Looking Back at 2017 #IWSG #writerslife

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day.

The Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

IWSG Asks: As you look back on 2017, with all its successes and failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently? 

If I could turn back time and start 2017 over again, I'd like do a lot of things differently. Regarding my writing career, I'd write more. A lot more. In fact, each year that is my New Year's Resolution. 

Write more. 

In reality, my family life tends to get chaotic and my writing often gets pushed aside to deal with all the situations created by my husband and my four children. My kids are involved with Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, bowling, baseball, chorus, band, and craft workshops just to name a few. My calendar is packed with committee meetings, lessons and activities nearly every day of the week. My husband's hobby is collecting hobbies which keeps him busy on his own when he's not working, so I'm left with taking care of everyone, making sure everyone has what they need and gets to where they need to go mostly on my own. Keeping the household running smoothly has become a full-time job, one with no income, benefits or appreciation.

If it sounds like I'm making excuses not to write, I'm definitely not. Somehow, I always manage to squeeze writing time in between all of this. A few minutes here or there, maybe an hour if I'm lucky. I've written 3 stories this year of varying lengths. I've submitted all 3 for publication. I've got one rejection, one acceptance, and one request for a full manuscript this year. Not too bad in my opinion, considering what little time I have. It just gets frustrating knowing that I could do so much more if I had a little help and support. I've tried negotiating with my family for more writing time. That hasn't worked out well. My four kids are still little (between the ages of 2 - 11), so they don't understand how important it is to me, yet. My husband has work and his band and other commitments which doesn't allow time to watch the children or take them to any of their activities so I can write in peace and quiet. I have no other family. Everyone else in my family and my husband's family has either died, moved out of state or has too many health issues to lend a helpful hand with my chaotic life.   

Although, I don't have the kind of family support that other writers might enjoy, I'm stubborn at not giving up and still manage to write...just not as quickly as I'd prefer. I have an immense file and notebooks filled with ideas for stories and book series that I'd just love to get working on. I know the time will come eventually. My children will grow and become more self-sufficient each year. In sixteen years, I might even be able to write for more than an hour a day. I just hope that my readers are patient.         

Keep a weather eye open for Pirates: A Boys Behaving Badly anthology.
Coming in January 2018!

Be sure to visit the other writers in the 

Insecure Writer's Support Group!

I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Become a VIP Reader by signing-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!

Happy Writing!

Tricia

New Goals for 2017 - Author Update #newyear #resolutions

With the start of a New Year, comes a time of reflection and planning. We often look back over the last year to evaluate what we've achieved or didn't achieve. Then we look forward to the coming year and the infinite possibilities that it brings.

Good-bye 2016

From what I understand, 2016 has been an extremely tough year for many of us for different reasons. Aside from the long list of celebrity deaths that seemed to occur on a clockwork basis, I've talked to many people who've had a rough year, too. From losing jobs to failing health, there are many of my friends who needed some extra prayers and positive thoughts sent their way to help them cope. 

In the Schneider household, we had our share of difficulties. My husband was in a motorcycle accident and had 2 separate surgeries, all of which put him out of work with no pay. Not such an easy thing for a growing family. I won't even begin to discuss the most recent discovery of the theft of royalties from the ARe debacle. You can read about that here and here. That hit many authors, publishers and readers quite severely. To add to the struggle of having a reduced income was the string of bad luck concerning our appliances. The list of broken down appliances is almost amusing. Two air conditioners, a dehumidifier for an overly damp basement and the washing machine broke down exactly a week prior to the dryer as if they had conspired together to make life as challenging as possible for us. I've been spending a small fortune at the local laundromat for several months. I'm there with my kids several hours each week to clean clothes for 6 people. If I had the chance to save that money instead, I might've been able to buy 3 or 4 washers and dryers by now. 

C'est la vie. 

On the bright side, I've managed to keep a positive outlook on every negative thing that happened using my talent of viewing the world through rose-colored glasses. In addition to that, there were some good things that happened in 2016, too. I dipped my toes into a new romance genre this year. The Pirate's Lady was published in November, my first historical romance with nary a hint of a paranormal element present. It was quite an accomplishment for me and it was educational to work with a new-to-me editor.

Also, I completed NaNoWriMo for the first time. Well, actually the second time. I completed it with a 65,000 word gothic novel the first year I joined the challenge, but never had the chance to verify the word count since my computer crashed on the last day of November. This year, I managed 52,209 words for Loving Boone, my newest WIP and it was verified.

Reviewing the lovely word count tracker that I obtained from the talented Svenja Gosen last year, I wrote a total of 97,485 words during 2016. Just a little shy of my goal of 100,000 words, but I'll take it. Besides writing most of Loving Boone, I'm in the midst of writing an untitled alien romance which is where most of the other words came from and I edited and revised an untitled paranormal romance featuring zombies.

Not too bad.

Goals for 2017

Looking forward to a new year brings with it a list of new goals. I have some personal goals such as finish incomplete projects around the house, get better organized and try to teach my kids better organization (I can hear parents laughing as you read this!), as well as some goals I didn't finish last year. I want to further my study of the German language and my guitar lessons sort of got set aside. I'm teaching myself to play and my 20 month-old son loves music and thinks my guitar is a toy for him to play with. Trying to find the right notes at the same time as keeping his little paws off the instrument presents a unique challenge.

As for my writing... 

I found my writing groove during NaNo this last November. I write during my son's afternoon nap time. That gives me about an hour or two each day to work in relative peace and quiet (at least on the days the rest of my brood is in school). I write new words in the afternoon and work on edits in the morning or at night.

If I plan it correctly, I have the opportunity for a productive year.

• Edit and/or revise Loving Boone
• Finish writing the first draft of the Untitled Alien Romance
• Complete edits for the Untitled Paranormal Romance with Zombies
• Write a new novella for Camp NaNo 2017
• Write a new novel for NaNoWriMo 2017
• And, of course, I have a long list of books that I'd like to read and review 

I have a few other WIP's that might join this list later in the year. I'm also considering joining the self-published author community this year. The wonderfully successful spec-fic author and my dear friend, Ash Krafton, has offered to help me through this big step in my career once I was ready. I'm thinking this year I might take the plunge. 

Here's hoping everyone enjoys a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2017!

Happy New Year!

Tricia