Vacation gyrations

I’m enjoying one of my routine staycations this week. I was about to max out on accrued leave, so I decided to treat myself.

I had a list, but I haven’t gotten real far on it. The first point was a big one though.

1. Finish my WIP.
2. Work on a project for a friend.
3. Return to Midnight Rambler for a complete read-through.
4. Consider a cover and Lisa Burton posters for Midnight Rambler.

I haven’t really gotten that far, but I’ve been consciously trying to goof off a bit, too. Here it is Thursday, and I finished my manuscript.

Percy the Space Chimp has his first book finished. I want this to become a trilogy, so we’ll see what the Muse brings me here. I still don’t have a title for the damned thing, but once the trilogy is finished it might come to me.

I know it’s Thursday already, but I’m trying not to take on so much my staycation becomes stressful. I’m bound to get at least one more thing accomplished before I have to return to work.

Somewhere soon, I need to decide what to write next. My heart lies with the Hat Series, but I already have one I could publish. Maybe I’ll see if I can dream up some more post apocalyptic elements for my revenge in the swamp story. I might even write that at the same time as the next Hat story.

I always liked writing two at the same time, and I think the world is ready for another stand-alone title from me.

Hope you’re all having good weeks out there.

Been super busy

As a matter of fact, I could be mental. If not, I feel close and it woldn't take much to get me there. My paycheck job has kept me super busy. It's three weeks of craziness that seems to happen every year. It won't end until after next week.

I worked my personal slate clean ahead of time. I even burned some vacation time to get it all done. Now my personal life is falling behind again. That means blogging, reading, writing, and all the peripheral activities that go with it.

My blog stats are down, Lisa's Facebook site is stagnant, and my FB page isn't much better.

I have half of a Lisa Burton Radio post finished, but there is more to do. I have about a quarter of another one. I just need to find time to work on them. This will have to be a priority over the weekend. If you've been cursing me in private, I will get the projects up to date this weekend.

There is a cool Lisa interview scheduled tomorrow, so that will help me out a bit. Gotta love the scheduler option in WordPress. If I get everything done, I'll be two weeks ahead. That means Lisa needs more guests if you're of a mind.

One awesome beta reader turned The Enhanced League project around in about six hours. She made some outstanding comments and suggestions. I feel like a slacker right now. I want to dive right into the modifications, but it makes more sense to get a few more reports before I work through it all. It's a good enough reason to put it off for a while.

I still need to update my banner image, but at least I got the wallpaper changed. I really need to get back on social media too. My footprint doesn't amount to much over the last two weeks. I'm sure this can change, but I need to address it.

Everything will get done, I'm certain of it. I just have to make time for everything life throws at me for a few weeks. I kind of know how a ping pong ball feels right now. In my personal life, I like to work on projects in some kind of order. Lately everything is shuffled together, but I think progress is happening.

On the good side, early reports for The Enhanced League are positive. Actually, they're awesome. Lisa's show is scheduled for tomorrow, and the subsequent interviews are partially done. The Lisa promotional posters for Enhanced League are looking awesome too.

Harmony Kent has an awesome tool for us over at Story Empire today. This post kicked my Muse in the pants, and I got a cool new idea. I even wrote it down so I don't forget. (Bonus!) I was also invited to contribute to another anthology dedicated to time travel. I've never written a time travel story before, and I already have a cool creepy new idea for it. It just needs some serious daydreaming time before I start writing it.

This weekend I'll work on the Lisa interviews, maybe apply a bit of triage to my social media accounts, get that banner updated, schedule my next Story Empire post, and write a new one for Chris Graham. If I accomplish any more than that, it will be gravy.

It sounds like a plan. If I'm lucky, it will carry me through the 12th. On the 13th we get to pick up Frankie and bring her to her forever home. I'm pretty excited about that part.

Time Management

Being an author in this era seems to involve working on multiple projects at once. There are ruminations that lead to outlines. There is the drafting of new material. Promotion is also required. Maybe this is as simple as making a tweet or two, but some days it involves updating the blog, maybe writing some guest posts for someone.

In my case, I still owe The Storyreading Ape some posts. I have no less than four Lisa Burton Radio slots in the works. I'm working with Sean Harrington on some generic Lisa art that I can use for various purposes, and possibly recycle without making you tired of them. Then there is research for new projects, promo art for the next books, and some reading that I'm behind on.

The common denominator is time.

There's only so much of this stuff to go around, and when things pile up something has to give. Some of you may have noticed that I skipped blogging last night. I also have a life away from this iPad, and tend to neglect it a little too much.

One of the things I've learned… over time… is that I can't do it all at once. I've tried more times than I care to admit. This applies at the paycheck job too. What happens is that I get less done than I should have.

I can't get away with this at the paycheck job, and sometimes I have to move multiple projects at the same time. I'm the boss at Entertaining Stories though, and will have things my way here.

Dealing with multiple projects takes a certain amount of whining and hand wringing. (At least in my case. Ask my wife if you don't believe me.) Surprise, whining and hand wringing takes time away from things I should be doing.

I use task lists when it gets out of control. If I can keep it straight in my head, I don't bother to write it all down. Then I pick a project, put on the blinders and work on it until I'm finished.

There is a lot to be said for finishing something. It might be as simple as updating my pinned tweet, but the act of completion is like a Scooby Snack for me. I'm energized to take on the next thing.

I used my deplorable art skills to make an image for my pinned tweet and updated it. Some of you have already shared it. Hopefully, the art is good enough for the split second it takes to get the point across.

I worked on all four radio interviews, and got them back to the guest authors. There is more work to do, but I can do nothing until they trickle back in.

I started my beta reading project yesterday, and moved it ahead today. I have a document started with notes, and hopefully can help this book in some small way.

Another piece of Lisa art arrived last night, and I sent out the instructions for the next one. When it comes to blog art, I try to buy them four at a time. I can use another portrait too, and have a couple of ideas for the third one, it involves either a hairdo from the early 70s or one from 1900. Lisa likes to change things up. It's still planning and time.

I'm also collecting ideas for promotion of my next books. There are some Yak Guy things Lisa can do, and some baseball things for the other project.

I did not address my critiques, but they aren't as time sensitive. I also didn't draft anything beyond this blog. I might dabble with my outlines for an hour or two.

The point is that I have to put on my blinders and work exclusively on one thing at a time. I get more done that way. Right now the focus is on reading, but if I can complete something small (like Twitter) before or after reading, I can still accomplish things.

In the end, clearing my slate will give me more time for drafting new material as I move into February.

Right now, I picked up a giant bottle of beer, and a new tea I want to try. There is football to watch, and maybe game one will be tea, and game two will be beer.

Kind of Tired…

The blog party was a huge success. Thank you all for participating and making my book release into a fun event. We cracked a few of Amazon’s top 100 lists for a little while.

I’ve already gotten two reviews on The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack II. They were both five stars and mean the world to me. I love finding out which stories resonated with readers. The first Experimental Notebook was drawn along with the new release. There were several sales and some new reviews there too. That was a pleasant surprise.

There was a ton of work leading up to this event. In the past weeks, I’ve written 13 blog tour posts and delivered them to my hosts. Those will be coming out in the next two weeks. My job now is to watch for them, and participate in the comments they receive. I’ll also try to reblog them and support them on social media.

I also took up Chris Graham, the Storyreading Ape, on his offer for guest posters from September through December. It was work to fit it all in, but I delivered all of my posts prior to the deadline. Chris has a large footprint, and I felt like it would be a mistake to pass the chance up.

That’s only a small part of what I’ve been up to. There are other projects that I’m not ready to pull the veil back on just yet. It’s been a lot of work, and I’m looking forward to dialing it back for a few days. I can’t afford to tone it down for any longer.

This doesn’t mean I’ll be idle. I have a collection of Lisa Burton Radio posts in various stages to work on. I also went to critique group last night, and have my submission to spruce up.

I’m thinking about some advertising options over the next few months. Timing is the big thing to consider. A few more reviews might be helpful before I run an Amazon campaign for the second Notebook. Several of my novels have a Halloween flavor to them. I may run an Amazon giveaway, or a free day for those. Watch this space.

Finishing my tasks this weekend shouldn’t be that tough. I may try to weave in some actual writing somewhere. It’s a three day weekend in the USA, so there might be time.

Lisa is taking off as part of this blog tour. She’s talking with several hosts and dropping off her posters. I should probably help her clean up the writing cabin after the big party.