2016 has come to an end. I can't say that I'm all that sorry to see it go. I am however very grateful to have reached the end of it, as many did not. Over this year we lost so many talents. As an 80's girl a huge part of my youth passed on during 2016.
Sadly my MacBook Pro also died on New Year's Eve. Not a nice way to finish a year, and definitely not a good way to start a new one. I'm hoping that I can extract all the files so I don't lose any of the work I did on it. Fingers crossed.
Luckily I still have my old laptop but, as you can imagine, it's just not the same. I'm still trying to work out which programs I no longer have and how I can work around the issue.
On a more positive note, as I backed up my novels by emailing them to myself as I was writing them, I do have copies of those *sighs with relief*
I don't want this message to be a sad one though and so I won't dwell on what was lost. Instead I'd like to focus on what's to come. That said, 2017 please be awesome and don't take any more of my idols.
P.S. a new Mac would be great.
2017
So what do you have planned for 2017? How are you going to make 2017 your best year yet?
Writing
For the challenge I'll be brainstorming, outlining, and first drafting a new book each day. I've picked out the projects I want to develop already from my ever-growing list of book ideas. It'll be a mixture of children's books, non fiction, and novels. I won't get bored that's for sure ;)
I'm also going to be writing a serial fiction called KOSMOS to be released in 2017. I'm really excited about this new project, and can't wait to introduce you all to the cast of characters.
I'll be sharing the cover reveal for the first book in the KOSMOS series The Pendant with you next week so make sure you check back on 9th January for an exclusive glimpse at the cover. Did I mention how excited I am about this series?! ;)
I'm also going to be doing the A Story A Week which has the goal of writing 52 short stories in 2017 (one a week).
Book Covers
I'm working on some new pre-made book cover designs and will be launching them soon. Make sure you sign up at http://www.jolinsdell.com/p/premade.html as a Book Cover VIP for first dibs on new designs at discounted prices.
I'm also happy to make custom book covers for both ebooks and print. So get in touch if you'd like to hire me.
Promo Day
Promo Day will be back again on Saturday 6th May 2017 and I'm working to make it the best event yet. Webinars, pitch sessions with publishers, giveaways, and more... it's going to be awesome! As always, you can register for FREE at www.PromoDay.net
In conclusion
My 2017 is set to be a very productive year, and I hope yours will be too. I'll be setting up a new ARC team later this month for you lovely people that can't wait to review my books.
The aim of the ARC team is to collect as many reviews as possible for my new releases. Not everyone will be selected to be part of the ARC team, but those that are will be sent a free advance copy of my new releases for review. I'll share more detail of how it works, and how to be part of it later this month, along with info about how to sign up.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank you again for all your support. Whether it's reading my books, hiring me for illustration work/graphic design, or just being part of my cheerleader team as I throw myself into yet another project, you guys ROCK! I really appreciate your support.
I've met some really awesome people over on Twitter. It is definitely one of my favourite social media sites, and without doubt one of the most effective for branding, marketing, and connecting.
Unlike some other main stream social media sites, Twitter is in fact very social. People comment on tweets, share tweets, and well just join in the conversation a lot more openly than they do on other social media sites (obviously this is just based on my own personal experience. Some people manage to get a lot of interaction on other sites and drive huge amounts of traffic to their websites).
Anyway, I use Twitter a lot. During November it was one of my favourite places for posting about my NaNoWriMo progress. It really made the event all the more special, and fun to do. I loved cheering on my fellow writers, and sharing the highs and lows of the adventure with them. The support network on Twitter is amazing, and not just in November. The writing community on there is great all year round.
But I digress. Today I wanted to share with you an example of why Twitter is so awesome, and introduce you to one of my new writing buddies.
I connected with Benjamin during NaNoWriMo via Twitter, and he helped cheer me on as I worked on my word count. I jumped at the chance when he invited me to be featured on his website.
Benjamin also organises Mystery Thriller Week which is an annual event that celebrates the whole mystery/thriller/crime genre (check out https://mysterythrillerweek.com/ for more details). The next event happens 12th -22nd February 2017. If you love writing and/or reading this genre as much as I do I hope you'll consider dropping by and checking out the event.
You can follow Benjamin on Twitter at
This past couple of weeks I've been up to my eyeballs with end of term activities with my kids. Between school shows, swimming exams, Jiu Jitsu, and other year end festivities things have been pretty hectic.
I decided that I'd make some time today to get organised before the summer break starts and my days melt into a constant kid zone. I'm not saying I won't be working through out the summer months, but I also know I'll be busy with the kids and have less time to dedicate to work.
I wanted to not only get organised with my blogs (particularly scheduling posts in advance for www.writersandauthors.info as much as possible. BTW if you want to be hosted there this summer now is the time to email me to set it up ;)), but also get organised with my works in progress.
I've neglected my works in progress so far this year, partly due to my health and partly due to being busy catching up for lost time whilst still dealing with life in the meantime. In order to help get myself back on track, and so that you can more easily follow my progress I've installed progress bars to the side bar. These will also hopefully work as inspiration for myself to finish all the projects I have on the go.
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| screenshot showing progress bars |
My goal is to finish all books in the editing/illustrating stage over the summer, and hopefully move those in writing to the editing stage.
As a side note, I've also been researching for another project (one that will be my NaNoWriMo for this year). It's something completely different from anything I've ever done before and so I'm starting to plan early. I won't reveal more right now but I will tell you it will be the first book in a Young Adult series, and that I'm beyond excited about it.
I'm also undergoing a slight re-styling of my brand image. This is something I've been playing around with for a while now, making small changes here and there. I want a more solid look to the website, and my branding in general. This is something that will still take a while to fully integrate but I like how it's all coming together.
I'm slowly working on updating this website and tweaking it here and there so that things are easier to find, and so that the general look is more professional. If you have any suggestions please let me know in the comments section and I'll add them to my list ;)
#WIP Update: The Bedtime Book
I've finally gotten round to working on the illustrations for my children's picture story book "The Bedtime Book", and couldn't be happier. Feels great to be making progress with this work in progress.
I'm working with water colours for this book (a change from my usual digital style). The illustrations will be softer and more detailed compare to my other published children's books.
Here's a look at how things are shaping up. Meet Teddy:
This is still a work in progress but I'm happy with the general feel of it. Can't wait to get started on the other characters now.
I'm still undecided about the cover design but hopefully will have some ideas to share with you soon.
Now that the Drawlloween challenge has come to an end, it's time to get back to my Disney Illustration Study.
This weeks sketches are from my husbands favourite, The Aristocats. These 3 little kittens are so cute.
Which is your all time favourite Disney film?
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