I can’t believe it, a whole year has passed since I started this blog!
By John Irvin
I seriously can’t…it was in May of 2019 I started this blog as a book reviewer affiliate and it morphed into what it is now: my Author Journey blog. And now it’s connected to my YouTube vlog for about a third of that time now.
Amazing how life goes, you know? You do little tasks every day then one day you look back and you’ve built something.
Check out today’s reading on my channel:
I hope you enjoyed the funny little reading out of my third book in the Magic’s Time Split series. Forgive any mistakes, I’m an introvert. Reading to a million people makes me a little nervous.
Writing away…
Presently, I’m finishing up the second draft for Wandering, Book 3 in the Longevity series. The cover art is ordered, it’s going to be good.
Another thing I’ve been noticing now that I’ve been finally able to be committed to posting on all my social networks—consistency grows your audiences. My audience on Pinterest has surpassed 7.5k all thanks to being consistent with scheduling posts throughout the days every single day.
Consistency is the key to success. Determination and Perseverance are the other two rungs on the key.
Here’s to success folks...
Now, of course, thanks to Corona, my team’s fundraiser has stalled—literally, I’ve seen a $5 increase in the past two weeks. That’s sad. It’s like Corona has stolen the unction out of booklovers. We’ll get through this though. I understand people’s jobs are on the line or have been taken from them thanks to this pandemic, so we’re not angry or upset at anyone.
Timing is just the frustrating factor of late.
Things can look up though. It’s always darkest before the dawn. The best view comes after the hardest climb. And all those encouraging quotes that may sometimes be overused, but are definitely still true.
You can help us push forward though. Follow the link:
If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!
I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY
I’m an Author, I create Worlds for a Living, I’m also the King of the Weird, don’t tell Me Weird is an illusion!
By John Irvin
You know, all my life I’ve been called weird. I’m the nerd. The quiet one in the corner at a party. The one who finds more interest in books than socialising.
Funny thing about people, when you try to fit into their “normal” circles, you’re called weird. But when you finally begin to accept yourself as being weird…
“I’m weird. I’ve accepted this, it’s time you do too.”
I’ve noticed, in my experience, once you start setting this up, people begin to make comments like, “Weird is just an illusion, if you think about it. Because weird just means different and we’re all different—so you’re actually normal.”
That’s a load of horse manure.
I think, accepting yourself for who you are makes people uncomfortable, probably because they haven’t accepted themselves. Maybe you intimidate them by your confidence. To insecure people, confidence is scary.
The other day, my brain was wandering while I was taking a shower—as it often does. Thanks to a quote by Morticia Addams, this thought finally came to me.
“Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.”
So the same goes for human beings.
“Climb every mountain…”
These past few years, while I struggle with climbing my mountain called “the Author’s dream” I come across so many disbelievers who tell me I need to get a real job. Then there are those whose intentions are good, when they ask how the work is going. When I tell them things like, “I’m writing away” or “I’ve been coldpitching more proofreading clients” they give me that look and you know they think a 9 to 5 would be real work.
I know it’s out of the kindness of their hearts and they want to see me secure.
Or, with time, when they see no success—not to mention I don’t share much unless they ask and usually they don’t—they start to doubt I’m actually working. Over time, they consider me lazy and I just don’t want a “real job.”
It’s so easy to get frustrated, especially when you spend most of your time alone. Your brain likes to take those thoughts and turn them into self-doubt.
Am I really doing what I should be doing?
If I really were climbing that mountain, why haven’t I seen any success yet?
Is this just a pipe dream? Should I really get a 9 to 5 and just suffer and settle for misery the rest of my life? Or should I keep suffering the misery of this struggle, being misunderstood and having no validation for the hard work I’ve put in over the past years?
“A writer must be insane, his only reward is absolute freedom.”
Let me tell you something, my friend. Your friends, your family, your well-meaning acquaintances…they are not you. Yes, the struggle makes you feel like a mess. That’s what happens when there’s a struggle!
Battles end up being extremely messy! Don’t you agree?
When your critics or well-meaners express their doubts in what is not their dream but yours, just smile and whisper.
“Excelsior.”
I just had to share this journey with you, my friends. While I slowly become more enlightened, more self-aware, I want to share it with each of you. Maybe my struggles and thoughts will inspire someone to keep going?
If you keep going, you’re already a winner.
Now, I do have to share my team’s GoFundMe link again, we’re still trying to raise that goal for this book tour of mine coming up in August. We’d appreciate any amount you could give!
If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!
I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY
I’m reading an excerpt
from the exclusive serial for my Patreon Gryphons ($5 a month backers), the
Ikkilion Chronicles.
By John Irvin
So, here’s Part 3 in my Author Reading Excerpts trilogy for my YouTube channel. It’s from the exclusive Ikkilion Chronicles—this is the only time you’ll get to hear a snippet from it, unless you go to Patreon and click the “pledge $5 a month” button.
Click the logo to check me out!
Becoming
one of my awesome supporters who helps me with my monthly finances so I don’t
have to spend as much time at my other jobs away from my writing. I want to
thank you ahead in advance for your support.
If you
can’t support financially right now, sharing this blog, or the vlog, liking
both of them, commenting on either, will help me as well. So thank you in
advance for that also!
Now, go
check out the reading:
What’s in the Works for Now?
So, if you’ve been keeping up with
both my blog and vlog, you know I’m launching a GoFundMe campaign sometime next
month. The money we bring in from this campaign will fund my first Author Book
Tour, set for August of this year!
I’ll be discussing this more in next
week’s vlog just so you know. That video I’m actually going to be sharing
across my networks and I have a Launch Team ready to share it as well.
I also would like to announce, Book
3: As Flesh Rots, is finally published! Here is the link to Amazon:
John Irvin, Author Journey Series Episode 9, Reading Excerpts Part 3
Welcome back to John Irvin, Author Journey Series, Episode 9,
Reading Excerpts Part 3.
What is
Patreon? It’s a site where artists of all types can set up a profile and share the
work with the world. People can sign up and make monthly pledges for these
artists, which gives them a chance to spend more time with their own work
rather at some dead-end job.
It’s almost like a monthly crowdfunding, one
person can pledge $5 a month so it only costs him maybe a Starbucks coffee once
a month. But then, when an artist has 100 of these backers, he’s getting $500 a
month while not costing each backer that much. I also reward my backers as does
the rest of the Patreon community, in tier levels.
My rewards are mentions in my upcoming book
dedications as well as two free e-books—one the first month and the second on
the second month—and a weekly episode in the Ikkilion Chronicles serial.
This
is an excerpt taken from Ikkilion Chronicles, Episode 2: The Great Escape:
“You
just going to watch or are you going to help like a good husband?”
Clearing
my throat, I scurry to her side, reaching for the wall. My skin brushes against
cold wet stone.
Gross.
The
moss growing between the cracks is gooey.
I
narrow my eyes in the dark. Gooey moss between the stones might actually be a
good thing. My fingers move southward as I crouch. I grin when I find what I’m
looking for.
Fea
kneels down at my side.
“Find
something?”
“Just
maybe.” I bob my head, still grinning. I trace the edge of sandstone.
There’s
a puff of air in constant stream against my fingers.
Clenching
my jaws, I push one hand against the crevice and nearly shout for joy when it
gives way.
The
stone bricks crumble, opening up into a small hand-sized hole.
I
grab both sides with my hands, ramming again. With every push, I tear the wall
to pieces until there is a gaping maw large enough for both my wife and me to
crawl through.
“You
first, my Love.” I grab Fea’s arm, ushering her forward.
Fea
bends over, scooting through the gap. Her jeans right cuff snags on a corner,
nevertheless she yanks it away, tearing a small seam.
I
drop to all fours, scrambling through after her. I notice her black leather
boots are covered in the muck of the cell.
I’ll
clean those for her if we make it out of this, I promise myself.
“This
isn’t the outside of the dungeon.” Fea squeaks. Her voice echoes in the chamber
we’ve crawled into.
I
propel myself onto my feet, surveying the room.
It’s
twice as large as our cell and a little brighter.
Where’s
the light coming from? I wonder. My cold steel eyes bounce around until I find
what I’m looking for.
A
small window lodged in the sandstone brick wall to our right.
“You
think we can reach it and get through?” Fea voices the questions in my mind.
I
shrug, tip-toeing over to the wall. Staring up at the window, I measure how
high up it is. My lips moving while I calculate, I narrow my eyes.
The
window is set twenty bricks above us. With each brick measuring maybe four
inches in height, the window is eighty inches above—or rather, five feet and
ten inches. Perfect.
“You’ll
have to climb onto my shoulders.” I inform Fea.
She
crosses her arms over her chest. “What will you do once I’m through?”
“I’ll
climb up.” I grin, trying to exude confidence. Kneeling down in front of her, I
wink. “Remind you of a day not too long ago?”
She
crinkles her nose at me, yet says nothing. Her boots rise from the floor,
planting themselves on my shoulders.
I’m
glad they’re not steel-toed. That would probably hurt.
For
her height, she barely weighs a thing. My Fea has always been about staying
healthy, keeping fit, all that good stuff—every since our engagement, she was
my go-to workout partner.
“Coming
up.” I grit through my teeth, pushing on my knees. I stretch until I’m standing
upright.
Fea
grabs the window sill. “It’s wide enough for both of us to fit through.” Her
fingers latch onto the bottom ledge.
I
hoist my shoulders, giving her a little extra boost while she pulls herself
through the escape hatch.
“So glad
someone didn’t think to put bars on that window.” I remark to no one in
particular. Turning around, I gaze toward the window, watching my wife’s butt
disappear outside. I’ve always thought she had the sexiest butt and those legs,
Mmm. Wow.
“You
climbing yet?” Fea’s voice interrupts my observations.
“Right
now.” I smirk, shaking my head. Stretching my hands above my head, I find a toe
hold at the base of the wall. My own black leather boots fit my feet nice and
snug, making it easy for me to feel my way up.
My
fingers find all the crevices while I strain my forearms, pulling the entirety
of my body weight every inch.
When
my hands reach the window, Fea reaches in and grabs a hold. She grunts and
groans while I squeeze air through my teeth.
My
head feels like it’s about to explode—climbing stone walls shouldn’t be this
hard. Finally, my shoulders fit through the window. I’ve nowhere else to go,
except out.
The
cool night breeze puffs on my face.
I
smell salt.
When
the blood stops pounding in my ears, I start to hear waves beating against a
shore nearby.
Breathing
in deeply, I crawl the rest of the way before going rigid.
If
I’d kept going forward another foot, I’d find no more brick wall beneath my
hands and knees. I’m right on the edge looking down at a drop of maybe thirty
feet.
Below,
the ground slopes for another twenty feet before diving into frothing waves.
That’s
the Utragorn Bay which leads out to the Southerly Sea.
The
West Wing of the Palace sits right on a small peninsula to the south of town,
overlooking the Bay—at a lesser life-threatening time, I’d say it was the most
beautiful view I’d ever seen.
This
side of the Palace doesn’t have the city lights in view so there were more
stars in the evening sky.
Apparently
the sun had gone down while we were still being questioned by the Witch Queen.
“There’s
a ledge heading around the West Wing.” Fea points off to her left—I do not like
how close to the edge her heels are. “If we follow it, I think I see a
staircase heading down outside the wall. Since we’re on top here, we can jump
over the gate at its top.”
“Sounds like a plan
to me.” I state. Rising to my feet, I almost trip over a dislodged piece of
sandstone.
And that’s all for today’s book reading. This completes my book reading
trilogy.
If you’re interested in supporting me, please click the link below and
it’ll take you to my Patreon site.
Come back next week to get the latest run down on my GoFundMe Campaign
Launch.
So, please subscribe, drop by my website through the link below, subscribe
for my newsletter, shoot me a message—I try to always respond in a timely
matter.
Until next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you
should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any
time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing
about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which
allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my
account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
I want to share some
pieces of parts of me—yes, I did just say that…AGAIN.
By John Irvin
I’m
having a short book reading out of Book 1: Hidden Lake’s Light in my Magic’s Time
Split series—you know, the Perma-free book? Perma-free is exactly what it
sounds like: permanently free.
I know
some writers believe no writer should have to give away their books for free.
Others think, maybe giving away your first couple might advance you. I can see
both sides of the point of views.
So, I’m
not sure which side I’d ascribe to, except I am giving away this book for free.
It’s an e-book, so it doesn’t cost me—except for the cover art.
But
anyways, go check out the reading:
To be honest, I enjoy last week’s
reading. It was the first time I’d done that. Of course, I couldn’t see your
faces—but, I could imagine them!
I’m
finishing up reading two books.
Most avid readers admit to doing
this—I’m just being honest. But most of the time, I’m reading more than one
book. Life is just too short, you might say. Sometimes, I’ll try to force
myself to focus on one book. But that doesn’t last long.
This past month I’ve been reading Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, Writing the Fiction Series by Karen Wiesner, The Fire Unseen by Andrew Jaxson, and Rapture by Don Montgomery.
They’ve all been good. I finished
Rapture and Sorcerer’s Stone just recently, I’m almost finished with The Fire
Unseen.
Yes, I know, I was born at the end
of the 80s, so I should have been on the bandwagon with the kids who grew up in
the 90s and already read the Harry Potter series. Well, some of us are “late”
at things.
I must say, even though I’m 30 years
old, I still enjoyed the kid’s story. I’m looking forward to reading the rest
of the series.
But, I do want to finish the other
two first before starting a new one—we’ll see how long that lasts.
And now, the vlog transcript.
John Irvin, Author
Journey Series
Episode 8, Reading
Excerpts Part 2
Welcome back to John Irvin, Author Journey Series, Episode 8,
Reading Excerpts Part 2. With last week’s response, I’m looking forward to this
next read.
I may just enjoy reading my stories. Of course, being an
introvert and in the centre of attention has its qualms. But, right now, I
can’t see your faces, so that makes it a little easier.
Today I’ll be reading out of Magic’s Time Split, Book 1:
Hidden Lake’s Light. Next week, for Part 3, I’ll be reading an excerpt from my
Patreon exclusive series: Ikkilion Chronicles.
And now, an excerpt from Hidden
Lake’s Light. There may be some
spoilers ahead, just to warn you.
Jessica
pointed in the direction of a clump of trees off behind the City Hall cabin.
Levi followed that long, slender index finger to the site
it was directing him to. He caught his breath when he saw them—two shadows
sneaking through the trees away from the camp.
They
twisted under the lower branches, slipping through the bushes, stalking down to
the lake about fifty yards from the guards’ position.
“Who do you suppose they are?” Jessica whispered.
Levi shrugged, sliding off his perch and crouching behind
the bottom of the resting log.
Following his lead, Jessica peered over his shoulder.
At that moment, two beams of light flooded the distant
surface of the lake.
“We know for one thing, they’re not the Indians. They’re
part of our group.” Levi surmised. Eyes narrowed, he started forward.
“Where are you going?” Jessica grabbed his shirt sleeve
and tugged.
“Going to see who they are,” he looked back at her.
“It’s probably just one of the married couples wanting to
have a game of midnight
skinny-dipping.”
Levi froze.
This could be true, he mused. But why would they be
taking the flashlights into the water?
The expedition team brought waterproof flashlights
naturally, but midnight scuba
diving didn’t add up.
The two figures weren’t taking their clothes off either.
Instead, they were tromping into the water, fully-clothed, holding their lights
pointed straight ahead.
“I think it’s safe to say, they’re not skinny-dipping,”
Levi whispered in Jessica’s ear. He then started forward again, keeping low
while he charged down the shoreline.
Jessica gave a huff before taking off after her best
friend. As much as she didn’t want to meddle in other people’s business, she
had to admit, she was curious why these two decided to explore the bottom of
the lake while everyone else was asleep.
“Hurry,” Levi called back, his voice just above a
whisper. He sloshed into the waves, keeping his gaze on the two beams of light
now fading beneath the surface. “Maybe we can follow them.”
Jessica arrived at the spot, studying the shapes below.
“You really want to swim down there this late at night?
Why don’t we just wait till they come back up and ask them what the heck
they’re doing?”
“Because,” Levi bared his teeth. “That would take all the
fun out of it.”
“Well, we at least need someone still up here standing
watch.”
“Good idea,” he nodded, standing waist deep in the water
already. He turned and met her gaze. “You wait here, I’ll be back.” With that
he lowered himself until the waves rushed over the top of his head.
Letting out an exasperated breath of air, Jessica crossed
her arms, her head swiveling from side to side. Everything was too quiet for
her comfort.
A shadow stepped out of one of the tents back in the
middle of the settlement.
She knew from the tent it was Gael. Watching him stroll
up to the town’s group of out-houses, she figured he was just on a midnight visit to the john. Turning back to the lapping
waves, she could barely make out the flashlight beams.
Wow the lake is deep, she concluded. And this close to
land too.
The lights were gone in a blink.
Jessica realised her hands were clinging to her own arms,
her mouth holding her breath. She took in a steady breath, forcing herself to
remain calm, but her mind started searching the back spaces where all the
worst-case scenarios loved to wait for moments exactly like this.
“Jess?” Gael’s voice was close enough to hack away the
cobwebs stringing over her thoughts.
She turned, stopping herself before she gasped.
Gael was almost on top of her.
How had he finished his business, noticed her, then
gotten so close without her even hearing him?
“Gael,” she responded, her tone high-pitched.
“What are you doing way over here?” Both his eyebrows
were creating a semicircle disconnected in the middle over his forehead.
“Where’s Levi?” His gray eyes bounced from the point on the lake’s surface
where she’d been staring then back to her.
“Umm…” Good job, Jess. That sounded convincing.
Gael stopped within three feet of her. “Jess? What’s
going on?”
“Well…” You’re doing great. “We saw two figures go diving
down there.” She pointed to the spot where she’d last seen the flashlights.
“Levi went after them. I guess they’re at the bottom of the lake—maybe found a
cave—because I can’t see the lights anymore.”
“Why didn’t y’all let me know?” Gael’s stare was now
glued to the water.
“I don’t know,” she flapped her hands in the air. “It was
a spur of the moment decision I guess. I told him we probably should, but he
was too intent on following them.”
“I should probably go after them,” Gael breathed, he
could hear his blood taking his pulse by storm.
“I want to go with you,” she blurted out, grabbing his
shirt sleeve when he tossed off his shoes.
Taking the first two steps into the cool water, Gael
paused and met her frantic stare. He knew there would be no forcing her to
stay. With a nod, he waved in the direction of the camp.
“Wake somebody up to stand guard while we’re gone. I’ll
wait.”
Without another word, Jessica dashed back to the tents,
woke the head of the Ferris household up, and informed him what was going on in
as few words as possible. Then she stormed the shore diving into the water at
Gael’s side.
He had to grab her by the shoulders and make her look
into his eyes.
“Quietly, Hon,” his drawl would have a soothing effect on
anyone’s nerves. “We need to go in together. Take my hand, we’ll find them,
don’t worry. Levi’s fine.”
She nodded, accepting the extended hand.
The two of them tread deeper into the water—their hair
standing up on the back of their necks, sending goose bumps down their spine.
Uncertain whether it was the water’s temperature or their nerves, they pushed
on.
And that’s all for today’s book reading. Come back next week and I’ll have
the next one running.
So, please subscribe, drop by my website through the link below, subscribe
for my newsletter, shoot me a message—I try to always respond in a timely matter.
Until next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you
should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any
time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing
about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which
allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my
account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
Today, over on YouTube,
I’ll be covering the rest of my works I’ve published in the past three years.
By John Irvin
Already
the third week into January, time is already flying by. The publication date
for Longevity, Book 2: Independence is approaching fast and I still have a few loose ends to tie up.
Yeehaw!
Today’s
vlog is published on YouTube, check it out here. I hope you can tolerate my
lame speaking skills, I write better than I talk.
I have covered the Longevity series,
the Magic’s Time Split series, and my StarQuest Anthology. Beyond that, today
I’m covering my Mermaid Seas Trilogy and several other short works. I have quite
a few more, so now that I’m recording the video, I’m beginning to wonder if I
should perhaps add a Part 4 to this opening YouTube series.
I’m trying to keep the videos to an
average of 5 minutes.
It’s been a busy month already to
say the least.
But, I feel more like an
authorpreneur and CEO of my own business. Because that’s what business is:
business. No pun intended. No, nothing like the Harry Potter pun I read the
other day, you gotta watch out for those, they Slytherin.
Sorry. Moving on.
This morning, I’m working on the
second draft to Book 3, As Flesh Rots, in my Magic’s Time Split series. Next
week will be the second draft for Book 4, When Nights Bleed. After that I’m
writing the next installation of the Ikkilion Chronicles for my Patreon backers.
So the rest of my January is booked
in my writing domain.
I’m also gathering more volunteers
for my GoFundMe Fundraiser Launch Team set for March. The plan is to have a
pre-launch party, get up to 15 volunteer members for the team and make sure they’re
all on the same page. We hope to gather a good chunk of pre-launch pledges.
Looking for a team…
All funds raised in this campaign
will only be sent on the expenses for and related to the John Irvin Author Book
Tour 2020. That is set for August and could tentatively take me all the way to Los Angeles! Fingers crossed.
I’ll keep sharing more info on this
as the Launch Day approaches.
Teams make faster progress.
Backers will be placed in tiered
levels, depending on the amount they can give. Believe me, every dollar counts,
so whatever can be given is appreciated. Each tier gets a reward, each reward
stacked on top of the previous the higher the amount reaches in the stacked
tiers.
It’s been done before, many
entrepreneurs in this day and age use crowdfunding to startup their businesses.
I’ve done a ton of reading and research on this topic and am finally using this
medium in hopes to see my Author dream come into fruition.
My books may be fiction, but I do
believe there is a message—even a small one—in each story. There is always the
quote I love reciting, I think C.S. Lewis said it, if not, I apologize.
“Fairy tales are not real because
they tell us dragons are real. Fairy tales are real because they teach us
dragons can be beaten.”
If you know the real person who said
that, let me know. Thank you ahead of time.
If you enjoyed this post, you
should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any
time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing
about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which
allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my
account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
I’ll be talking about my
Magic’s Time Split series, my Ikkilion Chronicles, and my Longevity
series, and several other books in my vlog for a three-part video.
By John Irvin
It’s a NEW DECADE!
Yes, I know, I missed last week’s
blog. I did get the vlog out though. So you can check that in the link shared
at the bottom of this blog.
So today
is the first blog post of 2020, the second YouTube video for 2020 is out now,
too. Things are getting off to a good start. I’ve split up these two weeks into
two parts.
The Pilot
episode for my Ikkilion Chronicles was aired last Friday, got my first Patreon
backer for it, too. Yes, it was exciting. Now, only 99 supporters to go and
I’ll reach my monthly goal there.
I’m
finishing up the first draft of Book 3, Wandering, in Longevity—I’m a little
behind in that, thanks to the holidays and the fact that the ending scene is
the hardest to write. I’m a bit sentimental, but there’s a favourite character
I don’t want to say good-bye to. Does that make sense?
Author on Vacation
I was
actually on New Year’s vacation to Kentucky last week, so things were a bit haywire when
it came to my writing and author business. You grab the times as you go,
whenever they chance to pop up.
We
authors do not get vacation though, for we are always writing or thinking about
writing.
But, now that I’m home in Florida, I’ll be continuing the Ikkilion Chronicles
and scheduling them ahead of time for their weekly submissions. My Author
Journey has taken on a new level. Every level I reach, it’s been fun and
stressful, but then after awhile, it’s not as hard—funny how life is like that.
Every Master was an Apprentice
You are afraid to start something,
because you feel unready or scared you’ll fail. But then you start, and yes,
you hit those speed bumps and tumble out on your butt. You get back up and keep
pushing through. After awhile, you’ve learned all the ends and outs of that
level and it’s now no longer so hard. It’s more a routine, in fact.
Every master of anything must first
begin as an apprentice.
Same goes with running an
authorpreneur business. This is the writing life, and just like any life of
freedom, we must take full responsibility of it. We must become CEOs of our own
work.
Every one has their journeys to
take. This is mine. I’m finally learning to appreciate and to enjoy each step.
Do I wish I was already making a six
figure living as an author? Yes, who wouldn’t? But I know, I’ll get there soon
enough. Right now, I need to focus on today, hone my skills, and keep learning.
We must all keep learning, if we are
to succeed. Isn’t that right?
Anyways, I hope you have an amazing Friday tomorrow, subscribe to my newsletter below and you’ll get personal emails on Fridays. Here’s the link to last week’s YouTube vlog: Check Out My YouTube!
If you enjoyed this post, you
should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any
time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing
about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which
allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my
account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
