Friday, January 18, 2013

Weekly Recap/Preview #1

Sorry guys, but I'm running a bit late today.

The first semester of school ended yesterday. I left with all my grades turned in and everything ready for the new semester and the new group of kids. It's nice to have everything ready to go before you leave work. So how does that play into me being late with today's post?  Today is a school holiday, as is Monday. So what did I do this morning? I slept in. It was nice. I've been averaging four hours of sleep the past couple of weeks and I was starting to burn out. For the last few days, I've sat staring at the computer screen. I knew what I was supposed to write about, but I couldn't translate the scenes into words and make them flow through my fingers into the laptop.

Very frustrating!!!

I knew I needed a break. I picked up my Kindle and read for a bit, slept in today, and guess what? This afternoon, I finished the chapter I was staring at all week and actually wrote a little over 1200 words. YEAH!!!

I also worked on organizing myself. It's still an ongoing process but I'm pleased with what I've done so far. I found a blog planning form that I like over at by Beckie at Infarrantly Creative.  I didn't print the blank calendar form, but instead used Publisher to print a calendar. Because I'm making more than just a blogging planner, I printed another calendar to track my writing and the deadlines involved with it. I also created a form to help me track the people I contact help promote my book. Right now, everything is in one binder with dividers (that way I can easily add stuff as needed), but I'm thinking of dividing the months into three binders--four months to a binder. I want to use the binder to keep up with receipts and such stuff each month. It is definitely a work in progress, but I like it so far, and it's eliminating the numerous notepads and spirals laying around.

I also discovered Pinterest. It's so cool!  I'm at http://pinterest.com/annierachelcole so check my boards out. Okay, here's the blatant pitch. Like and/or repin my books. Help me out. I need to get the word out to EVERYONE about my books. If the link above doesn't work, there's one on the right side bar.

I've changed the name of my Friday post from Friday Ramblings to Weekly Recap/Preview. It just sounded like a better title than Ramblings.

Twice a month I'll be blogging at Downtown YA, so you  need to stop by and check it out.

So, what's going on next week?
Saturday is Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, so I'll have something up about that. Sunday, I'll have another teaser from my zombie book. Later in the week I'll have up some pictures of the places that inspired some of my ghost stories in No Rest for the Spirit and Other Ghostly Tales.