Just Checking In!

 

Happy Friday!

Let me start by saying Thank you to all veterans for your service! Veterans Day is also my mom's birthday, so we will be having our now standard British Brunch in her honor tomorrow. Last year I brought Yorkshire pudding and this year forgot that I bought the mix on Amazon, but the recipes I've seen just say I need flour, so what the heck was in the mix? Are they cheating us?

So, I had a goal to read Edgar Allen Poe's complete works in October, and the first story I encountered was so fricking boring that it took me until November to finish it. I have to learn to speed read, but I also need to read some of the other million books I have on my Kindle.

Last Saturday, I attended the first Black Women's Health Conference founded by my play-cousin, and it was AMAZING. I can't wait for next year. It was amazing. Somewhere in the middle of it, I realized what I need to do for one of my next book projects. It might've been around the "Burn it all down" portion of Q&A. Either way, I'm excited again about that particular story.

I'm coming up on another paste-a-scene in my writing, so I'm happy about that. I'm glad I wrote so many salvageable scenes and chapters before I started Divided Princess again. It really was just that I needed to put new scenes and ideas in their proper places. This is going to make the story so much stronger. Did I mention the Women's Meditation Retreat I was in last month? If not, while meditating, God gave me a key to the ending of the series, and I could've fallen out right then. It makes so much sense. I'm extra excited about it and can't wait to get there. This story has morphed into something I never expected, especially as I had planned for it to be one book and have no sequels.

Next weekend, I will be at my first two-day convention, Blue Hen Comic-Con, and I had to buy less books that I wanted. Only 9 less, but...eh. I sold 35 books in one day at the Dover Comic-Con, if I remember correctly. I have 66 for two days. This could work. I'm just nervous. I also hope one day I'll be selling not to recoup what I bought and pay off some bills, but to have some extra cash. Of course, that's not the main goal, but it would be so helpful. I usually go live when I finish setting up, and because this one is indoors, I only have to set up my table, so I'll go live a little longer this time. I will most likely check in the Friday after next to share how the convention went.

I started this post an hour ago with the hope to post at Noon, and I'm out of words to say. Have a great weekend!

November Review

 

© Creative Commons Zero (CC0)

I honestly did not mean to take the month off, so let me provide an update at least!

November did fly by, in my defense. I attended Dover's First Friday on the 5th and was able to sell many of my books. I hope to sell the rest of the Downtown Dover Partnership at the December event. The publisher is currently in the process of changing the cover to try to gain more attention and buyers, so we'll see how that works out.

Since creating a Seller's Account on Fiverr, I've completed 2 bio editing gigs, and I've edited a bio and a letter for two band directors in Tennessee (those were free, because they were for my friend, but I'll take the exposure any day)! I may even be working with the second customer on her book in the next few months. I really love editing, so I'm hoping this is the start of switching my career. I've been applying to things a little more frequently and even applying to things I think I might not have the full qualifications for. You never know until you try.

So, my mom's house is trying to fall apart before my sister and I can leave it. On the bright side, the repairs will increase the value of the home. On the down side, we have to fix the stuff before we can leave! We wanted to move this September, but we weren't looking that hard. I haven't even started packing. We will see how that works out as well.

On a Thanksgiving note, while I do celebrate, I do it strictly for the fact that it has been the time my family gets together to eat and enjoy each other after my Pop-pops death in '98. This year, I want to acknowledge that for Indigenous Americans, it is a day of mourning. There was no "First Thanksgiving." There was a breach of a treaty and a massacre. It's sad that we've been taught differently, but the victor always gets to tell the history (have you ever asked someone from England why the Puritans came over here in the first place? The answer will surprise you). Please take some time to educate yourself this week on what really happened to the Indigenous people and how it continues to affect their throughout the country, and even the continent.

See you in December!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I'll post my monthly review with my IWSG post next week. That way, I can report my final progress report for NaNoWriMo.

I know Thanksgiving is going to look different for a lot of people this year. My family's too big to get together for the first time in a while, so immediately families are getting together. If nothing else, find reasons to be thankful, and if for nothing else, be thankful we're still alive.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

November Writing Update

 

Can you believe it's already the middle of November?! It's crazy. I have successfully written every day for NaNoWriMo, and I've passed the 20k words mark! I had to tell myself this time to just not worry about hitting 1,667 words every day. Those first few days, I was passing that, and I even passed 2,000 words a couple of days. I didn't think I could write every day anymore, so I'm excited that I can. If not by the end of November, I will have a completed first draft of my urban fantasy in December!

How is everyone coming with their NaNoWriMo goals?

Insecure Writers Support Group: Into The Place Where You Dream

 

Happy November!

I can't believe this year is already up, but I guess it's a good thing when 3/4 of it has been in quarantine. Here's to a better 2021, even though we still have December. On the bright side, November is also the start of the Holiday Season, beginning with Thanksgiving, my favorite "2-day" holiday (gotta finish those leftovers)!

How is everyone doing with NaNoWriMo? I've successfully gotten through the first 3 days! I think having a publisher to answer to put a fire under my butt. Ha. I'm taking it a day at a time, because if I think about the fact that I have 27 more days to write 1,667 words (well a little less, because I'm actually averaging 1,735 words right now, and the website lowers the bar daily when you write over 1,667) EACH DAY, I will go into panic mode. I'm also writing with a group of other writers in a bigger group called Black Girl Gamers. I joined maybe a month before my mom passed, so these ladies have been a big comfort to me this year. If you're trying NaNoWriMo alone and struggling, try to look for some friends who can join you and support you through it. But also, it's okay if you don't reach 1,667. I have to tell myself that, too, so I don't get disappointed in myself. The important thing is you're writing.

All right, onto this month's question: Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write?

Robert Olen Butler said "Art doesn't come from the mind. It comes from where you dream." I'm a big dream writer. I dream vividly, and in color, which is apparently rare, but I know many people who dream in color, so I have questions. Anyway, I write to share what sick and twisted thoughts are in my mind, and to create worlds others can escape into from time to time. Sometimes you can find a moral. Sometimes, meh. As a black woman writing fantasy, I also want younger black girls who love fantasy books and video games that it's okay and they're not alone in what they love.

Why do you write what you write?

Taking a Break

Dagonit, it's Thursday.

I'm just going to take a break for the rest of the year. I have a lot on my mind right now. Hopefully, I'll be up to blogging again in January, but I will still have my Insecure Writers' Support Group post up in December.

Have a great Thanksgiving (it's my favorite holiday), and enjoy the rest of Fall!

Wednesday Words: When She Reigns by Jodi Meadows

Oh my gosh, it's still Wednesday at least. So, this is usually the day where I share what I am reading, so now it's the night. Ah well. I'm really excited about this one.

Eeee, it's here! Thank you @jodimeadows for making me part of this journey! This series is amazing! pic.twitter.com/aeyQETuxJn

— Debra Renée Byrd, author (@DebTheAuthor) September 10, 2019

We've come to the final installment of Jodi Meadows's Fallen Isles Trilogy: When She Reigns. I'm still so blessed to have been a sensitivity reader for Jodi through this, and by this book, I was just basically a beta reader. I'm already halfway through the book, and there's so many things I can share. This time, though, the blurb speaks volumes, and because it's already 9PM, I'm going to go ahead and share that for you all.

THE FIRST DRAGON
The Great Abandonment has begun. Panic has seized the Fallen Isles, where no one knows which god will rise next. Mira Minkoba believes her dreams hold the secret to bringing an end to the destruction, but in order to save her people, she'll have to find a legendary treasure: the bones of the first dragon.

THE LAST HOPE
Mira's desperate search leads the Hopebearer and her friends on a dangerous journey into the heart of enemy territory: the Algotti Empire itself. The empress is more than willing to help--for an impossible price. And as tensions escalate beneath the shadows of the risen gods, Mira grapples with a terrifying question: What will she have to sacrifice to preserve what she loves?

I love it.

What are you reading this month?

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Happy Turkey Month! It's already November, and that means it's time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Thank you to Alex J. Cavanaugh and his co-hosts for this month for keeping this bloghop alive so we writers can support each other through our highs and our lows in writing and life!

To join in with us, visit the IWSG Site to sign up!

I'll be on the road when this goes live. This year has been quite a whirlwind: my mom getting a scary cancer diagnosis and helping care for her, travel to chemo appointments with her, moving her in and out of various houses (she was with her friend first while she went through the hardest part, then my little sister and I, and now she's permanently in an in-law suite with my big sister, and she's loving it!), self-publishing my book, and now unfortunately getting my own bad health news.

And first off, sorry to be a downer this month!

Not even 2 weeks ago yet, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. I'd suspected it when the first biopsy came back negative for non-Hodgkin and my neck swelling didn't go down, but I waited until I had more worrisome lymph nodes start to swell up, and that's when I had the surgery I mentioned a post or so ago. Telling my friends is the hardest part, but they're so supportive. It's just been an overwhelming few days, though. If you're the praying type, I'll take those as well as positive thoughts.

Writing wise, I'm actually doing the cardinal no-no of editing something I haven't finished. I've always done that, so screw the rules and play the game. It's my NA Fantasy, and there were things that weren't making sense to me, so I have fix those before I continue, or I'll have even more work on my hands later. Has anyone else ever done that?

All righty, this is longer than I like these to be. The monthly question is: What's the strangest thing you've ever googled in researching a story?

I know there has to be one thing I've googled, but I can't think of it. Probably baobab fruit haha. But also, my mom's a nurse, so we grew up with medical dictionaries in the house. I spent many days looking through the biggest one for my fan fictions. Cardiomyopathy might have been one of the weirder things I looked up, because I liked to kill off love interests with heart diseases. I've grown out of that. A little bit.

Have a great November!

Insecure Writer's Support Group: NaNoWriMo is here!

Where is the time going?! It's NOVEMBER. The first day of November to be exact. It's also the first Wednesday, and so that means it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Visit our great sensei Alex J. Cavanaugh and the IWSG site (linked in the previous sentence) to join us and visit the hosts for this month.

November also means it's time for National Novel Writing Month projects! And that is the topic of the question for this month: Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published?

I think I've only tried NaNo once and gave up, but this year, I actually have two projects I want to work on: a fantasy piece about rebellion and a rom-com featuring demisexuals. Because of recent events in my personal life, I was actually able to write an opening for the former. The latter, I have smatterings in my head that I can most definitely flesh out. I'll just have to make the time to write 1,000 words each day, which I'm almost sure I can do if I actually focus. Wish me luck!

Have any of you finished your NaNo projects? Will this be your first year trying NaNoWriMo? Would you like to try the not-yet-popular NaNoReMo? lol

Wednesday Words: NaNoReMo?

So, I joked about doing "NaNoReadMo" a couple of posts back, but at this point, I realize it might be a good idea!

If you remember April for me, my Pastor died at the beginning of the month, and I was hired for a new job at the end of the month. Since then, my reading has gone kaput, and I was nowhere near reaching my original Goodreads goal for the month. I cut it down, given the circumstances, but I could still do better.

Most on the writing blogosphere already know November is National Novel Writing Month (that's right, right?), the time most writers set a goal of writing 1,000 words a day to have a 30,000-word manuscript done at the end of the month. This has been shortened to the adorable NaNoWriMo.

So using that same model, I would like to try to reach my reading goal by the end of November, or at least have a buffer that I can breeze through in December. So for me, November will be National Novel Reading Month, NaNoReMo! If I can read a book a week, I'll be happy. It's going to take some hard work!

What about you? Participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Would you like to join me in NaNoReMo? I want to know!