Jaclyn Paul's Blog, page 8

Fall 2018 goals update

Remember the goals I outlined in September? Even though it seems like just last week, I have to remind myself almost half of my work time has already passed me by.

It’s been a busy time: I took a solo trip to the beach to read and write. My brother-in-law got married in Florida and we visited family there for eight days. I started writing a new novel and further pondered my desire to create a spin-off app for Order from Chaos.

I set a lot of goals, knowing I probably wouldn’t accomplish all o...

What I read last month: October 2018

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and shamelessly copy and paste from my Goodreads reviews. You can read previous months’ What I Read… by clicking here. Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books, I get most of mine from the library.

Looks like I haven’t posted on this blog since last month’s book reviews…oops! My personal blog plays second fiddle to my professional gigs over at Inkitt and The ADHD Homeste...

What I read last month: September 2018

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and shamelessly copy and paste from my Goodreads reviews. You can read previous months’ What I Read… by clicking here. Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books, I get most of mine from the library.

September was a good month for books. I read two-almost-three novels, all of which I’d recommend to others. I haven’t made enough time for magazines, though, which is a bummer...

Contest reflections: BookLife Prize 2018

I’m not aiming for a rant here, but I want to take a few minutes to talk about the BookLife Prize.

Before entering an unfamiliar contest, especially one that charges an entry fee, I Google it to look for consensus. Do most people seem to respect this contest, or are there a lot of red flags? Is it worth paying for, or can I enter a similar contest for free?

My research on the BookLife Prize left me undecided. A post on Writer Beware, along with a few other comment threads, gave me pause. On t...

Goals: Fall 2018 Edition

This fall, I’m trying something new. I’m going to share some of my goals for the near future. Sure, I appreciate public accountability, but I also love reading these posts on others’ blogs. 

Putting my goals under my control

I used to set lofty goals. They left me feeling like a failure. While I forget exactly what those goals were, I know they read something like “publish first novel by 2014” or “place articles in two magazines by the end of the year” or “write guest posts for two major blog...

What I read last month: August 2018

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and shamelessly copy and paste from my Goodreads reviews. You can read previous months’ What I Read… by clicking here. Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books, I get most of mine from the library.

Whew! What a summer. Through luck of the draw — or, more accurately, the library’s ebook hold queue  — I read two memoirs in August. I’m now in the middle of a novel and a col...

My next novel: inspired by the summer that kept me too busy to write

I’ve talked a lot about this summer being busy and chaotic. While I may not have broken any word-count records, times like this can be great for generating new ideas.

When we’re forced to detach from our writing and present ourselves fully to the real world, we observe. We get into interesting situations and conversations.

Sometimes, we get the idea for our next novel.

The funny thing is, I thought I had everything figured out for my next book. I’ve been chewing on the idea for more than five...

What I’m writing now, & a look back at summer 2018

My writing retreat earlier this summer felt scattered, like I was keeping pace on a larger collection of projects than usual. Turns out, it was of a piece with the entire summer. Life has been busy, and I’ve been okay with that. I may not have settled down with a single big project, but I’ve kept my toes wet in everything I felt I needed to (including the ocean).

Now, as fall approaches, I’m organizing my goals and preparing for a more regular work schedule (finally). I’m stoking the flames o...

What I read last month: July 2018

In What I Read Last Month, I recap the previous month’s reading and shamelessly copy and paste from my Goodreads reviews. You can read previous months’ What I Read… by clicking here. Disclaimer: Amazon links are affiliate links, but despite wanting to support writers by buying books, I get most of mine from the library.

In July I managed to read two-almost-three books and catch up on some of my magazines. I read a few New Yorkers, an issue of Tin House, and part of a New England Review. I alm...

Writing retreat reflections: July 2018

I spent last week writing in one of my favorite places with one of my oldest friends. As middle-schoolers, we sat in each other’s bedrooms and wrote together. Now, over 20 years later, we meet at my family’s beach bungalow for multi-day writing retreats. This is our time to get away from the stresses of everyday life: parenthood and adjuncting and submitting to journals and mediating family conflicts. While most of our writing work necessarily gets done in the real world, our writing retreats...