January 29, 2016

Here we are at the end of the month already. Have you accomplished what you set out to do in January? Although I gave a valiant effort to keeping up with my schedule this month, coming down sick meant I just couldn’t.

Now that my health is on the upswing, I’m able to put more time into writing projects. Progress has been slowed, however, due to the announcement I make under this week’s blogging header. That took me pretty much by surprise, and it has me rethinking my blogging schedule.

They say that the ability to revise goals as needed is a sign of giftedness. I can see the advantage of, rather than giving up in frustration, going to Plan B. Sometimes I go a little further down the alphabet, but that’s okay, too.

I’ve reached the point, physically, where I can endure a few marathons to catch up. I’ll have to temporarily sacrifice some of the precious balance I strive to attain in life.

If I told you I lived every day paced to my specification, I’d either be a robot, a bore, or a liar.

Writing Projects

I am still editing Sojourner, Tales of Faeraven 3 and have reached the point where I’m wondering if I will spend the rest of my natural life on this one project. That usually means I’m nearing the end.

I also wrote a short piece about a discovery I made in the Australian outback for inclusion in an Easter devotional, at the request of Pelican Book Group, my publisher for Tales of Faeraven.  I lived at a remote communication station in Western Australia for about three years, where I went through a cyclone and came face-to-face with what I took for a shark but was really a dolphin. I have lots of memories from that chapter in my life, but this is the first time I’ve put one in writing.

Blogging

I published a homemade from-scratch graham cracker recipe in the Old Bohemian Homestead portion of the site. These are a family favorite at my house.

My big announcement is that Live Write Breathe, my website for writers, was named one of the best 100 websites for writers by The Write Life. Being nominated, alone, is an honor. This now positions Live Write Breathe to become an authority site, a fact that automatically demands more from me. The email list is growing and the traffic to the website increasing on a daily basis.

With new visitors to my website, I feel the need to do some tidying up. Besides making changes to improve the design and functionality of the site,  I’m going through all 200 + blog posts (at the rate of one per day), making sure they have good images, valid links, and up-to-date information. Does this sound time-consuming when I’m already overloaded?

Welcome to my world.

If only I could see these things coming, I’d plan for them in advance. Maybe, if self-confidence were my strength, I would. I’m working on that, but meanwhile, I have to let go of some things and scramble to manage the rest.

Podcasting

I’ve decided to postpone the Literary Wayfarer Podcast, for one thing. I had to put off the launch after coming down sick because I didn’t want to record the intro and outro that I’d play during each podcast with a husky voice from a cold. This reminded me that I originally intended to record a couple of months worth of episodes in advance to allow myself some margin. That’s a better plan than winging it while living on the edge, so I’m returning to it.