#Elana Johnson

[jolieeason]

September 2024 Wrap-Up

Here is what I read, posted, won, received, and bought in September. Let me know if you have read any of these books and what you thought of them. Books I Read: Books Reviewed: Fall for Him by Andie Burke—review here Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas—review coming April 29th, 2025 Lucy Undying by Kiersten White—review here Books I got from NetGalley: Books I got from indie…

[ed-recoverry]

List of free audiobooks on YouTube for anyone interested

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Alice in Wonderland

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H P Lovecraft

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Village by Caroline Mitchell

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (fuck JKR)

Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Upside Down by Danielle Steel

The Fiancée by Kate White

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Theif

Accidentally Married by Victoria E. Lieske

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

The Collector (book one) by Nora Roberts

The Lies I Told by Mary Burton

Dead Man’s Mirror by Agatha Christie

The Hobbit

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey

The Good Neighbour by R J Parker

The Island House by Elana Johnson

Desperation by Stephan King

The Healing Summer by Heather B. Moore

The Last Affair by Margot Hunt

To Be Claimed by Willow Winter

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Inn by James Patterson

Wonder by R J Palacio

Faking It With The Billionaire by Willow Fox

The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom

The Janson Directive by Robert Ludlum

The Catcher in the Rye

The Lottery Winner by Mary Higgins Clark

Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean

Death of a Nurse by M C Beaton

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

Frozen Betrayal by Clive Cussler

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Line of Fire by R J Patterson

Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen

The Remnant by Tim LaHaye

The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

Payment in Kind by J A Jance

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida

The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Marriage of Anything but Convenience by Victorine E. Lieske

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The Inheritance Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The Kama Sutra by Mallanaga Vatsyayana

The Wisdom of Father Brown by G K Chesterton

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Robin Hood by J Walker McSpadden

The Poor Traveller by Charles Dickens

Days on the Road: Crossing the Plains in 1865 by Sarah Raymond Herndon

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Atomic Habits by James Clear

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Man After Man

Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Charlotte’s Web

Midsummer Mysteries by Agatha Christie

Out of Silent Planet by C S Lewis

The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle

Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

The Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harai

Hamlet by Shakespeare

[archivlibrarianist]

"In their petition, the ardent culture warriors claim the books expose kids to “obscene depictions of sexually explicit acts.” The books in question include People Kill People, a YA novel by bestselling author Ellen Hopkins about the deleterious effects of gun violence; It Ends With Us, a romance novel by Colleen Hoover that was made into a Hollywood film starring Blake Lively; All Boys Aren’t Blue, a “memoir-manifesto” by journalist and LGBTQ activist George M. Johnson about his struggles growing up as a gay Black man; Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold, a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood centered on female empowerment; and Julia Scheeres’ Jesus Land: A Memoir, a New York Times bestseller about the author’s unpleasant childhood experience at a fundamentalist church camp."

Sure would be a shame if anyone, anyone at all actually read these books at their library, or through the Books Unbanned program, which will give you access to these materials, no matter where you are in the United States.

[the-book-queen]

Hide your wallets, it's that time again! Your daily thread of romance deals is ready, FREE to $2.99!

FREE ✦ Beach Club Boxed Set by Elana Johnson

3 books, including:

~ Former Air Force pilot + recently divorced heroine trying to start over

~ Second chance, stormed in together

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4dW6ASw

$0.99 ✦ All Duke and Bothered by Mariah Stone

BatB vibes. Brooding Duke forces his enemy's sunshiny, artistic daughter into marriage for revenge.

KU Title

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3URS6KF

$2.99 ✦ Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson

She's an American pop-culture reporter, he is Scottish and hosts a series of pranks and hijinks online.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4azbqly

$2.99 ✦ The Earl is Mine by Kieran Kramer

Charismatic Lord on the verge of becoming a successful architect + aspiring artist fleeing an arranged marriage. They have some history -- she is the best friend of his ex.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4aF9O9Y

$2.99 ✦ With Just One Kiss by Francis Ray

Friends to lovers. He runs a NYC bar. She writes for a fashion magazine.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4dRFQSZ

Putting these lists together takes time. If you appreciate this content, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi. http://ko-fi.com/danielletbq

[white-cat-of-doom]

Highlights from last of two performances at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts in Johnson City, TN (07 March 2023) in US Tour 6.

Luke Bernier did a takeover of the theater's Instagram account, and answered questions and to talked to some other cast members. The full compilation of footage below.

Featuring Rachael Haber covering Grizabella, Dominic Fortunato as Pouncival, Megan Arseneau, Clara Hevia, Ellie Chancellor, and Jonathan Heller.

Megan Arseneau helped to wrangle Kitties.

Rachael Haber covering Babygriz, Allyson Duarte as Jellylorum, Taryn Smithson as Rumpleteazer, and Elana Valastro covering Tantomile.

The Kitties also have many tickets available to give away for the upcoming stop in New Jersey.

Michelle E. Carter as Jennyanydots, Gracie Anderson covering Rumpleteazer, Brian Craig Nelson as Mungojerrie, Hank Santos as Rum Tum Tugger, and Ibn Snell as Mistoffelees.

[spacenutspod]

A Satellite for Optimal Control and Imaging (SOC-i) CubeSat awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, June 6, 2024. SOC-i, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.NASA NASA is readying for the launch of several small satellites to space, built with the help of students, educators, and researchers from across the country, as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. The ELaNa 43 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43) mission includes eight CubeSats flying on Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket for its “Noise of Summer” launch from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The 30-minute launch window will open at 9 p.m. PDT Wednesday, June 26 (12 a.m. EDT Thursday, June 27). NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) is an ongoing partnership between the agency, educational institutions, and nonprofits, providing a path to space for educational small satellite missions. For the ELaNa 43 mission, each satellite is stored in a CubeSat dispenser on the Firefly rocket and deployed once it reaches sun-synchronous or nearly polar orbit around Earth. CubeSats are built using standardized units, with one unit, or 1U, measuring about 10 centimeters in length, width, and height. This standardization in size and form allows universities and other researchers to develop cost-effective science investigations and technology demonstrations. Read more about the small satellites launching on ELaNa 43: CatSat – University of Arizona, Tucson CatSat, a 6U CubeSat with a deployable antenna inside a Mylar balloon, will test high-speed communications. Once the CatSat reaches orbit, it will inflate to transmit high-definition Earth photos to ground stations at 50 megabits per second, more than five times faster than typical home internet speeds. The CatSat design inspiration came to Chris Walker after covering a pot of pudding with plastic wrap. The CatSat principal investigator and professor of Astronomy at University of Arizona noticed the image of an overhanging light bulb created by reflections off the concave plastic wrap on the pot. “This observation eventually led to the Large Balloon Reflector, an inflatable technology that creates large collecting apertures that weigh a fraction of today’s deployable antennas,” said Walker. The Large Balloon Reflector was an early-stage study developed through NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program. KUbeSat-1 – University of Kansas, Lawrence The KUbeSat-1, a 3U CubeSat, will use a new method to measure the energy and type of primary cosmic rays hitting the Earth, which is traditionally done on Earth. The second payload, the High-Altitude Calibration will measure very high frequency signals generated by cosmic interactions with the atmosphere. KUbeSat-1 is Kansas’ first small satellite to launch under NASA’s CSLI. MESAT-1 – University of Maine, Orono MESAT-1, a 3U CubeSat, will study local temperatures across city and rural areas to determine phytoplankton concentration in bodies of water to help predict algal blooms.  MESAT-1 is Maine’s first small satellite to launch under NASA’s CSLI. R5-S4, R5-S2-2.0 ­­­­­- NASA’s Johnson Space Center R5-S4 and R5-S2-2.0, both 6U CubeSats, will be the first R5 spacecraft launched to orbit to test a new, lean spacecraft build. The team will monitor how each part of the spacecraft performs, including the computer, software, radio, propulsion system, sensors, and cameras in low Earth orbit. NASA and Firefly Aerospace engineers review the integration plan for the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) at Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.NASA/Jacob Nunez-Kearny “In the near term, R5 hopes to demonstrate new processes that allows for faster and cheaper development of high-performance CubeSats,” said Sam Pedrotty, R5 project manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “The cost and schedule improvements will allow R5 to provide higher-risk ride options to low-Technology Readiness Levels payloads so more can be demonstrated on-orbit.” Serenity – Teachers in Space Serenity, a 3U CubeSat equipped with data sensors and a camera, will communicate with students on Earth through amateur radio signals and send back images. Teachers in Space launches satellites as educational experiments to stimulate interest in space science, technology, engineering, and math among students in North America. SOC-i – University of Washington, Seattle Satellite for Optimal Control and Imaging (SOC-i), a 2U CubeSat, is a technology demonstration mission of attitude control technology used to maintain its orientation in relation to the Earth, Sun, or other body. This mission will test an algorithm to support autonomous operations with constrained attitude guidance maneuvers computed in real-time aboard the spacecraft. SOC-i will autonomously rotate its camera to capture images. TechEdSat-11 (TES-11) – NASA’s Ames Research Center, California’s Silicon Valley TES-11, a 6U CubeSat, is a collaborative effort between NASA researchers and students to evaluate technologies for use in small satellites. It’s part of ongoing experiments to evaluate new technologies in communications, a radiation sensor suite, and experimental solar panels, as well as to find ways to reduce the time to de-orbit. NASA awarded Firefly Aerospace a fixed-price contract to fly small satellites to space under a Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract in 2020. NASA certified Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket as a Category 1 in May, which authorized its use during missions with high risk tolerance. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launching rockets delivering spacecraft that observe Earth, visit other planets, and explore the universe. Follow NASA’s small satellite missions blog for launch updates.

[joyffree]

✨IT'S FREEBIE FRIDAY July 7th - ADVENTURE- ROMANCE-MYSTERY 🛫 READY - SET - GO! ➱ Free eBooks on All Platforms

I present to you this week's bag of mixed delights

Rook: A Chess Club Mystery by TK Eldridge

Darkness Awakened: Fantasy Romance by Stephanie Rowe

Warbringer: Epic Fantasy by Aaron Hodges

Second Skyn: A Cyberpunk Action Thriller by Damien Boyes

The Billionaire Club: Clean Beach Billionaire Romance by Elana Johnson

Fireball: An Enemies to Lovers Romance by Lainey Davis

Summer Chaparral: American Historical Romance by Genevieve Turner

Protecting Fiona: Military Romantic Suspense by Susan Stoker

Her Fake Irish Husband: Romance by Michele Brouder

By the Pact: High Fantasy Sword Sorcery by Joanna Maciejewska

I Do (Not): An MM Office Romance Comedy by Anni Lee

[safehavenbookshelf]

Go ahead and check out my first book review! Aloha Hideaway Inn by Elana Johnson, a beautiful sweet romance you'll love!

[jolieeason]

April 2024 Wrap-Up

Here is what I read, posted, won, received, and bought in April. As always, let me know if you have read any of these books and (if you did) what you thought of them. Books I Read: Books Reviewed: The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin—review here The Trail of Lost Hearts by Tracey Garvis Graves—review here Off the Air by Christina Estes—review here Sincerely, The Duke by Amelia…

[irisblobel]

#NewRelease "THE SEASIDE STRATEGY" by Elana Johnson #preorder @InkslingerPR

#NewRelease “THE SEASIDE STRATEGY” by Elana Johnson #preorder @InkslingerPR

We’re so excited to be sharing the final book in Elana Johnson’s HILTON HEAD ISLAND ROMANCE trilogy–The Seaside Strategy is coming August 16th! Title: The Seaside Strategy Author: Elana Johnson Genre: Contemporary Romance Release Date: August 16th About The Seaside Strategy: Lauren Keller understands strategies. She adores them and never enters a marketing meeting without Strategy A, B, and C…

[the-book-queen]

Hide your wallets, it’s that time again #TBQsBookDeals

Your hella loooooong Sunday recap thread is ready! #romancedeals FREE to $1.99. Happy shopping! 📚❤

~ * ~ * ~

FREE ✦ Wrapped Up in Christmas by Janice Lynn

She's opening a B&B and mistakes him for a handyman there to help with repairs. He's a former Army Ranger who received a quilt while hospitalized and is looking for the artist.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3BNxnlB 

FREE ✦ I Loved You First by Cate Beauman

Second chance. She's a senior events planner at a world-renowned firm. He's a single dad and head construction manager.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4fHwDMY 

FREE ✦ Searching for Sunshine by Linda Seed

Widowed mother + contractor hired to fix up an old beach house.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/40azp8K 

FREE ✦ The Fox and the Viscount by Laura Greenwood

Fox shifters in Regency England. Childhood friends reconnect in the ballroom and make a scandalous wager to see who will secure an engagement first.

Paranormal Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3BKFQGi 

$0.99 ✦ Falling in Love Again by Cathy Maxwell

A highborn country heiress is forced to wed a dashing gentleman, but he abandons her on the wedding night. Years later they're still estranged and she finally wants a divorce.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3DvA2Ry 

$0.99 ✦ Say Yes to the Princess by Charis Michaels

A princess in exile goes searching for her lost brother, and falls for the charming scoundrel who has been sent to thwart her plans.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3P9lw4j 

$0.99 ✦ Best Man Under the Mistletoe by Jules Bennett

Their best friends are getting married and they must work together to help with the wedding. But she blames him for something his uncle did.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/41PIjd4 

$0.99 ✦ Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao

Isabel is a union electrician. Mira is a grad student; she is also a trans woman who is discovering her bisexuality. Roommates + slow burn.

KU Title

Contemporary Romance (FF) | https://amzn.to/49PUJUn 

$0.99 ✦ The Island Romance Boxed Set by Elana Johnson

4 books including:

~ Friends to lovers + fake engagement

~ Synchronized swimmer heroine + prince in hiding

~ Doctor + wedding planner

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/49WwFPO 

$0.99 ✦ The Copper Valley Fireballs by Pippa Grant

1st POV. 4 books including:

~ Virgin baseball hero

~ Grumpy athlete + jilted bride + fake relationship

~ Hot mess pop star + baseball player with an ego

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/49RIAOu 

$0.99 ✦ The Rockwell Legacy Box Set by Jennifer Bernard

3 books, including:

~ Rescue paramedic + his father's new nurse aide

~ She's a trauma surgeon, he's a billionaire battling a business takeover

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3VVdZdm 

$0.99 ✦ Guardian's Instinct by Fiona Quinn

He's retired from an elite Australian Commando unit and is now on a private tactical K9 unit. She's an empty nester who was celebrating her 40th when she got mixed up in a mission.

Romantic Suspense (MF) | https://amzn.to/3VVa5Ru 

$0.99 ✦ Monster's Bride by Stasia Black

1st POV. What if the Beast didn't turn back into a man at the end? And wanted to do unholy things to the human woman that he has stolen away to be his bride?

KU Title

Paranormal Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/41R8srS 

$0.99 ✦ The Wedding Bargain by Cheryl Bolen

Desperate to save her brother, a proper Lady makes a deal with the richest man in the kingdom, a pillar of the London Stock Exchange: money in exchange for her hand in marriage.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3PzyHfn 

$1.99 ✦ Secrets of the Highlander by Janet Chapman

While on a project in the Canadian tundra, she hooks up with a fellow researcher. Oops, now she's pregnant -- and returns home to find the new police chief looks familiar..

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3VSF7tz 

$1.99 ✦ Chained by the Night by Larissa Ione

Enemies to lovers. As leader of a vampire clan, he must save his people, even if it means agreeing to mate a rival clan leader's daughter.

Paranormal Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4gNhQ43 

$1.99 ✦ Status Update by Annabeth Albert

Opposites attract + accidental roadtrip. Successful video game designer + strait-laced geoarchaeologist.

TBQ Rec

Contemporary Romance (MM) | https://amzn.to/49OKn7d 

$1.99 ✦ Bean Wishing for a Latte Love by Tia Marlee

1st POV. He's a doctor who suddenly becomes guardian to his young nephew. She's a barista who volunteers at the library.

KU Title

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3Pigx1b 

$1.99 ✦ All I Want for Christmas is a Duke by Valerie Bowman et al.

4 novellas, including:

~ Second chance / estranged marriage

~ Strait-laced scientist Duke + impulsive heroine

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3ZULi1r 

$1.99 ✦ Passionately Yours by Cara Elliott

She's an English lady and aspiring poet, he's a Scottish laird. Set in Bath.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4gvX3Cf 

$1.99 ✦ Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher

A magic-less witch and a wolf shifter agree to a fake relationship.

I liked this one

Paranormal Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3PdyE8x 

$1.99 ✦ Twelve Wicked Nights by Nadia Aidan

Attorney + Navy SEAL. They were childhood friends, and when a blizzard hits during the holidays, they finally give in and share 12 nights together before his deployment.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4gIwWYQ 

$2.99 ✦ Nobody But You by Francis Ray

Second chance + secret baby. NASCAR star bumps into his former fiancée -- and the son he didn't know about.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/4iPmJLU 

$2.99 ✦ The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

Knives Out but make it a rom-com with rival writers (she does cozy mysteries, he does thrillers) who are invited to a house party in the English countryside.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/408aL8S 

$2.99 ✦ The Perfect Bargain by Julia London

She takes a trip to Scotland and needs a fake boyfriend so her friends will stop setting her up. He's a local attorney who is trying to keep his family's pub afloat.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/40aQLSX 

Or you can find all of these deals, with their GR, BN, and Kobo links as well, up on the blog: 

Romance Deals Weekly Recap (12/29): Over 20 romances, all under $3! 📚

Putting these lists together takes time. If you appreciate this content, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi. http://ko-fi.com/danielletbq 

[piers-wifey]

Edit: You can also ask questions that aren't listed here. I'm happy to answer all sorts of questions

OC Ask Game!! Send an OC and an emoji!

🌸- What's this oc's favorite and least favorite color?

🌹- What's this oc's biggest fear

🌷- How does this oc take their coffee?

🌻- What's this oc's mental health state?

🌼- What's your favorite thing about this oc?

🌺- Which family member(if any) is this oc closest to?

💐- Where is this oc's favorite place to relax?

🌱- Does this oc have any pets? Do they have any pets they want?

🌲- What is this oc's greatest strength and weakness?

🌵- How does this oc feel about physical affection?

🌴- Who is this oc's favorite person?(Can be another oc, a fictional character, a celebrity, anyone)

☘- Does this oc have any piercings? Do they want any?

🍁- What's this oc's favorite genre of movies/tv shows/books/etc?

🌾- How does this oc get along with people they just met?

🍀- Around when does this oc get up in the morning?

🍂- What music does this oc like?

🌳- Does this oc collect anything?

☀️- Does this oc make good or bad first impressions?

🌙- Does this oc have any unusual hobbies?

🌟- Is this oc good at expressing themself through words or do they have to use other means?

🌈- What does this oc like and dislike about themselves?

❄- What is this oc's favorite and least favorite food?

☁️- What is this oc's clothing style like?

⚡- How well does this oc sleep?

💧- What is this oc most passionate about?

🍃- Describe this oc in one word

[nanowrimo]

So You Didn’t Hit Your Word Count… Did You Have Fun?

Sometimes we don’t reach our word count goal. And that’s okay! Longtime NaNo participant Michael Chatfield has a few words of advice on how the most important part of writing is the journey itself. There’s a regular responses to missing your word count— “I’ll just increase how much I write tomorrow, I’ll spread it over the remaining days!”

If that works for you— go for it!

If that doesn’t and you’re starting to beat yourself up about not hitting those numerical milestones and your obstacles are starting to look like blockades, this might be for you. My limited nuggets of wisdom I can give you on the all fearing word count.

I’m going to talk a little about passion, some about joy and a lot about how while numbers are great— they are not the be all-end all of writing. Showing up, getting lost inyour world, exploring it everyday and putting in the time is the win. Sometimes that results in words, we hope, but sometimes that means we don’t hit the numbers we want to.

Many times when we don’t hit that all important word count, there comes a sinking feeling. You may say to yourself something like — “I’m slipping”, “I’m behind”, “It’s going to be so hard to catch up”, “I’m failing!”. These are all a variation of “I didn’t get x words today so I’m losing”.

Woah— wait, you’re losing? You’re falling behind? Let me steal some words and heavily paraphrase what I heard fellow writer Elana Johnson say. Writing is like climbing a mountain, we’re each going up it on our own path in our own way. When we take a pause we feel like we’re slipping down the mountain. That’s just plain ridiculous, you climbed up to this point.

You’re HERE!

Take a look around. Your love for an idea, for a group of characters has led to this point. Draw from the excitement, that passion that got you here.

Get excited by that next scene that’s bursting to come forward, that next juicy tidbit you see ahead that opens a pit in your stomach, or fills it with butterflies!

Are you chasing numbers, or are you chasing those feelings, those scenes and parts that send a thrill through your mind and out into the world?

Ground yourself in where you are, just like a trek up a mountain, rarely do you do it in one damn bound.

You walk, take a break, take in the view, study the path behind, the path ahead. Maybe you want to be at a higher place than where you are right now.

Okay, totally fine, hell maybe you want to charge all the way up to that next lookout perch. Or maybe you didn’t move at all, you just took in the view.

That’s totally fine too, you didn’t start falling off it (base jumping is a whole different exercise).

Here’s a couple of thoughts/rut busters to think of:

If you’re stuck on something you need to do but having such a damn hell of a time doing it: Write a note. Dump all the information you have on this part. Now move onto the next thing after this.

When you have momentum use it, when you start seeing a scene coming together, start writing on it.

Write how you want to write. Some go from beginning to end, some write in chunks and fill it in, some use pen, keyboard or speech. Others hangout with friends, discuss a topic and write it all down. How do you want to record your stories? Do that. If you don’t know, then explore! Try out the most romantically writerly things you can think of like writing in calligraphy, on a typewriter, or with a cup of something. Picture how you think an author writes, try it out.

Writing your thoughts out can be a great help and allow you to go from writing out where the story is going to putting down the words that will get it there. Give thinking and thoughts space too. We often think it a waste of time or “doing nothing”.

I heard this from Neil Gaiman first and several other writers since. When writing, I can write or do nothing. Give writing the time it deserves and fully devote yourself to enjoying that time. Sometimes doing nothing is amazing. It’s known to cause thinking and boredom, which has been linked to increased creativity and energy.

You decide if you win or lose. If you show up, write, think, and be bored, you’ll honestly be surprised with the results. You win by living in your passion, you win by having fun. Don’t try to define failure, recognize when you’re having fun instead.

After all, writing is the author’s adventure.

Have fun, Michael Chatfield (Like all advice, it is only as useful as you find it. If this doesn’t gel with you, don’t worry, this wasn’t for you, there might be other advice that helps! Writing is your journey, find the information that works for you.)

Michael Chatfield is an international bestseller who likes to create character-driven stories set in fact-paced worlds. His main genres are Fantasy, Science Fiction, and LitRPG, but he enjoys adding enough realism to make the stories leap off the page. His book, Connection Unknown, can be found here.

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash