New Year Resolutions

I’ve been thinking lately about where I want to take my authorship. I love writing and I plan to keep writing. That’s not the problem. My problem is what to do with my writing once it’s done. I love sharing it, so I’m making some New Year’s Resolutions with that in mind.

1. I want to release three books this year. Yes, three. They’re already written in vomit draft, I just need to finish editing them. (Okay, maybe four. But who’s counting?)

2. I want to send those on my newsletter complimentary short story or two. I haven’t outlined them yet, but I have a pretty good idea of what they’ll be. Eventually, they will be made available to the public, but those on my list will get first crack at them.

3. I want to give those on my newsletter a Christmas present! Considering I’m an author, you can probably bet it will be a free story of some sort. ;) (Okay, I’m totally planning to write Ashtiv’s story. Hope you don’t mind me ruining the surprise.)

4. I want to purchase 25 bags from Together We Rise to donate to my local foster care agency. This is only possible because of all of you. So that donation is as much from you as me. If you want to see what they’re all about, you can find them at togetherwerise.org. It’s a non-profit organization.

5. I want to send out monthly newsletters and write monthly blog posts to keep you informed of what’s going on. Those who have signed up for my newsletter will be privy to insider information (like sales or freebies from me and other authors) while the blog will cover more general news or random thoughts.

6. I want to revamp my web page, which means that I may move it in the near future. Purchase my own domain name and everything. :) It makes me nervous, but I think it would be more professional. And I want to offer professional quality to my readers.

7. I want to divide my time using the 80/20 rule. This means I have to figure out how often I’m going to write each day so that I have a known number to work with. Then I want to devote 80% of that time to writing and 20% to marketing, newsletters, and blog posts.

These are my New Year’s Resolutions. I hereby resolve to get these things done in 2017! I understand that resolutions don’t always happen, which is why some people don’t like to make them. What’s the point when you always fail? I don’t see making and attempting and failing resolutions as failure, I see it as progress. If I can improve myself a little bit today, even if I don’t make the big improvement that I wanted, then I’ll be that much better than yesterday.

*You'll notice a lot of good things are geared toward those on my newsletter list. That's because they took the time to sign up for my newsletter, so I want to make sure to treat them right. They've made a commitment with me and I want to show them I appreciate that. Anyone can sign up for the list. ;)

New Book

This is something that should have been said sooner, but...It's done! The Guardians: Revenge is live on amazon! You can get it here: http://www.amazon.com/Guardians-Revenge-Carol-M-Vaughn-ebook/dp/B00JU74JGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409949454&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Guardians%3A+Revenge

Enjoy this continuation of the story of Eddy and April. Remember, Jason is still out there, trying to kill them. And he's found an ally.

Enjoy the story!

Happy Mother's Day!

Okay, BELATED Mother's Day!

First off, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has read or downloaded The Guardians: Revenge.

Second, a big PLEA to review the story after you read it. It is very helpful to know what you think of the book. I love and appreciate your thoughts and comments.

Third, Guardians: Hope/Life is about a third of the way through rough draft stage. Yeah! Also, the second book to Totems is started. If I am able to finish the rough draft of that, I think we will be releasing two books next year.

And, a bit randomly, I have started research on another book. I'll give you more details on that one as I get closer to rough draft stage (wink). But I will tell you this. It will be titled Esther.

Have a great day!

It's here!

Finally! Guardians: Revenge is finished and ready for purchase! I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Guardians-C-M-Vaughn-ebook/dp/B00JU74JGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398288406&sr=8-1&keywords=Guardians%3A+Revenge

Editing

I admit, I took a break. An "I'm going to read fun books just for fun" break. And I did. And it was fun. And then, of course, my kids got sick. So I took an "I'm going to take care of my sick kids" break. And then it became an "I need to clean my house" break...which really isn't much of a break at all, is it? Well, I'm back! And I have continued second edits. Because of the breaks, release for Guardians: Revenge maybe pushed back about a month. It depends on how focused I can be and if the sickness decides to make one more round.

Oh, and Happy First Day of Spring! :)

"The Guardians"

The Guardians: Revenge is 100% complete with the first draft! It is sitting for a week before I read through one final time and then send to beta readers. I am happy with this product so far and hope you are, too.

The Guardians: Life is just started. I have written a rough first chapter and am planning the other chapters. This is the final book to The Guardian series...and it makes me a little sad to be so close to parting with Eddy and April so soon.

Totems: A King's Treasure has sat long enough. It's time I read through it one more time. And then I plan on going to fiverr.com in order to find someone to make a cover. I am very excited for this story as all of my betas have informed me that it's better than The Guardian story.

Totems: The Sword and the Shield is under construction. I know what is going to happen, I just have to map it out now. Actually, I'm not sure how that one will end, just how it will lead into book 3 which will be called Totems: Clouds of War.

If you have enjoyed my stories and think this is the end, don't! I have a series of eight or nine books in the works (The Planetary series? Planetarians? Hmmm, I need a title still...) and a stand alone novel that just came to me last night: Hope Springs, Idaho.

Yes, when I don't write, I go crazy. Ever since putting The Guardians: Revenge on the back burner, I have deep cleaned the majority of my house, baked cookies, and planned out several more books. Silly me.

For you future writers, take this as a cue: Writing takes energy! You will be exhausted after a good round of writing, whether you write 50 words in one sitting or 5,000 words. The work required to generate ideas and then communicate them is demanding. But it is so worth it! There is a "high" when you complete a particularly exciting scene and you just want to share it with the world. Do share it. Don't be ashamed or embarrassed by what you've written. It is a huge accomplishment and you should be proud of it.

The Sun Was Shining

Where I live, we frequently have ZERO sun in the winter. So after a week of grey days, yesterday the sun shined! It was amazing! I was warm (sort of) and cleaned our downstairs.

And then I heard the water running...from my furnace closet...from the ceiling. But the sun was shining.

Ran upstairs to discover 2 inches of water on my bathroom floor. In our house, it's not the cup that "runneth o'er." Oh no. We had an entire bowl running over. So we turned off that water, called maintenance, and got the carpet cleaner out. So glad we had a carpet cleaner. :) And the sun was STILL shining!

40-50 minutes later, maintenance guy shows up...and I am HOT from sucking up the water...at least, that's what I thought. Oh no. The water had gone down the wall in the living room downstairs and through our thermostat. It was 80 degrees and rising (the heat was still on). Hmmm...well, the sun was shining!

A couple of hours later, our toilet was fixed! And, even better, it wasn't our fault! Remember, I have three little ones (one who is 18 months and loves flushing and watching the water swirl around). A flushed toy or something else was a very real concern. Nope. Not that. The suction, lid-thingy in the toilet tank didn't close all the way. So when the tank tried filling up after flushing, it instead went straight into the bowl...and over. AND the sun was still shining!

Know what else? I have been editing The Guardians: Revenge. I've been a little down because I thought I was done and I wasn't thrilled with where I was at. (44,000 words was it? Really?). Plus, I felt like something was missing. That's when it hit me. April and Eddy get separated and Eddy wanted me to tell what happened to him during their separation. Of course! He's brilliant! AND I had not finished writing the last two chapters, so word count is going up and up and the story is feeling fulfilling. :) AND the sun was STILL shining yesterday! (Yes, sunshine in the winter is a big deal.)

Also, one of my friends gave me permission to base a character in Totems: The King's Treasure off of her. I'm so excited! She's going to be a blacksmith. :) All in all, a decent day. Except for the pepper that was rotting from the inside out and I bought for dinner. That kind of threw me. And the sun was not shining anymore while making dinner...LoL

Beta Readers

I have finished my personal edits of Totems: The Sword and The Shield. I've sent the book out to my beta readers. Now I'm waiting to hear back from them. I'm very excited for this story! I believe that it's better than my Guardian series, although I still love Eddy and April. They're a lot of fun.

Speaking of Eddy and April, we're nearly to 30,000 words in Guardians: Revenge. In this story, Eddy and April search for Jason, hoping to end his madness. In case you were wondering, Guardians: Gateways was about 80,000 words. So I've still a ways to go, including editing. But it should be out next year.

In the meantime, I have a decision to make on the release of Totems. I'm playing around with the idea of creating a paperback version of the story. That will involve a lot more work, which would push back the release date quite a bit. I would likely need to hire a professional to make my cover...unless I can get my hands on a good Photoshop program or something. Exciting times for me!

Tentatively, I believe the Guardians: Revenge book will be released March 2014--one year from the release of Guardians: Gateways. Pretty awesome, in my opinion. I love bringing my characters to life. :)

Busy!

It all happened so suddenly...one minute, we were living in one city, the next we had packed up, picked up, and moved out! We only just got our internet back (Phew!).

I've been working like mad on revisions/editing to Totems: The Sword and The Shield. I think Rael and Arianwyn are happy about that. I hope to finish this first round in about 3 weeks from today. Then I'll be sending it off to a proofreader (more on that person to follow!).

Guardians: Revenge has been coming along nicely as well. Eddy and April are quite demanding when it comes to getting their story told. April's had enough upheaval in her life that she isn't interested in sitting around. And let's not forget that Jason is still running around, causing havoc in the world. April definitely wants to stop that and Eddy is determined to help her.

On a more personal note...Argentine beef skewers with chimichurri sauce (all of it homemade) were delicious! Highly recommend finding out how to make it for dinner during these hot summer months. We added some corn on the cob and rice to go with it. Yum! Tonight is Chinese. Asian Mama's Chicken (it's like an orange chicken recipe). I love food!

Deadlines

Self-imposed deadlines...man. They are TOUGH! It's so easy to give yourself a break (or two or three) when there isn't anyone to hold you to your deadline. Unfortunately, I don't have that. Or maybe it should be fortunately. I can't really tell, yet.

As it is, I'm not even half-way through 'The Guardians: Revenge.' And I wanted it to be ready to be published at the beginning of May. Right now, I'm hoping to get the first draft cranked out by the end of March, edits worked through by the end of the first week of April, and then give betas two weeks to work through it and a final week of edits...SHEESH! That's A LOT of work!

Let's add something in there...I'll probably be moving sometime before the end of April. Busy? Yeah. But I guess that's a part of life.

Saturday!

That's right, Saturday is the goal for uploading "The Guardians: Gateways" to Amazon Kindle. :) Keep an eye out for free days so you can download this story and give me GREAT reviews! Haha...okay, remembering that I'm writing this for me makes me chuckle. I sure do talk strange to myself. I suppose I'll download my book so I can see what it looks like, though. And maybe I'll even be able to talk my husband into downloading it...

Two more chapters to finish editing. 57% done formatting...I think I should be able to do that in two days, especially since I think the rest of the formatting will be quick and easy things. I'm so excited! And nervous, too. What if people don't like me? ;) Sorry, couldn't resist...

"April is your regular, first year college student. Not one who stands out in a crowd...until the crowd she's with suddenly changes.

Eddy is not the type  of crowd most people think about being with. And after kidnapping April, she wishes she had nothing to do with his crowd.

Demons, big foot, and black magic plague April's existence. She goes from hoping to survive college to hoping to survive life...the question on everyone's mind is, will she make it? Or will she destroy mankind?"

Publishing Woes

Well, I had set a goal to be up and running by this weekend with The Guardians: Gateways. And what happens? First the battery dies, then the power cord ceases to charge. So I lost an entire week. Luckily, this all happened on President's Day so I got a GREAT deal on a new battery and cord. :) Now it's back to formatting and editting (SO BORING!). Five more chapters to edit and formatting is about 33% finished. So my new goal is next weekend.

By the way, if you're going to be writing a book and publishing it through Amazon, look up Kindle Direct Publishing. They'll have you download a free book that will tell you how to format your story so that the transition to Amazon is as smooth as possible. Do that BEFORE you start writing! You'll save yourself A LOT of time formatting if you do.