What I’ve Been Up To

Mothering doesn’t stop just because kids are growing up

I haven’t been able to do much with edits on the books I already finished. I can only hope that now school has started that things will settle down, but who knows? I have two still in high school, one in college who works part-time, and another who works full-time. I honestly don’t know how anyone can afford to get a place of their own right out of high school with prices being the way they are. So I told my kids they can stay here and save up money so they don’t have to go into debt to be on their own. Anyway, this means I’m still busy with the kids. Even if they are in the 16-20 year range, they like to talk to me about their day and stuff that’s bothering them. I want to be available for that, so I will set aside things I’m doing to sit or walk with them.

Years ago, I was hoping to be close to my nieces and nephews and for my kids’ grandparents to be close to my kids. But life didn’t turn out that way. My parents died early on. My husband’s parents weren’t all that interested in spending time with my kids. As for nieces and nephews, that’s a whole other set of issues I don’t want to disclose in a public forum. But at least I can have a close relationship with my own children, and I’m taking advantage of it. I do what I can to encourage my kids to make decisions for themselves, so I see my role as a listener and a source of emotional support. As they get older, they’re not really “kids”. They’re kind of like friends but the dynamic is a bit different since I used to change their diapers. I’m not sure how to think of the relationship now that I’m not really in the role of doing things for them. I make an effort to encourage them to make their own decisions. This is why I let my youngest go to school instead of homeschooling him. I gave him the choice. I preferred homeschooling, but he’s old enough to choose what works best for him, and it’s my responsibility to honor that.

Haven’t got much editing done and haven’t written anything

My eyes are still giving me grief. That’s nothing new, but I can tell that my days of being able to sit at a computer and type or edit for hours is coming to a close. The more I’m on a computer (even with the Reticare screen), the worse things are for my eyes. My condition is dry eye, and all kinds of screens (computer, phone, iPad, etc) only makes things worse. I live on audio now. I listen to podcasts and AI audiobooks while doing household work or going out for walks. I have made it my goal to get into physical shape and eat better. I go for walks a lot these days. Sometimes I go with one of my kids. Sometimes I go alone. After struggling to lose weight for twenty years, I have finally managed to lose 38 pounds. That took a year to lose. Unlike some people, I lose weight slowly. I don’t miss carbs like I thought I would, though giving up chocolate candy and ice cream was hard. All the walking and diet change has made it so that my eyes aren’t all watery like they used to be, but I’m in no way able to do things at a computer like I used to. I think this is just an aging thing.

Dictation is out for me. I had thought about going back to it, but when I dictate, the program I speak into doesn’t get a lot of things right, such as spelling of words. It can take me about one hour to clean up a session of dictation, which is roughly half a chapter. And even then, I still have to edit the book when all is said and done before it’s ready for an editor to iron out consistency issues or typos. I gain no “off the computer” time from dictation. It only doubles my workload. What this means is that I have to slow down with editing and writing. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep going with this. But that’s okay. I’ve had a good run of this. I have completed over 100 books. Never in a million years did I think I’d ever be able to write that many books, nor did I think anyone would want to read them. I went into self-publishing thinking I’d write about 20 books and have those paperbacks sitting on my shelf. God has been very good to me. I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams.

Still creating AI audiobooks for Kobo but haven’t added anything new to Radish

Both Kobo and Radish are slow to upload to, and something about the Radish site really does a number on my eyes. I can’t afford an author assistant. Taxes are going up, and anything I make seems to go to taxes or to a repair that pops up. So it all falls on me to do these things with my books. In theory, it sounds so easy to get these things done, but it doesn’t play out that way in real life. This stuff takes way more time than one would think. I am planning to get all of my books up on these sites. It’s slow going. That is frustrating, but what else can I do? I’m only one person, and given the situation with my eyes, it’s just going to be slow.

I haven’t even been blogging as much as I want to. There’s been plenty on my mind. I always have something to say when it comes to writing, publishing, or marketing. Get into a room with me, and you’ll find I won’t shut up. But since I need my eyes to write the blog post, I will usually upload an audiobook, do my record keeping for the accountant, or edit instead. Speaking of which, I just finished getting the audio files ready for the Marriage by Bargain Series, so I can start uploading that series to Kobo now.