Starcat's Writing Desk

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!

This week has been a bit chaotic. Plans are changing, people in our community are having struggles that affect us in some ways, I have a lot on my plate. My tools (laptop and smart phone) are on the fritz, a bit. Even so, I’ve been feeling really positive and achieving most of the things I set out to do. “I’m rockin’ it,” is how I described it to Quester earlier today. I’m not saying that to brag, but just to acknowledge that I’m in a good space in my life and in my mindset, and that my top priorities (family, writing, my business, exercise, etc.) are solid.

So far this week I’ve written 1,752 new words on my WIP. I’ve been swimming – my dear friend got me a membership to a local fitness center with a pool! – and taken a lovely walk in the woods. My work on my coaching course is going really well. I’ve been listening to recordings from the coaching library, which is our assignment for the week. I’m actively brainstorming ideas for my book cover and title. My daily meditation and journal writing is going well.

We have some guests coming in from out of town starting tomorrow, so we’ll see how the rest of the week goes. I still plan to work on my WIP, despite having some further troubles with my laptop. I will keep up with my coaching course work, and make progress on the book title and such. I’ll also have fun – there are some Halloween parties in the works as well!

I hope the rest of your week is full of fun and inner peace, even if things get crazy all around you. Blessings!

I’m happy to report that I’ve been making great strides on my WIP all week. I feel like I’ve stopped struggling with this one and really found my groove. My WIP word count (in total) is now, 34,268, which means that this week I’ve written 5,618 words. That’s great progress! Woo hoo!

The gears are turning in other aspects of my life, too. I’ve been exercising this week, and eating healthy foods. My morning meditation is going extremely well. I created and scheduled my next Starcat’s Notebook newsletter (it goes out tomorrow morning). We had our first call for the coaching group, which was awesome. I’m on track with my homework for that, and very much looking forward to our upcoming in-person retreat. I mean, I’m so excited I have to keep myself from jumping up and down with glee when I think of it! Seriously.

The only area where I haven’t really been on track is with my blogging. I intended to write two posts for Starcat’s Corner, this week, and I haven’t done any. Ah well, another week is coming. I’ll add blogging to this week’s mini-goals and not worry about it, because that’s how I roll.  I did, however, write a blog post for Feline Dreamers that is garnering some positive feedback, so that feels good.

Well, we also haven’t gotten the paint for the house yet, but that’s because Quester had to stay up north an extra couple of days. I’m sure we’ll get to it soon. I need to figure out, in this crazy schedule of mine, just when we’re going to have time to paint. Hmm.

Here are my updated mini-goals for this week:

• Work on my DSP book every day.
• Keep on track with my SASS Circle coaching group homework.
• Get back on track with my new blogging plan and schedule.
• Get in touch with my photographer to schedule time for a DSP book cover shoot.
• Go with Quester to get paint for our interior walls.

Have a terrific week. Happy Halloween and/or Blessed Samhain to those who celebrate!

Hey, fellow writers and creatives! I hope your week is going along smoothly.

Mine’s been going very well. I took time to plan out my week and set my intentions on Sunday evening – which was the first session of a new weekly ritual. I shouldn’t be surprised, really, but it’s working!

I’ve been working on the Daily Spiritual Practice (DSP) book, and I just finished Chapter 3 (of 6). I’m now at nearly 30K words, and working on the final third of the book. Chapters 2 and 3 were the longest of the book, so I feel like I’ve made terrific progress. I’ve also drafted up the initial text for my Starcat’s Notebook newsletter, which should go out on Friday.

We’ve also been doing some great work on Feline Dreamers. We sent out our newsletter, and followed up with a promotion on Facebook for our guided meditations. I wrote a post for the blog, which we posted today. I’ve been networking over social media (that sounds so official! I’m really just chatting with cool people), and interacting in the Facebook group for my new coaching course.

BlackLion and I went for a lovely walk in the woods today with the dogs. Quester and I have a plan to go get our house paint (for the downstairs walls) this weekend. We’ve been making delicious meals (Indian food, garbanzo stew, veggie pot pie, and spaghetti sauce), and enjoying some family time. All in all, I think it’s going quite well, and I’m thankful.

Last time I wrote, I was still recovering from some travel and a few other events closer to home. I’m feeling like I have my energy back now, and I’m ready for what’s next!

I’m still organizing, sort of. I decided to start a Sunday night process of reviewing my upcoming week, scheduling in all of my priorities, and seeing what I might need in terms of self-care and support. This will help when my coaching program begins this coming Thursday – I know I’ll have lots of homework and projects to work on, as well as working on my WIP, blogging, and so forth. So that’s what I’ll be up to this evening, while some of my family is watching football and others are enjoying some video games.

Today I eased back into working on my book, which feels good. I only wrote 375 words today, but I read over the chapter I’m working on, and did a bit of rearranging of the various sections. It flows better now. I also finished my new vision board (pictured here), which I’d started during a workshop at the conference I attended. I love it!

Yesterday I blogged on Starcat’s Corner, which I hadn’t done for a while, and also did some blog planning for upcoming posts. I caught up on some record keeping, tracking book sales and things like that. We have our monthly Feline Dreamers newsletter all finished and scheduled to go out tomorrow. I sent in my ROW 80 sponsor post on Thursday, and I’m all caught up in my preparations for my coaching course. So I’ve achieved all my mini-goals that I set for the week.

I feel like I’m ready for the coaching course to start, and I’m committed to making good progress on the book this week as well. I am working on balancing my work with family events, household chores, and the part time work that I do at the radio station. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I feel really positive about it right now!

Mini-goals for this week:

• Work on my DSP book every day.
• Keep on track with my new blogging plan and schedule.
• Draft copy for my Starcat’s Notebook newsletter, which I’ll send out next week.
• Go with Quester to get paint for our interior walls this coming weekend. It’s a long-delayed project that I’m getting exited about! I want to have the downstairs all painted before we host the Thanksgiving feast next month.

I hope you have a creative and focused week!

I’m still recovering from our trip, and a bunch of other events that have kept me quite busy. I’ve had some good “down time,” and I’m feeling like my energy is returning. I’ve been getting good sleep, too.  As a Virgo, I sometimes find organizing to be quite calming and soothing (yes, I know, that’s weird). This week I organized some shelves in my bedroom, and filed away a bunch of paperwork that was cluttering up my desk. We gave our house a good thorough cleaning today, too. It feels (and looks) good.

I’ve also been working on getting my notes and homework from my September coaching course organized, and finalizing some of the copy I wrote, so we can use it on our website and in our newsletter. The first group call for my new coaching course is next week, so I want to have everything in order. I just know that there will be more awesome homework to do, so I need to feel caught up and ready.

Exercise is going well – I’ve been taking walks, and it feels excellent.

No, I haven’t done any writing on my WIP, but I’ll get there.

All in all, a good week so far. I hope yours is fun and productive, too!

After a bit of weirdness and Mercury retrograde messing with me, this Autumn is shaping up to be really amazing. I’ve detailed my goals below.

My biggest news is that I signed up for a 9-month coaching program, SASS Circle (which stands for Supportive and Sustainable Systems). It’s with this awesome coach, Britt Bolnick, who I’ve been working with for over a month now. I’m so excited that I took the leap to do this. I’ve been studying ethical marketing for a while on my own, but what I’ve really needed is expertise, guidance, and direction.

This will impact my writing career in that the non-fiction I write is closely tied in with Feline Dreamers. It will also help me get better at organizing my time, so I have more to devote to writing (both non-fiction and fiction). It will take our business from one that’s mostly a hobby (because we haven’t known how to take it to another level) to a real sustainable business that will help support the family. I’m beyond thrilled!

So between the coaching program and my writing plans and well, just life in general, I expect it to be a busy and productive Round. Onward and upward!

2015 Row 80 Round 4 Goals

Complete and publish current nonfiction WIP. Finish first draft of Daily Spiritual Practice (DSP) book. Revise, edit and proofread. Hand final draft off to BlackLion for formatting. Do photoshoot for cover. Hit publish in November.

Work on revising and editing The Door Is the Key book 1 (TDITK1). Finish the first pass of revisions using Rock Your Revisions. Complete re-writes and added scenes as necessary. Do the first complete proof-reading edit.

Re-read draft of Patterns in the Void and make initial revision notes.

Continue my craft & business learning. Keep up with all homework and calls for my SASS Circle coaching program. Read at least 3 books about writing and/or ethical marketing & promotion. Check out a couple of writer podcasts. Keep notes on ideas to use, and begin implementing them. Make plans for Feline Dreamers for 2016.

Complete various behind-the-scenes marketing tasks: Add my author name domain to my website(s). Add a Call to Action (CTA) to my Cultivating Self-Love e-book. Create weekday Fae Musings e-mails for our Feline Dreamers subscribers. Add new folks to both of our mailing lists.

Do my ROW 80 sponsor duties. Write an inspiring article to share. Visit my peeps each week and leave comments.

De-clutter and organize my life, creating beautiful spaces. Clean and organize my upstairs desk and filing cabinets. Continue to de-clutter and beautify our shared living spaces. Paint the living room, kitchen, and stairwell.

Focus on blogging. Post to my Starcat’s Corner blog at least twice per week, Feline Dreamers every other week, and on this blog twice per week. Write ROW 80 guest post to inspire fellow authors (and be a good sponsor!). Write, edit, and submit guest blog posts for Kind Over Matter, Facing North, and possibly other sites. Start and keep a running list of blog post ideas, drafts, and picture ideas.

Make inspiring art and music. Practice zentangling. Make cards for the holidays. Create new scrapbook pages and art journal pages. Take nature photographs to use on my websites and blog posts. Practice drumming regularly.

Expand my spiritual awareness and the integration of all aspects of my life. Pay attention to my dreams and keep records of them. Set intentions before sleep and upon waking. Meditate and do my chakra clearing daily.

Enhance my physical health. Devote time to daily exercise, including but not limited to walking, yoga, dancing, and swimming. Look into membership at the pool for the winter. Stop eating sugar. Eat less in general.

GRACEfully invite ease, purpose, and kindness into my daily life. Do things I love: write in my journal, read, do yoga, dance, spend time with loved ones, and express my gratitude.

Me doing a book signing in September.

I finally have some time, and a computer, to sit down and look back over how things went with my goals for Round 3.

This is my third year doing ROW 80 (wow), and probably my most productive summer round thus far. I feel proud of that. While I didn’t accomplish all of my goals, I did make significant progress in terms of writing and related tasks. I was able to get things done even though my summer was as busy as ever. I’m counting that as a win!

I like being able to see how I’m really making progress in my career as a writer and entrepreneur. Sometimes it feels like nothing much is happening, but by looking back over my posts here, I can see that I’m on a really powerful path toward my goals. It’s all about the journey, anyway, right? Even when things don’t go according to plan, often something new and creative and cool will come in and make things more interesting. I’m so thankful! I feel blessed to be living this life of a thriving artist. It rocks.

See below for the line-by-line goals review.

Up next, setting goals for Round 4, which will, amazingly enough, finish out 2015. Wow, time flies when you’re having fun, it’s true!

2015 Row 80 Round 3 Goals

Work on revising and editing The Door Is the Key book 1 (TDITK1).Finish the first pass of revisions using Rock Your Revisions. Complete re-writes and added scenes as necessary. Do the first complete proof-reading edit. We didn’t really do much on this goal at all this round, but I’m fine with it. I’ve decided not to write a new work for NaNoWriMo this year, and will instead be putting energy into getting this book and Patterns closer to ready for publication.

Complete current nonfiction WIP. Update outline for Daily Spiritual Practice (DSP) book to include the new ideas and direction I’ve been contemplating. Revise what I’ve written thus far. Finish first draft of DSP. Target is 5oK words or so. Starting the round, I’m at 8500 words. I’ve made a lot of progress on this draft. I did update the outline and revise what I’d written before the round began. I’m getting close to the end of the first draft. I’m now at 27,232 words, and I think the completed draft will be closer to 35K than the 50K I’d estimated. I’m pretty happy with how it’s coming along.

Finish Creative Inspiration Booster Pack and start building the new e-mail list for Starcat’s Corner website. Add my author name domain to my website(s). Done! Well, except for the part about getting my author name domain. I’ll continue that part over to Round 3. It should be simple (she said hopefully).

Create weekday Fae Musings e-mails for our Feline Dreamers subscribers. Add new folks to the mailing list. Nope, haven’t gone this route just yet. Need to ponder and see if that’s a direction we still want to go.

Re-read draft of Patterns in the Void and make initial revision notes. I started this process, but haven’t gotten very far. As mentioned above, November will be for fiction revisions.

Do my ROW 80 sponsor duties. Write an inspiring article to share. Visit my peeps each week and leave comments. Done! I enjoyed it and will be continuing as a sponsor next Round.

De-clutter and organize my life, creating beautiful spaces. Clean and organize my upstairs desk and filing cabinets. Continue to de-clutter and beautify our shared living spaces. Paint the living room, kitchen, and stairwell. Summer, as always, was busy and on-the-go. So I haven’t done anything in this regard, but now I’m feeling the urge to nest again as fall returns.

Focus on blogging. Post to my Starcat’s Corner blog at least twice per week, Feline Dreamers every other week, and on this blog twice per week. Write ROW 80 guest post to inspire fellow authors (and be a good sponsor!). Write, edit, and submit guest blog posts for Kind Over Matter, Facing North, and Moon Books. Start and keep a running list of blog post ideas, drafts, and picture ideas. I’d say I’m about 50 percent with this goal. My personal and biz blogging has really tapered off towards the end of the Round, partly due to my laptop breaking down. I’ve kept up with my guest blogging, except for Moon Books. I do have a list going, and need to add to it. Fall blog planning is certainly on my list.

Continue my craft & business learning. Read at least 3 books about writing and/or ethical marketing & promotion. Check out a couple of writer podcasts. Keep notes on ideas to use, and begin implementing them. Add a Call to Action (CTA) to my Cultivating Self-Love e-book. Wow, this goal went in a whole new direction! I took an online coaching course and it’s just blowing me away. I’ve learned so much that I’m putting into place both with Feline Dreamers and my writing career in general. I’m still reading, too, but taking the course has been several levels beyond what I’d been doing. I’m delighted. I still need to add the CTA to CSL, so I’ll add that to my Round 4 list.

Make inspiring art and music. Practice zentangling. Create new scrapbook pages and art journal pages. Take nature photographs to use on my websites and blog posts. Practice drumming regularly. Mixed results. I did plenty of drumming this summer, took photos, and did some artwork. I imagine I’ll be doing more now that the weather is turning cooler.

Expand my spiritual awareness and the integration of all aspects of my life. Pay attention to my dreams and keep records of them. Set intentions before sleep and upon waking. Meditate and do my chakra clearing daily. I’ve been doing really well with this goal. I feel really connected to my inner spiritual worlds, which feeds into my creativity and thus my writing. Good job, me. 🙂

GRACEfully invite ease, purpose, and kindness into my daily life. Do things I love: write in my journal, read, do yoga, dance, spend time with loved ones, and express my gratitude. Eat well and exercise. Get outdoors for walking, hiking, and swimming on a regular basis. This goal feels like something I’ve been doing well at, too. The only exception is exercising and eating well. I’m sort of off-and-on, and I want to get back on track with it this fall. I need more yoga and walking in my life, and less sugar. I think I’ll make physical health a separate goal this time around.

Happy Autumn! I’m still here, and still writing – but mostly with notebooks and pens. My laptop is officially not working, and I have plans to get it in for repair next week. In the meantime, I missed Sunday’s check-in. Ah well. Since my last Wednesday update, I’ve written 2,529 new words, which isn’t too shabby! How do I even know that? I’m borrowing BlackLion’s PC this afternoon, in order to type everything up, make this blog post, and accomplish various other tasks.

My business course that I’ve been taking continues to be amazing and fantastic. I’m learning so much! I now have a mission and vision statement, an ideal client profile, and am working on this week’s homework, which is to draft marketing copy that speaks directly to my ideal client (aka reader). I love this work, and the encouragement and direction we’re being given. I’m soaking it up like a sponge.

I haven’t gotten to blog planning, or my newsletter, but I feel like the more I learn about how to talk to my readers, the better off I’ll be when I write in those venues. Before the end of the month, I have 5 or so posts that I’m committed to writing for various sites, and I know I need to get going on those. I’ve been kicking around ideas in my head, and will probably begin outlining some of them tonight.

Oh, and I got to visit my favorite used bookstore! Pro Libris in Bangor is about two-and-a-half hours away from where I live, and since I was in the area, I got to stop by and browse. It was fun chatting with the proprietor, and bringing home a stack of new books to read. I’m already halfway through one of them.

As promised, here are the vision and mission statements I wrote for the class I’m taking:

“I envision a world where each person is intimately connected with the Divine, tapped into the mysteries, and empowered to express her or his unique creativity and magick.

“My mission is to help people create daily lives full of meaningful spiritual connection, magick, and creativity. I do this by writing inspiring books and creating uplifting offerings that help them go deep within. I help people awaken by illuminating the darkness of their fear and doubt. With compassion and kindness, I share stories, tools, and wisdom in order to help my readers and clients live with more purpose and joy.”

May your week be magickal and filled with extra creativity!

P.S. I’m delaying my end-of-round post for a couple of days, or maybe even until Sunday…