Fellow Readers....
I decided to start my next blog post while awaiting to record my first-ever podcast author interview. Aside from this interview on St. Patrick's Day, I have a second podcast interview scheduled on These Mums Write Podcast available on Apple Podcasts in May 2022. But today, I was on with Heather who hosts Bookshelf Banter featured on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It was an audio only podcast, which is completely ok. I was assuming it would be with video, but I think for my first interview, this was way better. I invested in a podcasting microphone kit, which helps with noise canceling, and the best audio quality. I know as starving artists, we are not made of money, but I think it's important when and where you can invest in your dreams. And folks, this was an investment in my dreams of becoming an established author.
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Fellow Readers,
Has spring sprung where you are? I know here in the Midwest; the weather can be quite uncertain. We went for a day of almost 70 degrees, and the next day it was in the 30's. Quite indecisive, if I don't say so myself. Aside from the weather, let's talk about higher education. Back in 1998, I started my college journey at the local community college. At the time, I was taking my basic course in order to transfer to a 4-year university to become a teacher. I should have stuck with my gut and majored in History because I truly love museums, and antique fodder. But I allowed myself to be swayed and switched callings to English. Don't get me wrong! I love reading. There's something about an excellently written novel that transports you within the story. It's like a movie in one's mind. My associates in Secondary Education took me approximately 10 years where I graduated in 2008 following my father's death. I didn't waste any time moving towards a bachelor's degree. In 2011, I graduated with a Bachelor's in English with minors in Creative Writing and Literature. And when I realized that I didn't want to teach high school, but wanted to be a professor for a university, I enrolled in an online graduate program with a third college. Fast forward to ten years later, I have officially been reaccepted into my master's program. And since I've authored Holes in Your Umbrella, I am continuing with poetry concentration. I've heard mixed reviews that if I were truly an author, I wouldn't waste time finishing my degree. But I personally believe that there's something more within the degree program that will enhance my writing, while being an author. My Goals for returning to the Master's program:
Fellow Readers,
I apologize if my postings have gone a bit off script. I know I promised to post weekly, so I'm hoping that as of this week, I can get back on track. Aside from working on my 2nd poetry collection Love is Strange, which is currently available for pre-order on Amazon. But like I mentioned with the title of this blog, I'm here to discuss Kindle Vella. I currently have two serials that I'm credited to on Kindle Vella. The first one is authored by me entitled The Misadventures of Jill Mansfield Vol. 1. The second serial, Grimm Consequences, is an episode that I had the extreme honor of editing for author, Multieyedmyr K., but since Vella doesn't have an editor option, I had to credit myself as an co-author on the listing. An unfortunate oversight that I hope Amazon updates in the future. I also hope they have plans of allowing our Amazon Author Pages to show the Vella listings as well. As of right now, it's set up as a completely separate database of stories and collections. I personally found the set-up process extremely easy, and the ease of setting up an episode either to publish immediately or at a later date is very user-friendly. I am disappointed at the lack of categories to choose from. The only things they offer are very general, and vague. I feel as if they don't necessarily highlight all an author would have to offer the database. There should at least be a few sub-categories under each general one to choose from. I personally love the fact that I can essentially practice my fiction writing with the serial universe. Jill Mansfield is a character that I created years ago using loosely based real-life love experiences to showcase how strange love really is for a girl like Jill. It's currently 8 episodes into the story, with a 9th episode planned for the finale closing of the serial series. I haven't necessarily thought about releasing it as an e-book yet. Personally, I'm afraid of failure and bad reviews. But I chose to become an author, and I need to take the bad with the good together. My advice to other fellow writers out there is if the idea of writing a full-fledged novel is scary and daunting to the point of giving you chest pains. Try something on a smaller scale like Kindle Vella. I'm excited about what my next project is. Always, Jan Fellow Readers,
I haven't forgotten about you, but I'm sorry if missing a week in blog-land has felt that I've neglected you. I'm excited to announce that I'm probably the only person not watching the Super Bowl. I typically root for the underdog team. But I will admit to looking up the score on the web at least once. I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Valentines Day! Love the one you're with regardless of how imperfect they are. My husband and I just recently celebrating our Golden wedding anniversary. 13 on the 13th. And sad to say, that for the first 13 years of our entire existence together I was very mentally ill, and as emotionally unstable as they come. My behavior definitely made it for a wild ride, one that I'll admit I wished he hadn't endured it as long as he did. But my wish for the next 13 years is to show him what a mentally and emotionally stable partner looks like, and is capable of. I'm hoping in the next several weeks that my muse becomes recharged enough to allow me to get back into writing. It's hard to go through these "down" periods where I have to walk away from writing because I'm getting burned out emotionally. It's become a necessary evil, so I don't become mentally paralyzed again. I'm so afraid of losing what I've longingly accomplished. It's almost feeling like I'm the prisoner out on a parole that I could violate at any given moment, and wind up back incarcerated. In the meantime, if I'm not writing then I should be reading something to take in more emotional inventory for later. I recently received a gal's story that I will be beta-reading for her helping her towards the April deadline. I recently received another literary magazine rejection for the poetry I submitted. I have a 50% rejection rate to a 33% acceptance rate in literary magazines/anthologies submissions. I also have a blog post that I sent off to be published on another fellow author's website. That was accepted, and will be coming out in March 2022. All in all March seems to be a busy month for me in the publication world. I have one more literary magazine query I'm awaiting a response on. Talk to you all next week, Jan Fellow Readers....
I recently subscribed to a news feed that sends me daily writing prompts. Although, I'm not always going to use those prompts, there was one that I thought would make a really great blog post this week. First Off, let me share my latest publishing news with you. I had a total of 4 poem queries sent out into the world to various anthologies. A few weeks ago, as a fresh indie author, I was christened by my first rejected query. It didn't sting as bad as I thought it would. But shortly after that, another query reached out singing praises of my poem I submitted, and asked to see more work for potential publication. Wow! I cannot accurately express how elated I was. Then commenced the waiting, again. As a writer, I think that has been the hardest part of the process. The waiting. Waiting to finish writing the draft, waiting to hear back from the editor, waiting to publish the novel or story episode, and even waiting for your publication queries to come back to you as a yay or nay! But, this story has a happy ending. I'm excited to announce that I have more poetry being published in an outside anthology called Because I F*cking Said So, written by women for women. This anthology is releasing on International Women's Day (3/8/2022). Pre-orders are available now at a discounted price of $2.99 until March 8th. Now, onto more important things to tell you. I know. What could be more important than publication news, right
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AuthorI'm blogging about my mental health journey along with my various life struggles that go along with having a variety of "holes in my umbrella" in life. Archives
March 2022
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