May-cation

Hello, readers!

Remember back at the beginning of April when I said I was going to get my act together? Yeah... about that...

To make a long, whiney story short, I've had a lot of unexpected things going on the past few weeks and have finally gotten to the point where I'm stressing enough that I need a break. I'm not saying I won't be posting, writing, or submitting at all for the month of May... just that I'm not going to hold myself to my normal schedule. May was going to be a wierd month anyway, between family stuff coming up and Elianna being out of school for half the month before her little camp starts up in June.

In any case, I'm hoping and I can come back restored and refreshed in June.

But before I leave, I did want to drop some updates for you. My followings online have increased per below:

Facebook: stayed 101

LinkedIn: from 77 to 80

Twitter: from 43 to 58

Damn, Twitter! Keep on keepin' on : )

Peace out, y'all. See ya soon.

March Drought, April Showers

So, I'm a nerd. I was trying to remember the opening line of The Caterbury Tales (in the original Middle English). I found it, and it wasn't as I remembered - "Whan that April with his showres soote

The droughte of March hath perced to the roote." But it actually works out better for what I want to say.

I didn't get a whole lot done in March. Again. More on that in a minute. But, as March draws to a close, I'm feeling a little trickle of inspiration coming back. I wrote a story last weekend. Not only that, I had initially sat down with the idea it was gonna be a 500-1000 word flash piece. It now stands at just over 3300 words. (Wanna read it? Contact me on social media, or through this website and ask to be part of my beta reader group. I'll be workshopping it soon.) I also submitted to two publications this month, which isn't a lot, but is more than I did in February.

So, how did I meet my goals?

Submissions:

My goal was to submit three pieces for publication. I almost did that. In fact, I kind of did that. I did actually submit to three different publications... but one of them I had to withdraw. They don't accept simultaneous submissions and after I submitted, I was informed by another publication that I had thought hadn’t accepted the same piece that they had extended their reading period and my story was still under consideration there. So... yay?

Social Media Following:

My goals for March were to bring the following platforms up to:

-Facebook - from 99 to 100 likes. (Oooh, aaah...)

-Actual increase: 101! Yay, I finally broke 100! (Increase of 2%.)

-LinkedIn - from 72 to 76 connections.

Actual increase: 77! (Increase of almost 7%)

-Twitter - from 36 to 50 followers.

Actual increase: 43. (Increase of 19%)

Goals for April:

Submission:

Ok, for real this time - three submissions. I mean it.

Platform:

-Facebook: My growth has slowed way down, so I will aim to continue a 1% increase each month, at least until I can figure out a better way to draw in more people there.

Goal: from 101 to 102.

-LinkedIn:

Goal: break 80, an increase of approximately 5%.

Twitter - My growth in February was huge, an increase of 57%. In March, while it wasn't that drastic, it was still hefty at almost 20%. Granted, I know I can't sustain that kind of growth, so I'm not going to set my goal so high as to be disappointed.

Goal: from 43 to 47-49, an increase of 10-15%

New goal!

As of April fourth I will be rejoining my writing critique group. I haven't been since Elianna was born - baby + pandemic = not the best time for writing groups.

Want to help me meet my goals? Here's how you can help! Make sure to like, share, and especially to follow me on social media! Comments are particularly helpful for feeding the algorithm gods.

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for several small snippets each week.

Or, if you're looking for more professional content (less frequent, but more closely related to writing, publishing, or libraries), connect with me on LinkedIn. (I do ask that if you request a connection on LinkedIn that you mention this blog so that I know how you heard of me.)

Friggin' February

December is always the month that I expect to get nothing done, and I meet that expectation.

February is always the month where I think, "well, LAST February sucked, but THIS February I'm going to get my act together"... and then I don't.

So, really just brief updates for you this month.

I feel like maybe I'm starting to round the curve of wanting to get back into things. Still don't know WHAT I feel like working on, just that I feel like I want to do something.

As to my goals for February:

-Goal: Submit three stories (or one story to three publications)

Actual result: I didn't submit any. I've been struggling with finding the right markets, and questioning myself with what's truly ready.

(Related to that, if any of you who are not already beta readers for me would like to be, please PM me your email through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or by using the email form on this site. No writing or editing experience necessary! Sometimes I want the opinion of "the average Joe on the street.")

-Goal: Increase Facebook following from 99 to 109

Actual result: no change.

-Goal: Increase LinkedIn following from 69 to 76

Actual result: 72 connections, an increase of about 4%

-Goal: Increase Twitter following from 16 to 20

Actual result: 37 followers, an increase of about 57%

Y'all. Y'ALL. I met my follower goal the night I posted my previous goals. I thought about going back and updating the blog post... but then I also said, I could go through and do that every week and drive myself crazy.

I went into starting a Twitter account with the caveat that it might be the hardest to grow an audience on, because it's the one that requires the most interaction, but I've increased my following by over 50% each month since I've been keeping track. (Granted, when your following is 10 or 30, an increase of 50% isn't a lot. I don't expect to keep gaining by 50% or more each month for much longer.)

Next month's goals: Pretty much the same as this months, honestly.

-Submit three stories, or to three publications. Yes, I know I should do more than three a month, but I think trying to increase my goal when I didn't submit this month is shooting myself in the foot, as far as motivation, anxiety, and guilt go.

-Increase online following as follows:

Facebook - break 100 (change of 1% - yay, easy math! ; )

LinkedIn - increase to 75 (change of about 4%)

Twitter - increase to 50 (change of about 35%)

I will also be switching up the contents of my My Works page this month, so keep an eye out for that.

Want to help me meet my goals? Here's how you can help! Make sure to like, share, and especially to follow me on social media!

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for several small snippets each week.

Or, if you're looking for more professional content (less frequent, but more closely related to writing, publishing, or libraries), connect with me on LinkedIn. (I do ask that if you request a connection on LinkedIn that you mention this blog so that I know how you heard of me.)

Upstairs, Downstairs

Yesterday, I did something I don't normally do. I started a new book while I was still reading another one. I don't mean that I decided not to finish the book. I checked out a new book from the library and I'm reading one upstairs at bed, and the other in quick snatches downstairs. I haven't done this - have an "upstairs" book and a "downstairs" book - since Elianna was a baby (and by that I mean a "wake her up to feed her every 2.5 hours" baby).

Why did I do it? The short answer is that the book I put on hold at the library came in.

The long answer is a little more complex.

As you might have seen me post on Facebook or Twitter earlier, another book has been removed from the curriculum in another Tennessee school system.

I've never read Dragonwings, but I like historical fiction and grew up on tales of plucky immigrant homesteaders, so between that and the fact that I'm making it a point to read books I see in the news being banned or challenged in schools, this was a no-brainer. This one came in quickly (as opposed to Maus, which I'm still waiting on, though I have read Maus at least once before...) I also happened to see a book Friday evening detailing George Takei's family's experience in the Japanese-American internment camps of WWII. Having requested that one, Dragonwings coming in, and now being first in line for Maus, I figured I was going to have to shift things a little a multitask if I'm going to get these books read before they're due back. (Fortunately, the other book I'm currently reading, Fangirl, is my own copy, so there's no rush on that one...)

Another reason why I decided to read both at the same time instead of simply set Fangirl aside for a while (aside from the fact that I'm really enjoying it) is that Fangirl and Dragonwings are different enough that I'm not going to have a problem switching back and forth. (Imagine if I were reading The Mists of Avalon and Half Sick of Shadows at the same time - yikes!)

In any case, now you know what's going on if I suddenly start posting more "currently reading" posts the next few days.

Enjoyed this post? Want to see more content like this? Make sure to follow me on social media!

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for several small snippets each week.

Or, if you're looking for more professional content (less frequent, but more closely related to writing, publishing, or libraries), connect with me on LinkedIn. (I do ask that if you request a connection on LinkedIn that you mention this blog so that I know how you heard of me.)

Following for February

Just a few quick notes on January, since I haven't gotten a lot done:

One of my goals was to make three submissions this month - and I did! Yay!

My platform goal was to increase my social media following. My goals were:

Facebook - goal: 106 (actual: 99)

LinkedIn - goal: 66 (actual: 69)

Twitter - goal: 10 (actual: 16)

For February, aside from trying to figure out how to get my motivation back, I will aim to keep similar submission and following goals:

-Make at least three submissions (a single submission to at least three markets, or multiple stories to one market)

-Increase my followings by:

-10% on Facebook (from 99 to 109)

-5% on LinkedIn (from 69 to 76)

-10% on Twitter (from 16 to 18)

So far, Twitter has been growing the fastest, which I did not expect... but I also don't expect that pace to stay. But, if I do increase by say, 50 or 100 percent by the end of the month, then Twitter's goal for March will be quite a bit higher.

If you're interested in helping me increase those numbers, make sure to like, share, and especially to follow me on social media!

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for several small snippets each week.

Or, if you're looking for more professional content (less frequent, but more closely related to writing, publishing, or libraries), connect with me on LinkedIn. (I do ask that if you request a connection on LinkedIn that you mention this blog so that I know how you heard of me.)

What To Do In '22

It's time for my annual update on goals!

First, what my goals were in 2021, and how I did with them (full post on that here.

Because I was trying to be a little less vague about my goals, some of them were more time-specific (do X by the end of January):

-Get back into my writing schedule - Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings.

-check

-Submit either one story to at least three publications, or at least three stories to one publication each by the end of March.

-check

-Resume my weekly blog schedule.

-check

-But within the first couple weeks of the year, examine my current writing schedule and see if I want to move which day I do my blog. (I currently am "supposed" to be posting a blog every weekend, but that hasn't happened in a while.)

-check

-Resume my monthly project/status updates.

-check

-Finish rereading Bright Fire by the end of January.

-If I recall correctly, I did

-By the time I finish the above, decide what work I want to do next on The Wolf and the Sheath.

-I did work on W and S for a while, but I didn't make a lot of progress

Other things I did last year included:

-revamped my platform. This included updating my website's layout and imagery, and adding a Twitter account.

-made nine submissions (which admittedly isn't a lot, but it's something).

-made decent progress on setting relatable, achievable goals and meeting them. I figured out a formula of sorts of how much to increase followings on various platforms by and did pretty well with that.

So what are my goals for 2022? Honestly, I haven't given it a lot of thought. For the moment, I will continue my status quo:

-Continue my regular writing schedule (Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Thursday mornings and evenings, Sunday evenings, and alternating weekends (the last of which I have not been good about).

-Continue my social media posting schedule: Writerly quotes on Mondays, alternating Writing Prompt Wednesday and Throwback Thursday, and posting a new blog at least every-other weekend.

-Make three submissions by the end of January. Whether or not those publications/contests allow for simultaneous submissions will help determine what my next submission goal is.

-Continue to increase my following on various online platforms by approximately 10% each quarter.

-Update and/or swap out material on my website quarterly.

"But what about writing," you ask, "all these goals seem to be platform-oriented." You would be right. I haven't had my head in the writing end of the things the past couple months - even NaNoWriMo was tough for me this year. I haven't really given a lot of thought as to what writing goal to set or how to measure it. I've been working on Brinyor since November, and I'd like to continue that. I did a little bit of research for it, and a little map and costume sketching over the past week or two, so maybe that will give me some fresh inspiration.

In any case, I will definitely make an update post at the end of the month, so maybe I'll update my writing goals at that time.

Enjoyed this post? Want to see more content like this? Make sure to follow me on social media!

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for several small snippets each week.

Or, if you're looking for more professional content (less frequent, but more closely related to writing, publishing, or libraries), connect with me on LinkedIn. (I do ask that if you request a connection on LinkedIn that you mention this blog so that I know how you heard of me.)

Oh-well-tober

The downside to the timing of Banned Books Week is that since it's always the last week of September (and often a couple days into October), I don't have a good opportunity to post about my October plans and goals in the time frame I normally do. Oh, well.

I've been working on-again off again on updating my platform since March, yet, somehow, it feels like I haven't gotten much done on that. I have fantastic new pictures I need to switch out on all my sites - here, Facebook, and LinkedIn - and somehow have not gotten around to it. I've been dragging my feet on getting a Twitter account up and running.

Additionally, because I've been focusing on the above (have I, though?) I haven't been doing much writing. I have an idea for a cosmic horror short story that's been tickling the back of my brain for a month or two now. I have pieces that are done that I need to be submitting. And, of course there are those three unfinished novels always looking over my shoulder...

In fact, I think what I'd really like to do the next couple months is focus on one of those.

I've been working off and on (very off sometimes) on finishing The Wolf and the Sheath for the last couple years and... while I'm not saying I can't or don't want to work on that one, I also wonder if maybe working on a different one might give me a little freshness and inspiration.

I still don't know what I'm doing with BrightFire. It needs a massive rewrite.

But I do think that I will go back and reread Brinyor. Depending on how it sparks as I reread it, I might do what I did for W and S for NaNoWriMo a couple months ago - go through and make a list of what scenes and transitions I still need, and then spend time each day in November adding a little. No, most likely not the 50,000 words in 30 days/1,700-some-odd words per day - but something.

I'm not saying it will be easy, and it will be the first time trying something like this since Elianna was born. But she's very good at playing on her own, looking at books, even going potty on her own now. In fact, I've been strongly leaning toward converting the downstairs diaper changing station back into a desk. It's in the room that she mostly plays in, so it would be a good place for me to work while she plays, rather than coming up to my office (which is a MESS*) and either trying to keep her from messing with stuff, or keeping an ear out for her while she's across the hall in her room. (Though, honestly, we could probably try her hanging out in her room - she can keep herself occupied with books for quite a while, like someone else I know.)

*Yes, I could clean it. But right now my time limitations are "clean OR write" and I really need to get back to the latter.

Arrgh-ust

I was so pleased with myself for getting my blog done early last week that I forgot about my monthly update.

Oddly enough, I've had a lot of people asking me recently, "how's the writing going?"

With Elianna out of school and out of camp, plus travel, holidays, and birthdays in July, my writing schedule has been... shall we say, less that ideal?

Yes, I do occasionally find time when Elianna's asleep, or when my mom comes over to play with her. But since my mom works at a school supply store and they are at their busiest time of year right now, her schedule has also been erratic.

A few weeks ago, someone asked me if I had a secret to finding the muse - finding the inspiration - or if I just sat down and forced myself to write whether I felt like it or not. And the answer is... a little of both.

The times I've been the most productive were when I did have set writing times (an hour before bed, for example) or set days (my days off when I used to work, Elianna's days at school, etc.). Early on in getting into the swing of a writing schedule, it is very much the "sit down and make yourself write" thing. But what I have also found when I have had a set schedule was that if you are consistent, the muse will find you. If you always sit down to write at X time on Y day, your brain will turn on and be ready for you.

I also find that if I go long enough without working on anything (at least creatively) that the stories find me anyway. A couple days ago at lunch I had a few lines just pop into my head and had to get them down before I lost the setting and emotion.

But enough about my schedule... what have I done? What am I doing?

In July I did actually get some submissions off - not a lot, but my first submissions since March or so. I've been slowly working on my platform; something I think I will to some extent always be doing, but you have probably noticed the upticks in my posting on my Facebook author's page. I plan to continue that, and also hope to add twitter this month or next.

I'm also already looking ahead to banned books week in September.

So that's what I'm up to - any creative news in your life?

July? You Lie...

What, July already? How?

So the last couple months I have been working on my platform and, as so often happens when I'm working on something aside from simply creating, it's taking longer than I thought it would. But I've gotten a lot done and I'm pleased with what all I've accomplished. I also realize that "working on my platform" is less something that will have an end point, and more something that will always, to some extent, be a work in progress.

But, to date, I have made an extensive list of goals, and have been working with a graphic designer on new imagery for my website and social media. I'm hoping to unveil that soon, but we're still working on some of it. I have also revamped my social media posting schedule (if you also follow me on Facebook, you will have seen that page being more active lately).

So with a good amount of my platform work either done or under way, I'm shifting gears slightly... or adding gears. I don't know much about gears - I don't write steampunk ; )

For July (and the next few months as well, probably) I'll be splitting time between the platform work and getting back into creative work. I'll re-examine what I'm working on in August or September - July is shaping up to be busy, and Elianna's preschool starts back up in mid-August. For now, I'm going to plan to spend part of my writing time each week working on either submitting (which is what I'm working on after I post this actually), getting my brain back into The Wolf and the Sheath, or creating new material.

So keep an eye out - hopefully I will continue filling your feed with fun and interesting stuff!

June Update

So, June really snuck up on me...

April and May were supposed to be my time to work on my platform and, while I didn’t spend time working on it, as so often happens, I didn't get as much done as I thought I would. But, with the help of a friend who is a graphic designer and photographer, I got a lot done this weekend.

So June is going to continue to be a building and learning experience. Hopefully in July I can get back into something more creative.

And, in the meantime, I tweaked my posting schedule a bit - look for writerly quotes weekly on Monday or Tuesday, as well as Writing Prompt Wednesdays and Throwback Thursdays on alternating weeks.

May Maintenance

Hello readers! Just a quick monthly update for you.

As you have probably seen from my past two posts, I'm spending some time working on my online presence, and will continue to do so for the month of May. During the month of April I've collecting some feedback*, working on planning and drafting, playing with some software to make visuals the same across all platforms (or potential platforms).

*And, hey, it's not too late if you want to participate! https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2021/4/17/feedback-needed

As usual, I struggle with finding the time. Most of what I do is done while Elianna is at preschool - which, once you take out transit to and from; and lunch prep, eating, and cleanup - is really only about an hour and half twice a week. That's a good amount of time each day to get stuff down if you really buckle down and focus (and if you know what you're doing, *cough* color customizing *cough*) - but three hours a week is not a lot of time to build/rebuild a-multi-platform online presence.

Granted, Jason and I are working on trying to find more time for me - time on weekends that he can watch Elianna, seeing how independently Elianna can play while I work, etc. But if you're wondering, "Hey, there are graphic designers that can do in a couple days what you're allowing two months for"... well, that's why.

And that doesn't mean that I'm not doing anything creative at all. I am always thinking about one of my projects. In fact, on Wednesday I was having a discussion with someone about The Wolf and the Sheath and what it's about. I'm hoping to be able to get back to focusing on the creative part of the craft this summer. But with Elianna's school almost out and scheduling shifting up, I'm not going to try to guess right now what my work time is going to be like then.

Working on "Work"

I'm in a little bit of a slump for blog topics right now. As you know if you read my last post (which you can look at here: https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2021/4/17/feedback-needed ), I'm spending the next couple months working on my online platform.

That doesn't mean I don't have anything going on, just that I've been thinking about technical things ("why did I customize a color on this page? I'll never find it again!") rather than creative things ("oh, hey, I just had a great insight on this character's childhood!").

I'm thinking about LinkedIn and banners, reach and analytics, do I post a link in the body of a post or the comments? Whoo.

It's also kind of interesting that I'm doing this more technical stuff, the stuff that I consider to be more "work." Indeed, there is some crossover in what I used to do in a previous position - and I'm realizing how much some websites and softwares have updated in the four years since I left that position). The timing is kind of funny because just this week I've had two former supervisors from my previous position ask me when I might consider coming back to work with them.

As I was typing this blog and doing the math (ew, math) on how long I'd been gone from that previous position, and how long I'd been gone from the position before that, I realized it wasn't as long as it feels. It feels like Facebook and LinkedIn, Excel and other software, have gone through tons and tons of changes. Maybe that's because I'm not using those office and marketing skills much anymore. Maybe it's just because it feels so long since the years B.C. - Before Child.

In any case, I'm getting back into the technical groove of things and sometimes I feel like I'm careening along at a scary pace... and other days I'm like, "hey, you live Tweeted a made-up sports event on Superbowl Sunday when you worked at a library. You got this."

Feedback Needed!

Hi everyone!

As those of you who follow my personal Facebook page will know, I'm looking at revamping my social media presence as an author. As such, I'd like some feedback from you - yes, you, dear reader!

Some of you will read this blog on my personal Facebook, others on my author's Facebook page. Still others may read it directly from my website. I'd like to ask you take a couple extra minutes to read the below, and respond in the comments (on Facebook or Iveyink.com).

Please at a look at my website as a whole, but particularly focusing on visuals* and on the My Works page: https://www.iveyink.com/myworks (*The photo currently on the About Me page is a place holder and will be replaced sometime in the next couple months, but what colors I'm wearing will likely remain the same.)

1. What are your initial impressions?

2. Do you think the color scheme suits what you know of my personality?

3. Do you think the color scheme suits the stories on the My Works page?

4. Having read the stories, please suggest a couple adjectives or genres to describe my style.

5. Any other thoughts and feedback you'd like to offer!

Thanks, everyone! Hopefully this will provide some much-needed thought as I "tell the story of my story" online.

Changing Gears for April

Hello, readers - it's update time!

As of today, I met my goal of three submissions before the end of the month. Yay! I have actually already received one rejection (boo) - but it was a good rejection - one of those that invited me to submit more, in a non-cookie cutter feeling way.

I went to a virtual class last weekend on the importance of having an author's platform. While I (obviously) already have a website and Facebook page, I also discovered both that what I already have needs some work, and there are some other parts of my potential platform that need to be fleshed out. Since I still don't really have a good grasp on which large project I want to work on next, I have decided that I will change gears for April and work on my platform.

This actually works out because Elianna will be out of school for the next week and a half, and I'm experimenting with redoing my writing schedule now that she's out of physical therapy. Working on my platform isn't going to require the same kind of focus that a large scale writing or editing project would (not that it doesn't need focus, just not the same sort of long stretches of uninterrupted flow).

During this time, I also may be posting here or on social media with questions specifically regarding my platform (what do you think of this photo? this color scheme? etc.) so be on the lookout for opportunities for feedback!

2017 Summary, 2018 Aims

As I went to look back on the year and plan for this post, I found my post from January 1 to see what I had written, what goals I had set for myself:

"In 2017 I will strive to be more productive.
I will aim to be more positive.
But I will also try to be better about giving myself some slack when I'm feeling overwhelmed."

And that's it.  Kind of vague, and hard to measure.  

I don't know that I was more productive in 2017.  I did get one short story written, publishing-ready, accepted for publication, and published within the year, so that's something.  I also was planning a wedding for a good portion of the year, and that takes a lot of time, so I feel I kind of get a pass on that.  I revamped my website, launching the new layout in March, and with very few exceptions, have met my goal of a post each week.  So I guess I have been productive.  It's hard to measure "more" productive, though, as I spent the majority of my free time in 2016 looking for a new job.

I have definitely made an effort to be more positive in 2017.  It helped that early in the year I got a new job with a very supportive supervisor, in a completely different environment.  I also made an attempt to find the positive in things rather than focus on the negative (and, yes, I know you can't always do this, but I did it when I could).  In an effort to help with this, I started a "good things jar" - each week you write something  positive that happened to you and put it in the jar.  Tomorrow, I will go back through and read all of them.  But this helped me with the way I think about things - even if you've had a bad week, you can usually find something good, even if it's just "I had really yummy macaroni and cheese on Wednesday" or "the dog snuggled with me tonight."

I think I was also better this year about recognizing when I needed a break - "I should be [insert activity here] but I really need to just chill and give my mind a rest."

So, now that I've decided that I reasonably met my goals for 2017, what for 2018?  (I don't make resolutions.  The word "resolution" has developed a connotation as being an unreasonable expectation that people give up on in a week.  I make goals.)

My writing goals* for 2018 will include:
1. Prep and submit my latest short story, "The Cause of the Disturbance."  This will actually require some research as it is a decidedly different genre and style than my three other published stories, and may need to be submitted to different places than I have been submitting to.
2. Make measurable progress on The Wolf and the Sheath.  Don't ask me what "measurable" means right now - this may end up being the amount of new material written, amount of editing/rewriting, etc.
3. Attend my writing critique group semi-regularly.  
4. Manage my time better in the evenings. 

At risk of boxing myself back in and giving myself grief about not meeting goals or schedules, #4 is probably the one that will be my biggest challenge this year, as I let it go a bit (especially toward the end of the year) this year. What I need to do is something like this:
-Monday: Use the time before Jason gets home for exercising and keeping up to date on the news.  Make my writerly quote of the week post.  Use the time after dinner for housekeeping and other non-writing business.
-Tuesday: Use the time before Jason gets home for exercising and keeping up to date on the news, see if I can squeeze in a walk for Baldur before dinner.  Use the time after dinner for only writing; I can give myself more time if I plan to buy my lunch the next day rather than taking time to prep it in the evening.
-Wednesday: Jason often works from home; use the time between when I get home and we make dinner to catch up on small tasks.  Check ads and coupons for groceries.
-Thursday: Same as Tuesday.
-Friday: Prepare to go to the grocery store, free evening.  Blogging to be done sometime between now and Sunday.
-Saturday: Be better about spending my time on productive things, including writing.  One potential day for writing critique group.
-Sunday: Same as Saturday, but the days can alternate depending on if Jason and I have plans.

*I have a couple other goals that are not writing related, and if I do post about them it will be on my personal Facebook page, not here.

Meet me back here in a year to see how I did.

What Writing Brings Out

Even though I haven't actually gotten a lot of writing done this month, I've been thinking about it a lot.

If you follow my personal Facebook page (Elizabeth Ivey Garrett, rather than Elizabeth Ivey) you've seen that I'm doing 30 Days of Gratitude; each day I have a prompt to post about a certain thing, topic, etc. that I'm grateful for.  It's been interesting, introspective, and kind of cathartic at times.  It has also gotten me thinking about how some of my stories have certain tones, character interactions, etc. that are heavily colored by where I was mentally or emotionally when I started writing them.

Even when I sat down to write Bright Fire in NaNoWriMo of 2010, I knew that there was probably going to be some stuff that came out that reflected what was going on in my life.  One of the characters in the book was based heavily on my mom's best friend, who was dying of cancer at the time.  That character does die in the book (though I also cheated - that character has a sister who picks up as a mentor figure when the other dies).  In 2010, in the space of 6 months: my dog died, I had the worst breakup of my life, one of my coworkers died, my mom's best friend died (5 days after the end of NaNoWroMo), and my grandfather died.  2010 was a bad year.

So I guess it shouldn't be any wonder that the book I started writing at the end of a year where it felt like my world was falling apart, that I started writing a novel about a girl who's world is very drastically and literally falling apart.  Things get better - I guess showing that even at my darkest moments I've still had hope.

About 6 months after I started writing Bright Fire, I met Jason.  That November (approximately 6 months after I met him) I started writing Brinyor.  And, interestingly, even though I didn't plan it, Brinyor is about reconciliation, new possibilities, and two groups coming together to build something new and better than either had before.

It's amazing the difference a year can make.

Presenting the New and Improved Ivey Ink!

Hello, and welcome back!

Over the past few months I've taken care of some things I've needed to work out, and now I am pleased to present the new and improved layout of Iveyink.com.

For those of you who have followed me previously, thanks for reading (and sorry for the wait!).  For those of you who may be new, welcome!  I normally post to this blog once a week, though I sometimes post more frequently if have something fun and interesting to say.  

For the foreseeable future, most blog posts will be on the weekends (Saturdays or Sundays).  I will be blogging about all sorts of things: book and movie reviews, progress on my own writing, history and holidays, and all kinds of wacky and weird theatre and writer musings.

Feel free to look me up on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Iveyink.  I currently make posts to this Facebook page on Mondays, but I'm looking to expand that soon as well.

Keep an eye out for fun new additions coming soon, including: a snazzy Facebook button (ooh!), and an archive page for my old blog posts (ahh!).

Feel free to submit comments to this or any blog post.  Thanks for reading!