S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 11

January 2024 Goals

And here we are! Back at another year's beginning. Time to get moving with those goals?

What are my January Goals?

Keep working on my books. I have a lot of writing to do this year and get up on Ream. I'll be starting with posting chapters of my new Amagi Series novella on Ream later this week!

Post my Amagi Series novella to Ream. Getting off on the right foot, I'm going to be posting my Amagi Series novella first.

Work on more fine tunes of GPT 3.5. My first fine tune was a huge success. I'm really happy with the results. My next fine tune will focus on getting the LLM to draft a novel or serial outline based on what I have learned over the years about plotting, what I like in a story. That will be fun!

Stick with the Peloton. More working out and with my new routine, I'm working out earlier in the day. I need to stay on top of it this month.

Stick with my new workout schedule, intermittent fasting, and Dry January until close to my birthday. It's a lot but I'm committed to making it a habit.

Keep going with Duolingo, reading, knitting, and TV. All the same, same.

What happened with December's Goals?

Keep working on my books. I did do a little of this, but I wish I had done more.

Develop course work for the Future Fiction Academy. Yes! This is done! Elizabeth and I worked hard on a 90-day curriculum for the FFA students that started on Jan 1.

Stick with the Peloton. I did! Though I did not get on the bike as much as I hoped I would, I'm definitely happy with what I did.

Keep going with Duolingo, reading, knitting, and TV. I stayed on top of Duolingo, watched some TV, and read a little. Knitting did not happen.

That's it for this month! Have a great January everyone!

The post January 2024 Goals appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

2024: The Year I Embrace What Makes Me Unique

What a year 2023 was! I’m not even sure I followed what I had set in motion a year ago since everything changed so quickly. How could I foresee that I would start a whole new business, pioneer so many new things for authors, and still not even publish half of what I wanted to publish?

Well, 2024 will be different because this year I have an idea of what I’m in for. I know what my role is in this changing market. I know what I want to do and how I want to accomplish it. The clarity is almost blinding!

2015 was The Year I Say No.
2016 was The Year I Give No F*cks.
2017 was The Year I Have Fun.
2018 was The Year I Don't Compete.
2019 was The Year I Improve Myself and My Business
2020 was The Year I Lead A Happy Creative Life
2021 was The Year I Develop My Systems
2022 was The Year I Become Stronger, Faster, More Powerful and Positive
2023 was The Year I Focus on Progress and Cultivate Self-Belief

2024 will be the Year I Embrace What Makes Me Unique

Because that’s what’s going to differentiate me from all the other authors out there as AI takes its hold on the creative community. It’s more important than ever to be unique, to be a powerhouse that can’t be stopped, to stand out from the crowd. And instead of shunning AI, I will use it as part of my superpower to meet the demands of my readers and my students too.

Together, we are all stronger, and I refuse to let my fellow authors fall behind. I will help any of them who need it or ask for it. I will lift them up, put them on my shoulders, and carry them through. Because it’s my unique viewpoint and willingness to step forward into this new domain that will help us all.

I know there will be scared authors out there, ready to tear me down in order for them to look virtuous. I will persevere. I will insist on pressing forward. I will bank on my unique sets of skills to push us through.

I hope you will join me.

Writing and Publishing Goals

I will focus on publishing to my Ream subscription. Whatever I write, I will release to my Ream readers first, and then later, the books will be released on Amazon and KU. I will no longer be using ARC readers (I only had 5 of them) but those people will get a copy of the book before the book is released to Amazon.

I will release at least 4 titles this year. The first will be an Amagi Series novella. The second will be the fantasy rom com I’ve been working on. Then there’s the next Kimura Sisters book. And I would also like to write and release a Skylar book. Bonus: I have ideas for an action-adventure thriller romance I’d like to do. I have also been generating a ton of AI novellas that I think, once they’re edited, may be fun for my Ream subscription. But only if I really love them. Otherwise I will just put them in the slush pile or post them to an anonymous pen name on Wattpad.

It’s also possible that my cozy mystery pen name will get 2 books this year! I have the first book half-written. Let’s see if I can finish it and make covers for the series.

I will produce more AI audio now that I’ve been accepted into the Amazon program. I’d like to start with the cozy mysteries first and then move on to my Nogiku Series.

Business Goals

I will build the Future Fiction Academy up. We are making great progress with the FFA! And this year we're introducing a 90-day curriculum that's really going to be awesome for students. I would love for us to be at 300+ students before the end of the year.

I will keep up with my Facebook and Amazon ads. It's possible I will be trying Facebook ads for my Ream subscription too, so we'll see how that goes.

I will keep up with my Ream subscription. I need to stay consistent about it!

I will build my newsletter list. I'm thinking about writing some quick novellas to bring people into my newsletter with Bookfunnel promos. We'll see!

Creativity Goals

I will find more books I want to read. 2023 sucked for reading. I want to do better in 2024. My goal is to read 2 non-fiction books per month and either listen to or read one fiction book. That's it. Just a small goal to propel me forward.

I will knit a sweater. I swear! And I will finish the blanket I’ve been working on for a year.

Personal Goals

I will travel more. I'm already planning on going to South Carolina to visit my parents and to New Orleans in February. Then there will be beach house, and hopefully, a trip to Japan in the fall!

I will work on helping out more with cooking. This is mostly my husband’s job but I want to help and be better about it, even if I'm just chopping vegetables.

I will continue to stay gluten free. The siren call of gluten haunts me every day. But I must stay strong! Otherwise I will be in a lot of pain.

I will add German to my list of languages I'm learning. I considered adding two languages to my Duolingo, but I think German is going to be enough. Now, I will be learning Japanese, Italian, French, and German! Woo!

I will do a Damp January and not drink until my birthday. My birthday is the 18th. Then I’m going to cut way back after that too. I love a good martini and a glass of wine, but I don't need the calories.

Fitness Goals

I will bike 1500 miles on the Peloton. 2023 saw me miss my Peloton goals because I was traveling and busy, but I did bike 1400 miles. In 2024, I would like to be mindful of biking more.

I will continue to walk on my non-bike days. I’m aiming for 1500 miles of walking as well.

I will try to add more upper body strength. If I could just do a few upper body strength classes per month, that would be better than nothing.

I will start my exercise earlier in the morning. I drop the kids off most days by 7:45. I’d like to be out walking or on the bike by 8 and done by 9:30 so I can shower and be available for meetings by 10.

I will add in more intermittent fasting. My body could stand to shed a few pounds and I think I’ll do this with IF again. Just during the week.

And that’s it!

This year, my goals are realistic, I think. And they all focus on me and my unique qualities! Let's do this, people! I can't wait to bring you on this ride with me.

Want to share your 2024 goals with me?

Comment and let me know what you’ll be up to in the new year!

The post 2024: The Year I Embrace What Makes Me Unique appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

A Look Back At 2023 – What I Accomplished, Set Aside, or Changed

Holy smokes! This was a ride of a year! I almost don't know what happened. It went by in a total blur! And I got a lot done but not a lot at the same time. How does that even happen?

Let's look back at this year…

January started off fairly dull but there were some nice moments having meals with family. I turned 47 with only a little fanfare. Then I realized my passport was going to expire before we left for Jamaica. That was… no fun. But I got it renewed just in time.

February was vacation. We went to Jamaica, and I did nothing but read and hang out at the beach or pool and eat good food for the whole week. It was exactly what we needed.

March was tough. My dear friend Stacy passed away after a long battle with cancer. And then we celebrated the life of my uncle who also passed away from cancer. Cancer was a theme this past year, and that's not something to celebrate. My oldest daughter spent her birthday at Disneyworld in Florida! She was there for both band and chorus.

April was pretty busy. For spring break, we went to the beach house for the week. It was cold there, but it was nice to be away and not have to travel far. I started in-person French classes, which were a lot of fun. My oldest daughter also had her jazz night at school! I started a new business! The Future Fiction Academy was born this month, even though we didn't open our doors until May.

May was all about being home. There was spring track for one kid and another trip to the beach house for Memorial Day weekend. Everything was in bloom and just gorgeous. The Future Fiction Academy opened its doors to new students late in May as well!

June meant the end of school and a trip to London and Paris! If you never saw my blog post about our trip, you'll want to go check that out. The day school was done, we left on a plane to London! We spent a few days there before heading to Paris and then back to London. It was the trip of a lifetime! We had an amazing time.

July started off abroad. We were still in Europe when the month started. We then returned home, spent some time around home so the kids could see their friends, and then we went to the beach house for most of August. My brother also came for a visit, and we played lots of poker.

August was mostly spent at the beach house. We worked from there and spent a lot of lazy days in the pool or going to the beach. I miss being there. At the end of August, I purchased a new MacbookPro, and I LOVE IT.

September was back to school. And that meant back to marching band and returning to my second career as a chauffeur. (Trust me, the pay is crappy.) The youngest started field hockey too and that just added to the time I spent running around every night. My friend Nicole came to town and I met her in Manhattan for a day of chatting and lunch.

October was a lot of fun. Field hockey, band, and lots and lots of carpooling continued. But I went to Rhinebeck NY Sheep and Wool midway through the month to hang out with friends again. It was so great! We had the best time even though the weather was not great this year. Then my cousin celebrated her 50th birthday with a party at home. It was nice to sit around the fire outside and spend time together.

November was so much fun! I went to Las Vegas at the beginning of the month to attend the 20Booksto50k conference! I met many of my longtime author friends in person, and I talked a lot about AI with people. It was a great time! I learned a lot and I cemented my feeling that I'm doing the right work in the author community. The Future Fiction Academy did well in Vegas too. My husband's 50th birthday was also in November. We celebrated by going to the opera, and then he went to Las Vegas at the end of the month with his friends and brothers.

December went by in a blur. We didn't do too much and all of a sudden it was the end of the year! We hosted our family here for Christmas, and we went to MOMA in Manhattan over the Christmas break. We also started construction on our primary bathroom at the beach house! I'm sure it'll be done in late January 2024.

Favorite Part of This Year

Going to London and Paris, Paris especially. I loved that city.

Least Favorite Part of This Year

The passport debacle. I'm never letting that happen again.

Let’s look back at my goals from the year…

2023: The Year I Focus on Progress and Cultivate Self-Belief

So, I think that despite feeling like I didn't get anything done, I actually did meet my goal! I did focus on progress, always moving forward and not falling back. I kept my eyes on the prize and continued to do research on AI and how it can help authors with their goals. I also cultivated belief in myself and my abilities. This was the year that I believed I'm a good author and that I'm smart and capable. I've become an industry leader in AI and I'm working hard for authors to remain in control of their career.

I only published two stories in 2023, A Surprise Favor and Tilli's Second Chance. I had hoped to publish more, but I'm very proud of both of these.

Writing and Publishing Goals

I basically bombed every single one of my writing and publishing goals.

I will write 3 books in my SJP name and 3 books in a new pen name. Nope. I spent the entire year making AI do my bidding. I did work on several books, though, including my first in the fantasy rom-com series, the first in a new cozy mystery series, and a new Amagi Series novella. These will all be on Ream in 2024.

Launch a new pen name. Nope. And I don't think I'll be doing this anymore. I'm happy with what I have going.

Dive into more AI Audio. Nope. I waited on this one, and I'm glad I did because Amazon launched their AI audio, and I'll be doing that next year instead.

Added Goals

I launched a Ream subscription community. I didn't think I'd be doing this, but I'm really happy I did. I'm going to be moving more towards serialization-first as a business model and novels will come later. Come join my community on Ream!

Business Goals

I will ramp up Facebook Ads. Nailed this one. I think I only turned off my ads for about a month when they just weren't doing well. But I've had ads going all year, and I've been mostly happy with them!

I will transition more books away from free to paid and raise prices. Did this. I'm no longer working for free. I even transitioned some of my blog content over to Ream!

I will focus more on my newsletter. I did a good job of focusing on my newsletter and I even moved it over to a new system that will allow me to build my newsletter more in 2024.

I will continue to spend more time on Facebook. I did spend more time on Facebook this year, though mostly on my S. J. Pajonas page and in my AI writing groups. It was good for me.

Added Goals

I started my Ream subscription. As I said above, I started my Ream subscription and I intend to focus on it as my first publishing priority going forward.

Creativity Goals

I will read or listen to 25 books. Nope. Didn't even come close to this. Though I had a few binge reading streaks, I maybe read/listened to about 12-15 books. I don't even know how many because I failed at keeping track.

I will learn Italian and Portuguese on Duolingo and Japanese on LingoDeer. I ended up not liking LingoDeer at all and I didn't like Portuguese either. So I pivoted to French instead and I've been doing French, Italian, and Japanese all year on Duolingo.

I will continue knitting on blankets when I have time. Yes. I did knit on my blanket throughout the year, though not much, and I didn't come close to finishing it.

Stretch Goal! I will knit a sweater this year. Nope. Didn't happen.

Personal Goals

I will continue making the beach house our second home. Yes! I did this! We put more effort into the beach house this year with a new kitchen table and chairs and we started a bathroom renovation too.

Stretch Goal! I would like to go to a conference this year. I did! I went to 20Booksto50k in Las Vegas in November!

Added Goals

Started a new business. I didn't expect to start a new business teaching AI to authors, but that's exactly what happened. The Future Fiction Academy has been a labor of love, and I am super proud of all we've achieved. Though the business has shifted in the last two months with some of our founding members leaving and a new course curriculum in development, we are working on what we've set out to do: training authors on AI so that they remain in control of their careers. I have a feeling it's going to be more important than ever in the coming years to know this new technology, and I'm excited to be at the forefront of it.

Fitness Goals

I will bike 2000 miles on Peloton. Not even close. I ended up only biking about 1470 miles this year according to my Peloton workout spreadsheet, which is still not too shabby.

I will walk more. I did this! And according to my stats, I walked 1385 miles this year! (I say “over” because there's plenty of walking that I did not track with Peloton, like all my walking on vacations. Let's just say that I did about 1400 miles.)

I will increase the time I spend in interval or tabata rides. Nope. It turns out that I am not a fan of these rides at all. I'm more of a low-and-slow girl on the bike.

I will work on keeping sugar out of my diet. I am addicted to sugar, y'all, and I am not proud of it. I really need to cut back. REALLY.

Stretch Goal! I will complete a Peloton strength training program. I was not feeling up to it, and I didn't end up doing this. But I did do a good amount of strength this year, and I'm happy with that.

And That’s It For The Year!

All in all, I'm happy with how 2023 turned out! And I'm sure I can do better next year. I’ll be back with my goals post for 2024 on January 1st! I hope you all have a safe, healthy, and happy new year!

The post A Look Back At 2023 – What I Accomplished, Set Aside, or Changed appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – December 17, 2023

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I’m drafting this from the urgent care. My oldest daughter has a sinus infection and she just wants meds and to be done with it. But there goes my Sunday.

I have been exceptionally busy lately, working 12 hours a day and not taking any time off. I haven’t visited my blog friends in a month. I’ve barely watched tv. I haven’t knit a stitch. I have been working non-stop. Finally yesterday I had a day off and I spent the entire afternoon on the couch re-watching the Eras Tour movie (thank you Taylor Swift) and thinking about how to approach 2024.

I feel like I'm on the precipice of a huge change in my life. When I look back at the last 20 years, I see a pattern. I was in technology for about 10 years. Then publishing for 10 years. Now it's time to swing back to technology that focuses on publishing. Writing will still be a part of my life. It always will be. But now is the time to focus on this technology because I want authors to be prepared. I want authors to be in control and I need to help with that transition. It's more important than ever for me to put my skills to use.

This will be my last Sunday Update for a while. In 2024, I'll be moving to only monthly updates here on the blog. As much as I love doing the Sunday Update, I find I don't always have much to say about my weeks when I'm as busy as I am. And I feel terrible updating here and not being able to go around and say hi to the other people on the Sunday Update circuit. In addition, I will also be posting about work or life occasionally, plus updating here about what I have to offer on Ream. If you haven't followed me there yet, you should! It's free to follow, and once you're on Ream, you'll find lots of other great authors to follow too.

My Ream subscription is a big part of my change. It's like starting from zero again, but no pressure. I'm looking forward to updating there, posting my chapters-in-progress and slowing down a little to savor the storytelling. It's different, but it's not like my career ever took off as an author. Switching to a subscription with Ream, and then moving the books to Amazon/Kindle Unlimited, is probably more my speed.

I'm sorry about all of this. There are times when I feel like I'm failing, and this is one of them. I hate not being able to carry through on my obligations to you. I have worked so hard to make my writing career work, and this feels like defeat. But instead, I want to think of this as change for the better. I can put my skills to use in other ways, and the coaching and technology is where I need to go instead of just writing. I hope y'all can understand.

I always said I would give this career choice 10 years to see where it goes, and here I am. Now, let's see where I can go in the future.

PS) I promise to post photos of Lulu in my Monthly Updates. I know that's why you're really here. Lol.

The post Sunday Update – December 17, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

I Am No Longer Working For Free

As we come into December, things are changing around here that will impact 2024 and beyond. I've had the chance to look back at my first 10 years as a published author and learn from both my successes and failures. There have been a few of both of those! And there has been plenty to learn.

The biggest lesson I have learned this year has been that working for free has literally gotten me nowhere. Duh, Stephanie! That should have been obvious, but I don't think it is for a lot of people. So much of the marketing talk is that “free as a loss-leader works” but really it has never worked for me. If you're an author and it has worked for you, huzzah! I'm happy for you! But we're talking about me here, not you. And the rules do not apply to me as I have learned the hard way over the years.

I have given away… are you ready? Because this number is just on Amazon… 141,322 books. According to my estimates, I've probably given away another 30,000 to 35,000 books across several other retailers. If even 5% of those people had decided to purchase about $20 of my other books, I would have made six figures over the last 10 years. Did I make that much money? Not even close. Not even by a country mile. I made a fraction of that. And when you consider the expenses of covers, editing, and ads, I made nothing, negative nothing.

Things have got to change and I'm making those changes. Coming in 2024, I will no longer be working for free. Sunday Updates and Goals will remain here, as will news and marketing material about upcoming releases or early access to my books on Ream will also remain here and go to my newsletter subscribers. Actual creative content will be exclusive to Ream and later to Amazon and beyond.

A lot of this has to do with the explosion of AI content on the internet. I no longer see running a blog as building a community online when bots are attacking my website daily and AI content is literally diverting all the traffic. And I know this because I work with AI content, day in and day out. I've enjoyed writing free posts for my blog over the years, but those days when the posts would work to bring me more readers are over, and it's time to shift. I have always been a nimble person when it comes to technology and business, and now is no exception.

Community is key! Community is everything. And in the age of AI writing, it's more important than ever. Like my friend Jo Penn says, doubling down on being human is how we'll connect with our readers, and I'm going to be doing that a lot going forward. I will be talking with my community, sharing my creative content with my community, and sharing in the joys of creativity with my community.

And I'm building my community on Ream…

Storytellers rule the world and that's something I believe in 100%. Storytellers like me give readers an escape, a place to spend time, a haven from the real world. But I know there are some people out there who think that, because I use AI, I am no longer an author. They would be wrong because guess what? I am still a storyteller. I am a content creator. I am a builder of worlds. I am the ruler of my stories, even if I use AI tools to help me develop them. Every word, every picture that comes to you from me came from my vision for the story, and I can't wait to continue doing that until the day I die.

As of today, new books and free content on this website will be moving to Ream. Yes, new books! That fantasy rom-com I've been writing? That Amagi Series novella I've been tapping away at? They will all be on Ream first and for a while before they ever make it to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. (My backlist of books will remain on Amazon Kindle Unlimited for now.) The free books, free non-fiction blog posts, and anything else that's not personal-related, will be there too.

Come join me over on Ream! You can follow me and get my updates there without paying a cent, if that's what you like. But you can also support me and my work by subscribing to one of my tiers and getting lots of amazing content. Want to read on your phone or tablet instead? Download the Ream app! And be sure to check out all the other authors on Ream. You may find someone new to read and follow.

This is the new norm for me, and I'm excited about what it will all bring! Welcome to my second decade of publishing! I'm sure it's going to be a wild ride.

Join Me On Ream Today!

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Sunday Update – December 10, 2023

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

First of all, I want to apologize to everyone I usually read every week. I haven't been able to go visit my favorite blogs for the last 3-4 weeks! I've been absolutely slammed with work, and things have been crazy. I'm hoping I can spend some time this afternoon catching up on the last week, AT LEAST. I do miss hearing what you're up to.

I have a big announcement coming later this week. I'll be posting it here and to my newsletter. I'm making positive changes for my next ten years of publishing and beyond. And this is another reason why I've been so busy lately. My change involves me going back over everything I've posted here on my blog. It's been a lot of work and very little sleep. I'm looking forward to bringing it to you all!

As for this week, it was busy busy busy, both at home and in real life. My husband returned home from Las Vegas on Sunday, and so he was a little jetlagged most of the beginning of the week. He did not get sick, thankfully. I washed Lulu on Monday. She was a dirty dog! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday were all half days for my youngest child while her school had parent-teacher conferences. I taught a few classes for Future Fiction Academy and attended a lot of meetings.

I barely watched TV. I didn't read, I didn't knit. I basically did nothing but the home stuff and work stuff. But hey, at least I did my laundry, folded it, and put it away! That right there is a win.

Sometimes getting up early in the morning is nice.

Lulu is still my best girl.

My husband bought me gin. He ordered it for me from our local place and had it delivered when he was in Las Vegas. It was a gin emergency!

And we got our Christmas tree and put it up yesterday.

That's it for this week! I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – December 10, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – December 3, 2023

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Wow, I have no idea where this year went! It's crazy to think we're almost at the end of 2023. Personally, there are still moments when I think it's 2022, so knowing that we're almost at 2024 is kind of baffling. Lol.

This last week was super busy and kind of a blur. My husband was gone for the first part of the week. He had to travel to Nashville for work and then he flew home on his birthday on the 29th. We had a nice dinner at home because the oldest child was unwell that included some delicious Italian food, caviar, and champagne. I was exhausted, though, after dealing with the home, children, and Lulu on my own, so I went to bed early. My husband then left the next day to spend time in Las Vegas with his friends and brothers. He's still there now and hopefully flying home today. I say “hopefully” because it's raining here, and I wonder if they'll delay his flight.

Other than all that, nothing much else happened this week. I taught a few classes with the Future Fiction Academy and attended some meetings. I got some other AI work done, including working on a syllabus for the “Intro to AI writing” course we're working on. I got some writing done. I walked a lot. I rode the bike only once. I took Lulu to the vet on Friday for her rabies booster, flu shot, and an annual checkup. She needed eyedrops for one irritated eye, and wipes and a spray for her puppy armpits that are all irritated. Gotta love terriers! We've had some rain and some cold days too. Overall, the week wasn't bad. Just not very memorable.

What have I been reading or watching? I've been watching Alias on my own most days on Freevee. Since my husband was gone a lot this week, we didn't watch much TV together. I haven't been reading either because of the amount of work I've been doing.

I got my Spotify Wrapped this week, just like the rest of the universe. Lol. I'm not surprised by any of these.

Lulu continues to be my best buddy… especially when her love Daddy isn't around.

I ate well this week with Pad Thai and a Japanese inspired salmon bowl I made and ate twice.

And finally, the only ride I did this week was this Power Zone Endurance ride with Tunde. It was her debut Power Zone ride, and she did quite well! Although she does need to learn to count, like Matt Wilpers said. Lol.

That's it for this week! I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – December 3, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

December 2023 Goals

I have no idea, NONE, how we even got to December. Where did this year go?

What are my December Goals?

Keep working on my books. I'm going to finish this Amagi Series novella this month and hopefully publish it over the holidays. We shall see. I'll send out a newsletter if I do.

Develop course work for the Future Fiction Academy. We're working on standalone classes for people to get and I'm in charge of the Intro to AI Writing course. So far so good. I'll be working on it a lot in December.

Stick with the Peloton. More working out! I just need to stay on top of it this month.

Keep going with Duolingo, reading, knitting, and TV. All the same, same.

What happened with November's Goals?

Keep working on my books. I did do this, though not as much as I would have liked. Going to the conference really wiped me out. I was one of the few who didn't get sick when they returned, so I ended up covering for all the other sick people. This is fine, and I am happy to help! But it did suck up more of my time than I planned for.

Go to the 20Booksto50k Conference in Las Vegas. I had the best time at this conference! I met and saw people I had only ever known through Facebook. It was a blast, and I'm so glad I did it. I can't wait for the next conference I get to go to!

Not get sick after the conference. I used vast amounts of Vitamin C and then I also used my Copper Zap a lot, and I ended up having a small cold for a few days. That was it. Huzzah! My trick to Vegas is to always take a shower at the end of the day. I washed off all the germs and the smoke, and the steamy shower put moisture back into my body.

Stick with the Peloton. I am not getting on the bike as much as I usually like, but I am still exercising every day.

Thanksgiving and my husband's birthday. Thanksgiving was lovely! We spent it with family and had a great time. My husband's 50th birthday has been celebrated. We went to see La Boheme at the Met Opera in NYC. We went out to dinner. He went to Nashville for work, came home, and we celebrated a little more. Now, he's in Vegas with his brothers and friends celebrating and I'm at home.

Keep going with Duolingo, reading, knitting, and TV. Did all of this. My Paperwhite broke, though, and I got a new Oasis. So that put a damper on my reading.

That's it for this month! Have a great December everyone!

The post December 2023 Goals appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – November 26, 2023

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Can you believe it's almost the end of the year? I can't. I have no idea how this year went by so quickly. Once we hit September, it felt like a race to the end.

This week was crazy (again), y'all. I thought it was going to be more chill since it was a holiday week, but no. It was nutso. We had a re-org in the Future Fiction Academy that required a lot of my time and skills. It wasn't expected on my schedule, so a lot of other stuff got moved aside to accommodate it. One of the things about running a start-up is that you have to be nimble and ready to work long hours for little to nothing in the way of compensation. I know this and I expected this from the start. And that's pretty much all I can say on this issue. It really did throw my whole week off, but I know we will move forward from here.

I didn't do much writing. In fact, I don't think I did any writing! Which is disappointing but expected after the week I just went through. Plus, there was all the OpenAI drama all week long! Omg, I'm so over it. I'm glad it only lasted one week because I got tired of the whiplash over and over. Lol.

For Thanksgiving, we went out to see family on Long Island. The drives there and back weren't too bad. We mostly hit traffic on the way there and cruised home. It was great to see everyone that day! I'm so glad we got to spend time with family. No photos. I don't know why, but I just didn't pull out my phone to take any.

As for what I've been watching or reading, I started rewatching Alias on Freevee. It was the right choice. I loved that show when I watched it the first time and it's still really good years later. I've been reading but nothing has caught my attention enough to talk about it. I did get my new Oasis! I bought it on a Black Friday deal and had it in my hands later the same day. Wow. I love living close to the distribution centers. Amazon gave me 3 free months of Kindle Unlimited so I signed up and I'm going to use it to download and try out some thrillers.

We went out the Asian grocery store after lunch last Sunday and these were my top picks for chips.

Yesterday we went to Manhattan and the opera at Lincoln Center to see La Boheme. It was lovely and we had a great time together. We are celebrating my husband's 50th birthday for the next week and this was a part of the celebration. Afterward we went out for dinner before heading home.

I did the Peloton annual Turkey Burn ride on Thanksgiving after putting the apple crisp in the oven. The ride had over 65,000 people on it at one point. I happened to take a photo when there were 25k on the ride. It was nuts. A great ride though! Robin did an amazing job.

Yes! I got a Black Friday deal on the Kindle Oasis. I love it already. It's nice and light. Very responsive. And I like having the page turn buttons. I bought it first thing in the morning and I had it in my hands later that day. We live close to a lot of Amazon warehouses, and this works out for us on most days.

And I think this is the last dying gasp of color for the fall. I will miss all of these leaves!

Have a great week, everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – November 26, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Sunday Update – November 19, 2023

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I barely know where this week went! It was busy getting back into the swing of things.

This week, sickness plagued my coworkers. Elizabeth came down with covid after the conference, and I have no idea how I didn't get it. We spent so much time together in Vegas, talking, working, etc. It's a miracle I did not get it. But poor thing, she was down the entire week, and she'll probably struggle to get back to things this week. It hit her hard. Christine also got sick and lost her voice.

I was a little sick, but I managed to fight it off with massive amounts of Vitamin C and my Copper Zap. Thank goodness for the Copper Zap. It always seems to prevent me from getting a sinus infection. The one time I've gotten a sinus infection since I got the thing was last year during my bout of covid. I didn't use it and I should have. That was a lesson learned. You can also soak it in water and then use the water for gargling, which I also did this past week. So I had a head cold for like 3 days and then I was better. Huzzah!

So, for work, I covered for others when it came to teaching, along with Stacey, one of our other employees. I worked on a giant project of sorting our lab notes from all of our classes and making them shareable to our students. That was quite a task, but it's now done. I didn't do much writing, but I did finally get my Facebook ads turned on again (new targeting, new images), and I did some reading, watching TV, and knitting.

Oh, I may have mentioned this in my last post, but my Paperwhite died. I'm watching the Black Friday deals at Amazon like a hawk. I'd really like to get an Oasis this time.

What have I been watching? The husband and I are still watching the Great British Baking Show every week. We're on the new season of For All Mankind as well. And I saw that the Crown now has new episodes so we're going to watch that too. I'm rewatching Alias on Freevee. I love that show. It's great from the very first episode.

Our neighborhood is still pretty with autumn colors! Usually, the trees have dropped all of their leaves by now, so it's a little strange. But I'll take it. The bursts of color on our walks is just lovely.

I guess I blocked this madness from my brain. We got both kids new phones as early Christmas presents. And let me tell you, the process to move them over to the new phones was intolerable. I don't know why both of them were such pains in the ass, but they were. We tried to just have it move everything over wirelessly, but the phones got stuck in update mode (both of them). So then I had to instead back the old phones up to the computer and restore from that. That was also a pain with many downloads and updates and on and on. Finally, we got to the point of porting over the phone numbers and that failed too! I gave up at that point and handed them over to my husband who had to call Verizon to get both phones moved over. I'm so glad that's done, and I'm also glad this is not something I will have to do on Christmas Day. Lol.

Every now and then, Duolingo will have the strangest sentences. Three birds and a ghost. Okay, then.

Have a great week, everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

The post Sunday Update – November 19, 2023 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.