Author Journey: July 7, 2023 - Camp Nano, Go!

 Welcome! It's sun-shiny on the scenic route today. Hopes are high for success in editing. I've been making solid progress on my Camp Nano project and can't wait to share an update with you. But there's more good news! Keep reading...

Author Journey: Camp Nano, Go!

Camp Nano is in full swing and I'm above the goal line. I knew it would be tough to hit a 50k word count editing goal, so I lowered it to 30k. Life's been so crazy lately, I wasn't willing to risk not meeting my goal. I'm getting ready to update my work things and I need a win to help me try out a couple of new programs which caught my eye. 

So far, I'm doing well. I haven't been able to edit every day. I wouldn't, anyway, since Saturday is my rest day and Sunday is full of activity. But Monday through Friday, writing every day is simply not a guarantee with my life as it stands right now. Tomorrow, for instance, is a family reunion. So today, I have to take time to bake and cook a couple of dishes up for that. 

I did want to share the photo of my Camp Nano progress tracker. Unfortunately, my current browser doesn't give me a clear option for screenshots. I had to snap this one with my phone, so please forgive the poor quality. 

I think it shows the line well enough. You can see I haven't started writing yet today. But I plan to do so soon. 

I've also been creating a list of the Dewey Decimal System. I never knew all the subcategories and I don't want to have to rely on internet to find them. Thank goodness for Word Docs & charts! This might actually help me more than I expected. 

Now for the good news! I'm happy to announce that The Tale of Outh'n Durr is available, or soon to be available, on most ebook retailer sites. You can use this link to shop at your favorite one. If your favorite isn't showing up yet, check back in a few days. I wasn't able to put the lower price on it like I hoped. Inflation is no fun for anyone and none of the future generation (that I've actually met) understand what drives that. But it's here to stay, at least for now, and it affects the pricing on my books. 

If you've read Ripples (Children of Y'Dahnndrya book 1), then you know you got an 80k-word fantasy novel for $2.99. However, The Tale of Outh'n Durr (Tales of Y'Dahnndrya #5) is only 40k words, but is set at the same price, even though it's a novella. While I hate that, I felt like it was best to go with the pricing Draft2Digital was suggesting. Amazon would've eaten all my profits if I hadn't. I'll be working to get physical copies out as soon as possible, so keep reading the blog to stay informed. 

If you read last week's post, you'll remember I was mourning the incorrect formatting for the epub and mobi files of my book. The next day, when I tested them in my own ereader app (not Kindle), all but the chapter headers were formatted correctly. I'm so happy! If that header is the only odd formatting issue, I might get better reviews. One can hope!

Another thing you may notice is that Outh'n's tale is the fifth one in the Tales of Y'Dahnndrya novella collection. I'll be sharing these one by one, at first. Then, when they're all out, I plan to put the collection together into an omnibus. I know that's going to confuse people, but it's important to know where it falls in the timeline, I think. None of the other short stories are out yet, except for Purpose, but that one still needs a ton of work, and comes after The Tale of Outh'n Durr. I hope this isn't too confusing for readers. What do you think about all this? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

Writer's Life: What's Up Now?

That's a good question and one that frequents my mind more often these days. Though life is always a series of ups and downs, I find I'm getting exhausted more easily, forgetting things more often, and generally just wanting to throw my hands up in surrender. It's harder to keep pressing on day, after day, after day. But I do it. Because I'm not a quitter and I know God has a purpose and a plan for me. 

Spartacus is thriving, even in the heat and humidity. He's been a lot of fun and a comfort to have around. We got him a new toy and he's enjoying it with or without our involvement. I'll try to get video and upload it in a future post.

Just Keep Writing: Friday Fascicles   

If this is your first time participating in this kind of writing exercise, you're in for a treat. If you've done this with me before, just keep scrolling for the prompt.

Rules:

1. You can use any/all of the words and/or the photo in the prompt below to create a unique written work. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, even lyrics are acceptable.  
2. Please keep the material you write clean (i.e. nothing R-rated or worse) if you wish to share the link to your work here, as well as if you link back to my site. I strive to keep my site free of such things. My readers know and expect this. I respect your right to write whatever you feel you need to write. And you're free to use my prompts. But if your material is graphic, I'd rather not view it, and most of my readers will not wish to. 
3. Have fun! This type of exercise is perfect for growing in the writing craft, or for helping through a rough patch in your current WIP. If you're looking to push your author limits and you normally write in nonfiction prose, try a whimsical collection of lyrics. If you normally write poems about real life events, try your hand at a fanfic. Give yourself some room to explore.

Don't forget to leave a link to your creation (unless you're writing graphic material) so my readers and I can check out your work. I'd appreciate a link back to this post to help me reach more readers, but it's not required. 

Alright creative souls, are you ready to get to work? Let's see what you can do with this set of words.

Thank you so much for strolling on the scenic route with me today! I hope you saw something interesting. If you did, let me know in the comments below and share the link with your friends. 

Monday, I'll have a fresh word prompt ready for you. Until then, I'm going to be getting in as much editing as possible. I'm aiming for a win on this round of Camp Nano!

Until next time,
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