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Writing Goals
I spent most of my day today making ancient Egypt themed cupcakes for my almost-nine-year-old birthday boy, who has recently taken an increased interest in Social Studies. (I think it’s the myths.) Turns out, Ancient Egypt is not as popular a party theme as you might think… If it had been a jungle, I would…
Writing Goals
Over the weekend, I read through what I had of Act 1, got some very helpful comments from my alpha reader (thanks @katkeenanbooks!), and did some quick revisions to help me get into Act 2. So, I went from around 16k words to down to 12k, and I’m now back up to 13k. And I…
Progress Check
Y’all. Y’all. You All. I have one scene left to finish the shitty first act of the sucky first draft of Cate 2. Yes, I did just make up another milestone. But my word count has a downward trend over the course of a week, so I’m doing what has to be done to hype…
Tarot Tuesday
The Fool- new beginnings, opportunity, freedom, adventure Nothing but potential in front of me. Take chances and embrace a sense of wonder Nine of Swords- anxiety, fear, isolation, nightmares Beware of self-fulfilling prophecies and repeating past mistakes, the mind turning in itself. Focus on the things you can control. Ask for help. Seven of Wands-…
Writing Goals
This week…. words, words, words.All the words. No matter what order. No matter how fast they come. Drafting is a different kind of hard than editing was. I’m building something that I hope will stand, but it’s just as likely to collapse or grow wings. I think I’m about 5000 words from breaking into Act…
Progress Check
This week I wrote 5,173 words, of which around 1200 will be published in Indie Author Magazine next month. My article for this month: “Back to Basics: How Writers Can Make the Most of Google Docs and Microsoft Word” is live today. Most of the rest of the words are filling out act 1 of…
Writing Goals
How is February over already? I feel like I looked at my goals for the month, and then it was over. So, yeah, what I’m saying here is that I completed exactly none of the goals that were set for this month, and even if this week brings an unexpected burst of productivity, I’m not…
Writing Goals
Remember last week? Yeah. It’s a do-over. The kids have two days off from school, and the teachers left them about a week’s worth of asynchronous work, so we’re all just going to do our best and hope it’s enough.
Tarot Tuesday
This week’s spread is three cards. I asked a question about my progress toward publishing (and that’s all you need to know right now). The first card was the Fool. So. There’s that. LOL But really, he’s just a newbie, starting out on a journey, excited, and maybe not as cautious as he could be.…
Writing Goals
I’m late posting my goals today because I spent most of it catching up on the goals I didn’t finish last week. But I’m done now. Yay! ✅ Draft #6 of Cate the Cursed✅ Complete 25 episodes of The Devil in the Details February Goals:☑️ Query Cate the Cursed☑️ Draft a reader magnet☑️ Start drafting…
Tarot Tuesday
Just a quick three-card spread between chores today. Four of Pentacles – This card shows a character who is saving her wealth, and it might be good, financial stability and solid investments, or it might be possessive behavior, or excessive caution. The Chariot – This card is in the major arcana, so it usually has…
Writing Goals
This week is for big picture revisions. I did leave myself a little work last week, since I didn’t actually rewrite those last three pages, but I think those will come after I finish this last read-through. On the Vella front, I also need to write the last episode of The Devil in the Details…
Progress Check
While I can’t say the revision is 100% complete, as I’d hoped on Monday, I did completely rewrite the climax and revise most of the resolution. I need about 400 words to connect the two, and then I’ll need to rewrite the last three or so pages to tie things up, but I feel good…
Tarot… Wednesday?
Decided to go ahead and try a Twitter pitch party today… asked the cards what to expect. 5 of cups warns of loss and disappointment. 6 of wands offers public recognition, self confidence and success. 7 of cups represents opportunities, choices, and maybe wishful thinking. So, probably I should manage my expectations 😉 This is…
Writing Goals
So basically, I need to rewrite 30-35 pages because the ending is the weakest part of the book. I managed to get 1000 new words this morning while my kids had a half day at school, so progress. The bonus goal for this week is to get it done a few days early. There’s a…
Progress Check
So the brain shift from revising to drafting was exactly as hard as predicted. Currently I have one of the two planned scenes finished. It’s longer than I intended, and I’m not sure it fits in as well as it should. That’s a next week problem, however. I’m still hoping to get that second new…
Kindle Vella Update
Sometimes it’s easy to look at the data and be disappointed that the numbers aren’t higher. Especially on days when the reads are still at zero, and there are no reviews to draw attention. But I’m playing a long game, and when I back up enough to see the big picture, the growth is indisputable.…
Tarot Tuesday
Needed some beauty on this gray day, so I pulled a spread from my Anima Mundi deck by @thecreepingmoon The page of cups jumped out in the shuffle. The sea otter is so cute and definitely brings to mind the inner child with big dreams. And I appreciate his positive energy, especially given the rest…
Writing Goals
This week I need to step away from revising, even though I only have ten chapters left. Because I have ten chapters left, I need to make sure that everything that comes before leads into the final act. I’m going to need to push the stakes and conflict in the final act to give the…
Progress Check
We are still making progress! This week’s goal was to meet or exceed last week, and I’m pretty much there. Even with working outside the house on Monday, and having kind of a writing bust on Tuesday, I am somehow mostly on track with the calendar I planned out in December. I’m going to have…
What I’m Learning…
Ok, so it’s not really reading. I haven’t been able to get back on track with my nonfiction yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m not learning! This week, both Mark Dawson and Bryan Cohen are doing ad challenges to teach indie authors about specific marketing opportunities. Both have associated Facebook groups for sharing progress, completing…
What I’m Reading
I picked this up on my birthday, and I’m just getting around to reading it now. You guys. I think I have a new comp for Cate the Cursed. I have never a read a book that felt so much like my voice. Not my genre (this is way creepier). Not my plot (almost no…
Tarot Tuesday
Tarot Tuesday I asked the cards how I could best make use of my Clifton Strengths, now that I’ve identified them. Specifically, how could my strengths help keep me on track with my WIP. I may have been asking too much. The six of pentacles is about wealth, charity, giving and receiving. You have have…
Writing Goals
Forgot to post yesterday because #working, but here’s what you missed if you aren’t following me on Instagram: Today I’m substitute teaching at my old school, having really interesting conversations about British Lit with teenagers who are extremely overwhelmed by the end of the semester. I miss these conversations, but I don’t miss the rest…
Clifton Strengths
Ok, I know it’s Tarot Tuesday, and I will get to that this afternoon, but I broke down and took the Clifton Strengths assessment today, and now it’s all I can think about (if you take a look at my strengths, you can probably see why). Leaning into my Learner strength today. Have you done…
Progress Check
How’d your first week go? I revised 100 pages of my debut novel, Cate the Cursed (and didn’t even really get to the scary part yet), finished the draft for episode 22 of my Kindle Vella: The Devil in the Details (episode 21 is scheduled to go live on Monday), and made home made beef…
Tarot Tuesday
I had a super productive morning, finishing 15 pages of edits AFTER the 20 pages I had planned to do today. It was awesome. So, of course, I asked the cards if this was sustainable. The Ace of Cups jumped out. This is a card for compassion and creativity. Cups, in general, are Yes cards.…
Progress Check
This week I met my base goal by completing the drafts of episode 20 and 21. I’m still editing, but I may be able to get a third episode out of this chunk of the story… so, there’s my stretch goal of finishing ep 22 almost done, too! Maybe by the end of the weekend……
Tarot Tuesday
I tried a bunch of pretty/complicated New Year spreads today, and I’ll share some of them later this week. But they’re going to require some rumination, so here’s a quick 3 card spread. I shuffled, asked for a review on my past, present, and future with the WIP. Cut the deck twice, and pulled the…
Writing Goals
This weeks’ goal is to rebuild my buffer of Vella episodes. My last completed, pre-scheduled episode went live today (Yay!), but that means I’m back in a position I haven’t been in since the first draft of Cate, where I don’t have an ep finished for next week. I have about 3/4 of episode 20…
Progress Check
So… yeah… Things I Did This Week:-Redesigned my planner… again-Set unreasonable writing and publishing goals for next year-Took notes on three new Vellas that I did not schedule any time to write.-Looked at numbers that made me strangely happy-Looked at numbers that made me a little disappointed-Rewrote another chapter of Cate 1-Considered rereleasing Cate 1…
Tarot Tuesday
A winter solstice spread via @thetarotdiagnosis 1) A Shadow to Illuminate: Nine of CupsKeywords are contentment, gratitude and success Be grateful for everything you have, and everything you’ve accomplished. #celebrateeverything 2) A lesson this shadow is trying to teach me: Queen of PentaclesKeywords are nurturing, practical, generous You didn’t get here by luck. Take the…
Writing Goals
Winter Break is upon us, so for the next two weeks, writing happens when it happens. Luckily I’m still a few weeks ahead of my posting schedule, and I have three blogs lined up. I’m going to up against some deadlines in January, but that’s a New Year problem.
Book Mail
Book mail! Woot! Looking forward to finding out what Kate Daniels is getting up to, now that I’ve waited long enough for that spoiler at the end of Book 2 to mostly fade in my memory. Extra curious about this cover, which makes it look like she’s wielding a light saber… #unexpectedcrossover ? Hmmm. Thank…
Tarot Tuesday
Today’s spread via awitcheshouse , (formerly awitchalone) The lesson is the Queen of Pentacles, that working mother card, balancing care and practicality. A reminder to be generous and nurturing, while also getting shit done. The obstacle is the Knight of Pentacles, who focuses on the hard work of the daily grind, maybe making it hard…
Writing Goals
This week I want to get ahead on my Vella. I revised a few of the first episodes, so we’ll see if that helps move people past the first three free ones (hopefully taking advantage of my Featured position!) I also want to start some more of the editing work for Cate 1 because every…
Progress Check
I love it when hard work and luck coincide. This week’s progress is a little of both. I finally saw my first nonfic published.I was assigned a second nonfic for the same publication. I finished the first ten page of Cate 2’s roughest of rough drafts.I decided to give up completely on my goal of…
Tarot Tuesday
Vibes of the Week spread via @NorthernLightsTarot Vibes: Page of Cups Creative opportunity, pleasant surprise, inspiration and possibilitiesI can vibe with this. Yeah, so I already got a nice email today with a new writing assignment for Indie Author Magazine. That’s a pretty good opportunity for me to keep stretching creatively. I would love to…
Writing Goals
Sometimes everything is hard, and I hate it all, and I just want to quit and do… anything else. But not today! Today I have already written almost 500 new words on Cate 2, even though none of it was in the plan for today. Today I remembered to finally open all the email I…
Tarot Tuesday
In honor of my birthday tomorrow, this week I pulled a cake-shaped spread via @magicmaterial I feel like this reading is pretty on point for where I am right now. I’m not super excited to be reminded that the things I want take time and effort, but #allgoodthings and #patienceisavirtue and all that.Looking forward to…
Writing Goals
My birthday is Wednesday. I will not be giving myself a NaNo win this year. I will be giving myself grace. I don’t know what’s holding me back, but if I had really wanted to do it, I would have done a lot of things differently. I still have goals to reach before the year…
Progress Check
This week’s progress was mostly reading, fangirling over #seananmcguire, and enjoying some family time. I did write the first half of episode 18 for The Devil in the Details. Act 3 may need to extend into episode 19 because so far this episode is heavy on tension and light on plot. Oops. #sorrynotsorry When I…
Reading for inspiration
Getting caught up with the series that got me writing again. Cate was partly born from a wondering about what would have happened if Toby leaned more into her human side. (If the balance changes later, don’t tell me!) Her hero drive gets her into a lot of dangerous situations, but somehow I think they…
Tarot Tuesday
All three cards are low numbers this week. Beginnings. New starts. Two are feminine energies, nurturing mothers. The High PriestessIntuition, higher self, divine feminine Ace of SwordsBreakthrough, new mindset, excited to take action The EmpressAbundance, creativity, new projects Overall, the message is to trust your intuition over intellect, be confident in your new ideas and…
Weekly Goals
Last week kind of got away from me. On the upside, even though I wasn’t writing much, I did spend some time on my brand. Check out my updated Home page! This week I’m on vacation, so the writing is going to happen in the in-between times. Last week I managed to stay up to…
Weekly Goals
Right. So. Ummm. Goals. Yeah. Ok, look, I’m just treading water here. I need to get some words, any words down for Cate 2, and write a new episode of Devil to maintain my lead. If I can also maybe read some stuff that I assigned myself two weeks ago, that would be good… I…
Progress Check
Sooooo… once again, did not make my NaNoWriMo word count. What I did do:-received and acted on feedback for the nonfic article I wrote last week.-finished writing episode 15 of The Devil in the Details-wrote about 3/4 of episode 16 (probably will finish tonight), which gets me back on track to where I want to…
Reading Assignments?
Dear Teacher Jenn:This is why I don’t have my reading assignments done this week. NaNo is hard. Also, my kids had two days off. Also, there were doctors’ appointments. Also… I have a short attention span. I promise to get back on track. I really do want to read #aspellinthewild and #dabblersguidetowitchcraft and review my…
Tarot Tuesday
Vibes of the week via @northernlightstarot Vibes: FoolHidden Opportunity: Ace of CupsBe Aware of: King of SwordsAct on: JudgmentEnjoy: Page of Swords Lots of newness here. Taking advantage of opportunities and awakenings. So much potential. This spread also reminds me to be aware of the discipline that will be required for success. I need to…
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Jenn Lessmann 