Tag: writing community

Here’s where I stand… 7

Hey you…

My phone buzzed its way across the desk and lite up my room. There he was.

It’s been at least a week since we last talked. I told him I needed to be alone. I needed time to think and to organize my thoughts, and him trying to help me, wasn’t helpful at all.

Are you sleeping? Emma, can we talk yet?…

What put me on his mind tonight? Was he just bored?

I stumbled across the floor, forgetting where I had pushed some of the boxes to before my faint attempt at a good night’s sleep.

I took my phone to the living room, poured a cup of coffee and turned on my series of fairy lights that trailed across the walls, and traced out my living room. They gave the room just enough light read by and made me feel cozy whenever I turned them on. I turned the tv on and pressed play on the Detective Lynley episode I had been watching earlier.

Sitting down with my coffee, I looked around the room filled with partially packed boxes and the array of items Iā€™d already changed my mind on and unpacked. I peeked at my phone as it chimed again reminding me I hadn’t opened the text messages… And I still didn’t want to, not yet.

Sighing out of frustration. I leaned back in my chair and sipped my coffee. Sleep wasn’t happening, so why not help me keep my mental state awakened with some caffeine.

He’s waiting on my decision. Whether or not I’m leaving or staying and what that means for us… And as the boxes scattered across my house and voicemails left unanswered show…I can’t make up my mind.

Mike makes me wonder if he is a smart move.

And that’s where my friends tell me I’m self-sabotaging.

I need to move in 2 months. And I have the option to transfer to one of two locations… One moving me to London, someplace I’ve always longed to visit, if not live. Truly a dream come true.

Or, one that keeps me close to him. A job just as good in every way except for the location of course. Nothing beats London views in my opinion. I’d be trading travel for staying put, and putting myself out there to try something that I’m more unsure about than moving to a different country.

Matters of the head / Matters of the heart.

Part of me wants London, it’s been a part of my life since my first memory. But then there’s Mike… And part of me wants to know how long this feeling will make it. Part of me knows that if I leave, I will be leaving a huge part of me behind and that I will always wonder ā€what ifā€.

What if I tried…

What if I loosened up a bit and stopped living my life so planned out and tried the ā€roll the dice and see where they landā€ lifestyle my mother keeps telling me would do me some good.

What if seems to be all I can come up with anymore.

Th legal pad sitting on my table doesn’t show signs of helping either. Page after page of lists and the infamous pros and cons column. I’m glad it’s only Friday night and I’ve got the weekend to work out my headspace in silence. Trying to battle with my head while keeping up face at work is not so very easy.

It seems everything is demanding my attention these days and nothing is getting the right amount of it…

Maybe I need to get out of here…

A.G.

Can you relate?

Where do all these new writers find the time, the energy and the readers to boost their self published books so quickly??

Paying out the nose for peopleā€™s interest just doesnā€™t seem to be right in my mind. Is it just me? Is paying for constant ads and/or banking on family and friends to actually read and review your work really your only option when doing this alone?

A good friend of mine, one who writes and edits as a fairly profitable profession, told me your worst readers are the people closest to you. Basically, everyone who talks so highly of your ā€œambitious ideaā€ will praise you to your face and then expect everything for free and will give you nothing.

I saw that first hand when my first book was published.

Some bought it and read it just to find any and every little flaw. Some purchased just to say they did and still haven’t read a word. And others are still talking about buying my work and go this day this Iā€™ve still not seen the sales. šŸ˜‚

Who else can relate?

A slow-moving world – The morning tea

Jennifer-writes.com

Nothing opens before 7am, everything closes early, some restaurants still donā€™t allow dine in, and itā€™s still confusing and hard to tell when you are required to wear a mask or when youā€™re not allowed to have more than yourself accompany you.

I think Iā€™ve been kicked out of a total of 3 offices this week due to them having a ā€œpatient onlyā€ rule and not informing us until we arrived… and at one point I registered a fever of 107 after being outside and waiting in my car for my appointment. Of course it was just due to the heat, but the look I received from everyone upon the thermometers reading was a bit scary. šŸ˜¬

Masks have become the new normal.

After being the 2nd hardest thing to find next to toilet paper, now theyā€™re everywhere you look in every pattern and style from plaid to glittery gems.

Go team sparkle! šŸ’Ž

Slowly but surely people are growing accustomed to all the new changes. But we still have a ways to go. Thereā€™s a growing concern that things are opening up too soon and while some are taking every precaution, there are still a few that feel they are invincible and above the precautions.

How long will we be living like this?

Is this something that we will just adjust to overtime and slowly forget the way things use to be?

Or will we see real long term and positive changes from all of this?

Ebook or No Ebook?

Letā€™s get down to it

Honestly. I dislike Ebooks…

I know, I know! Why do you publish Ebooks if you hate them so much?

  • Because everyone likes Ebooks (well most people do)
  • Ebooks sell better than paperbacks
  • Theyā€™re cheaper- better for budgeters
  • Social media connect – makes its so much simpler to share your favourite titles with friends and family
  • Super ideal to pack and travel with
  • Access to thousands of titles at your fingertips
  • …. and thatā€™s all I got. šŸ˜„

The truth is, publishing via Ebook prior to releasing a paperback is a great way to start stirring up reviews and attention for the book on a minimal budget. Many editors, publishers and writers have said this (and proved it) over and over again. Especially those of us that are publishing independently.

But I hate them!

  • I donā€™t like staring at a screen that long. Special screen, special glasses or not, my eyes tire out.
  • I lose interest in reading!
    The book may be great but I can never sit down and read on a kindle as long as I can sit with a physical book.
  • Forgetting to charge the darn thing!! šŸ¤¦šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø
  • Losing the cords!
  • Your kindle crashes! (Iā€™ve been a victim … I posted about it too)
  • I like having signed copies of my favourite authors (heck I like being able to sign my own books for others to have)
  • You lose out on that new book (or old book) smell
  • You donā€™t get to walk the isles of a bookshop and sift through titles weighing the book, the price and the catchy ness of the first paragraph as you decide what to buy or pass on.

So what are your thoughts?

Ebook or real book?

What are some of your ā€œconvincingā€ points when telling someone why you like one vs the other?

Book things

So weirdly enough, my debut novel has had more acknowledgment this and last month , than it has since it was originally published šŸ˜³

Iā€™ve read a lot of pieces from authors who claim that the more books you have the better sales you get. Simply because readers like to be able to buy more and not have to wait.

I get that. I hate waiting for sequels to books I love or TV series.

You wait around to long and you end up losing interest.

What are some series (books or tv) that you lost interest in before the next instalment arrived?

Riverdale was a biggie for me. Iā€™m just now getting back into it and finishing the latest season.

~Jen