Quarterly update & Bi-yearly check in
We’ve just about made it through the second quarter and we’ll be halfway through the year already. Can you believe it? Summer has arrived in full force here in the PNW. The forecast includes highs in the 80’s and 90’s this week and possibly even 100 degrees this weekend! It’s only June…I wonder what July and August are going to be like??
Extremely hot summer days can limit my time in the chair and I’m thankful high temps aren’t a regular problem. I don’t want to lose my momentum. I’ve focused on productivity and time management these past six months and I saw a shift the second quarter I was really pleased with. The first quarter was a good one, but the second was better. Here’s what I have to share with you:
Publishing
I’m happy to say my next novel in the Jorja Matthews mystery series will be published before the end of the month. *happy dance!* The eBook should be available this weekend and the paperback soon after. I’m so excited to finally have this novel complete, because it took much longer than I intended. Publishing a novel is exciting but also an emotional roller coaster when you don’t publish when you had hoped. Rather than beat myself up about my perceived failings, I’d rather focus on the positive. I have another book under my belt, with six in my series. I’m also a better writer because of the work I’ve created and what I continue to learn through the process.
I’ll share the links when both the eBook and paperback are available so look for that post soon. I will also share the links in my next newsletter if you’re on my mailing list.
Writing
Now that I’ve completed the sixth novel in Jorja’s series, I’m spending more time with the characters in my new series. I offered a sneak peek to my newsletter subscribers, but won’t be sharing more here until I’m closer to a pub date. If you want updates, but haven’t signed up for my newsletter, you can do so here. My plan is to publish the first and hopefully second in that series before the end of the year. I’ll also continue to work on the next Jorja novel because I would like to schedule that novel for publishing before the end of next year.
Learning
Although businesses and events are beginning to open up, if they aren’t fully open already, most events are still online. I haven’t heard yet, but I’m hopeful the local writer’s conference I usually attend in September will be an option for in-person learning and networking this year. I’ll wait and see. In the meantime, this past quarter the webinars I took part in was a mixed bag and included topics on editing, cover design, marketing, productivity, writing, email marketing and book launch tips.
Reader Outreach
I continue to share a newsletter every month with musings and updates. And some really good news is that I was able to sign up for and attend an in-person event! It’s an event that runs through summer into September. It’s different than what I usually participate in, but reminds me of the time I took part in Lakefair years ago. It’s a street fair and creative market in Tenino for local artists and has included a good variation of vendors. The event runs the second Saturday of each month, plus July 24th during Oregon Trail Days, and is located just off the main street in the middle of town across from the Farmer’s Market.
I was happy to take part as one of the first handful of vendors in May, which turned into three times as many vendors in June. I was thrilled to meet and greet potential new readers to my series. And the event has been fulfilling in so many ways, likely due to my sense of loss at not having been able to participate in any events for fifteen months. I’m scheduled to attend the event again on July 24th and also September 11th so if you haven’t already, I’d love to see more friendly faces. I’ll also have a copy of the sixth novel in the series on hand at the next event for those who want to get a copy before they’re gone!
Reading
I’ve continued to reduce the number of books from my TBR pile. Although I admit I tend to buy as many as I read so my pile probably isn’t that much smaller! I pledged to read 50 books this year and so far I’ve read 25 books. Although, that number doesn’t include some of the nonfiction or writing books I read. I tend not to count those books (unless my Kindle automatically adds them) because I may not read them cover to cover or I may skim through them for just what I need at the time. My list of books read has been a good mix and I’m sharing a snapshot below. I’m happy to be able to get back into some serious and enjoyable reading.
Blogging
I’m six months in on the major changes made to my blog posts and my new blogging schedule. I’m grateful for my editorial calendar, which keeps me on track and lessens my stress about what to post. I will continue to blog once a week, on Wednesdays, through the end of the year. Then I’ll review the process to determine whether I’ll keep up that schedule or reduce it to twice a month. My blog posts continue to include the topic of writing when relevant, as well as these new post series:
- Character Coffee Chats share character interviews from the mystery series — we met with Jorja, Taylor and Ryan the first quarter and this past quarter we met with Brad, Kat and Lydia.
- Nonfiction Nuggets is a series I share every other month with topics that relate to my series in some way. Post topics include adoptions, interesting ways DNA has been used to solve crimes and postpartum psychosis.
- The P.I. Post is a series where I continue to share interesting P.I. topics, unique stories and interesting case reviews. I enjoy this series because as a former private investigator, there are many interesting topics I’d like to share with you. So far I’ve shared posts on how law enforcement has used convicts to solve cold cases, the history behind the first private investigators, including the first female P.I. (interesting woman!) and how a road trip and my curiosity after finding a car at the bottom of a valley led to a decades old case involving murder.
P.S. Some of these posts do offer spoilers if you haven’t read the series!
I’ve continued to share posts about other topics and some of the fan favorites last quarter include:
- How to stay positive in a negative world
- The #1 thing writing has taught me
- 15 ways to use an empty notebook
I still continue to share posts on my YA website about once every quarter. My YA novel, Born or Bred (a dystopian novel), was published last year and it has its own website. Last quarter I shared a popular post titled, Using ‘what if’ questions to plot a novel.
I haven’t had time to add any posts to my Jaunts with Jozee blog. This is where I share the excursions we take with our Border Collie as we visit parks around the PNW. It’s for fun so I get to it when other projects aren’t taking up all the creative space in my brain. But if you’re looking for a local park to visit, you might find one that peaks your interest on Jozee’s blog.
This past quarter has included movement in the right direction, with a book published, another series in the works, events attended, events upcoming, continuous learning and staying on task with my blogging schedule. Overall, this ends the first half of the year on a highly positive note. My goals are in place and I look forward to what I will accomplish during the second half.
As always, thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!
