Tag Archives: Full-Time Author

  • 1

Month Two as a Full-Time Author

Tags : 

Yes, this is a little late, because the hubby and I were on a cruise at the beginning of the month. Still, I thought I would report on my full-time authoring.

At the beginning of the year, I laid out my writing goals for 2018. They were, to say the least, lofty. But that’s okay, right, because if you shoot for the stars and only hit the moon, you still hit the moon. Right? Something like that anyway.

Well, as I’ve already mentioned, February got blown up. I started out with twenty writing days. That got cut to eighteen, then the fifteen then to twelve, and then to ten. The only one I had planned for was two days for a local writing conference. The other eight days got sucked away by different things.

First off, my old work called me in for three days. Pretty sure I mentioned that already. My hubby got laid off, got a new job and then we went on a cruise between jobs. (I know, I know, my life is hard.) So three days went to the cruise, and two days went to prep.

None of these things are bad things, but they did interrupt my writing schedule in a big way.

So I had a grand total of ten writing days in February. And guess what happened to my February goals? Yup, most of them are still sitting on my list, staring at me, wondering when they will get worked on.

I reluctantly pulled out my Q1 goals, and saw that not many of them are going to get met either. Which puts several of my 2018 goals in jeopardy. Which does not make me happy.

I thought about leaving most of my goals “as is” and trying to play catch up, but then I realized how frustrating that would be, and decided to revamp instead.

But what is there to do about it? I can’t exactly turn back time. There’s only one way to go, and that’s forward.

So in order to salvage what is left of March, I wrote down all of the projects I’m working on and their due dates. Then I arranged them in order of priority, printed the list out and stuck it right next to my monitor. I wanted to get to marketing my Jagged Scars series this month, but considering the last book and the last novella of the series aren’t finished yet, there’s no point.

Productivity is my biggest concern this year. January went well. February faltered. March is looking…iffy. But I’m going to do my very best to recover what I can.

I hate missing goals, but it’s going to happen. I keep telling myself to breathe and keep going.

 


  • 0

They Say, if You Can Dodge a Wrench, then You Can Dodge a Ball

Tags : 

Despite the rough start, January was a pretty good month for me. Not perfect, but good. I proved to myself that I could make progress, and that going full-time as an author was a positive move.

I have a lot I want to accomplish in February. The month is short anyway, and I’m losing five writing days for writing conferences and vacations. So on the 1st, I sat down and laid out the fifteen days of writing that I knew I was going to have so that I could get everything done. Like I said, it was tight, but I was ready.

The very next morning, I get a phone call from my old work.

You know, the one I basically retired from? The one I walked out of six weeks ago and wasn’t planning on going back? At all? Yeah. That one.

It was my old boss, asking if I would be willing to put some hours in because they were in trouble. The shop is ahead, engineering is behind, my replacement isn’t up to speed yet, one guy gave his two weeks notice…It wasn’t a new situation. This kind of thing happens all the time at my old work.

To be honest, I was shocked my old boss called. The company doesn’t like parting with money (understandable) and he knew I was going to ask for a lot. Because, duh, subcontractor.

Now, as irony would have it, on January 23rd, just four weeks after I’d quit my day job, I get a message from my husband saying that he was getting laid off.

Nice, right?

Lucky for us, his current employer is awesome, and gave them three weeks notice, as well as a nice severance. Plus, we’ve saved for a rainy day. Not to worry, he’s a software engineer living in an area where his skills are in high demand. He’s already had a bunch of interviews and is almost excited about a change. (Because let’s be honest, finding a new job is a pain.) However, when my boss called I felt like I needed to say yes to going back to my day job.

I just sent a novel to my editor last week, and what I get paid for my few days of not-writing-work will almost cover it. Which is going to kill three of my fifteen days of writing in February. However, it will keep the financial burden out of my normal checking account.

So there’s my wrench for the month. I’m not sure I’m dodging it. I may be taking it right to the face. We’ll see.

Anyone else have a wrench in their month already? Or, on a happier note, how did you turn your lemons into lemonade?


  • 0

A Brave New World

Tags : 

Note: Sorry if you got a strange update from my blog yesterday that didn’t link to anything. The hubby and I were trying to get something to work and didn’t realize we’d made it live then taken it down, so sorry about that.

I woke up this morning, and didn’t have to go to work.

Which is strange, because I’ve been getting up and getting ready to head out the door since I was a little kid. Showering is my morning coffee, and I may or may not be addicted to McDonald’s breakfast.

But things have changed. I “retired” from my day job ten days ago. This is what a couple of amazing guys from my work made me as a retirement present. The shield is already on my wall, and the helmet (3D printed) is on  my desk!

 

One chapter in my life has ended, and another has begun. The adventure of being a:

Full-Time Author!

What does this entail?

Well, first off it means I get up, get dressed and workout first thing. I’ve never been a morning workout person, so this is going to be interesting. Today (Day 1) I discovered that our Wii isn’t hooked up to YouTube for whatever reason, so I dragged my kicking bag into the family room and beat the crap out of it for thirty minutes. I’m way out of shape.

I’ve made a daily schedule for myself, because if I don’t, I get sucked into the interwebs for more time than I care to reveal.

I’m giving my inner author, whom I discovered is basically the girl from Tangled, her very own time every afternoon so she can come out and play. Hopefully this will make her happy and give my creative juices a boost.

My daily schedule is longer than the hours at my day job. Almost every author will tell you that this is normal.

Perhaps the most intimidating part of the adventure is that I am in charge of my own fate. If I fail, it’s on me. If I don’t write, it’s on me. If I neglect marketing, it’s on me. I no longer have the excuse of my day job to keep me from succeeding. I can no longer justify complaints about a lack of time to devote to being more healthy.

Changes for you will include two things right away.

First, I will be blogging every week. Not every-other month, like last year.

Second, I’m going to be instituting Flash Fiction Friday here on my blog. Each Friday I will be writing and publishing a short story. 1,000 words or less. There will be a whole write up about it this coming Friday, so stay tuned for that. It’s going to be fun and ridiculous. Who doesn’t want that?

Thanks for sticking with my through my author adventure up to this point, and I promise it’s only going to get better and better!


Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 28 other subscribers

Top Posts & Pages