Tag: january

Who Am I and Why I’m Here…

4 Comments

close up of typewriter vintage retro styledHello, World!

It’s Monday morning and everyone is back to work and school after a fun, but lazy, eleven days off together. I enjoyed it immensely and I’m sad to see the holidays end and the dreariness of true winter begin. We even woke up to snow this morning which was a real shock to the system after the warm December we’ve had.

The kids were shocked when I told them we wouldn’t be driving to the bus stop in the car. “You mean we have to walk in the snow?”

Yes, and believe it or not… we lived to tell the tale. Better get used to it, as well, because I suspect we’ll be seeing plenty more of that before spring comes.

Anyway, now that I’m back to quiet time on my own, as part of the new year, I am setting new goals for my writing. (You may have already got a glimpse of this in my earlier post.) I’ve committed to writing at least 1,000 words per day by joining the 365k club and I’ve also signed up for WordPress’ Blogging 101 online course.

Okay, so I’m not exactly new to WordPress or to this blog, but I have certainly struggled with figuring out what to blog and to sticking to a consistent routine in doing so. Maybe I will learn something new. Maybe I won’t. It never hurts to give it a try.

First assignment, of course, is to introduce ourselves and talk about why we are here. I suppose that’s a good question! For those who have only just stumbled across my blog for the first time, my name is Stephanie Ingram and I write fiction. Paranormal is my favorite but my stories border in the fantasy realm, too. I originally started this blog in order to share my writing news. I have also used it to talk about daily life from time to time, and I’ve shared samples of my works-in-progress.

Beyond that, I’m not really sure why I’m here and that is probably half my problem! Over the coming weeks, I will think about my focus for blogging and see where it takes me.

I can imagine myself exploring my interests related to writing, books I have enjoyed, and topics related to the paranormal. That is a good place to start.

In the meantime, there are Christmas decorations to take down and put away and a mess to sort through to get the house back in order again. Let’s not forget the exercise routine that I put aside in favor of family fun and yummy treats. I need to restart that, too. Ah, January, you’ve never been my favorite month. But Christmas brought me a brand new laptop and as I learn my way around Windows 10 (after using a machine that barely functioned and ran Windows XP), I look forward to writing and sharing much more…

Happy Day!

 

 

What’s Up, January 2016

2 Comments

snowmanJanuary is bittersweet. On one hand, it’s sad the fun leading up to Christmas and New Year’s is over and ahead of us we have plenty of cold and snowy days, but on the other hand, a new month in a new year holds so much promise. It’s no accident that January is a time for resolutions and making changes. After all, it’s a fresh start, a second chance to do something better, whatever that something may be.

I have a lot of hopes and plans for the new year when it comes to my writing and I look forward to sharing these adventures as the months pass.

For starters, I intend to make more of an effort to post on my blog regularly.

At the start of each new month, you will see a “What’s Up” post where I tell you about what I accomplished during the month just passed and what I plan to dive into for the new month beginning.

On Mondays I will post either thoughts on a topic of interest or something related to my latest release (a contest, a puzzle, things I learned while writing, etc).

Wednesdays I am especially excited about. I will be sharing a free short story each week roughly 1,000 words at a time.

Fridays I hope to open my blog to help support and promote my fellow authors. I will either have a special guest interview or I will post something related to a book I read and enjoyed. If you are an author and would like to visit me, please contact me at ingramsl (at) gmail (dot) com so we can set a date! I promise to keep it fun.

And last but not least, my favorite – Sundays I will continue participation in the Weekend Writing Warriors, a blog hop where several authors come together to share 8 to 10 sentences of a current work-in-progress. I started this in November and love the sense of camaraderie that comes with it. Even if I can’t keep up with all the other posts, I will stick with this one.

As needed, I will post announcements for new book releases and the details on where you can find them.

Secondly, and most important, I will write more! And I won’t just write, which in all fairness I did a lot of in 2015 – but I will actually finish the stories I start. It is my goal to publish at least three books in 2016. Sure, I wouldn’t mind accomplishing more than this but I figure three is a conservative and reachable goal.

On a personal level, I plan to read more than ever. I want to stretch outside my preferred genres and read all books. I have a library card and I’m not afraid to use it! I will also include several non-fiction books on my list, particularly those I feel will help me develop as an author.

As for my December progress… Well, most of my progress went into cleaning and preparing for the holidays! I made very little progress on my rewrites of my NaNoWriMo novel so this will be my main focus in January. When I finish a round of rewrites, I will put it aside and finish writing Rise of the Angerroots.

Also, the Short Story Competition begins on January 22nd. Look for updates on my progress in next month’s What’s Up post! Wish me luck. 🙂

Be sure to join my Mailing List if you want to be the first to find out about new book releases. You can find the sign up link HERE.

As always, you can find me on several social media sites including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Overall, I’m looking forward to a great start to what promises to be a fun and productive new year.

Happy 2016! 🙂