Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 73

Friday Five

TGIF. I’m gonna try to think of five things to share, but it’s slim pickings this week.

I managed to get the packet of information off to Inkslinger PR to arrange the blog tour for Savaged Illusions, The Compete Series (boxed set).
My writing crashed and burned.
My concertation went out in search of 2022. I’m trying to lure it back with lots of chocolate and wine.
Maggie decided she’s unsure about 2021 and retired to her kennel. She normally doesn’t go in there a lot during the day, but she’s been hanging out in there this week for some reason that makes sense to her. And yeah, she’s hard to see in there, LOL
Today, I’m sending the witch hunters out to capture my concertation, and asking the witches to conjure up a spell to write Primal Magic! Or maybe I should have the witches design that spell to stop cutting every freaking scene I write. Yeah, maybe that

Okay that’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday: Some Thoughts on Guiding Principles

So it’s the first Wednesday Blog in the New Year…and I’ve got nothing Okay, I still plan to revamp Wednesdays into something more when I can. But I must write Primal Magic. It’s so easy to let life interfere, which is what I’ve been doing. Now I’m committed, so I’m making sure I prioritize writing the book over other content. 

I will talk about one career related thing—guiding principles. Throughout our careers, we make choices that define us, and reflect our principles. Sometimes we have to make those choices in the middle of a massive upset in our lives. It’s a zillion times harder to make decisions when things are going wrong, emotions are running high and panic is setting in. 

But your core principles can and will guide you. For instance, when I say I’m “family first,” I’m serious. I’ve stopped by career for my family when crap happened and someone in my family needed me. At the time, I was NOT the sole breadwinner, so that helped a lot. But when it came time to make a hard choice, I didn’t hesitated. Family comes before my career, and that’s the principle that guided my choice. It’s also the reason I won’t destroy a family relationship over politics (if possible–there’s always two people in a relationship and I can only control my actions). 

It’s important to know our core principles. Any time I’ve ignored that principle, I’ve regretted it. I can’t think of an example off the top of my head, which is annoying.

All this brings me to why I fought through my physical issues I was having to finish the Savaged Illusions Trilogy even though I knew it wouldn’t make a huge splash. Time had gone by, and the heated anticipation for the third book cooled. That’s normal. Some would say the smarter decision would have been to not finish it, and move onto something that had more earning potential. That’s true if we’re talking about that one book’s earning potential.

But what about building or maintaining reader trust in me as an author over a career? That’s very important to me. In my mind, I needed to finish the last book, particularly because the first and second books in the trilogy ended on cliffhangers. Otherwise I was breaking an implied promise when I published those first two books with the cliffhangers. Readers had every right to expect the third book to finish the story. So I did what I believed to be the right thing in accordance to my core principles.  

It wasn’t a hard decision, it was the right one for me.

The Wing Slayer Hunters has a little of that too, but those books all ended with the hero and heroines story wrapped up. I could have walked away with a clear enough conscience. But I love the world, readers seem interested and want to write Primal Magic and Fallen Magic.

Once those books are done, then I’ll re-evaluate. 

So to anyone publishing or thinking about it, I would suggest this: Know your core principles. Because when tough times or the curveballs of life hit, you’ll be able to see your next step more clearly. Because tough times find us all sooner or later.

Trust me, it’s much easier to be guided by principles and sheer panic.

Just my 2 cents

The post Wednesday: Some Thoughts on Guiding Principles first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

Man I hope to get on a schedule again. Wizard and I haven’t been able to keep the days of the week straight since Christmas. But our weekend was good overall. Here’s the highlights:

–We went to see Turbo again on Saturday, and at the same time, got to visit his parents a little more. Many times when we visit, they are smart enough to take advantage of us watching Turbo to get some work done, run errands or tackle projects. But this time, we hung out and visited. It was really nice.

–I got my camera and new noise-canceling headphones with a decent mic set up on my desktop computer. It was super easy. Not sure if/how I’ll use them, but I wanted the option of having them so I could if I want to do it. I asked for it for Christmas Wizard and I have been Zooming each other to test it.

–I sent off Savaged Illusion Series to my formatter to put into a boxed set. I have a brand new awesome cover (I love it!), and I’m hiring Inkslinger PR to set up a one week blog tour in late February. I have a fairly simple plan in place…as long as 2021 doesn’t spring a new plot twist on us. On the other hand, part of being any kind of Entrepreneur is dealing with things that go wrong. It just happens.

–I’m writing today!

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

Happy New Year! I hope 2021 starts of right and only gets better! While I don’t believe our problems and challenges magically vanish at 12:01 am on January 1st, I like the mental reset of the new year.

Okay, let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week.

Wizard and I celebrated last night with lobster tails and a nice Syrah wine.
I didn’t write this week. I tried…but life and stuff. Today I will write because I want to start the new year off with words and forward progress.
I pulled my neck blow drying my hair. Seriously???? Why can’t I ever hurt myself rescuing kittens or something interesting?
We battled ants. Pretty sure we won, but we had to resort to bug bombs because they are relentless little buggers.
To use the bug bombs, we had to take Maggie and leave the house for several hours. This is a pain when the state is on lockdown and there’s nowhere to go. Plus my neck is sore and I was cranky. Our vague plan was to drive around, get food at a drive through and then find places for Maggie to have bathroom breaks. But just as we were leaving, it was CPA Boy to the rescue! Actually he just randomly called at that moment. And even more fortuitous, they’d taken their three dogs to the groomers for a half day. Maggie and one of their dogs, Cookie, don’t always get along. Anyhow, we went out there, played with Turbo, and they were able to get a couple hours of work done too. It was perfect for us! When we left, Turbo cried and said, “I want to go to Maggie’s house.” He always refers to our house as “Maggie’s house” which I find hilarious. I hated Turbo being sad, but I knew once we left, he’d be fine and he was.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours. Have a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Goals for 2021

Rather than rehashing 2020, I’m going to put my 2021 goals out there. Of course life can be full of surprises and detours so these are subject to change.

Goal number 1

I plan to write Primal Magic and Fallen Magic. Primal Magic has started off as a huge challenge, but that’s okay. I get to write what I love, and I’ll keep doing it.

Goal number 2:

Newsletter/Email List. I’m striving to send out emails to my list more frequently and consistently, and share more of myself. My goal is to send out an email roughly every two weeks, or once a month at the very least. If I work up to more, that’s great. But I must have something to say or share in each one. I’m not going to send a generic spammy thing.

I’m doing this because fans who cared enough to sign up for my newsletter/emails deserve that. They are not just a commodity to me, they are the second reason I write books I believe in. If you’re wondering, the first reason is me–I believe that love can be transformative when we choose it to be and this is how I share that message. I also think hate is easier to engage in and spread than real, meaningful love.

Goal number 3

I want to do more with my blog. Specifically, I want to begin with Wednesday, and turn that into more about writing, and motivating others to go after their dreams. I have a ton I want to talk about, and I want to give back by sharing more about all I’ve learned and experienced in my journey. But I absolutely must be sure I can commit to writing a weekly blog for that, or make sure I have a guest blogger. Even short, tightly focused pieces have a way of taking way more time than I think they will.

If you’re still with me, I need some title suggestions for this. I came up with The Activator Series (activate the hero in you to go after your dreams), but you all may have better titles.

I’m not exactly sure when I’ll launch this, but I may just jump and do it next week Starting is always the first step.

Goal number 4

I hope at some point to grow number 3 into a podcast or videos. I don’t have specifics on this yet. I’ve decided to start with weekly blogs, and then figure out where I can have the most value to add to someone’s life.

Those are my goals at the moment, Now I’d love to hear what you have planned for 2021.

The post Goals for 2021 first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

We got through Christmas and we’re almost out of 2020! Although, while I’m the first to laugh at the funny 2020 memes, I don’t think the year is to blame for the crappy year. A novel virus happened and humans acted like humans. But it’s fun to blame 2020

We had a really nice Christmas. Wizard and I spent the day alone, and made it special together. I managed to surprise him with one of his gifts and that really made me happy. Sunday we went to middle son’s, where he and his wife made delicious steak dinner. CPA Boy, Special K and Turbo joined us in person, and Youngest and his wife joined via Zoom because her job exposes her to Covid a bit more regularly than the rest of us. It was lowkey and perfect. Two years ago, we put a stop to the over the top gift giving, now the adults each have a secret Santa, so we each buy and get one gift. making it simple. We shifted the focus to spending time together and all of us enjoy it more. Of course, we all got Turbo gifts because he’s two and it’s fun   He had a blast too.

It’s after 10pm here as I’m writing this, so I’m tired and going to keep this short. but I’m ready for the holidays to be over now and get back to working and writing.

How was your holiday?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Happy Holiday!

It’s the holidays whether we’re ready or not! We’re staying home Christmas Day. Normally we go to Wizard’s mom’s house and have tamales, but Covid has made that dangerously unwise. Instead, we’ll cook a turkey, some sides and enjoy our day together. We plan to see the kids on Sunday for a very small family gift exchange. Covid is really limiting our celebrations, but if we all stay healthy, I’ll be very grateful.

Please everyone, let’s be as careful as we can so that in 2021, we can defeat this pandemic and get back to living full on in person!

To Each of You:

NOTE: I won’t be posting on Friday because it’s Christmas :-). I’ll check in next week, then be back to regular blogging schedule the first week of 2021.

The post Happy Holiday! first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

I just plain petered out this weekend. The high lights are:

I bought Maggie a new bed last week. She likes it! Wizard and I both tried to sneak a picture if her, but she caught us every danged time. We’re pretty sure Maggie’s in the Canine Witness Protection Program with the way she avoids pictures.

Wizard has a sinus infection. It’s been going on for a while, his symptoms have been similar to regular allergies, but his ears wouldn’t clear up. He saw his doctor on Friday and is on antibiotics. We stayed home this weekend and it was quiet and boring. We are cautious even though he’s had this exact same sinus infection before.

Another friend (really a friend of Biker Witch’s) went in the hospital with Covid. Please take care of yourselves.

I’m loving the second book in Ilona Andrews WHITE HOT, the second book in her Hidden Legacy series. I’m reading it on my Kindle, and while I’m generally fast reader, my eyes are bothering me due to allergies and I need new contacts or glasses soon. Also, I find myself going back to reread parts of scenes to make sure I understand the worldbuilding. That’s NOT due to her writing, it’s just me reading too fast because I’m impatient and try to jump ahead to find out what happens next.

Primal Magic will get written. It WILL. One way or another. I’ve spent soooo much time and work plotting, but getting this book off to the races is a real battle. Even Eli and Savi know the problem, HEY IDIOT, IT’S A ROMANCE, HOW ABOUT YOU GET US TOGETHER???? Then maybe you’d have a story? Just a thought. Sigh. Of course then I start thinking, Oh? You two want to be together? How about I put you together in this pit of demonic vipers? How’s that? Keep complaining, and I’ll put a sex scene right there in that pit of demonic vipers too! How’s that for romantic?

I need more coffee. Or wine. Or words. Or maybe I need fewer words? LOLOL! Possibly, the stress of 2020 is getting to me

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! Let’s jump into sharing 5 random things about our week.

Guys, I hate to state the obvious, but did you know Christmas is NEXT WEEK? I sort of knew, but life’s been pissing a bunch of sad worry on us, so I put Christmas on the back burner. Then this week it dawned on me that Christmas is next week. Holy Christmas Cookies!
FYI, there’s no Christmas Cookies here. But I needed chocolate, so I made a batch of Giant Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you’re a deep, dark and rich chocolate fan, the recipe is here .
Guilt motivated me to attempt Christmas cards. I’ve pulled these together at the last minute before, so I knew I could do it. I staged a photo shoot, I think it went well…
We’ve decided NOT to send out Christmas Cards this year after all   Both Wizard and I mutually agreed it would be for the best, LOL!
I love this face! Maggie is one of the many gifts in our lives that we are grateful for every single day.

And I’m grateful for each of you!

That’s my very weird five random things about my week, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a healthy, safe and good weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Hunks

Do you ever just want to punch life in the face? If so I have a couple guys for you!

Number 1

 

 

Or my personal favorite:

Number 2

Which one works better for your needs?

Happy Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Hunks first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.