Author Journal: Avoiding Burn-Out

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Author: Janalyn Voigt

Ever since I tried to plan the entire next year of Girl Scouts in June, I’ve understood my tendency to look further ahead than the average person finds comfortable. Anyone who’s organized a family reunion way in advance (guilty here) knows that people just don’t want to think that far ahead. Upon reflection, they may have a point.

With a shiny new year gleaming like a child’s newly-washed ears, the possibilities seem endless. In my enthusiasm, I could with relative ease overload myself and burn out within the month. (Don’t ask me how I know this.)

This year I’ve added a new goal: building margin into my schedule. Burn-out won’t do me or anyone else any good. With DawnSinger releasing this year, I’ll need a reserve of time to meet new responsibilities. I also want to leave freedom to catch opportunities. And I need to make time to rest.

Note to Self: Plan your year with an eye to avoiding burn-out

Author Journal: Reorganizing

Date:

Author: Janalyn Voigt

Categories: Author Journal

Comments: 4 Replies

In light of new responsibilities associated with the upcoming release of my debut novel, DawnSinger, I’m in the process of downsizing and reordering my schedule. It’s coming together much better than I thought it would. I have to give credit to Get-It-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More by Stever Robbins. I received a request to read this book for review at just the right moment. I’m thankful for these small miracles. Keep an eye out for that review in a few weeks.

With Stever’s guidance, I divided my time into action days for necessary tasks, focus days to engage in larger projects and spirit days to restore my soul. On action days I can update my calendar, schedule blog posts, respond to emails, and find my desk under the dust. Action days buy time on other days to focus on projects that require more focus, like writing or editing. As I did before, I land on the weekend.

I just started this but it’s already going well. I just returned home from a trip, and I’m catching up faster than I ever would have before, and without the frustration of myriad small tasks diverting me from what I want and need to do — write. I know focus days are coming, so I apply myself to clear my action tasks.

I’ll hold to this model as long as it works for me. When life changes again I may need to revise, and that’s okay.

Note to Self: Flexibility is an asset.

Author Journal: Surviving Transition

Date:

Author: Janalyn Voigt

Categories: Author Journal

Comments: 11 Replies

A “new disease.” That’s the term vocal students in my college attached to a particular, and distressing, affliction we all suffered at one time or another. It happened whenever one of our voice teachers added a new technique to the already-long list of “Things to Think About While Singing.” It seemed that concentrating on posture, support, breath control, placement, pitch, duration, dynamics, phrasing, tempo and oh yes — the words to sing — was not enough. It also became necessary to regulate emotion. Too much and we risked ruining the pitch. Too little and we came across as automatons — brilliant but lifeless.

Habit became my friend. I learned to always keep good posture to breathe correctly, to support when I spoke. In so doing, I both strengthened the necessary muscles and made such things automatic so I would not have to think about them when other matters pressed. Habit worked for me, that is until my voice teacher wanted me to concentrate on some new area of technique. I would invariably focus wholly on the new and enchanting difficulty and forget something else I already knew well enough to teach. Whatever it was — a skill, a pitch, a phrase — I could not recall it to save my life and no matter how I despaired. I had to learn the new thing, first, and then the rest would came back to me so that I could go on. In this way, I attained another level of proficiency.

Upon signing a contract for publication of my first novel, I suffered another sort of “new disease.” Up until that point I was able to manage three blogs, a website, various social networking platforms and membership in two critique groups, as well as write and edit DawnSinger, book one of Tales of Faeraven, and produce a first draft of DawnKing (book two).

Right after I signed, I went through a period of transition. I found just keeping up with my blogs a challenge. I forgot all the organizing I knew before the book deal and had first to learn the “new thing.” I felt much like a toddler who has overbalanced and waits, one foot in the air, trying to find a center. I’m happy to say that both feet are again on the ground. I’ve made adjustments to my schedule and updated my organizing system to incorporate both my new responsibilities and the old ones I retained. That doesn’t mean I won’t go through more times of transition as DawnSinger moves toward its release date. I’m sure I will. I hope I’ve learned by now, though, to give myself grace and understand that each “new disease” is a fleeting discomfort.

None of us starts a learning process by already knowing the thing to be learned.

Media Kit

Date:

Author: Janalyn Voigt

Categories:

Janalyn Voigt

Long Bio

Janalyn Voigt credits her father with instilling a love of literature in her at an early age by reading chapters from The Wizard of Oz, Robinson Crusoe and other classics as bedtime stories. When she grew older, Janalyn created her own stories. When she was 12 a teacher noticed her storytelling ability, and his encouragement helped Janalyn identify her desire to write novels. On her own initiative, she read dictionaries, grammar books, and encyclopedias to expand her knowledge base and to learn story structures and the elements of the writing. As an adult she completed more formal training with Christian Writers Guild.

Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary represents Janalyn. DawnSinger, her debut novel and first in the Tales of Faeraven epic fantasy series, released with Harbourlight Books in 2012. Other projects include a western historical romance series. Janalyn serves as a judge for several national literary contests and is an active book reviewer. Her nonfiction publication credits include Focus on the Family, Scripture Press (now David C. Cook) and Pentecostal Evangel.

Janalyn is available as a motivational speaker to church, women’s, and writer’s groups. Her affiliations include American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Northwest Christian Fiction Writers (NCWA).

In her spare time Janalyn reads, gardens, and finds adventures with her family in the great outdoors. She dreams of owning a horse, exploring all the national parks, and visiting European castles.

To learn more about Janalyn and her upcoming books, visit the author website for Janalyn Voigt:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/JanalynVoigt

Linked-in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/janalynvoigt
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3439922.Janalyn_Voigt
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/o1517846371
Janalyn Voigt on Facebook: http://bit.ly/ciwbw7
Blogs: Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt features Janalyn’s news, research notes, travel journals, and promotional updates: http://janalynvoigt.com/blog.

Janalyn’s Other Sites:

Live Write Breathe: Live with passion, write well, remember to breathe.

Novel Books: Author showcases, book giveaways, expert reviews and reader fun.

Janalyn Voigt
Short Bio

Janalyn Voigt’s unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Beginning with DawnSinger, her epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries the reader into a land only imagined in dreams.

Janalyn also writes western romance novels, and will publish in that genre under Janalyn Irene Voigt. She is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary. Janalyn serves as a literary judge for several national contests and is an active book reviewer. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA.

When she’s not writing, Janalyn loves to find adventures in the great outdoors.

To learn more about Janalyn and her upcoming books, visit the author website for Janalyn Voigt: http://janalynvoigt.com.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/JanalynVoigt
Linked-in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/janalynvoigt
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3439922.Janalyn_Voigt
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/o1517846371
Janalyn Voigt on Facebook: http://bit.ly/ciwbw7
Blogs: Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt features Janalyn’s news, research notes, travel journals, and promotional updates: http://janalynvoigt.com/blog.

Janalyn’s Other Sites:

Live Write Breathe: Live with passion, write well, remember to breathe.

Novel Books: Author showcases, book giveaways, expert reviews and reader fun.

(Coming Soon: Sample Interview )

DawnSinger

Date:

Author: Janalyn Voigt

Categories:

DawnSinger, Tales of Faeraven, book one

Sometimes victory comes

only through surrender.

The High Queen is dying… At the royal summons, Shae mounts a wingabeast and soars through the air to the high hold of Faeraven, where all is not as it seems. Visions warn her of danger, and a dark soul touches hers in the night. When she encounters an attractive but disturbing musician, her wayward heart awakens.

But then there is Kai, a guardian of Faeraven and of Shae. Secrets bind him to her, and her safety lies at the center of every decision he makes. On a desperate journey fraught with peril and the unknown, they battle warlike garns, waevens, ferocious raptors, and the wraiths of their own regrets. Yet, they must endure the campaign long enough to release the DawnKing—and the salvation he offers—into a divided land. To prevail, each must learn that sometimes victory comes only through surrender.

Janalyn Voigt is a fresh voice in the realm of fantasy. Her writing is crisp, her verbs muscular, and it’s all wrapped up in a lyrical style. Blending action and romance, DawnSinger is a journey through fear, failure, and faith, and I look forward to its sequel. Eric Wilson, NY Times bestselling author of Valley of Bones and One Step Away

In DawnSinger, Janalyn Voigt has penned a novel full of surprises. With adventure, mystery, and an unlikely romance, this beautiful, epic fantasy debut will leave you scrambling for the next book in the trilogy. Jill Williamson, Christy Award-winning author of By Darkness Hid

DawnSinger is a delightful fantasy spun with bardic prose and threaded with danger and intrigue. Linda Windsor, author of Healer, Thief and Rebel, Brides of Alba Historical Trilogy

Janalyn Voigt builds an exciting world, tranquil on the surface but filled with danger, ancient enemies, and a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. DawnSinger leads you into a land only imagined in dreams. I can’t wait to read the second book in the Tales of Faeraven trilogy. Lisa Grace, best-selling author of the Angel in the Shadows series.

Reviews of DawnSinger

First Paragraphs

A crosswind caught Kai’s wingabeast as lightning flared too near. Shrilling, the winged horse tilted in flight, and Kai’s stomach lurched. A gust snatched the hood from his head and roared in his ears. He blinked to clear the stinging rain that drove into his eyes. Thunder boomed like a timpani, shaking the air. Flecht shuddered beneath him, and Kai placed a calming hand on his wingabeast’s straining neck. He did not like this long flight through the wild night any better than did Flecht.

An image rose, unbidden—Lof Raelein Maeven, Faeraven’s High Queen, upon her deathbed, her sea-green eyes surging with life. As a guardian of Faeraven and as a friend, he would die to appease the hope that had flared in those eyes.

Wind howled and lightning flashed close enough to blind. Kai wondered if his own death neared. He would not—could not—halt his journey, although it took him into the teeth of danger. Necessity drove him as he pushed onward, past endurance. If he survived the storm, he would deliver Maeven’s last summons.

Read the First Chapter of DawnSinger.

About Janalyn Voigt

Date:

Author: Janalyn Voigt

Categories:

Whenever it rained in California, the sunny state where I grew up, we’d call it liquid sunshine. Now that I abide in the damp Pacific Northwest I’ve qualified that theory. You can grow used to anything and rise above every discomfort, or so I’ve learned. Although the heavens often weep I contentedly look for the blue sky waiting just behind the clouds. Pollyanna, I’ve been described, and I remain guilty as accused.

As children, my older brother and I would beg my father for bedtime stories, and he would give them. His deep voice rumbled against my ear at his chest as he unfolded stories of exotic places like Oz and Neverland. My imagination carried on with the tales even after he closed the book for the night. When eventually my father stopped reading stories, I began creating my own.

Within a few years I’d become storyteller of my neighborhood. The other children would gather around me on our lawn while I invented stories to entertain them. No one, including myself, thought of this as anything unusual. It wasn’t until my sixth-grade teacher pointed out my ability to spin a tale that I and my parents took note. This is how at the age of 12 I decided to become a novelist. The fulfillment of that dream took a few more years than planned.

I’ve always had a thing about flying. As a child I cheered for Dumbo, who proved he didn’t need anyone else’s approval or even a magic feather to soar. You see, Dumbo was a little different. His ears were too big. This made him an object of ridicule, but he silenced his tormentors in the end by believing in himself just the way he was. That’s a struggle I understand on a gut level and a path I’ve trod.

Here I am at age 12

How I longed to soar with Peter Pan into a land of strange and wonderful adventures where children didn’t have to grow up. Looking back as an adult with grown-up responsibilities, I sometimes wonder if Peter wasn’t onto something. There will always be a part of me that holds out for Neverland. Tweet This! Oh, to ride Pegasus as he unfurled his wings across the sky! The haze of centuries gone by only added to the appeal of this bearer of thunder and lightning who had but to strike a hoof to the ground to create a spring from which ran poetry. Perhaps with such influences on my younger self, it was inevitable I’d become a medieval epic fantasy novelist and that winged horses would fly through the pages of my debut novel: DawnSinger (Tales of Faeraven 1).

History has an equal hold on me. Growing up, I loved watching westerns with my father. My mother couldn’t understand the appeal, but she went with us to the California ghost town of Columbia and even boarded a stagecoach. I’ll never forget riding shotgun for that stagecoach, which of course was “robbed” along the way. I dream of knights and chivalry and of the American West. Tweet This! The world within DawnSinger is based on 13^th-Century Europe. I studied feudal life, castles, and medieval siege warfare before writing my novel. I’m moving into writing in the western historical romance genre, and will also infuse my fantasy novels with more history.

My love of the written word has led me into service as a judge for several national literary contests. I’m also an active book reviewer. My nonfiction publication credits include Focus on the Family, Scripture Press (now David C. Cook) and Pentecostal Evangel. I’m represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary. I am available as a motivational speaker to church, women’s, and writer’s groups. To learn more, visit my speaker page. My affiliations include American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Northwest Christian Fiction Writers (NCWA).

In my spare time I read, garden, and find adventures with my family in the great outdoors. I dream of owning a horse, exploring all the national parks, and visiting European castles. To learn more about my life, books, travels, and research, why not explore Creative Worlds with me?

Janalyn Voigt

Author Journal: Living Outside the Box

Date:

Author: Janalyn Voigt

Categories: Author Journal

Comments: 15 Replies

Giant raptors, shadowy wraiths, an evil Contender, the Cavern of Death — what makes a nice gal like me write about such things? Perhaps my parents, who taught me to love books in many genres, should accept partial responsibility. My young daughter who begged for a story to alleviate boredom during a car trip shares the blame. If not for her request, DawnSinger, book one of my fantasy trilogy, Tales of Faeraven, would probably not exist.

That’s a strange thought, especially since DawnSinger has dominated my life for so many years. At first it was no more than a spark I tried to extinguish, but the story glowed within the depths of my heart. I even turned away from writing, but I simply could not get this story out of my head. Its characters hid in the nether reaches of my mind, and there waited — perhaps even plotted for all I know — for release.

It took the rededication of my life to Jesus, the Lord of my soul, for me to polish off my tarnished dreams and let the world of Elderland live in the pages of DawnSinger. Make no mistake. It requires courage to write for publication in today’s marketplace and an extra dose of guts to write Christian allegorical fantasy.

Armed with a kind of holy bull-headedness, I pressed forward, but not toward acceptance by man — my mistake before. No, I put my writing on an inner altar. If the Lord desired it as a burnt offering, I would surrender it. But the Lord returned my offering to me – Isaac restored to Abraham. if you will. DawnSinger found a publisher and is scheduled for a tentative release date of Fall 2011 by Port Yonder Press. For a first peek at an excerpt from “DawnSinger,” click here.

Winged horses, Guardians, the Gate of Life, and the DawnKing himself — how could I refuse the cost of bringing them to life?

And you? What will you pay? Is there a dream that will not leave you, even though it takes you into a discomfort zone of your own? Surrender it and you may receive it back again, whole and well.