Monday, September 03, 2018

Working Men in Fiction

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1266706130643755/
Dio, the Farmer

I'm a bit of an oddball when it comes to my romance novels under my pen name Ella M. Kaye. Okay, hermit writer and oddball might go together naturally. Still...

The current romance trend is to feature men in suits, not necessarily black suits, but suits and ties, the gorgeous business exec with money and power who still tends to woo women to the point they can't resist even if they try. Or, they're modern men who care about their trendy casual appearance, on which they spend a good bit of time making sure is just right, while acting like they don't care how they look.

Of course those heroes work well in romance. It's a good fairy tale story. :)

Me? I like working men with dirt on their hands and faded, stained, even torn clothes they might even wear to town because ... well, why not? They're in the middle of working and looks are just a thing, a second-hand thought, if that. At least when it comes to their own looks. That does not mean they don't notice a woman's looks. Of course they do.
Eli, the Construction Worker

Labor Day is a day to celebrate these working-with-their-hands people. It's about the roughnecks, the out-of-sight-out-of-mind everyday workers who keep us running, moving, driving, growing, with generally no recognition. These are the people I feature. Yes, plenty of women work roughneck jobs, as well, and trust me, they make an appearance, as well, such as Caroline from Pier Lights who takes a gritty job after her more lofty job ends. I also have cameo business execs as heroes and minor characters. Yes. It takes all of us together to be strong and fruitful.

Fillan, the Fisherman
The men featured here are from the Dancers & Lighthouses series: Pier Lights (Dio, the farmer/swordsman), Shadowed Lights (Eli, the high-rise construction worker), and Pieces of Light (Fillan, the fisherman/dance instructor).

The Artists & Cottages series so far features a road construction crew boss (Shadows of Greens & Memories), a big-time exec turned naturalist (Shadows of Blues & Echoes), and a welder (Shadows of Rust & Reels).

Overall, EMK heroes are hard physical workers who are also smart, sometimes charming, sometimes annoying, savvy but at times a bit insecure, and always very real while coping with their daily struggles.


Please feel free to honor your everyday working hero in the comments or by sharing the post.



You can find the first chapters of my books at EllaMKaye.com. The Dancers & Lighthouses series has been revamped and are now in print as well as eBook, available at ANY book retailer nationwide, as well as internationally via participating retailers.

The Artists & Cottages series is in the middle of a makeover and will soon be available in print and new edition eBooks.

More books to come in both series, plus the new Songwriters & Cities series that will be out soon.

~~ ~~ ~~

Would you like a promo postcard mailed to your library or local indie bookseller? They are available through Ingram and Overdrive. Send me a note at staff (at) elucidatepublishing.net with the address and I'll send one along with your name as a request. (You can also request them directly at your local library.)



Friday, July 27, 2018

Authors Dropping Out Like Flies

I run a small local book festival. Its original purpose was to help promote all of our local literary talent because there are a lot of us. It grew into that, plus promoting overall literacy and supporting community in all of four years. This month was year four for the West PA Book Festival.

Any idea how much planning time, detail, funds, and stress it takes to bring in 20-some authors, do all of the promo for it to include newspaper press releases and radio ads, plus road signs (by hand to save costs)? A lot. Months. We even had a food truck, hoagies from the Legion Auxiliary, and music was planned (cancelled on us last minute). Set up and tear down, since it's outdoor and we use tents and a pavilion where we have to move tables out and back in, takes nearly two hours before and after the 6 hour event.

Our first year, turnout was wonderful. This year... Let's just say it was disappointing, with as well advertised as we were. People knew about it. They simply didn't bother to even walk around and see who was there and what kinds of books they might be interested in.

Over the next couple of days, my biggest thought was wondering what wasn't done well enough. And then I found another author's post on Facebook saying she was possibly throwing in the writing towel. Why? Because the money has disappeared. I commented about the low festival turnout, and this author who has done many of these events around the country said book signing turnouts everywhere have dropped to nothing. Along with that, online sales have dropped to almost nothing. She's hardly the first author I've seen say the same.

So, it's not a planning issue. It's a supply and demand issue.

The problem: Amazon is absolutely flooded with free and $0.99 cent novels. Not excerpts. Not short stories. Full novels, given away by the thousands from many, many authors in the name of promotion and with hopes that readers will love the "first of series" and go back and buy the rest at regular price (generally between $2.99 and $4.99 of which the author gets either 30% or 70%, and if they choose 70%, they have no option to keep it from being loaned out for no further compensation). Sometimes that does happen. Yes. A few years ago, some authors were making decent money this way.

By now that has crashed. Why? 

Readers have hundreds of free books downloaded, many of which they'll never even bother to read, or they pay for that monthly service to download as many as they wish without paying for any individual book. There's also the issue of returns. Yes, readers are allowed to read and return, taking ALL compensation away from the author. 

Why buy a book when every day more are being posted free? Why go out and buy a paperback, even a signed paperback, when you can sit at home and download more books than you'll ever have time to read at no cost, or almost no cost?

Who can blame readers? I certainly don't. We authors have done this to ourselves.

For years, I've urged authors to please not give their work away free or next to free. We're undervaluing ourselves, teaching readers that our work is just for fun and we don't need to be paid for it.

So now authors are quitting. Writing a novel is not play. It's work. It's a whole heck of a lot of work for those of us spending months or years on a story that's a part of us. It costs a lot of time, energy, emotional stress, advertising costs, production costs (not all authors pay production costs, but some of us do), not to mention the things we have to put aside to be able to find the time to do this. It's not spare time. It's valuable personal and business time. Just like with any career, it matters.

Yes, big author names will still sell paperbacks and hardbacks, and even e-books at $10-15 while indies are nearly giving them away at $3-5 (or worse). Big pubs don't give books away, more than a handful of prints for select reviewers. They know better than to kill their own market.

It's time we indies take a hint. Supply and demand. Stop flooding the market with undervalued books. We must start respecting our work if we want readers to respect our work and our time. At this point, it's going to take some doing to undo what's been done, but at this point, it's either change tactics, quit, or write as a hobby and not expect to make anything.

Readers, I fully understand appreciating free books. I do. I peruse bargain bins for lit fic by authors I haven't read. When I find what I like, though, I buy other books as they come out, at regular price, because I want them to keep writing. I don't want them to quit. A good book is worth far more than a fast food meal (equivalent cost of a paperback) or expensive cup of coffee (equivalent cost of an e-book). Or even request their books from your library. Most of us are available in print, e-book, and through the library. It's still free to you if you go through the library, but it helps us.

If you value books and good stories, please, consider bypassing some of the freebies and support authors you enjoy. Go to book signings and festivals. Even if you don't buy, pick up their promo and check them out online. But let them know they matter. Before they stop bothering.

There will be a 5th Annual West PA Book Festival because I don't give up easily. I believe in books, print books in particular (there is a difference in your brain between reading electronically and reading in print), and in supporting authors. I believe in trying to teach kids that books matter, literacy matters. They do far better in every school subject when they read regularly than when they don't. Obviously, reading matters.

Variety matters, also. Indies lead the way in providing a wide variety of genres and genre mixes, so by now, you can find anything you're looking for, not only the "in" books big pubs put out. (For example: My LK books are a mix of lit fic, romance, and family drama. It's lit fic but lighter, romance but deeper, and family issues are always involved. My EMK books are romance due to the relationship emphasis, structure, and HEA, but also somewhat mainstream psychological, focusing on mental health issues, with none of the romance "catch words" you often find.)

Myself, I'm not about to quit because the money's not there. That's not why I started writing and I've never depended on it to pay bills (luckily!). I do find it sad to see so many authors throwing up their hands even when they have a lot of followers. There's something just wrong about that.

It's time to seriously rethink the book business and acknowledge books and authors as the value they are to society. Unless plumbers and carpenters and lawyers are going to start working for free, we shouldn't be doing that, either.


LK Hunsaker (mainstream/relationship/family/art): LKHunsaker.com
Ella M. Kaye (contemporary romance/psychology/family): EllaMKaye.com
West PA Book Festival: WestPABookFestival.com
Write The Light In: ElucidatePublishing.net


Saturday, April 14, 2018

Read, Kid, Read!


Time to fess up: Who else was a Hardy Boys fanatic back in the 70s?

Okay, we're showing our age, but that's fine, since we apparently grew up knowing the value of a good book and losing ourselves in a good story.

I just picked these books up the other day from someone local who posted them on a sales page to add to my small collection that does include a handful of first editions (like the gray one in the upper corner). Not that I need more stuff in my house, but books don't count as "stuff" and ... Hardy Boys, the editions that I spent so many trips walking to the library (yes, walking) as a kid to read every one they had. They had quite a few, but this collection I just nabbed has some I don't recognize. They're the 40s and 50s in line. I'm not sure if our little hometown library stopped buying them after they had so many or if these came out after I'd moved on to more literary reads.

I know, most girls opted for Nancy Drew instead. I never got into Nancy Drew. I've always been more drawn to male writers for some reason. There are exceptions, but most of my go-to authors are male. Maybe it's the different perspective that I don't have personally. Maybe it's the grittier feel they tend to have. Either way, the Hardy Boys were my book obsession way back when.
[Side note: I do realize the HB/ND books were written by many authors using one name, but it was the characters and stories I loved, not the author I was following.]

I still love a good mystery, as long as it's tame rather than graphic, fun rather than dark. Cozy mysteries are great for a quick escape in between my grittier literary reads, which I was not reading as a child.

Personally, I find it a bit alarming that most book series obsessions for young people these days are rather dark and intense. No, I am not saying they shouldn't read those things. I believe in avid reading in a wide range. But whatever kids focus on the most is what seeps most deeply into their minds and their souls. We used to have, along with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, The Bobbsey Twins and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Judy Blume and Madeline D'Engle... and then came the Babysitter's Club and such.

Today's young people have far different reading material. I won't list names because it could be taken as slanderous and I do not mean it that way. All books have their place and kids need to select what they enjoy to make reading as enjoyable as possible. Still, when what's being promoted as "everyone must read this" is all dark and post-apocalyptic and violent and kids think they have to read it because everyone is (yes, that's the way we work), what is that doing to their psyches?

Where are the fun, upbeat YA books and series and why are they not being pushed by the "everyone must read this" people who are supporting books with big money in order to make more big money? It's money that sells books. It's huge advertising pushes that make people think they must read whatever is currently being pushed. Don't fool yourself into thinking we are choosing what gets published and read. The industry doesn't work that way. It follows the money. Yes, when a sensation has begun and people start clamoring for it, then more of that genre is published. Still, it starts somewhere, and that always leads back to big promotion.

It might be time to take a better look at current reading lists, especially the required reading in our schools. Have you seen your child read a classic lately, or something fun and upbeat? Or are they all deep social issues and societal injustice books? Yes, those matter, also, but so does fun and upbeat with kids just being kids and having fun routing out the bad guys and romping around with siblings and your family.

Of course, most important is that kids should be reading at least as much as they're on screens of some kind in order to help balance and strengthen the brain synapses. Too cold or wet to be outside? Take them to the library. Walk if it's close enough. I guarantee those memories will be far more pleasant when they get older than will any of their time-killing on some screen.

And... reading makes us more empathetic. It does. From what I see, we could use a whole lot more real empathy rather than more social justice warriors only following the crowd.

Jump out of the crowd. Read what others aren't reading. Think your own thoughts formed by wide exposure to many other thoughts instead of only what you're being told on some screen or within your own house. Skip the must-read lists and browse. I've found some of the most wonderful books on the clearance tables of local bookstores.

I may have to go back and read the rest of the Hardy Boys books, also.


[Did anyone get the title of this post and where it came from?]

Monday, January 22, 2018

For Authors - Formatting Your Print Books

[I wrote most of this post a few years ago, but since it's been a few years, I decided it's time for an update.]

As part of my quest to help indie authors, I'm often answering questions about formatting books. I also read a lot of books by local authors, who are mainly indies doing or paying for their own book setups. Too often, I can tell they did. That's not an insult. This self-publishing thing isn't easy and advice runs rampant, including advice that isn't always ... let's say: the acceptable way to do things. When I say acceptable, I mean what readers expect, and there are certain things they do expect. Yes, you can go rogue as an indie. I've done plenty of that myself. However, when it comes to formatting your book, you want to be sure it fits readers' expectations so they're focusing on your words, your story, and not the visual mishaps.

This post is aimed at print books, specifically for novels. Non-fic tends to follow a few different rules. Electronic books are completely different things and 
they must be formatted differently. 

A note: I am not an industry publishing professional. I have, however, been doing everything, to include formatting, for my own books for a lot of years. I learned by studying big-pub prints and doing plenty of research, and sometimes by making mistakes with my own books. All rules can be debated, of course, but I’m a big believer in first knowing the rules before you decide which not to follow. 


Let’s start with the cover. 

1) Please, if you decide to design your own cover, do your research first. Look at books in libraries and bookstores or online (although many ebook covers differ than print covers, so be aware of that). First, do any of them state “by Author Name”? Only a few children’s books do that and it’s to differentiate between the author and the illustrator, since illustrations are as big a part of children’s picture books as the story. Even then, in most cases, the author is simply listed and the illustrator gets an “illustrated by” tag. If you don’t write picture books, do not put “by” in front of your name. 

2) Be careful about throwing a photo on the cover and adding some text. Text font matters. Different fonts tell the readers different things. What would you expect from the following titles?




Play with effects and collages if you'd like, but be sure it doesn’t look like you grabbed a few stock photos and just threw them all together. Too often, I look at a cover and see "Photoshopped" instead of whatever the writer was trying to portray. Some readers won't mind; others will. Sticking a person in front of a scene without making sure the perspective is right and blending it well enough it looks like an actual photo screams amateur. On the other side of the coin, putting the title, an image, and your name all in center-alignment over a plain-colored background screams amateur (or vanity published). If your cover screams amateur, it won’t matter much how professional your writing may be. Look at the big pub books in your genre and try to follow their technique (without copyright violations, of course).

Note: If you want to save yourself a lot of heartache, you're not going to want to put a border around your book. Books are not always printed the same. There's the trim to consider and you can't know how much trimming there will be, exactly, so your border is very likely going to be bigger on one side than another. Just let your image run into the bleed area, keeping important elements far enough inside, and don't drive yourself crazy wondering how it will print.


3) The spine and back are part of the overall look with a print book. Don’t spend all of your focus on the front and then throw the rest together with some text over a plain color background. Make it a full picture, not necessarily one picture wrapping all the way around, but an entire work of art combined carefully to package your precious book. 


Book Size

I was in a minor debate about this one recently. Currently, industry standard for fiction trade paperbacks run 5 x 8 or more technically 5.5 x 8.5 (that can depend on which printing/distributing company you use). You can go with 6 x 9 and I know some authors do this to try to keep page count lower (pages = $), but reader preference tends to be 5 x 8. You can go with a mini size, and I've experimented with short runs on that, to try to simulate commercial pocket books. They're cute and with smaller novels, that can work. Be aware, they will cost more to produce. From what I've seen at signings where I've had my 5 x 8 books displayed next to my mini size books (under my pen name), the smaller ones get less attention. Now, it could be different cover art, but I tend to think they are seen as of less value. Readers do look at norms. They do tend to want what they already expect, so your safe bet is 5 x 8.

Whichever you choose, make your books all the same size (under the same name, that is). Making the longer ones 6 x 9 to cut page numbers down and the shorter ones 5 x 8 to look longer only throws the reader. If some books are longer than others, readers should be able to see that. I've had a lot of browsing buyers flip through my books to see if they've been padded and received figurative thumbs up for their non-padded professional look. Just as readers who buy books in series want every book in the series to look related and relatively the same, those who see you have several books will prefer they all look congruous (should I say: professional).


The inside 


1) Again, look at professionally printed novels. They all include a cover page, a copyright page, sometimes a second cover page with publisher info. Pay attention to whether these things are on the left or right side (odd or even pages) and do it the same. 

2) Most novels do not have or need a table of contents. For ebooks, yes. Not for prints. Take that out unless you have a very long, complex story divided into sections other than only chapters. If you feel it is necessary, look at how it’s done in professionally formatted books. A long row of 

1. chapter 1 
2. chapter 2 
3. chapter 3…

looks unprofessional, especially when it’s left-aligned like the text. 


I am adding a TOC to the revised versions of my Rehearsal books because it is a series/serial of 6 books that run an average of 300K words and spans more than 10 years, with several subplots. I have each one divided into sections with separate headings, and so I'm providing a TOC to help readers navigate, in case they want to refer back to something in previous books. It looks like this:


Note the center alignment (not good for covers, but good for front matter other than the copyright page) and differing font sizes for clarity. In this case, the TOC is adding extra information, not only listing chapters.
3) Your front matter, everything before the first page of chapter one, should not have page numbers. Most novels don’t include the page number on page one of a chapter, either, but that’s at least acceptable. Your front matter doesn’t count as “pages” and should not pretend to count. Page 1 is page one of chapter 1. Sometimes they are given Roman numerals instead to differentiate, but that's unnecessary.

Different software handles this formatting issue differently. I use Word to write and format, which isn’t the easiest program to use for that, so I’ve heard, but I use section breaks to accomplish cutting out the page numbers in the front matter and not having page numbers on the first page of each chapter. It is a learning curve, but there are online tutorials to help you accomplish this. 

4) Use serif fonts, not non-serif fonts. Please use serif fonts for novels. Why? It’s easier on the reader’s eyes and better for flow. What’s the difference? A serif is the little line at the end of a stroke. This blog is typed in a serif font called Georgia. See the little extra marks on the bottom of the letters? That creates flow. This, on the other hand, is Arial, the most common non-serif font. It looks far more staccato (sharp and detached). Cambria is a common printed book text. So is Garamond, and it might be the most used among professional self-publishers. Georgia works, also. You can use Times New Roman, but I would stick with something prettier and less all-purpose for print books. It works well for e-books, though. If you use a non-serif font, use it purposely for effect, but be aware it might be a bit off-putting to your reader. Novels should flow.

Keep your font relatively small, also (unless you are creating a large print edition or a picture book) without making it too small. Print a page and compare it to a professionally formatted novel. Slight differences are fine. Big fonts look unprofessional, as though you're trying to pad the book length to make it look more substantial. Even that little difference in fonts makes a difference in overall reading experience, and print book readers are all about the experience!


5) Do not double space. Double spacing is for submissions and term papers, not for print novels. Use your word processor to add some extra space between your lines. Multiple at 1.1 is a nice professional look and easy on the readers' eyes.  


Also, do not leave extra wide margins, since that gives the same impression. There are plenty of resources online to help determine how big your margins should be. For my 5.5 x 8.5 books, I have the top margin at .6 to allow space for my header that includes the page number, and the rest are at .4 with a .25 gutter with mirror margins so the gutter stays on the correct side. 

6) Paragraphs should not be double spaced, either. Keep it the same as the rest of the text and indent. This is different than for eBooks where it’s common practice to double space between paragraphs. That’s fine, although there is some debate about that practice, as well, and it has flowed over somewhat into print books to leave space between paragraphs rather than indenting, but look at big pub books. How many are doing so? Again, readers expect flowing text, not a bunch of extra space.

7) Do not add two spaces after periods. Just don't. In the "old days" when we were using typewriters, it was necessary. With computer processors, it only adds extra white space and makes you look like you're not up-to-date on technology and formatting rules.


8) Left-align or justify? This can go either way. It’s becoming more acceptable to left-align books. If you do this, you’ll want to use hyphens so you don’t have huge gaps at the ends of lines, but you want to hyphenate sparsely. Your word processor should give you the choice. Most of my books are justified (which could make a good joke), but for my very long Rehearsal books, I decided to left-align instead because I wanted that extra flow. After printing the first one I did myself (book 3, since the 1st two were formatted and printed through a company I’m no longer using), I noticed too many gaps at the end because of no hyphenation. I don’t like every other sentence to hyphenate, so I took them out, but that was too extreme. I’ll be reformatting that book to include adding sparse hyphens. (You live and you learn!)

9) Header info: Your name goes on the top of even pages and your book title goes on the top of odd pages. Page numbers can go on the outside corner of the top or bottom or centered on the bottom. I put it all together on the top with page numbers on the outside corners and my name and book title centered. It takes less playing with the formatting (no bothering with a footer) and keeps all non story text in one place mostly out of the way. Make this text a different font from your story font, generally smaller is better, for better clarity/separation, and be sure your header is large enough this info is not too close to the regular text.)


10) At the end of your book, start with your acknowledgements and then a bibliography if needed (most novels do not need a bibliography). At the very end, add your About The Author info. Use third person, not first, and keep it brief. You can add your whole life story to your website if you wish, but this is not the place for that.  You might want to start each end section (acknowledgements, bibliography, about the author) on an odd page. This is very flexible rule, more like a suggestion, really. Under your Author info, include your website if you have a permanent website link. Do not add links to social media, specific book sites, etc., as these can change, and a few years down the road, your info will be outdated. [If you don't have a website, get one. Honestly. Make it YourName.com, since your author name is your biggest author brand, and gather all of your books under that site. Some authors do make separate sites for separate books/series, but I think that's a huge waste of time/money, unless of course you only plan to put out that one book, then by all means, create a MyBook.com website.]


In the End...

 

This is your book. If you have specific reasons for going against the standard practice, it's your right to do so. Be careful, though. You need to balance artist creativity with reader expectations and know that going too far out of the lines will push some readers away.

I may be forgetting a few things. Do you have any tips or annoyances to share related to formatting? If it’s something of which I’m guilty, I’d rather know than to blindly keep doing it wrong or annoying the reader. I may annoy them now and then with a character’s opinions or actions, but that’s just part of the job. ;-) 


 This blog post is ©LK Hunsaker. Share only by linking to this post. You can copy and share a very brief bit of info from the text if you include the link with it.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

January Reclamation

Some people are big on spring cleaning. Me? In the spring, I'm ready to end my winter hibernation and get out in my gardens that first have to be cleaned up since, once it gets cold in the fall, I'm entering hibernation mode and browning stalks and faded flowers in their pots have to simply lie in wait. So, I try to do my spring cleaning in the fall in order to leave time and energy for outdoor work.

In January, I go into reorganizing/clearing out mode. Maybe that's an effect of being inside the house so much the walls start to close in. I love being home. I don't love being unable to walk around outside, even only on the porch, without freezing. So, yes, the walls close in during the first month of the year when I'm trying to come out of the big holiday rush mode and my insides tell me to clear some of it out.

I've been spending several hours a day cleaning out old files and old paperwork that hasn't been filed yet, combining my writing binders and files and loose notes into one spot where I can actually find them, moving stuff around since we moved the trundle out from under the daybed and hubby made rolling bins that go in that space for all of my ridiculous number of binders to free up bookshelf space, and ("Ah choo!" Excuse me.) getting rid of some dust bunnies while I'm at it.

While sorting through all of this stuff, I ran across a couple of sheets of printed paper that I had to stop and read. It's from 2007, from over at my non-public blog on Writing.com. A blog entry, with all of the comments, where I was pondering what my "thing" was, my hook that kept readers coming back.

I'll have to say the comments were so very flattering, and because it has a lot to do with this post, I'll touch on some of them, even though it might come off as bragging. That is not my intention.

-- "fair and balanced"
-- "you have been there and done that [re. publishing]"
-- "you always write so effortlessly and comfortably about a wide range of subjects, yet you're never preachy"
-- "you're one of the few who intimidates me a bit because of that effortless style. In short, you're a natural at this writing thing and it's a joy to read anything you feel like writing about."
-- "a place of reason and calm and very stylish writing"
-- "representative of a true artist ... fine, flowing style"
-- "WICKED COOL"
-- "classy, fair, and a very good read"
-- "You make art (and not just writing) a part of everyday life."
-- "you are driven. You inspire me."
-- "Class. That's your hook. You are one of the classiest people I know."

The only reason I can share this publicly is because it made me stop and think. This was over ten years ago already, and I'm not sure I've continued to live up to all of it, maybe any of it.

You know that scene in MASH where one of Margaret's old friends tells her she's changed, she's hardened? "Well, yes," I caught myself thinking, "life can do that to you."

I have a scene between two characters that kind of says the same thing. Yes, it does, or it can, but you know, it doesn't to everyone, and it doesn't have to. We don't have to let it. I find it a little scary that I sympathized so well with Margaret. Should that be a clue to unwind? The last decade has sure been an interesting one. I went from my early Forties to my early Fifties, and every woman over 50 understands that one. I've forced myself to get out and do book signings, to the despair of my social phobia. I started a book festival in my local area, which is way out of my comfort zone, for the same reason. And then there were the upheavals and big changes, personally and nationally. But you know, every decade is interesting (and a family joke comes to mind here that makes fun of the use of the word). It's no excuse.

I think, with my writing, I've focused too much on the markets, on getting books out there, on what might sell, on what I can write in shorter bits of time, doing what I can to justify the ridiculous number of hours I spend at this writing thing, and somewhere along the line, the bigger picture somewhat slipped away. I think maybe I've lost some of my muchness. I've slowed way down lately on my books because something feels lacking. Maybe writing mainly under my pen name, which was meant to be somewhat dis-associative, worked a bit too well.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of art instead. Painting. An escape from my writing.

So, it's time to regroup, reorganize my thoughts, step back farther from social media and daydream more. I think maybe a lot of us are in this boat about now. Overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Both too stimulated and not stimulated enough. Time to grab the oars and stroke gently back and forth until we find a smooth and easy balance rather than the constant harsh rocking that's letting in too much water.

Daydream more. Turn stuff off and enjoy the quiet. Reconnect with the people actually around you. Look them in the face, not through the phone. Be driven, but be present.

That's my 2018 Reclamation project.