A temporary pause

"Warm Harvest" painting, Sept. 23, 2020

I missed my regular Tuesday blog last week. There's no good excuse. The blog simply fell through the proverbial cracks because I was focused on other stuff:

• Something killed all my chickens.
• I started two new projects.
• I had two interviews.
• I had two art classes.
• I was preparing for the craft fair on Saturday.

Speaking of art classes, the one on Wednesday produced a painting that, while not actually "good," I do like. Funny that. In a LinkedIn post, I referenced the effort to some homespun wisdom that has characterized (or castigated) genre fiction for decades: Something doesn't have to be a masterpiece to be liked.

The two new projects were a godsend, especially after far too many weeks with a negligible income. Freelancing tends toward the "feast or famine" cycle and I fret when I'm in a famine cycle, especially when monthly royalties from book sales aren't enough to splurge on a fancy coffee. I've been scouring gig platforms and other sites, prospecting for freelance ghostwriting and editing jobs. I'm fairly picky and don't go after just everything. One of the jobs I managed to acquire through Facebook, which surprised me. I do a fair amount of networking through Facebook and LinkedIn, but Facebook has not heretofore been a source of work, despite having received some inquiries.

No, Virginia, professional editing is not free. Nor is it cheap.

Regardless, it's heartening to see years--yes, years--of networking beginning to pay off.

To build awareness of my books and maybe build my fan base, the Book of the Month has been accelerated to Books of the Month. Two books per month to be precise. One book will be offered for free for a weekend at mid-month and another book will be offered for free for a weekend at the end of the month. E-books, only, of course. To those who do take advantage and download free books, please, please, please leave a review!

As far as my own writing projects are concerned, I haven't done much at all. The as-yet unnamed sequel to Hogtied still languishes. The mind-preoccupying historical paranormal romance (yes, untitled) hasn't much gone anywhere either. And I still have three more novellas to write for the ghostwriting gig that never paid but that I decided I would produce and publish anyway. Unfortunately, nothing is calling me, none of the characters are speaking to me. It's awfully quiet inside my skull.

Until I try to sleep, that is.

Anyway, cross your fingers and send some good vibes my way in hope that those who embarked upon book writing projects are now in need of editors and will hire me to edit their manuscripts or realize that their writing skills aren't up to par and hire me to ghostwrite for them.

Adieu until next week.

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