Is Spring Coming Yet?

Like most of the country, the weather where I live has been crazy for the past few weeks. We have days of warm, beautiful weather, and then it snows. Covers everything in ice so thick that it knocks down trees and cuts out the power. And it's cold as crap sometimes.

I wonder if spring is ever going to come.

People say that global warming and climate change aren't true. But I can point to what's going on with our weather right now and show that our environment is changing and it isn't so much for the best. Rapid weather cycling and dramatic fluctuations in temperature are hallmarks of climate change. It just happens. It's true. And people need to accept that fact.

I'm getting sick of the fact that I have to bundle up in the morning and then burn up in the afternoons. I'm sick of it being 70 degrees one day and snowing and icing the next.

I want spring. I want warm days and light rains and flowers.

Sometimes I think it will never come.

End of the Month Stress Buster

It's that time of the month again. And this month has definitely been stressful beyond anything I've had to deal with this year. So there's a big need for a stress buster this month. And it's got to be something good.

Our end of the month stress buster this month is all about getting out your frustration. Everyone knows that the longer you hold on to your frustration and your stress, the worse that it gets. It's important to recognize that you've got this frustration and deal with it so that you can get past the stress that it causes. Because we all know how stress messes with our health.

You'll need a few things to go through the stress buster exercises for this month. Take a few minutes and get together a few pillows (preferably ones that are thick and well stuffed), a pad of paper, some tape, and a pen.

To start off, you'll want to sit down with the paper and pen. You can do one of two things for this part of the activity: you can write out a list of the things that are stressing you out or frustrating you on a single sheet of paper OR you can write one thing that's stressing or frustrating you on individual sheets of paper. This is entirely up to you. Don't think too hard about the things that are bothering you. Get them out as soon as they come to you.

Next, you'll want to take that list (or one of the sheets of paper you wrote on) and tape it to the top of one of the pillows. All you want is to keep it there, it doesn't have to stay there forever. Put another pillow on top of that so that you have a "stress list sandwich"--a pillow, the list of stressors, and then another pillow on top.

Now, take as long as you need to beat the crap out of the pillows, imagining that you are beating up all those things that are stressing and frustrating you. Get that frustration out. The physical exertion will also help expel some of the stress out of your body.

Trust me you'll feel better afterwards.

Publishing a new series before the first is finished

We've established by this point that I love to write. And that I write a lot. That means there are several different books on my computer that are in various stages of being complete. Who knows when any of them will see the light of day? 

Well, that isn't necessarily true. I've been working lately on the final formatting for the release of the second Elemental Royals novel, but I've also been working on the formatting for a the first book in a new series. I've mentioned before that I've been writing a dystopian science fiction novel that is the first book in a series that I'm calling the Off World Series. And it's in the final stages of being ready to be released.

I'm planning right now on releasing it in September. That would be a few months after the second Elemental Royals novel has been released, but long before the final one comes out. I know a few authors who do this. Who release new books and start new series before the first one is finished. But I suppose that works for them because they get paid to write. They spend all day writing. It's their day job. Unfortunately for me, this isn't my day job. 

But oh, how I wish it was!

I've got at least two books ready to be released. And I'm looking forward to it more than anything in the world. I think I'm going to release one of them in September and the other in December. I know it's going to be a lot of work--putting together blog tours and doing promotional activities and all of those things--but I'm willing to do it. Because this is what I love. 

Wow. You've just seen me make the decision to release three books this year. One in June, one in September, and one in December. 

Hmm I guess that means I need to rearrange the website a bit. Or add a few new pages. 

Is the semester over yet?

It's been one of those semesters. A semester where I'm exhausted half the time, and the rest of the time I'm frustrated. With the weather the way it's been and the stress that's come from my personal life, it's made me look forward to the end of the semester with nothing more than the greatest of glee.

It isn't that I don't love my job at the university. I really do adore my job. But right now I'm so exhausted by everything that's been going on that I just want to have things be over for a while. I'd love to have a nice long break where I didn't have to get up or do anything. And it isn't so much that I want time to read or write. It's just that I'd like to have some time to relax and get myself straightened out.

Even though I only work a few days a week on campus, there's still so much that I do outside of campus that I have to do to make sure that my students are getting everything that they need from me. If I'm not working on my books or my blog tours, I'm working on something for my students. It feels like I have very little time for myself when it comes right down to it.

Maybe I take on too much. Maybe I need to take a break and let go of a few things. That might be the best thing for me. But right now I have no choice but to do the things that I've signed up to do, no matter how exhausted it makes me feel or how stressed I get about it.

So I'll ask again. Is the semester over yet?

Planning Ahead is a Good Idea

I've sat down today to look at what's going on for me in the next few months. And I've tried to put together some things so that I would know what's coming up and how I need to be prepared for it.

In other words, I've spent the day getting organized and planning ahead.

One thing I've been planning for is the review blog. Putting books on the schedule to read and review. Give myself a few days in between to read and put my review together. I'm a little tired thinking of all the books and things that I have to keep up with to make sure that I get through everything.

And then I've thought about what's going on with work and writing. How am I going to go through the summer working? What am I going to do as far as writing goes? And how is all of that going to coincide with my blog tour? There's going to be a lot going on for me in the next few months and planning ahead is going to be essential.

I get tired thinking about some of it. Right now I want to just go take a nap. That would be incredibly lovely. But I've got to stay up and get things put together.

Planning ahead, no matter what it is, is an important part of everyday life. It's important to figure out everything that you need to do and put yourself in the position so that you can get it done. I suppose that's what this post is really about. Reminding myself that I've got to get on the ball and make sure that things are going to get done.

No matter how exhausted or busy I get.

Reading on a Deadline

Reading has always been a passion of mine. So I suppose that's one of the reasons why I wanted to be a writer... I wanted to give the world stories that I thought were interesting. I wanted to put something out there for people to read. And I guess that's also why I decided to be a book reviewer. Simply because I love to read, and I love to suggest books to people I know.

But one thing I hate about being a book reviewer is having to read on a deadline. True, it's a self-imposed deadline, but still. When I have a stack of books that go from the floor to halfway up my desk, I have to read quick. Especially when a lot of those books belong to the public library and there are other people who want to read them.

It's hard to read on a deadline. Mostly because it's something that means I won't have the time I'd like to digest and understand the story like I normally would. I have to get through the story and make a decision about how good or bad it is based on a day or two worth of reading. Given, I can read pretty fast if I'm given the time off to go through a book. But that doesn't mean I want to tear through them that fast.

I have to read fast and make quick notes about things I want to put in my reviews. And it's just hard to keep up with everything that's going on in the story when I'm plowing through fifty pages at a time. That's the only way I can get through a book as fast as I need to for my deadlines. I have to read fifty pages, take a break, and hit another fifty pages. The book gets finished pretty quickly that way.

I can't wait to get to a point where I don't have to read so fast. Where I can relax and enjoy the novels that I've chosen to read and review. I think that's what I miss the most--being able to enjoy the books. Take my time and savor the words that are written on the page.

Not that I don't do it now when I'm reading for reviews, but I just don't get to enjoy and savor them as much now as I did before.

The Fear of Losing a Computer

I think it's the worst possible thing that could happen to a writer. Losing their computer. Either to physical loss or a crash. And I live every day with the fear that my big computer--my writing computer--is going to crash on me.

That's why I triple back up everything. Every single day.

And I usually back things up every two hundred fifty words or so. Or every fifteen minutes, whichever comes first. I lost things like that before, and I'm terrified of losing things again.

I think it's the biggest fear that I have as far as my writing goes. That and having something of mine stolen. I've lived with both, and I've come through them. But I've learned a lot of different things because of it.

Maybe the biggest lessons I've learned have to do with backing things up. I learned to back up everything often. And that's what I do. And in multiple places. And I also learned to have a hard copy of things. Just to be able to prove that it was yours. Hard copies with dates on them.

I have two computers now. One for writing and one for my day job. But that doesn't mean that I don't keep copies of everything on my new computer. Just in case.

That's my new motto. Just in case.