by Kai | Feb 19, 2011 | Books, News, Free for all, Other sites, Personality, Writing
I noticed this morning that I hit the magical 30 post mark, from the 30 posts in 30 days (in my case, really it was 30 posts in 45 days!) and wanted to do a quick round-up, along with some observations.
First up – I suck at timetables.
Actually, more accurately, I suck at working within timetables, when there is lots going on around me. In the last month I went back to Uni for a new term (my last one), I moved laptops to a much sleeker, faster, sweeter piece of kit (which leads me to a point I’m going to make later), and I finally discovered that my love for writing definitively needs fiction to keep the flames burning. And that simply reading it for now isn’t enough.
I also discovered that 30 billable hours equates to much *much* more than that, and I procrastinate too much, which lead me to another project idea for this month/next month. I discovered that I’m not in the best shape mentally, or physically, and that I really need to find and adhere to boundaries. That means less answering email on my phone when I should be chilling out, and more spending my time working on the things – all of them – that makes me happy. Journaling, despite being suggested, isn’t something I can get into any more – I had a horrible time of it when my then psych council got his hands on one of my stories and tried to commit me because it was about suicide, and jumping out the windows of my flat. I know mental health care has moved on in leaps and bounds since then, but there have been other incidents where people have used my journal against me. Next best idea is to go back to fiction :).
Specifics though
- Of the 30 posts I had planned, I’ve still got 14 drafts left. I’ve also added to that and have ideas for about another 60 blog posts – or partial posts. If I got them scheduled and farmed to the right blogs (because some of them might not belong *here* when I’m done) then I’ve got content for two blogs for a month, or several blogs for several months depending on posting schedules.
- I’m so not over my blogging apathy. I still find it difficult to interact on Livejournal, where I started to blog – I don’t know if it’s transient but it’s lasted about eight months so far and hasn’t abated any. I work a full-time job, study practically full time for Uni, write when I can, plus I’m the primary parent for a nine-year old with emotional difficulties (she’s getting MUCH better), and an eleven year old that is an amazing wee guy. And then I fit my relationships with friends, family and my fiancée into that massive mix. It’s not an easy balancing act, and gets harder in November, when I run the Nanowrimo, and in April for ScriptFrenzy. I think it’s a symptom of my life being too busy, but it could just be that I’ve outgrown how I used to blog (24 blogs, updated on a three-day schedule). It could just be that I’m burned out still – and that I need more time to myself. It could be that it’s just one of those things. The 30 day challenge brought me back to a lot of that, but there’s still a lot to be said for needing more time to fall in love with blogging all over again.
- I really don’t write enough fiction. I’m not editing at all – I’ve got this one task in my task manager that keeps getting bumped to next week to actually sit down and write Glass Block – which lead me in a very circumlocutory way to a project I want to try. More about that below though.
- Emotionally, I’m not over any of the miscarriages I’ve had in my adult life, but of all of them, this last one was the hardest. I think it’s a mix of us both being on board with the idea fully, and the traumatic way we found out I wasn’t pregnant, plus the hospital stuff afterwards, but now I’m not doing well with any of that stuff. The last one resulted in the problems we had when I moved and the referral through the Crisis team in Gloucester (who, really I can’t praise enough) to the Recovery team and my wonderful worker, whom I really *really* miss. This one seems to be worse in some ways, because I’m still feeling it all and I’m ON medication. Time will tell I suppose. December doesn’t seem that long ago, but that morning in the hospital feels even closer to me still.*
Moving on
I guess the positive in that phrase is that I actually know where I’m going and what my plan is. Well, kinda anyway.
There’s two immediate projects I want to get out of the way and through before I decide what I’m going to do with myself full-time from now on. Lots of the projects I’ve got in mind are just going to have to wait till after I’ve graduated – realistically, I don’t have time to blog in all the places I want to, but I will soon.
But the two big projects.
I want to show the impact social media has on someone’s day – so I’m going to do a Friday *with* full social media interaction, and a Friday without. The Friday *With*, I’m going to use Facebook and Twitter through my laptop – without I’m going to check in on my phone. To get to that point though, I need to rebuild my tweetdeck and reader set-up, plus update what I’m looking at because I’m pretty scattered all over the place right now.
I’m going to journal what I’m doing, and track the time using an app that I’ve long since gotten used to called ‘Rescue time’. I’ll log my full day on (and off) the computer, and post the results and some conclusions I’ve drawn at the end of it. It’s a teeny tiny project, but it’s one of those wonderful things that others can attempt to duplicate and they too can talk about what they found, so it’s going to be interesting. I’m going to stick that happy little project up on Work at home Writers, because it’s primarily about productivity.
The second is a little more hazy now. I’ve got to get the books I’ve written into Scrivener, and then move on from there, but I’m deliberately declaring Sundays ‘fiction day’. I’ll most likely have to skip a couple of them to get my dissertation finished, or when there’s a massively pressing deadline, but if I’m so reluctant to write non fiction, it’s maybe for a different reason and I want to test that 🙂 For that second, specifically, I need lots of encouragement. I am deliberately removing billable hours from my schedule, and guilt aside, I’m not sure that I’m even particularly confident in my fiction abilities any more. So if you could hop onto one of the social media areas where I talk writing, cheer me on at Writers-bookshelf or otherwise play ‘cheering squad for me’ I’d love it, I really would.
* I don’t talk about what went on – and would appreciate that people don’t pursue this one reference to it with me. I’m not interested in baring my soul about it and while I appreciate it’s an area that women really don’t talk about enough, I’d rather err on the side of not talking about it. That said, I’d rather people knew why I was prickly, than simply smack them upside the head.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
by Kai | Feb 17, 2011 | Writing, Books, Publication notices
One of the off list conversations I had with the people who were asking me about my stuff, and encouraging me not to be shy is to ask to have you guys urge me.
So I bowed to peer pressure, in a positive way. The following ways are the absolute best ways to get me to – find out about the books I’ve mentioned in the past, urge me to write them, and get access to them, and the writing process before/after/getting your mitts on them. Having a strong fan base will also help me convince publishers that I’m a great bet after the first ‘oh, this is good’.
I’m considering whether I should work to a self publishing schedule for some of my books – I’m not sure whether I should keep slogging on with Elliot Peters and his stuff or just get it out there so that those that want it can get their hands on it, while those that want to wait till it’s backed by a publisher can still support me by passing the book onto others.
Facebook
I’ve got a page for my main book stuff – and as the books come out, I’ll create a page for the big ones – and a short story overall page for the shorter ebooks. You can sign up at D Kai Wilson-Viola’s Facebook Page. As a quick side note, I won’t add people to my main Facebook page if you’re only interested in my books, or I don’t know who you are. This is not to say I won’t welcome you on my fan page, but I have lines that I tend to defend. If you know me from somewhere and think that I should add you, it goes faster either way if you tell me where we know one another from – but I’m always happy to gain new ‘fans’.
Twitter
I have two main twitter feeds – Kaiberie (my personal one) and BooksbyKai – where I’ll talk writing/publishing/share notices and reviews. I add people back as long as they aren’t constantly offering information on making money 😀
Blogs and websites
I’m currently in the process of redesigning my website, so for now, I can’t point you at anything – but what I can do now is point you at my writer’s blog – at writers-bookshelf.
Anything else?
I’d love to hear if there’s anything that you would like to hear or see?
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
by Kai | Feb 14, 2011 | diet and lifestyle
(images will return once the domain move is complete – it’s just photos of the food I made ;))
I thought it would be nice, as an introduction to what I sometimes get up to, instead of talking about the washing pile of doom from the outset, that I’d share a traditional dish from my home land. I’m Scottish
Shopping list
1 Chicken breast per person
1 Haggis per three people (for generous portions) – based on using Halls Haggis – check how big or small your haggis portion is.
400g potatoes per 3 people
400g Turnip/swede per 3 people (For my US readers – I think they’re called Rutabagers)
400g Carrots – cut into thick strips per 3 people.
(for the sauce)
2 tblspoon Whiskey
2 tblspoon Dijon or Wholegrain mustard
100ml Double cream or Creme Fraiche
1/2 a lemon (juice and rinds)
5 tblspoon milk (any type)
It should be noted that these portions are huge to ensure that people who really like the constituent parts can get more, and those that don’t can balance out with what they do like. You can adjust portion sizes accordingly, but this is basically what we use for two adults and two children who enthusiastically look for seconds.
Chicken Balmoral.
Chicken Balmoral is basically a chicken breast butterfly cut, and stuffed with Haggis. We’ve found it easier to cook the chicken breast and haggis seperately, and then use the haggis as a bed for the chicken. It’s as simple as preparing and arranging the constituent ingredients. I recommend cooking the chicken in a stock, topped with a chicken oxo cube, as it makes it especially succulent. Haggis takes upwards of an hour to cook – so cover your chicken in tinfoil until 10 minutes before you’re going to take it out.
The Veg
Cook the potatoes and swede/turnip until soft and mashable. Cook carrots until soft and warm, based on your needs. Mash potatoes and swedes (you can mix them, it’s called‘Clapshot’) and dish up the carrots. I recommend that you use the stock from the chicken to cook the carrots in, they taste amazing.
Whiskey Sauce (makes lots!)
2 tblspoon Whiskey
2 tblspoon Dijon or Wholegrain mustard
100ml Double cream or Creme Fraiche
1/2 a lemon (juice and rinds)
5 tblspoon milk (any type)
To make the Whiskey sauce – mix all ingredients in a pan and reduce to desired thickness. As the cream cooks, the volume may increase slightly, but it doesn’t curdle if you cook it off and then add the Whiskey. Add the lemon rinds at the end, and possibly sugar or salt to taste. You can use single malt or blended Whiskey.
Putting it all together.
Place the haggis on the plate and flatten – place the chicken breast on top. Serve up the mashed potatoes, carrots and swedes. Drizzle Whiskey sauce in generous spoonfuls over the top of the haggis and chicken.
Hand to guests.
A word about Haggis
If anyone questions why you’re eating haggis, feel free to remind them that it’s difficult to identify what’s in most sausages sold commercially (unless you know your butcher, in which case, he’ll tell you what goes into them. Our butcher, who orders in our haggis direct, rocks – and makes his own sausages. Still, I’d like to highlight that most supermarket sold sausages aren’t exactly the best of ingredients). Traditional haggis is made up of the bits of a sheep that would otherwise go to waste – modern haggis may still contain some of the ingredients that are ‘traditional’. Mainly barley and oats, meat and spices. It’s very tasty, has a slightly spicy taste and is very worthwhile. It’s also incredibly filling.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
by Kai | Feb 5, 2011 | Pen names, Poetry, Sabrann Curach, Sci fi, slipstream, Thrillers and crime, Non-fiction
And, more specifically my books.
I write under a diverse set of pen names, and thought I’d share the pen names and the genres they match up with. On this blog post, I can explain how to simply grab the feeds that you want, unless you’d rather read everything I do, in which case, WOOOHOOO!
So – I write under the following pen names (the ones with *’s have already featured published stories)
D Kai Wilson * – thriller, slipstream and sci-fi
Kai Viola – Chick lit
Brittany Harkness – Romance
D. Kai Wilson-Viola *- Non-fiction
Sabrann Curach *- Horror
Fayth C Reeves * – Adult
Kai Wilson – Poetry
Over the next couple of days I’ll post about most of the stuff I’ve been getting up to recently, and how to support me while I start releasing the bits I have rights to onto the Kindle platform and beyond 
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
by Kai | Feb 4, 2011 | Other sites, Personality, Writing
The last few days saw the ‘end’ of the V7N blogging challenge for many of us – a 30 day (starter at least) blogging challenge ran by the amazing Cricket Walker.
But really, it’s just the beginning, because most people that had signed up for the initial challenge have gained freinds, got more in our reading lists that we know what to do with, with lots of inspiration and more.
One of the best things I’ve really loved about it is finding new people to read without being ‘advertised’ to – I also loved all of the comments I’ve picked up.
I was supposed to keep going this week, but I’ve been horribly ill and incredibly busy – writing somewhere in the region of 22k for one client in the next week alone has meant I’ve felt pretty much burned out with writing, so I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA for the last few days – one of the biggies I’m putting in place is, as soon as I get over this bug/pancreatic problem (we’re hoping for the former rather than the latter!) I’m going to be back on the game, blogging more and taking part in *two* new challenges.
The first is an additional stint with the ’30 day challenge’ where I’ve committed to blogging on one of my blogs, daily, and getting my blogging network blog all set up so people can grab me as a guest blogger and see what I’m already writing and offering out for syndication.
The second is ‘learn 21 things in 21 days‘ – for which I’m going to keep generally blogging here about the things I’m learning, motivations and more, and for the second half of that challenge, I’m going to blog at Writers-bookshelf about self publishing and what I’m learning about that – including all of the stuff I’ve got on my roster for learning about publishing on the Kindle and using Amazon’s new services to set up my blogging stuff – all in all it’s going to be a blast!
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
That sounds like so much fun! I love games, especially RPG. Haven't played with a group in a few years.…