Up to My Ears in Audio

Debra's audio books are making progress.


Since my publisher began offering an audio version of their books, I've been literally up to my ears in listening. Editing an audio book is a bit different than editing a print book, as cadence and tone and annunciation all play a role. It's different to listen with your ears instead of looking with your eyes.

Up until now, the titles that have come through of mine have all been novellas. This past week I started listening to the first full-length novel of mine that will be offered in audio. Let me just say it's a loooong process.

First of all it's hard for me to just sit and listen. I feel like I'm not doing anything. And I'm not one for sitting around idly. I'm ALWAYS doing something. So while I listen I do try to multi-task and do things like fold laundry or prepare dinner or other rote things that don't require too much concentration. I do have to be careful which chore I choose to multi-task with, as some take away from my focus on what I'm supposed to be listening to. But overall, I think I've found a good balance of listening and being able to get other things done. If I do hear a mistake, I put aside what ever 'other' task I'm doing and focus solely on rewinding and listening and marking the spot of the error and documenting the error so it can be fixed.

Makes me realize that unless it's riding in a car on a long, I probably wouldn't do well with other audio books. Like I said, it's too much like sitting there and doing nothing. I've only given audio a try once on a road trip, and we wound up turning it off because we got caught in a raging downpour that drowned out the sound of the story. We never went back to it. We probably should give it a try again on the way to/from one of our camping adventures.

Anyway like I said, it's an interesting process to edit the audio version of a story. Yesterday I turned in notes/corrections for chapters 1-8 and was 'rewarded' with files for chapters 9-13. So my work is far from over. A full length novel is A LOT to listen to.

One thing I've discovered as I've been listening to Wild Wedding Weekend is how much I LIKE the story! It's been a while since I've 'visited' it, and I'm remembering all the reasons it was such a fun one to write, even if it hasn't been one of my biggest sellers. Maybe audio will help that. Only time will tell.

Until next time,

Happy Reading! (or listening!)

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Murphy's Law or Fate?

Debra's writing has taken an unexpected turn.

Not to get too religious here, but I'm a big believer in letting God lead me in the direction He wants me to go. When I got a rejection on the mss I'd submitted to a new publisher, I took that as a sign that I wasn't supposed to make a huge career change from teacher to full-time author. Yes, yes...I also know the old adage of not putting all of your eggs in one basket, but like I said, I'm a big believer in signs. And I figured He was sending me one. Not to mention that things in my day job were looking up. (The school year got off to a rough start, but the kiddos and I had finally reached an understanding, and I was enjoying being in the classroom again. For a while there...mid-life crisis perhaps?...I really was contemplating getting out.) To me, that was another sign to stay put.

As I was cleaning out my inbox and deleting old e-mails, I came across the one I'd gotten from Wild Rose about getting my books into audio. I'd re-upped all of the contracts necessary to start the projects, but to be honest, with the keep-to-the-path-you're-on signs I seemed to be getting, and a bit of laziness thrown in to boot, I'd kind of lost interest in the idea. So, I deleted that e-mail.

Wouldn't you know it? A day or two later, our marketing rep contacted me and said she was going through old e-mails/files and saw I'd re-upped all of my contracts, and unless I had any questions or special requirements for narrators, she would mark those books as ready for audio auditions. I told her to go ahead, honestly thinking those auditions were hard to come by and it probably wouldn't amount to anything in the long run.

By know I really should know better than to tempt fate, right?

In the next few days I was inundated with auditions for my books. There were coming in two and three in a day. And then things really got rolling.

As it stands right now, here's what's going on:

I have one book (New Year's Eve at The Corral) almost ready to be released. There was just one small correction in one chapter.

(I wanted to attach the 'retail sample' audio clip here, but in reading directions in how to do that in blogger, it seemed WAY too complicated, so I'm not even going to attempt it right now! LOL)







I have another book (Wild Wedding Weekend) mid-production with the narrator sending me chapters to approve as she gets them done.

I've approved chapter samples for two stories (One Great Night and Valentine's Day at The Corral.)

And, I've heard and approved auditions for six other stories, which should mean that contracts have been offered and I'll be getting chapter samples on those soon.

Which means that all of my stories except for my original Corral trilogy (Which I haven't re-upped the contracts for...long story...yet) and An Unexpected Blessing are the only titles not at some stage in the audio process at the moment.

Keep in mind that all of this started on April 5. Less than a month ago.

So in addition to being excited about getting my stories...especially the older ones...out there in a new format and giving them new life, here's what I've taken away from this whole thing.

Apparently God wants me to be multi-dimensional in my life's pursuits.

And I'm getting more excited about my writing again...even though with the school year quickly winding down (which involves more projects, special nights, and field trips than imaginable) I really don't have time to write these days...and am looking forward to sitting down with my laptop once summer comes and figuring out what the heck to do with my completed mss that needs some work and the mss I started for NaNoWriMo...which is a GIANT mess...and (hopefully) getting that sucker finished. Where they'll go once they are fixed/finished is anyone's guess at this point.

But I'll be keeping my heart and mind open for signs from above, and what is meant to happen with them will happen. He always lets me know...in His own time.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

The Power of a Writer

Debra thinks about what amazing power writers hold.

This weekend I hosted a children's book discussion at our Historical Society based on the book Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. As the kids and I were chatting about the book, we turned to the author notes at the back of the edition I had. A quote from Ms. MacLachlan stood out as she responded to the question of 'What is the best thing about being a writer?'

"For me the most rewarding thing about writing is making things come out the way I want them to; making sense of the things that were in my life when I was a child as well as the things that I care about now that I am an adult. As a writer I have the power to set things down and make them right, that same power that I don't always have in life."

Her response really struck a chord with me. The power writers have at their fingertips is really amazing. We have infinitely more control over the lives of our fictional characters than we do over our own. Even over simple things like the weather: if my story calls for a sunny day at the beach...wa la...the sun pours down, heating the grains of sand and sparking over the water. If the angst and turmoil and tension of a scene needs to be back lit by a thunderstorm...boom!...thunder shakes the earth and lightning forks through the sky lighting it with a brilliant flash.

We control our characters' emotions and reactions. We give them backgrounds and backstory. And especially in romance, we give them a happily ever after. Guaranteeing that after all of the angst and turmoil and bad things that have happened in the past, they are going to be happy. Everything is going to work out in the best way possible. Not to sound blasphemous, but it's a little like playing God.

You have only to turn on the news. Or look on Facebook. Or open an on-line search engine and read the heart-breaking headlines there each and every day to know this doesn't happen in real life.

But not only do we have the power to control our characters and stories, we also have the power to make our readers feel good after a crap day...or a crap week...or a crap year. To let them immerse themselves in a story with a good ending. To know for certain, that no matter what the characters are going through and how long it takes them to get there or what bad needs to be overcome, it will all be overcome. To lose themselves in fiction for a while to take the edge off of reality.

It's a daunting responsibility to think that as much joy as we get out of our writing (most days, right?!) how much more joy we can bring to those who read our stories. Not to mention in a world that more and more often feels like it's falling apart, being able to control anything is truly a miracle.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

The "What If" Game

Debra ponders what will happen if...

I'm at about week 10ish in the whole "You'll hear back from us in eight to twelve weeks." timeline. While I wait with fingers and toes crossed. While I wish on as many shooting stars as I can. While I pray. While I sit on pins and needles. I'm playing a little 'what if' back and forth with myself. Obviously, in this particular 'game', there are two options.

What if...I get THE CALL and it's a yes!

Well, first I will fall out of whatever seat I'm sitting in, then get up and do a VERY enthusiastic dance of joy. Probably shed some tears as well. Call/yell for my hubby so he's the first to know. And then let everyone else I've ever been acquainted with know as well.

After that, I'm going to have some fairly major decisions to make. Because my hope for this particular call is that it takes my writing from something I do for fun and pleasure, to something I do as a career (while, of course, keeping the fun and pleasure component.) At the moment, writing is a hobby. Most days I enjoy it. I love to tell stories, as I can live so many vicarious lives, and it gives me something to do with all of those voices in my head. But I'm not writing to make a living. I have a real job that I also love most days and which I need to pay the bills. But if this really happens, I'm going to need to devote more time to my writing. It literally will become a job, not just a hobby if I am lucky enough to sign with this publisher. Does that mean I give up every other interest I have in order to be able to work two jobs? I'm highly involved in my local Historical Society, and it's something I am passionate about. But with two careers to possibly juggle, my already limited time will be even more limited. Would I eventually choose my writing career over my other career? Something I've been doing for 25 years now? Hmn? Perhaps it is time for a change. Time to branch out and try something new. But at that point, it really, REALLY needs to be a career, because my hubby and I are not in a position to be able to live on one salary.

On the other hand...

What if...I get a call, an e-mail, a letter and it's a rejection?

Well, first there will be some tears. Quite different than the joyful ones in the 'yes' scenario. But once I pull myself together, I will still have some decisions to make.

Do I try this publisher (Which I really have my heart and hopes set on.) with another mss (in hopes they like my voice even though the submitted story wasn't right for them), or do I look elsewhere? So far in my writing 'life', I have not gone the agent route. Do I attempt to get an agent and let her pass my work around? But if I submit the original mss to her, then I've already missed out on my target publisher. Or do I submit a new mss to her and let her know I'd like it to be passed along to said target publisher. Is that even an option with an agent. IF she'd even accept me in the first place. Do I take a step back from writing totally and focus my energies elsewhere? Become even more involved with the Historical Society. (There is a possible opportunity on the horizon for that as well.) Will a rejection be a sign that it's not meant to be? Or am I just too hyper-focused on this one submission? I really, really love my current publisher, but the new projects I'm working on don't seem like they'd be a good fit. Or perhaps, again, it's just me being hyper-focused on what I'm coveting at the moment. I mean, there are LOTS of publishers out there. It would be REALLY silly to give up totally just because of a rejection from one. If that's how I played this game all along, I never would have gotten published in the first place. Rejection is all part of the writing life.

The 'what if' game is tricky. It's in turn exalting and depressing. I'm trying to take a glass half full approach in both outcomes, as there really could be something good that comes out of either. But unfortunately I'm a bit too much of a pessimist to do that. And I really feel I've put all of my apple hopes in one basket.

At this point, only time, and hopefully just a couple more weeks will tell. In the meantime, I'll continue with the 'what if'. You all keep those fingers and toes crossed. And if you happen to see a shooting star, make a wish for me.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Down Time?

What does Debra do in between releases?

It's been a while since I've had a new release. My last release was New Year's Eve at The Corral which made its debut last December. The beginning of this year started out with a fairly major dry spell for me. I was away from writing for a really, really long time. I picked it back up in the summer again and was able to make enough progress to submit a completed story to a new publisher in October. As you know, now I'm in a holding pattern on that one until I hear back...probably in January or February.

In the meantime, I spent the month of November on a new project and won my first NaNoWriMo. At some point I need to finish up that mss and get it polished to send off...somewhere. It will all depend on what happens with the submission I have out there right now. I have to admit, I was a bit burned out after NaNo and haven't really been back at actual writing with any kind of consistent schedule at all. But I'll get back to it. The characters and setting are never far from my mind, I just needed a little break after the intensity of November.

In December I participated in a Facebook release party for a fellow TWRP author. I'd done a very simplified release party for myself once, but had never participated in one for another author with a multitude of 'hosts'. It was quite the adventure! I learned a lot. During the event I noticed that many of the authors have really neat 'promo ads' as I call them. (I'm sure they have an actual name, but that label works for me!) Since I've been trying to be a bit more active on social media, I've noticed a lot of these 'promo ads' as well on both Facebook and Twitter.

So I decided to give it a go. I'm a big fan of Publisher, so I did some copying, pasting, cropping, resizing, and downloading free clip art and graphics, and I've been creating my own promo ads. After creating in Publisher, I save as a jpeg and then I can just insert into posts on Facebook and Twitter as a picture. Here are the ones I've done so far:

This week I'll do one for my NYE story, and then probably put together ones for my other books as well. I also want to do one for my Corral series and one for just the holiday stories. They're pretty quick and easy to do. I don't spend hours and hours on them for sure. A professional graphic artist would probably do a bit better with design and layout, but for me, they work. And they're fun for me to do! I try to do each one a little bit differently, but I'm really digging the cover inside a e-reader device, so I tend to use that a lot. Sometimes I include a blurb or a tag line or a review.

I've joined some book marketing Facebook sites, so last week I was really plugging my Christmas stories. Even though they aren't new releases, it's been fun breathing new life into them with different posts and these 'promo ads'.

So, no, an author doesn't really ever have down time, it's all a matter of figuring out how to drive readers your way, whether your release is brand spanking new, or if you're just revisiting it to attract a new audience. Updating my web-site and taking a look at Instagram are also on my to-do list in the next couple of weeks.

Until next time,

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

I Did It!

Debra won her first NaNoWriMo!

Sorry about the late post this week, but I wanted to make sure everything was official before I wrote my blog for this week.

Today I am officially a proud NaNoWriMo winner! I actually wrote over 50,000 words in the month of November! It took a lot of time away from other things, but I did it! My official word count was 50,003. Since I started in the middle of a mss already in progress, the entire project is now up to 62,601 words. I'm not sure if non-writers really understand what an undertaking this is, but I'm going to share my exciting news with them anyway!

Since I've reached the end of this journey, I thought I'd look at some takeaways from the experience.

Let's start with the positives:

*I wrote 50,000 freaking words in one month.
*I sat in my chair and wrote every single day.
*I made a lot of good progress on my WIP.
*I challenged myself and came away a winner.
*I am really, REALLY glad I did it.

On the other side of things:

*I'm not sure I'll do it again. Like I said, it took a lot of my time in a month that is already busy.
*I'm pretty sure my mss is a mess. I don't tend to write in linear fashion in the first place. If I get an idea for a scene, I write it, whether it's at the chronological point I'm at in the story or not. With NaNo I was REALLY all over the place. I was determined to get words down no matter what. Lately I've trained myself to be pretty good at not doing a lot of editing or revising when I sit down to write. However, I usually do some, just to find my place, get the rhythm and feel of the story and characters, and check for major continuity issues. With NaNo, I did next to no looking at anything I'd already written. I just kept going gangbusters each time I sat down. I am sure there is a ton of repetition. I'm not sure my characters' emotions and arcs are done properly in a logical manner that builds throughout the story. And I'm pretty sure I have some major timeline issues. Now, granted, all of this is fixable during the editing process, but I'm just wondering if I've made my life harder than I needed to when it comes to that point. I'm almost scared to do a read-through at this point. The story is not finished. I'm aiming for that 85K mark, but it's definitely on its way to getting there.

And what's my next step?:

Now the BIG question is, do I just keeping going in the haphazard way I have been and do a HUGE revision/edit read-through at the end, or do I stop now, print out what I have, read through, and assess where I'm at? Perhaps just a computer read-through. I definitely know what needs to be added in regards to the story, but it might be in the best interest of saving my sanity later to hit pause and take some time to go through what's there. And I have to say, I'm insanely curious to find out what kind of quality product I've put out since I've been mainly focused on the quantity this month. I was decent at cranking out the words, but it remains to be seen if it's any good or not. Knowing I can write 'quickly' puts me in a good frame of mind for future prospects of meeting deadlines and such. (Fingers are still crossed on that submission I have out there.), but again, if it's all crap, writing quickly might not be the way to go.

AND, if nothing comes of that earlier mentioned submission, I'm kind of wondering what direction I want to go with my writing career, and if that all comes to naught, was this just a giant exercise in futility? I guess only time will tell.

All in all, although it doesn't get me much more than bragging rights, I am proud to say I did this. And NaNo combined with my chapter's 90 day writing challenge (Which I won, by the way!) from August through October, has definitely built an excellent habit of writing or editing each and every day. I am author: Hear me roar!


Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

The Waiting Game

Debra is trying to be patient...but it isn't easy.

I did it! I got my mss of "The Cowboy and the Princess" polished up and submitted. And now...I wait.

According to the publisher's web-site guidelines, I'l receive confirmation of my e-mail submission within 21 days. We're at day 17, which means technically I should hear a "Thanks we received your submission." e-mail any day now. After that, I'm to allow 8-12 weeks for a response. Is that from the time I originally submitted or from the time I received confirmation of the submission? Either way, it's a long time to wait.

I know waiting is not uncommon in this industry, but I've been working with a small press that is VERY quick on the draw for the last nine years, so to say I'm a bit spoiled is a total understatement.

I try not to think about it, but every time I open my e-mail I can't help but wonder if I'll have my initial response. And I'm trying to decide, planning ahead, if when I get the BIG response, whether I want to open it at work. If it's a no, I might cry. If it's a yes, I won't be able to scream and shout and dance around. But how in the world will I be able to wait until the end of the day when I get home? What if it comes in first thing in the morning? It'll be like Poe's Tell-Tale Heart: Open Me. Open Me. Open Me. All day long.

See? I'm not very patient.

In the meantime I'm about 11K into my new project. There are two more days left in my RWA chapter's 90 words for 90 days challenge, and then NaNo starts on Wednesday. I still haven't decided if I'm going to tackle that or not. On the one hand, I definitely plan on writing, so even if I don't think I will make the overall goal, at least I'll be accumulating words. And, my chapter challenge has been great for keeping my butt in my chair and my fingers on the keys every single day since the beginning of August. (For someone coming off of a huge dry spell, well, that was...huge!) So for accountability, it might be worth taking it on. So I have a day to decide about that.

I also have several guest blog appearances scheduled for my holiday titles and was asked to participate in a fellow Rose's release party in December. So even though I don't have any new releases this year, I'm trying to drum up some interest in my back list. My Halloween story was on sale for most of October, and my Thanksgiving story and my Christmas stories will be on sale the beginning of November and the beginning of December respectively. And I'm trying really, really hard to be active on social media.

On the down side of things, I learned today that two of my books which I'd entered into a contest didn't even place in the top five. Which I'm a bit bummed about. Let's just say it's not the shot of confidence I was hoping for to add a boost of encouragement for positive results for my submission. On the up side of things, tomorrow is Halloween and if we don't get many trick-or-treaters, I'll have a whole lot of chocolate left over to ease the sting of disappointment.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Going for It

Debra is almost ready to submit her latest WIP.

A few months ago when I posted I was having a bit of a dilemma. I was debating on where I wanted to submit my WIP. I've had it in my mind for a while now that I'd like to branch out in an attempt to launch the next phase of my writing career by submitting to a new publisher. At the time (about two months ago) my biggest issue was the word count of the mss. The publisher I wanted to submit to required a word count of 85,000. My mss wasn't even at 65,000 (Although it was close.)

I solicited a bunch of opinions and had an author friend do a beta read for me. She gave me some very helpful suggestions, which I incorporated into the story. After doing my own hard-copy read-through, I found a bunch of places where additional scenes were needed. I found a lot of phrases like "In the six weeks since she'd been at the ranch..." Or, "With just a few weeks left to go in the cast..." Or even just mentions..."She'd gone for a horseback ride that day." Or "He showed her how to ride the ATVs." Lots and lots of places where I told instead of showed and hurried the time line. In the process, missing out on many ways to deepen my story.

So I decided to make those additions, as they would definitely add to the story and not just be filler. At this moment, my mss stands at 85,590 words. I'm in the process of minute edits. Getting rid of 'that', 'seemed to', 'tried to', 'to him', 'to her', etc.

I have a punch list of items to check: time line, checking chapters are sequentially numbered and spaced correctly, etc.

Per the guidelines on the web-site, I've also written a synopsis, author bio which includes previous books written, and brief descriptions of other books I have planned.

Even though I read through the guidelines for submission to the new publisher with a fine tooth comb, I was a bit uncertain if I should submit a query or the full mss as a submission. I e-mailed the editor this weekend for clarification, not expecting to hear back for a few weeks (as stated in their information). To my surprise and excitement, I had a response this morning already. She said to send the full along with a synopsis and brief descriptions of other planned books.

My first reaction was to get the sucker out ASAP. I'm heading out of town the end of this week for a conference for work and then on a family vacation over the long weekend. My knee-jerk reaction was to send it out before leaving on Wednesday.

Then rational thinking (thank goodness) kicked in. I don't want to rush this. There are still things I need to make sure are A-okay before submitting. So I'm going to do what I can in the next two nights. Let the project sit while I'm gone for almost a week. (Which will be good since I've been looking at it everyday for months and months now.) Do a final read-through when I get back, and THEN submit. I've waited this long to submit this particular project, waiting another week certainly won't kill me, AND probably makes the most logical sense.

So, I'm going to put myself out there and go for it. Like Wayne Gretsky said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Wish me luck!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

The Editing Process

Debra is deep into edits, revisions, and rewrites.

It's been a long time since I've been so immersed in the editing process. I guess that's what happens when you haven't been writing for a long time...no words on the page equals nothing to edit. LOL

But over the summer I really dug in and committed myself to finishing the first draft of my current mss. About midway through August I got to what, then, was THE END. It felt great. After a long dry spell, to have actually completed an entire full-length (65K) word mss was nothing short of miraculous.

I really thought I'd set the mss aside for a bit, what with heading back to work I really didn't feel like I'd have time to work on it. And as I mentioned in last month's post, I was still trying to figure out what to do with it. Where I was going to submit it. Then along came my local RWA chapter's 90 Words in 90 Days Challenge. #CN90wordsfor90days For me the Challenge is doing just what it was intended to do: get my butt in a chair with my fingers on a keyboard or with pen in hand each and every day.

With the long weekend (It's the Labor Day Holiday here in the States.), no major plans, and allergies that are keeping my indoors a good deal of the time, I cranked out over 100 pages of edits since Friday night. I got to the end of the mss yesterday afternoon. I edit in hard copy, printing out a copy of the mss and putting it in a binder, always with sticky notes, highlighter, and scratch paper close at hand.

Now, most of my pages look like this:

I'm in the process of transferring all of my written notes to the computer. Along the way I'm still employing plenty of sticky notes to mark sections needing a tweak or some added research. Last night I was so pumped up and motivated to keep moving that I got through about 80 pages of transfers. Sometimes it goes quickly. Other times trying to decipher the notes written any which way in the margins is quite difficult. And, once I've added lines to various pages, the page numbers no longer match those on the computer doc, so finding my place each time isn't always easy.

I also have notes, scribbled on anything I can find lying around when an idea strikes, tucked into the front and back pockets of the binder. I'm trying to keep everything in one place.

One thing I've discovered is I need to replace the notepad next to my bed. I used the last sheet of one a couple of weeks ago and could only find a tiny pad (like we're talking two inches by three inches) in the drawer the other night. Which, I've used several times when I was desperate to not forget something that popped into my head.

I've found several places where there are some fairly major gaps in the story. This is what happens when you're a pantster and, to top it off, don't always write chronologically. So, I definitely will be doing more writing to add to the story. I've also found places where the characters' actions and reactions aren't quite 'right' for a particular scene or moment, again due that whole writing-out-of-order thing I do.

All in all, I'm having a blast with this. It's really, really nice to feel like a writer again. And for the moment, I'm keeping up with work, other projects, and writing. Hopefully that will last. I'd like to say my goal is to have this done, polished, and submitted before the end of the year. That seems like almost too much time, but I really want to make sure this one shines, so I'm going to take my time with it and not rush to get it done. Which, at this point, is really hard to have the patience to do sometimes. I keep envisioning it all done and on the shelves. Whether that's cyber or real is still yet to be known.

Until next time,

Happy Reading (or Writing or Editing),

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Roadblocks and Detours

Debra is facing a dilemma.

Believe it or not, this is the last week of summer vacation for me. I'm really trying to figure out where the time went. I mean, wasn't it just June for Pete's sake? I feel like I've had a fairly successful writing summer in that I made quite a bit of progress on my WIP and I've been trying to get myself out there more by making regular use of my Twitter account, visiting other blogs, and even put my Fourth of July book on sale for the month.

However, as everyone knows, the writing road is not always a straight one. It's often filled with roadblocks and detours. And I had plenty of those this summer, too.

I started really getting serious about my writing in the middle of June. Before that there had been a long, long, dry, dry spell. I'm talking like time measured in almost a year, not months. But I started grooving again and was really pleased with the progress I was making on my WIP. I wasn't necessarily aiming for a particular word count each day, just making sure that I sat down and wrote something. Most days, I was recording anywhere from 500 to 2,000 words. Not too shabby. I was pretty pleased and well on my way toward meeting my goal of finishing this story over the summer.

And then, BAM. Roadblock. In the middle of July I got sick. Bronchitis, laryngitis, and pink eye. Fever. Chills. Hacking cough. You name it. In the middle of summer!! It was awful. I was totally down for the count. I literally laid on the couch for ten days, not having the energy or motivation to do anything else except watch tv. (I had a mega "The Office" marathon. I think I watched three or four entire seasons.)

But eventually I started feeling better and got back into a normal routine...although believe it or not, I still have a lingering cough and a slightly scratchy voice...and was once again making progress. I'd lost a bit of momentum, but still felt I could meet my goal of finishing my 65,000 word story. From there I planned to print it out so I could do several rounds of edits, send it to a couple beta readers to gather their opinions and insights, and then send off a query to a new (for me) publisher.

Then, just when I thought I was on the right path again...FORK IN THE ROAD. I was aiming for a 65,000 word novel. I've been so used to writing novellas, that writing a full-length was a bit of a challenge for me this time around. It was going to be stretching it to reach that 65K, but I was confident I could do it. And then I looked at the submission guidelines for the publisher I was considering. Turns out they want novels 85,000 to 100,000. (Now, yes, granted, this is my fault for not checking sooner. Although I swear I did check once upon a time and it said 65,000. But maybe I was just thinking of my current publisher. Who knows?) To say I was discouraged was an understatement. I lost any and all motivation to write and let the mss sit once again. Eventually (about a week later) I got over myself and sat down to finish the darn story.

Anyway, now I'm faced with a dilemma, and I'm not sure which direction to go. My story is for all intents and purposed finished. There's a beginning, a middle, and a happily-ever-after ending. It's at 63,000. There are a few scenes I'd like to add to here and there, which will bring me to what I thought was the magic number of 65K. I can still follow those first two steps. Polish it up. Get a few beta opinions. And then submit it to my current publisher (that I really, really love...don't get me wrong.)

But I'd envisioned something a bit different for this one. Stepping out of my comfort zone and putting myself and my story out there. Just to see what happens. But to do that, I'm going to need to add at least 20,000 words to my story. That is A LOT of words. I mean, it's an entire novella. This wouldn't simply involve adding or extending scenes, this is adding a whole ton of content. Not just extending the story, but going back to various places in the middle and creating new scenes, chapters, and interactions.

I don't know if I have it in me. I know I won't have the time to write like I have been. Like I said, I'm back to school next week. I'd love to think that since I'm back in a writing routine, I'll at least be able to clock something each night. My writers' group is doing this great challenge, too, which is wonderful motivation. It's the 90 words for 90 days challenge. (#CN90wordsfor90days) Starting August 1 and going through October 31, the idea is to write at least 90 words everyday. There's a chance for a prize at the end for those who accomplish it. It's definitely helping me to stay motivated at the moment, let me tell you. I'm I'm still averaging about 1200 words per day at this point, so the 90 I can do standing on my head...most days.

But, like I said, I'm stuck trying to figure out which direction to take with this book now. If I go one way, it's super exciting to think I might be close to finishing it. If I go another way, it's super daunting to think about creating so much more plot. At this point I don't need to rush...even though summer is over, I can take my time in attempting those additional 20,000 words. But come December it will be a year since I've had a release. And who knows how long the process will take, if I even would get a contract from this new publisher, to get this book in print.

I'm stuck. I honestly don't know what to do. Any thoughts? Advise? Sarcastic comments? Smart aleck remarks? Any and all would be appreciated.

For now, I'm going to get out my lap top and clock those 90 words right now.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Work in PROGRESS

Debra is making good headway on her WIP.

It's been a good writing summer. Something that hasn't happened in a while. Last time I posted I was excited to report that I'd begun writing again, picking up a WIP that had been languishing. I am proud to say I've written almost every day since then. My word count is up to 48,700 with a target of 65,000, so I am extremely pleased with my progress. When I picked it up again in June, I was at 23,100. So in a little less than a month, I've recorded approximately 25,000 words.

Some days it's easier than others and I know just what scene I want to work on and where I'm going with the story. Other days it's a bit more like pulling teeth. Difficult and painful, but in the end I get there and am happy and relieved with the end result. Today (Sunday) I wrote about 1,500 words of a scene that I knew I wanted to include in some way, but hadn't exactly figured out how it was going to move the story forward.

I have been writing a bit piecemeal and not in chronological story order, and I was wondering how everything was fitting together, so I took a couple of days to do a read-through of what I had down. Other than that, except for a few tiny rereads just for continuity information, I've been writing and not rereading, editing, or revising. I think it's working well.

Once I've reached my word goal, I'll do a full read-through and begin the editing and revising process. I'm also planning on snagging a few beta readers for this one. I have a few questions in my mind about the story already, and I'd love the opinion of a reader or two. This will be a new step for me, so I'm nervous and excited at the same time.

In the meantime, I've also been trying to be more active with other aspects of my writing career, while I have the time here in the summer. My book Fourth of July at The Corral is on sale for #99c in the month of July. I've been posting and advertising on various outlets for that. And I'm also trying to be more active with my Twitter account. I'm trying to post something every day, although I don't always accomplish this. I've been posting new release blurbs from fellow Roses and sometimes just a what I'm up to at the moment type thing. I'm refraining from posting 'buy MY book' Tweets every day, but have plans to sneak those in too. At the moment, just trying to build a following and make sure my account isn't sitting there inactively. I'm still on the fence about Facebook, but I've posted a few personal and authory things from time to time there as well.

So, all in all, I'm having a lot of fun being an author again this summer. It's been a while since I've felt like one.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Back in the Saddle

Debra is FINALLY writing again.

It's been a long, long, crazy long dry spell. But I've been back at writing this week, and I'm thrilled. Don't get me wrong...it's not like I've pounded out an entire novel in the past few days, but for three days in a row I've written about 1000 words per day. This may not seem like a lot, but for me, it's huge. I haven't written anything this regularly in what seems like forever. In definitely over a year.

What's more, I'm motivated. I'm in the fun phase where I think about my story all the time, so that when I sit down at my computer, I'm able to put words on the page...not stare at the blinking curser, page up and down, reread certain parts, add a word or two here or there. I'm actually writing paragraphs, pages, entire scenes. And it feels great.

The story I'm working on is "The Cowboy and the Princess". I started it a while (a loooooooooong while ago) and it's kind of just been sitting there. I'm aiming to make this one a full-length, eligible for print novel. At the moment, its word count is about 25,000, so it's not quite one-third of the way there. But I know where I'm going with it, and I know kind of how I'm going to get there, and I'm sure the rest will happen along the way as it usually does.

It's been a long time since I've worked on a full-length. My last six releases have been novellas. Getting back into writing a full-length has been interesting. There's a lot more introspection that needs to happen. A lot more internal dialogue. Which is great for really digging deep into a character's psyche. Perhaps a bit more description. And some very fun secondary characters to help move things along. (Sometimes I think they're more fun to write than the main hero and heroine...)

My biggest 'problem' at the moment is I think I'm channeling too much of my favorite romantic-suspense author. I've been reading her obsessively. With her new release out, I felt the need to reread the entire series (8 books) up until that point, plus two other books of hers from a different series. I liked the new story so much that I'm in the processing of rereading it for the second time in the space of a week. Like I said, I'm a bit obsessed. So I find myself sometimes writing in her style instead of my own. Which is why I usually don't read romance while I'm trying to write one. I swear, as soon as I'm done with this reread, I'm picking up a YA fantasy featuring dragons. And while it sounds like an enjoyable read, it's a far cry from my writing wheelhouse, which is a good thing.

My goal is to finish this book this summer. If, and that's a big IF, I continue along my current trajectory and word accumulation each day, I should be able to do it. I'm sure there will be days I write less, but hopefully there will be days when I write more which will balance things out.

Another goal, okay, maybe more of a thought, I have is to possibly branch out and submit this story to a different publisher. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love, love, love writing for The Wild Rose Press, but I almost feel like I want to challenge myself to see what happens somewhere else. If I could push myself to go a little outside my comfort zone and put myself out there.

So, there you have it. I feel a little bit like my author-self has come into her own again...at least making an appearance that makes me feel like the author I am.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Beta Reads

Debra ponders Beta reads.

Recently I did a beta read (along with some line edits) for a sister of a friend of mine. I've done beta edits for another author friend of mine as well. They are always grateful for feedback, and it's nice to know I was able to help them out.

I am not as good at receiving help. When I used to attend my local RWA meetings, I always took advantage of our critiquing sessions, bringing the first chapter of all my new stories to be read and critiqued. But after that first chapter read, I tended to loan-wolf it. Since I stopped going to meetings, I rarely enlist the help of fellow authors for critiques or beta reads before submitting a mss to my editor. I'm not really sure why that is. Do I want the story to be a surprise for everyone? Am I able to dish out advice but not take it? Or is it just that I haven't found anyone to give me some solid, usable information?

Unfortunately, I think I fall into the middle category. When I first submitted my Fourth of July story, my editor asked for some tweaks, and wondered if I'd given it to a beta first. I had to confess that I hadn't. So, I passed it along to a writer friend, who gave me some good ideas. But I was reluctant to use them. I was stuck in the mindset of 'this-is-my-story-and-I'm-going-to-tell-the-the-way-I-want-to-regardless-of-what-anyone-else-says'. Not good. Any successful writer knows it's important to listen to and take into account sound, professionally given feedback. I definitely need to be more open to this kind of thing.

Something really great (In addition to getting to read a fabulous story.) that came out of doing the recent beta read was it has me chomping on the bit to get back to my own writing. Just reading someone else's pre-published writing made me think of my own WIPs. It was interesting that some of the things I was commenting on in her writing were things that I always need to strengthen in my own. (I even found myself editing and commenting with my own editor's 'voice' in my head.) But I think that's a common thing. It's so easy to spot 'issues' in others' writing and so hard to do it in our own. Which is another reason for a beta reader.

However, getting back to my own writing is not going to happen for a few weeks at this point. The end of the school year is fast approaching (Yay!!), and my sister is getting married on Friday (Double Yay!!!!) So there are a million things to do before I can really sit down and give my writing the credit it's due. It's been a long time since I've been motivated at all, so this is encouraging.

My goal is to have my current WIP finished by the end of the summer and close to ready to submit. Or at least ready for a beta read, because I really do need to be better at getting on the receiving end of those.

So how about you? Do you use beta readers? Critique partners? How do you take your mss to that final step before you submit?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Social Media: How Do I Make it Work for Me?

One thing I'd really like to get better at is using social media as a more effective marketing tool. Last year I did an on-line marketing challenge that gave all sorts of great tips. One of the best things that came out of it was setting up a Twitter account, which previously I hadn't had. I was super stoked about it, but now nearly a year later...it is sitting and languishing. I rarely post on it, so it's out there collecting cyber dust. And to be honest, I'm not sure how it's that much different than Facebook, other than you're limited to the number of characters you can use in a post. I'm sure I'm missing the point because I don't understand how it really works.

The same for my Facebook account. I rarely check that either. The biggest issue I have with Facebook is when I first set up my account, I did it as a personal account. What I needed to do was set up an author page. Does anyone who is more Facebook savvy than me know if I can switch it?

And will switching cut down on the endless stream of day-to-day from the hundreds of friends I have? I don't want to offend anyone, but what I'm looking for is a way to promote my books, not look at pictures of everyone's cats, babies, birthday parties, etc. I totally don't even know enough to know if having any author page would cut out the zillions of personal posts. Is there a way to use Facebook for strictly promo and not get an endless stream of everyone else's life?

Because I just can't keep up. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I am sorely tempted to go completely off-line with my Facebook account. I think, but again I'm so not up on how it all works, that I can put a 'hold' or 'stop' or 'freeze' on my account or something like that until I figure out how to switch it over from a personal page to an author/business page...if it's even possible to do that. Maybe I need to just 'erase' and start completely over. I just don't know.

What I need, me and every other author out there I'm sure, is a fresh approach. What's going to make me stand out from everyone else out there? I tried a promotion for my New Year's Eve release last year, but it didn't really pan out. I think I fell about 995 short in my #sellathousand 'challenge'. But in a sense, I don't consider it a complete failure. It got me to try something different as a way to reach readers. And as part of the promotion, I joined a few Facebook groups strictly for promoting books, which were great while I was running my contest and 99c book sale. The sale part of the promotion seemed to work better than trying to sell a thousand of a single title. I may try putting some of my others titles on sale in the near future, to see what kind of results I can garner.

What I need is to set aside time to really work at promotion. Part of the problem is I think of my writing as a hobby, not a 'real' job. Which means that other things in life always come first and take precedence over my writing. I know I'm not the only one. Everyone is busy and has a million things going on. I think I used to be better at balancing everything. I'm not sure what changed. Maybe just my attitude.

I don't mean to sound whiny...and I apologize if I do. What I'm really looking for here is to know how you use social media. Do you post on Facebook or Twitter everyday? Do you find there are certain types of posts that tend to draw more attention? How do you deal with the non-writing posts of Facebook? I'm not looking to steal anyone's unique and original ways of promoting, but if you're willing to share some tried and true strategies you've used, I'd be eternally grateful.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Pioneer Life

Debra reflects that she would have made a terrible pioneer.

With yesterday being a holiday here in the States (Presidents' Day), you'd think I would have gotten around to posting in a timely manner. Nope. I ran around and took care of some errands and shopping, and by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was sit on the porch with a book and read. Now granted, we're having unseasonably warm weather around these parts, so it's not often that I get to read a book outdoors in February. But still, I'd been busy all day and I just wanted to put my feet up and relax.

Ironically I'm re-reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. I read them all (probably several times) when I was a girl, and I reread them about ten years ago after I visited her home in Mansfield MO. I read Little House in the Big Woods to my kids at school every year, but this year I also revisited These Happy Golden Years as we recently hosted a book discussion at the Historical Society in our newly restored original one-room schoolhouse.

The restoration of our community's original school has been on-going for the past 15 years. We raised money to relocate the building to our campus back in 2009 and have been working ever since then to raise the money to restore it. A couple weeks ago, just in time for our village's 100th birthday, the job was complete. Now we can hold events and activities there. It's quite wonderful. I'm a big history buff, and to have something like this literally in my backyard (I live right behind the Historical Society campus) is a dream come true. When I walked into the building last week to set up for the event, I had tears in my eyes. It's just all kinds of wonderful.

For the event, we had 11 boys and girls come to discuss the book. We chatted about the book, made butter while we talked, ate lunch (ham sandwiches, apples, corn muffins, and stick candy) out of tin pails just like Laura used to, and then did a make and take craft based on the book. We chose that particular book in the series because it's about Laura going away to teach for the first time in a one-room schoolhouse of the day, so we thought it was the prefect tie-in for the inaugural event in our own schoolhouse.

It was a truly wonderful day, and as excited as the kids were, I think myself and my co-leader were even more giddy.

But I digress. The reason I found it ironic to be reading that particular series when all I wanted to do was rest and relax was because those pioneers never sat still. From sun up to sun down they worked: building houses, plowing, farming, taking care of the animals, cooking, doing laundry, doing dishes, sewing...just reading about all of it page after page makes me tired. Don't get me wrong...I work hard, too. With the balmy weather I took some time on Sunday to clean up leaves in the yard I hadn't gotten to in the fall and to remove some landscaping rocks from next to the front porch. But I always take time each and every day to read (at least for an hour before I go to bed each night) and if I'm really lucky, sit and watch a bit of tv with the hubby after dinner. I need my relaxing time. I love to sleep in. Go to bed early. Take time to just take a break.

So I could never be a pioneer. I don't have a strong enough work ethic, that's for sure. But it is amazing to think about those people of the past, and the work they did to build and grow our country.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Peek at "The Cowboy and the Princess"

Debra shares a peek into her WIP.

I have a good half dozen mss in their beginning stages. Some have just a few lines. Some have an entire chapter. This particular one, has about 16,000 words. Originally I'd intended for it to be a novella, but I'm leaning toward making this one a full-length. The opening itself seems more fitting for a full-length, as it does a bit of world building before the hero and heroine meet. With my novellas, they usually have contact by the first or second paragraph. (Although, Cal, our hero, makes an appearance in the very next scene.)

I haven't worked on this story (or any other) in months. But the other day I got a hankering to see what was in the archives, so to speak. I spent an hour or so opening word docs and reading my WIPs. And while it didn't motivate me to sit down and write anything new, it was fun to take a peek, and I feel it did get me one step closer to that moment when the author in me finally steps forward again.

So, for your consideration...here is the opening to "The Cowboy and the Princess".

Chapter One
"Hot dad alert. Lucky you."
Tessa McCormick applied a thin streak of blue eyeliner to her lower lid before glancing up. "What?"
"There's a really fine dad in your section tonight." Becky waggled her eyebrows.
"So?" Tessa brushed mascara onto her lashes. She blinked at her reflection. Long blonde ringlets draped over her shoulders. A round pendant suspended on a velvet ribbon hung in the lace-trimmed sweetheart neckline of the baby blue gown. When she tilted her head, the faux diamonds in her tiara sparkled in the mirror lights.
"So, you should check him out."
Tessa paused with the small brush in her hand. "Um, why?"
Becky yanked a yellow ball gown over her head. When her face emerged, she rolled her eyes. "Because he's hot."
"But he's a dad."
"You love kids."
"That's not the point. What about the mom? As in his wife?"
Becky waved a hand. "I didn't see anyone sitting with him. I bet he's single." Her rosy lips curled out in a pout. "You always have the luck. First you get to be the Blue Princess, and now you have the hottest dad in the world in your section."
Tessa laughed. "Does it really matter? We're not allowed to fraternize--" She made air quotes with her fingers. "--with customers outside of the restaurant." Her glance swept over Becky. "And besides, you get to be the Yellow Princess."
"Right." Becky fluffed out her brown curls. "'Cause walking around looking like a tub of margarine is what I've always dreamed of. While you on the other hand are a dead ringer for Cin--"
"Don't say it," Tessa admonished with another laugh. She glanced down the row of other girls primping in front of the mirror. All the colors of the rainbow were represented. "You know we're not supposed to be any specific princesses."
"Right." Becky flopped down in a nearby chair. "If I would have known there were so many rules, I never would have taken this gig."
"You're going to wrinkle your gown."
"Well, you'll just have to iron it for me when your fancy gown turns back to rags." She glanced at an imaginary watch. "Midnight is in, what? Another six hours?"
Tessa stuck out her tongue before applying a layer of shiny pink gloss to her lips.
"Now that's not very princess like."
A knock on the door was followed by the stage director's head poking through the open slit. "You're on in five, girls."
The flutter of activity in the dressing room increased as half a dozen princesses did a last minute check of make-up, hair, and gowns.
Tessa brushed a final stroke of peach blush across each cheek, then stood to follow the line of other girls toward the stage.
"Tell me again how you talked me into this," Becky muttered.
"Because it looks good on your resume. When we're big Broadway stars someday, we can look back and think of how far we've come."
"Riiiiiight."
"Places, ladies."
Tessa found her mark on the wooden boards of the stage behind the closed curtain. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she visualized the steps of the dance and did a quick run through of the words to her solo in her head.
"Curtain in one. Lights in two."
Tessa opened her eyes and let herself become the Blue Princess as the curtain rose.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Z is for Zoomed

Debra wonders where the year went.

Wasn't it just summer? Or at the very least Halloween? Or by golly just the first day of Christmas vacation. The year 2016 has flown by with amazing quickness. We're literally days away from a new year.

It's always interesting to look back and see what has happened in a year. Good things. Bad things. Ordinary-everyday-things. All those things that make the world go round. Did I accomplish enough? Did I leave time for all of the important things in life? Did I have my priorities in order?

I've never been one for making resolutions, but it's always fun to look ahead to a brand new year and all of the limitless possibilities it holds. To think about how I'll do things differently in the coming year as opposed to how I did them in the previous one.

So here's to 2017 and the great adventure that lies ahead! Cheers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Y is for Year in Review

Debra reflects on her writing year.

In many ways, 2016 has been a successful writing year for me.

*I released four (out of the five) novellas in my Holidays at The Corral series. And although none flew off the shelves, it was nice having a release every few months or so.

*In the spring, I participated in the BadRedHead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge which had me create a Twitter account (Which I need to be better at using.) and to rethink how I use my Facebook page (I still need to work on that.) among other things.

*Valentine's Day at The Corral took third place in the IDA short contemporary category.

*This Feels Like Home was part of Amazon's July romance sale, which increased sales on that title greatly. (Still not enough by any stretch of the imagine to consider it to be 'making a living' with my writing, but it was nice to see bigger numbers in sales, at least for that title.)

*A Christmas to Remember was offered for free this past weekend as part of The Wild Rose Press's tenth anniversary celebration. (Always good for publicity.)








*And just this week I launched my crazy #sellathousand challenge for New Year's Eve at The Corral.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


*As always, I've enjoyed blogging here at HWH to share tidbits, insights, posts, encouragement, and excitement with my fellow bloggers. I am most grateful to have you all in my life.

When I look at that list, I feel pretty good. :)

However, the latter part of the year, as I've mentioned before, has been a bit frustrating in the 'getting something written' area of life, but I have high hopes that will turn around soon. It's been really nice this week delving back into 'writing life' as I've worked on getting my challenge ready. And while it hasn't (yet) nudged me enough to sit down and work on a WIP, like I said, in this season of hope and miracles, anything is possible!

As we head into the last week of the year (WHERE did the time go?!) I look forward to ushering out the old and welcoming the new with a bright new outlook.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

X is for eXtremely Crazy

Debra has a crazy goal to garner sales for her new release.

It's here! The fifth and final installment in the Holidays at The Corral series hit cyber shelves today. New Year's Eve at The Corral is the shortest of all the books. I definitely planned it that way, and while it would seem that a short book would sell well because of its price (99 cents regular price, on sale at TWRP for 50 cents through Friday), my editor mentioned that books of that length don't really sell well. Plus, I'm not that great at marketing. I used to do blog tours for each of my books, but busy life (and a touch of laziness I'll admit) got me out of that habit.

But I wanted to come up with SOMEthing to help sell these books. So, I came up with a really crazy goal of trying to sell 1,000 copies of this book, using mostly word of mouth. The challenge (as I'm calling it) will officially kick off in January. I'm still figuring out a few details and logistics: how to use Rafflecopter as I've never done it before, finding blogs who will let me guest and post about my promotion, setting up a Facebook event, etc. School is out in two days for Christmas break. I'll be tackling those issues then.

In the mean time, here's the basic idea of what I have planned.

#sellathousand

The Challenge:

When I submitted this story, my editor told me books of this length don't sell well. My immediate thought was how fun it would be to prove her wrong. (In the best way possible!)

Almost immediately an idea began to form. As crazy as it sounds, I decided to challenge myself to sell a thousand copies of this book. Why a thousand, you ask? Simply because a hundred didn't seem like enough (LOL).
For less than the cost of a cup of coffee (and I'm not even talking about one of those fancy frou frou ones) you can help me win this personal challenge. All you have to do is buy a copy of the book. (Passing word of the challenge along to your reader friends would be appreciated, too.)

You might be thinking: What's in this for me? Well, I'll tell you...First, you get to read a great story! You also have the chance to win a some prizes. (And who doesn't love prizes?) If you buy a copy of the book, if you tell a friend (or two or three or ten....you know, like those old commercials: And she told two friends and she told two friends and so on and so on...), if you Tweet about the challenge or post about it on Facebook, or if you leave a comment here, you can earn Rafflecopter entry points. The winner of the Rafflecopter drawing will get a paperback set (autographed of course!) of the original Corral series: This Time for Always, This Can't Be Love, and This Feels Like Home (If you're outside the continental U S of A the set will be digital.) AND digital copies (in the format of your choice) of the first four books in the Holidays at The Corral series (Christmas, Valentine's Day, Fourth of July, and Halloween).

So, what are you waiting for? Go grab a copy of New Year's Eve at The Corral!
TWRP: http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/4728-new-year-s-eve-at-the-corral.html
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MEEI0NN?tag=thewildrosepr-20
B & N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/new-years-eve-at-the-corral-debra-st-john/1124933779?ean=2940156932573

Happy Reading and many, many thanks for participating in my challenge!

P.S. If you can't wait to find out if you've won copies of the holiday books, they are on sale for $0.99 each for the month of January 2017.

So, what do you think? Am I crazy?!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

W is for When

Debra wonders when she'll get motivated to write again.

It's been over three months since I've written anything (aside from my weekly blog posts and newsletters for school). On August 27 I wrote 515 words. My previous 'entry' on my 'how many words' list was a month prior to that. I wrote 57 words on July 27. Before that it was 120 words on July 21. I'm pretty sure, other than edits, I didn't write much of anything else over the beginning part of the summer either.

To say that I'm in a writing slump might just be the understatement of the year.

Since being published in 2008, I've had at least one release every year. In 2016 I'll have four. However, if something doesn't change (and soon) that number is going to be a big, fat ZERO for 2017.

The problem is I'm just not motivated. I just don't care. At the moment, I have no interest in writing. I have several ideas for books I want to write. Several WIP that are languishing on my thumb drives and computer. But there is no desire to do anything about them. I even had some free time the other night (and how often does THAT happen?), but instead of sitting down at the computer, I kind of wandered around the house wondering what I should do.

I'm pretty sure I've been in a writing slump before. But this one seems to be a mega, uber slump.

Last year at this time I was on a major roll and was in the processing of cranking out the four novellas which were released this year.

Maybe I burned myself out a little bit. Maybe my writing hobby was just a passing phase and I'm done with it. I really hope it's not the latter. When I'm in the mood, I really do enjoy writing and seeing my characters and stories come to life on the page.

Hopefully someday (SOON) that drive and desire will come back and I'll happily click away at my keyboard again.

In the meantime, I need to put together a publicity campaign for my NYE story which is coming out next week. (Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?) I have the idea all ready to go,I just need to implement it, but too often I find myself falling into the 'not motivated' category for this too. Ay yi yi...what is wrong with me?!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com