Post-publishing post

-

Having released my novel, I turned a little attention to some EPP...
 

The days following a novel's release are full of.... Well, I'm still busy with books; I've spent recent mornings reading through Gracious Mysteries, the next installment in this series. I've also pondered what I want to write next, hehehe. I've done laundry, pottered in the garden, worked on some English paper piecing, also taken a lovely drive along Highway 101 not quite as far as Orick but close. I given great consideration to what it means having released another novel; I've been publishing books since 2011, eleven years of poking about with plots and characters, at times wondering why I feel compelled to share these slices of my gray matter as well as chunks of my heart and heaps of my soul. Yet here I am, still at it. Let me tell you why it matters....

Self-publishing is a misnomer; I'm deeply grateful for Smashwords, through which I distribute my stories. I've been blessed with great editors and those who have created beautiful book covers. My family, especially my beloved husband, have supported this effort throughout my writing career. But this career isn't what most would describe as such; maybe they would call it a hobby. Yet over the last fifteen years much of my free time has revolved around writing. My kids were teens when I began crafting fiction, now I have grandkids, ha ha. I love to make quilts and tend to plants, I adore spending time with my spouse, our family, and dear friends. But the need to tell stories never diminishes. I have SO MANY lists of things to do, however writing never falls on any of them. It's instinctive, therapeutic, at times a bit of a buttinski, yet if I had my rathers, I'd be sitting at a computer typing someone's wonders and woes.

I always wanted to be a writer, yes I am one of those people. That I'm still at it is a testament to remaining faithful, both to a dream and to where that goal leads. I try to do right by my characters to the best of my ability; to paraphrase NANOWRIMO founder Chris Baty, no one else can tell MY stories. Until I run out of ideas, stamina, or the ability to pound a keyboard, I imagine those tales will emerge as seems necessary. I might not always publish them, but I can't honestly ponder such a creative manner of self-expression disappearing from my wheelhouse.

That's my credo, mantra, whatever you wish to call it; I write novels because I can't not write them. And because I can publish them, I do. If you'd like to read my books, that would be AWESOME! Check out my newest release, The Possibility of What If, or peruse my back catalogue at Smashwords, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, Scribd, and Odilo.

Popular posts from this blog

Fits, starts, and restarts

-
Image
Two examples from two different skeins of yarn where breaks in the colour scheme occur. Very indicative of my current mood, lol. This is a funny novel, for all the hemming and hawing going on. Never before have I written, then purged scenes with somewhat of an abandon. I truly don't know what to make of it, chalking it up to age, grieving, the weirdly long winter (even though it's spring), or my new computer keyboard, which is small but adequate in a strangely truncated manner. I'm enjoying the writing, but the story keeps veering off on tangents I'm not comfortable with, in that too much is being revealed too soon, bleh. Future and Past Me's are steering clear of this manuscript, perhaps because what came before it was so out of the blue, so cathartic, and this prequel is just as outta my backside as any I've ever written. But I am writing, let me restate that, despite restarting a chapter here and there. I'm not getting much else accomplished, other than s
Read more

Orphan blocks are not like unfinished novels

-
Image
It's a busy day, getting ready for guests that will enlighten our lives for the next week. However my feet are a little weary, so why not ramble here for a bit, giving those dogs a rest as well as set upon a discourse about the above title before I forget why I thought it was important (lol). I don't even know why I first pondered this, maybe an IG poster mentioned them, which made me think of my orphan EPP blocks. I don't have many machine sewn blocks without a home, but plenty of English paper pieced designs linger in a tote, patterns I liked and HAD TO MAKE. I used plenty of them on a Turning Twenty quilt, decorating some plain tone-on-tone prints and that was a great manner in which to employ less than a quarter of what remains, ahem. Oh and I used some on a t-shirt quilt that I made in conjunction with a friend, who had lived in Hawaii for a few years and wanted to put her aged shirts to quilty use. But still many remain, although I have a plan for them, hehehe. I am h
Read more

Following one's heart

-
Image
Fascinating from the back, as though a map to an unknown destination. It was an early start today, half a chapter written, then texting with my youngest daughter and enjoying photos of her sunrise a few hours east of us. I woke to clear, starry skies, but clouds have since moved in, rain forecast for the next few days. Maybe in a few days I'll have completed my novel; it's VERY CLOSE to being done, but I said that in a recent post, The End dangling like a carrot merely an arm's length away. Meanwhile I've been stitching together Cornflower blocks each evening. The photo above was snapped last night, what I see as I sew. MANY papers to remove, but I'll deal with that later, lol. I'm also working on another quilt, hehehe, more about that in a day or two. And the last ones for this year are washed and waiting to be given to my granddaughters on Christmas, which is just a little over a week away! I considered today's title right after reading through the sevente
Read more