Kay Bennson's Blog

The Death of Kay Bennson?

I hope this blog post finds you well...

Honestly, not sure who reads here. The whole being gone for over a year certainly doesn't help. But I'm back...kinda. As the title of the post suggests. I'm not sure what the future is for Kay Bennson at the moment.

The person that used to post here, the person who self published her books, and wrote all sorts of things, she no longer exists. It's bittersweet to say that. That person found comfort in writing.

But I think that person used writing to disassociate and cope from the world around her. She was in a toxic, sometimes abusive situation that she hoped would improve and get better, but it got so bad that she had to make changes and writing had to be put aside so she could heal.

I won't get into more detail than that, but it's taken me almost two years to get to a place where I actually want to write again. Where my heart feels like it actually has something it wants to say. 

That being said, Kay Bennson was part of that past life and while I think she helped nurture who I am today, I'm not sure I want to use that pen name anymore. I'm not sure if I want to be self published any more. Maybe a better way to explain it would be to tell you that any projects going forward I would like to pitch the trad pub way first. In my heart I feel that I've not reached my ceiling yet. 

I do have another pen name I'd like to use someday. Maybe that will be the future for me.

If you have been reading all this time, I thank you for your support. I'll be keeping Enshrine and Squad Treble on Amazon and all the other vendor sites, but there will be no new tales in either of those universes.

To new ventures,

​Kay

I. hate. Editing.

Checking in to let you know that I am still, slowly, painfully, working my way through What was Stolen. I made the realization that Chapter 8 is almost 8,000 words (I consider it and Chapter Nine the Midpoint of the book, A LOT happens) Anyway, it took me almost a week to work through it and run it through my ProWritingAid software but it is DONE. Chapter Nine is shorter so I was able to finally bust that out today (I've actually been reading books that aren't mine the past few days and still sticking to my no burn out weekend thing I mentioned a post or two ago.) but I'm hoping to finally finish chapter 10 tomorrow so when my critique partner is back from vacation I'll be ready to swap more chapters. And to think I thought it was going to be done in a week. LOL.

That being said, I still have a lot of work to do. Mainly...that very explicit sex scene that needs to be made YA friendly. I can't remember if that's in 11-15 or 15-20 but I will need to probably start that chapter from scratch or combine it with the one that comes after. I'm not looking forward to that at all...​ I'm not having a great mental health day so I'm going heavy with the gifs...sorry not sorry. ...but I'm forcing myself to try to get it done by April 1st because not only will it be the start of quarter 2, but it's also Camp NaNoWriMo and I really want to work on book 2 so I can get my rapid release thing going by Q4 at the latest. I've got over 2 weeks and 12 chapters left (Only 10 of them are still in a notebook) so maybe? Honestly, probably being overly ambitious but maybe a deadline will help me? So I may be taking back the "no work on weekends thing" just until I can get this newest draft done and I can bust out What Was Fabricated, but my Irish dance competitive season kicks off next weekend too so... here goes nothing? Happy St. Patrick's Day to those who Celebrate and a Merry WTF is my life to everyone else,

​Kay

Checking in

Hello, I think it's week 10 in Q1 but like none of my goals are going to be complete by the end of the month and I'm telling myself that is okay. I will most likely be rolling over all three goals (Editing What was Stolen, Writing What Was Fabricated, and Social Media) into Q2. Burn out and the long term sub position not ending when it was supposed to messed with me, but still have no regrets about where I am currently working! 

Here's what I did get done this week:

Anchor Series Stuff:
-I said I wanted to get chapters 6-10 ready for my critique partner. Well chapters 6 and 7 are polished and ready to go. I ended up having to type the other three into my computer which was a bit more time consuming, but I'm almost done doing that with Chapter 10 and should finish it tonight. Then I'll go back, add detail to 8,9, and 10, run it through ProWritingAid and then be ready for round 2 with my critique partner.
-I'm up to 43,000 words in the first draft Google Doc and almost done putting the first notebook into the computer.

Other News:
-I have been reading the first 5 chapters of my Critique Partner's manuscript. I'm already enjoying seeing how her writing style differs from mine. I'm also hoping that she enjoys What Was Stolen too!
-I did end up getting a cover from my dream cover artist! I can't really say anything because this idea is barely outlined, but I wrote a version of it in High School (This one was even more detailed than Squad Treble). It's definitely getting moved up the pike because I put my name on Ravven's list for next year so I need to have a better idea of what my plan is between now and then. Either way, I'm excited!

Don't forget about Read an Ebook week! https://www.smashwords.com/ebookweek 

Okay, that's it for me. 

Kay

Read an Ebook week is coming!

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to pop in quick and let you know that my Squad Treble series will be FREE ​on Smashwords March 5th-11th. So not only can you get LIMITED TRUTH for free, but the rest of the series as well! I figure it's the perfect time since I'll have new books coming out later in the year.

If you haven't read the series yet, I hope you give it a shot! It's a great mix of Sci Fi, Speculative Fiction, Friends to Lovers Romance, and High School drama. I often say it's like if the Hunger Games was a team event.

www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KayBennson

Happy Reading!

Kay

Weekly Update

I ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING!

-I've edited the first five chapters of What was Stolen, ran them through Pro Writing Aid, and put them in a new manuscript! It felt good to be productive. I took the weekend off to hopefully avoid the burnout that happened earlier in the quarter, and planning to do 6-10 this week. This might be a little tricky because I've got to get stuff off paper and into a Google Doc, but it was time for that to happen anyway.
-I've connected with a critique partner! I need to send her chapters and I'm terrified that she's going to say that it sucks. I need to just pull the trigger. I'm making myself do it later today. AHH!
-My dream cover artist is booked until 2024. AHHH! I am most likely going to buy one of her pre-made covers for a different series though. My thought is that maybe by April 2024, I'll be ready to work with her for that series. LOL
-I've outlined The first 4 books for the Enemy to the North Saga (Series? IDK I need to decide) All I got to say is poor Ephram, I'm so sorry.
​
Other Stuff
I put my Squad Treble Series on Smash Words and it is doing considerably well! So if you are new, welcome! I have some exciting exclusive Smash Words info coming to you in the next day or so stay tuned for that!

Look out for another Enemy from the North behind the scenes post in the next day or two. I think this one is going to be a dream cast! 

leora and Ephram's World

I thought it might be fun to share some of the behind the scenes things about my new series in addition to my weekly updates. I'll be posting about this on Facebook as well, but you will get a slightly more detailed version here.

My new series, which is currently called the Enemy to the North Saga (Not finalized haha) takes place is a fictional world called Vostella, with two other countries involved in later books called the Federation of Edraren and Nyxan. All three of these places are heavily based on Eastern European countries, especially those with Slavic and Baltic influences. Way back in 2009 I went to visit my family in Lithuania. My grandparents moved to America after World War II and my eldest uncle was born overseas so there were great aunts and second and third cousins still living there. My born overseas uncle who is fluent in Lithuanian, my aunt, my mother, and two cousins also came on the trip. I was 20 years old at the time, but almost fourteen years later, this trip had such a profound impact on me. Some of the scenery really inspired the country of Vostella and the town of Elogan where Leora and Ephraim live. 

I took the majority of these photos...some of them I thought I was being artsy and cool, but you'll get the general idea.​ These photos were all taken in down town Vilnius, and gives off the Elogan old town vibe that Leora visits with Peter in Book 1. These were taken in various places including a town called Birstonas and kind of what I see in my head for the Fuel Depot/the area of Elogan where the Brauns live. Maybe a bit more run down because of a 20 year war. These were some of the really cool places I went while I was there for two weeks. I'd like maybe incorporate some in later books when Leora is outside of Elogan but can't say much more without spoiling things.

Finally, a huge element of this series is found family and unexpected relationships and I feel like this trip not only brought me closer to my American family, but to my extended Lithuanian one as well, even after all these years.

​
Thanks for the trip down memory lane,

​Kay

Ready to Get Back Into It

Hiatuses baby...they sneak up on you!

We'll blame it on some day job complications, some video game distractions, and mental health WTFery (last time this happened, Semi Sweet was born so I guess it's not all bad?) but my promise of taking off one week turned into a month LOL. That being said, I finally feeling ready to make a game plan for the rest of the quarter.

Anchor Series News
I haven't written anything in a while, but its time to get back to work. I'm currently retaking Publish and Thrive and I think despite wanting to crank out the first three books for rapid release, that I need to have book 1 completely on the computer and somewhat polished so I can connect with a critique partner. I've never used one in the past, but it's a cheaper way to edit a book and I'm looking for ways to keep costs down. 

I think I need to also take a day or two and plot out the whole series. I may have mentioned it earlier, but I know I have enough material for 6 books, but potentially I could do 8 if I make some relationship changes. I need to see if those last two books are purely a self gratifying thing or if that story arc actually moves the story a long. I'll hopefully have an update on that soon!

After that I will probably work on finishing book 2. This definitely changes my Q1 plans a bit, but idk...I'd rather not be debilitated and do nothing for another month, you know?

Finally, I've been debating with going with my dream cover artist for this series. She's a bit more expensive than what I've done in the past, but I think her work speaks for itself and if the goal is to really make a name for myself, I think I want the best possible work I can get. She's booked a while in advance too so that would help with getting the money ready/ having books ready for covers. 

Everything Else
Had the plot bunnies a few more times. Since I talk about things and jump to the next thing so much, I'm making myself follow through with Leora and Ephraim's series for now. I'm so far behind with posting on social media and whatnot that you may see me posting more than once a week to catch up in the coming weeks.

I'm down but not out yet! Half the quarter still remains!

Kay

Burn Out Is Real

Hey there,

Relatively short one this week since I think the title of this week's post makes things obvious. I'll chalk it up to my long term sub position ending as well as never taking a break after I finished What was Stolen. Add some car trouble, meeting with the teacher I'd been covering these last 6 weeks, and Wednesday night I was like:  Luckily I did write 3,000 words before the tiredness arrived so this week was not a total loss. I'm at a little over 13,000 for What Was Fabricated. I'm going to give myself until Tuesday to relax, get used to my old position again and play some video games and Then my plan is to go back to two sprints a day. 

Moral of the story, listen to your mind and your body. I was adamant about cranking out the first three books in this series so I can rapid release them, but working myself into the ground isn't going to be helpful in the long run. I'm confident that with a little rest, I'll be back to getting tasks accomplished in no time. Afterall, It's only week 2.

Until Next Week,

​Kay

New Year, New Quarter, New Blog Post

 Now that the sickness is mostly gone from my house (Dom did end up getting sick like I predicted...) I feel like I can properly say Happy New Year! I'm making 2023 my best year yet! I was already able move some things from my to do list down into my done section of my Kanban board. I can't remember if I shared how my new job changed after two weeks in. Instead of being a para that helped in other teacher's classrooms, I was offered a long term sub position in Kindergarten. I was still able to finish What Was Stolen, but it couldn't be top priority because there were lesson plans, behavior plans, game plans, and back up plans that had to happen first. Unless something crazy happens, I have a week to go and I feel like I'm crawling to the finish line some days. This was how I felt Wednesday Social Media Stuff
In addition to continuing to post here each week, I've decided to focus on two very different social media platforms. I'll be posting twice a week on my Facebook Author Page and Tik Tok. The Facebook Page is tricky because most of my followers are friends and family, but I feel like I can post updates and try things and my audience will usually still interact. I'd like to gain new people there, especially in anticipation for the new anchor series. Tik Tok is harder, but I have gotten some sales from it and I have almost fifty followers despite not really trying. I'm not comfortable with the voice over things that lots of people do, but my most successful Tik Tok was one where I was a little more goofy than all my other ones (Almost 900 views!). That algorithm though...I did one this week that I thought would do okay...and it got 7 views....like even my first Tik Tok did better than that...made a friend in the process at least!

Anchor Series Update
Slowly but surely making progress. I'm blaming getting over being sick, taking care of a sick preschooler, and getting kindergartener's back into a routine for several days where I zoned out and watched a Mario 64 playthrough instead of working. That being said, I hit 10,000 words on What was Fabricated (Book 2) Not sure what I'm doing for a reward yet, but want to do something to keep motivated. As for getting Book 1 into my Google Doc, it is SO slow going, but it's still happening. As of this evening it is at 32,000 words which actually kind of blows my mind because it's only the first (almost) eight chapters and the last two chapters of the book (Because once I got my new computer I was like EFF THAT about writing by hand.) Chapter 8 and 9 are the mid point of the book so I think that's keeping me from wanting to rip my hair out. My plan was to spend a little bit of time of each book everyday and there were a few days that I did, then I got close to 10K so I wanted to reach that goal. Tomorrow is a double down wordcount day in a writing group that I'm a member of so here's hoping I get new words written and some handwriting stuff transferred tomorrow.

I feel like I had more to say but it's after mid night now and I'm tired. Until Next week!

​Kay

Peace out 2022 (And Q4)

Sorry for the language, but I feel like this captures how I'm feeling.
Reporting to you from my bed...day 3 of being down for the count, although I'm actually upright today which is a step in the right direction. Slept 12 hours last night, on top of a pretty lengthy nap in the middle of the day. Pretty sure it's the flu, pretty sure it's what my husband had last week, and I'm praying my son doesn't get it as we go back to school in a few days, but we'll see what happens. Not exactly how I wanted to spend the second half of my winter break, but at least I'm not missing work where I'm not salary at the moment.

So we're here...the end of the year and the end of my first quarter using the HB90 system. Overall, I'm really proud of how much I was able to accomplish, especially with not having a working computer for a month. While I think this showed just how little time I really have for writing related things, it showed that I can still get things done. I also think it gave me a good indicator of what I want to work on to get to my ideal life. I'm so excited to start it all over again tomorrow and see what I can do!

The Last Weekly Update for 2022
-I've got about 30,000 words of book one in my Google Doc now
-I wrote about 6,500 words of book two before I got sick. It was flowing so I just went with it.
-I changed the titles slightly. Made them slightly shorter.

Book 1: What was Stolen
Book 2: What was Fabricated
Book 3: What was Hidden
Book 4: What was Denied
Book 5: What was Important
Book 6: What was Vanquished

Again....I'm still not OMG THESE ARE THE ONES! but I feel like it sticks with a pattern that will hopefully make readers go "This is a Kay Bennson book!" that being said, there is a small part of me...an evil part, that wants to kill a darling so there can be more books LOL. I feel like it would be polarizing...the only comparison I can think of is Hermione dying and Ron getting back with Lavender (which obviously I know isn't possible...but you get what I'm going for right?) I'm going to blame it on other guy's real life character inspiration, but I feel like he's a more solid choice for a life partner where Ephraim is...well he's a lot. Again...I'm saying WAY too much. I've got time to figure it out.

Other than that, I've been sleeping, watching my comfort YouTube channel, and reading when my brain can handle it. I'm hoping to jump back in with Q1 tomorrow or the next day.

Happy New Year!

​Kay