The Space Between- the daily life of a writer between novels

Day 3-

Hi Readers.  Today is Friday.  Enough said.  Haha.  Seriously, how can one be unhappy on a Friday – unless they work on the weekend, that is.

When I think about it, I actually do work on the weekends, but what I do on Saturdays and Sundays:  writing, marketing/promo, talking to readers and fans, interacting with my awesome Street Team- I don’t consider work.  It’s a normal, natural part of my day and something I look forward to.  It’s funny when I think about it and when I compare and contrast my day job to my writing career.  On a nightly basis throughout the weeks, I do some type of promoting and/or writing and I have never really considered it a job.  It’s just something I do and yes, it’s extra work since I also work a 40+ hour day time job Monday-Friday; however, I would never consider not writing.  That would be really strange and very sad for me.

I am sitting here at my computer typing this blog out, after promoting my 2nd book, Jasper, to more than one-hundred groups on Facebook and my hands are hurting.  Sometimes this happens after I’ve used my hands extensively on the computer at my day job and then at night, writing and promoting my novels.  I wonder if other Authors ever get the dreaded carpal-tunnel syndrome after years of applying their trade.  I’ve felt the effects, having to sleep in braces for several nights at a time and it is really painful and not fun.

Last year, my dad bought for me a “Dragon dictate” program which he used himself and said was a bit cumbersome, at first, but he thought it could help me in my writing.  It was a sweet gesture on his part but, unfortunately, I am not the type of Author that can speak my books, I have to physically type them out, often deleting and editing as I go.

** So, today has been a nicer day for me and I’m thankful.  **

Yesterday, I forgot to mention that I actually wrote ten pages in my WIP- woo-hoo!!  That’s an accomplishment for me as I’ve been dragging my feet, procrastinating, and listless in my energy.  Even the ideas in my brain froze and came to a standstill but yesterday was a breakthrough of sorts.  Of course, now that my hands are hurting from all the Facebook promos, I will take a break tonight from any further writing- to be continued tomorrow with a hopeful ten more pages (crossing fingers).

And this is Day three.

The Space Between- the daily life of a writer between novels

Day 2-

So, here I am on the 2nd day of this brief journey of insight into the life of an author, in between published books.

Today has been a better day for me.  After receiving encouragement and reassurance from my good friend and guru, Michael (wide smile), he asked me what was important to me?  I answered “my books.”  And there was my answer.  Nothing else matters.  Now I say this and, of course, other things matter like my family and my friends but truly all the nonsense at work I’ve been wrestling with, that has caused me countless sleepless nights and worry and angst over how to deal with people who have no insight into their own bad behavior- well- that doesn’t matter at all because that’s not my overall goal.  My goal is to be a successful, respected Author and that’s what I’m striving for every day.  As long as I keep centered and focused on what’s truly important to me and I keep striving every day to achieve it, everything else, namely all the pettiness, can fall to the wayside because it has nothing to do with my goals and what I want to achieve in life.

It also didn’t hurt to see how many books I’ve sold with Amazon so far this year.  When I saw how many I sold for my most popular book, I almost fell over in my chair.  Wow!  There’s a stark difference from what you sell monthly to how much you’ve sold over several months.  My monthly sales may seem minuscule but the overall effect of seeing the greater number is a real eye opener and it was good to note that my promotions are actually helping my sales.  I am always happy when someone new has discovered my books and gives one a try.  If they don’t like it, that’s okay- everyone has different tastes but there have been several that have taken a chance and read one of my books and now want to read all of them and that is amazing!

So, after being re-centered, I made a new friend.  A lovely woman who decided to join my Street Team and- guess what- she wants to promote me, too.  She read my first book, Nightfall and loved it and she decided everyone needs to read my books (how amazing and wonderful is that).  For an Author, hearing that a reader enjoys your book(s) is like celebrating a birthday- it is the best feeling in the world to hear someone loves what you painstakingly took years to write, edit and get published.  It truly only takes one enthusiastic reader/fan to make an Author’s day.  The fact that she loved my book, Nightfall, so much as to want to promote me is such a blessing to me!

So today, I decided to take the day to step away from the drama at my day job and get some work done without interruption.  This really helped to put me in a better frame of mind, too.  The only thing better would’ve been to listen to music while I worked and I may just do that tomorrow.

And this is Day 2.

The Space Between- the daily life of a writer between novels

Day 1-

Today is a tough day for me.  Not only am I dealing with the sadness of not having my mom, my best friend in my life but I also consciously aware of  the upcoming one year anniversary of her death.  I just want to cry, cry and do some more crying until I am fully spent.  To top this off, I am also dealing with my dad’s failing health problems while trying to ignore my own.   My husband and I have a new dog which we found out is more of a puppy.  We have no kids and this dog/puppy is driving us insane with sleepless nights, endless chewing of objects, play time starting at 10 or 10:30 at night every night and chasing and eating anything that moves plus eating wet grass outside, creating her own salad mixes.  She’s also only partially house trained so you never know when you might end up with a nasty, unexpected surprise in your house, like this morning, for example.

To top this all of, I am one of those unfortunate but very common authors that works a full time day job.  Things have become so stressful at work, I want to scream at the top of my lungs, run away and tell them to take their job back but unfortunately, as the bread winner of the family and the one who provides the health benefits, I do not have the luxury of leaving a job that interferes with my real career in order to pursue my writing full-time.  I will be lucky one day if I can work part-time instead of full-time but because I married for love and not money, this is my plight in life and I must deal with my lot.

As any other author, I too want to make it big but I don’t know how.  My days are filled with angst, stressing over book sales and why there aren’t more when I market my books to more than 100+ Facebook groups and pages every other day.  I am trying to reach my population- the readers who love Paranormal Romance or even Paranormal Erotic Romance since my books are fitting more and more in this category.  I crave interaction with my readers and am saddened by the low level I receive.  How does an Author make it and what are the tools?  I wish the Author community was more generous with information, too.  It seems Authors like to withhold information and this saddens me deeply for learning the trade and all that comes with it – the extensive marketing and social media platforms- is hard in itself.  If you can help someone, why wouldn’t you?  Fortunately, I’ve encountered some good people along the way, generous and giving, offering to help promote me for free- I am thankful for such loving, kind souls.

All these thoughts and ideas go through my head as I sit here at Day One, with a WIP I am struggling to get through, a book under contract, expected to publish by August 2016 and three books already out on the market.  But instead of appreciating my accomplishments, I am wanting more, just like most authors.  The life of an Author is hard, it’s a struggle, it’s a dance between what you want and what you have and trying to figure out how to get to where you want to be with the resources you have.

And this is Day One.

TK Lawyer live on WordPress

Hi Readers,

Happy 1st day of June!

Today, my books are featured on a fellow blogger’s site, right here on WordPress.

Check out the Author Spotlight:

https://laceyvixen.wordpress.com/?p=1939

 

Doms, Angels and Detectives

What do these three have in common?

They are all characters in books featured on Jennifer Deny’s Wicked Weekends blog:

http://jennifer-denys.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/wicked-weekends_20.html

 

DNSB searching for sign-ups for Jasper and Centurion’s Blog Tours

Attention all Bloggers, Admins and wonderful Author Friends~

Dreams and Screams Bookaholics is in the process of scheduling my 2 upcoming blog tours for Jasper, The Guardian League, Book One and Centurion, The Guardian League, Book Two and they need you if you are able to participate.

Sign up for my upcoming Blog Tours:

Jasper’s new blog tour date: June 1st-June 10th

https://goo.gl/G5rWem

Centurion’s blog tour date: June 11th- June 21st

https://goo.gl/7Cu5GO

Searching for: Promo Posts, Reviews, Author and/or Character Interviews, and Takeovers. Thank you. =0)

Sign up picture

Jasper Giveaway on Tome Tender’s Blog

Hi Readers.

 

I am featured on Tome Tender’s blog site for the next 2 weeks with a giveaway for Jasper, The Guardian League, Book One to two lucky winners.  I’m also answering questions on the site.

Go check out this awesome blog here:

http://tometender.blogspot.com/2016/05/tk-lawyers-guardian-league-blitz-jasper.html

 

 

Jasper Featured on Just One More Page Reviews

Hi Readers,

Check it out~

Jasper, The Guardian League, Book One is featured on Just One More Page Reviews today.

Yay!  Thank you.

Upcoming May Author Takeovers

Hi Readers,

 

~*Here’s a list of events I will be participating in during the month of May on Facebook~*

**There will be some wonderful Authors and as always prizes, giveaways and free e-books to claim, so come join the fun!!**

But before I list out the Takeovers in May, let me start with a straggler I signed up for the ending of April.  This is a great event.  Come join me here, too:

April 30, 2:30pm-3:00pm EST:  Thirty Days Series All-In-One

 

May 6th, 12pm- 1pm EST:  May the Fourth be with you!!Tracy’s birthday & PM&M’s 4K Bash

May 14th, 8am- 8:30am EST:  Kate Bonham’s Birthday Celebration

May 14th, 1pm-2pm EST:  Cynful Books to Read

May 15th, 7:30-8pm EST: Journey of Innocence Trilogy

 

Nightfall Blog Tour continues. ** Final Week **

Nightfall is featured on Love Bites and Silk Ties:  the dark and naughty book blog, today:
goo.gl/fb/9BUARy

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