Monthly Archives: November 2015

Planning Makes Me Happy

As a Virgo, I guess it’s pretty stereotypical to be having fun with planning. In this case, it’s also a necessity for getting things done and enjoying myself through the remainder of 2015! I have five big projects going on, all of which are timely and of key importance during the next month or so. They are: my book launch for Centered In Spirit: Crafting Your Daily Practice, our Feline Dreamers online courses (which start in January), fully participating in the biz coaching program I’m taking, holiday preparations & celebrations, and home-tending (which includes, finally, our living room/kitchen painting project).

Wow. That’s a lot on my plate.

I decided that to keep myself sane and as stress free as possible, I needed to organize all the associated tasks. Yesterday BlackLion and I had a fantastic planning meeting, where we detailed all the tasks that need to be done for the book launch and online courses. We started using an app called Asana to organize these complex projects, and so far I love it.

Over the next few days, I plan to set up my other projects in the same program, so I’ll have everything all in one place.

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Photo of Starcat and ElvenTiger by G.E. Nelson Photography.

I also accomplished pretty much everything on my list of mini goals for the week. I haven’t quite wrapped up my Resources list for the book, but that will be done today or tomorrow. Everything else is done: marketing plan, my Kind Over Matter post for December, and we had a fantastic photo shoot for the cover! This is a picture of my daughter (aka the model for my book covers) and I on the porch of the farmhouse where we did the photo shoot. I’m so thankful that it went so well, and the weather, while cold, was sunny and pretty.

So, for this week, here are my mini-goals:

  • Write and update copy for the book (blurb for back cover, author bio, etc.).
  • Work on my second-round book edit.
  • Write and update marketing material for our January online courses.
  • Set up plans in Asana for holiday preparations and house project.

I hope you have a wonderful and productive week, and for those finishing up NaNo, you can do it!!!

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Feeling Thankful and Blessed

As we begin the Thanksgiving week here in the U.S., I’m feeling especially blessed. I’m thankful for the way my book editing is going. I’m grateful for the business coaching I’m receiving, and all that I’m learning. I’m so very thankful that I love my life and that I’m able to be creative every day. Huzzah!

BlackLion is editing Centered In Spirit: Crafting Your Daily Practice, which is going well. The Resources section is coming along nicely. I wrote draft copy for one of our January offerings for Feline Dreamers, and I’m awaiting feedback from my biz coach and classmates.

This week is a busy one, due to the holiday and to some extra work for my part-time gig (covering for others who are taking time off). I’ve set my writing and biz goals fairly low, so I don’t get too overwhelmed.

Here are my mini-goals for the week:

  • Finish the Resources section of my book.
  • Have a successful book cover photo shoot on Wednesday (I’m really excited about this!).
  • Write up a marketing plan, with deadlines, for our January offerings.
  • Write and send my Kind Over Matter post for December.

Congratulations to those of you who have finished NaNoWriMo already, and good luck to everyone on a productive and joyful week!

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Making Steady Progress

novembersunsetThings are going well with the book editing on Centered In Spirit: Crafting Your Daily Practice. I’m moving right along on that, and I’m also creating the Resources section as I go. When I posted on Facebook about finishing the book, a lot of folks were excited and wanted to know more.

My next big task for the week is writing promotional copy, both for the book and for our upcoming courses that we’ll be offering in January. I’ll be working on that over the next couple of days.

I’ve also been reading Dr. Wayne Dyer’s autobiography, I Can See Clearly Now, which is excellent. I’ve been reading and workshopping the book Overcoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny, which my business coach gave to the entire class. I’m loving it so far! I’ve had a lot of very useful insights recently, between the ideas in those two books and a terrific conversation with one of the women in my coaching course.

So, I’m making steady progress toward my goals, and I’m very thankful. I only wish there were more hours in the day! I’m sure you can relate. Onward and upward!

Have a great week!

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Exciting News to Share!

My thrilling news for today is that I’ve finished the draft of my third book, Centered In Spirit: Crafting Your Daily Practice. Woo hoo!!! No, this wasn’t a NaNo project. I’ve been working on it in a focused way for many months, and have had it as a concept for several years. I’m delighted to finally be finished writing it!

My final word count is 43,896, which fits well into my target range of somewhere between 35K and 50K. Perfect for nonfiction.

So now I’m devoting myself to editing the manuscript. We also have the photo shoot for the book’s cover later this week.

I’m working on creating our Feline Dreamers free virtual event for January, and starting to write copy to help promote it. Last week I got caught up on blogging at Starcat’s Corner, and I hope to stay on track. I have SASS Circle homework to do (for the biz coaching course I’m taking), and lots of family activities going on. It promises to be a busy week, but I’m getting pretty good at prioritizing my writing and business, so I’m hopeful.

I hope your week flows smoothly, and if you’re doing NaNoWriMo, that you’re feeling inspired as we enter the last half of the month. Blessings!

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Creation Amidst Chaos

treeheartWell, not chaos, exactly. It sounded like a cool title, though.

I’ve actually been creating amidst lots of family activities – some fun, some sorrowful. We had a family member’s funeral to attend this week, which is always sad, though it was also a celebration of a man well-loved. I helped host a family gathering afterwards. I brought my daughter to her archery class yesterday, and today I had fun plans with my parents. So, not as much time for writing and creating as I would have liked thus far this week, but I have still been making some good progress.

I’m now at a total of 40,399 words on my WIP, with probably less than 5K more to go. That feels good. I still want to finish it by the end of the week, which will involve some dedicated time working on it this weekend.  Even though I’ve been busy, I’ve had two walks so far this week. On one of them, BlackLion and I did some great brainstorming on the offerings we’re creating for Feline Dreamers for 2016. I’m keeping up with the homework from my coaching course. My morning meditation practice is still going great.

That’s all so far this week, but I consider it progress. I’m thankful I can be there for my family members when they need me, too. All is well.

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In Which a Title Is Revealed

heathwalkHi everyone! I hope your week has been productive, like mine. My most exciting thing to report is that I have a title for my WIP! It is a book about creating and maintaining a daily spiritual practice, but I hadn’t yet found a catchy title, so I’ve just been calling it DSP (for daily spiritual practice). Well, after some brainstorming and inspiration, the title has been chosen.

*drumroll please*

The new book will be called Centered In Spirit: Crafting Your Daily Practice. Speaking of the book, I made some good progress on it this week. I’m now at a grand total of 39,524 words, and the end is definitely in sight.

The retreat I attended earlier this week was fantastic, and I’ve been integrating the lessons and creating action plans. I’ve drafted, with help from BlackLion, a “road map” for Feline Dreamers for 2016. It’s both exciting and overwhelming at the same time. But I feel confident we can accomplish our goals, especially with the accountability and know-how that are now at our fingertips thanks to the coaching program.

We also set up our affiliate links this week for the Leonie Dawson 2016 planners, which are now available for ordering. I love her planners so much that I became one of her “worldwide ambassadors.” Here’s the link if you’d like to check them out. I can’t wait to get mine!

I got back to blogging, with a simple post on Starcat’s Corner this weekend. I’ve planned my next few posts and just need to write them. Hopefully I can get fully back on track this week. I’ve also been keeping up with exercising by taking walks and swimming at the fitness center. Life is good.

Here’s my list of mini-goals for the week:

  • Finish the first draft of my WIP.
  • Come up with a free offering (a virtual event) that will lead into our Alchemy of Core Beliefs course, which we’ll be offering again in mid-January.
  • Keep up with my SASS Circle coaching program homework.
  • Stay on track with my new blogging plan and schedule.

I wish you a week full of words and inspiration!

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Finding the Compass

The two-day biz retreat with my awesome coach and a tribe of super women was AMAZING! It was all I had hoped for, and more. I feel like I’ve found the direction I needed so badly – actually, I feel like I’ve found a magickal compass that will keep me moving forward for many years.

If you’re trying to learn the marketing and promotion piece on your own, and want to build your writing (and perhaps other creative pursuits) into a sustainable business, I can’t emphasize enough how valuable it is to hire a coach. I know, I know, it costs money – money you aren’t yet making from writing. I let that stop me for a long time. But now that I’ve taken the leap, I’m so thrilled and I can see how much this will help me. I’m so excited for 2016 and where my business will go. You should totally try it.

*steps off soapbox*

Anyway, besides attending and being present for the retreat, what have I been up to? I took walks both days, during the lunch break, so that feels good. Today I worked on my WIP, and got in 1108 new words. I’ve been reading books that are inspiring my work, like Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book on creativity, called Big Magic, and a couple others that are good so far. I’ve been brainstorming about the name for my WIP, but haven’t really found anything that rocks my world yet. I’ll keep you posted on that.

In future posts, I’m sure I’ll have lots of new action items that stem from the retreat. I came out of it knowing that I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m also so excited and thrilled to do it. I’m living my dreams!

How about you? For the WriMos in the group, how’s your word count. Go,  you! You’ve got this!

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Time to Retreat!

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I was a swamp faerie for Halloween. Creepy…

This coming week, as many writers get started on NaNoWriMo, I’ll be at a two-day retreat focusing on planning for my business for 2016. It’s part of the coaching course I’m taking, and I’m VERY excited about it! I don’t have to travel, as the retreat is local to me, but I’ll certainly be setting aside those two full days for doing this work, and then some more time afterwards to process it all. It’s gonna be fantastic!

I decided not to do NaNo this year, because I’m busy with the coaching course, and with finishing up my current non-fiction WIP. Oh yeah, and there are those two fiction drafts that I wrote during the previous two Novembers, that still need to be revised and gotten ready for publishing at some point…

So, this week, besides the retreat, I want to focus on finishing up my WIP draft. I’m now at 37,000 words total, and I probably have about 5,000 or so more to go. I still haven’t gotten back on track with blogging over at Starcat’s Corner, so that’s another priority I have for this coming week.

Here’s my list of mini-goals for the week:

  • Work on my DSP book.
  • Come up with an awesome title for the DSP book.
  • Attend the SASS Circle retreat and allow time for integrating what I learn there.
  • Get back on track with my new blogging plan and schedule.

I hope you have a productive week, and if you’re doing NaNoWriMo, lots of words! I’ll be here cheering you on from the sidelines. Go, you!

 

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