The Winter Writing Blues...Or Rather Craziness

I have this idea in my head that most writers love the months of January and February. It's the dead of winter, so the temptation of summer sun or spring walks doesn't exist. The days are spent inside, and the weather is perfect for writing. Stay inside, bundle up, and put your fingers on the keyboard...That is unless your name is Kristen Otte. For those who may not know, I do a few other things besides write pug books for kids and young adult novels. I teach reading on a part-time basis, and I am a high school basketball coach. During basketball season, my life schedule is a little crazy. I love coaching and teaching, but the schedule of both lines up so I'm not home until 8pm most nights. Naturally, my writing projects suffer a bit during this time.

Basketball season is winding down over the next two weeks, but my husband and I are house shopping right now. We hope to move sometime in March. In other words, the craziness will continue a bit longer. During these busy life moments, it's easy to set aside the writing projects, but I've learned I can't stop writing when life gets busy or crazy. So I press forward with the projects when I can–mornings, weekends, late nights to meet my self-imposed deadlines. To help me meet these deadlines, I'm sharing the projects so you can keep me accountable. And so you can get excited!!

Here's what's on tap for this Spring:

1. The Release of The Evolution of Lillie Gable - I'm slating this for March 2015. Edits are done, cover and formatting is almost done, so I will hit this target without a problem.  I'll be sharing the cover and exact release date in the very near future.

2. Write the First Draft of the Fourth Zelda Book!!! - I have already started the fourth Zelda book and will return to writing now that the Lillie book is done with edits and formats. Writing Zelda books are still so much fun and this one will be special. I plan to share the first draft with my Wattpad fans as I write!

3. A New Website - After a few successful and fun years here, it's time to move away from wordpress.com. I need more freedom to sell books directly from my site for author days and do some other things to help my author business. This is a big step for me.

4. Five Author Days - I have five author day visits scheduled at local elementary schools for this spring. Author days are tons of fun and a great additional source of revenue for authors. I can't wait to speak with these students and share the love of writing with them.

Those are my plans for the next three months. Like I said, I share my goals to hold myself accountable.

What are you up to the next three months? 

Indie Author Spotlight with Kendra C. Highley

I'm excited for today's post- an indie author spotlight with Kendra C. Highley. It's been too long since I've highlighted an indie author on the blog.  When I read Sidelined last month, I thought she would be a great fit for the indie author spotlight. I contacted her and she promptly said yes.  Along with Sidelined, Kendra is the author of the Matt Archer series.

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing? What books have you published?

I've been writing since I was in third grade, short stories and such, and I've always loved to, uh, "stretch the truth" to make a story more exciting. Good trait for a writer, right? :) But I didn't get serious about my craft, with an eye toward publication, until about five years ago.

My books include my self-published Matt Archer series, an urban fantasy YA series about a teen who fights monsters, and Sidelined (Entangled Ember), an upper contemporary YA about a female basketball star who gets injured and has to rebuild her life.

What is your favorite part of writing a novel?

When my characters take a detour I wasn't expecting. I'm getting better at plotting, but I'm really more of a pantser, and I love it when I'm writing along and suddenly the story turns in a place I never expected. More often than not, it turns out to be better for the story, too.

What draws you to write young adult fiction?

I love the wonder, the excitement, the "newness" of experiences that teen characters face. I also think some of the most daring, edgy modern books are being written in the YA space.

What are a few of your favorite young adult books and/or series?

Wow, narrowing it down to a few is hard. I'm writing a four-part series on my blog on my favorite YA books right now! I'd have to say Daughter of Smoke and Bone and The Girl of Fire and Thorns series have been my favorites of the last few years.

I recently read your novel Sidelined. I was drawn to the book as a former athlete and current basketball coach. I think the book deals with issues many teens face as they struggle with addiction, identity, and relationships. Did you have any specific moments in your life that inspired the writing of this book?

One in particular stands out. While I was friends with a couple of varsity women's basketball players (which influenced my decision to make Genna a basketball star), the first seed for this story was planted by a football player when I was a freshman. He was a senior, with three scholarships on the table, and in my church youth group. He was injured late in his last season and lost all his scholarship opportunities. I remember how angry he was, how this life-changing event threw him into despair. But I also got to see, over the course of that year, how he eventually discovered other pursuits and slowly found his balance again. It was inspiring, frankly, and the experience stuck with me.

What are your current writing projects? What is on the horizon for your fans?

I'm working on the fourth Matt Archer book. It's in final edits and will be released in January 2014. The fifth and final book will release summer 2014. I'm also working on a new contemporary YA that has me pretty excited, about a high school reporter.

Finally, I'm always looking for recommendations of great self-published books and indie authors. Do you have any recommendations for self-published fiction books or indie authors to check out?

Wow, two come to mind immediately. They aren't YA, but they have teen characters and are safe for readers 14+. The first is the Emperor's Edge series by Lindsay Buroker. The sixth book in the series, Forged in Blood I, has made it all the way to the finals for Best Fantasy in the 2013 GoodReads Book awards. The second is The Final Formula by Becca Andre. It's an urban fantasy about an alchemist who has amnesia...it's very unique and a ton of fun. I also really enjoyed Red, by Kait Nolan. It's an urban fantasy (YA) based on Red Riding Hood.

Thanks so much to Kendra for her thoughtful responses. I recently picked up the first Matt Archer book and look forward to reading and reviewing it soon.

You can find Kendra at:

www.kendrachighley.com (blog)

www.matt-archer.com (MA series site)

www.twitter.com/KendraHighley

www.facebook.com/kchighley

Her contemporary YA novel, Sidelined, is available for purchase at Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

From One Writer to Another - Busting through the Tough Moments of the Writing Life

The path to a "successful" writing career is tough. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or one of the very lucky few. (and I mean few). Reaching your goals as an author takes time and hard work. And many times, in the middle of working your way to those goals, you want to give up. You want to throw in the towel and try something else. But, it is the authors who make it through those rough moments and keep writing who are successful. Today's post is to highlight those rough moments in a writing career and encourage you through them. I press through the tough times and when I do, I catch glimpses of light. And I know if I keep writing and working, the light will grow.

1. Starting - The hardest part about writing for me happens every day when I try to sit down and get words on the page. I must fool around for 20 minutes every day avoiding the inevitable: writing. I have a hard time starting, but I force myself to do it every day or hour I set aside to write. The funny part is once I get rolling, once I have a paragraph or two down, the words flow and I'm in the zone. But, sitting down every day is a struggle.

The good thing is I have acknowledged this problem and have tools in place to help get me rolling. First, I put Scrivener in Full Screen mode on my mac. That way, I can't see emails or notifications coming through on my computer. If I'm feeling super distracted, I will turn off the wi-fi on my computer. I also turn my iPhone over so the back is up. I can still hear it vibrate for texts and phone calls, but again don't see notifications coming through. Finally, I set a timer for 20-30 minutes with a word count deadline because I know deadlines help my productivity.

My encouragement comes every session I am able to exceed my word count goal and fight past my starting problem. I know every word I write is a step closer to another book being on the market.

2. Waiting - An author spends lots of time waiting. If you submit query letters or manuscripts to agents, you wait for weeks (or months) for responses. When you work with an editor, you wait for the edits to return to you. Or you wait for your designer to finish you book cover. Finally, you wait for your book to be published- with traditional publishers it could be a year or more. Even with self-publishing, you are at the hands of Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords, etc to put your book up for sale. It can be torture sitting around and waiting for the next step in the process.

My advice is to stop waiting and write something else. Every day you wait for your manuscript to be returned with edits is a day you could have worked on your next novel. Honestly, most of the time, I have too many projects I want to write and not enough time to write every day. Unless you are banking on your one book to be a bestseller (hint - not a good strategy), write while you wait.

3. Rejection - Somebody isn't going to like your book. Agents will reject your query. A bad review will pop up in the Amazon review. All of these will happen so prepare yourself for it and make a plan to counter the rejection. For the person who doesn't like you book, ask them why. Maybe you can learn something to help your next book better. For the rejected query, ask the agent what they are looking for or why your novel didn't fit their criteria. Or if you love your project, hire an editor and publish it anyways. Rejection is going to happen so don't let it discourage you. Instead, focus on what is working and the fans you have.

If you want to make writing a career, you need to survive those tough moments. Writing is a long-term strategy. You keep building up your catalog of books, improving your craft, and bringing in more fans of your work. Each book is another step in the direction of success- of making enough money from your writing to support yourself or your family. Keep reading, learning, and writing, even when you feel like you will never reach your goals. You can make it.