Janalyn Voigt's Blog, page 10

Want to Read My Diary?

This month I'm happy to be able to announce the release of a psalms devotional by Pelican Book Group to which I contributed, and that the digital version is free. I reveal a new and very personal feature at the site and explain why a delay in the launch of the Literary Wayfarer Podcast doesn't have me frustrated.

Janalyn
New Feature!

I’ve decided to pull back the curtain on the status of my current writing projects and slipped in a few personal tidbits, as well. These journal entries are raw and real. I mean, where else would I tell you about coming face-to-face (literally) with what looked like a shark but was really a dolphin, share a picture of my favorite medieval garden, or confess that a particular manuscript gave me fits?

Want to read my diary? Catch the Literary Wayfarer Journal for Janalyn Voigt. OR >>>
Subscribe to receive the Literary Wayfarer Podcast and Journals as they publish (weekly for both, once the podcast launches)

Literary Wayfarer Podcast

After coming down so ill in January that I couldn’t record a podcast without sounding like I’d been shouting at a football game, I remembered my original plan to record several month’s worth of episodes before launching the podcast. This delay being my decision rather than one forced on me by circumstances beyond my control feels a whole lot different. I can live with that.

New Book Release

I Thirst[image error], a psalms devotional, is now available from Pelican Book Group for free (in e-book format). Print copies are available for purchase.

In the Psalm 1 entry, I reveal in a highly personal account how an experience in the Australian outback changed my outlook on life.

Blogging

I’m thrilled to announce that the website where I teach and mentor other writers, was chosen as one of the best 100 websites for writers in 2016 by The Write Life.  If you, or someone you know, writes, be sure and take a look at Live Write Breathe.

Website Content

I’ve held off on publishing content to my author site until my health improved. I’m glad to say that I’m in a lot better shape now.  I’ll be improving the author site, and I expect to build separate areas to provide book extras (character interviews, research tidbits, notes, maps, and other features) to readers of my books. This will be an ongoing feature, available only to subscribers. I’ll provide details on how to get in on this soon.

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I don’t want to be the cobbler whose children went barefoot

February 12, 2016

I’m of the theory that if you throw enough work at a large project, eventually you’ll pare it down to size. I’ve been doing that with my workload,  but I don’t want to keep this up forever.  In a job I once held, I worked a lot of overtime while constantly hoping to catch up. It just wasn’t possible. I now control my workload, so I need to make it a reasonable one.  I’m learning…

Last week I expressed the quaint idea that I’d be able to work on it over the weekend. I had imagined my family would support me, but they needed my presence, so I chose to put them first. Unless I’m completely desperate, I’m going to stop trying to carve out marathon writing time on the weekends. I hate when writing puts me in conflict with my family’s needs.

New Release

I Thirst[image error], the psalms devotional to which I contributed is now available from Pelican Book Group for free (in e-book format). In the Psalm 1 entry, I talk about how an experience in the Australian outback changed my outlook on life.

Writing Projects

I am halfway through the last editing pass for Sojourner, Tales of Faeraven 3. 

Blogging

I started a Readership Challenge as a subscriber-only benefit at Live Write Breathe, my website for writers. Setting up automatic emails in a series for individual subscribers took some concentration on my part. I made some mistakes at first but am confident it’s working now.

The latest post for writers, Are You Confusing Readers?, is all about wordiness.

This month’s guest post for Heroes, Heroines, and History, tells the story of a mysterious place that marks its visitors in a special way: Montezuma Castle. Here’s a look at the place.

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Montezuma Castle, image by Janalyn Voigt

I haven’t written anything for my author website, and lest I become like the cobbler whose children went barefoot, I’ll attend to that soon.

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My week felt a lot like this picture

February 5, 2016

Have you ever had one of those weeks where, no matter how hard you try to stay on task, unexpected happenings boot you out of your normal routine?

That’s the kind of week I’ve had.

Never complain, never explain is a good motto to adopt, so that’s all I’m going to say about that except to note that my ability to write in marathons seems to have shrunk. Right now, parental duties pretty thoroughly break up my day, creating slots of time that I fill with writing and a crazy attempt to simultaneously sling laundry around while cooking dinner and restoring some sort of order to the house.

I’m sure the writing life is glamorous for someone, somewhere…

Writing Projects

I am still editing Sojourner, Tales of Faeraven 3, in a third pass. This weekend I hope to  give it a concerted effort. Although taking so long is painful, I want to put out my best work.

Yesterday, I looked over my entry and author bio in the galley for the Lenten devotional Pelican book group, my publisher for Tales of Faeraven, will release on Monday.

Blogging

Because of Live Write Breathe, the website where I teach and mentor other writers, being named one of the best 100 websites for writers in 2016 by The Write Life,  it has seen a lot more traffic. Since I had no idea I was seriously in the running for this honor, I had been ignoring website issues at Live Write Breathe while focusing on my author website. The announcement was akin to my husband calling halfway through the day to say that, by the way, he forgot to tell me he invited the boss over for dinner tonight.

My author website has been languishing as a result. I’m hopeful this pace will settle down eventually. I’ll be adding a virtual assistant to help me keep up, though. There’s a point, when a business takes off, that you have to delegate. I’ve never been good at that, but I’m about to learn.

The Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt e-letter will publish a week late, but I decided I should sleep sometime.

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January 29, 2016 | What I’m Writing Now

[image error]I couldn’t resist illustrating this week’s update with such a surprised-looking bird. Due to this week’s events, I can empathize with that emotion.

Here we are at the end of the month already. Have you accomplished what you set out to do in January? Although I gave a valiant effort to keeping up with my schedule this month, coming down sick meant I just couldn’t.

Now that my health is on the upswing, I’m able to put more time into writing projects. Progress has been slowed, however, due to the announcement I make under this week’s blogging header. That took me pretty much by surprise, and it has me rethinking my blogging schedule.

They say that the ability to revise goals as needed is a sign of giftedness. I can see the advantage of, rather than giving up in frustration, going to Plan B. Sometimes I go a little further down the alphabet, but that’s okay, too.

I’ve reached the point, physically, where I can endure a few marathons to catch up. I’ll have to temporarily sacrifice some of the precious balance I strive to attain in life.

If I told you I paced every day to my specifications, I’d either be a robot, a bore, or fibbing.

Writing Projects

I am still editing Sojourner, Tales of Faeraven 3 and have reached the point where I’m wondering if I will spend the rest of my natural life on this one project. That usually means I’m nearing the end.

I also wrote a short piece about a discovery I made in the Australian outback for inclusion in an Easter devotional, at the request of Pelican Book Group, my publisher for Tales of Faeraven.  I lived at a remote communication station in Western Australia for about three years, where I went through a cyclone and came face-to-face with what I took for a shark but was really a dolphin. I have lots of memories from that chapter in my life, but this is the first time I’ve put one in writing.

Blogging
[image error]Honey Graham Crackers Recipe

I published a homemade from-scratch graham cracker recipe in the Old Bohemian Homestead portion of the site. These are a family favorite at my house.

My big announcement is that Live Write Breathe, my website for writers, was named one of the top 100 websites for writers by The Write Life. Being nominated, alone, is an honor. This now positions Live Write Breathe to become an authority site, a fact that automatically demands more from me. The email list is growing and the traffic to the website increasing on a daily basis.

With new visitors to my website, I feel the need to do some tidying up. Besides making changes to improve the design and functionality of the site,  I’m going through all 200 + blog posts (at the rate of one per day), making sure they have good images, valid links, and up-to-date information. Does this sound time-consuming when I’m already overloaded?

Welcome to my world.

If only I could see these things coming, I’d plan for them in advance. Maybe, if self-confidence were my strength, I would. I’m working on that, but meanwhile, I have to let go of some things and scramble to manage the rest.

Podcasting

I’ve decided to postpone the Literary Wayfarer Podcast, for one thing. I had to put off the launch after coming down sick because I didn’t want to record the intro and outro that I’d play during each podcast with a husky voice from a cold. This reminded me that I originally intended to record a couple of months worth of episodes in advance to allow myself some margin. That’s a better plan than winging it while living on the edge, so I’m returning to it.

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I can empathize with this bird’s emotion

January 29, 2016

Here we are at the end of the month already. Have you accomplished what you set out to do in January? Although I gave a valiant effort to keeping up with my schedule this month, coming down sick meant I just couldn’t.

Now that my health is on the upswing, I’m able to put more time into writing projects. Progress has been slowed, however, due to the announcement I make under this week’s blogging header. That took me pretty much by surprise, and it has me rethinking my blogging schedule.

They say that the ability to revise goals as needed is a sign of giftedness. I can see the advantage of, rather than giving up in frustration, going to Plan B. Sometimes I go a little further down the alphabet, but that’s okay, too.

I’ve reached the point, physically, where I can endure a few marathons to catch up. I’ll have to temporarily sacrifice some of the precious balance I strive to attain in life.

If I told you I lived every day paced to my specification, I’d either be a robot, a bore, or a liar.

Writing Projects

I am still editing Sojourner, Tales of Faeraven 3 and have reached the point where I’m wondering if I will spend the rest of my natural life on this one project. That usually means I’m nearing the end.

I also wrote a short piece about a discovery I made in the Australian outback for inclusion in an Easter devotional, at the request of Pelican Book Group, my publisher for Tales of Faeraven.  I lived at a remote communication station in Western Australia for about three years, where I went through a cyclone and came face-to-face with what I took for a shark but was really a dolphin. I have lots of memories from that chapter in my life, but this is the first time I’ve put one in writing.

Blogging
[image error]Honey Graham Crackers Recipe

I published a homemade from-scratch graham cracker recipe in the Old Bohemian Homestead portion of the site. These are a family favorite at my house.

My big announcement is that Live Write Breathe, my website for writers, was named one of the best 100 websites for writers by The Write Life. Being nominated, alone, is an honor. This now positions Live Write Breathe to become an authority site, a fact that automatically demands more from me. The email list is growing and the traffic to the website increasing on a daily basis.

With new visitors to my website, I feel the need to do some tidying up. Besides making changes to improve the design and functionality of the site,  I’m going through all 200 + blog posts (at the rate of one per day), making sure they have good images, valid links, and up-to-date information. Does this sound time-consuming when I’m already overloaded?

Welcome to my world.

If only I could see these things coming, I’d plan for them in advance. Maybe, if self-confidence were my strength, I would. I’m working on that, but meanwhile, I have to let go of some things and scramble to manage the rest.

Podcasting

I’ve decided to postpone the Literary Wayfarer Podcast, for one thing. I had to put off the launch after coming down sick because I didn’t want to record the intro and outro that I’d play during each podcast with a husky voice from a cold. This reminded me that I originally intended to record a couple of months worth of episodes in advance to allow myself some margin. That’s a better plan than winging it while living on the edge, so I’m returning to it.

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How I fought a dragon and won

January 22, 2016

Last week I speculated on this very page, oh so rashly. I’d fallen behind when a cold sidelined me but thought I might still manage to spend the usual fifty hours on writing or writing-related activities. Was I able to run those writing marathons?

No and no again.

What did I do instead? Moaned a lot, coughed pitiably, and cracked a fever.  Yep. That pretty much sums it up.

In the grip of  cold that came on like a ferocious dragon, I in no way resembled the cold-fighting warrior I wanted to become. With that vision before me, I arose from my sickbed. There followed a week of eventful skirmishes, one that ends with the dragon of a nasty cold all but slain.

So, did my writing ambitions become a casualty? Read on.

Writing Projects

I, finally and thankfully, finished editing the second pass of Sojourner, third book in the Tales of Faeraven epic fantasy series. I am now reading back through the manuscript, making final revisions while checking for continuity and flow. That’s going more slowly than my impatient self would like, but it’s going.

Blogging

After deciding to stop posting Old Bohemian Homestead updates, thinking it doesn’t quite match my literary bohemian brand, I wound up accidentally writing one. I wound up pasting my original start to this “now” page update into a blog post: Cold Remedies that Worked for Me. I guess I won’t be ending Old Bohemian Homestead after all.

Funny how we tell ourselves these things.

I’ve been sending out themed emails to my subscribers at Live Write Breathe. This week I covered writing with excellence and featured a post about what we can learn from Walt Disney in Lessons in Storytelling from a Master

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As travelers approach, this stronghold recedes

January 15, 2016

Life has a way of happening in a way that is not according to plan. I believe in scheduling my time, but that’s all right with me.  Who wants a life you can map out to the last moment, anyway? That would mean no surprises.

This week my husband’s birthday required homemade cheesecake, a special gift, and lots of attention. He had a nasty cold, so I wanted to spoil him. This took extra time, but I figured I’d be able to catch up on my writing during the rest of the week.

And then I came down sick.

I had to postpone launching the Literary Wayfarer podcast until my throat stops hurting and I can talk without sounding hoarse. Right now I’m drinking lots of tea and have a scarf wound rather elegantly around my neck. This vocalist’s trick from my opera days actually works well to ease a sore throat and shorten its duration.

Writing Projects

At the end of last week, I only had three chapters left to edit in Sojourner, (Tales of Faeraven, book 3).  I hit some snags in the form of scenes that gave me fits while being rewritten, and so far I’ve only pulled 30 of the 50 hours designated each week for writing. Yep, I’m still editing. At least I’m on the final chapter now.

I’m hoping to pull some writing marathons over the next couple of days to use as much of the remaining 20 working hours as I can. Since I’m still sick, the reality will probably fall short.

One scene in DawnSinger (Tales of Faerven, book 2) describes Weithen Faen, a fenland with the ruined stronghold of Pilaer at its heart. As the heroine and her protectors journey toward Pilaer, it seems to endlessly retreat. 

This feels a lot like that.

Blogging

I cut way back on blogging this week but did send out an email to the crowd at Live Write Breathe, the website where I teach writers to live a passionate writing life, write well, and remember to breathe.

I reasoned that sending an email with links to past posts would save time. As it turns out, revamping older posts actually takes longer than writing a new one. Still, I like being able to take writers deeper into a topic through hand-selected articles. Plus, reviving older posts keeps them from being buried.

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I could get lost in this garden

January 8, 2016

The turn of the year gave me a renewed focus on productivity. A new contract for a series of western historical novels with deadlines eight months apart, plus the planned addition of independently published books and the Literary Wayfarer podcast to my repertoire, means I need to manage my time well.

I’m willing to make sacrifices to build my writing business, as any entrepreneur should, but to sustain my energy over the long term and avoid burnout, I’ll be limiting business hours to 50 per week. That might sound like a lot, but when you consider that I am chief and bottle washer for a business that is gaining momentum, it’s easy to see how it can crowd out my personal life.

So far, the system I’m developing to maintain a balanced life seems to be working. I’ll post more about it once I’ve ironed out the details.

Writing Projects

I’m still slogging away at editing Sojourner, (Tales of Faeraven, book 3),  story of the eternal edits. I keep announcing hopefully that I’m about to submit it to my publisher, but then get sucked back under.  The writing of this story came during a particularly painful time for me personally (months of being victimized by hackers followed by months of illness), so there were lots of interruptions while writing it. This created the need for more intensive editing than I would normally have to do.

I am nearing the end this time, thankfully. I’ve just completed Chapter 30 (of 33). Next week, I expect to finish going through the chapters, and then read the entire manuscript one last time before submitting it to my publisher.

Blogging

Last Friday, my monthly post for Heroes, Heroines, and History came due. I’m a regular contributor (every month on the 8th) to this history blog featuring 31 professional authors in daily posts. I’m honored to join forces with the likes of Debbie Lynne Costello, Tiffany Amber Stockton, Martha Rogers, Miralee Ferrell, Golden Keyes Parsons, and many other historical fiction authors.

Figuring our readers would be recovering from the stress and rich foods of the holidays, I decided my January post should include lots and lots of pictures. This would help writing the post to go quickly, since I was sliding into base on meeting my January 1st deadline. It was a good plan with just one flaw: tracking down pictures of medieval gardens was at once fascinating and time-consuming. Plan a Medieval Garden (Pictorial Guide) took five straight hours to put together. The picture, below, is my favorite image in the post.

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This week I added Home Decluttering and Beyond to the Old Bohemian Homestead because I’m on a personal mission to remove clutter and restore functionality to my own home, and I want to share the vision.

I also updated Live Write Breathe, the website where I mentor other authors, by responding to a reader’s question: What’s the Best Way to Handle Backstory?

Featured Image: Spain: Alhambra palace gardens in Granada I, Wela49 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons

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Being holed up in a closet talking to myself suits me

January 1, 2016

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been fitting my writing office in a closet to serve as both a writing space and sound booth. I did record some episodes of a previous podcast in that space, but the sound quality wasn’t the best. I wanted to do this better.

It’s taken a while to sort out the right equipment, but it was more than that. I needed a focus that expressed who I am while connecting with my readers and potential readers. I’m glad to say that the upcoming Literary Wayfarer podcast fits the bill. It stems from several of my defining passions: reading, writing, learning, and travel. 

In the podcast, I’ll discuss settings, interesting details, and authors from the books I read. I’ll also give my perspective on the books, themselves. Once in a while, I’ll include a journal from my own literary travels, and on the rare occasion, I’ll discuss one of my own titles and perhaps share an excerpt.

[image error]Here I am in my closet writing office.

I’m looking forward to re-entering the podcasting world. Being holed up in a closet while talking to myself (okay to a microphone) suits me perfectly. I’m not by nature outgoing, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that, should we meet. I’ve adapted well to our social-networking online world, but the truth is that, while I enjoy connecting with others, I’m an introverted soul. My closet writing office gives me the time alone I need to function best.

Yesterday, I had a long phone conversation with my literary agent, during which we covered my branding considerations, the three-book contract I just signed for the Montana Gold series, and a romantic suspense novel idea she’s trying to place for me. We also talked about how to approach the different genres I write. Handling a multi-genre author isn’t easy for an agent, since the powers that be in publishing would like to shoehorn every writer into a single pair of shoes, so to speak, for purely commercial reasons.

Writing is interesting in that it’s not just a business venture but also an art. I don’t know many writers who like the single-genre approach, but a lot of them put up with it because they believe they should. The idea is that if you write in more than one genre, you’ll confuse readers. Early on in my career, a well-known editor told me that “readers aren’t that stupid.” He did suggest to me that I should use different variations of my name for the main genres I write, to help readers keep them separate.  That’s why my historical romances will come out under Janalyn Irene Voigt, but I’m Janalyn Voigt for epic fantasy and Janalyn I. Voigt for romantic mystery.

It does take a little more work and some scrambling to serve readers of three genres. This is why in 2016 I’ll be streamlining routine tasks and focusing on productivity.

But for the first day of the new year, I’m taking some time off with my family.

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Literary Wayfarer Podcast Cover Reveal

I can’t say it’s been easy figuring out just what I had to share in a podcast, but that was easy compared to putting together the cover image. Who knew that a square canvas could be so hard to cover with the right pixels to represent the brand, spanking new Literary Wayfarer podcast?

The gold, red, and black colors are ones I’ve trended toward at my website. The image of me is one of the few photographs where you’ll find me looking relaxed. (I tend to freeze up when a camera is pointed my direction.) And then the gold ring manages to capture my Bohemian ancestry and gypsy soul. The circle represents my original story circle idea that has morphed into this podcast. 

In case you were wondering, by the way, this is a renamed version of the Story Circle podcast I’ve been trying to get off the ground for some time now. I’ve had a couple of false starts but am bound and determined to move forward on this project.

If you were looking forward to some audio fiction recorded by the author, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately, the learning curve of publishing a book for Kindle and in print, even a short novella, meant I had to delay the launch of my podcast. Like many people recovering from an illness, I was a little too ambitious in what I thought I could accomplish. I’m learning that it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver, so I won’t say more than that at the moment.

Maybe there was a reason for the delay, though. I was going to focus exclusively on my fiction, but then I became inspired to talk about the places and details surrounding books I read and also my own novels. If you are a subscriber to the Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt, this is similar to the book extras I’ve offered in print. The first episode will discuss the real Jamaica Inn, location of a book by the same title.

Here’s the ‘official’ podcast description:

Ever want to travel to the settings of books you read? Curious to know where famous authors have slept that you can, too? Want reading recommendations from a published novelist and literary judge? Climb onboard with Janalyn Voigt, novelist, reader, history lover, and literary traveler.

Reading, research, and travel are hallmarks of life as a literary bohemian. While that may sound glamorous, the reality isn’t always. Janalyn has begged a bed for the night in a partially-inhabited ghost town (long story), traveled to a remote island only to discover her camera’s memory card not in her bag, and narrowly missed being run off the road in a high mountain pass. On the other hand, there’s nothing quite like walking part of the Oregon Trail, being allowed inside a stagecoach stop, and recording images of a ghost town in the high Sierras.

This podcast will take you on the adventures and misadventures of a literary wayfarer. Travel with Janalyn to research locations for the books she writes, most of which are off the beaten path. Learn her reading recommendations as a passionate reader and literary judge. Explore literary sites associated with the books she describes.

If, like Emily Dickinson, you believe “there is no frigate like a book to take you lands away.”

The Literary Wayfarer podcast will publish every other week. If you’d like to subscribe to the Literary Wayfarer podcast, you’ll receive notifications of new episodes in your inbox and weekly glimpses behind the scenes at what I’m working on right now.  I won’t publish the podcast to iTunes and other venues until there are a few episodes to offer, but I’ll let you know when I do.

I’m looking forward to serving our mutual love of books, travel, and literary places. As Emily Dickinson said so well:

“There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away…”

Ready to travel?

 

Subscribe to the Literary Wayfarer podcast.

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