Balance

Every day I try to create a sense of balance in my writing life, a life that has gone beyond writing and now includes promotion. It is not always an even balance, but so far it is working pretty well, most days. It can be challenging to devote all the time and energy my new novel deserves while promoting A Better Life so it has the best chance of being successful. I am finding that these very different opportunities keep my life as a writer rich and rewarding, as long as I don’t make myself crazy.

I am attempting to write at least a thousand words a day of the new novel. My characters are beginning to open up to me more each time we are together. This phase of writing a story is the most exciting for me because it is full of so many moments of discovery.

Some days, a great deal of time is taken up with some aspect of promotion. Yesterday I spent a big chunk of the day formatting my paperback into an e-book. It wasn’t as complicated as formatting the print copy and it is now available on Amazon in both print and on Kindle.

I have a host of things to explore: writers’ conferences, a marketing course, book readings, book clubs, getting the novel into local, independent book stores, contests . . . Right now, though, I am getting back to the new story.