RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//Amazingly enough, it’s already May – which means THE PROMISED QUEEN, the third and final book in the Forgotten Empires trilogy, is out in just two weeks. That comes as a shock to me, I can tell you!
It also makes this particular graphic quite apt and goes well with our topic this week: “When Life Gets In The Way: dealing with a schedule for writing when the world wants to go off the rails.” Come on over for my best advice.
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Check out this super cool video of THE FIERY CROWN from George R.R. Martin’s Beastly Books here in Santa Fe!
This was supposed to be a live event, but it’s virtual now. Instead of a live interview, Melinda Snodgrass, of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, interviewed me via Zoom and we had a great conversation. You can watch it this afternoon at 4pm Mountain Time here. You can also support this wonderful local indie bookstore by ordering a signed copy of THE FIERY CROWN from them – plus get it well before the May 26 release date! (Or you can preorder via the links below.)
Afterward, I’ll be doing a Facebook Live *and* Instagram Live Q&A. Look for me on Facebook or Instagram, according to your preference. I’ll be on once the Beastly Book event ends, around 5pm Mountain Time.
Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is “Updated writing tools/apps – what’s new and different in your writing world.” My answer? Umm… nothing? I’m pretty happy with my current system, which I’ve been using for years now. I write in Word, track everything on my own spreadsheets I’ve meticulously retooled in Excel, and I save everything in Dropbox. It works well for me and I see no reason to add more “tools.” Come on over for my (non-) answer!
//Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is reading! Do you set aside time for it each day? How do you decide what to read next? Come on over for my story.
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Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is all about the things we want to do. We’re asking everyone to name three projects we’ve been planning to work on for a long while and haven’t yet touched.
It’s kind of like the writer version of the Island of Lost Toys. Come on over to find out mine.
//Why what do I spy with my little eye?!? @jeffekennedy Cover Flats WITH FOIL. ? #TheOrchidThrone @SMPRomance @jcon713 pic.twitter.com/XNrKSCjCvy
— Sarah E. Younger (@seyitsme) April 12, 2019
I had to share this tweet from Agent Sarah. We got the cover flats for THE ORCHID THRONE (out in September 2019, but review copies are going out now – eep!) and they have foil! That’s the shiny stuff on the cover. It shows best in the video from her tweet, but here’s a still pic, in case the video doesn’t play. Super cool, huh? It’s my first cover with foil, and it’s SO PRETTY!
Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is Knife in the Heart: The Harshest, Meanest Rejections from a Publisher/Editor/Agent. Come on over to hear about mine.
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This photo is from a few weeks ago, but I think I never posted it. Ice on the rain chain and the fairy sculpture my mom gave me in the background.
It’s been a busy week for me so far. I’m making excellent progress on THE FIERY CITADEL (sequel to THE ORCHID THRONE). I’ve also been making daily inroads on collecting my income tax information for my CPA. And there’s been a lot going on with Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) – where I serve on the Board as a Director at Large – both the peaking of some planned projects and dealing with some problems. We also have elections going on, so yesterday I took some time to answer the “Questions for Candidates” on the SFWA forums.
One person asked the candidates if we’d to prioritize our SFWA work above everything else in my life. I said no. I added that I’d never expect that of any SFWA volunteer.
Hell, I’d never expect that of anyone, for any activity in life. Not 24/7.
We talk a lot about work/life balance, or work/family balance. For me, my life runs the smoothest when I devote some time each day to my various commitments. I have my To Do List color-coded for various activities (I am the Spreadsheet Queen, after all) with time allotted to each. Getting word count happens first because I write best in the mornings and that’s how I keep the roof over our heads and food in the pantry. I also have categories for blogging or doing my podcast, for updating financials – which includes keeping track of royalties and getting money to authors who participate in anthologies with me – for exercise, for errands and household chores, and an hour a day for SFWA.
Sometimes it’s more; sometimes it’s less.
But overall, balance for me means making every day reflect the pattern I want my overall life to have – and that means some of everything that’s important to me.
Chatting with friends and hanging out with the hubs? Those things happen every day, too, but I don’t have to put them on a list. 🙂
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Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is short term, mid-term and long-term planning. Come on over to find out why I identify with Yoda on this. (And what that funny device in the photo is!)
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Here’s me on the Iron Throne (from Game of Thrones, if you’re not in the know). I’m feeling like I look pretty natural there. The only thing missing is that I did not yet have my WWJJD? (What Would Jessica Jones Do?) ribbon.
Still pretty kickass, though.
Our topic this week at the SFF Seven (which totally sounds like a superhero group to me, to continue to riff on the theme), is “What next? How do you decide which projects when?”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
Okay, seriously – come on over to find out what my method is. Spoiler alert: it involves spreadsheets.