Zetta Hunt's Blog

A Notebook of Productivity - An Attempt to Get It Together

 

I’m always struggling to get my shit together and be more productive in life . Most especially my writing.

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, then you already know this. I’ve talked about this in several posts on this blog.

Back in May, I wrote a post about all the things I was working on. As always, I got lazy and didn’t really work on any of it. It was also back in May when I came up with the idea for my latest story, The Worst Man. That story sort of took my attention over everything else I was planning on doing, like learning how to build eBooks without an online converter, and other things I talked about in that post.

As a result, when it came time to publish that story, I yet again used the Reedsy editor to convert my story to ePub. Which is fine. I love the Reedsy converter, and I was even thinking that maybe I’d just stick with it.

Except when I went to do the final conversion, there was a hiccup on Reedsy’s side of things, and I didn’t get my ePub to convert and download when I wanted it. Which is fine, those things happen when you rely on online services. I don’t have a single bad word to say about Reedsy’s service. But it reminded me how unreliable online services can be.

The overall takeaway is - I needed to stop being lazy.

Enter the Notebook

After I published The Worst Man, I got myself a plain single-subject spiral notebook. You know, the kind they have on sale at back school time dirt cheap. Also, a simple Bic pen to write with (again, on sale for dirt cheap during back to school time). In other words, nothing fancy.

In the notebook, I laid out everything I needed to do to stop being lazy with writing and publishing my stories. Things like ebook conversion, cover design, this website, etc.

When I’ve attempted this in the past, I’ve used loose-leaf paper to put in a binder or a fancy dedicated planner of sorts. What usually happens is I don’t put the loose paper in the binder like I should (because I’m lazy) and if I do, I don’t really look at it like I should because the binder is bigger and more cumbersome than a simple notebook. Sometimes the planners I use don’t have room for everything I need to get out of my head or a dedicated space for that.

With the notebook, it’s easier to keep it by my side and randomly write in it, and flip back through it to see what I have. Maybe this is just me, but it seems to work so far. 

Already, I have some things crossed off my list that I put in that notebook.

What Goes in the Notebook So Far

I’m not using any kind of dedicated method, like the Bullet Journal method or anything like that. Just my own method. I’m sure it will be trial and error for a while.

What I’ve done so far is list a category of something I need to work on. For example: Cover Design.

I make a bulleted list of what is working for me and what isn’t. Like the fact that I do most of my cover design in Gimp, then switch over to the free version of Canva to do the fonts on my cover. However, since Canva is online, what happened with my recent Reedsy download could happen in Canva. So I made a list of things I need to do or figure out how to do 100% in Gimp.

Then I list another category, like ebook conversion, and do the same thing. Listing what I want to do and how to get it done. Once I had all the categories I could think of, I made dedicated to-do lists for each category.

A simple method. Nothing complicated. Sort of journal and to-do list in one place.

I’m happy to report that as of now, this is working for me.

What Pushed Me to do This

With each story I write and publish, I learn something. Sometimes the lessons stick, and other times not so much. Well, okay, mostly on the not-so-much side of things.

Every aspect of writing The Worst Man challenged me, and I learned a ton of what to do and not to do. I wanted these lessons to stick, which is why I started this notebook.

With all of this said, I’m not only getting things like ebook conversion underway, but I’m knee deep in writing the next story in the Wedding Troubles series. If I can keep my productivity up, this story should be out sometime in October.

So if you’re having trouble staying productive with something, maybe this will work for you too? Or not. Who knows? I’m learning that simple is often better than detailed and complicated.

Will this method work for me? I dunno. But I will report back at a later date and let you know.

New Release - The Worst Man

 At long last another new release! I know, took me long enough. Hopefully it's not this long between releases for the next story.

This is a stand alone story that is first in a series of wedding themed stories. 

I hatebeing in weddings, but my best friend was in a pinch. What choice didI have? Only after I agree to be in it, do I find out who the bestman is. . . and he is anything but the best man.

Anna

My best friend is getting married, and all of her other friendsare jealous because she scored the man of the century. She knows howmuch I hate being in weddings, but she needs someone. I can’t leavemy friend hanging. The only problem is the best man. He would be theman of the century too, except he doesn’t do relationships. Hedoesn’t keep it a secret. What is worse is that he has me in hissights. I don’t want one night; I want forever. Is that really toomuch to ask? In my mind, Liam isn’t the best man. He’s the worstman.

Liam

I’ve had Anna in my sights since I met her two years ago. Shegrows more alluring every time I see her. I want this attraction toend. The best way to do that is to get her out of my system once andfor all. Except she wants nothing to do with me and I’ve beenwarned away from her. I’ve always loved a challenge. What I’dlove even more is to get over her so my life can go back to normal atlong last.

This story is available at Amazon for $.99 or free to read in Kindle Unlimited. Enjoy!

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Cover Reveal and Updates

 

I know, I know. I said I'd have this story out last month and that didn't happen. Sadly life stuff has been getting in the way of my progress. I've gotten a handle on most of that this past week and I'm back to making progress.

With that said I thought I'd do a cover reveal for my upcoming story The Worst Man, as well as a quick update. If you haven't been following along, this is going to be the first in a series of wedding themed stories. All the stories will be stand alone, but revolve around a wedding theme.

This story is finished except for a final read through and a few other administrative things I need to do for it. With all of that said, this story should be out by next weekend. I will of course do a blog post when it goes live.

I've already started on the next story in this series. Hopefully, I will have it out sometime in October. Only time will tell. I just need to make this a bigger priority. Why the heck can't life stuff get that memo?

Anyway, my goal is to have this story out by the 19th of this month, so stay tuned.

A Series of Wedding Troubles and Other Updates

 

I have exciting news. Or at least I think it is. I finally have a series underway. So far, the first story is drafted, and I’m heading into the final round of edits. The second story is coming together.

As of now, this will be a four-book series. I have tentatively titled this series: Wedding Troubles. These will be stand alone stories that revolve around a wedding theme.

The title of the series is subject to change, but as of now it is the best I can come up with, and I feel it fits the stories I’m writing.

The first story is titled, The Worst Man. You know, instead of the best man in the wedding, this guy, according to the heroine, is the worst man. Still keeping a play on words for weddings, the second story will be titled, The Maid of Dishonor.

I don’t yet have definite titles for stories 3 and 4, but I’ve been noodling things for those stories as well.  

I’ve been putting a lot of work into these stories, and that’s why there has been little activity on here as of late.

Other Updates

I’m still working on updating the things I mentioned in an earlier post. I have a new bio that I feel is better than the others I’ve come up with, but I suppose that is subjective. Writing about myself in the third person really isn’t my thing.

I will start formatting updates to my previous stories soon. I haven’t forgotten about these things; it’s just that I’ve been busy working on these upcoming stories as of late. My goal is to write and publish on a more regular basis, and I feel I might actually get to that point at long last. It’s just taking a bit of time.

I still have a ton of work to do before I release the next story, but as of now I’m hoping to get The Worst Man out by the end of next week, around the 14th or 15th. If for some reason that doesn’t happen, then I will certainly get it out the following week after that. No matter what, it will be out before the end of this month.

Obviously, since I don’t have a timeline for the release of this story, I don’t have one for The Maid of Dishonor yet either. This is another thing I’m going to work on — getting a better timeline of release dates for my stories. As of now, I’ve been taking some time with these stories, hoping to produce better stories. These stories may also end up being longer than many of my previous titles.

Like I said, I’m really excited about these stories, and they have injected new life into my writing ambitions, which I needed. If you read my post Course Correcting a Creative Slump from last year, you know I struggled quite a bit with writing at all. That spilled over into this year after I finished Second Chance in Winter. The same cycle that I talked about in that blog post persisted. I’m hoping that this project will help me break this cycle. I’ve found I do better when I have story ideas waiting in the wings to be written.

After I finish this series, I have at least two more story ideas waiting to be written. So stay tuned for more things to come soon.

Steamy Summer Reads and Things I’m Working On

This past week has been too hot for words. No, wait, I’m a writer, I could give all kinds of words do describe it. But it’s really too hot and I'm too lazy to bother. I swear I’m turning into an old curmudgeon. This past winter I moaned and complained about the cold, but now I’m not happy with the heat. Next thing I know I’ll be yelling at kids to get off my lawn. Except, there are no kids where I live, so I shall stay young until then and put forth an effort to stop complaining about the weather. 😎

On that note, and despite the heat, I have been hard at work. I have finally gotten started on a few of the things I mentioned in my last post but haven’t implemented anything yet, but I’m getting there.

The most important thing right now is I’m working on a story that is pretty far along. Even better, this story is going to be part of a themed series. The first story is shaping up great and I have notes for the second story and have an inkling of ideas for two more. They will all be standalone stories but revolve around a theme. Best of all, I’m really super excited about these stories.

I’ll be making a more official announcement about this project when I get closer to publishing the first story, so stay tuned. 📺 As of now, I’m thinking it might be mid to late July before the first story drops. It might be sooner because of how much progress I’m making, but it might not be. In the meantime, I’m going to do a shameless plug for a few of my already published stories.

Summer Stories

If you haven’t already read them, here are three stories that I’ve written that are great for summer reading.

Her Holiday Fireworks

This is a Fourth of July story that I more or less wrote on a whim and had a great time writing it. It is my 3rd published story and I must say I liked this story when I finished it. 

It’s more erotic than romantic but still a fun read. I wrote it in the spirit of the holiday and summer heat. It’s a quick read, so if you want something spicy to read when short on time this is it. 

Not only that, it’s that time of year again with the Fourth of July holiday here in the US is right around the corner. 🎆

Beach Fling with the Biker

 Another fun story. At least I think it is, but what do I know? Everything is subjective. It’s about a hot guy on a bike that meets a stuffy accountant who’s trying to unwind on the beach. They’re from two different parts of the country and only at the beach for a week's vacation. 

How, oh how, will they make it work to get their HEA? Well, you know, since this is my shameless plug for my stories, you’ll just have to read it to find out.  I think the blurb for this story needs work, because I don’t think it brings about the energy of the story. This is something I need to work on. Still, if you’re looking for a steamy beach read check it out. 

Guard My Body

This doesn’t have a summer theme as much as the other two stories, but I’m still going to put it on the list.

I think I had the most fun writing this little story, more so than any other I’ve written so far. I have a lot of little twists and turns in this story with an embarrassing disaster early on.

It’s a fun, cute story. It’s little longer than Her Holiday Fireworks but shorter than Beach Fling with the Biker, so if you’re looking for a short romance, this should hit the spot. I even wrote a post about how this story came to be here. 

All three stories are available at Amazon and they are in Kindle Unlimited, so if you have a subscription, why not check them out? Or you can purchase them for .99￠ in the US. (Not sure of the prices in other countries, but it is the equivalent of being .99￠ of US currency.)

Well, there you have it, my shameless plug for a few of my stories that are good summer reads. While these stories are not great works of literature, I had a lot of fun writing them and I can only hope that people have fun reading them. Enjoy!

Things I've Been Working On

 

I have started to write a blog post several times over the past few weeks, or is it months now? Considering my last post was in February, I guess it has been months. It was past time to sit down and spew something out of my little grey matter and get it posted.

Yes, yes, I know, at the start of the year I was going to do a weekly post. Declared it loud and proud on this little blog of mine. I even managed it for a short time. A very short time. Oh well.

I’ll not talk about how life got in the way again and blah, blah, blah. Or how I got in my own way again and blah, blah, blah. Because if I don’t want to write about that boring drivel, I’m sure no one wants to read it either. So let’s just move on from all of that.

While I haven’t been posting on here or gotten another story ready to publish, I have been busy with things related to all of this. In no particular order, here’s what I’ve been up to.

Formatting Stories

Back when I published my first story on Amazon, I formatted and uploaded a MS Word file format because that was the accepted way of doing it. It worked, except there were issues with the table of contents that I never could get to work as it should.

One day, after I formatted a manuscript and had it all ready to upload, for whatever reason, Amazon kept rejecting it because of the file format. I’d go back to the word processor and try again. If I recall correctly, I spend the better part of the day trying to get it to go through.

This wasn’t the first time I had troubles, the story I published before that one had issues uploading.

It could have been because I don’t use MS Word, however, I even uploaded the manuscript into the free online version of Word and tried again, still it was rejected. Finally, in all my frustration, I turned to the Reedsy editor, where I converted it to an .epub file and all was right in the world.

I’ve not had an issue uploading to Amazon since using Reedsy.

This is all well and good, but I don’t like having to rely on an online service to do this. I like Reedsy, but I’d much rather have an app on my computer to do the conversion. It would make it easier for me to update manuscripts and give me more control over the conversion process.

A month ago, I took the time to find and learn some apps to do the conversion offline. I think I have it figured out at last.

Updates Coming One of These Days

Once I have the conversion thingy figured out, I want to go back through my back catalogue of stories and update the manuscripts. I'm not talking about changes to the stories, unless I find a typo. Just updating the old formatting, my bio, and lists of other published stories in the back of the book. That sort of thing. I will admit I’m a bit lazy about this. Okay, a whole lot lazy with this.

After I publish a story, I don’t go back and revisit much about it. Which is fine, but I need to update the back matter for some of my stories. For example, my Holiday Wishes Series, I need to go back to book one and put in links in the back of the book for the other two stories.

Basically, I just need to do a bit of housecleaning on the manuscripts to keep small things updated with them. Also to have the formatting more uniform across all of my stories.

This is on my to-do list, but I haven’t done it yet. Part of it is because I need to get more organized and comb through all of my USB drives where I have my published stories stored and actually find those stories to get this done. Sadly, my files on the USB drives are a disorganized mess. Getting my files organized at last is also on the list of things to-do.

Other Updates

There are other updates and tweaks I want to do with my previously published stories. I’d like to create new covers for a couple of stories and update some blurbs as well.

I took a good look at all of this the past couple of months and made notes of things I want to do. Now it’s just a matter of getting it done. Which I will, I just don’t know when.

The Writing and More Stories

So that leaves the most important part, the stories.

I have started a few stories these past few months, then abandoned them. Usually, I’d start something, run into a snag of sorts, get frustrated and wonder what was wrong with me, wallow in self pity for a bit, then quit working on what I’d started and try something else.

This is a cycle I’m always in and have a hard time breaking.

With that said, I took a step back from how I work to figure out ways to break this cycle. That is the primary goal I’m working on at the moment.

Recently I conceived a series of stories I’m excited about. The process has been slow, but I have confidence that what I have going now will get finished.

Well, that’s everything I’ve been working on since my last post. I do hope to get some of these changes and updates started soon. I just don’t know when yet.

My main goal right now is to get at least one story out next month. I figure if I keep working at this, one day I will finally get my shit together and get stories out regularly, like what I wanted to do from the beginning.😏

A Series of a Season I'm Sick of

 

I’m sure I’ve mentioned on here before my desire to write a series. My first two stories were part of a series, but I didn’t get past two books in The Office After Hours. I suppose I could write another story in that series. That thought occurred to me recently.

My next series, Holiday Wishes, only had two stories in it until this past December when I finally wrote the third story for that series.

I came up with the brilliant idea to write a winter themed series. Because, you know, it’s winter.

I’m a seasonal person. I don’t know why this is, or how I became this way, or if I was just born for the seasons. When it is winter, I want to read things set in winter. I’ve read plenty of romances with winter themes during the winter months. When it’s summer, I want to read something with more of a summer theme. I’ve read Treasure Island in the summer more than once.

While I was writing Faking it at Christmas, I decided I would do a series of winter stories next. I wanted to keep the momentum going.

The only problem is, I was already sick of winter. There are a few reasons for this.

For one, we had some cold spells at the end of November and beginning of December and I was not ready for those. The other thing is, I finally lost my Covid weight and was shocked to realize how much more I notice the cold now. I had wondered the past few years why I wasn’t noticing it like I used to. Guess it was because of the extra insulation I had.

Usually, I like winter. I wouldn’t say I love it, but I like it. By the beginning of March I’m ready for spring, but usually not till then. Not this year. I was ready for winter to be over with before it even officially began.

Still, I was determined. After I published Faking it at Christmas, I started on a winter themed story. Except, like other stories I’ve started, it wasn’t going well. Plus, I had Christmas to get ready for and other things. So I threw it off to the side for the time being.

When things slowed down, I began doodling another story, and this is how Second Chance in Winter came about. More or less I was just writing and having fun and next thing I knew I had a story 90% drafted. So I kept on, even though the weather was cold and crappy and I felt cold and crappy.

When I began editing that story was when I came down with the flu. After that we had an arctic blast that lasted a week of too-damn-cold-for-me temperatures. Second Chance in Winter was meant to be part of this winter themed series I was considering. However, by the time I published that story, I no longer wanted to write about cold and snow or anything else to do with winter.

There will be no winter themed series this season.

Am I doomed to keep writing standalone tales?

Not that there is anything wrong with standalone stories. I like them. I like series. When it comes down to it, I like both.

Right now, I am working on another standalone story. After this story, I might try again to do a series. I’ve got some ideas. Ones that don’t matter about the weather or the season we are in. Which is a good thing for me at the moment, to be honest.

I’ll still write standalone stories, but I really want to dig in and write a series. I’m determined.

This has served as a lesson for me. If I’m going to write winter stories, I might want to do it before winter really sets in. Or maybe in the summer when I’m complaining that it’s too damn hot. Or if this is what I want to do, then I need to at least have an idea of the stories I’m going to write ahead of time and hope the excitement of those ideas carries me through. After all, that’s how this last Christmas story came about.

So at least one more standalone story, maybe two, then I am determined to start a series. I’ve got ideas for a couple of different series in mind, so that is progress. It is my intention to get the next story out before the end of this month. Hopefully, I don’t end up sick again or frozen solid from another winter blast, which we are to get next week. Oh joy. At least I’ve got several blankets and some extra warm cats to help keep me from freezing.

New Release - Second Chance in Winter

Another new release! I'm so happy to finally get this story out. I would have had it out sooner, but being down over a week with the flu really put me behind on it. When I felt better, I was really happy to get back to it. Here it is - Second Chance in Winter.

How did the man who did me wrong all those years ago end up looking hotter than sin? Even worse is my attraction to him is stronger now than ever.
Claire

After a humiliating experience in high school, I left the small town I grew up in behind for good. That is until I’m offered a job nearby and my dad would be disappointed if I didn’t stay with him. Everything is going great until I run into the man who helped humiliate me all those years ago. Logan is the last person I want to see. Ever. Except, he is even hotter now than he was in school. In fact, he is everything I could want in a man. I don’t want to be this attracted to him, but I am. Only I don’t think I could survive him breaking my heart again.

Logan

I didn’t want to move back to this small crummy town, but here I am. Working on a project I couldn’t refuse. That is when I run into Claire. The woman I couldn’t protect all those years ago in high school. The woman I’ve never forgotten or never will. Now I have a second chance with her. A chance to set everything right and make her mine forever. Only this time, I won’t let anyone tear us apart again.

Second Chance in Winter is a short, sweet and steamy second chance romance. Enjoy!Available at AMAZON for $.99 or free in Kindle Unlimited.  

Recovering From the Flu

 

If you read my last post, then you know I was getting all productive with things at long last. I’d even committed to doing a weekly blog post. Everything was great. I was excited. I was making progress daily. I . . .

I came down with the flu.

Yeah, so obviously no big blog post last week as I was on the couch too tired to do anything except sleep. I was also on target to get a new story out last week. None of that happened.

The flu bug totally took me down.

I am finally feeling better and trying to get back to into things. In my part of the world, we went through extreme cold temperatures the last several days, which did nothing to help with my sudden stop in productivity.

Right now I need to re-orient myself with where I was at on my up coming story and remind myself of what needs done yet. It’s just often a struggle to get back to work after being knocked down like I was. It has been some time since I contracted the flu this bad.

I should have this story out before the end of this month. This was not the schedule I was hoping for. It is depressing that every time I feel as though I have things figured out, at least in some small way, something comes along and derails me. I guess that is life and I should be used to it by now, but I’m not sure that is something one ever gets used to. Right now, I’m remaining optimistic that I’ll pull things back together, but it’s an uphill battle to do so.

I’m glad I’m getting better and stronger. Hopefully, in a few more days, I’ll be back at full steam again. I’ve got some brain fog going on from it, but that too seems to be improving.

The weather has improved slightly and once my lingering cough is gone, hopefully I will be healthy again. Sometimes it’s just hard to get back into things when something like this happens.

So there you have it, a quick update on what happened and why there was no blog post last week, or the story I’d planned to release last week. As of now, I still plan on blogging weekly, and I hope to get this story out before the end of January.

Blogging Weekly to Stay Productive

 

What to talk about today? Honestly, I have nothing. So why am I here with a blog post if I have nothing? In trying to make goals for the year, I decided to be more active on here. I want to write and post more. Why? Because I enjoy doing this.

Sometime ago, I began a blog under a different name with a different focus. My goal was to post weekly. I’d read somewhere that when doing an author blog, that was a good pace to go at.

When I started that now neglected blog, that’s what I did. I sat down and wrote something, anything, once a week and posted it. To my surprise, I lasted longer at it than I thought I would. I think I had even picked a day to post. Maybe it was Monday or Wednesday? I don’t remember. I could check, but I can’t be bothered right now. It’s not really important.

What is important is I’d stuck to the weekly blogging for some time and I enjoyed the heck out of it. In fact, if I’d became busy during the week and it came time to post something, I’d drop everything and write something up in a frenzy just so I could get it out so I could stick to my weekly deadline.

Back to Weekly Blogging? Maybe

My first post on this blog was April 17, 2020. I realized last month that I’d only posted 56 times on this site total since then. When I started this blog, I had the intention of posting weekly, if not more. Obviously, that did not happen.

Sometimes it’s hard to think of something to say. Or I start a post and think, “Who the hell wants to read this mindless dribble?” Then scrap what I was working on and move along with my life.

As I looked at that number of 56 and how many years this blog has been live, I realized that if I’d blogged weekly, like I intended, that number would be significantly higher. Actually, 56 posts are a little over a year’s worth of posts if I had posted weekly. Yet it’d taken me four years to get that number.

More Productivity, Please

As I was looking at what I wanted to achieve this year, I thought, I really should try to get at least 52 blog posts up this year. If anything, it would be good practice for writing other things. As I’ve said before, writing a blog post often gets my creative juices flowing for working on my fiction.

Speaking of fiction, I wrote this post as I was taking a small break from editing my current story. The story is pretty much done, except for some tweaks to the ending and going over it again to make it look like a coherent adult may have written it. Can’t guarantee the latter, but I try.

The point is, I want to be way more productive this year. I want to write, and gosh darn it, that’s what I’m going to do. Even if I don’t have an idea for something. I will write anyway.

Huh? What?

Is that possible?

Yes, because that is exactly how this post came about. I looked at the calendar and thought, “Gee, if I’m going to post something weekly, I really need to write something.” So I opened up the ye old plain text editor and just started typing.

I, myself, need this reminder that writing begets writing. So idea or not, I better get to it. If you are a writer, remember that - writing begets writing. I often forget this minor fact.

So as of now, I plan on posting something at least weekly to this site and see how many posts I get in this year. Will I make it? I dunno. Guess you will have to keep coming back to see if I do or not.

Normally, I don’t like stating goals like this publicly. That way, if I fail, no one knows it but me. However, I really needed something to write about this week, so here I am.

I’m looking forward to a year of weekly blog posts. It will be interesting to see if I can maintain this output or not. Even more interesting are the things I might come up with to write about.

One last note. . . As I said above, I’m in the final stages of a new story. If all goes well, it should be out next week. Posting about a new release will count as my weekly post. 😃 Just saying.