tiffanyshearn

Deadlines and Demands

Managing multiple demands can be challenging, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. I mentioned in another post about starting a business, and for the last six weeks, I have been in “kick-off” mode to get it moving forward. On top of that, the third book in my series, Hidden Promise, is due for release in less than three months. I have to finish it and decide on a new cover artist.

Businesswoman

For the first couple of weeks, I was putting all my time into this and paying attention to nothing else. My stress elevated, my sleep depleted, and I knew it would be unsustainable. I can’t run at that speed and not burn out, so I had to find a better balance.

My first step was to assess my goals and identify the ones I was okay failing at. I’m a perfectionist, and this is one of the most difficult things for me, but when you have twenty hours of work and only ten hours in which to do it, some things will fall to the bottom. I had to decide what those were for me, and look at potential partial successes instead of “winning” at everything. While I’m still putting in a lot of hours, this has helped me carve out and recover a little time.

Hidden Promise

I have received some great beta reader feedback and started working out ideas for revisions and adjustments. Fortunately, I have great alpha readers, so it will not require major rewrites. I would have liked another one or two beta readers to get some eyes on it, but I’m out of time. I have one month to squeeze in enough hours for the changes, and I will need every moment.

My manuscript upload is due the first week of June, so I need it back from my editor with time to do a final review of the edits and corrections. Once I hit the “Publish” button on this one, I might take it easy on writing for the rest of June before starting up on my next project. My alphas already have Hidden Strenght to read, and this next book will be YA/NA genre, so closer to the 50-80k word mark instead of the 95-120k I have been writing.

Time will tell. Who knows if I can actually mentally sit still for a whole month.

Me Time

One of the most important things I do to manage multiple demands is to make time for self-care. I am striving to reprioritize spending time with loved ones. My husband and I halted our daily walks for a while since I was working so late, but we started back up again. Even if we shorten it to a smaller block, it is worth the time to step away, talk, and unwind.

Ultimately, managing multiple demands requires patience, discipline, and knowing when to be flexible. It’s important to be kind to yourself and to recognize that you can do less if you burn yourself out than by setting boundaries. I guess time will tell if I’m finding the right balance.

Sounders game this morning, and I’m trying to get at least another hour of revising in today. Happy Saturday, all!

Artist Search

You may have seen the post on Facebook recently where I announced that the artist for the first two books in my series is unavailable to continue with the third. I will eventually need to change all the covers to something more “action scene” oriented, but I have always wanted the first runs to be more artistic. These magnificent scenes played out in my head as the world came to life within my imagination.

Jonathan Lebel did amazing work taking my stick figures and descriptions and turning them into beautiful imagery.

The first is a scene from early in Hidden Memory when Annalla is still within the traken forest. She has her borrowed blade and boots, with her wings wrapped around her.

The second is from Hidden Sanctuary when Annalla arrives at the river crossing. This is just before the events unfold (you know which events I’m referring to if you have read this one).

Onto the Third

I want to continue in this same vein for the third and fourth before I look at shifting the style of all four, so the hunt is on for a new artist who can capture the same grandeur of my fantastical world. The cover of Hidden Promise will be an image of their arrival in the sanctuary, flying through and providing a glimpse of how and where the people live.

My terrible sketch and description have gone to one artist, and I have reached out to a few others, so I hope to have a cover to show you in the April newsletter. It might be out a little later than my usual mid-month Saturday, but I hope it will be worth the wait.

As for the cover of the fourth, you will have to wait until next year for more information on that one!

Have a great weekend!

My Grammar Police

Today is National Grammar Day! I don’t know if most authors are like me, but I’m much better at story than the grammar part of writing. I’m the “idea person.” With that limitation in mind, I reach out for assistance on this aspect of my work; the bigger the production, the more help involved.

For blog articles, I’m simply writing in Grammarly’s free version. It’s straightforward and easy to use. It catches the more glaring mistakes, and I feel fine ignoring it sometimes when the suggestions are not fitting my flow. The web add-on also helps with grammar basics when writing my book’s first drafts. I do those chapter by chapter in AutoCrit, which provides some advice on pacing, overusing words, and other such, less-grammatical advice.

Those are the basic tools. The real work comes from a couple of individuals at two specific stages of the book drafts. During the alpha review stage, my husband provides editing and feedback including catching glaring grammatical errors. Those pull him out of stories, so he finds more. While my other alphas help with story points and feedback, he helps provide a cleaner draft for my beta readers. A cleaner beta draft means the beta feedback is that much more valuable.

The second person correcting any remaining grammar issues is my editor, Maxine Meyer. You will find her credited in my copyright as the editor, and she does an amazing job. I’m working on becoming more consistent with my tense usage, but that is the one she probably finds and fixes the most. I also have a love/hate relationship with commas. I love using them and hate their limited (appropriate) usage.

Maxine cleans up the final manuscript before I submit for publication, and it is a crucial step in the process. Any and all remaining errors are mine alone, and she helps me get that as close to zero as possible for your reading pleasure. (Note: I only scribbled out the prices on the main pic as prices change over time and internet pics are forever!)

Hidden Promise

Hidden Promise is back in my hands with some beta reader feedback. I have a few minor adjustments to make, but I should have the manuscript in Maxine’s hands by mid-late April. This places me right in line for my release timetable of mid-June! I’ve gotten some great feedback from my beta readers, and my alpha readers have started on the series finale. I’m excited to share with you all how things are coming together in Hidden Promise and how it ends in Hidden Strength next year.

As a reminder, Hidden Promise is only $3.99 until its release. The price will go up to $4.99 after go-live, so don’t forget to preorder!

Have a great weekend, and “Go Sounders!”

Nerd Party 2023!

Last year’s Nerd Party was my first-ever book signing event, so the annual mini-fair has a special place in my heart. It initially surprised me how many people showed up and wandered through the shops and displays. This year looked to be even bigger. There were more artists, more authors, added special guests, and still the same displays that were such a draw last time. Even with the pending inclement weather, it did not disappoint.

I did not get an opportunity to wander around the different stores, so I can only tell you about and share pictures from my little area. I was between two other local authors I have had the pleasure of booth-buddying with previously: J. P. Barnett and Maria Giakoumatos. We work well together as we are all in the fantasy realm, but fit into different sub-niches to suit any fantasy book tastes. The former has a series about two college girls hunting monsters instead of going to class. The latter has a spooky fantasy series involving vampires, demons, and other occult themes.

Mr. J. P. Barnett took to calling our area in the back of the comic shop the “author and artist cave” because, with the three of us, there were two artists as well (Maria has art in addition to her books too!). You can see their info in the picture here to check out their work.

Tori drew the frog (I love frogs!) while at the event.

How did I do? Well, I exceeded my goal for the evening. I think most people attended early, as it slowed down after the first couple of hours. The threat of snow kept some visitors away this year, but we heard they are shifting the Nerd Party to a warmer month in 2024. Hopefully, more people will be able to attend then. To anyone reading this who bought something from one of us in the author and artist cave, thank you for your support!

I’m now off to the Sounders’ season openers, so…until next year, fellow nerds!

Happy Birthday (to me)!

I have never celebrated Valentine’s Day because my birthday is so close. One year I was supremely irritated because the holiday fell on the weekend closest to my birthday. My family tried to go out for a birthday dinner and it was insanity. Parking was impossible. There was an almost two-hour wait to get into any restaurant. I was in my teens at the time and had a teenage breakdown (not so bad where my parents went into “don’t make me turn this car around” mode).

Since that day, I have been hyperaware of the holiday’s proximity to my desired family meal day. The latter is this afternoon, and we are going to a local Korean BBQ place. This will be my grandmother’s first time trying it, so we’ll see what she thinks. I suspect she will like the sweeter marinades the best and not care as much for the spicy sides.

A friend also sent me the flowers in the main picture, which was very thoughtful. Other than that, I’m planning to take it pretty easy this weekend. I’ll polish another six to ten chapters of Hidden Strength to send off to my alpha readers. I have just over twenty chapters left to send, so I’m hoping to get those out before the beta feedback for Hidden Promise comes in.

Though, I should also reach out to the cover artist if I want to have that done in time for the April newsletter…Okay, maybe “take it easy” is a bit of an overstatement, but these are busy times, and there are only so many days between deadlines!