Cherie Reich's Blog

Untethered Realms' Book Sale October 23-31

October 23-31, Untethered Realms is hosting a book sale. Many of our books are 99c. Some are free, and we have an awesome giveaway, which includes a $50 Amazon giftcard!
Visit Untethered Realms to enter!
My books in the 99c sale are Once upon a Nightmare: A Collection, which is available at AmazonGoogle PlayiTunesKoboNookSmashwords
and People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors, which is available at AmazonGoogle PlayiTunesKoboNookSmashwords.

A More Lengthy Hiatus

I had to look back on the last post to see where I'm at.
I'm fairly caught up with work-related work beyond a few things that involve me learning Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. Starting next week, I will be taking a six-week class on Photoshop. I'm nervous to be taking a class, in general, but excited to learn more about Photoshop.
As for writing, I haven't done a thing with Folds in Life and Death. I still want to finish that last story and publish the collection, but I'm thinking 2020 instead of 2019. 2020 will fit better because the Curse of Tippecanoe takes affect again in 2020 and is a part of the first story in particular.
As for life, it's been rather up and down. I did receive an official autism diagnosis. I've also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. My medications have changed, which has given me a bit more energy than I had before. I'm also in a new relationship after not being in one since 2007-2008, and I'm excited to see where it takes us.
Now for the blog title, I really want to take some time to figure out what I want to do with this blog as well as my publishing life. I still want to write. I just need to figure out what I want to publish. A whole soul-searching thing. So I've decided to put the blog on pause until January 2020. I may have the occasional promo post and I hope to visit blogs from time to time, but other than that, I won't be blogging until January. In fact, I've turned off comments to this post so they won't overwhelm me (I still love the comments, but I just need some time.)
I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you again in January.

Same Thing Equals Same Outcome and a Hiatus

These past few months I've had the same goal: Get Folds in Life and Death ready for publication. And each month, I have not completed that one goal.
Well, it's a bigger goal with lots of smaller parts. I see the list of these smaller parts, and I get overwhelmed. An overwhelmed Cherie is an avoidant Cherie. I've been avoiding social media, emails, visiting blogs, and, of course, working on Folds in Life and Death. Then, I feel guilty about avoiding things I need to do, which just furthers my desire to complete them. And then I realize how far behind I am, so I get into my head that I must do all the things, but it makes me even more overwhelmed. It's a vicious cycle hampered by my overall lack of energy.
But I do need to change all that. So I'm going to try to narrow my approach to my to-do list. One item at a time. Put the blinders on and try to forget the other 99 things on the list. We'll see how it goes.
So I'll have a chance to catch up, I'm taking July and August off from blogging. I'll be back on September 9.
What are your goals? Or are you avoiding them like I am?
And I'll leave you with some good news. My sister finished writing her first novel in May! She sent it to a contest, so keep your fingers crossed for her.

So Can You Give Me an F?

Another month yet nothing has really changed. I still haven't gotten anything accomplished as it pertains to Folds in Life and Death. *sighs* I'm behind in emailing people as well as visiting blogs. Again. What energy I have mainly goes toward the day job. I have a project I've been working on, and I can't do much else until I finish it. Plus, I'm having to help more in our testing center as our full-time person went down to part-time as needed and another part-time staff member is going on vacation this week.
But once again, I hope to make some progress on Folds in Life and Death. We'll see. So what are your goals?
For some good news, I do have a new author picture! The one I've been using is around six years old, so it's been time to update to a new one.
Photo taken on May 11, 2019 by my sister Kara. Makeup and hair credits go to Kara too.

Just Keep Swimming, Um, I Mean Writing

So, yeah, here we are at a new month. I do feel the tide turning a bit as it comes to my exhaustion and executive functioning. Maybe the arrival of Spring will help me finish up Folds in Life and Death. *crosses fingers*
I still have the same goals as last month. Finish writing "Paper Faces" and then editing it after my critique partner reads it. Proofread the collection. I'm going to hold off on the paperback book a bit, though. My day job is letting me learn Photoshop, so I want to use it to create the paperback cover, which I will do after I take a six-week introductory class in Photoshop.
So I might be able to get Folds in Life and Death out in the next few weeks. Maybe. We'll see.
What are your April goals?

Oh, I do want to share something with you. The class I'm taking is from a site called www.ed2go.com. They have so many different colleges and classes to choose from. The prices are reasonable too. I'm doing mine through Virginia Western Community College, which I attended just after high school. The classes don't count as credits, but they will appear on transcripts. I'm hoping work will pay for the two Photoshop ones, but I also want to do the American Sign Language class, one on introductory drawing, and one on doing research as a writer.
Have you tried any classes on ed2go before or something like that?

First Quarter Stats~ January - March ~0 words written24,090 words edited14,957 friends' words edited

One Step at a Time

As you can probably guess, I'm not getting anywhere fast. I'm still struggling with fatigue and executive function failure, but I am making slow progress on Folds in Life and Death. What I've written so far has been edited. I still have several things to accomplish before publishing the collection. These things included:Finish writing "Paper Faces." I have probably another 2,000 words to go in that story. I also need to write the book's description and an acknowledgements' page.Self-edit "Paper Faces" and send the collection to my critique partner.Implement my CP's suggestions and do a Kindle proofread.Format for print and do a print proofread.Make necessary changes in the print/election formats and publish.As you can see, I have decided to make a print book of the collection. For one, I want to see how publishing in print is through KDP instead of Createspace. For two, I like having a print copy for myself, and I think this collection will just be long enough for a small book (100-150 pages).

So I'm shooting for a spring launch (hopefully by April). *crosses fingers*
I've turned off comments on this post as I still have many blogs to catch up on. Plus, I would like to point you to my post on Untethered Realms. I talked about the inspiration behind the stories in Folds in Life and Death.

Mode: Executive Function Fail

This blog post almost didn't happen. You see, I prefer to schedule my posts in advance. I usually have an idea what to say several weeks ahead of time, but this time, I didn't realize it was time to post again until Friday and am writing the post on Saturday. *sighs*
My brain has been stuck in executive function fail mode for weeks. I am keeping up with the day job, but everything else has taken a backseat. Well, a backseat might be a bit too kind. It's more like they're three Everests behind me. I want to do things, like complete and publish Folds in Life and Death as well as visit and comment on blogs, read books, and answer emails, but I just can't seem to start the tasks.
So it means Folds in Life and Death will take a little more time before I publish it. I'm now shooting for early March. *crosses fingers* I need to do a read-through edit of "Paper Lanterns," do a read-through edit and change "The Folding Point" from third to first person, and finish writing and editing "Paper Faces." After that, I need to do one more proofread (on my Kindle) of all four stories, and it'll be ready to go.
I know I can do this, but I just need to find the energy to do so. Wish me luck!
What are your goals this month?

2019 Key Phrase: Be Active

Happy New Year! Usually this time of the year, I post about my goals for the entire year, which I typically fail at accomplishing by the end of the year. So this time, I am going with a key phrase: Be active.
For writing, "be active" means I need to get back to writing. Last year, I wrote only 25,019 words, which was my worst word count since I started writing with publication in mind on January 15, 2009 (yes, ten years tomorrow!!). I plan to focus on one main project at a time, which will also include research, plotting, and edits. If I have extra time, I might add another, such as re-editing The Fate Challenges, but we'll see.
My first focus is the short story collection Folds in Life and Death. Two stories need just another read-through. One story I plan to change from third to first person, and I need to finish writing the fourth story (this week's goal). My tentative release date is mid-February. The collection's genres are fantasy and alternate history.
"Be active" also relates to my goal to improve my health. For Christmas, I received a Fitbit Versa. The plus side is it's keeping me active. It is also helping me track what I eat. I'm trying to take in fewer calories than I burn a day. So far, so good. The down side is I've found out how little REM and deep sleep I get. It's no wonder I'm so tired! I also tried the relaxation breathing app, and I found out relaxation breathing, or deep breathing, gives me a panic attack. Yeah, I'm weird like that.
I'd also love to meet my reading goal of 24 books this year. The last couple years I've fallen short.
What are your goals for January or this year? Do you have a key word or phrase?

I mentioned in my last post that I have been learning languages through Duolingo. There is something thrilling about learning another language. Language reflects the people who speak it, and you can learn a lot about someone's culture through their language. If you haven't studied a language beyond your first one, I highly recommend it. Especially for writers as it'll help you understand your characters more through how they speak.
Some fun facts I've learned through studying twelve languages on Duolingo:Klingon is a harsh language, much like the fictional people who speak it. Their sentences are backwards to how we speak English as they focus on what they're doing to someone or themselves more on the subject of the sentence. They also combine words a lot. My favorite phrase is jI'IHbe' 'ach jIval, which means "I'm not beautiful, but I am intelligent."In Danish, they don't seem to be keen on conjugating their verbs. Also, they tack on their indefinite articles (en/et--our "a/an") to the end of their nouns to make them definite (the).Dutch has a mix of German and English, so I find myself picking it up rather quickly.Portuguese uses um/uma for their indefinite articles and o/a for definite articles. It always confuses me the first couple times I see "a" pop up as I want to write "a/an" instead of "the."The language that surprised me as one of my favorites is Chinese. Now, I can't write down the symbols very well, but I am recognizing them more in TV shows and the like.Before I started Duolingo, I would say the secondary language I remembered the most from school was French, but I am finding I retained way more Spanish than I first thought.Do you know more than one language?


Now, I'm going to leave you with a brief unedited excerpt from "Paper Faces" in Folds in Life and Death. Willow, the main character, and her BFF Letitia are hanging up theater lights and talking about the upcoming Homecoming dance. In the tech booth is Braden, the guy Willow is in love with.

“Have you and Antwan decided on what you’re going to wear to the dance?” I leaned over and shifted the barrel a tiny bit. Since Homecoming was on Halloween this year, the school decided on a costume-themed party. The committee had virtual posters up about the event. I muttered the slogan that was on a few of the posters and enjoyed the feel of the words in my mouth, “From boobs to butts, you must cover up.”

“I’d suggested Cookie and Lucious Lyon from Empire.” She tightened the bolts with her wrench. “But he talked me into going as Klingons from Star Wars.”

“That’s Star Trek.” My eyebrow lifted.

“Trek, Wars, they’re all the same.” She slipped out from under the light and checked her cell phone. “It’s almost time for the bell to ring.”

“And you’re sure you’d rather go with Antwan?” Though I wasn’t into science fiction, I knew Star Trek from Star Wars. If these things were important to Antwan, then Letitia should, at the very least, know the difference too.

“I’m positive.” Smiling, she pocketed her phone and rose to her feet. “Okay, we don’t have a lot in common, but I like him. He treats me like a person. You should understand how rare that can be.”

I knew all too well. My gaze drifted toward Braden. He never once looked down on me for who I was.

All Good Things #IWSG

The Insecure Writer's Support Group was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. December's co-hosts are J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker, Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey. Please visit the other blogs.

IWSG Day Question: What are five objects we'd find in your writing space?
You know what they say about pictures being worth more than words. Above is an image of my new desk at the day job where I do some of my writing. And, yes, I do like to pretend I work for Stargate Command.
This month's insecurity is two-fold. For one, it's been my lowest word count year since I started writing with publication in mind (since 2009!). The worlds and words are there, but the energy to transfer them from my mind to the screen has been lacking.
With that finite energy, I've had to make some difficult decisions. I want to keep writing and publishing my work, so I'm finding ways for life to be a little less stressful. Starting in 2019, I will no longer participate in IWSG. I've struggled to keep up with visiting blogs on IWSG days for a while now. It's not fair to participate in writing a post for IWSG, if I can't put in the time to comment. So this post is my last one for IWSG and the last one for this year.
I will still be blogging. I plan to post on the second Mondays every month, and I will be visiting, but at a much slower rate. I do hope you'll drop by every so often. My goals for November started off well, but the fifteen minutes of writing a day very quickly fizzled. *sighs* It seemed like all I did accomplish in November was playing with my new phone (Samsung Note 9) and continue learning languages (German, Spanish, French, Klingon, Chinese, Greek, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Russian) through Duolingo (127 straight days as of December 4--and, no, I didn't start all those languages at the same time).

My December goals are to relax, read, and try to finish the first draft of "Paper Faces." I'd love to publish Folds in Life and Death sometime in January/February, so "Paper Faces" needs to be written and edited ASAP.

2018 Stats25,019 words written48,178 words edited381,387 friends' words edited
I hope everyone has a fantastic holidays.
Untethered Realms is having a great giveaway.My next blog post will be on January 14.

Bookworm News: November 2018 #specfic

BOOKS READMeg by Steve Alten A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
BOOKS RELEASED IN NOVEMBERToxic by Lydia KangKeeper of the Lost Cities: Flashback by Shannon MessengerElemental Power by Rachel MorganCrystal Casters: Mirror Realm by Jenn NixonOf Gods and Sorrow by Christine RainsIllusions by Madeline J. ReynoldsSkyward by Brandon Sanderson
This bookworm news feature will be the last one for the foreseeable future. The views this year were lower than I'd like, so I'm going to try to find a different way to shout out the books I've read and those coming out. I'll most likely do this on Twitter and/or Facebook. I will also continue to add my star rating on Goodreads for books I've read. So please follow me those places for more bookish news.