Bookiversary and a Kick in the Pants
In all the hubbub of the Wedding That Never Was and having a house full of guests for the last four weeks, I missed my Bookiversary! June 5, 2015, Fairest of the Faire was released to an unsuspecting public by my publisher, The Wild Rose Press. Millions, er hundreds, er, dozens were sold. Well, not that many dozens. Like two dozen.
I didn’t really expect more than that, though. First books are a hard sell. It takes a few books to build a solid readership. It can be the best book in the world, that first one, but there are a lot of books out there, and a lot of choices, and that’s just the way it is. There are a whole lot of Susabelle Kelmers out there, and not that many Stephen Kings and Neil Gaimans. Not that I’d EVER put myself in that second category!
I’m badly in need of a kick in the pants to get going and finish that second book. I can blame my lack of production on a lot of things, starting with work, family obligations, taking care of a house and a garden, etc. And those things do get in the way, but there are still moments that I could use more effectively. I never seem to be able to find the time to write, or the time to read. A woefully tall stack of novels sits in my closet waiting to be read, while their smaller stack on my nightstand whine pitifully at me when I try to sleep. Just last night, I finally picked up the Mary Jane’s Farm magazine I bought before Easter and read the first 30 pages or so. They are talking about naturally dying Easter eggs, and the best chicks to buy for your newly-built henhouse. Chick season is long gone, and I won’t be coloring any boiled eggs for quite some time.
Today is July 2nd, and yesterday started Camp Nano, an offshoot of NaNoWriMo, and I’m going to be punching that keyboard and trying to get my novel finished. I’ve set a modest 20K-word goal for the month, but it sure would be nice to end up with a finished rough draft. So I’m going to be pushing myself, and hoping that some of my writer friends can poke me and prod me and remind me of my priorities. I need to get back on the writing train, focus my energies better, and write that story I know I have inside me.
Feel free to hit me with your nagging, ideas for keeping on track, and anything else you think might help me. 
