Keeping on keeping on...

 There is a lot going on in my life right now.  Sometimes it feels like too much.  I didn't even realize how much I was dealing with until my counselor pointed it out.

I'm behind in things I want to accomplish on the writing front.  I need to get caught up on some publishing matters, plus work on a Kickstarter I want to do hopefully next month.

I'm still writing and keeping up my daily streak of at least 250 words.  Every little bit helps, so each day is a small victory, even if I get nothing else done that day.

Here's hoping you are enjoying victories, however small, each day.

The First Half of the Year is Done...

 Where did the time go?  It feels like the past six months have flown by without stopping to catch its breath.  Yet here we are, the beginning of July.

Looking at my writing stats for the year so far, I managed to eke out 100,484 words.  That number could be better - I wanted to be at 150,000 by now - but it's still a respectable number for me.

Notice I said, "for me."  Not for you, not for Stephen King, not for any other writer.  Comparing myself to others on this and other aspects of writing would simply make me crazy and discouraged.  

I am going to try to push it some the second half of the year.  While I have trips planned, none are of the magnitude of the Hawaiian cruise.  I can goose the writing a little bit and get more done.

As far as the publishing side of things, I've gotten out a short story collection and two novels, one of which is book 5 of a series I cowrite with fellow author Azure Avians.  I'm sort of on track with this, wanting to get seven things published this year.  I'm currently working on a project for another column collection and have a couple of books I'd like to get published before the end of the year.

What goals do you have looking at the rest of 2023?

By the way, I will be attending Shore Leave in Hunt Valley, Maryland this upcoming weekend.  Below is my schedule for the panels I will participate in.  If you're in the area, I'd love to see you.

Publishing news!

 First, my short story, "The Jerusalem Plot," will appear in the premiere issue of Thrill Ride Magazine.  It's currently available for preorder here.  I'm excited about being a part of this and I hope you'll check it out.

Secondly, my Christian suspense novel Death on the Air will be coming out later this month.  Subscribers to my newsletter have already seen the cover (if you want to subscribe, there's a link on the left side of this page).  Here is the blurb:

Sandra Benson appears to have her life in order. A Christian with a popular talk radio show, she makes sure no one sees her struggles with alcohol and tries to tell herself it’s not a big deal. 

Then a caller who names himself “Lucifer” makes a startling statement - he killed a woman. Sandra is rattled by the call, especially when she learns she has a connection to the dead woman. 

As her life slowly unravels thanks to Lucifer, Sandra struggles to help stop him. Because he isn’t done killing - and she fears she may be next.

And I'm ending this post with a question for those of you who read my weekly column "Laura's Look."  Do you have a favorite?  I'd love to hear about it.  drop me a line at my email address laura@laurahware.com.  

2023 Goals (So Far)

 As I mentioned in a previous post, I want to share with you some things coming up this year.  These are based on goals I've set and hope to accomplish in 2023.

I want to continue my writing streak of getting words done every day.  So far I've managed to do so even though there were times it was tough.  Right now the streak stands at 947 days - 1,000 isn't that far away.

My friend Karen and I figured out there are SEVEN projects I want to publish.  I don't know if I can get them all out this year, but there are some that are a priority.  Three I know for sure will be out by the end of June are as follows:

-- Sorcery and Steel: Tempest.  Co-written with Azure Avians, this is the fifth book in our fantasy series.  I'm in the midst of writing the last chapter now, and we plan to have copies available for Shore Leave in July.

-- Laura's Look x100.  This year marks the 25th year of my column "Laura's Look."  I'm celebrating with a Kickstarter in April for a book that will include 100 of my columns that have been published over the years.  I'm looking at a June release for this, so stay tuned.

-- Death on the Air.  This is a Christian suspense novel.  A Christian radio talk show host gets a disturbing call on her show - a man confesses to a murder.  As events transpire, she learns there are more deaths to come - one of them hers.  I'm hoping to get this out the end of this month or beginning of March.

Hope you have a lovely February.  I'll talk to you again soon.

Life on the bike path...

 As I type this, I am STILL dealing with an eye infection, though my pressures have gone down.  This meant I needed to get an antibiotic ointment to treat them with and it is not cheap and not covered by insurance.  Such is life...

My short story collection of Bible stories "Seeking Refuge and Other Bible Stories" is available as an ebook and a paperback.  This collection contains five stories from the Bible that I have added some "What if?" things to (For example: "Seeking Refuge" tells of a man going to a City of Refuge for protection.  While the cities are mentioned, someone taking advantage of them is not).  I would love you to read them and tell me what you think (ebook cover image below).

It's hard to believe it's mid-September already.  Hope things are going well for you and yours.  Until next time!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

 ...or in this case, home. 

The last half of August was interesting, but not always in a good way.  I developed an eye infection (boo) and the pressure in my right eye has gone up considerably (double boo).  I already have glaucoma, and the upshot is I'm on 4 different eyedrops that must be administered at various times of the day.  Not fun, but it beats damage to my vision.

One good thing that happened is that I got to order a new couch to replace our current one which is, to be honest, in sad shape.  It comes in tomorrow.

On the writing front I'm still making words and planning what to do on the publishing side between now and December.  I've also started sending short stories to magazine markets again - I currently have six out and I'm trying to add two more to that number each week.

Did you know I have a newsletter I am striving to post 2x a month?  Today I include a cover reveal for my upcoming collection, Seeking Refuge and Other Bible Stories.  If you're not getting the newsletter you can subscribe to it using the link on the left-hand side of the blog here.  When you sign up, you also get a free short story!

Hope September starts out well for you.  Talk to you soon!

141

 So I've spent this past week going over my inventory on my hard drive.  I tried to figure out how much fiction I have that hasn't been published or sold.

I knew it would be a lot.  I wrote 52 short stories last year.  I've been remiss in sending stories out or publishing.  I was prepared for a number over 100.

But even then I wasn't prepared for what I came up with.  According to my calculations, I have around 141 short stories sitting on my hard drive.

141.  That's a lot of fiction.  

Obviously, they're not doing much good sitting on my hard drive.  So I'm making plans to up my game.  Sending things to magazine and anthology markets is a priority.  Self-publishing is also a consideration.

Wish me luck on this journey.

Some Updates and Publishing News

 Hoping everyone is surviving the insane times we're in.  Today my state apparently was hit with a little hurricane - in November!  Yes, we're still in hurricane season but come on now, this is getting ridiculous, 2020.

In positive news, today marks day 135 of writing every day!  I started at the end of June, attempting to get some words done every day.  In the beginning, there was no minimum - I just had to get some words down.  My record low was 68 words.  As the months went by, I decided to set a minimum of 250 words/day.  

This has been an incredible ride.  The writing is better, because I'm giving it the time it needs.  I feel better about it because I'm making it a priority.  And it's a lot more fun.

I also got a new short story out - my third in the Eli Leafrunner series.  It's in ebook form only, wherever you buy yours.  Here's the cover:

I hope you enjoy his latest adventure.

Will have more news soon - stay tuned.  And stay safe.

P.S. I'm involved in Nanowrimo this year - if you want to friend me, my username is bookwormlady.  See you there!

How are you doing?

The world has gone sideways since I last posted.  I hope you are doing well and surviving under these circumstances.

I'm in the process of updating the website (yes, it's about time).  The Bibliography is nearly complete, but the ebooks section needs stuff added to it.  Please be patient with me as I work on this. 

If you're looking for something to read, check out the Bibliography - there's a lot there, I'm happy to say.  And stay tuned as I get to updating the ebook section.

And if you want a free short story, don't forget to sign up for my occasional newsletter!

Take care.

New book out!

I've been remiss in updating my bibliography here on the site, but I wanted readers to know that I have a new book out.  SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND is now available as a paperback from Amazon or an ebook from your favorite ebook vendor.

"Two years ago, Gary Benson's world as he knew it ended.

His daughter Sarah died in a car accident while she was

arguing with Gary about religion. The tragedy left Gary filled

with guilt and estranged not only from God, but also his

Chinese wife and their remaining daughter, Sarah's twin sister Melanie.

When Melanie, arrested and accused of being a Chinese

National Christian while visiting family in China, disappears,

Gary must marshal all of his contacts as an ex-Special Forces

member and senior CIA analyst to try to save her.

He blamed God for one daughter’s death. Can he find a

way to forgive God—and himself—to save the other in time?"

I hope you check it out!

Updates!

Life has been insane the past couple of months.  In addition to dealing with things on the home front, I attended a writing workshop at the end of February/beginning of March, read for a contest, played Magic at a tournament in Tampa, and at the moment am getting ready for the annual Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes convention in Orlando.

Along with all that, I've had two short stories published.  "Who Loves the Unloved?" appears in Fiction Rivers' Feel the Love anthology.  As the title implies, it addresses those that society may deem unlovable.  Are there people out there that care for them?

You can buy the anthology from your favorite ebook or print provider. 

"A Chance to Escape" came out in a bundle called Fantasy Portals.  A frazzled full-time mom discovers a portal that promises her a wonderful life - at a price.  I've included links below.

eBook universal link https://books2read.com/u/bwqreO
paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/109295659X

Happy reading!  Talk to you again soon!

Looking ahead to 2018

Wow, happy new year! I am so glad that 2017 is over and done with - it was not the best of years for me. Not totally awful (I did learn I was going to be a grandma for the first time) but overall, disappointing and troubling. But I am taking a page from Philippians 3:13-14: "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (NIV) So I am going to concentrate on looking ahead. See what I can accomplish in this new year. There's a lot to look forward to. Here are just a few of my goals for 2018: • Write 182,500 words • Submit at least 1 short story/month to markets • Publish 12 short stories/novels • Get “Laura’s Look: 2001” published • Blog at least 1x a week • Reach goal weight • Keep better track of administrative stuff. I hope you will join me on my journey to become a better Christian, writer, person. Looking forward to it!

Coming later this year...

Tuesday Thoughts: The Conclusion of Nano and a New Book Out!

Yes, this should be Monday Musings, but by the time I finished writing I was exhausted.  And it completely slipped my mind.  So please forgive me for being late.

I finished up this year's Nanowrimo at 25,074 words.  While it's only half of the 50k I was aiming for, it is my best month this year and better than I did last in last year's Nano.  So I'm calling this a win on my side.

On the plus side as well I am working on a novel that has fired my interest, even if I'm at the stage where it all seems like garbage (every novel hits this stage when you write, you just push through it) and I hope to finish this one by early next year.

Speaking of novels, I have a new one out.  TWO WEEKS IN GUYANA is available as an ebook in all the usual spots and should be available as a print book shortly.  I hope you enjoy it!

Monday Musings: Nano, Day 23

Here's the thing: I'm not going to make 50k.

As I said last week, I'm not as upset about it as I could be.  This could well be my most productive month this year.  And I'm still interested in this project, even if my timeline is a mess (long story).

But making 50k would've been nice.

But while doing this, I've also managed to get a book to the proofing stage, which means it's almost ready to be launched.  Hopefully that's something I can report on next week.

While I plan to get a bunch of writing done this week, it's also about family.  I will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  We will have 8 people and 6 (yes, 6) dogs at our house.  Pray for us! <g>

And I hope all of you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Monday Musings...a brain meltdown

So I was going to wait and post tomorrow but this IS supposed to be "Monday Musings."

The problem is I just returned home from a week of being inundated with information.  I attended a writer's workshop on the Oregon Coast for a week.

This wasn't about craft, though we were constantly reminded that the writing was important.  This was focused on the BUSINESS of writing, something a lot of writers don't pay a lot of attention to.

My husband Don was with me and managed to take more notes than I did.  I typed my fingers off and it will take a few days to process it all.

But already I'm making some changes.  I'm working on a production schedule.  I'm planning to get up early in the day (ugh!) to get the writing done first off.  And I'm looking at what kind of a writer I want to be.

A great week.  But man, I'm tired.  Talk to you later!

Spinning plates...

Older readers of this blog might remember seeing at one point of time or another a guy spinning a bunch of plates on top of poles.  He'll get a few going, then has to run back to the first plates and keep them spinning before they wobble and fall down.  The poor man keeps running back and forth to keep all the plates spinning so none of them fall and break.

That's what I feel like these days.

I want to write new fiction.  I have a project I want to get into shape to get to a copy editor.  I have at least 2 projects that I want to self-publish that need to be formatted first.

My house is a wreck.  I have people who need me for various things and responsibilities that need to be filled.  My list of "Shoulds" is a mile long.

Plus I am somehow supposed to "promote" myself.  I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet and how much is too much (I don't want readers of this blog to hate me for constantly flooding them with "buy my stuff!  buy my stuff!").

No wonder I'm tired!

Anyone have any advice on how to keep the plates spinning?

Nano summary...

Well, my Nano project, "Murder On the High Seas," clocked in at 30,023 words by midnight on the 30th (or 30,102 words if you take the website's count).  Either way, I missed 50k by a bit.

While I would've liked to have hit the 50,000 word mark last month, I am not as disappointed as I expected to be.  30,000 words are still a lot.  It's my best one-month word count since 2011.  And I'm probably halfway through this particular novel, which is not a bad thing.

My current goals?  One is to write 20,000 new words of fiction this month.  That will give me 180,000 words for the year, which is my goal for 3013.  This doesn't count the column, or exercises I'm doing for a short online workshop I'm taking.  These are either for a novel or a short story.

Another goal I have is to get my latest novel, "Redemption," published.  I have some copyedits I need to finish going through and then it can be put out.  I hope to have it up before Christmas - I will announce it here when it comes out, and JJ Press will also be making an announcement about it.

Remember - it's better to try and fail then not to try at all.  What are your goals for December?

What a week and a day!

Got back this week from attending an amazing Mystery Workshop.  Learned a lot about mysteries and how to write them, as well as the differences between the various flavors of mysteries, from cozy to noir.

It was an intense time of attending sessions, working on assignments, and writing.  I wrote over 9,000 words last week, quite often under the gun of a looming deadline.  (I can type very fast when I'm motivated, and I was very motivated).

The course was taught by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, an amazing writer and editor in her own right.  Her husband Dean Wesley Smith also stopped by to offer his take on things in the writing business.

All in all it was a great if exhausting week.  I got to meet or see again some very talented writers who wrote great stories that I look forward to seeing published in the future.  We had a lot of fun bonding over breakfast and during breaks.

So now I've (hopefully) caught up on my sleep and can get back to work.  I'm currently working on some writing and also hope to have some things ready to be published before the end of July.  I will keep you posted!

A great article on e-book covers

Fellow writer Karen Abrahamson has a great article here on branding your books.  She discusses it from the position of an indie publisher doing her own covers.

Karen is a great writer who is, like me, braving the new world of ebook publishing.  Her article contains a lot of useful information for those of us still learning the trade.

Check it out if you're interested!