by Nikki Amare | Jul 18, 2018 | Musings
This year I’ve been making a serious effort to focus on the positive things and to change the voice in my head that likes to point out all of the things I’m doing wrong and how I will never succeed at anything. It’s a voice we all have, but for some of us it’s more critical than for others. I remember a time when it was easy to ignore that voice. But somewhere along the way, I started listening to it more and more. I’m not sure when it happened. I only know that it did. But the problem is, once you start listening to that voice it makes it easier to listen to it again. And it gets louder. Where it had once only popped up on rare occasions it starts to pop up more often.
Then, before you know it, that voice has an opinion about everything.
Once it has become a constant companion it’s harder to ignore, harder to silence. I’ve gotten better at ignoring it, but there are times when it creeps up and still find myself listening to it whisper words of doubt. The last week I’ve been struggling with that voice. As I get closer to finishing my current work in progress, it gets louder—telling me that no one will want to read it, that it’s horrible, that publishing is going to be a waste of time. This happens with every book and in the past I’ve actually set books aside without finishing them because I’ve listened.
I guess that’s why I’m writing this post. Because I’m determined not to listen to that voice this time. While it’s telling me all of those things, I know that it’s wrong. While I know it’s not going to be an overnight bestseller that doesn’t mean people won’t want to read it once it’s published. It’s not perfect and it never will be. But edits will make it better and by the time I hit publish it will be the best story I am capable of writing at this point in my life. And hopefully the next one will be a little better than this one, because I will have that much more experience. As Hemingway said, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
We learn with each book we write. And if we’re lucky we improve with each one as well.
It’s not only the writing, but the rest of my life as well, that’s effected by that voice though. While for me it started mostly with my writing, it seeps into every aspect of your life. It’s becomes this monster that needs to be slayed.
So I’m donning my armor, grabbing my pen—since as you know, it’s mightier than the sword—, and I’m heading into battle. Because I refuse to let that negative voice win.
by Nikki Amare | Jul 11, 2018 | What I'm Reading
The past few weeks, I’ve been reading a “new to me” series. As you’ve probably figured out if you’ve read my previous posts about what I’m reading, I read a variety of genres. And I prefer series. Although, I do also read standalone titles as well.
The latest series that I’m loving is, The Elder Races by Thea Harrison. It’s a fantasy romance series that deals with The Elder Races. These are the Wyrkind, the Nightkind, The Light Fae, The Dark Fae, and the Demonkind. This series is set in the familiar surroundings of the United States, which has been divided into demesnes by the different Elder Races.
Book one in this series is, Dragon Bound. It introduces you to Dragos Cuelebre and Pia Giovanni, two characters that are seen throughout the series. Dragos is the head of the Wrykind. He also happens to be the only known dragon shifter and a force to be reckoned with.
Ms. Harrison has created a magical world, full of colorful characters that you can’t help but fall in love with. I love that you get to see more of her world with each book. She doesn’t stay within one demesne, but instead gives you an up close look at each of the Elder Races and how they are different. While also showing you that while they are vastly different in some ways, they are also very much the same in others.
If you love fantasy, then I think you’ll love this series just as much as I do. I can’t wait to read more about the sentinels, or to learn more about some of the races we’ve yet to see up close. There’s a certain gargoyle I can’t wait to learn more about. This series has become an auto-buy for me. I still have a few books left in the series yet (this includes the novellas) but once I finish I plan to check out some of Ms. Harrison’s other series as well.
Happy Reading.
by Nikki Amare | Jun 27, 2018 | Musings
There was no blog post last week because I got busy and forgot to write one. I realized this on Friday and decided to just wait and post a new one for this week. I try to write one every week, usually on Sunday to post on Wednesday, but sometimes life just gets in the way.
Hubby and I have a lot going on over the next few months so I might occasionally miss one here and there. Once things settle down I’ll be able to write and schedule them a few at a time.
So there’s this new thing I found and have become a bit obsessed with. Well it’s not really new, it just new to me.
Digital Planners!
See I’m one of those people who have always looked at other people’s planners and wished I could have one of those, but my handwriting isn’t the greatest and I can’t draw a stick figure. So I’d buy a new planner and then I’d end up writing and erasing and writing and erasing, trying to make it look pretty the way everyone else’s seemed to look. And in the end I would get frustrated and I’d stop using it. Then a year or so would go by and I’d think, maybe I should give it another try and well I’d end up having the same results. With the growing popularity of planners again, I’ve once more bought a planner and after a month or two it’s sitting in my drawer unused.
So the other day I was just randomly looking at classes on skillshare.com and found one on How to Design and Create a Digital Planner. I decided to watch it to see what it was all about and let me tell you, these things are amazing. You can make them look like paper planners with tabs and buttons and even the rings down the middle if you want. Or you can do a simple one. If you’re designing it you can do a much or as little as you want. The sky’s the limit.
For me, the best part is, I can make it look pretty by using digital stickers and things. I can either use the Apple Pencil to handwrite things (which I don’t do since that was the problem with the paper planners) or you have the option to use text boxes. And if you really want to get fancy you can write your text in an app like Pages and use whatever font you want, then screen capture and import it into your digital planner. I’m using the GoodNotes app, but I’ve learned that there are several other apps that will work as well. So I have all of the function of a paper planner, as well as the ability to make it pretty and keep it neat, without having to erase a million times or worry about not being able to draw.
I’m currently using a digital planner I downloaded, but I have plans to create my own in the near future since there are some pages I would like to have that I haven’t found anywhere else. Things like a page for my publication schedule, blog post ideas, author events, income tracking, etc. Mainly things related to being an author. And if it turns out well then I’ll probably end up putting a download link for it on my website. Once I’ve thoroughly tested it that is.
I’ve found that there are tons of free for personal use things online for your digital planners. And even more ideas for pages and things I hadn’t even thought about. While the one I am currently using works for now, I think once I have the time to design my own pages it will work a lot better for me.
So, do you use a planner? What do you think of digital planners?
by Nikki Amare | Jun 13, 2018 | Musings
Lately, I’ve been trying to push myself and my husband outside of our comfort zones. I’m guilty of going to a restaurant and ordering the same thing, or same few things, every time. Not to mention, we usually go to the same ten restaurants when we do go out to eat—which admittedly isn’t all that often.
Last week was my anniversary. Hubby and I always treat ourselves to a nice dinner on our anniversary. And again, we have like three nice restaurants we save for this occasion. But it’s always the same three. Well, this year I decided we were going to do something different.
At first he wasn’t so sure. Their prices are a little on the higher side. And what if we don’t like it? But I always start putting money back so we can have our anniversary dinner without having to worry about blowing our budget, so the money factor wasn’t a good excuse. As for the other thing, I knew there was a chance we wouldn’t like it, but it was a place we’ve been saying for years we should try and I was tired of the whole “one day” thing. That day was now!
So after some convincing, I finally talked him into giving it a shot. And guess what?
We both wish we would have gone a lot sooner. It wasn’t a cheap dinner, but we both felt we got our monies worth. Especially, once you take into account that we ended up bringing over half of it home. The portions were big enough we were able to get three meals out of what we ordered. And that’s without adding anything else to the leftovers and we were both full after each one. Hubby is already talking about going back in a few months. We’ll probably be more strategic with our ordering the next time though. That way we won’t have to bring so much food home with us.
We’re also trying new recipes at home instead of eating the same things over and over.
But it’s not just with food that I’m trying new things.
I’ve also been trying to find new-to-me authors or reading in genres and sub-genres I don’t normally read in. I’m taking new online classes for things I think I might like. I’m listening to new podcasts and I’m planning to start doing yoga at least three days a week. As soon as I can find an app or video series I like because going to a studio or gym is out of the question. Not only because I don’t want to pay for things like that when I can do it at home for free, but also because I am horrible with schedules. I always try to make a schedule and then stick to it, but I never do. Then I end up feeling like I somehow failed because I can’t stick to a schedule. Well, it’s taken me several years, but I’ve finally embraced the fact that I’m just not wired that way. I can do routines, but not if they’re too structured. Too much structure makes me feel like I’m suffocating.
This is also the reason I don’t have a daily word count goal to hit.
We have to stretch, in order to grow. We have to try new things to find what works best for us… to learn more about ourselves. I know not everything new we try will be a big hit. I know that we will try things that we don’t like or that one of us doesn’t like. But even when that happens I don’t think either of us will regret having tried.
What new things have you tried lately? What things would you like to try?
by Nikki Amare | Jun 6, 2018 | Musings
Last week I wrote about the roller coaster of writing. This week I think I’ll tackle something that pertains to life in general, as much as it pertains to writing.
It’s when life happens.
When you’re going along, doing your thing, and then life throws you a curveball. It might be something as innocuous as getting a flat tire on the way to work and realizing that you forgot to charge your cell phone last night so you can’t call for help. Now, this scenario might throw off your whole day because now you’re going to be late, you might get yelled at, and you’re going to have to work through lunch to get that project finished by the end of the day.
Or, it might be something more important, something that can change the rest of your life. The death of a loved one, a life threatening illness or injury, a house fire, or a million other things that can throw your world off of its axel.
The thing is, we have to figure out how to go on, how to adjust to the new reality. We have to learn to focus on the things we can control and let the rest play out as it will. As much as some of us would like to believe otherwise, we have very little control over life. It’s not easy to let things go, to not worry about them, but worrying and stressing doesn’t do any good.
This is something I’ve really been working on this year. It’s so easy to get caught up on the minutia of things that we lose the bigger picture.
I find that social media is one of the things that I have to step away from often. While I love being able to connect with other likeminded people online I have to do so in moderation. I’m not someone who thrives on drama and so when things seem to be going that way I tend to step away. I know I’m not the only person who feels that way.
As a writer, the stuff happening around us can have a big impact on our mental state. Which can then have a big impact on our writing. I’m not one of those authors who can write when I’m sad or upset. I have to be happy to write. Therefore, stress and drama don’t work with my writing life. Which is one of the reasons I do my best to avoid it.
But what happens when you can’t avoid it?
There’s a lot going on in the indie publishing community this last month and it has spawned a lot of drama. And while I’d like nothing more than to just avoid social media until it passes, this isn’t something that I can really afford to ignore. It’s important. Not only to indie publishing, but to the publishing community as a whole. It could have wide reaching consequences and since I am someone who prefers to be well informed, I’ve been following things closely. But I’ve started to limit my sources down to the two or three that have been reporting on things but without all the drama. I’m very much a “just the facts ma’am” kind of gal.
I’ve still spent too much time reading court documents and transcripts, but it allows me to stay informed without being overwhelmed. I’m controlling what I can and I’m letting the rest play out as it will.
It’s all I really can do. It’s all any of use can do. As writers we can’t control the retailers, we can’t control readers, we can’t control social media sites, the one thing we can control is the stories. So do what you need to do in order to be able to keep putting words on the page. To be able to keep telling the stories. Change is inevitable. That’s as true for publishing as it is for anything else. The platform might change, the format might change, the popular genre or trope might change, but if you continue to tell stories that your readers love, then that’s all that matters. Instead of stressing about the things you can’t control, focus on what you can.
