Leaving the Holiday Dust Behind & Traveling 2015's Writing Road

Hope you are refreshed after your Holidays ...

however you celebrate them

I've got a lot of cleaning up done, 

Including updating my author website.

Even enjoyed loafing around during my son's year-end visit, complete with a
Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Also saw the last of The Hobbit.
[I thought it dragged like the rest of them but love NZ scenery.]

Now it's back to the mundane, work-a-day world.

  My biggest news. I'm still in editing mode. Have one project down -- Hear That Damn Owl? [It's up on Smashwords, and I'm waiting for it to appear on Nook so I can get it up on Amazon too.]  But have another story rumbling down the pike -- Taking Vengeance. I decided to re-edit it as well as do the new cover. While I liked the old one, this one gives Mariah more steel in her stare.

  The most helpful thing I read was an comprehensive list on The Write Life for editing manuscripts. Yeah, another list. But this one can help anyone who has to write reports or papers as well as trying to write books or stories. 25 Editing Tips for Tightening Your Copy. I think I'll always hire editing for my self-published stuff, but this list can help Old Cheapskate Here save some money.

My catalog of short stories keeps growing online.

  Someday, I might consolidate worlds and/or protagonists. But first I've got to get stuff out of my computer. Short reads seem to be the most efficient way to excavate. End result? I have a huge backlog to revise, polish, and self-publish.

  Other self-publishers might be interested in an article I discovered on Google+: Where Should You Self-Publish an eBook?. If you're interested in building a career, you need to read this to set up a marketing plan. I discovered my "by-the-pants" plan wasn't too far off the bullseye. I plan on continuing to use Smashwords and Kindle Direct. To me the combination seems to be the most efficient. Besides I understand the process. [Though I still make mistakes... or get distracted by solitaire.]

  Another article I found on the BookDaily emails that was particularly helpful was How to Get Bloggers to Review your Book by Emlyn Chand. The blog post has so much good advic]e I printed a copy of it so it wouldn't get lost in my computer. It's in my reference binder.

  I'm planning to using the tips to gather reviews for The Ghostcrow. I did a bunch of exchange reviews for Showdown at Crossings. But decided I really didn't like the process. First, I read too many full-length novels in exchange for a long short story ... and people expected five star ratings.

The only fly in my ointment.

  This was the year I came down with the "galloping croup". It really slowed me down, and even now, I'm running on half my cylinders. So, I've been doing some comfort -reading -- the first four Anne of Green Gables novels since my son left. What a master of characterization L. M. Montgomery was.

  [Confession: Even as a teen, I thought Anne and friends were rather sappy ... but the people and places they met were wondrous ... and still are.]

  Coughing or not, I plan to start my 2015 writing year right. Two pages of new stuff plus a bunch of editing is the plan. Against my better judgement, I'm going to work on a sequel to Noticing Jamilla ... and see how Cassy Mae fares on her flight from Docket's Diggings.

Then, there's The Ghoscrow waiting in the wings. Think I've got a bunch to keep me busy along with beta-reading and critiquing.

Hope your plans are revving up too.