How to make a long and busy week become even worse? Well, an email from Amazon isn’t always a good sign. And this one really ruined my day.

1. They have banned two more of my titles: “Mated – Book 1” and “Played”
2. And the reason why is because they claim that “Played” is Pornography

I’ve never felt so insulted in my entire life. As if I don’t know the difference between porn and romance. Anyone with an Internet connection knows the difference, lol.

So really, maybe I’m both insulted and surprised.

Oh well, I’ll just write another one.

Do you always plan ahead? Or do you just plunge into it and hope it turns out the way you hoped?

In my day job, I have to plan all the time. Otherwise, my colleagues will:

1. Get mad
2. Ask someone else

And I don’t like either alternative, so I’m a notorious planner to the point of making the 2023 roster in July the year before (yeah, I know, they think I’m crazy sometimes.)

But when it comes to writing, I never plan. I just write. And then I rewrite, forget half of what I’m already written, and rewrite about four more times. Until a year later, I will probably rewrite it once more before publishing (now you probably realise why it takes me a full year to write another Mooncrest Pack book, lol).

Anyway, I’ve recently got a lot of good advice on how to outline my stories from this lovely lady: Jenna Moreci. So from now on, I’m actually going to plan before I write – wonder how that will work but it’s always useful to try something new, don’t you think?

What are the odds of getting the flu every year?

According to statistics, the risk is between 5 – 20 %. But according to my colleagues, I have a 100 % chance of succeeding (you can hear them laughing, can’t you?).

And they are right, unfortunately. Despite being vaccinated, I still managed to get sick this year.

Still, there are some major benefits to lying in bed for a week:

1. I’ve stopped eating chocolate (that will soon be rectified…. no worries)
2. I’ve a new record on every level in Bubble Witch Saga 3 (don’t worry if you’ve never heard about the game. Trust me, you don’t want to start playing it. It’s too distracting)
3. I’m super eager to start reading and writing again

That third option is the best thing about it. Being forced to take a break just makes it even more fun to write. Gosh, I never realised I would miss it so much.

Don’t you just love to have a hobby that you enjoy doing?

I asked my husband whether he had any New Year resolutions or not. And the answer was: “No.” Followed by a laugh. “What’s the point when you don’t intend to keep them.”

Which is fair enough, I guess. There wouldn’t be much point unless I actually intend to follow through. Still, I did set a lot of goals for 2022, some of which I’ve succeeded, some of which I had to skip along the way. But I know one thing: If I hadn’t made a list in late 2021, I would never have accomplished even half of what I listed.

So, here are a few examples that I actually did complete in 2022:

1. Submit stories to all 6 Literotica contest
2. Learn to make fantasy covers in Affinity
3. Write a Sci-fi
4. Write 50k words in the NaNoWriMo challenge

And some of those that I didn’t complete:

1. Publish “Surrender” on Wattpad – skipped after Wattpad closed my account
2. Publish audiobook on Kobo – turns out they don’t allow erotica
3. Publish on Draft2Digital – I added 2 titles, but they were never visible anywhere. Probably because it was just before Christmas

Learning by doing, isn’t that what they call it? That’s probably the reason why I have a lot of unfinished stories on my laptop.

So, for 2023, I plan to do things a little different:

1. Finish 6 unfinished stories
2. Only participate in 3 Literotica contests
3. Create an email list

I’ll probably add a lot more to my list, and regret it later. But who knows, maybe it does actually work to have a few goals, eh?

Banner from NaNoWriMo page (Our 2022 design is by Jackie Williams/Attawell Summer Creative with additional support from Alyssa Alarcón Santo, and was inspired by botanical textbooks and the symbolic meanings of flowers.)

Gosh! Yesterday evening, I actually completed the NaNoWriMo challenge after writing 51k words on several stories. I’m probably more surprised than anyone else. I didn’t think it could be done, particularly not when I realised that I would have to write about 2k words every day in order to finish it.

But it worked out a lot better than I anticipated. Mostly because:

1. I don’t have time for anything else besides writing
2. When you postpone the editing, you don’t stop to ask ‘is this crap?’ every few hours
3. Even if I have no idea what to write, I can still see sentences that are missing when I look at what I’ve already written
4. Writing becomes a habit after a few days. Even on workdays, I’ve sometimes managed to put down 3k words, something I would never have tried considered possible
5. If you write just a little every day, it suddenly becomes 50k words
6. Since this was my first attempt, I decided to divide my writing between several stories and not just one big story
7. All the stories I’ve written are usable (even if they are only on a first-draft level), so it has saved me months of writing if I had used my normal pace

That said, I’m glad it’s over because now I have so many stories that need editing, I will probably spend the next 6 months editing what I’m done this November.

Still, I can heartily recommend giving it a try. This was a major eye-opener for me, and I’m already considering joining the NaNoWriMo Camp in April and set my target as: “Write another 50k words on any story”. That would be something, eh?

It’s so much fun when you discover something new that works, isn’t it? I feel so happy about discovering this organization.

I received a really interesting question over at Literotica today on my story “More than Words” (which ultimately ended up being published with the title “Stepbrother”:

I really enjoyed this story. I was really looking forward to reading the rest but it cost money. It really felt like I was set up to get my money because in order to read the rest you have to pay for it on other websites. which is kind of annoying because why start the story on this website to just lead people on. I mean I guess it works out for you.

I heartily share the frustration of this reader. I adore reading free books myself and my husband keeps reminding me how I felt about Napster and how I enjoyed listening to Spotify when it was free. It’s not so fun when it’s my works that end up on those sites, I have to admit it. So, I have tried to give an honest answer to the question of why “Stepbrother” is not posted for free on Literotica – it will also posted on Lit in about 12 hours or so:

---

Honestly, this story was only intended to be a short one. But then readers kept asking me questions about it and I started updating it. I could have published the updated version here, but I decided not to. For two reasons:

1. The updated version was longer and quite different from the original. If I had posted it here, I would have divided it into several chapters instead of a long one
2. I never post longer stories to Lit after what happened to “Lessons in Love”

The last point was the most important. “Lessons in Love” was illegally copied from Lit and published on Amazon the day after I published ch9 on Lit. It wasn’t even finished, and it wasn’t even completely edited. Still, someone managed to find it and steal it.

I stopped writing after that. I might find it fun to publish stories for free and meet new readers, but I’m not so generous that I enjoy filling someone else’s pockets when I’ve spent months working on a story.

So, I still publish on Lit, but I’m very reluctant to post stories that might be stolen. You could say that a few people have ruined it for the rest of us since I’m not the only author that finds my stolen works published on other sites.
That said, I never thought it would pay off to publish my stories myself, but thanks to the thief of “Lessons in Love”, I was so pissed that I gave it a try. And yes, it does pay off. Not so much in the amount of money I earn, but because my books have my penname on their cover and not someone else’s.

Alright. I admit it. I just could not resist taking part in the yearly NaNoWriMo challenge, so basically, I have decided to write 50 000 words in one month – which unfortunately takes place in November, so I only have 30 days. Well, it could have been worse (like February, lol).

And I still have that 100% paid job that pays my mortgage, so the bottom line is that I try to write as much as I possibly can in the evenings/weekends – without writing complete rubbish.

Anyway, my plan is:

1. Write 2000 words every day
2. No editing
3. Add words to any story in my work folder or start a new one if needed

And so far the result is:

1. 30 900 words
2. On 8 different stories
3. Of which two have a full 1. draft and are ready for editing

So, I think I have a good chance of succeeding unless the well runs completely dry or I get so fed up that I just have to stop, lol.

But the main observation is that I can actually write more than I think I can. And when you suddenly enter that writing flow and words just keep coming, it’s so much fun. Well, some days, I just hate my writing program and prefer to be a reader instead of the one producing the stories, but that’s just normal.

Stil, my main concern is that I may have the spend the remaining 11 months editing this mess. Oh dear….

Every year I receive several invitations to participate in the annual writing competition called NaNoWriMo. And every time, I’m dying to take part and see if I can write 50 000 words in just one month.

Then I remember that:

1. There are only 30 days in November (surprise?) – which means I have to write about 1667 words every day for a month
2. Usually, I only have time to write on Sundays
3. And if I have a really good writing day, I can write about 10 000 words, provided….
4. ….I actually have a clue of what to write (which I don’t….)

So I guess the dream of completing this challenge is just as far-fetched this year as it was the previous year.

But then again, I would be really happy if I could write half that number. At least it’s better to give it a try and see how far I can get.

Besides, a half marathon is still an achievement, right?

This weekend I decided to follow a 24-hours author conference called SelfPubCon22. And although it was truly awesome and it contained lots of useful information, I’m just completely exhausted.

Because they weren’t kidding when they said it went on for 24 hours. It really did, with no breaks in between. But luckily, I have a 3-day pass so I can watch the sessions when I want to within those 3 days.

Anyway, I learned a lot. My notebook is covered with ideas and good advice from people that know this business a lot better than I do. So I’m extremely grateful they take the time to explain it to the rest of us.

And you might already have noticed that I’ve done a few changes to my website. And there’s plenty more to come.

Don’t you just love attending courses that inspire you?

I know I do, and I can’t wait to attend the next conference – even if it might take me a few years to put the ideas into life.

Every year, we spend three days in a mountain cabin without electricity, water or other people. And it’s a fantastic experience.

(Well, I could have done without the outdoor toilet, but I can manage for a few days…lol)

Still, just experiencing the outdoors and having surprise encounters with wild animals is just something completely different. And the best thing about it? My cell phone has no connection at all. Brilliant!

If it wasn’t for the lack of electricity, I might have written a book while I was there.

Then again, when you mix complete darkness with a super-eager imagination, you sometimes get a lot of strange results…uhm, right… Let’s just say that I wouldn’t be surprised if my Christmas contest story ends up containing a cabin or two.