Monthly Archives: July 2015

When fear sets in

Posted by jeicjackson on

Suddenly I’m not so sure about my tentative month of release for my book. And it all started with a simple curious search and a husband that is far more versed in the area than I realized.

Actually, it really started over laughing about a post he found online of a Navy Chaplain with combat ribbons with following comments about the Navy using Paladins. No, I cannot seem to find the post and he wouldn’t send me the original link.

Getting back to my book, I wouldn’t have a lot to adjust. Really just a rank, but then I start thinking about my overall world building and wonder if I’m missing something. Then there were battleships and magic and it just plain got weird. And I really wasn’t planning on using the military of my world that often.

I still need to lay off using the keyboard too much with the injuries to my hands so I’m at a bit of a standstill in editing. Plus it’s still out with a couple of beta readers.

There’s also the whole process that will take months of getting everything set up so I can self-publish and the confusion of where to start. I’m trying not to back down, but there is just so much to do and learn. I realize that I’ve only told a few people my plans on when I would like to release my first book, but even with months to go, I wonder if I’ll make it. On top of mentally planning for and then participating in NaNoWriMo again. I plan on working on the second book in the series for the challenge, but I’m not sure where I’m going anymore.

I’m lost and afraid.

Would do it again

Posted by jeicjackson on

I participated in my first Goldilocks ride this weekend and completed the 20 mile course with my sister-in-law. It was fun, tough, and rewarding.

Unfortunately, I also kind of did a number on my hands. It makes typing hard and painful. So that project I was working on for Camp NaNoWriMo is now on hold more or less. Mostly because I’m stubborn and will continue to try to keep getting at least a little done here and there.

Despite the damage to my hands, I am planning on doing the ride again next year. Probably attempt the 40 mile route. Yes, it’s depressing that I cannot write like I want to or really play FFXIV, but the ride was fun. I probably need a much better bike though. I’ll get there some day. For now I’ll go start training for the 40 and keep mentally trying to figure out where I’m going in the next book. At least I can catch up on my reading.

Proofreading

Posted by jeicjackson on

This is a bit of a rant that has been coming.

Recently, I’ve been in contact with a couple of different people who have used one excuse or another for their lack of proofreading. The last one was an email with important information about an upcoming event. It hurt to read the whole thing written out in ALL CAPS. I’m still sure I missed information in there despite reading through it more than once.

No, I don’t expect people to be excellent in formatting and whatnot, but for the love of other people’s eyes, proofread. I may not be the best at it and still miss things, but I put in the effort of trying to put out the best quality I can. Don’t just type in all caps because you’re not a typist. Don’t just look for a beta reader because you can’t be bothered to look over your own work before posting it for the world to see.

GAH!

Now, in game, my fellow FC mates will jump on me when I screw something up (usually because I’m trying to respond quickly while fighting something) because they know how I usually type in chat. But for our forum posts, I still make sure that I proofread and check the formatting before posting. Why? Because I’ve learned to do that all the time. It has become a habit, and a good one at that.

So please, help make the internet a better place and proofread! (Okay, I’ll admit, it’s early and that was corny.)

That blogging thing

Posted by jeicjackson on

I fear I am not good at this blogging thing. Most of the time I feel like I have nothing worth sharing.

But the real problem was that rarely read blogs. Recently I began reading through a local author’s blog (who was super kind and sweet to beta read my book) and realize that blogging held the same as when trying to work on a story. I can’t just wait for the right idea to hit me.

I still fear having written something that is worthless and no one will read, or worse, everyone will love to hate. And I just went through that same fear when I released my book to my beta readers. But I took a deep breath, remembered that I had been receiving feedback from my critique group one chapter at a time (they had only made it to chapter 6) and I had been implementing all the amazing things about writing that I’ve learned from them throughout the whole project.

Okay, really it was a close eyes, hit send, and then pray.

Blogging is a lot more immediate. I am going to make an attempt to be better about it. However, I don’t want to create a specific schedule – I learned to keep myself flexible with my 3-year-old. Or rather need to.

I’ll end with an update about my book: it has been out to my beta readers for roughly a week now. I’ve gotten some great feedback so far and have decided to go ahead and start planning for a December release (maybe November if I can finish NaNoWriMo really early). Now starts the panic about everything that goes into publishing a book.