Robin Jeffrey's Blog, page 7
February 11, 2024
Behind the Scenes Sunday
Let’s take a peek at the cogs inside the machine and talk about why I write and how I write on Behind the Scenes Sunday! Today I’d like to talk about how sometimes making the hard decision to walk away from a writing project is exactly what you need to do to reclaim your creativity and get your work back on track.
None of us are going to be 100% successful at everything we try. We’re going to bake cookies that end up burning, we’re going to study hard for tests that we end up failing, and, if we’re creative type folks, we’re all going to start artistic projects that end up falling short of our goals.
That’s okay.
It’s okay to walk away from a book, story, painting, costume, whatever-it-is-you-are-making if you know in your heart that it isn’t working. I wish I could tell you what “isn’t working” looks like or feels like, but it’s a gut instinct. When you know, you know. And it can be heartbreaking, because no one starts a creative project with the intention of not seeing it through. We all want our dreams to come to fruition. We all want to finish writing the book, finish painting the portrait, finish sewing the costume.
But sometimes, it’s better all around to just…walk away.
Walking away now doesn’t mean walking away forever. There is no expiration date on a creative project, no law that says you can’t return to a project years or decades down the line. What that gives you is freedom to let it go for now and try something different.
Feel no guilt. You are doing what is best for you and for the project. Reclaim your creative time and put forth that effort into something new. Start fresh and try again later!
As always, if you’re interested in supporting me and my work, thank you: Hungry is the Night, my paranormal romance, is available on all major platforms, as are my classic murder mysteries with scifi twists, The Cadence Turing Mystery series!
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February 6, 2024
The Check-In
Welcome to THE CHECK-IN, where you can get a sneak peek into my writing progress every week! Read on to find out what I’m working on and how things are progressing in my world.
Wha? Why do I have a picture of 17 year-old Robin up there instead of my usual chart of word counts?
Because I needed a reminder: that word counts don’t matter as much as my love of writing. 17 year-old Robin knew that. But 33 year-old Robin needed a reality check.
It’s been pretty well documented over the last few check ins that I’ve been struggling with bad writer’s block (if you want to call it that). That came to head in the past week with me having a full on meltdown over my writing work. I had to take a real hard look at what I had been spending my time on and what truly mattered to me and I came to the following conclusion: I had forgotten my why.
It’s easy to do when writing is your full time job. You get so wrapped up in the administrative side of things, in bookkeeping, and taxes, and planning events, and building your brand, that you forget what made you want to be a writer full time in the first place.
I spent a whole day last week doing nothing but writing. Not paying attention to word counts, or hitting a specific goal with a deadline in mind, or splitting my time between writing and working on other aspects of the job – just writing. And it felt incredible.
Don’t forget your why. I write because I love it. Because it makes me feel good to write. Because it’s how I understand and connect with the world around me. And I need to remember that when I don’t write? When I put other things first?
I end up unhappy.
17 year-old Robin got that. Now 33 year-year old Robin does too.
LESSON OF THE WEEK: DON’T LET THE LOVE GET LOST.
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VALENTINE’S DAY CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY – HUNGRY IS THE NIGHT!
VALENTINE’S DAY CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY – COFFEE FLAVORED HUNGRY IS THE NIGHT!
Feb 1st-14th
Goodies Given Away Every Day Totaling Over $150
Valentine’s Day Countdown Giveaway
Cupid‘s brought you a magical box of chocolates. Every day, the heart-shaped box reveals a new treat. Take a bite to discover both what flavor is lurking inside the tempting chocolate shell and a new giveaway.
Each day, return to the site to click on the box of chocolates and discover another fantastic prize. Be swept away this holiday season by gripping romance, pampering treats, cozy gifts, and an amazing offer hidden inside the box of chocolates.
Today you have a shot at my book and a $20 Amazon gift card! The giveaway is sponsored by these wonderful authors:
Ellen Mint • Sandra Carmel • Tina Gallagher • Kara Kendrick • Robin Jeffrey • Briar Boleyn • Amber Daulton • Blye Donovan • Maggie Blackbird • Ellis O. Day • MK Collings • Angela Taylor • Elizabeth Cole • Sheri-Lynn Marean • AE Lister
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Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.February 1, 2024
VALENTINE’S DAY CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY!
VALENTINE’S DAY CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY
Feb 1st-14th
Goodies Given Away Every Day Totaling Over $150
Valentine’s Day Countdown Giveaway
Cupid‘s brought you a magical box of chocolates. Every day, the heart-shaped box reveals a new treat. Take a bite to discover both what flavor is lurking inside the tempting chocolate shell and a new giveaway.
Each day, return to the site to click on the box of chocolates and discover another fantastic prize. Be swept away this holiday season by gripping romance, pampering treats, cozy gifts, and an amazing offer hidden inside the box of chocolates.
The giveaway is sponsored by these wonderful authors:
Ellen Mint • Sandra Carmel • Tina Gallagher • Kara Kendrick • Robin Jeffrey • Briar Boleyn • Amber Daulton • Blye Donovan • Maggie Blackbird • Ellis O. Day • MK Collings • Angela Taylor • Elizabeth Cole • Sheri-Lynn Marean • AE Lister
Sign Up for My Newsletter!
By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.
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The Check-In
Welcome to THE CHECK-IN, where you can get a sneak peek into my writing progress every week! Read on to find out what I’m working on and how things are progressing in my world.
Here’s the breakdown:
Fickle Fae – Full transparency: I’m on the verge of putting this project to the side for a bit. I can’t seem to make any headway on it and I just…don’t feel any interest towards it. I’m going to give it a couple more sections of really putting my shoulder to the boulder and trying to roll it uphill, but…I just don’t know. Lonely is the Night – The third Night book is coming along a bit better since I sat down and did some rough outlining/plotting. But writing is still rough right now and I got to be honest with you, I’m not sure why.Real talk, folks. The writing has been hard for me this month. The administrative side of this business, the social media, the selling, the taxes even, they’ve all been going smoothly compared to how often I’ve been able to get myself to sit down in this here chair and get words onto the page. I think I’m having some fear issues, fear of failure, that are keeping me from writing. But I’m working hard to work through them, so hopefully I’ll be back at it again soon.
LESSON OF THE WEEK: IT’S OKAY TO BE AFRAID – BUT YOU CAN’T LET IT STOP YOU.
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LAST CHANCE! Save $5!
Learn how to craft a compelling, taut mystery from start to finish! The secret is in your characters: understanding what makes them tick as individuals and how they relate to each other. By the end of this course students will:
– Feel empowered to write their own mystery novels/short stories
– Understand the importance of characters in any compelling mystery
– Have tools to create characters that fit in their mystery plot
– Be able to plot their own mystery novels/short stories
Keep readers guessing without needing to be a criminal mastermind! This 2 week workshop runs from February 5th 2024 to February 19th 2024. Register for the course by January 29th (tomorrow) and save $5!
Sign up today!Sign up for my newsletter!
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The Check-In
Welcome to THE CHECK-IN, where you can get a sneak peek into my writing progress every week! Read on to find out what I’m working on and how things are progressing in my world.
Here’s the breakdown:
Fickle Fae – Small amounts of progress is better than no progress at all! I am fairly certain I will not be making my March 1st (self-imposed) deadline to get this piece to my editor, but I am still working on it! And miracles can happen! We’ll just have to see what February holds in store for me as far as writing time and focus.Lonely is the Night – Even though this is still pretty low in the word count department, I am actually super stoked about this draft because I got a few solid hours of outlining and planning done on it (not reflected in this word count graph, obviously). I feel like I finally have a better idea of the shape of the book as a whole (though I still have a muddled middle to hammer out) and that’ll make pumping up this word count so much easier in the next week.What Fickle Fae needs this week is what Lonely is the Night got last week: some writing time, for sure, but more importantly some planning time. I need a vague outline, at the very least, a shape of the novella before I can go much further and that means taking a chunk of time to just sit and noodle on it.
LESSON OF THE WEEK: PLANNING HELPS PROGRESS!
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Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.January 21, 2024
Behind the Scenes Sunday
Let’s take a peek at the cogs inside the machine and talk about why I write and how I write on Behind the Scenes Sunday! Today I’d like to talk about the importance of being a lifelong learner when it comes to the business and the craft of writing.
You are never to old to learn something new. I rail against the idea that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I have every intention of learning new tricks well into my golden years and where the creative arts are concerned, I think that there is always more to learn. There is always more craft to hone, always a path to improvement, always another mountain to climb, another skill to master, another way to stretch and challenge yourself!
I love participating in conferences and workshops for this very reason (whether they be virtual or in person) and I highly recommend that anyone who takes writing seriously do the same on a regular basis. I also would encourage more experienced writers to experiment with mentorship of younger writers. In my opinion there is nothing more rewarding than helping someone learn the craft and you learn a heck of a lot about it yourself when you have to teach it to someone else.
For example, I am undertaking the teaching of the art of mystery writing in my latest course: Demystifying Mystery Writing!
Students in this class will learn how to craft a compelling, taut mystery from start to finish! The secret is in your characters: understanding what makes them tick as individuals and how they relate to each other. By the end of this course students will:
– Feel empowered to write their own mystery novels/short stories
– Understand the importance of characters in any compelling mystery
– Have tools to create characters that fit in their mystery plot
– Be able to plot their own mystery novels/short stories
Keep readers guessing without needing to be a criminal mastermind! This 2 week workshop runs from February 5th 2024 to February 19th 2024.
Sign up today!As always, if you’re interested in supporting me and my work, thank you: Hungry is the Night, my paranormal romance, is available on all major platforms, as are my classic murder mysteries with scifi twists, The Cadence Turing Mystery series!
Order Your Copies Now!Join My Newsletter!
By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.
Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.January 18, 2024
Countdown to Bay Street Art Hop in Port Orchard!
days
hours minutes seconds
until
Bay Street Art Hop!
Looking for some fun this Friday? Look no further! Find The Path Books will be hosting me for this month’s Bat Street Art Hop this Friday, January 19th, from 3pm to 7pm in lovely Port Orchard, WA!
If you like mysteries, romances, werewolves, robots, or just enjoy visiting super cool bookstores, you’ve got to stop by! I honestly can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun! Hope to see you all there!
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By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.
Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.January 16, 2024
The Check-In
Welcome to THE CHECK-IN, where you can get a sneak peek into my writing progress every week! Read on to find out what I’m working on and how things are progressing in my world.
Here’s the breakdown:
Fickle Fae & Lonely is the Night – Progress? I don’t know her. But I wanted to be honest and transparent about my process on this site and sometimes, a lack of forward momentum is part of that process. I got very few words down this past week, so few that it wasn’t worth updating the chart beyond taking Dirty Drinks off, seeing as how it was completed. The reason for this lack of new writing is two fold:I got some news last week (stay tuned) that meant a big portion of my work time had to be reallocated away from putting words to paper to more administrative and marketing focused tasks. I honestly wasn’t feeling that inspired! Which is no excuse, really, but more specifically, I feel a little lost in both these pieces at the moment. I’m not sure where they’re going, story-wise and that always dampens my motivation to work on a piece. I like to have at least one headlight on and right now I feel like I’m driving in the dark.So, what to do? Well, hopefully I have some time this week to sit down and write. But I may also take the time I’d usually use to write and use it to do some outlining instead. That way I have a clearer idea of where the stories are going and I will (hopefully!) feel more optimistic when sitting down to work on them – and less like I’m flailing around in a dark room.
LESSON OF THE WEEK: TAKING TIME TO PLAN IS STILL PROGRESS!
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