How do you cope with the unexpected?
Nov 30, 2023 4:06 pm
Hey there!
We're coming off of a fantastic holiday here in the United States--Thanksgiving! I have loads to be thankful for, not the least of which is my amazing wife and wonderful six children. That, and the ups and downs of writing clean fantasy (both YA and Epic) for you!
That said, it wasn't all turkey and pie this week. Unfortunately we have a sickness doing rounds over and over in our family. From a traveling ear infection to severe coughs and colds, we've all been through the ringer this week.
And that means I haven't done much authoring.
For you, how do you cope with the unexpected challenges?
For me, I try to focus on the fact that life is made up of 'times and seasons'. There are times when I get a lot of authoring done, and there are times when I don't. There are times when homestead work is out of this world, and times when it calms down, like the winter. When the unexpected comes, I just push through toward the next 'time and season'. It works most of the time to keep me in the right mindset.
Regardless of our sickness, however, we did not stray from one of the most important traditions in our family. We let each of our children pick a pie and then my wife lets that child work with her 1:1 to make that pie. Does it mean we eat a lot of pie? Absolutely. But the time is invaluable to each of our kids. Here is a sample plate of our pie spread this year. (Yes there are only 5. We figured the baby couldn't help out much this year :P) Spoiler alert: they were all fantastic.
My Progress This Week
Given the situation at home, there wasn't a whole lot of writing done in the last week. However, the little bit of writing I did do was actually not focused on Demonblooded. As I mentioned in my last update, I had a short story receive a 'silver honorable mention' (which pretty much meant they loved it, just not more than the people who actually won).
Well, I figured it's worth my time and your time if I just keep writing these stories and submit them each quarter. Worst case? You get another story to enjoy! Best case? I get some validation for when they like the stories I write.
So, in an effort to get ahead of the end of quarter deadline (unlike last quarter when I literally wrote it two weeks before it was due) I'm about to finish up another short story. This one's clocking in at about 16,000 words most likely. I'm calling it Darkness Incarnate.
Needless to say, you're going to love it.
Want Early Access to My Books?
I've been thinking a lot about my author life recently and one thing has becoming very apparent. I can write a lot more quickly than I can actually publish things. So the question is, why should you have to wait?!
I'm trying something new and I hope you'll consider coming along with me. Ream is a platform which allows authors to form communities around their writing and stories. So, I figured I'd get one started! If you are interested in getting early access to the books I'm writing and potentially helping me out in many ways, check out the Ream I set up! I'll be releasing early access chapters to my books every month where you can not only enjoy them alongside me, but you can also comment and add insight to the stories as I write them!
You can even sign up and follow me just for free and get additional updates/pictures.
New Episodes of The Casual Author!
Many authors are too afraid to take the leap of writing in more than once genre. From new pen names to different email lists, it can feel overwhelming. For Otto, he made the decision to keep that all the same. Join us as we discuss his strategy and learnings in switching of YA fantasy to Comedic Horror and the pros and cons with his experience.
OR
Writing craft is something all authors need to develop more and more over time. But how do you know where to look when there are hundreds of resources for writing craft improvement? Join me and Nicholas as we discuss his resources and experience in improving his writing technique.
And Now for the Free Books of the Week!
warm regards,
Dan
