Friday, October 30, 2015

Celebrate: Revising & Giveaways!


This week I'm celebrating:
1)  I'm happy to report that I finished all my commitments to other authors -- critiques were done, books were read, reviews were posted. Woohoo!!
2)  I've buried myself inside my Revision Cave and my novel is actually getting revised! 'Bout friggin' time!

How do you balance commitments to others and your own work? Do you have to shut yourself away from the world from time to time?


Wishing Everyone a
Happy Halloween!

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:


** To see who’s posted for the hop look at my Celebrate The Small Things Blog Roll, left sidebar bottom **


 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Friday Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for October 30, 2015:

Free Comedy Zombie eBook – win Paradise Rot by Larry Weiner a comedy about a new employee of a Caribbean resort finding it’s run by zombies via rafflecopter on My Book Addiction blog. (ends Nov 7)

Free Mystery/Crime Novel & $20 Amazon Gift Card – win Bryant’s Gap by Michael E. Burge about crime and the mob in 1947 Chicago, 5 copies to win and a $20 Amazon card via rafflecopter on Mythical Books blog. (ends Nov 14)

Free New Adult Romantic-Suspense eBook – win The Butterfly Code by Sue Wyshynski about a woman on vacation meeting the town bad-boy scientist. Is he as dangerous as the townspeople say? Enter via rafflecopter on Mythical Books blog. (ends Nov 2)

Free Paranormal Romance (F/F) eBook – Win The Secret of Sleepy Hollow by Andi Marquette about a doctoral student visiting Sleepy Hollow and finding lesbian romance and danger via rafflecopter on Mythical Books blog. (Hurry! Ends Saturday Oct 31)

Free $40 Amazon Gift Card and Swags Packs – to celebrate the release of Affirmation (YA Urban Fantasy), Rayna Noire is giving away a $40 Amazon card and two swag-filled backpacks via rafflecopter on Mythical Books blog. (ends Nov 3)

Free $50 Gift card, 2 YA Contemp eBooks, & Name-a-Book-Character – Win Always Second Best about a teen ballerina struggling at Performing Arts school and A Summer Like No Other, both by Elodie Nowodazkij, along with a $50 gift card and naming one of Elodie’s future characters. Enter via rafflecopter at Mythical Books blog. (Hurry! Ends Nov 1)


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

45 comments:

L.G. Keltner said...

Happy Halloween! Balancing commitments is never easy. I don't think there are any easy answers about how to do it. If there were, I'd be a lot more efficient myself. Good luck with your revisions!

Kate Larkindale said...

It's so hard to balance everything. When I'm nearing a deadline - even a self-imposed one- I have to shut myself away to work on my own stuff, even if I do feel guilty about neglecting other peoples' work. But if I don't do that, I'd never get finished.

happy revising! I can't wait to re-read when you're done.

Laura Clipson said...

Sounds like you've had a productive week! Have a great weekend :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You got it all done!
Usually my own stuff suffers if I over-commit. Then I just have to carve a slice of time and get it done anyway.
Have a great weekend!

JeffO said...

Congrats!

I think I need a revision cave right now where I can separate my brain from itself, because I think that's what's getting in my way right now. Have a great weekend!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Happy Halloween! Awesome you finished your critiques and are into your revisions. Good luck with them.

Tonja Drecker said...

Yay to getting it all done! I'm going to have to shut myself in somewhere soon and get some writing done. If there was a pause button for the rest of the world, it'd really help things.

ELAdams said...

Congratulations on starting revisions!

I really struggle with this. I've had to say no to a lot of things this year, otherwise I wouldn't have the time to meet all my deadlines. I'd love to sign up to every opportunity, but the longer I've been published, the higher my workload has climbed. Usually, I set a minimum goal for my own writing and get that done before I start on anything else.

Have a great weekend!

Melissa Ann said...

Happy Halloween!

I suffer from say yes to everyone syndrome and my own stuff really suffers because of it.

Lara Schiffbauer said...

Congrats on getting everything done and revising! You are a hard worker, for sure.

Balancing commitments is something I'll be working at again, now that I'm going back to work. I'm wondering if I'll get more revising done, since I have limited time, or if I'll start to slag off. I'm going to go for the former, just because I really want to get the book done and published. Then I can regroup and decide what to do with my writing.

Have a great weekend!

Cathrina Constantine said...

I take commitments to other authors very seriously. And usually I take on too much, and all my writing and editing gets put on the back burner.

I just finished beta reading and editing for an author friend and now I can hop around between babysitting my grandson who's taking a nap!!! And Now I can add a few words to my wip!!!

Have a Wickedly Happy Halloween!!!!

Julie Flanders said...

Well done getting all those commitments met! And good luck with the revisions, you will rock them.
Happy Halloween!!

Murees Dupè said...

Good for you! You're doing great. I tend to hide when I'm editing, or revising:) Keep up the awesomeness! Good-luck.

messymimi said...

Enjoy the cave, but come up for air once in a while, okay!

Michelle Wallace said...

Enjoy the time locked away in your revision cave!

stephen Hayes said...

I'm a people person, but there are times when I need to shut out the world and have a bit of "me" time.

Deanie Humphrys-Dunne said...

good job, Lexa! Great things to cheer about, congratulations!

DMS said...

Balancing my time is something I continue to work on! I am happy for you that you are getting to revise your ms now. Good luck!
~Jess

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Enjoy revising your story. That's one step closer to The End. :)
I've been cutting back on reviews and stuff lately because there are only so many hours in a day and I tend to put my work off when I've committed to read and review for others. I still do it, but take a bit longer.
Have a great weekend.

SK Anthony said...

YES!!!! Fantastic that you're revising and that you've finished your commitments with others, I know that can weigh heavily on us! Go, Lexa!!!!

Melancholy and Menace said...

Ah, well done! You have lots to celebrate :)

Happy Halloween, Lexa ♥

Anonymous said...

Books, books, lots of books.

Great accomplishments. Yes, I shut myself away from everyone and everything when I have to.

Unknown said...

Sending you good revision vibes! :)

Unknown said...

I so love the concept of revision cave. I'm participating in the NaNoWriMo madness this year for the first time. Super excited and super happy to be doing that. Luckily I finished my 2nd draft revision a few days before November 1 and November will give me the necessary distance between 2nd and 3rd drafts.

Rachel Pattinson said...

Congrats on getting everything done! I constantly have to shut myself away from the world if I want to get any writing/anything writing related done - otherwise I just get distracted too easily :(

Suzanne Furness said...

After finishing my first draft I will be joining you shortly in the revision cave! Hope it is all going well, great that you have caught up with your other commitments. Hope your weekend is going well.

Nas said...

Hi Lexa!

Hope you had a fun Halloween.

All the best with all these other commitments!

mshatch said...

I tend to put my commitments to other people before my own. I also try not to overload myself. Try being the operative word.

kimlajevardi.com said...

Happy Halloween! Yay for revisions! I mix it up between shutting myself off and mainlining caffeine.

Rhonda Albom said...

Congratulations. I would love to see my things to do list getting under control. I think a revision cave might be just what I need.

Annalisa Crawford said...

I love revising. Enjoy. Perfect time of the year to hide in a cave too :-)

Misha Gerrick said...

The balancing act is a tricky one, but I usually count the books I critique for others as books I've read, and since I try to read more often, it's a good trade for me. :-)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

yep,sometimes shutting yourself away is a necessity to get things done.

J.H. Moncrieff said...

Oh, easy. I stop sleeping and become a complete workaholic zombie.

Sigh.

Shah Wharton said...

Enjoy your hibernation, Lexa. :)

Shah X

shahwharton.com

cheerfuloptimistic said...

Good to hear you got things balanced for now.

Being introverted, I need to retreat from the rest of the world every so often, else I start to get antsy and stressed.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Ooh, that's an interesting question. In the beginning, I was very stringent about scheduling help for other writers. Now, I kind of give myself an end deadline and then go with it when inspiration hits me. For instance, if I'm working on my manuscript and hit a snag I'll take that opportunity to sink into someone else's writing. It usually makes my critiquing eyes clearer as well as igniting my own writing verve again.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

I'm late, but I'm still cheering for you very loudly!

Loni Townsend said...

Woot for getting stuff done! Way to be productive!

Chemist Ken said...

Most of my commitments are things I can't ignore. Everything else is at my discretion, and then I'll do anything to write.

Crystal Collier said...

Welcome back to the world! I wish I could go into an editing cave. It's called, Dad entertains the kids for a couple weeks with video games while Mom edits like a mad woman. There is no cave. There is no dignity. There are frequent disruptions. It's life, eh?

H.R. Bennett said...

I could use a cave like that...

Cathy Kennedy said...

Lexa, it's tough keeping on top of commitments to oneself, let along others. I'm in awe of what other accomplish and I wish I were better organized to do the same. I need to stay better focused on all commitments to myself first in order to come out ahead for others. Thankfully not too many people depend on me at the moment.

T.F. Walsh said...

I always struggle with balancing everything, and usually tend to fall behind on so many things I planned to do. Not sure how you keep up with everything. I always fall back and just hide in my writing cave, plugging away.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Congratulations on finishing up your commitments so that you can devote yourself now to your novel revision. I had to go dark for awhile a couple of months ago for the same reason. Good luck with it, and I look forward to hearing more about the novel when you've finished it.

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