A Successful First Week of Return

I’d like to report that I succeeded in sitting down every evening this week to write a little after my long work days. I’ve stuck to the 12 day boot camp I found, its daily varying exercises aimed at jump-starting a new novel. Nothing worth sharing, but the push has got me excited about getting back to my abandoned manuscripts. I should (and do) feel lucky to have two first drafts chomping at my lazy heels.

I’ve set myself up a cozy writing environment on my front porch. I love writing outside – porch included. And this one has a power outlet – very convenient for the laptop. One thing I must do this weekend is buy a bamboo blind for the one side of my porch. I have a crack head neighbour next door who is constantly swearing in Italian at his equally grumpy mother. Brutally distracting.

I accomplished another item on my list of goals this week by signing up for NaNoWriMo. I haven’t registered a title for my novel yet (I don’t have one), and I have only a hint of the story I want to explore. That will be much of my focus for the next few months as I put together my research and character studies plus develop the bones of a structure. I won’t be sharing much of that work here as I’m wary of sharing too much before it has significantly manifested. However, once I’ve got my profile up and running you can follow my progress on the site here.

And finally, I spent a little time this week researching how to properly self-publish. I have a long way to go – even in my research. I did find lots of information out there, including some very helpful step-by-step guides from two authors whose blogs I follow, Jane Friedman and Chuck Wendig. I’m going to publish my rollicking adventure-romance. And now that I’ve made the decision to publish myself, I want to do it right. That means a better title, a decent book cover (maybe do some marketing by putting cover options to a crowd-funded vote?), choosing an e-book distributor that offers on-demand printing and a decent return for the author, and, of course, a revisit to the land of punchy synopses.