Michele Venne's Blog, page 19
March 18, 2022
The End of spring Break
Tucson Festival of Books is back! Fewer attendees, but people came and bought books. I discovered that these readers prefer print to ebooks, even if they weigh a lot; they came to see authors they’d found in 2019; fantasy, science fiction, and young adult are genres that most read. On the drive back to Phoenix, I had time to think about next year and what plans I might make. Just when I thought I...
March 11, 2022
New and Old
Tucson Festival of Books is happening this weekend! I’ve been preparing for months. Updating my books. Getting the short story ready to give away. Deciding how to sell ebooks at a live event. And realizing that none of the authors whose company I’ve enjoyed the years I attended before the pandemic aren’t going to be there. I’m sure I’ll meet new people, authors and readers. I think it will be a...
March 4, 2022
Birthday Week
A few cool events happened this week in my life. First, my new computer arrived! My 10-year-old laptop could no longer update the operating system, so my apps didn’t work optimally or at all. Do you know how tough it is to type on a keyboard when a few of the letters stick? Yep, that was going on, too. But I’ll keep my old one for virtual meetings and watching Netflix. Next, my cover designer has...
February 25, 2022
Smelling The Flowers
Six days. That is how long I had the house to myself, and how many days in a row I did zero writing. Oh, I thought about my projects. I looked up the word count on MV2 to judge how close I might be to a novel-length manuscript. I also thought about where I left off in The Bookie. Scenes in this story popped into my mind as I sat on the couch, laptop not in sight. It was like a vacation that I...
February 18, 2022
Going Around in Circles
I remember being on the ASU campus several years ago for a writing conference. During lunch, I went outside and saw this dog (his owner was there, just not in the picture) swimming laps in the fountain. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, but the dog was a Lab, and they love water. All those waves are from his happy body swimming and walking through the warm water in the fountain.
February 11, 2022
Holiday Story for a Holiday Weekend
Since life circumstances have settled some, I was able to finish the edits and formatting on The Hidden Gift. I’m waiting to hear from my web designer that everything is in place so I can notify my subscribers. One of the perks of signing up for my newsletter is getting previously unpublished stories, new releases early, and special pricing. I started writing about this story back in November.
February 4, 2022
Show Some Love
Happy first Friday in February! I hope this month for all of us is like the road above, shaded, smooth, beneath blue skies, and edged by green grass. In a time where good news is sometimes hard to come by, one friend got engaged (and shared the sweetest proposal!), another is building a house, and a third is celebrating 69 trips around the sun. Love, love, love to hear about positive things in...
January 28, 2022
spinning plates
A writer friend jokes that I likely have four or six projects going at one time. Back in 2017, I did write FIVE different manuscripts! It took me another three years to edit and publish them. Now, in 2022, after creating a production schedule the last few years and then tossing the calendar in the recycle bin, I think I’ve learned a bit about myself as a writer and how life happens regardless of...
January 21, 2022
Dueling projects
Last week I finished The Hidden Gift and sent it to my beta reader. I also emailed information to my cover designer. I commented to a friend of mine, “This short story became a novella, and I’m okay with that. Now I think it has morphed into a series.” She replied, “When are you going to finish your other series?” I shrugged. “I’ll work on some this year, the rest later on.” I’m thinking my...
January 14, 2022
Getting back to it
I had the pleasure of meeting with two other writers today. We all look forward to sharing a creative space, even if “work” didn’t get done. As one friend said, “There’s just something a little different about the energy of artistic people.” Besides getting caught up on individual happenings since the last time we chatted, we also discussed where we were in our WIPs and the activities we do to...
