The last couple of months have been so damn busy I feel like another holiday just so I can do nothing. Because nothing is what I didn’t do.
I was so busy running around before Xmas that I didn’t stop until Xmas Eve night. Thankfully, Xmas day was a cool and calm 25 degrees Celsius and I updated notes all day and got that done. I didn’t rush, I just did it in my own time, and what didn’t get done that day, got done the next or the next. I also shopped. A lot! A LOT!
Over the next couple of months I will show you what I bought in the before and after Xmas sales in store and online, and what I became obsessed with to the point I spent a couple of thousand on the whole thing. I have a “what’s in my bag” post due to changing the way I do things inside of my bag, and a general catch up on everything else.
Below is a full list of what I did on my holiday, and after that are my plans for the year. Once again the year will be busy getting out books and having edits done, so it’s going to be writer hectic. Whether or not I’ll get my jewellery store up and running, I just don’t know. I still have to think about it, and as much as the way MadeIt have changed things, I don’t know whether it’s better to set up its own website or keep it there. We’ll have to see.
What I did on my two months off…
DEC 3 – went shopping with mum, her first time out, bought lots of pre-Christmas goodies.
DEC 4 – got stuff done.
DEC 5 – skin cancer appointment for both of us.
DEC 6 – got stuff done.
DEC 7 – mum’s hospital appointment.
DEC 8 – got more stuff done.
DEC 9 – had to run up shops then down to the hospital to pick up a procedure prep pack for mum.
DEC 10, DEC 11, DEC 12, DEC 13 – typed up 120 pages of next year’s novel.
DEC 14 – shopping, library, shredded paperwork.
DEC 15 – housework, got stuff done.
DEC 16 – had to get mum to hospital for procedure, went shopping in meantime and bought lots of goodies.
DEC 17, DEC 18, DEC 19, DEC 20 – typed up another 120 pages of next year’s novel, got 3 new sandals to try on, 2 needed to go back.
DEC 21 – shopping, library, chiro, bought furniture, got call to get mum back to hospital on Friday, no rest for the fucking wicked. Sent off the two pairs of shoes that didn’t fit, ordered another pair in the style that did.
DEC 22 – got mum back to the hospital, chemist for meds, home, washing and cleaning.
DEC 23 – casual day, did quick wardrobe audit (didn’t throw anything as I’d already skimmed the wardrobe in the great overhaul of 14/15, and had only thrown out a few tanks and things early in the year), made planner notepaper in Picmonkey then MS publisher, scoured eBay for goodies.
DEC 24 – printed planner notepaper, ran out for newspaper and Christmas cheesecake, came home, ran out for roast chicken lunch, had lunch, faffed around online and writing up this list. Watched carols on TV at night and ate munchies till after midnight.
DEC 25 – nice and cool so did a bunch of updating of notes and what-not for different things.
DEC 26 – same as yesterday.
DEC 27 – same as yesterday and shopped online for bargains.
DEC 28 – shopped online for bargains, updated books and stuff.
DEC 29 – same as yesterday.
DEC 30 – finished off stuff, stayed up till 3a.m. shopping online.
DEC 31 – slept in, New Year’s eve, who cared! Faffed around, watched the fireworks on tv and stuff, normal Sunday shows, went to bed about 12:30 a.m.
JAN 1 – didn’t do much, tidied up and got stuff ready for tomorrow.
JAN 2 – tidied up my office so I could empty the bookcase, move bookcase, vacuum, make two bookcases similar to Ikea, and put them where the old one was, put everything back, killer pain.
JAN 3 – moved bed in my bedroom, removed everything in the corner of my bedroom, vacuumed, moved bookcase in, put everything back in, had leftovers, still have books on mum’s bed, put everything back, nice and neat, killer pain, can’t walk.
JAN 4 – shopping as usual, library, looked for xmas leftover bargains, and raided back to school goodies.
JAN 5 – pottered around online looking for planner stuff and getting other stuff done.
JAN 6 – Way too hot. 42 celcius, didn’t do much until nighttime when I got online and looked for planner stuff.
JAN 7, JAN 8, JAN 9, JAN 10 – got back to typing up the mega monster book.
JAN 11 – shopping, library etc.
JAN 12 – rained so didn’t do the washing, got a bunch of stuff done, like paperwork and more online shopping.
JAN 13 – did the washing, got some typing done.
JAN 14 – got 30 or so pages typed up.
JAN 15 – typed up 30 pages today, finished the novel itself, 722 word doc pages compared to 782 handwritten ones.
JAN 16 – typed up the 30 page short story that goes with that mega novel today, finally finished the whole bloody thing, yay.
JAN 17 – started getting blog posts and pictures ready.
JAN 18 – back to the chiro, shopping, library, 41 freakin’ degrees, home by lunch, did half the washing…
JAN 19 – appointment in 41 freakin’ degrees, some quick shopping, home by lunch, did the rest of the washing.
JAN 20 – got more photos done for blog posts, started getting them done.
JAN 21 – finish off blog posts for Jewel Divas Style.
JAN 22 – Finish off online for tomorrow.
JAN 23 – had the phone dude here today to set up the NBN.
JAN 24 – Finished off as much as possible.
JAN 25 – shopping, library, etc, etc, etc.
JAN 26 – Australia Day long weekend, washed, relaxed, got my health and fitness planner done.
JAN 27, JAN 28 – got the next novel, due in March, through edit #4.
JAN 29 – read through other books to get corrections ready for Feb.
JAN 30 – finished off above.
JAN 31 – made sure everything was finished off for the month and ready to go for Feb.
FEB 1 – Shopping, library, etc.
FEB 2 – clothes washing, got a start on Feb’s to do list.
What my plans for the year ahead are…
green means “done already”, orange means “in the process of”, black is “not done yet”.
(1) Under Tiara King I have these planned…
– 1.1 – Release the six book series, Poems Of A Musical Flavour, in paperback.
– 1.2 – The paperbacks have been mostly done and need tweaking, which will be done sometime in Feb or March. I had a time limit for March for the 6 pbs, but it might be pushed back to May.
– 1.3 – All will be released through Amazon and Ingram Sparks which I have joined as a publisher and they will be under my imprint.
– 1.4 – I will also release the omnibus e-book and make e-book #1 permafree.
– 1.5 – The omnibus pb will be released in September and I’m doing my own interior and having the cover done professionally. It will be 6×9 size and very thick.
– 2.1 – Update my two paperbacks, How To Be A Jewel Diva and Closet Confidential.
– 2.2 – I have decided to add style sheets to the pbs in 2018, which will also be given away for free as a download on my style website when people sign up to an email list once I get it done. I will re-release under my own imprint. Deadline is May, but I’m having trouble completing them due to MS Publisher claiming I have no disc space left when trying to add pages to the document. I do have space, and need to fix the problem so I can get it finished. If anyone knows how to fix the problem, let me know.
– 3.1 – I still haven’t got #teenblogger to Ellen DeGeneres yet.
– 3.2 – It’s in the planning and I want to make it as professional as possible and tweak it in the next month or so. It’s important that I make it look good, and important that I try and get it out there even though it’s been two years since I released it.
– 4 – I want to get my jewellery back into its own website so we’ll see. Selling has been on hold for the last two years due to money, time and energy. I’m still looking for wordpress templates that would suit the type of website look I want, but with everything else going on, this won’t happen for some time.
(2) Under T.K. Wrathbone I have these planned…
– 1.1 – Get three stories written up, typed up, edited and out along with an anthology. Thank God I have already done the e-covers.
– 1.2 – All four will be released in the second half of the year.
– 2.1 – Will get the paperback version of last year’s stories done professionally, and it will be out before this year’s new stories.
– 2.2 – I am also updating the first two Bones pbs and will release them under my imprint during the year.
(3) Under L.J. Diva I have these planned…
– 1.1 – Put the next book, Love Never Dies through two more rounds of editing (one was done on the Australia Day long weekend on the 26/27th of Jan).
– 1.2 – Get the cover finished, and release it in March.
– 1.3 – Then comes the paperback interior and cover for release in September.
– 2.1 – I typed up the last couple of hundred pages of Stefan: The New Generation in January.
– 2.2 – I need to put it through 3-4 rounds of editing.
– 2.3 – Then send it off to my editor across three months because it’s so long it will cost a fortune.
– 2.4 – Then two more rounds of editing and get the cover done.
– 2.5 – Release it in September as an e-book.
– 2.6 – Then comes the paperback interior and cover.
– 3 – Release all four Porn Star Brothers novellas in paperback, along with the deluxe collector’s edition novel, and the novel Forever all in paperback. March is the deadline, but it could be April or May as I need proofs first.
– 4.1 – I want to type up next year’s novella which isn’t due for release until March 2019 so it gives me time to edit and add to it.
– 4.2 – I also want to try and get the last book in the series written up. That isn’t due until Sep 2019, but I like to be ahead of myself due to outlay costs so I know ahead of time where I can fit it all in.
– 5 – I’d like to try and get some of the short stories for the series written up. I can do the e-book covers myself and I’ve bought the pictures for them, so I will save money doing that. It will just be editing I’ll have to pay for. But who knows, they won’t be due until after the last novel, but I will release them weekly, so they will need to be all done.
– 6.1 – I also want to update my four standalone novels. I updated the interiors last year, changed them to a 6×9 format, and will have the covers re-done for them.
– 6.2 – Then re-release under my imprint in September, December by the latest. They are still available at Amazon in paperback, but, with the new format in 6×9, and with recent changes in CreateSpace, it means the prices can be lowered, so…
– 6.3 – I also have to re-evaluate my pricing strategy.
That means all but three of my books will be moved to my own imprint by the end of the year.
So, what did you guys get up to over the holiday season and what are your plans for the year ahead?