Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Tuesday Timeline & To Do List (me being a happy author)

Even though one of my resolutions for this years was to try and blog daily I quickly realized I wasn't having fun with it. I'm a big believer of enjoying what you do. In that frame of mind I have changed things around (this probably wont be the last time) again. My new schedule can be found over on the right. Here goes.

It's Tuesday. This is the day when I sit down and go over how things are going. This is broken down into 4 categories. Family, Writing, Admin, Me.

Family: (I'm the family secretary, yet unpaid and unappreciated at times) Who has appointments? Hubby has a few dentist appointments, son has one, and I have few more doctor appointments coming up. Car goes in for maintenance this weekend, daughters car is in now because her alternator in the Jeep she's only had since September has to be replaced. Stuff that needs to be done? Getting hubby ready for his golf tournament in April, which at the end will become a family vacation to visit family in Tennessee.

Writing: Have I kept to my schedule? Almost. I had a few things pop up and derail a few days. Did I make my daily word counts? Only 4 out of 7 days last week. But I did write everyday. How about weekly word counts? 2k short, but I'll make them up. Is my story headed where I want? Since I'm a hybrid pantser I'll never know for sure. Are you asking what the hell a hybrid pantser is?It's pretty simple to explain. I don't plot out my stories so that makes me a pantser. But I do make a list (as you can see I like list) of something that I want to happen in each chapter to move my story forward. So as long as I hit the points I want to happen I'm happy.  

Admin: Am I on track for releases? I'm actually 2 months behind. Cover art request made? Yup. How's it going? Image for 1 is bought, looking for the other. And I need to find a waterfall to use on the back of the books of new series. I hope to be able to a cover reveal soon. Talk about edits? Round one (content) is done. Working on line edits now. How are my sales? March has sucked so far! (I have to consider all these questions for my self-published and the titles I have out with publishers.) Is book ready to be formatted or is it done? Not at that point yet, but soon. Have I updated the back matter in my books to include my newsletter and other links? I really have to do this before I release the last book in the Heiresses In Aprons Series. Is my new letter ready to be sent out? I'm working on this. Surprises may be included.

Me: Am I keeping track of my food log? Yes. Wow I drink a lot of water. How are the sugars (I'm diabetic, so have to watch this)? Now that I'm back on meds and watching my diet (This means eating at as close to  the same time each day as I can.) Exercise? I haven't been doing well with this. Any new goals here?  Exercise for 30 minutes a day. Either on stationary bike, or go for a walk.

After I go through all of this I make a weekly to do list. I then break it down by day and hope to get it all done. I have to say this has gotten a bit easier to deal with thanks to the Passion Planner my daughter got me for Christmas.

Strangest thing on my list for this week is: Shave the cat! He's got some mats that have to come off.