obsessively checking The Submission Grinder as much. Of course, Lifelike and The Cost of Rain are both still out, so I’m never far from clicking the bookmark in my browser.
The Charlatan and the Coinshot is off to a decent start. Chapter two posts tomorrow, so hopefully there will be more interest as the month wears on.
It was my husband’s birthday this weekend, and we had a great time playing boardgames with friends and watching the Blizzcon keynote and live performances. We also spent a good chunk of time watching season two of Castlevania, which I highly recommend. And I managed to make some time for reading!
Whew. That was a lot of work. Now it’s time to do it all over again.
What’s Next?
Publish two blog posts
Barker line edits
Finish reading The Hanging Tree
WRITE!
A little more straightforward this week, mainly because all of my personal editing projects are done. I just need to get the line edits for Obadiah done, and then it’s just reading and writing this week! I do have some social engagements this weekend, so I need to be sure to pad my word count earlier in the week to give myself some wiggle room.
I think I’ll have a book review up this week, simply because The Hanging Tree is so good so far, that I doubt I’ll be able to keep away from it.
It’s November! Whaaaaaaaat? How can that be? It’s NaNoWriMo season already?
What in tarnation did I even do with October?
October Goals
Tumblr prompt
Edit That Which Illuminates Heaven
Research/Outline for NaNo project
Keep reading!
Continue short story submissions
Finish chapter 7 of Sanctuary
How’d I Do?
Tumblr prompt
Yes. Although, it’s been so long now that I hardly remember doing it.
Edit That Which Illuminates Heaven
Yes! It took six drafts, but the final proofread is done and ready to be put into the computer. I plan to submit it tomorrow.
Research/Outline for NaNo project
Yep! Over 4,000 words of research and not a whole lot of outlining. Which is still more than I’d normally do.
Keep reading!
Yes! I read three books, all of which have been reviewed here.
Continue short story submissions
Yep. Both Lifelike and The Cost of Rain received rejections this month, although Lifelike did get a really wonderful personal rejection. They have both since been submitted to the next magazine on the list.
Finish chapter 7 of Sanctuary
YES! It took an age, but I finally made this happen.
Total Monthly Word Count: 2,628
This month was a strange one. It was extremely productive, as you can see from the above list of successes, but I didn’t really feel like I accomplished much in the day-to-day. Writing was minimal, which sucks, but was also the plan.
Editing was in full swing this month, with That Which Illuminates Heaven seeing multiple revisions, a full proofread of The Charlatan and the Coinshot, and reading submissions for The Audient Void (still ongoing).
Reading was slow but consistent. Three novels in a month is nothing to sneeze at and is probably better than the reading that will happen in November.
Submissions are still rolling along. I was just telling my husband how now I’m less anxious about them and increasingly becoming more and more impatient. I’m getting so close, getting wonderful feedback and reaching high levels of consideration. I’m ready for someone to finally say “yes”. Sadly, I know this feeling to be premature. I’ve only submitted 22 times this year, both stories combined, and many stories have to go out to more magazines than that before they’re published. I have a long road ahead of me yet.
Sanctuary is still hanging in there. I’m feeling pretty far away from the project right now, which is logical since I won’t be working on it at all this month. Maybe after two months of posting The Charlatan and the Coinshot I’ll feel a little more energized about this longfic.
November Goals
Write 800 words/day
Continue short story submissions
Keep Reading!
I don’t think there’s really much more to put here. National Novel Writing Month pretty much monopolizes all my time in November. If I can read a couple books and keep up with my short story submissions this month, I’ll be happy.
And, yeah, that’s what’s up. That’s where I’m at on this first day of November. Feeling pretty great about October, even if I didn’t at the time, and looking to ride that momentum and success into and through NaNoWriMo.
Unless I read an entire novel in the next two days, you won’t hear from me again until Monday. You know, weekly goals and whatnot.
Yep. I think it’s very close, I just need to perfect the last few sentences and really drive home the ending.
Edit The Charlatan and the Coinshot
Yes? I edited 7 chapters, out of 17. That’s a couple week’s worth of posts so it feels like success, but I’ll need to get considerably more done tonight and tomorrow before Nanowrimo starts.
Research and outline NaNo project
Yes! Got a big chunk of research done this week, and have some books waiting at the library to help me over the next two days.
Read A.V. submissions
Yep! Submissions are impressive this round and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this issue.
Finish reading Rosemary and Rue
Yes! I didn’t expect this to be the case, but the last half of the book was pretty compelling.
Weekly Word Count: 0
Another week of no writing, which again was the plan. I hate it. It feels wrong. Luckily, this is the last week where that will be the case. I start writing again on Thursday! Really this week was all about reading and editing. I read eight short story submissions for The Audient Void, I finished reading Rosemary and Rue, I read/edited That Which Illuminates Heaven, and I read the the first third of The Charlatan and the Coinshot.
This week will be much of the same.
What’s Next?
Publish two blog posts
Finish That Which Illuminates Heaven
Continue editing The Charlatan and the Coinshot
Barker line edits
Continue Research/Outlining
WRITE!!!!
There will be no shortage of blog posts this week, with this post, a NaNoWriMo prep post, and the monthly recap all scheduled. I have a couple sentences to tweak and perfect in That Which Illuminates Heaven, and then I think it’ll be ready to submit. I’ve already made a list of potential markets and can’t wait to share this story with the world! I’ve got 10 chapters left to edit for The Charlatan and the Coinshot, which will go quickly. I’m really just proofreading and making sure that there aren’t any glaring errors or inconsistencies. It’s a pretty clean draft, so I’m mostly just enjoying the story as I read through it one last time.
Obadiah gave me an extra project on top of reading submissions for The Audient Void, so I’m doing line edits for him this week. I need to keep researching as much as I can before I dig into writing my new novel, and with only a few days left I am feeling the pressure.
And of course, the big goal is writing in the last half of this week! I’ll have a post up soon about what my NaNo goals are and what to expect from me over the course of November.
I have a few writing related events later this week as well, so hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to talk about them soon.
This week was a bit of a blur. I worked over 40 hours this week and went to see Hozier on Saturday night. It was amazing, everything I’d hoped and dreamed it to be, and I’m still sort of floating along in an daze whenever one of his songs shuffles on in my Spotify playlists. But, now it’s time to come back to earth and get back to work.
Yep! I got some really great feedback from Madhu on it already, and look forward to taking the next steps in this story’s journey to publication.
Research, round 2
Yes. Though, I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped to.
Read Rosemary and Rue
Yes? I didn’t finish it, but I made some solid progress this week, reading about 100 pages.
Weekly Word Count: 0
Writing that my word count for the week was zero never feels good. But writing was not on the list of goals this week. I’ll make up for it in November.
That Which Illuminates Heaven is going well. I’ve got some changes to make to the first page, and maybe some more streamlining in the first five pages, then I’ll do a polishing draft to make sure each word is perfect. Then it’ll be time to send it out and see what happens. That’ll be three stories out at the same time, so thank goodness for The Submission Grinder helping me keep everything straight.
Research is going a bit slower than I anticipated, but there’s a lot more to wade through than I expected, so that’s why. I’ve moved on from angels to the devil and I’m getting some good info and ideas as I do. Next up will be fallen angels and Catholicism, and some more setting resources. And before you know it, research time will be over and writing time will be here.
I didn’t read Rosemary and Rue as much this week as I really wanted to. I’d say it’s my limited schedule that’s to blame, but honestly, this book just hasn’t grabbed me yet. I want it to! I’m intrigued. But I’m not interested. I have to remind myself to pick it up and give it a shot, and once I do I’m happy enough to keep reading. It’s just picking it up in the first place that’s proving difficult.
What’s Next?
Publish two blog posts
Edit That Which Illuminates Heaven
Edit The Charlatan and the Coinshot
Research and outline NaNo project
Read A.V. submissions
Finish reading Rosemary and Rue
Another busy week with little to no writing. I’d like to get That Which Illuminates Heaven “finished” before NaNoWrimo starts, so that I don’t have any lingering projects looming in my mind when I’m supposed to be writing.
Also, November marks a year since I started writing last year’s NaNoWriMo project, my Mass Effect: Andromeda/Mistborn Era 2 crossover fanfic The Charlatan and the Coinshot. And that means I can finally talk about this giant collaboration project my lovely friend Kit and I have been working on this past year! The story will go live on the 1st, with updates every Tuesday and Thursday through the end of the year.
There’s still a lot of research I want to do before NaNo kicks off, so I’ve put even more books on hold at the library in hopes that I’ll be able to squeeze in some quality study time before all my time is devoted to writing.
I put out a post about The Audient Void‘s call for submissions last week, and you guys did not delay! In our first four days of accepting submissions we’ve received over 75 short stories and poems! So now I’ve got an inbox full of stories to consider, and I couldn’t be happier! I love reading your guys’ work.
And of course, there’s the Urban Fantasy novels to read. Rosemary and Rue is going slowly, but not so slowly that I’m willing to give up. Reading just might have to slow down for the time being to make way for the other projects going on right now. I’m four books ahead of schedule to meet my reading goal for the year, so I’m comfortable taking a breather in this regard for now. There will still be reading and reviews, so don’t worry! They’ll just be a bit slower to show up than normal.
If I can finish Rosemary and Rue this week, you’ll see me again here at the blog. If not, next week has a lot of posts planned thanks to the end of the month and the start of National Novel Writing Month.
Mondays are loooong for me now. Morning shifts at Starbucks followed immediately by a shift at the library. Then home for a quick dinner and off to my movie night with my library friends. I’m squeezing this post in between.
Yes! So much research. I have more to go, but I did share a little blog post with my progress so far.
Write 500 words on Sanctuary
Yes! 858 words and finished chapter 7!
Record an episode of Santa Sarita
Nope. Thought about it last night, but we played Gloomhaven later than usual, and I was too tired to go through with it.
Read War for the Oaks
Yes! I’ll have the review up sometime this week.
Weekly Word Count: 1,980
You might notice that the word count for this week is considerably more than the 858 words I wrote for Sanctuary. That’s because I was researching for my Urban Fantasy and stumbled into the opening sequence. It was right there, demanding attention. I couldn’t tell it no.
I’m reading quite a bit already this month. Both Legion and War for the Oaks, and now I’m about 50 pages into Rosemary and Rue. I don’t think I’ll have it done this week, but maybe early next week.
Fanfic is a slow but steady sort of thing, right now, and I’m realizing that I don’t think i’ll be able to cross that goal off the yearly list. There’s just too much story to be told there and not enough motivation on my part to only work on it. I’ve got other projects I want to spend time on, and sadly that means Santa Sarita is a back burner task. I’ll work on it when the inspiration strikes or I have extra time.
I spent the majority of this week reading and researching. I finally finished listening to The Adventure Zone and that’s freed up a lot of my time, thank goodness. Granted there isn’t a whole lot of time at my disposal anymore. I’ve got to make the best of what I have.
So, What’s Next?
Publish two blog posts
Edit That Which Illuminates Heaven
Research, round 2
Read Rosemary and Rue
That’s it. Straightforward and to the point this week. I need to get some quality work done on this Nano project, and I want to get That Which Illuminates Heaven ready to submit by the end of this month.
So, work work work. Read, edit, outline, lather rinse repeat. I have a few things to talk about this week on the blog, so expect to see me around a bit.
And, we have the Hozier concert on Saturday night, so that will cut into my time a bit. Oh! And I work Sunday…
Ugh.
Ok. That’s it for this Monday Blogland. I’ll be back soon!
want it to! I’m intrigued. But I’m not interested. I have to remind myself to pick it up and give it a shot, and once I do I’m happy enough to keep reading. It’s just picking it up in the first place that’s proving difficult.
