Happy Holidays! December newsletter featuring bookish gift ideas including cozy mysteries, thrillers, women's fiction, and a special giveaway for signed copies of Waikoloa Warfare.
Happy November! This month feels like it's flying by. I traveled to four different states already and we're only halfway through November. Before I get into bookish news, I wanted to extend a very warm welcome to all my new subscribers. Thank you for being here and I hope you enjoy my content! Okay- on to news for the month. Waikoloa Warfare, my second installment of the Summer Jenkins Mystery Series drops December 1st. Click on the link to secure you're copy now. You can find it in eBook as well as paperback format. If you order directly from my website, you'll get a signed copy as well as some cute little swag to go with it! Thank you for your support- I'm sending all of my love and aloha your way!
Episode 17: Bookish Events and Authors We Want To Meet with Guest Co-host Christine Wellert, Author
I’m going to admit something right now. I’m nosy. Not like, look in your trash type of nosy, more like, tell me how you live your life and your innermost thoughts type of nosy. When my fellow authors make posts on Instagram with reels showcasing their lives, I grab the popcorn and settle in to watch. So, I figured that in all fairness, I would post about a normal day in the life for me. Prepare to be enthralled, enraptured, or perhaps mildly entertained. Some of you might know already that I have a muggle job. (Oh, the shame!) I’ve worked as a registered nurse for over ten years now. I’ve tried it all- emergency department, surgery, prep and recovery, a brief stint in primary care, labor and delivery, and case management. So, when I’m not masquerading as the next New York Times bestselling author (hey, it could happen!) I’m working as a nurse. My muggle job dictates how, or more precisely, when my day starts. If I’m working, I start my day at 4:30am. I make my coffee, check emails and IG, and then shoot for at least 500 words on whatever WIP I have going at the time. If the words are flowing and I have time, I’ll keep going. If I’m fighting for each letter, I’ll switch to editing or content creation for social media. My job is an hour and a half drive away, so I’ll load up some writing related podcasts or audiobooks on writing techniques for the drive. Here in Hawaii cell service can be intermittent, so it’s a good time to do some learnin’. If I have the day off, I like to start my day with coffee and oracle cards (I’ll share the decks I use below) and then write in my gratitude journal, followed by my manifestation journal. Then I brew some tea and get to work! For me, I need to start with my WIP first. I find I can tap into that creative side in the morning first thing a lot more easily than if I try to edit or work on the business side of things before writing. Usually by noon or 1:00 I’m tapped out on writing and move on to reaching out to my Bookstagram friends and checking up on any business loose ends that need addressed. By 3:00 or 4:00 I call it a day from a writing/author standpoint and then start on life things like dinner and laundry…😜 Before you get too discouraged thinking ‘I don’t have the flexibility in my schedule to mirror Chris’s day,’ neither do I! Listed above is my ‘perfect’ day for writing, but honestly, it’s pretty rare that my day goes that way. There are usually phone calls from the kids, dog nonsense, hubby needs something, rabbit holes to get lost down, etc. When I’m actively working on a book, I tend to get lost in the writing and lose track of time. Setting a timer on my phone has helped, but I’m open to any suggestions if you have any! One thing I’ve recognized is the need for a better balance between writing, working, and living. Apparently, there aren’t any rich benefactors willing to front me the cash so I could just stay home and write all day, so I’m working on finding a compromise. Figuring out the perfect schedule is a work in progress that I’m fine tuning each week. I know it’s not perfect, and there’s room for improvement, but writing books while juggling jobs, kids, pets, LIFE, requires constant balance and negotiation. And it’s totally worth it!
