Happy Halloween! How has your day been? If you’re here in West Michigan, you’re probably stalking your weather apps to see how bad it will be while trick or treating tonight. Me? My two kids are too old for that now, so we’ll be home, watching the Flash on the CW and waiting to pass out candy.
While I know Halloween has fallen from favor with some groups, I have always enjoyed it. I work in a library, and this morning I was honestly hoping for a little haunted house action. Sigh. I got nothing, save the normal creepy sounds eminating from our roof. But it’s still a fun day.
So here’s wishing you a happy haunted night, full of candy and maybe a little mayhem.
Month: October 2017
The Author Life…or Something Like That
It’s beautiful outside today. It’s 71 degrees (according to my weather app on my Android), and there’s a breeze playing through the trees outside my window. The trees are starting to change, finally. With all the rain and wind we got here in west Michigan last week, I wasn’t sure there’d be any leaves left.
Tonight is the last home football game, and last game period for the Shelby Tigers. They fought valiantly, but without much avail this year. The highlight of the home games was the Shelby Marching Tigers, the high school marching band my son plays trumpet in. I guess maybe my opinion is swayed, being a band mom. The football team really did try hard this year.
My niece and I attended the Breathe writing conference back on October 6th, and it was amazing. I got to sit in on sessions led by two very talented women, Rachel McMillan (her Canadian accent is so COOL!) and Cynthia Beach, who led a great session on writing settings. B (my niece) and I decided we definitely want to attend the whole conference next year. It’s already in my Google calendar.
So what about actual writing? Well, I’ve been editing Lift, my YA contemporary fantasy novel coming from Wicked Whale Publishing in 2018. I’m finding out that being a pantser-type writer means quite a bit of revision. I’m also writing Tilt, the second in The Flying Ponies series.
Life does get in the way, though, of that thing we writers like to do: write. We’ve had doctor’s appointments this week and upcoming doctor and dentist appointments in the next two weeks. We’re going to Cedar Point amusement park with my husband’s brothers and their families next weekend, where I’m hoping to snag some selfies with the Muller “Haunted Cavalry Horse” carousel horse that resides in the park’s Frontier Town Museum. We’ve also got the Shelby Marching Tigers’ Spectacular next Friday night, where the marching band plays in the high school auditorium. It is quite a sight!
Throw in high school and middle school conferences, youth group activities, those pesky TV shows my hubby and I can’t live without, the books we’re trying to read, a health concern for me, and a myriad of other things (have I mentioned our two horses and two Dachshunds?!), and it’s a wonder I get any writing or editing done at all. I’m very new to this author life, and while loving it to death, I do struggle with finding time for everything. Because it’s all good stuff. Great stuff, actually, when it has to do with my family and animals.
What do you do to find time? To make time? I have a pretty pink soft cover notebook that’s quite large, and that’s what I make my writing plans in every week. I try to stick to the schedule I lay out. Sometimes I do really well, and other times, well, not so much. This week, I know without checking my planner, I didn’t do so hot. But at least I have a reference for what I really need to be working on. I put stickers and shiny sticky gemstones in it to flash it up a little. Hopefully this next week I’ll manage to follow my plans a little better.
So onward to the last football game of the season. And onward with this crazy author life!
Continuing to Learn
My niece and I are attending the 2017 Breathe Conference tomorrow, October 6. It will be our first time there, and our first time going to a conference together. We’re excited, a little nervous, and ready to learn.
It will be interesting to be with so many other writers. Writing is a solitary action. Most of us are introverts. I know I prefer small groups to large ones, but sometimes getting out of my comfort zone is good. Getting to talk writing with so many other people will be an amazing experience.
Continuing to learn about the craft of writing is important. I cut my teeth writing reams and reams of fan fiction. Writing for those fandoms helped me learn what to do and not do. I learned (hopefully) how to deal with unflattering reviews. But not everything can be gleaned from just writing. Going to conferences and seminars teaches you new ideas, builds your confidence, and lets you mingle with others who “get” you.
I will post this weekend after the conference and let you know how it went. Have a blessed night, and a wonderful Friday.
A Scribe's Life 