S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 71

The Japanese Mindset in the Miso Cozy Mysteries Series – WIP Wednesday

For this Work-In-Progress Wednesday, I want to explore a theme in the upcoming 5th Daydreamer Detective book, The Japanese Mindset. First, let me start by saying that the Japanese Mindset is not a rule nor is it a stereotype, though there are many Japanese people that don’t fit this mold at all. This mindset is a way the Japanese have evolved over time, and it’s something that is readily talked about by Japanese people and people who study Japanese culture. Go ahead and Google “The Japanese Mindset” and you’ll come across every kind of article on this including, my favorite, There is No Japanese Mindset. Lol.

First, Japanese society is changing, albeit slowly, but still changing. More women are going into politics or are serving on the executive boards of large companies in Japan. Yet, Japan is falling behind its pledge to add more women executives to companies, plenty of places still won’t hire women or they will hamper the progress of women in order to push more men to succeed. So, there’s a long way to go for gender parity which many young, ambitious women in Japan want.

Setting aside whether this is right or wrong or whether this is cultural and not to be remarked upon by outsiders (because I know someone will say so), it is what’s happening in Japan today and has a direct influence on my own fictional stories that take place in Japan.

How does Mei, from the Daydreamer Detective, fit into into Japanese society?

Mei’s the center of this story that I’ve been weaving for five books and two novellas now. She’s in her late 20s and there are things she wants out of life — a job that makes her feel enriched and happy, a family to love and take care, and a place within her community. But she’s always been a little too outspoken, a little too different, to ever truly fit in. And the Japanese Mindset is all about fitting in.

For centuries, Japan has had a communal mindset. As Spock would say, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,” and this is something that describes the Japanese Mindset perfectly.

For many quiet rural towns in Japan, in the past and now, neighbors rely on each other to survive. They share resources. They help repair each other’s houses. And they even share natural resources like water for their agricultural needs. If one person became selfish and decided that they needed the agricultural water from the canals for their rice paddies before someone else, the whole system would be thrown out of whack. The whole town could falter. Rural communities come together to decide on planting schedules, festivals, harvest times, etc. They all decide together and have the same ethical values — that the community is the most important part of their life. The community wins. This attitude is even carried into the cities now. It hasn’t left Japan. It has evolved.

Mei has always struggled to be a part of the community. She grew up hating farming and hating her mother’s traditional cooking. She’s modern and outspoken. And if she had been better at being a part of her “community” in the city, she probably would have flourished there. But instead, she was fired and sent back home to the place where she always felt left out and alone.

Enter Yasahiro, the handsome and smart chef of the local slow-food restaurant. He also doesn’t really fit in, does he? The five years he spent in Paris learning to cook gourmet food changed him. His ideals are more European, more individual than communal.

Mei and Yasahiro make a good pair! They’re a lot alike, and though they both help the community in their own ways, they are still looked upon as different.

In Daydreamer Detective 5 (sorry, I still don’t have a title or cover!), we get to see both of them struggle with this “otherness.” Mei still wants to help her old-fashioned mother, but she doesn’t have the time to focus on her and her alone. Mei wants to spend more time at the tea shop where she helps elderly neighbors, but she also wants some independence to help solve crimes and be a mom. Yasahiro wants to serve the community with Sawayaka, but he’s become almost too famous for the small town and locals are getting upset. They both are trying to build a house, but strange things are happening on the property and sending workers to the hospital. Neither Mei nor Yasahiro believe in ghosts, so what is there to do?

Their struggles in this novel highlight the crossroads of being either an individual or part of the community.

I lifted the spoon from my bowl of stew slowly and asked myself one fundamental question. Was it worth it? Was all the bending-over-backwards favors and subjugating worth my health and happiness?

I had two choices moving forward. I could continue to put everyone else’s wants and needs first, above Yasahiro’s, Mari’s, or mine. Or I could start to assert some boundaries and rules for the sake of our sanity.

Thankfully, I knew Yasahiro was on my side.

How will Mei and Yasahiro manage their independent ways and still be a significant member of their community? You’ll have to read to find out!

I’m excited that there’s still so much more to explore of both Mei’s growth as a person and the evolution of her relationships with her friends and family, and also the town that she’s a part of.

The Daydreamer Detective 5 will be out this spring! Stay tuned for more excerpts, a title, blurb, and cover, and release date!

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Motivational Monday – Systems and Habits

I’m not a huge motivational quotes or inspirational person, but I thought this might be a nice occasional feature for the blog. Will I do it every week? I’m not sure, but let’s start off, try to set the habit (see what I did there?), and see how I do.

I firmly believe that the only way to achieve all those goals that I set up every year and every month is to work on them every day. Goals are only achievable by systems and habits that we establish and follow-through on.

How long do you need to establish these habits? Good question! There are lots of great online resources for helping you make a positive change a habit. I personally don’t do a lot of 30-day challenges because I don’t feel it sets enough of a habit for me though it may for others. I need a lot more than 30 days to make something a life-long habit! When I set a goal, I know I have to make that habit a part of my life every day, or I’ll never stick with it.

So this quote from Robert Collier, a self-help and motivational speaker, is very appropriate today.

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.”

This year I’m setting new habits and systems that I hope will carry me through to 2020 and beyond. I’m trying to write every day on a small side project, walk or stretch every day, be mindful of what I eat every day.

What habits or systems are you setting for your new year? What do you hope to accomplish, what’s your goal, from the products of these new systems or habits?

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Sunday Update – January 6, 2019

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.

Proud of myself for typing 2019 the first time. Lol.

What a busy week! You always think these shorter weeks will be a piece of cake, but in reality, they’re harder and seem to last FOREVER.

Monday was New Year’s Eve and we had no plans, which is just the way I like it. The kids had piano lessons, and then we all had dinner together. My husband and I stayed up late but not till midnight. I was woken my fireworks at midnight but went right back to sleep.

Tuesday was New Year’s Day. I went out for a long walk in the park and then had leftovers for lunch. Then we prepped for the beginning of school again the next day.

Wednesday it was back to work and school. I got the kids to school, the cleaning ladies came, and I got grocery shopping done. In the late afternoon, I took the kids to tennis and got work done there.

On Thursday, I got a bunch of baking done in the morning before breakfast. I baked up some granola bars and my usual baked oats for oatmeal. I then ate and attempted to go on a walk. But I wasn’t very successful. I got all the way to the park and it started raining on me! So annoying. So I turned around and walked home. Then I got on the treadmill instead. By the time I was done on the treadmill, it was sunny again. To say I was annoyed was an understatement.

On Friday, I went for a long walk first thing in the morning, stretched, and had breakfast. Then I met a friend for lunch and got work done the rest of the day.

Yesterday, Saturday, was a chill day at home. I walked on the treadmill and watched TV. Took a nap. Got some work done on my website and pinterest. Then I got some writing done. We watched Star Wars The Force Awakens together too in the evening.

Today, we’re also chilling at home, and we’re taking down all the Christmas decorations as well.

All throughout the week, I worked slowly buy surely on Daydreamer 5. I’m not getting as much writing done as I want to BUT it’s still early days in January, and I’m recovering from the holidays.

The real fact is that I’m tired, like REALLY TIRED. I’m glad I’m off Benadryl but the chamomile tea at bedtime makes me get up to use the bathroom two, sometimes three times. So I’m not sleeping through the night. I sound like a disappointed parent! Lol. I’m also experiencing a lot of hip pain at night. So there are some changes I obviously have to make here. I’m switching to chamomile gel cap supplements with only a small amount of pre-bedtime tea, and I hope that will help. I just bought a new pillow for between my legs while I sleep to help with hip pain. And I’m considering other things like CBD oil.

What else happened this week?

The park is very dark and cold this time of year.

It’s been a week of Japanese food, hot pot and oden.

My youngest helped me open pistachios for my granola bars and then I baked. I like baked oats for oatmeal so I try to make a batch a few times per year.

And I can always get work done at the tennis club!

I’m not sure what I’ll be posting on the blog this week, but I’ll be back here soon. Have a great week!

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REMOVED, Book 1 of the Nogiku Series, Is Free!

The TL;DR is REMOVED is free once more, and I plan to keep it that way for 2019.

The longer story is that I made REMOVED $3.99 from August to December. I then dropped it to 99¢ for December, and now it’s free. I wanted to experiment with price and see how this series would do with the first book at full price, and the truth of the matter is that it did horribly. I lost a ton of income with it at full price.

I think a lot of this has to do with the cover, which is beautiful, but doesn’t convey that this is a science fiction romance series. I have my awesome cover designer, Najla Qamber, booked for this summer to give me all new covers in the series, and I’ll be going for something more in line with current cover trends in scifi romance.

In the meantime, I’m hoping people will give the book and series a chance with a free first-in-series. Give it a try! I think you’ll love Sanaa and Jiro, and their quest for peace in a time of turmoil and war.

Can she piece together the truth before Earth’s last city tears itself apart?

It’s easy for Sanaa to ignore the first signs of trouble. After all, she’s living her dream with a job and life she loves. But when she’s reassigned as a data analyst for a mysterious, well-connected man, she starts to piece together the alarming reality. Corrupt clans vie for control of the city, desperate for a ticket off the dying planet.

As war looms between the clans, Sanaa’s new boss sends her to train with Jiro, an expert swordsman. Forbidden to share the dangerous secrets she’s learned with her family, she confides in Jiro, bringing them closer with every word, strike, and parry. Together, they realize that Sanaa’s boss is keeping secrets of his own.

When the truth comes to light, the war and Sanaa’s world could be changed forever. To save her family and forge a new peace for her city, Sanaa has no choice but to risk her life for the human race.

Removed is the first installment in the Nogiku Series, a saga of post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels set in future Japan. If you like tenacious heroines, sizzling chemistry, and unique post-apoc settings, then you’ll love S. J. Pajonas’ dystopian adventure.

Download for FREE on…
Amazon Apple Books Nook Kobo Google Play

Want to see some teasers, the trailer, and Pinterest inspiration? Check out REMOVED’s book page on my website.

Check out REMOVED now!

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January 2019 Goals

It’s a new month and a new year! I’ll keep this one short since I’ve already done several updates to the blog this week.

What Happened With December’s Goals?

Begin writing Daydreamer 5. I’m almost at the halfway point! I’m going to push hard and finish this month.

Continue website maintenance. I continued to work on old Book Chat posts during December and I have them almost all done!

Set up evergreen campaigns through January. I was a little lax about this, but I plan to start up again this month.

Get back to Pinterest. I am rocking Pinterest now! I have so much content on Tailwind and even more to come. My stats are climbing and I’m getting tons of traffic to my blog. Huzzah!

Intermittent fasting, knitting, walking, yoga, and reading. I got some knitting, walking and reading done, and that’s about it. The holidays are full of sweets!

A Look Back At December

Business Goals For January

Finish writing Daydreamer 5. I didn’t do a great job of staying on top of my writing goals over the holidays so now I have to hustle. I have about 35,000 words I have to write this month. That’s A LOT less than NaNoWriMo, so I think I can do it.

Continue website maintenance. I want to finish up the Book Chats and move onto the back Sunday Updates.

Set up evergreen campaigns through January. Same as last month. Set up a campaign for every Monday.

Work on removing honorifics from Daydreamer Series. As soon as I’m done with writing Daydreamer 5, I need to hustle and remove the honorifics from the whole series, reformat, reupload, and redo the paperbacks as well.

Finish watching Ads For Authors Modules on AMS and Bookbub PPC Ads. I’m going to start up ads again and this time I want to do it right so I’m going back to the basics and learning stuff I didn’t learn the first time around. I’m almost done watching the AMS course and I want to move onto Bookbub PPC ads next. My intention is to advertise my backlist on AMS and BB, then advertise my new releases on FB.

Play around with Daz 3D. I want to learn how to create 3D characters and cities. I thought it might be fun to learn how to do this this year! So I’ll start with the basics this month.

Personal Goals For January

Intermittent fasting, knitting, walking/stairs, stretching, and reading. All of the usual stuff! Pottery starts next week!

Have a great January!

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2019: The Year I Improve Myself and My Business

It’s 2019! I can’t believe we’re one whole year away from 2020. I remember the date ticking over to 2000, and thinking about how strange that was. A new century. A new millennium. Now we’re almost 20 years in. Crazy.

So, as usual, I am declaring a theme for this year.

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 will be…

The Year I Improve Myself and My Business

Yes, this is a lofty goal but I think it jives well with what I want for myself in 2019 and beyond. I want to renew my outlook on my health and mental well-being. I want to restore my faith in my writing and my path as a published author. I want to reaffirm my commitment to a happier and more well-rounded life.

And with all of that in mind, let’s get to the goals for the year!

Writing and Publishing Goals

I will finish writing Daydreamer 5. And I will need an actual title for that book. Lol. I’m bad with titles lately! I can’t come up with anything fun or original. Sigh. I hope to be done by the end of January.

I will publish Daydreamer 5. My intention is to publish in early spring, maybe late March? I’m not sure yet but it will be somewhere around there.

I will write Books 3, 4, and 5 of the Flyght Series. My intention is to be writing Book 5 by the time Book 1, FIRST FLYGHT, publishes. My plan for this series is for it to be 9 books!

I will publish FIRST FLYGHT in September, then Book 2 in October, and Book 3 in November. I might then take off December and publish Book 4 in January 2020. Then I’d like to space them out to every 8 weeks after that.

Business Goals

I will return to advertising. I have already done this and I’m seeing results right off the bat, which is encouraging. My plan is to advertise my backlist with Amazon and Bookbub PPC. My new books will be advertised with Facebook video ads. I’m keeping things simple. I don’t want to spend a shit ton of money, even if my husband tells me it’s okay. I’ll be applying for Bookbub Featured Deals and I hope to get one this year. I’m also applying to post ads at Amazon UK, so I hope that goes through and I can also advertise there.

I will make REMOVED free again. I did an experiment and now I know the results of making this book paid. It was not good for my income. Not at all. I sell more books in this series with REMOVED for free. I plan to make it free again starting tomorrow. Getting Amazon to price match may be difficult, or it may be easy. Hard to tell. But I will do my best to make it free and advertise it everywhere.

I will continue with Pinterest. I have found my groove with Pinterest! And things are going well there. I use a posting tool called Tailwind to post there with regularity, and then I also drop in a few times per week and pin stuff. It’s driving traffic to my website according to Google Analytics, and I hope that will continue with time.

I will use video more. One thing I do not take enough advantage of is video. I’d like to post more video to my blog, Facebook, and YouTube and make more advertising videos.

I will redesign and relaunch SFR STATION. I took ownership of the SFR STATION website this past year when the previous owner moved on to other opportunities. I had a new logo and color scheme designed for it, and I’ve been looking at new templates. I wanted to wait until after the launch of WordPress 5.0 before I started the redesign though. I’m hoping to utilize the new Gutenberg backend on it, so I wanted to wait until 5.0 was stable first before proceeding. It’s my hope that SFR STATION becomes a home for science fiction romance on the internet.

Blogging Goals

I will continue to update my blog on a regular basis. My blog is my newsletter, so it’s important for me to keep it updated with content. I plan to keep the same schedule I have in the past, updating 3 times per week or more. I’d like to have at least one discussion post per month, and one Japan-related post per month as well. I’d also like to participate in more book blogger weekly memes.

I will continue to update the back posts of the blog. I’m making good progress on this. I’ve almost completed all the back Book Chats (and posted them to Pinterest), but the back Sunday Updates are going to be tough. I’m considering just deleting the broken images from them and moving on because I don’t believe anyone visits them more than a month after they’re posted. But all the other articles I’ve written could stand to be updated, and I will!

Personal Happiness Goals

I will continue with pottery. I loved learning pottery this past fall so I’ve already signed up for the next class. It starts at the middle of January. I’d like to continue with classes through the year except in summer, when they do camp and not regular adult lessons anyway.

I will go greener at home. I would like to cut back on single-use plastic this year. Last year, I cut back on paper plates and paper towels. This year, I’d like to switch the kids washable sandwich bags for lunches and wax paper for stuff that has to be thrown away. I’m already greener with my cleaning products, with buying local organic produce, and driving only if I have to so i feel like I’m making strides in this area. This is my next step!

I will explore Tarot. When I went to the Sell More Books Show in May, I was standing outside with the other authors making small talk. I turned to the woman next to me and I asked, “So, what do you write?” And she responded, “Well, I actually have a book and a course on Tarot.” REALLY? That’s so cool! As many of you know, I love astrology, so I’ve always been interested in tarot too, but I never got around to trying it out. But now I will be! I bought Angie Green’s book, THE DAILY TAROT, and a set of Tarot cards, and I’m trying out her free course too. If I’m loving it, I’ll sign up for her full course as well.

I will continue to knit, read, and listen to audiobooks. These are a given in every New Year’s goals post, right? You expect to see them here, and I’m happy to oblige! My knitting goal is to finish my current knit and start a new one. My reading/audiobook goal is to read/listen to 35 books this year. A minimum of 15 audiobooks, and the rest ebooks.

Personal Fitness Goals

I will walk 750 miles this year. I loved the year I walked 1000 miles. 2017 was a good fitness year for me. But then I fell off the wagon in 2018. This year, I’d like to bring back the goal at a more reasonable overall distance. 750 divided by 12 is 62.5 miles. That’s a little over 2 miles per day to get to my goal. I can do that.

I will conquer the stairs this year. I don’t think walking is enough for me. I need to get better about climbing hills and stairs and not panting like I’m going to die. There’s a set of stairs in the park that’s equal to 2 flights (See above photo). My goal is to start small and work my way up to doing several flights per walk. If I do two loops of the park, I can pass those stairs twice and then stop to climb them a few times. I did this the other day. 3 climbs of the stairs on my first loop; 2 climbs on my second. That’s roughly 10 flights. I’d like to get that number up by the end of the year. Maybe to 50?

I will start stretching daily. I have developed a yoga stretching routine with my Pocket Yoga Teacher app that I want to do every day. It’s only 13 minutes and it’s pretty simple. I have also bookmarked a few YouTube stretching videos I will try as well. It’s my goal to end the year more limber than how I started, especially with my right leg. I can easily bring up my left leg to put on socks or shoes. My right leg? Not so much. It’s so frustrating. I want to see improvement in this area.

I will work on my posture. Sit up straight. Stand up straight. I’m actually pretty good about this, but I want to be better. I bought myself a posture corrector to wear a few hours per day. Hopefully it helps.

I will save sweets for the weekend. Just like I did with alcohol, I would like to move candy, cakes, sweets to the weekends only. THIS WILL BE HARD. If I fail at any of these goals, this will be the one. I’m going to legit try. I promise. I’m going to convince myself that it’s not a diet. It’s a new lifestyle choice. And I’m not depriving myself. I still can have some sweets. Just only on the weekend. Come on, Stephanie. You can do this!

And that’s it!

I’m sure more ideas and more goals will present themselves as the year goes on, but this is a good start! I will reassess them in June, and see how we’re doing!

Want to share your 2019 goals with me?

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

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A Look Back at 2018 – What I Accomplished, Set Aside, or Changed

It’s the end of the year! I simply have no idea how 2018 is over or where the year went. I know I say that a lot. It’s true that time feels more elastic and seems to go by quicker the older you get.

By all accounts, I had a pretty good 2018.

The fox family came to live in our backyard! It was only for about two weeks, but it was great to see the Mama Fox and her babies playing in our backyard every day. It really lifted my spirits and made me super happy.

I went to Japan in May. That was huge for me. I had the chance to be among and within my favorite culture on the planet. I soaked up tons of food, traveling, and other experiences. I took close to a thousand photos. I got lots of ideas for moving forward with my writing. Plus, I enjoyed the trip.

I traveled to South Carolina twice, once in April and again in July. I had the chance to relax and spend time with my family, plus see one of my good author friends to chat about life, writing, and books.

I went to the Sell More Books Show Summit in early May. I met a lot of authors and learned a whole ton. Chicago was wonderful, even though I hurt myself the very first day I was there.

I traveled to Florida to go to Universal Studios with my husband and two kids, then I got to see my brother, his wife, and two kids. That was a lovely trip full of fun and sun, much needed in November!

I learned pottery! And I had so much fun with my first class, I’m going to continue.

Some other crappy things happened too. I got the flu and sinus infections, and I was so sick we had to cancel a February trip to Saint Kitts. I had a few car problems. A chipmunk ate through wires in my car, I needed all new wheels and a few other things fixed on my car, THEN I had to get a new tire replaced because I drove over a screw. It rained A LOT this year, especially in the summer, and we had an epic flood here that destroyed some things in our basement. All the rain prevented us from going to the pool as much as I wanted to.

But in the end, my kids and family are healthy, we still have jobs and our home, and life is looking pretty good going into 2019. I can’t complain about that!

As for business, income was way down this year. Things were rough in the middle when I was feeling down about the business side of writing, but taking some time off from ads and really focusing on my blog and a few other things brought the magic back. It was a much better year than 2017, that’s for sure. I’m quite happy with my progress and my attitude going forward at the end of 2018 than I was at the end of 2017. It’s all a process, right?

During the mid-year, I took a look at the goals I had set and reflected on what I wanted to work on going through to the end of 2018, so let’s recap those.

The Year I Don’t Compete

I declared 2018 the Year I Don’t Compete and I did well! I kept my head down and I stopped comparing myself to others. I focused on me, my writing, and my career trajectory. I kept the end-goal in sight, and now I know how I want to move forward.

Writing Goals

I will publish three books this year. Done! I published THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE RETURNS A FAVOR, FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT, and MATSURI AND MURDER. Not a bad showing, if I do say so myself.

I will write in a new series. Done and dusted two whole books in the Flyght Series AND I put up the pre-order for the first book! So productive of me! Lol.

I will participate in NaNoWriMo in November again, and Camp NaNoWriMo in April. Nope. I didn’t do either of these. Oops.

Advertising, Marketing, Blog, and Social Media Goals

I will start a niche website Love Japanese Fiction. I have decided to scrap the niche website. I plan to redirect that URL to Pinterest. I still haven’t redirected the URL. I need to look into that.

I will continue to advertise and spend money on both promotions and ads. I let my Amazon ads totally burn out and closed them all at the beginning of November. My income dropped precipitously after that, so now I know that the ads actually do sell books, even if I wasn’t making much from them.

I will be raising my prices on some books. Done.

I will be using Kindle Unlimited strategically and only when it’s truly working for me. I am now completely anti-Kindle Unlimited and don’t foresee myself ever using it again.

I will spend less time on social media. Done. I only check Facebook a few times per day and I’m barely posting to my regular profile. I’m concentrating on Instagram and Pinterest.

I will blog more. I will do at least one discussion post per month. I blogged more and I did some discussion posts, but not as many as I hoped I would.

I will develop a new method of income. Done. I now sell books direct through my website.

Personal Goals

My personal goals all fell off a cliff this year except for a few things.

I did walk. Not nearly as much as I wanted to, so I’m setting a more achievable goal for 2019.

I did knit. Also not nearly as much as I wanted to. I went whole months without picking up the needles.

I read and I listened to audiobooks. And again, not as much as I wanted to. I read 16 ebooks (I’m reading number 17 now) NOT INCLUDING my own books I had to read multiple times. I listened to 14 audiobooks. It’s about 30 books altogether. Not bad for someone who also has to write, edit, and proofread hundreds of thousands of words per year.

And Then I Added Goals At Mid-Year…

I will be taking a break this year from the Hikoboshi Series. Yep. I am definitely taking a break from this series, but funnily enough, it’s always at the back of my head. A part of my brain is always dedicated to Yumi and Rin and where I’ll take them next.

I will be focusing more on Pinterest. Huzzah! This one is doing really well. I have grown my Pinterest account from 33k monthly views to around 80k, and my monthly engaged from 1k to 3k. People are seeing my pins more, and they’re pinning more from my website and Instagram. They’re also visiting my website more, which is awesome.

I will be writing the first 3 books of my new series because I can and want to. Instead of this, I wrote the first 2 books and am currently writing the next Daydreamer book.

To have fun blogging and have fun writing what I want. And that’s exactly what I’ve done.

Some Unplanned Goals

I cut way back on alcohol. This was not planned. During January, I decided to cut back on drinking to only the weekends. I felt the calories weren’t worth it, and I knew the drinking would eventually be bad for my health. I do love a nice cocktail, though, so I didn’t want to go full-force sober. The first two weeks were tough. After that, it was no big deal. I didn’t drink during the weeks MOST weeks. There were rare occasions when a bottle of wine was open and I had a glass, but that was it. Also, if we were on vacation, I let the rule go. No big deal. All in all, it went well.

Intermittent fasting became a routine. I normally do not eat breakfast before 10am, and I try to finish eating in the evening by 7:30pm. I do my best with the evening because of my husband’s erratic and annoying schedule. He is rarely home before 7. And then, during the holidays, I’ve let it be relaxed in the evening too. Still, breakfast is a late thing for me unless it’s absolutely necessary that I eat early.

I finally stopped using Benadryl to sleep. This was one I have never really talked about openly, but for two or three years (can’t remember how long) I have been using Benadryl to sleep every night. I wanted to end this habit, and I’m glad I finally did. I managed to stop using the Benadryl by switching to DOUBLE STRONG chamomile tea every night at bedtime. I’m talking STRONG tea. It really works, and I’ve been able to get some good sleep since switching.

Let’s Look Back At The Video!

Another thing I did was take video every day and then I used the 1 Second Everyday app to document my year. Here’s the whole year, all in one video!

And That’s It For The Year!

Tomorrow, I’ll be back with my goals post for 2019! I hope you all have a safe and happy new year!

The post A Look Back at 2018 – What I Accomplished, Set Aside, or Changed appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

2018 Audiobook Challenge Round-Up + 2019 Audiobook Challenge Goal

What a year! When I set this goal for my 2018 Audiobook Challenge, I thought I’d be able to listen to 30+ audiobooks. Nope. Not even close. I barely listened to one audiobook per month. And I know why. There were a few audiobooks that I listened to that I didn’t particularly enjoy, so I would dread going to listen to them. I didn’t want to listen to them! So I would find podcasts to listen to instead. (Incidentally, I found great podcasts this past year that I really enjoy.) I WON’T BE DOING THAT AGAIN. Though it pains me to abandon audiobooks when I’m not enjoying them, mostly because of the costs associated in acquiring audiobooks I’m interested in, I will not force myself to continue with audiobooks I’m not enjoying.

Learn more about the Audiobook Challenge at the Caffeinated Reviewer, and be sure to sign up if you’re interested! It’s a great low-stress challenge, and it’ll get you into audiobooks. Win win!

Here’s a list of everything I listened to this year!

PERSEPOLIS RISING by James SA Corey
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen
FROM A DISTANT STAR by Karen McQuestion
THE SPACESHIP NEXT DOOR by Gene Douchette
WISHTREE by Katherine Applegate
DEFY THE WORLDS by Claudia Gray
HEAD ON by John Scalzi
AN ASTRONAUT’S GUIDE TO LIFE ON EARTH by Chris Hadfield
SCYTHE by Neal Shusterman
THUNDERHEAD by Neal Shusterman
END OF ETERNITY by Isaac Asimov
ALTERED CARBON by Richard K. Morgan
THE CONSUMING FIRE by John Scalzi
CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth

I thought I might be able to squeeze in one more audiobook before the end of the year, but I was not that lucky. There’s been so much going on! So this is it.

What was my favorite audiobook of the year?

Oh, this is a hard one. I really loved the John Scalzi books I listened to, and I also really enjoyed the Expanse audiobook as well, but I think I’m going to settle on SCYTHE by Neal Shusterman. This was such a great story! I was constantly thinking about the premise and what a world would be like if it escalated in the way the book suggested. The narration was fantastic too. Greg Tremblay has a great narrator voice. The follow-up book in this series, THUNDERHEAD, was excellent as well.

Read my original thoughts on SCYTHE in Book Chat #41.

2019 Audiobook Challenge

For 2019, I’m going to stick to the Stenographer level (can listen while multitasking) 10-15. I think this is a doable goal for me, especially as I’ll be increasing my miles-walked again this year, and it will be gravy if I manage more than the 15!

Want to participate in the 2019 Audiobook Challenge? Head on over to Caffeinated Reviewer and sign up!

Did you have a favorite audiobook this year? Let me know in the comments.

The post 2018 Audiobook Challenge Round-Up + 2019 Audiobook Challenge Goal appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Writing Update – December 21, 2018 – The Miso Cozy Mysteries Series

I thought I’d do a final writing update for the year before the holidays are on top of me. After this, you won’t hear from me again until my audiobook challenge wrap-up post, end-of-year reflection post, and new year goals post. Yes, no Sunday Updates until January.

So, as you know I’ve been writing on the fifth Daydreamer book. Despite my life being extremely busy lately with last minute Christmas shopping and preparation work, kiddie commitments, and my husband being gone pretty much every single evening, I have been writing! Originally, I wanted to hit my goal on this project by my birthday, January 18th. But after struggling to find the time to get words into Scrivener, I have revised my goal to the end of January. I may finish sooner (I usually do) but I didn’t need the added stress during a time of year that’s usually pretty stressful. I also revised the expected word count from 72k down to 66k, but I suspect the final word count will be around 70k.

I’m enjoying the writing so far! I had the idea for this book after seeing a news segment on NHK Newsline, big surprise there. Lol. And because Mei has her baby now and is building a new home, it gives me the chance to highlight the modern and technologically advanced pre-fabricated homes in Japan. It also gives me the chance to talk about “stigmatized properties,” properties that have had a death or violent crime committed on them. Yes, this is a thing. Ghost hunting is also a big thing in Japan.

One thing the writing of this book has forced me to take a long, hard look at is my stylized writing choices for this series, and in relation, the Nogiku Series. When I originally started writing, I wanted to highlight as much of the Japanese language as I could. In REMOVED and the Nogiku Series, I included many Japanese phrases and words and used the honorific name suffixes, -san, -chan, -kun, -sensei, etc. Now that I have an excess of 10+ books written this way, I am able to make an informed decision of what the audiences think of this style.

They don’t like it.

The conclusion, after combing through hundreds of reviews, is the suffixes are way too foreign for my English speaking audience. And while including a word or two of Japanese here and there is fun and adds to the cultural nuance, the honorific suffixes are distracting. Also, sometimes, I have missed places where I’ve forgotten about them, and no matter how many times I re-read or my proofreaders read the books, we miss some.

You probably didn’t even notice that I left off all the honorific suffixes in The Hikoboshi Series! I used Mr., Ms., and Miss and the English speakers didn’t stumble over them, and so they didn’t notice the difference. It’s not as “true” to the Japanese level of politeness but this is a compromise I think is necessary.

Writing Daydreamer 5 has made me realize that it’s time I went back and eliminated this stumbling block from my books. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I self-publish! I plan to start with the Miso Cozy Series. I’ll go back, delete all instances of the honorific suffix, and then change the parts of the books where those suffixes are referenced. This will also give me a chance to read through the books and enjoy them once again! I love doing that. I write my books for me, and I don’t re-read them enough. :)

I plan to start this revision during the Christmas break. I will make the changes across the whole of the Miso Cozy Mysteries series, make note of the changes in an Author Note at the front of the books, and revise the paperbacks as well. I’ve been meaning to switch to cream-colored paper for my books anyway, so this is a good excuse. I will make the changes to the Nogiku Series in the spring since I have a date with my cover designer to redesign the covers for the whole series, and I’m sure that will be a more labor-intensive edit. Killing all instances of “Jiro-kun” and “Sanaa-chan” will be a hard thing to do, but I know it’ll be better in the long run.

So I have a lot of work in front of me, which is fine and great. I love to work. Lol.

Have a great Christmas, if you celebrate! If not, enjoy the next few weeks as you wind down 2018. See you around the new year!

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Sunday Update – December 16, 2018

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.

Yep. It was another busy week around here. I’m sure that surprises no one now.

On Monday, I went for a cold walk in the park, treated myself to rice balls (onigiri) for lunch, and then hit the 10,000 word mark on Daydreamer 5! My husband wasn’t home this night so I watched The Flash with the girls in the evening.

On Tuesday, I ran some errands in the morning that included buying bagels and sending them to my friend, Joy, in Hawaii. She recently sent me a care package of Japanese and Hawaiian goodies and so I offered to send bagels in exchange. Then I went for another walk and got some writing done. My husband wasn’t home again so I again watched The Flash with the girls in the evening.

Wednesday was busy. I went to the chiropractor and acupuncturist. I’m so glad I have a regular appointment with them every other week. My lower right back had been killing me so I got them to really work on it. It’s much better now! It had been hurting for weeks! Now, my right shoulder is acting up. Sigh. Anyway, after that appointment I worked at home and then took the kids to tennis in the evening. Once again, no husband so we ate dinner together and watched The Flash.

Thursday, I picked up the last of my pottery from the studio, went grocery shopping, and then hung out with the girls this evening again, because AGAIN, no husband. Yes, a busy week for him as well.

Friday, finally, the husband was home! We went to the holiday concert for my youngest at the school in the morning. Then I went out to the mall to pick up a few last Christmas presents and get lunch. I then spent the afternoon writing while the husband went into the city for a meeting and came back home.

Saturday was nice! It was 50ºF here! So I went for a walk after lunch and got more writing and other admin work done. We played Monopoly together as a family on the Playstation, and then my husband I watched more of The Crown before bed.

Today, I decided not to walk. I took it easy on the couch this morning, had a late lunch, did more admin work, and then I worked in the kitchen most of the afternoon while my husband took the kids to go see the new Spiderman movie. I blanched and peeled about a pound of almonds, cleaned up the counters, made bread, and soup for dinner. I also got some more writing done.

All in all, a busy but good week!

What else happened?

I crossed the 10k mark on Daydreamer 5! This is always a special milestone for me.

The lake in the park is freezing over.

Mmmm, onigiri for lunch!

Love having the Christmas tree around!

Look! A Danish butter cookie tin that has actual cookies in it and not sewing notions! I cracked this open and said, mmmmmm.

The kids had a great winter holiday concert.

And finally, Santa Claus came around on the fire truck today! This is a great holiday tradition in our town, but I felt bad for Santa. It was cold and rainy today!

Have a great week everyone!

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