2015 Year of Firsts – 2016 What’s Next
After Christmas is done and all the decorations are put away, it’s time for reflection. What was accomplished in 2015? What will 2016 bring?
For me, 2015 was a year of firsts. My debut novel, A Demon’s Witch, came out on September 25, 2015. I dared to dream of becoming a published author since I was young, and through dedication and determination made it happen. The feeling was beyond description to hold my creation in hand and have people enjoy reading it, well — it’s fantastic. I have to admit the promotion side of the business had a steep learning curve.
First interviews on blog sites for both me and my characters were nerve racking. What to say, how to say it and would people like my book? Thunder clap campaign was an experience all its own, thought it brought much needed name recognition.
Participating in my first Facebook Party after the release of A Demon’s Witch was overwhelming, but exhilarating at the same time. Learning to create my website was fun, but ramping it up to promote my books was interesting to say the least. January 9, 2016, will be my second Facebook Party a release party for a fellow author, Mary Morgan and promotion for my second release, Charm Me. I’m ready. Please feel free to join several well-known authors and myself.
Now let’s talk about a first author’s newsletter. I chose Mail Chimp as my provider, but that nasty learning curve rose up and slapped me upside the head, AGAIN. Just type the info in the boxes. Right? All kinds of wrong, arrange the boxes, add the art work, then the content. After blood, sweat and tears, in the end, I won and produced a newsletter my readers enjoyed. Whew!
Whats next for 2016? I’m glad you asked. Charm Me has a release date of January 6, 2016 and A Witch’s Journey will be out later this year. I have work in progress that I hope to submit, one is the second book in the Demon’s Witch series, the other a fun Christmas novel. I continue to strive to reach my goal of 5000- 7,000 words a week, which I met in 2015. Spend quality time with my family and friends, take long 
walks with my dog and more play-time with my parrot. Camping is high on my list of priorities, I’m in the process of making reservations for my family’s favorite camping spots.
How was your 2015? Did it meet your expectations? What about 2016? Any resolutions, changes you want to make, plans or vacations you want to take or do? Please leave a comments as to what you are looking forward to in 2016!
Wishing you a safe, heath, prosperous and Happy New Year!
Next we tackle camping plans and making reservations for the summer. See you then.
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Posted in Camping, Food for Thought, For Fun, My Say What Blog and tagged 2015, 2016, A Demon's Witch, camping, Charm Me, goals, New Year Resolutions, novels by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Christmas Decorating – Not for the Faint of Heart!
We nor
mally spend the Thanksgiving weekend putting up Christmas decorations inside and out. This year Thanksgiving brought with it rain turning to snow, creating black ice on the roads, sidewalks and any other surface in its path. A peek outside was 
discouraging and staying on ones feet was a challenge I experienced first-hand taking my dog out for our morning walk. Even my dog’s four paw drive had traction problems on the ice below the few inches of snow. So needless to say, after we finally got back into the house, outside decorating was off the agenda for today as the snow continued to fall. Darn It! We did decorate the dog in an elf hat.
So inside we haul up from the basement – box, after box (14 boxes in all) of my favorite decorations. Which includes lighted garland to trim the entertainment center, musical stuffed snowmen for the table tops and centerpiece, lighted carousel, nativity scene and Precious Moments 
Christmas town. Then out of the garage we drag in a ladder to hang multicolored icicle lights around all the windows. Its time to put up the big tree complete with pinecones and a huge box of tree decorations. I have collected these ornaments for many years and enjoy reminiscing over each one as we hang it on the tree every year. We even have bubble lights along the bottom of the tree, now that Mystic our dog is three years, and old enough to leave the tree alone. Yes, <grin> it takes us a while to decorate the tree, but with the 
Christmas songs playing in the background, it’s a pleasant way to spend a day.
How did you spend Thanksgiving weekend? Shopping? Decorating? Watching football or something more exciting? Drop me a comment, I’d love to hear about your Christmas decorating ideas or traditions.
As my husband and I are decorating for Christmas this week, a friend across the pond, Christina Hollis is putting the final touches on her blog – This Writing Life: Launch Day At Last! December 4th is release day for her novel Heart Of A Hostage. Sounds like an intriguing book. Love the cover.
A little about the story —Mihail strides out of Maia’s past to take her hostage. Who will end up in more danger—her, or him? Princess Maia has it all—including a horrible fiancé chosen for her by the king, and a family bullying her into doing the right thing—but all she wants is her independence. When she falls into the hands of rebel leader, Mihail, she tastes real freedom for the first time. Mihail is a lone wolf, Public Enemy Number One, and heir to a fierce tradition. A dangerous reputation, a castle full of guilty secrets and now rescuing Maia are all woven into his master plan. He can’t lose. Until his unexpected hostage turns out to be the house guest from hell… Available at The Wild Rose Press, ebook or paperback.
Next week – I’ll take a look at Christmas Traditions. Do you have any you’d like to share? Leave a comment. Have you mailed the Christmas cards and/or letters out yet? I love visitors, please stop by again!
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NaNoWriMo – A Tale of Fifty Thousand Words in Thirty Days Plus TRR Year End Splash!
NaNoWriMo UPDATE: November 30, 2015
I MADE IT! 50,355 words in thirty days. Whew!
A darn good start on another novel – A Wedding For The Holidays.
On December 4th, stop by and read the tale of Christmas Decorating gone way wrong.
Fourth Week of National Novel Writing Month and I’m doing better. Approximately 41,000 words written with 9,ooo more to go before midnight on November 30th. I just might make it. Keep your fingers crossed for me!! LOL
Third week of National Novel Writing Month and I’m going to have to play catch up! Had some other tasked on my radar this weekend. Received and signed new contract from The Wild Rose Press for A Witch’s Journey, a paranormal romance you’re going to Love. I needed to complete the cover info sheets and manuscript sheets. So lost a couple of days writing. But now, nose to the grindstone and making up that word count. See you next week!
The second week of National Novel Writing Month finds me just a wee bit behind. Had a medical situation middle of the week that caused me to get behind. I’m back, fingers flying over the keyboard and headed toward 12000 word mark!
November is an exciting month, and not just for Thanksgiving. First of all, I am a participating author in The Romance Reviews Year End Splash! Great books from over 300 authors/publishers. More than 300 prizes, including an Amazon Kindle Fire HD7, lots of games, FREE books and great reads beginning November 1st continuing the entire month. In week two of the celebration, I’m giving away an electronic copy of A Demon’s Witch to one lucky participant with the right answer (See My Books). You need to be registered & logged in at TRR before playing the games in order to keep track of your points for the game. Registration is free and easy. Check it out. Second…
Along with millions of writers around the world, (ok maybe not millions, but close) I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month.A challenge to write fifty-Thousand words in thirty days. For weeks, our minds have worked out the logistics of the story, our fingers are twitching to tap that keyboard and kick off the race to our latest novel. The National Novel Writing Month challenge is a great confidence builder and something we writers look forward to November 1st every year.
NaNoWriMo as it’s fondly referred to has become somewhat of a tradition for me starting in 2010. I’ve made my goal of at least 50,000 words every year since with the exception of 2013. That year I failed miserably at only 17000 words. My day job was a monster, the hours were long and by the time I arrived home, I was the monster. Anyone know what I mean? But I digress, at 17,000 I still had a working story, plot and characters. Yea! Finished it up in the months that followed, submitted it and publication is pending.
Along with the Pikes Peak Writers group, who gave me the tools, NaNo gave me the confidence needed to stick my toe in the murky waters of the publishing industry. The 50,000 words, approximately 1,667 per day, usually is three-quarters of a pretty darn good novel. Eventually, I submitted one of the manuscripts, received a contract and it released September 25th as the first of a series entitled A Demon’s Witch. Each year I build on what I’ve learned throughout the year and use it to complete the NaNo challenge.
This year, I’ve completed a short story, A Witch’s Protocol, of 7,000 words, which will be on my webpage in segments beginning January of 2016. A novella, Charm Me, 20,000 words, to be released in January or February in time for Valentine’s Day 2016, and a full length novel of 88,000 words, all in less than six months from draft to submission. NaNoWriMo taught me the discipline and determination to get it done. AND it’s not even Novel Writing Month yet! Yes, I am signed up and raring to go for NaNoWriMo 2015. Who’s going to join me?
What does it take to prepare? A story idea, maybe a list of characters, I always complete a character worksheet on each character in the story I plan to write. Some writers do a story outline. I’m a panster, meaning I write by the seat of my pants, no outline, so the character worksheet is it. Let people know, who will keep your feet to the fire, that you are participating in NaNo and have a 50,000 word goal. Some people join groups that are also participating in NaNo for encouragement and camaraderie. READY, SET, WRITE! No whining, no goofing off, no excuses. You got this!
Check back often to see if I’m meeting my goals!
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