MONDAY MUSINGS - Deadlines

Deadlines, whether self-imposed or given to us are important. They keep us on track and on our toes. I have to tell you, I will be like a ballerina for the next eight weeks. I have not one but THREE crucial deadlines that all come to a head the first of October in some form.

My main goal is to have AN OZARKS CHRISTMAS ready to sell at the Ozark Creative Writers Conference October 11-13. That means I have to finish the revisions, get my cover, pass inspection of Beta readers plus a final run edit then set up and copies ordered by end of September. Also, I'd love to have my cover by the end of THIS month so that I can have something to begin marketing when I'm on Tiereny James' Sizzle In the Kitchen at the end of this month. We're going with a Christmas in July theme (since those are the best pictures of my kitchen!) so a great opportunity to start building interest in the upcoming release.

Speaking of the Ozark Creative Writers Conference. When you register for the conference, you may enter as many of the individual contests as you want at no additional charge. I have a list of about twenty out of the twenty-six categories I'd like to enter. This gives me the opportunity to write out of my comfort zone, try out new story ideas and hopefully win some prize money. I REALLY want to enter the Oxbow Award which has been a long-standing category offered by Dusty Richards. This year, the category will be a tribute to Dusty as he passed away earlier this year. OCW just isn't going to be the same without the big guy. Those entries HAVE to be postmarked by August 25th! Yikes! Have I started? What do you think? LOL

I am speaking at the conference this year on selecting the Social Media platforms that work best for you. There is NO WAY I can cover everything in a 30 min (plus 10 min for Q & A) talk. So I want to have a companion workbook available to sell. Note that also has to be done by end of September so I can get copies ordered.

Are you seeing a pattern of craziness here?

To top it all off, I'd love to have the rough draft of Jayson's Range finished so that I can pitch the story to Tiffany Schofield. Tiffany has been waiting two years and I feel this is the year. Jayson's Range is the first in a trilogy set in late 1800s Texas. I plan to dedicate the series to Dusty Richards.

So.. as I exhale here and think I may have lost my mind, I'm off to kick things into gear. I hope to later this week introduce you to my Writer's Bible and how I'll be using the set-up to keep me on task.

Tomorrow, we get back to our Spotlight Author series. Addison Brae will be joining us for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

In the mean time,
Happy Writing, Enjoyable Reading!