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IWSG

#IWSG Nov. 2023- A Novel Month?

IWSG

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

Optional Monthly Question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

I’ve never participated in NANO simply because it’s a constant struggle for me to find time to write. I’m the type of writer who finds myself with an afternoon of nothing to do and will crank out 2-10k words, but not write again for a month. If I had a regular 9-5 day job, I think I could schedule regular times to write, in the morning, evening, or on weekends, but my schedule changes so often that, sometimes, when I have time, I sleep it away or focus on adulting tasks such as laundry and cleaning. Maybe, one day, when I retire, I’ll give NANO a try.

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Now, on to the personal updates.

I didn’t post last month because I’d lost a relative just a few days prior and two weeks later I lost another relative. I’m slowly getting back into writing creatively, but most of this year has been dedicated to coping with life’s stressors: racial drama, work stress, illness, death, and more. Hoping to end the year on a high note.

My web host keeps decreasing the quality of service they provide and they keep trying to get me to pay for more stuff. So if,  all of a sudden, this blog disappears, it’ll be on them and not me. I want to keep this blog, but not enough to pay more for it than I currently do.

Every year I post an unboxing video of my new glasses and, somehow, managed to do one again this year. If you’d like to check it out, click on the video below.

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Do you have any plans for National Novel Writing Month?

Hope your year is going well. If not, I’m sending out prayers and good vibes for you.

It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
PJ Colando,
Jean Davis,
Lisa Buie Collard, and
Diedre Knight!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #27).

Did you know you can join my community for FREE over at Patreon to receive a monthly update on the creative projects I’m working on? I tell you the truth, it’s better than a newsletter!

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

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Mark of Bletsian

I’m #writingabook: Mark of Bletsian No.2

Greetings Dear Reader,

Life is hard. Things happen and all your plans go out the window. This year has been rough for me and my family and I’ve had to shift my focus so much away from my writing. Long story short, I’m still processing grief and change but I’m also moving forward with life.

I’m happy to report I’ve made the slightest bit of progress with this project, so this won’t be a long post. I previously mentioned in another post that I lost a lot of the research I used for the original series and some that I’d done for this rewrite. I’m happy to announce that, I think, I’ve finally recreated all that research. While these aren’t words towards a novel word count, it’s the stuff I need to be able to move forward.

At this point, I’m tightening up my outlines and filling in the gaps of changes from the old series to the new, plus I’m developing subplots and characters that weren’t really in the original series, though the ideas were there. I hoped I would be further along than I am, but at least I’m no longer at a standstill. Maybe I’ll be ready to start adding to a novel word count by December.

Before I go, I want to talk about the one thing I’ve already mentioned that will be different in this rewrite. The mark of blessing. The main character has many names but the one his mother gave him is Bletsian, which is Greek for blessing. In the original series, I never explored the meaning or origins of the word blessing any further than to say that’s where the MC’s name came from. In the new series; however, I will highlight characters throughout time who have been given a special mark to indicate they have a significant blessing over their lives; which of course, my MC will be one of those people.

That’s all I have for now. I hope life doesn’t shift again for me anytime soon. I’d like to be settled for a while and simply write.

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BTW- I now have Public/Free content over at Patreon every month, so please check it out. This is what I do instead of a traditional newsletter.

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Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG Sept. 2023- Happy Birthday Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

IWSG

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

Optional Monthly Question: The IWSG celebrates 12 years today! When did you discover the IWSG, how do you connect, and how has it helped you?

My first IWSG post can be found here. Admittedly, I discovered the IWSG shortly after it formed, but didn’t have the courage to join for almost a year and a half. Ultimately, I’m glad I made the leap of faith.

The IWSG has consistently been the most encouraging and uplifting aspect of blogging for me over the years. I’ve been a part of other blogging communities that have come and gone, or that I left, for a number of reasons, and not all of them were bad. Some just reached their time to end.

As a writer, the IWSG has been a great way to network and promote, and even learn from others. As a blogger, it is the only reason I haven’t given up on blogging. I hope it sticks around for another 12 years and more.

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Now, on to the personal updates.

I had a plan in place to start chronicling my process of rewriting my first novel series. While I am still doing that, I hit a wall last month that I let keep me from posting. I lost countless pages of research I had done from the original series, plus a bunch of new stuff I am planning to incorporate, so when I went to start plotting things out, I stumbled, not able to access the ideas I had in my brain. I moped for a couple of days but then I eventually went back to redo the research. I never got around to posting last month, feeling a little defeated, but I’m hitting reset, yet again. So, as of now, that’s what I’m doing. Redoing research. Maybe in a month or two, I’ll be ready to start plotting, but in the meantime, I can still blog about the research I’m doing.

On a positive note, I’m enjoying reading again. Here’s what I read in August 2023.

The Masked City
Amazon | Bookshop

Murder at the Library
Amazon | Bookshop

If you’re up for it, I have a short video giving my star ratings for what I read, but if you enjoy video book reviews, I suggest that video. Hey, neither of them is that long, so you could watch both if you’re feeling frisky 😉

#short video – https://youtube.com/shorts/fjAWfvawikk?si=fC0JW0l2FQLWMnSe 

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Where were you when you discovered the IWSG?
Did you read any good books last month?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Sonia Dogra,
J Lenni Dorner,
Pat Garcia,
Sarah – The Faux Fountain Pen, and
Meka James!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #27).

Did you know you can follow me for FREE over at Patreon to receive a monthly update on the creative projects I’m working on? I tell you the truth, it’s better than a newsletter!

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.