Motivation.
Yep, that’s what’s been missing from this author’s life the past couple of years.
Okay, so there were the restrictions due to Covid, which did play a small part. As much as I like to think I could be a hermit, I really do need to socialize even if it’s just going to the grocery store and chuckling with someone over the sorry state of bananas. Staying home all the time had me doing something I don’t do a lot of when I am actively writing… which is reading. Why you might ask? Because when I read, I don’t write. I mean, I get sucked in and just keep turning pages. And if I don’t get sucked into one book, having a Kindle, I just quickly download another. Oh, so dangerous for book junkies such as myself.
All that said, I don’t think that was the main reason for my lack of motivation. To be honest, I think it was more a case of burnout. Check this out:
August of 2012 (the release of my very first book, Her Master Defender)
September 2012 (Her Master Detective released)
November 2012 (Her Master of Hearts released)
February 2013 (DreamStalker released)
April 2013 (Rose of Steele released)
June 2013 (Callaghan’s Conundrum released)
That’s six novels in less than twelve months! Crazy right? I kept up with that for a year or so before slowing down to two or three a year. It wasn’t a problem for a while. The characters kept demanding their stories be written, so I was driven to do so. The problem? Eventually, they drove me right into a wall. I was fried.
After the release of the first two books in the Wicked Investigations series, (Suspect: Family – 2019 and Suspect: A Whisper – 2020) I made a few attempts at new books, but nothing was really calling to me. The characters were flat and I had no desire to breathe life into them if they weren’t going to cooperate. I mean really, who needs the aggravation? [Sorry, writer humor. 🙂 ]
Then comes May 2021, and hubby and I buy a house in Florida! Woohoo! Yippee! Yay! Yes, I’m thrilled I always wanted to live here. Unfortunately, it meant several 2000 mile drives: 1st to look for the house; 2nd drive back to CO and pack some things for when we; 3rd drive back to close on the house in FL; 4th drive back to CO to get that house ready to sell – stage/pack – sell – close and hit the road for; 5th relocate permanently to Florida in October. Six months, five 2,000 mile trips (with dog), two homes, bills, arrangements, cleaning, packing, unpacking, AUGHHHHHH!
Yeah, writing was not high on my priority, though I did post ten episodes in Amazon’s Vella of a sci-fi fantasy I’ve been playing with off and on for several years, Between Two Worlds.
Now it’s the week before Thanksgiving and we’re still painting and unpacking, but I’m getting antsy. I keep trying to write, but not really going anywhere even with NANOWRIMO going on. However, this morning I got the best motivation possible in an email from Smashwords. Here’s the crux of it: This is a brief note to let you know that one of our partners recently reported sales or downloads of 23 of your books. (44 sales or downloads were reported.)
23 of my books! While I know this is a small drop in many writers’ royalty buckets, it was very exciting for me to get that email. So, I went to my dashboard and checked it out. In the past 60 days, every book I’ve written (that’s 28 different titles) sold at least one copy (and most multiples of them) through retailers that Smashwords sends my books to. The retail sites were Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. And I didn’t DO anything special to get them there. No promotions, no posts (this is the first one in a long while as I’m sure you know), no ‘appearances’. Nothing. WOW! I was floored. Thrilled of course, but floored. Again, not anything scream-worthy as far as royalties go (i.e. making money by writing), but still amazing considering I have NOT been sitting in front of the computer working my buns off for months. I can’t begin to tell you how excited that made me and…
…you got it, MOTIVATED!
That said, while the Christmas novella I’ve been playing with may not make it out this year, I’m definitely getting back in the game. If y’all are still willing to buy my books, I can darn well get busy writing more of them for you.
So, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has purchased recently or in the distant past. I hope you continue to enjoy my characters and their stories. I promise to knuckle down and get some new pages out to you in 2022 (if not sooner)!
Happy reading!
Sandra
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