Goals to Start the New Year: 2016 Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Goals are interesting things with a mutable nature. When I first set out goals for myself each year, it was easy. Whether I made them or not, I had something to strive for and I could always tweak them as needed.

All that changed when I gained readers.

Trust me, I'm not complaining one bit. I love having readers. Knowing someone is waiting for the next in each series is better motivation than a random, mutable goal.

However, it also means my goals have more weight, and I have to think about them a lot more. I can't just toss some ideas into the air and run with it. My goals have to line up with the expectations of my readers and my long-term plans as an indie author.

Read more on Tales to Tide You Over

The End Is Nigh…The Year End Assessment That Is: 2015 Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

This time of year is both something I dread and cherish.

The cherish is easy. I get to see my extended family including my son who has grown up and moved to another state, and of course, there will be pies ;).

The dread is also pretty easy.

I start the year with grand plans, strategies that attempt to survive first contact with the enemy, in this case Father Time. At the end of the year, I have to evaluate the success of those strategies, identify where and when strategy devolved into tactics and further into a desperate scramble. Sure, some might have survived the year, but any that didn’t require reassessment before I set out my 2016 plan.

Some things that went wonderfully…and others were mixed.

Publishing

I released a new book in all three of my series:

Read more on Tales to Tide You Over

Margaret McGaffey Fisk - Mid-Year Check-In 2015

It can be easy when looking forward to see everything you have still to do and despair. It's one of the reasons I do monthly goals on Forward Motion. The goals matter less than the review at the end of the month which gives me a glimmer of just how much I've accomplished...whether directly related to those goals or not.

So, here we are halfway through the year. I know I have a lot more to do before the annual clock ticks over, but what have I accomplished?

On the writing front:

1. I wrote the How Beer Saved the World, Book 2 story in January.
2. I finished writing Uncommon Lords and Ladies, Book 3 in January (started in November).
3. I wrote The Steamship Chronicles, Book 4 from March to June.
4. I am now writing Apprentice (Seeds Among the Stars, Book 3).

Read more on Tales to Tide You Over

New Beginnings: 2015 Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

The topic for January is somewhat ironically New Beginnings. I promise I did not know that when I decided to join the tour. This is something I've thought about since it started some two years ago, and this seems the right year to jump in with both feet.

My life has been full of new beginnings recently in pretty much every aspect.

On the professional side, starting in October of 2013, I decided to take the leap of faith and put out my novels for the public's reading pleasure. You won't see my name on the television any time soon, but I've entertained and inspired some readers, which is a heck of a lot more than my stories were doing as they took up space on my hard drive.

Like any new beginning, this endeavor provoked both joy and terror. I've fumbled about a little, made some mistakes, and gloried in the ability to correct those errors rather than living with them.

Read more on Tales to Tide You Over.

Writing Platform? Do I have One?

When I saw this month's topic, to be honest, I was baffled. I didn't know what that meant. So, being a modern woman I went to the internet to get some help. I stumbled on http://www.be-a-better-writer.com/writing-platform.html and checked out the definition there. Here's the first paragraph on their page.

"Having a writing platform means that you have an audience, and that you have some vehicle in place to reach that audience when you have books to sell. This platform is as important to those not yet published as it is to established writers."

Oh! Yeah, how am I contacting people, selling books, putting my name out there? Good question. The site offers thirteen things you should or could do to create a rounded "platform". If you're interested in what they suggest, check out the site. However, we get all of this same information right here on Forward Motion. Here are a few of the things I do.  Click here to see the whole post.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com!  Up next: Jean Schara!

Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour July: Mid-Year Goals Check-In

Six months worth of goals. Ack! It has been a whirlwind year for me in my writing world, to be sure.  I completed all of the goals for January, February and March which to be honest, was a struggle. I just felt behind the whole time. April was tough, though I did get the cover for Hard Choices done and revealed in April. Hard Choices finalized in May right on schedule and was published. It's always pretty exciting to send another book out into the world. Read more here.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com!  Up next: Jean Schara!

The State of the Art

So, this month's Merry-Go-Round blog tour subject is on the state of the publishing industry. When I started to think about what one struggling writer could possibly contribute to this conversation, given how many industry blogs and articles are out there in the world, I started to think about one of my favorite musicals: Sunday in the Park with George.

There's a song in the second act where George, the great-grandson of George Seurat (the pointillist) is trying to sell his newest artistic production and he sings a song called "Putting it Together." Some of the lyrics include:

Art isn't easy.
Every minor detail
Is a major decision,
Have to keep things in scale,
Have to hold to your vision-
Every time I start to feel defensive,
I remember lasers are expensive.
What's a little cocktail conversation 
If it gets the funds for your foundation,
Leading to a prominent commission,
And an exhibition in addition?

(Continue reading "The State of the Art" on Once in a Blue Muse)