Where did March go? In like a lion and out like a lamb was thrown all in flux and it was more like April showers bring May flowers as my garden is popping with daffodils and tulips, hyacinths and flowers I don’t even know the names of. Catch up on what I did in life and writing during March and a quick look at what’s to come in April. It’s also a IWSG Wednesday (what’s that? read on!) and the question posed this month is about blogging.
This month I am:
- Reading: World Running Down on audio | Eye of the World in physical | beta reading for a couple other authors on ebook
- Drinking: Pink Drink from Starbucks
- Watching: The Mandalorian
- Playing: N/A
New Tag Line!
As part of preparing for the local Author fair (April 20 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm FORUM Events Center in Fishers ) I decided to update my author tag line. I’m rebranding my site a bit, so over the next month you might notice it start to match what I’ve designed for my author fair banner and my author bio/bibliography post cards that I’ll have for people to pick up at my table. My new tag line captures the different genres I write, often blending them.
Kristina W Kelly – Weaver of Worlds, Rhymer of Realities
Writing Progress and Updates
I am participating in National Poetry Month again. I just did a blog post on that, so catch up on my plans and ways you can celebrate poetry here. I continue to finalize the photography I’m going to pair with my poems for my collection, Imaginari. I’m also working on a few bookmarks and things to advertise that and my novella at the author fair I mentioned above. I’ve been doing quite a bit of marketing/design this month!
My Novella, Tavern Tale, is starting to go through the formatting stage. I have to get my map draft finalized so that I can send that over and have someone create it (oh I love a good map!). I also need to finalize my dedication pages and acknowledgements, but these should be relatively easy compared to all of the edits I did in January. To get a reminder when the crowd funding goes live, get a free book when you pledge, and check out the other 11 books with mine click here.
Recently I wrote one of my favorite types of scenes to write for book 2 of the Etherea Cycle – a training montage. I love a good practice battle or strength/skill learning type of scene. Do you have a favorite type of scene to read or write in fantasy?
How’s Life?
I’m getting ready for the solar eclipse. I’ve downloaded an app to help me remember when to take photos as I want to make a cool progression image. I’m also going to make my family some galaxy lemonade so I’ve ordered some purple edible sparkles and peaflower tea which gives a lovely purple color and together I’m going to make some moon ice cubes to go into the lemonade. I’ll be sure to share the final images with everyone. We have our eclipse glasses ready and I’m planning on writing a poem and doing another piece of watercolor art as well.
March had some really cold days but also really nice weather, which we took advantage of the latter. My family loves to go to parks for play time and exploring nature. We recently found a park that had several treehouses and it was fun letting my oldest little one hunt and find them. My husband and I also checked out an indoor tropical garden nearby that’s been on my list forever. It was lovely!
We celebrated Easter last weekend with coloring and dyeing eggs, multiple egg hunts including one in a green house, and a lunch buffet with my family.
Insecure Writer’s Support Group April 2023 Author Question
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group post on the first Wednesday of the month. “Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance.” You can find my previous posts here. The group poses a monthly question to answer as well.
The co-hosts this month are: Janet Alcorn, T. Powell Coltrin, Natalie Aguirre, and Pat Garcia! Be sure to visit them to say thanks for their work.
IWSG Question of the Month
How long have you been blogging? (Or on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram?) What do you like about it and how has it changed?
I started blogging about twenty years ago when I started a LiveJournal account. I rambled about my daily life and my geeky interests (I made a whole blog post after I read the Princess Bride thinking the entire book was *real* because the author put in a fake forward about having been there). I miss those days as I had several friends who always commented, and we did these quizzes and posted our results and it was just fun.
Then I started this site about 15 years ago. I did similar ramblings and never got any traffic and gave up. I’d re-try every so many years, only to give up again. Only after preparing to release my debut novel, Trials of the Innermost, in 2022 did I start it back up regularly (Read: Monthly). I learned a little bit about SEO and have tried to follow the rules to hopefully show up more frequently in search results but woefully it has yet to payoff. It’s a little frustrating to be hidden like a needle in the deepest part of the ocean. I’ve considered reposting my stuff over somewhere like blogger so that other users might be able to find me better, but at this point I’m a bit tapped out on all of the options to socialize, communicate, blog, etc. But, the IWSG is a big part of how I’ve mostly stayed consistent here at my own site. And it’s nice to have some people drop by and comment.
So if you made it this far, let me know what resonated with you from my post today.
You have been blogging a long time! Going back to when the internet was new? I started blogging about 15 years ago with blogger.
Keep writing and blogging! Good luck on your books.
Teresa
Another long time blogger. I love it.
I’ve been blogging since 2010, Kristina. I love your post and the photos. Your author bio and publicity stuff are great. Wonderful! All the luck with your April event. More power to you!
Thank so much!
Good luck at your book fair! Now that you mentioned it, I may need to look at matching my website look to my book fair promo materials, too! I’m excited about the eclipse, too! Hope you get some great photos!
If nothing else, the author fair is helping me get my materials all designed and its been fun.
Beautiful pictures! And I agree, the IWSG is such a good community, whether in terms of keeping me consistent or offering a support system which I couldn’t do without. Your Easter sounds like it was such fun! I’ve never heard of galaxy lemonade before, but you make it sound so appetizing. Best of luck for the formatting of Tavern Tale, and at the author fair!
Thanks so much!
Hi, Kristina! I enjoyed hearing about your blogging journal, and I love the photos you shared. Good luck with your book fair and happy creating in April!
Thank you! Happy creating to you as well!
I’ve been blogging forever too—miss the blog hops and challenges. Had to drop back to our once a month IWSG, but I’m glad it’s still there. It reminds me I’m not alone!
Mandalorian is awesome—watched it with my grown sons =)
and I love the thought of writing a training montage!
glad I stopped by
Yeah I’ve really been enjoying the Mandalorian! Thanks for visiting!
Wow. You sure got me beat with blogging. That had to be when the internet was newer.
It can be a tiny speck in the ocean if the internet too, but at least the speck is there.
A good training montage is fun indeed.
I remember LiveJournal! I never did much with it, but I blogged and did silly quizzes on MySpace. Those were the days 🙂
Your new branding and banner look great! Good luck at the book fair!
Glad you like the new branding. Thanks for stopping by!