Loni Townsend's Blog, page 2

Things I Learned as a First-Time Indie Novelist by H.R. Sinclair

I am super excited to share a guest post with all of you. One thing I love about Holly is that I always learn something from her. From her gemstone histories to recipes to trends, she’s got amazing insights about a plethora of subjects. She’s thorough with her research, complete in information, and entertaining in her delivery. So when it came to having her guest post on my blog, I knew I wanted it to be about something she learned.

Take it away, H.R. Sinclair!

Thank you for having me here, Loni! Quick background: I’m an artist, graphic designer—and writer. I’ve been blogging since 2009 (I started by posting my poetry and art). To organize my recipes, I published several cookbooks. I turned a story I made up for my daughter into a children’s book. And I also published some flash fiction pieces in magazines to get my feet wet.

Now, I’ve written a full-length novel. It’s the most nerve-wracking out of all of them. I wrote it to just tell a story, gulp, and share with you.

If you’re aspiring to publish your first indie novel, here are the steps I recommend. With book two, three, etc. the steps will change. You may not need one, less of some, or even more! Exciting, no?

Steps for Publishing Your First Indy Novel

1. Be George R. R. Martin—take your time!
Learn, grow, rewrite. It’s your story, your timeline. As you develop your story, read articles on writing, read craft books, watch booktubers. Do that all the way to publishing.

2. Get beta-readers. *
Make the manuscript as clean as possible. Double check for grammar errors and typos. This way, readers can focus on the story without being deterred or, worse, stop reading due to numerous incoherent sentences.

Beta readers will be your shining stars. Get more than one reader, but less than six. Betas love to read and be judgy. Judgy betas are what you want; they will help find all the things that you have missed. As writers, we often become too emotionally attached to our work, leading us to read it with the intended meaning rather than the actual content.

You need more than one reader. Each person will be drawn to different aspects of the story and will find flaws or point out the parts they love. They might have different viewpoints. One might hate a section; another will love it.

This happened to me. I had a “polarizing” scene. Two people loved it, one didn’t care for it at all. Then, one of my betas said exactly what they liked and one said what they didn’t—and why. I made some edits based on that specific feedback. And it’s a much stronger scene now.

Okay, I’ll confess, I did multiple rounds with beta readers, making tweaks and rewrites after each round.

* Beta-readers don’t always read the entire story. They may need to drop out for personal reasons. They didn’t get the story or got bored. Perhaps it’s too graphic or too angsty. So, if you want three readers, start with five readers.

Side note: I’m not referring to a crit-partner, someone who reads as you write and gives feedback and you do the same for them. I haven’t tried this but probably should.

3. Get a developmental editor.
After you make changes from your beta readers, it’s time for a professional editor. This will be pricey. For me, it was well worth it. Editors are pros at determining what needs to be added and what would work better to lose or combine, and they explain why. And professional editors keep your style and your voice.

After my developmental edit, I removed one character and blended them. I also fixed some tonal confusion within my narrative.
With each book you publish, the less likely you’ll need an in-depth developmental edit.

4. Get beta readers.
Yes, do another round with betas. Now, your story is in great shape, but chances are you’ve made a big change or several small ones. This read through should fine tune your story. For this round, I recommend four to six readers.

This time I learned, the betas need to read your genre. I had a beta that admitted they didn’t read urban fantasy but wanted to start. Beta-reading is not the place for them to learn about it. Every genre has its tropes, and if you’re not familiar with them, things can get confusing.

5. Once it’s revised, decide what you can do and what you can’t.
• Cover Art: Create a good cover or hire a designer but don’t spend a lot of money on it as you probably won’t earn it back. Have a panel of judgy people look at it and give feedback. Put it in a grouping of other books in your genre. It should blend in (genre wise) and stand out (by design). It’s a tall order!
• Formatting: Essential for good reader experience. I previously relied on MS Word, but Microsoft altered its behavior for specific formatting, which pushed me to my limits. After investigating different software, I moved forward with Atticus. I’m delighted with that decision.

6. Upload your book to distributors early if you’re doing a pre-order.
And make it your final copy. Don’t make continual changes and re-upload it. This will cause you unneeded stress. If you make changes, do it after it releases.

7. Marketing, this could also be the most important step wise.
Read, watch videos, learn about it before you need it. Learn all the different ways you can promote your book. Then do what you want—don’t do it all. You’ll exhaust yourself and your return on investment (ROI) won’t be enough to compensate. Start marketing yourself as soon as possible. I’m bad at this, but I’m working on getting better. What I’m doing this round includes:
• A book tour online
• Self-promo ads on my Instagram and X accounts. I created 15, each one has something different, a quote from the book, a list of tropes, etc.
• I gave out ARCs hoping to get reviews. Good or bad, apparently the algorithms don’t care, but I’m hoping for good reviews because I care!

Let me know if you have any questions about these steps or anything else!

See?!?! This is what I’m talking about! Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Holly. Here’s a bit more about her and how to get in touch:

H. R. Sinclair

author • artist • dreamer
H. R. Sinclair is a left-handed hermit prepping for the squirrel apocalypse. She was born and raised in Southern California, but now lives and works in New England. She writes fantastical stories and visits cemeteries for inspiration.

Website: iamhrsinclair.com

Socials
• iamhrsinclair.com/blog
• x.com/SouthpawPOV
• instagram.com/hrsinclair
• goodreads.com/author/show/21680467.H_R_Sinclair
• bookbub.com/profile/h-r-sinclair

Be sure to pick up your copy of H.R. Sinclair’s new book: Bloodstone.

Family secrets hold the key to buried magic. Her legacy awaits.

Katelyn Grey is a gardener in Southern California. She’s content with pruning shrubs and looking after her step-mom, the only family she has left. That is, until a lawyer shows up and tells her that her long-lost aunt died, leaving her the family home on the other side of the country.

Though Katelyn hates to travel, a weird clause in her aunt’s will forces her to visit a quaint New England seaside town. Her world changes when she discovers she’s inherited a haunted brownstone, fickle magic, and a hidden key that someone else wants. And they’re willing to kill for it.

Now, she must learn how to use magic, find the key, and figure out what it’s for before she ends up like her long-lost aunt. Dead.

Have you gotten your copy yet? Have you had similar experiences with publishing? Did you learn anything new?

Seeing New Stories in September #IWSG

Happy IWSG Day everyone! August had its highs and lows. The kids returned to school leading to the frantic shuffle to ensure everyone got to their appropriate locations at the right time. And then, as we settled into routine, covid hit and we all missed work and school for a week. We’re on the mend now, despite me still hacking up a lung, and I’m waaaaaayyyyyy behind on all providing critiques for people. But I’ll catch up, eventually.

IWSG Question of the Month – What’s a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer?

English is the only class I failed. (Apparently you’re required to turn in your homework?? Pfft!) I don’t actually recall learning any writing rules in school, but that might just be because I didn’t pay attention in class. Math was more my thing.

But on to cooler things! I’m thrilled to share with you that this month, none other than our own H.R. Sinclair is releasing her book!! I’m excited for this. I’ve read a couple of iterations with this book, and it’s gotten better every time. And on Sept 22nd, it’s finally releasing for the whole world to read!

Family secrets hold the key to buried magic. Her legacy awaits.

Katelyn Grey is a gardener in Southern California. She’s content with pruning shrubs and looking after her step-mom, the only family she has left. That is, until a lawyer shows up and tells her that her long-lost aunt died, leaving her the family home on the other side of the country.

Though Katelyn hates to travel, a weird clause in her aunt’s will forces her to visit a quaint New England seaside town. Her world changes when she discovers she’s inherited a haunted brownstone, fickle magic, and a hidden key that someone else wants. And they’re willing to kill for it.

Now, she must learn how to use magic, find the key, and figure out what it’s for before she ends up like her long-lost aunt. Dead.

Here’s a link to all the available purchase options: PRE-ORDER.

Also, be sure to return September 18th for a guest post!

Are you as excited for this book as me? Have you pre-ordered your copy yet? Does the return to school affect you?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

Speeding through Summer #IWSG

Happy First Wednesday, All! Summer has passed in a flash, and we’re already gearing up for school here at the Town’s End. It starts in a week. Neither kiddo is really looking forward to it. My daughter is excited about moving to the next stage of education, but she is dreading waking up for the early High School start times. My son doesn’t like school work, nor does he enjoy class. He is ramping up to play four square with his friends and hanging out with his Roblox bud in person after a summer of gaming with him online. At least he naturally wakes up prior to his school start time still.

I didn’t get to do as much as I wanted to with the kids this summer. Normally I plan something for every other week, but this summer, I think the vacation kind of sapped all my do-stuff motivation. There wasn’t any swimming, no roller skating, no park visiting–though, the lack of outdoor activity was largely due to the terrible air quality, constant smoke, and triple digit temperatures. I hope to at least hit the arcade this weekend, but some events will have to wait until after school starts. Things like the Fair, a couple trips to the go-kart racing place, and maybe using a coupon to visit the local water park. Maybe.

A lot like my summer plans, my writing has also been doing a lot less than I had hoped. I’m on chapter 5 of book 1. Out of what will probably be 60, given my current preference to make deeper chapters with fewer scenes. *hangs head* My local critique group is getting punished with multiple resubmissions as I find I get a burst of motivation when I get feedback. Currently, I find it most effective to submit the unedited chapter, get feedback, then submit the edited one for the next meeting. Doing it this way, however, would mean this taking four years because we only meet every other week. I don’t think I want to spend another decade just trying to finish another book. *sigh*

Book 2 is looking pretty good, though. I’ve implemented big-picture feedback from a couple of betas, and I’m still going through Critique Circle for the individual chapter reactions. It should run its course by the end of October.

IWSG Question of the Month – Do you use AI in your writing and if so how? Do you use it for your posts? Incorporate it into your stories? Use it for research? Audio?

I use the grammar suggestions from Pro-Writing Aid in my writing, usually for correcting spelling or fixing commas. Sometimes I accept suggestions for tightening sections, but not always. I do use TTS (text-to-speech) frequently, as I absorb information better when I hear it. I catch missing words or wrong words in my writing, or hear when the flow of words doesn’t quite land right. I’ve tried generative AI once, and I couldn’t get it to produce something I liked. I guess I’m just too picky. I research, so a touch of AI is unavoidable, but I don’t chat with the engines to get answers.

I’m not pro-AI, nor am I fighting against it. I don’t like unethically sourced data, but as a programmer, I appreciate tools that make people more effective and efficient. I don’t begrudge people who find value there. I just don’t feel some aspects apply to my goals, so I dismiss them. Like I said, I’m picky.

How was your summer? Do you use AI? How are your writing goals coming along?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

Happy July #IWSG

I forgot to schedule my post for this morning. Thankfully, I didn’t forget. I hope everyone who celebrates the 4th of July has an excellent holiday tomorrow, and that all your pets are safe and sound amidst all the exploding fireworks. We have guinea pigs, and I’m not sure how they’ll react, this being their first 4th with us. But I’m more than willing to cuddle them if they need reassurance.

June was wonderful. Our vacation was exhausting, packing every day with things to do. We roamed the market, explored Olympic Park, swam in a crater, marveled at the aviary, and played at the planetarium. We also swam twice a day and I used muscles I don’t use often enough. On the way home, I detoured to visit my family on the other side of the state, and goodness how I missed my cousins. They are some of the most amazing people in the world, always ready to step up and help, welcome you in, and feed you.

Also during June, my husband and I celebrated our 18th anniversary. We made a day of it, doing an escape room, having lunch, going to a movie. It’s nice my kids are old enough that we can do go this stuff now.

Despite writing a little bit every morning on my vacation (it was quite nice because the kids were sleeping in and I naturally wake up by 6), I didn’t get very far on my book 1 rewrites. I am currently on chapter 4. But, I have been editing things in book 2 based on wonderful feedback I got, so I’m still being productive.

IWSG Question of the Month – What are your favorite writing processing, writing apps, software, and tools? Why do you recommend them? And which one is your all time favorite that you cannot live without and use daily or at least whenever you write?

I’ve touted my love for yWriter many a time, and I still stand by it. It’s been my writing software of choice for years because I can assign POV, drag and drop scenes, run reports, clone and mark scenes unused so I’m not deleting anything, and it has a responsive developer and helpful google groups forum where I can report bugs or make requests, and the developer will talk things out.

I also use ProWritingAid, having purchased a lifetime license many years ago. It has an “everywhere” option now, so all I need to do is start that up, and I have all the features appearing directly in the yWriter scene editor. It’s very nice, and I can turn it off if I want to write distraction free.

How was your June? Do you relax on vacation or cram it full of adventure? What writing options do you use?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

May was Mayhem. Here’s to a Calmer June. #IWSG

Happy First Wednesday of the Month! May was… an exhausting month. There were a couple weeks there where I wanted to scream into my pillow because I was so overloaded with everything. But I’m no longer sick, our home is repaired, my car is working fine, school is out, and the social engagements are checked off. Plus, I’m going on vacation soon–the first vacation in years. In fact, the first vacation in my kids’ life. We don’t get to travel, so I typically pack my kids’ life with the happenings of our local city (swimming pools, rollerblading, aquarium visits, etc). But my best friend’s lodging accommodations can fit a few more, and she graciously extended the offer to let us stay with her, so it is road trip time! I’m hoping to maybe gain a few words toward book 1 during my time off, but there’s no saying if I’ll have time.

Rewriting book 1 has not been progressing like I had hoped. I’m at 13K out of the original 168K. I had hoped to gain like maybe 40K a month, given that the book is literally already written and I’m just giving it a face lift. But it’s not looking like it’ll be that easy. Thankfully I have no deadlines, but I had hoped to maybe start putting chapters on Critique Circle in October, after book 2 finishes in the queues.

I’ve done a slew of character portraits over the past couple of months. You probably recognize my four POVs: MaTisha, Derek (ever smitten with his wife), Cameron, Reika (formerly known as LaTonya). But I branched out and did Jebaliah (Derek’s daughter), Naomi (Derek’s guardian), Jack (MaTisha’s guardian), and Satch (Cameron’s BFF).

I have a few more portraits planned, but I’m notorious for not finishing things, so I’m not promising any.

IWSG Question of the Month – In this constantly evolving industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider offering to members?

I am one of those people who does everything themselves, so it’s hard for me to say what services would be useful. I am also unambitious, and don’t aspire to make a name for myself as a writer. However, based on what I’ve seen, most people struggle with marketing. So if I were to say something, I’d say marketing services?

Have you ever tried rewriting a whole book? How did it go for you? Do you get to travel often? What services would you like to see from IWSG?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

May Remember. May Not. #ISWG

Today being the first and being Wednesday took me by surprise, and I completely spaced IWSG. But hey, look, it’s not quite lunchtime over here in the Mountain time zone, so I think I’m good. Though, this means I will be late when it comes to visiting others.

I’ve had some writing leaps and bounds this past month. I had a panic moment with a chapter, rewrote a chunk, cut 4K, then begged my wonderful betas for forgiveness of my unpreparedness.

In book 1 world, I’m finally on… *looks at progress* chapter 3. That’s not quite the pace I had hoped for, but it is better than nothing. I have figured out where I want to focus my unfocused subplot, so that’s a positive. But I feel I need to take the time to hash out the changes I want to make rather than assessing this project in 35 chapter parts. I just haven’t done it yet.

IWSG Question of the Month – How do you deal with distractions when you are writing? Do they derail you?

Well, I can’t write when people around me are talking, so one option I go with is earbuds and rain sounds. But I am extremely susceptible to distractions in the form of art, other writing, and reading. If I’m invested in a story I’m reading, I don’t get any writing done. Sometimes, if I’ve got an active art project, I’d rather spend my lunch hour drawing instead of writing. When my brain demanded I fix the problem in something I already finished, then I set aside my book 1 progress to get that done.

At the same time, I’m not concerned about distractions, because I know I will return to what I want to be working on (Book 1 in my current case). It is how I am.

Did you remember today was IWSG day? How are you progressing with your projects? Am I distracting you?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

Older and Wiser #IWSG

March flew by for me, and I was busy with all the things from celebrating my birthday and having fun on spring break with the kids to less fun events that ratcheted up my anxiety to fresh new levels. But all my personal chaos aside, let’s talk writing.

Rewriting book 1 is a bigger undertaking than I assumed. I knew it was going to be a lot of work because of problems with tension, unfocused subplots, and way too much telling. But what I failed to grasp is that I didn’t know who Derek was 14 years ago. I reread chapter 1 and realized I didn’t like him. He was shallow and self-concerned, and it just didn’t work for me anymore.

When I first started writing, I picked up this book called 45 Master Characters from the Barnes & Noble discount rack. It talked about character archetypes, and I reveled in the idea of figuring out where all my characters fit. I knew Derek was a flirt, and that he was in love with MaTisha. She was the only woman for him. Well, because Derek’s a guy, I fixated on the Woman’s Man archetype because that was the only male model that worked with what I knew.

Dionysus: The Woman’s Man
A fun-loving, sensual man who can’t relate to masculine pastimes but revels in the company of women, who helps the women around him to find their courage and realize their own worth – although the Dionysus himself often feels flawed and may never find the perfect woman he seeks.

The first version of him turned him into a self-centered guy who was only concerned with finding the right woman. My sis-in-law hated him. One of my beta readers then pointed out that Derek’s main desire was that he wanted a family, and he really wanted children. That was more accurate, so I tried to mash him into the archetype while making him family focused.

Years later (after publication, of course), I had an epiphany. Derek wasn’t Dionysus: The Woman’s Man. He was Demeter: The Nurturer.

Demeter: The Nurturer
A kind and compassionate woman who sacrifices much in order to help others, particularly children or those she feels she is responsible for; her whole identity is tied up in caring for others.

I never really considered it, because, you know, Derek’s a guy. But I’d already gender-swapped MaTisha’s archetype (she’s Zeus: The King), so it wasn’t surprising that Derek ended up swapped too.

I wrote book 2 with the full confidence of knowing Derek was The Nurturer, and I didn’t try to push him into being charming like I did with book 1. Because he’s not charming. Affable, hopefully, but not charming.

IWSG Question of the Month – How long have you been blogging? What do you like about it and how has it changed?

My first post ever was on Black Friday 2010 on a blog that’s now hidden from the public eye. I moved to my own domain in June of 2012 and have been here since. I like the freedom to ramble about whatever’s on my mind without the anxiety of using my voice. It’s like I tell my coworkers: I think better with my fingers. I’m also a slow-moving person who can’t keep up with social media, so knowing that I can take a breather between posts is a real mental saver.

Did you ever discover one of your characters wasn’t who you thought they were? Have you ever looked at character archetypes? What do you like about blogging?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

Beta Ready? #IWSG

Happy March! It’s the first Wednesday and I’ll be slow to visit people, as I’m off to a career fair with my daughter most of the day.

I’ve made significant progress on book 2, and I think I’m to the point of asking for beta readers! I did decide yesterday I needed to tweak one chapter because it didn’t quite sit well with me, but I’ve been listening to the whole story text-to-speech to catch those pesky missing words and I’m almost done. I like to leave out the word “the” apparently, and my eyes gloss right over it. But my ears are better at picking up on things. I think it’s almost ready, probably within the next couple of weeks, and so, I’m asking… Anybody want to beta read for me?

Before you jump up and volunteer, I should probably throw down some warnings:
* This is the second book in a multi-POV epic fantasy series. I’m hoping people will be able to jump in without reading the first book, but if you did, well, I changed history a bit. I’m planning to rewrite book 1 and I’m going to make a few tweaks when I do. Please don’t hold these changes against me.
* This is a BIG book. The total is 212K. I’ve cut what I feel I can, but it’s still a hefty size.
* People die in this book, and there are topics relating to the loss of a child, infertility, magical rape (there’s no sex, though), cannibalism, bigotry, racism, and violence.

Here’s the blurb:

She’s the ruler of the broken. He’s the breaker of the rules.
   Derek stole the power of the deities to return MaTisha to life. Now, they want it back and they’ll render her a corpse to get it.
   He scrambles for a solution to save his wife, but a fight with an immortal predator knocks him into the unknown. Stranded in a land of gods and magic, he must find a way home before he loses everyone he loves.
   Meanwhile, MaTisha faces trouble of her own. Monsters are literally sucking the life out of her subjects, and her powers died with her in the war. But impotence isn’t resurrection’s only side effect. An insatiable thirst plagues her, and her closest companions are looking…tasty.
   She’s determined to protect her people, but who will save them from her?

That sound like something you’re interested in? (It’s fine if you’re not. Massive epics aren’t everyone’s thing.)

I don’t have any deadlines. I’m hoping to rewrite book 1 before I publish book 2.

IWSG Question of the Month – Have you “played” with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI’s impact on creative writing?

I haven’t tried doing a synopses or anything, but I have pinged AI to get some ideas about how a character might learn to use their power. I didn’t like the sample text it gave me. It was pretty darn terrible, in my opinion, and I didn’t pursue any sort of AI writing experimentation after that. I’m particular about how my writing sounds, and a computer can’t cut it for me.

Are you interested in beta reading? What kind of books do you typically enjoy? What are your feelings about AI?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

Month Two, Already? #IWSG

I totally spaced today’s post. It’s that whole second-week-of-the-month timing that catches me. Whoops. I’ve been hard at work trying to get my POVs rewritten, and it’s pretty mind-consuming. I struggled and struggled with introducing a detail to one POV. Eventually, I decided I’d skip trying to put this detail in its own chapter and just add it to the scene where a side character is introduced. I don’t know if it works yet. I won’t find out until next week. I’m making progress, though. I’ve got three chapters left on my rearrange-events task list, then I’ll start tightening the individual chapters. (Hopefully, anyway. I might find more I need to rearrange.) Regardless, the end is in sight!

IWSG Question of the Month – What turns you off when visiting an author’s website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author’s books? Constant mention of books?

I visit authors to get a glimpse inside their lives, maybe through them telling me about about an experience, where they are at with their struggles, or something they find fascinating or something they learned. I love the tidbits they discover through research or tricks they think are useful. I’ll read stories posted, though I might not comment, but I enjoy following along.

I don’t often visit people who just relay advice, how-tos, or otherwise tell me what to do. I, occasionally, seek them out if I’m looking to learn something, but to keep me coming back, I need a relationship that doesn’t feel like the other person is trying to help me all the time as if I need help. (That might be my conceit talking.)

It’s the people (all you people) that keep me coming back.

How are you coming along with your personal goals? What do you like about other author’s websites/blog? What don’t you like?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

New Year, New Goals #IWSG

Welcome to 2024, Everyone!

Guess what?! I finished my zero draft of Isto before my end-of-year, self-imposed deadline! Here’s a little animation I made of me and Derek dancing in celebration. (It’s my first animation, so please excuse the poor quality.)

Having completed the rough draft of version 6, I now move on to editing. This means rewriting Cameron’s POV. His timeline doesn’t flow well with the others, and critiquers say he needs more processing time for the emotional whammy he gets in his first scene. I’m also not keen on how certain reveals come about, so I’ve got some work ahead of me.

Goal for this year: make the book good enough to give to beta readers.

I feel my health goals are far more ambitious than my writing one. I want to:
* Complete a fitness program I bought some years back
* Limit myself to 1 Red Bull a day

If you know me, you know that latter one is going to be the most difficult. Resisting the temptation to overindulge is the hard part. I got used to cracking open a second serving of pure bliss-in-a-can sometime during last summer, and my waistline reflects that extra daily 28g of sugar. But I’m super picky about my energy drinks. I will happily try anything given to me, but nothing can substitute for my full-sugar 8.4 fl oz original. Maybe it’s a psychological thing, having consumed Red Bull almost daily for 22 years now, but I know what I want, and I’m not going to try to trick myself with a counterfeit.

Work kicked off its annual Colonel’s Fitness Challenge. In the past, I tried to tackle all the areas (resistance, aerobic, situps/pushups, weight loss). But my weight hasn’t changed in the past 5 years, and I’ve found it difficult to balance extensive weight lifting with everything else I want to do with my life. So I only aim to achieve my 30 hours of aerobic activity over the 10 week span of the challenge. This will include stair-stepping at my standing desk, walking at lunch, and doing HIIT exercises 3 days a week with my sis-in-law. On top of that, I will be doing the flexibility/mobility exercise program mentioned in my goals to hopefully prevent injury and mitigate the reality of being over 40.

Lots of things I’m hoping for this year.

IWSG Question of the Month – Do you follow back your readers on BookBub or do you only follow back other authors?

Uh… BookBub? I think I’ve heard of that. Am I supposed to actually do stuff on there? I think I might’ve logged on once and that was it, so I guess my answer is neither.

Got any lofty goals for this year? What do you hope to accomplish? Are you happy to greet 2024?

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.