Going to try something I haven't done in a while, where I'm going to create a blog post about me and what I'm doing, maybe once a week. It'll also probably include stuff about what I'm reading or people I talked to, or the occasional funny story about my personal life, but I think a lot of it is going to be about my work, my creative process and the hustle inherent in being an author today.
First of all, let's get the lay of the land.
I am not just an author squirreling away words at my laptop at all hours. Here are all the things I do to support my novelling habit:
Ghost Writing
Cover Design
Formatting
Market Research
Creative Work
Thankfully, I'm in a position to work from home, because on top of all these hats, I've also got a "Mom" one. BTW, if you want me to do any of that for you, feel free to get in touch!
The Author Business
So, now we can get to the heart of what I love; my author business. I'm overhauling the whole thing at the moment, so I'm super aware of all the moving pieces. I'm redesigning my website, moving my online store from PayHip to Shopify, working on getting my physical books shipping all over the world, and trying to get some sort of flywheel moving so I can make a profit on all of this work.
That's right, you read correctly: I am not making a profit yet. My business exists on the back of all of that other work I'm doing for other people at the moment. It sucks, but it's also fairly normal. Not all of us are wildly successful, and if success does come, it's rarely overnight. That said, I think I'm closer than ever.
So, knowing that I'm not this super wealthy lady of leisure, I hope you'll continue this journey with me as I talk about all sorts of (silly?) stuff and make posts about my progress, tips for people starting their own businesses (particularly if they live outside the US) and probably the occasional picture.
What I'm writing:
This is absolutely the weirdest thing, even to me, but my current obsession/project is a cozy, sweet, fantasy romance. I read some more traditional fantasy romance for a job I was doing and it just didn't appeal to me much. Plus, a lot of my side work lately has been sweet romance and romantic comedy, so I thought why not combine myth and magic with some girl-meets-boy? I'll post some details coming up, but suffice it to say, I'm having a lot of fun right now.
What I'm reading:
My current opinion: It started slow and it takes itself way more seriously than Nevernight did, but it's really starting to grow on me. Also, Kristoff is really good with blocking scenes. Fight scenes, sex scenes, his are always satisfying and straight-forward, handled with incredible finesse.
I keep comparing it to Nevernight, and at first this was a bit of a negative, but it just sort of shows Kristoff's ridiculous range. This is nearly the opposite of those books and yet still deeply enjoyable so far. I'm looking forward to the sequel when it comes out.
I literally preorded it before I started reading this one, so good thing I'm getting invested!
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