Tag: #catchup

• November – quick, write something!

  Posted at 11:52 am by Jodie, on November 4, 2020

  

  Well that escalated quickly. We find ourselves about to enter another lockdown at midnight, though schools remain open this time (for now), and we are all sitting with baited breath at the outcome of the US election. I’m not into politics, and I have almost zero knowledge of the US voting system, but it’s like watching a horror movie that you can’t tear your eyes from.

  Anyway, taking a look back at October, we really enjoyed our little holiday to Center Parcs. There were a lot of things that we didn’t get to do that we normally would, but at no point did we feel any concern for the procedures in place to maintain distancing. It meant I didn’t get in as much writing time as I’d hoped but we made some good family memories.

  I spent a lot of my spare time, during the rest of the month, prepping for National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. We now have a large map of Blackpool, circa 1895, with black and white photos of popular landmarks that may appear in my project, decorating the wall of my office.

  So, on to November and, at the moment, I am staying on track to meet the 50,000 word target. I’m writing a novella, which will be a prequel to Sorceress of Truth, and focuses on the life of Kylan and how he first met Mary. I’m finding the writing style a lot easier than I anticipated, mixing a more formal ‘voice’ of the Victorian era with a modern twist.

  

  I would say that the genre is a historical paranormal romance and would be more for an adult audience. The great thing is I intend for it to be free! Once it is written and formatted, etc, the project I am calling ‘Welcome to the Circus’ for now, will be available as a free download to everyone who has signed up to my newsletter.

  I’ve not started sending them out just yet but you can sign up below to be one of the first to receive news, updates and exclusive content.

  Join my email list

  By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

  Processing…

  Success! You're on the list.

  Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

  Before I head off, I wanted to let you know about a brand new release that I know you will love. By Elexis Bell, an author that I interviewed earlier in the year (You can see it here), A Heart Of Salt And Silver sounds immense! Demi-demon’s, vampires, werewolves and a location known as the Forest of Immortals, what more could you ask for?

  View this post on Instagram

  With eternity on the line, is love worth the risk? . Find out in 𝑨 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒕 & 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓. . Ness, a demi-demon with a conscience, just wanted a peaceful afternoon in the Forest of Immortals. But Elias, a reckless mortal, went and spoiled it. Not that he wanted to be chased by psychotic vampires. . After saving his life, Ness agrees to help him find his estranged father and his Pack. But that means facing Nolan, the werewolf ex that holds her heart. . Now, Ness must decide. Use Elias to forget Nolan at the cost of his soul or crawl back to her ex and hope he still wants her even though she broke his heart. . But when the vampires come calling, broken hearts might be the least of their worries. . . Badasses, heroes, and fools collide in this gritty and compelling novel. Available now, this dark paranormal fantasy romance throws caution to the wind in the name of love, magic, and immortality. . . Available at all major retailers. . Amazon: mybook.to/AHeartOfSaltAndSilver (Link in bio.) . . . . #AHeartOfSaltAndSilver #paranormalromance #paranormalfantasy #fantasyromance #highfantasy #epicfantasy #newrelease #newbookalert #bookstagram #paranormalromancereaders #wiw #readersandwriters #readerscommunity #paranormalbooks #fantasyreader #booknerd #newbook #writerscommunity #newreleases #WritingCommunity #releaseday

  A post shared by Elexis Bell (@elexis_bell) on Nov 2, 2020 at 10:51pm PST

  Right, I can hear the circus calling so I’d better get going! Until next time…
  
  Stay healthy. Stay safe.

  Speak soon, Jodie xxx

  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged #aheartofsaltandsilver, #blog, #catchup, #divineprophecy, #elexisbell, #goals, #inspiration, #kylan, #mary, #nanowrimo, #november2020, #preptober, #sorceress, #update, #welcometothecircus, #writing

• October – bring on the pumpkin spice!

  Posted at 11:36 pm by Jodie, on October 3, 2020

  

  Well that was an interesting September. On one hand I don’t think I reached a single one of my goals, but on the other I managed to fit in so many other things – my days were never boring! In fact, I managed to create a new trailer for Sorceress of Truth. What do you think?

  My creativity really suffered during the month and I know it was because everything at home was in such a mess. I can’t work in a messy environment. My head just won’t settle into the task at hand and instead will create a gazillion to do lists and will have an attention span worse than when I try to follow The Witcher storyline and focus on Geralt’s leather trousers instead. Easily done, my friend, easily done.

  Anyway, I think we are getting somewhere. After completing a spot of decorating, planning some more home improvements for the coming month or two and setting some de-cluttering tasks, I can rest easier. And, boy do I have some plans. First up though is a short family break to one of our favourite holiday spots, Center Parcs.

  We were quite mixed about going, what with the dreaded ‘rona but we were quite happy with the procedures put in place around the park. Plus, there comes a point when the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, such as the time spent as a family in the outdoors. With our Wales trip having been cancelled I really need to get out under the trees and recharge.

  The remainder of October is going to be spent prepping the project that I’m going to be working on during National Novel Writing Month in November. I’ve already decided it will be a short story or novella that is a prequel to Sorceress of Truth and will be available as a free download as part of my newsletter. I don’t think it will be a big enough project to require 50,000 words so I will likely focus on the first draft of Sorceress of Flame too.

  • 

  • 

  Will you be doing NaNoWriMo? I’d love to hear about your projects. Why not head over to my Instagram page for my daily updates and to share your journey?

  There are a few other things in the pipe-line, such as hosting a webinar for World Indie Warriors about story bibles and how they can help you with your writing, and editing the short story that I’ve been meaning to upload to Wattpad for the last year.

  Before I go, once again I ask for you to sign up to my newsletter. I’m not sure when it will start yet but, please sign up below and you will receive all of my news straight to your inbox.

  Join my email list

  By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

  Processing…

  Success! You're on the list.

  Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

  Anyway, I hope you have a great October, and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Facebook for daily updates of what is happening in the life of me!
  
  Stay healthy. Stay safe.

  Speak soon, Jodie xxx

  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged #blog, #catchup, #divineprophecy, #goals, #inspiration, #nanowrimo, #october2020, #preptober, #sorceress, #update, #writing

• September – looking for normality

  Posted at 8:14 pm by Jodie, on September 8, 2020

  

  I don’t know about you but August seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye. Gone are the days of 10am wake ups and 3am bedtimes, and with a bump we are back to breakfast arguments and the school run.

  While our daily lives have been turned upside down —trust me, I was really apprehensive about sending Amberley back to school— it did bring with it a strange sense of comfort. Like pulling on your favourite hoody, the thought of getting back into some kind of routine brings with it a wave of calmness.

  That’s how it felt to me, anyway. Ever the planner and organiser, I like to know what my days will entail. I tend to be one of those strange people who show up on holiday with a homemade itinerary, wanting to make the most of every single minute. It’s why places like Center Parcs are like heaven to me. The ability to book everything, to plan everything to the letter, before we’ve even stepped foot out of the house is part of the fun. It’s for this very reason that I was so good at creating revision tables when I was at school, it’s just a shame I wasn’t as dedicated to the revision.

  But, something feels different this time, and I don’t just mean the new procedures and social distancing aspect.

  I was hoping that with the start of a fresh school year I would bound straight into days at the computer, that my creativity would suddenly bloom and words would fly out of me like streamers from a party popper. Unfortunately, no such luck, and I find myself eight days into September writing a blog post that should have gone out on the 1st having written no more than 390 words towards my novel.

  Granted I’ve had a few other things on, like my husband’s 40th birthday and having some kind of 24 hour sickness bug, but I’m feeling thoroughly unmotivated. Perhaps I’d gotten so used to the Covid routine that it was the norm, and I’m now just in a period of readjustment.

  I often tell people to be kind to themselves, to take it easy and maybe today/these days/this week are meant for recovery. So, I’m going to follow my own advice.

  I’m not going to get too hung up with my goals this month. If I feel like writing I will, and if not I know my hubby has several new board games that he wants to try out.

  Before I go, once again I ask for you to sign up to my newsletter. I’m not sure when it will start yet but, please sign up below and you will receive all of my news straight to your inbox.

  Join my email list

  By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

  Processing…

  Success! You're on the list.

  Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

  Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your September, and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Facebook for daily updates of what is happening in the life of me!
  
  Stay healthy. Stay safe.

  Speak soon, Jodie xxx

  Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged #blog, #catchup, #coronavirus, #divineprophecy, #goals, #inspiration, #September2020, #sorceress, #update, #writing

• I’m a warrior!

  Posted at 9:16 pm by Jodie, on August 27, 2020

  

  Okay, so I don’t quite mean swords and shields, and blood and gore. That’s a little too… energetic for my liking, unless there’s a roaring fire, fluffy slippers and a mug of hot chocolate waiting for me.

  No, I’m a World Indie Warrior!

  “What the heck?” I hear you cry, but bear with me.

  World Indie Warriors began its life as a collective group of creatives who got on really well and all had something in common, they were independent, meaning they had no multi million pound establishments backing their work. Everything they did, they did themselves —writing, editing, formatting, cover design, publishing, marketing— or they scrimped and saved their hard earned cash to pay another company to do some of the work for them.

  I won’t go into the how’s and why’s, I’m sure many of you have already had experiences of your own, but the industry isn’t kind to indie creatives. As I mentioned in a recent Heart-to-Heart with The Magic Book Corner, there is a lot of information out there about self publishing, and most of it contradictory, but I can’t help feel that it is a tactic on behalf of the big business to dissuade us. In a world that is dominated by five or six big named publishers (Many of the small publishers being owned by these bigger companies also.), they certainly wouldn’t want the masses to eat into their profit margins, it just isn’t good business.

  And thus lies the problem.

  To these big publishers, an author or a poet (e.g.), are just numbers on a page. And, even if you do manage to make it onto their books, as soon as the numbers don’t make sense it’s “So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye!”, if you’re lucky. They could, depending on the contract you signed, retain all the rights to your hard work, your sweat and tears and late nights downing red wine (Is that just me?).

  “But it’s my dream to be published!” I can imagine you shouting at the screen of whatever device you’re reading on and, guess what, it was my dream too. But, having looked into this more and more, and seeing the number of writers with publishing deals backing away and doing it themselves, I can say that traditional publishing is not the rosy pipe dream you may be chasing.

  So, to cut a very long story short, World Indie Warriors was born. A safe haven for these intrepid trailblazers to commune, discuss, and share their expertise and wisdom. To stop a creative industry being about numbers and breathe fresh life into it. But, they didn’t want to keep all of this to themselves like Gollum and The One Ring. Something this powerful was destined for bigger things. The doors were flung open and others were welcomed in, not just writers but poets, artists, photographers, voice actors, book bloggers, cover designers and any other industry you can think of where you are an indie creative, or you provide a service or offer support to indie creatives.

  If you’re an indie, you belong.
  If you’re thinking about being an indie, you belong.
  If you like the indie community, you belong.
  If you’re flirting with the idea of maybe checking out indie creatives, you belong.
  You belong!

  – World Indie Warriors

  Now, with a growing following, there is a Facebook Page, Instagram Page, a members Facebook Group and a website. We also have a regular brochure, which is about to become an eZine where, as a member, you can advertise your books and services. In the coming months, exclusively for our members, we will be holding a host of workshops. These will be on everything from grammar to psychology and marketing to planning.

  Want to get involved? Just take a look at the links I’ve dropped above and, before you ask, there is no catch. There is NO membership fee and there is NO charge to be on the eZine. We don’t have expectations to give back, but we do have lots of opportunities ranging from writing a blog to being a mentor, to being on a team. The group wasn’t created with money in mind, we are all volunteers doing it for the love of ours, and others, craft.

  This group to help expand the stage for diverse voices. Your voice. My voice. Our voices. Voices that have been muffled or silenced. We are here to support those voices and expand the stage for ALL of our voices.

  World Indie Warriors

  This is what World Indie Warriors is all about, and this why you should get involved. I can’t wait to see you in our members group.

  Jodie xxx

  Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment | Tagged #august2020, #blog, #catchup, #inspiration, #update, #worldindiewarriors, #writing

• August – meh!

  Posted at 9:19 pm by Jodie, on August 11, 2020

  

  So it’s August… anyone else feeling completely deflated?

  This time of year I’ve normally just been to spend a few days with family, had a night or two away just my daughter and I, had several fun and interesting days out, and would be in the middle of packing for our annual camping trip to Wales.

  Instead, I find myself locked at home in another local tightening of rules that prevents me from seeing any family. While the campsite that we stay on is open, we don’t feel comfortable going there and using the shared facilities, and the same goes for attractions. Many shops and museums, etc, are open around us but, unless it’s an outdoor activity, we aren’t willing to risk it.

  It’s made me feel really horrible as a mom. My daughter’s summer holiday is passing by at the speed of light, and she’s not been able to enjoy any of it. I know I’m not alone in my thinking, and there are plenty of people in a much worse situation than us, but it doesn’t ease my sadness and, if I’m honest, anger that by the time this is over she can pretty much wipe a year from her life. Our life.

  We’ve been robbed and cheated. It’s not to say that this year would have been super amazing. For all we know things could have conspired against us and we would have had to cancel plans anyway, but that would have been on us.

  I don’t want to be one of those people going on about missed education. Yeah it’s important, and yes homeschooling was a nightmare, but it goes beyond not knowing their times tables and the difference between to, two and too. It’s all the other things that go along with it, like school trips, building relationships and, in our case, my daughters first overnight residential.

  I hope that if you are experiencing something similar, by speaking up I’ve somehow helped and, that you know you aren’t alone. If you do need someone to talk to, I’m always around (Mostly on Instagram.).

  With all of that being said, it will come as no surprise that I didn’t push myself too hard during Camp NaNoWriMo. I set myself a goal of 7,000 words towards my mafia series and somehow managed to smash that with a total of 14,108 words.

  As I concentrated on my writing, unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep up with reading. In fact, I didn’t even pick up a book during July! But, as I searched for activities to entertain the little one, I did dip my paintbrushes into some watercolours, something I haven’t done in a very long time. Perhaps I might bring them out again, when I have that golden egg called time.

  I had intended for this post to come out right at the start of the month but, just like everything else at the moment, it seemed to pass me by. It wouldn’t be a monthly catch-up without my goals, so here they are:

  In August I aim to write 1,000 words per day on Sorceress of Flame. I’m hoping that will bring me much closer to ‘the end’ and I’ll finally have that elusive first draft. To date I have managed around 10,000 words, so I’m not too far off achieving that.

  My second and final goal is to have fun. I want to try and enjoy what time we do have left as a family before school restarts, even if it is just going for a few walks and eating garden picnics.

  Once again, I ask for you to sign up to my newsletter. I’m not sure when it will start yet but, please sign up below and you will receive all of my news straight to your inbox.

  Join my email list

  By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

  Processing…

  Success! You're on the list.

  Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

  Right! Time for me to do some housework and stop the living room from looking like a bomb has hit it.
  
  Stay healthy. Stay safe.

  Speak soon, Jodie xxx

  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged #august2020, #blog, #campnanowrimo, #catchup, #coronavirus, #divineprophecy, #donofavery, #goals, #inspiration, #sorceress, #update, #writing

• J.D. Groom

  

• Follow Me

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Goodreads
  • Amazon