2020 – what can I say? I had hoped to get back to writing and I did manage to get two novellas published for existing series, Paradise Dawn and Always on Duty. I also managed to complete the first draft of the prequel novella, Rumors & Roasts, for my upcoming Red Line Coffee mystery series as well as about a fourth of book one, Ventis & Victims. I also bought way too many pre-made covers for future series but that’s okay. I love them all and look forward to eventually writing the stories.
December was tough…I was doing great until the middle of the month when we took a break for hubby’s 70th birthday. We headed out of town for a 4 day vacation. It turned out to be “okay” and we did take COVID tests when we got back (both negative). Then IT hit the fan…three ER visits in a week and emergency gallbladder surgery for hubby. He’s doing fine now but under restrictions for lifting, tugging, pulling, etc. So I took on the caretaking duties and some of the things he normally does around the house that allow me time to write.
What else took up my time? Evaluating the new M1 Apple products which ended up with my ordering the new M1 Mac Mini for the office. I find I am more productive when I work in there with the monitor and keyboard. The extra speed and hard drive space will be welcome. My current 2018 MacBook Air will be my travel computer and I will sell my trusty 2014 MacBook Pro. It won’t arrive till the middle of February so I have plenty of time to clean up the MacBook Pro for sale.
I also played with printers. We currently have both a color and a B&W multi-function laser printers. The B&W was in our RV but after we rearranged two years ago, it was too big and we bought a $29 InkJet. The InkJet needs new cartridges and with the find of a compact B&W single-function laser printer, it will be donated to a local thrift shop.
I also played with dictation, both directly to my laptop and to my Sony ICD-PX370 Digital Voice Recorder that I scored on eBay for $20. I’m hoping that once I get my brain retrained to dictate stories that I’ll be able to sit out on our deck this spring/summer/fall and get some writing done. In the meantime I had to figure out what headset worked for me (Bluetooth sucked) and how to best transcribe what I dictate. Still working on that… I did learn that I need to be away from the screen when I dictate – if I see it typing, it slows my brain down as I try to process what I’m seeing. I also learned to push the headset mic away when taking a sip of coffee!
So what are my plans for 2021? Pretty much the same as I had hoped for in 2020 – lots of writing. I do have a writing calendar (written in jello), and although I’m already behind, I still plan to get all three Red Line Coffee Mysteries published by June. Then I will tackle the Griddle Me This and Sprinkle Me That mystery sets.
If the dictation works out, maybe I will get into another series after that…but with editing and marketing…well, you know how it goes. What I get done, I get done. Happy New Year!
Thank you.
Great update and glad Stu is recovering. Lessons learned on the road: “There are no pink or blue jobs. All jobs are ‘purple’.”
I’ll continue to be here for you. Here’s to a productive 2021. 🙂