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Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote over 12K, a short story for an anthology and then I started on the novel I’m doing the traveling for. Since this week I won’t be writing at all to research some more, I thought I’d write down the part set in Romania before I move on to some other place.

Yes, I have plenty of notes, but I might start to confuse them, so I decided to have a headstart! Next week I should be able to continue and finish by the end of the month. Wordcount rises when I write longer works, so I can catch up on the two lost weeks! 😉

Well, they weren’t completely lost. They were research trips. And I’m practically done for now. I may do another one in October, but I haven’t decided where or how yet. Although I’m thinking train, like, a Europass ticket, although I may also improvise. We’ll see.

The newsletter goes out tomorrow and has some reading recommendations! You can still subscribe on the publisher’s page!

As soon as I put on the publisher’s hat again, I will do a cover reveal. Yes, I’m having some Silvery Earth covers redone once again, since the awesome artist who made the Quests covers is available again. So when I’ll update the prices on the paperbacks, I hope to upload also the new covers for these 10 books.

And that’s all for today! Have a great week!

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by Barb on 31/05/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 31/05/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/05/31/wednesday-weekly-roundup-190/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote less than 7K, but I had a busy weekend, so I couldn’t catch up on writing. Also, I realized I had to rewrite a good portion of the current project, and that, too, took time. Hopefully this week I’ll be able to write full speed and finish this by the weekend. If not, I have another week before moving on.

On Saturday I went to the ARF!Festival, a comic con for professionals, more than readers. There are no cosplayers hanging out, and I didn’t see any publisher selling their books, although they did have tables where their authors signed copies. There were a few collectible booths as well, but mostly it was artists and indie authors showing off their works. I didn’t see their call for the self-area on time, so I’m aiming for next year. This will give me time to prepare a couple more things to put on the table!

On Sunday we celebrated my sister’s birthday, so I didn’t have much time to write. But I got some time to spend with Dear Nephew who is now 18 and taller than me. Sigh.

I gave up on that non-fiction, so I may get back to fiction soon. For now I’ll watch movies instead, since I have plenty of DVDs to keep me inspired! Stay tuned for more reading recommendations…

As you can see from the badge in the sidebar, I’m a IASFA member. You can sign up for the readers’ newsletter that will let you know of free or 99c books by members, but they’re also having a Kindle Fire HD10 – US Only Giveaway – enter it if you’re in the right country! 🙂

I will probably enter some book in the promo after the summer. I haven’t chosen which and when yet, since I haven’t put the publisher’s hat on – and won’t until the last week of June. Trust me, it’s heaven! 😀 But then I’ll be off Day Job and I’ll decide what to do with the rest of the year, no new titles before the fall, but I may start considering promos for the old titles.

Meanwhile I shall go back to writing! Have a great week!

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by Barb on 17/05/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 17/05/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/05/17/wednesday-weekly-roundup-188/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote zero words of fiction, but it was expected, since I was traveling. I took loads of notes, though, and got ideas for at least two short stories besides the novel that was the reason for this research trip. I did a tour of Romania, through Transylvania, Bucovina and Moldova, three very different regions – and took a thousand pics with both my phone and my camera (although at some point it took weird pictures, I don’t know what I touched, but a monastery has a few weird pics… pity, because it looked like a castle, and I could have used it on some cover, LOL!).

As I came back on Monday, I needed a couple of days to sort those notes and edit a novella I plan to submit, so I’ll hopefully resume writing today, one of those stories, probably. And some notes for the novel that I won’t start until the summer, but it’s slowly taking shape in my head.

Traveling again felt nice, it was a small group of 15, and the guide was really nice. We visited towns, painted (outside) monasteries, and went across the Carpathians, like, four times – including Borgo Pass of Bram Stoker’s book. Which is fiction, of course. There’s no “count” in Romania, only “vovoid”, and there’s no castle beyond Borgo Pass (besides, Bucovina starts shortly after, so it’s no longer Transylvania!).

I did like Castle Bran, a.k.a. Dracula’s castle, because it’s medieval, originally built by the Teutonic Knights, and I don’t care much about all the fuss they did about it after the above novel came out. Well, at least they repaired it! And it still belongs to the last descendant of the Romanian royal family – such an interesting history I was totally oblivious to because it’s too recent… oh, well, now I know more about it! 🙂

This week I’m still off day job, so I should be able to catch up on some writing. Meanwhile wishing you a wonderful week!

by Barb on 03/05/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 03/05/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/05/03/wednesday-weekly-roundup-186/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


And with another 11K I wrapped up the short novel right on time on Sunday, and sent it off to Mighty Editor with the short stories I wrote in the first three months of the year. Next week I’ll have to go through the edits of a manuscript I plan on submitting, then I’ll probably write a few more shorts during the month of May.

When I’ll also start another online workshop, Making a Living with Novels, since longer stories seem to be better for me. Whether novellas or novels, I have more fun and write more than with shorts. Okay, I procrastinate less between projects since they take longer to write, LOL!

There are plenty more interesting workshops in that batch in case you’re interested. And speaking of those workshop assignments, I did the Depth workshop a long time ago, before it was on Teachable… And I was probably in that 1% who wasn’t negative on that assignment. Because either I don’t have grudges with exes, or because I’m not a beginner!

I did mention I’ve been married to Mr.Writing for decades, didn’t I? The interference of Mr.Publisher had kinda ruined the relationship, that’s why he’s been put in a corner this year. His assistant, Mr. Marketing, really got on my nerves. I’ll get back to them next year, probably.

I got more reading in, so check my recommendations on Bookbub. That’s all for today! Have a great week! 🙂

by Barb on 26/04/2023  •  Permalink
Posted in indie publishing, reading, writing projects

Posted by Barb on 26/04/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/04/26/wednesday-weekly-roundup-185/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Slow and steady, I added another almost-8K words to the novel. I should finish Draft 0 by Sunday so I can go through it next week and send it off the Mighty Editor the following week. Meanwhile she has the short stories from the challenge to keep her busy, LOL!

But now I should have written my first 100K for the year. But this is a marathon, so if I don’t reach my goal, I won’t cry. Also, on the first week of May I’ll try to figure out if I want to publish something this year of leave everything for next year. A sabbatical would be good, I guess!

The sabbatical is only from publishing, of course. I need to have fun writing again, with no deadlines or projected “marketing” campaigns (yeah, me and Mr. Marketing still don’t get along). I’m still a prolific writer who finishes what she starts, I’m just less in a hurry to share those stories with the world, that’s all!

And that’s all in this fairly cold spring… Have a great week!

by Barb on 19/04/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 19/04/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/04/19/wednesday-weekly-roundup-184/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote almost 11K, then yesterday I took a break to go through the manuscript from the beginning, to make sure I tied up all the lose ends. No, it’s not done, but I needed to remind myself what I’d done. Also, it’s part of a series but standalone, and I haven’t decided yet if I should re-read the other books of the series or not.

Considering that I’m making some kind of progress on my TBR list (although I keep adding to it by backing Kickstarters, sigh!), I’m not too keen on going back to older stories, mostly because every time I do, I find typos and groan. Maybe I should just grab those paperbacks, go throught them and re-upload the corrected version.

I used to go through the paperbacks (when I could order proofs through Createspace) since on paper typos jump out better than on Kindle, but I haven’t done it since I was forcefully moved to KDPpring. I’m a slow reader, and I’m trying to take down my TBR pile (especially on Kindle, it’s invisible, but it’s still a two-column A4 sheet of titles, and then some), so if I use some of that limited reading time to re-read my old books, I’ll never get the reading done!

Anyhow, I’m still writing and still tinkering with cover art, even though I might end up not using them. They’re good for inspiration, though, so I’ll keep doing those mock covers until I get a new laptop and have to learn to use the new one with the digital pen and tablet!

That’s all for today! Have a great week!

by Barb on 12/04/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 12/04/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/04/12/wednesday-weekly-roundup-183/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote a little over 8K new words but the whole manuscript is already at 14.6K, since I integrated a short story I wrote back in November into it. And like I mentioned to Tori in the comments, I’m having fun again writing a longer work.

Publishing burnout is really a thing. I read of another friend who wrote two books but can’t bring himself to publish them just yet. Another friend has revamped his website, so he should be back on track soon. I’m sure Tori will get back to writing soon as well, and it’s fine if we both take a year off from publishing. It will give time to things to settle in publishing and elsewhere. And eventually we shall find our readers! 🙂

Today marks the 20th anniversary of a writing workshop I did in Northern Italy, where I met my Jedi twin (and challenge partner) Fulvio Gatti. Boy oh boy, so many things happened in the past twenty years! I might have been more prolific, but he earned more accolades and awards – and sold more short stories, but then, I don’t submit that many, LOL!

What can I say… sometimes a theme of an anthology inspires me enough to write something, but sometimes I just take the prompt and write it months or years later, so I end up not submitting it anywhere. Maybe it’s the start of a new series, or a prequel to an old one, or just another story in a universe I already created.

Even the stories I wrote for the challenge, only a few will be submitted to anthologies as soon as Mighty Editor goes through them. Others work as prequels of books I still have to write, or are corollary of series I have already wrapped. And since I plan on doing a volume of original stories, I’m not sending them out at all, so you’ll be able to have the exclusivity whenever I publish them.

So there, these are my news… Have a great week, and (if you celebrate it) Happy Easter! I’ll probably spend the two days off writing my next novel! 😀

by Barb on 05/04/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 05/04/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/04/05/wednesday-weekly-roundup-182/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week after writing 4500words (for a yearly total of almost 72K) I decided I had enough of short stories and wanted to send a longer work to Mighty Editor by the end of April. So the short story I was writing was set aside and I decided what to write next.

Again, I have no idea of when these stories will be published. I need time to have Mighty Editor go through them and proofread them. Of course I already have the covers, because it’s a form of brainstorming for me, though! 😀 But I doubt I’ll put anything out anytime soon.

Maybe I’ll start in the summer, maybe in September. I don’t know, and I don’t want to think about it at this time. I want to enjoy writing and experiment while I try to catch up with my reading – and my TBR pile never goes down because I keep backing Kickstarters and getting new books, but I shall overcome!

Anyhow, in September I’ll definitely try to make publishing plans for 2024 and, hopefully, beyond. Meanwhile I shall dive back into writing longer works, possibly using a couple of those shorts as starting points. That’s all for today! Have a great week!

by Barb on 29/03/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 29/03/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/wednesday-weekly-roundup-181/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote a whopping 11K and the longest story of this lot (still under 10K), which also gave me a couple of ideas for one of the longer projects I have in mind. Until the end of the month I’m writing a few more shorts, probably until Easter, then I’ll move on to longer works, so my wordcount should increase accordingly.

I also checked what is ready and what is still to be done. I might be able to publish six titles in the second half of this year, all standalone, and keep the next mini-series for next year (although I’ll obviously start writing them now). I will probably start in July with a novella, then I have short story collections, serial novels and a couple of standalone short novels. Stay tuned!

I spent some time checking publishers, since in May there will be a comic con where we can have professional meeting. I hope to see a strip in print in Italy, since at the moment they’re all only in English (except for Silvery Earth Kids). This is because I didn’t see their call for the self-area on time, but they kept advertising these “jobs”, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Next year I hope to be able to book a table in the self-area. I had actually booked it in 2020, when everything was canceled. Back then they had told me they’d keep me on file for future editions, but clearly they forgot, so two more cons happened and I skipped them. Oh, well. Next year hopefully I’ll have also at least another book to bring!

I have booked a couple of trips, so I’ll be able to take a break soon. Now it’s back to the routine… Have a great week!

by Barb on 22/03/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 22/03/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/03/22/wednesday-weekly-roundup-180/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote almost 8K, but ended up with just a 6500 words story. Yeah, lots of false starts on that one, but eventually I wrote it, LOL! This week I’m off Day Job and going through the edited work as well as writing the last story of the challenge. By next week I should have a clearer idea of what I will be able to publish this year, if any.

Maybe I should just take a sabbatical from publishing while I try to figure out how to organize myself. Hopefully this year I’ll find a way to quit the day job I’ve had for 35 years – I mean, steady jobs are no longer an option and I certainly don’t cling to it like a madwoman, why can’t I get rid of it in a timely manner? Sigh.

I’m also trying to organize this year’s trips, but already I see trouble in that all the tours I wanted to do seem to be confirmed on the same dates – end of May – and “programmed but not confirmed” for the end of April. Unless I can do one in September or October, I guess I’ll have to choose which one is more urgent. Or safer, since there’s still a war going on in Europe and I’m sticking to Europe for now.

I managed to finish and recommend a couple of books on Bookbub, so check them out! 🙂 And I’m continuing my “waves” on Instagram, presenting my series, and whenever I finish a series, I do a video for TikTok as well. If I’m not too busy decluttering the house, I might do a few more drawings this week as well.

And that’s all for today! Have a great week!

by Barb on 15/03/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 15/03/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/03/15/wednesday-weekly-roundup-179/

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