Just Popping In To Say Hi

"Hi!!" by Christine Graves via NightCafe Studio

Hello, my darlings. I hope you've been enjoying your July. I've been going a hundred miles an hour at my real-world job, so on my days off, I've done pretty much NOTHING!! And now we're only days away from August, and it's time to get ready to go back to school.

I've been working on some writing projects. Other than just working on my blogs, I've also been working on another Promptly book and am in the process of rewriting a piece I'd done as a microfiction serial on a multi-author writing platform. And when I say rewriting, I mean I've taken the whole story and turned it on it's head. The same premise is there, but I'm writing it from a whole different POV. 

I've written a couple of Promptly books over the years, but haven't done much to advertise them. I need to change that. I have one on Amazon called Promptly Chronicled--300 writing prompts for the fiction writer. I have another one on Gumroad, but I'm fixing to move that over to Amazon in the near future as I've had absolutely no luck on Gumroad. 

The one I'm working on right now is called Flash Fiction 500--500 writing prompts to get the fiction writer moving. I started working on this little book several years ago, but ended up having to put it away for personal reasons. As I was looking through some of my old writings, I ran across it and decided to get it finished. I'm hoping to have it done and uploaded to Amazon by my birthday (September 17th).

The book I'm working on is called The Pin-Up Girl Murders. It's about a young Los Angeles detective who has a former detective's life work dropped in his lap. The younger detective's timeline is set in the late 1970s, while the older detective's work is set between the mid-1940s and the mid-1950s. I'm not sure when it will be finished, but I'm really hoping to have it published by the first of the year. 

I've also found several other pieces that I'm going to start working on as soon as I get through these. I don't want to get too many things going and then drop them all because of brain burnout. I have a bad habit of doing that. 

I've also been thinking about submitting some of my microfiction to various online magazines. I'll be honest, I didn't even think this was a thing anymore. I still remember the days of sending off stories to magazines through snail mail. I had several of those Writer's Markets books over the years. If I remember correctly, I had the 1993, '94, '96, '99, and 2002 editions. Pretty sure that's a thing of the past.

As I move into my golden years, I'm more determined than ever to continue making writing my chosen venue. I've been researching a lot about taking early retirement. I still have a few years to go, but it'll be here sooner than I think. I'm seriously thinking about taking an early retirement, then throwing myself into my writing. And the more I think about it, the more excited I'm getting. 

I still have no idea what the future holds, but I do know that mine will have some type of writing journey in it. I've been a writer for as long as I can remember, and I'll be a writer until I just can't physically do it anymore. 

What's your plan for the future? Have you been thinking about what you're going to do? Are you even at that point in life yet? 

May all your dreams come true.

Until next time, 

 

I've Said Farewell to Medium

 

Yes, it's true, I've parted ways with Medium.com. Okay, maybe that's a bit too strong. I haven't so much parted ways as I've opted out of the subscription service and won't be writing much on the site anymore. I don't want to say I won't be writing at all, as I'll end up making a liar out of myself. 

I began writing on Medium in 2018. It was a great place to write fiction, and there was a huge short-fiction community. I had a blast. But that all changed. There was a big change up in management, and those of us who wrote fiction saw a drastic drop in both views and monetization. I know it shouldn't be all about the money, but I went from earning an average of $30-$50 per month to less than $20 per year. That's not even enough to cover my subscription fee.

I will be leaving most of my work on the site, but I will be taking a lot of my stories and serials down, reworking them, and either publishing them as quick reads on Amazon or on my Ko-Fi site. Even if I only make a few pennies here and there, it's still more than they're making me on Medium.

Now, I'm not totally bashing Medium. They're still an amazing place for writers, but it's geared more toward non-fiction and opinion pieces. More power to those who write in that genre. I've done it, and it's not easy. 

I'm going to leave all my writing prompt posts on the site. You never know when someone might stray in and need something to write about. I'll also be leaving a few of my other posts, simply because they were posted in other people's publications. I would never pull something from their sites without letting them know first, and there are just way too many of them.

As I won't be posting on Medium anymore, I will be updating all my personal blogs a bit more. I'd like to say a lot more, but we all know that's not true. However, not having the pressure on me to be Medium worthy, I can let my creative side out a little more.

I haven't come up with a "posting" plan yet. I'm thinking that this blog will be for my fiction, poetry, and personal posts, and Graves Publications will be for all my writing-related posts and any other form of non-fiction I come up with.

Mystic Realms will be where I post about history and mythology. I'll always have a place in my heart for histories, mysteries, and mythologies. The ancient world was one of my earliest obsessions. And a lot of history has changed (thanks to archaeology) since I was a kid.

I'm not sure where I'm going to put my serial fiction. I have a short series started on Amazon, and I might do the same with some of my others. I haven't made up my mind on that one yet. I might just publish a few of them myself and sell them from my site. Can't do any worse than they're doing right now.

Though I'm still working on the final scene, I've already begun the journey. I hope you'll come along to see where this path takes us. If nothing else, it should be good for a laugh. 

Until next time,
Miss Chris!!!

Everyday Writing Every Day

 

"Dear Diary" by Christine Graves via NightCafe Studio

I'm working on a personal mission. I'm trying to write a post a day on at least one of my sites or publications across the line. I missed posting something on the first, but I did do a freewrite on my Penzu account, so I'm counting that one. 

I posted three posts on Medium between the 2nd and 4th. And here it is the 5th, and I'm doing a post here. It's not about writing something amazing, it's simply about doing some everyday writing every day.

I didn't write much between the middle of March and the first part of May. I had so much going on in my personal life that I just had to step away. The problem is that I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. But I am trying.

One of the reasons I'm doing this is because I'm trying to keep the art of blogging--true blogging as it used to be--from fading into obscurity. I know I'm only one person, but it could happen. I miss those days. I've always loved blogging and still do today. 

I've heard it said a hundred times. In order to be a great writer, you must write something every day. I get it and can see how this could be true. But that's not what this is about. It's simply about writing for the sake of writing. Finding joy in the written word once again.

I'm having a particularly hard time tonight as I'm wiped out from my new job. I've always been one of those people who feel they need to throw themselves into a project, mind, body, and soul. And did that and more today. I might be the boss of my department, but I'm using muscles I forgot I had. (If you ever stay in a hotel, please thank your housekeeping staff. They work their butts off)

My brain is mush at the moment. I have the desire to write, but it's hard to focus. I'm exhausted. But it's a good exhaustion, if there is such a thing. Yes, my mind is numb and my body hurts, but I love knowing that I put 100% of myself into my job.

This post is going to be short, but at least I got one done. It's not a post for the masses; it's just a grouping of words that form an idea. It won't gain me a fan base or any paying leads, but that's okay. This is just me getting a few things off my mind and onto the page. It's off my mind, off my chest, and put to the side. Time to move on to the next.

This won't be the last post for this month, I'm sure. If I want this experiment to be successful, I need to make sure to post something every day. 

Until next time,
Miss Chris!!!

~~~*~~~*~~~

Christine Graves has been writing online for nearly 30 years. She has written everything from fiction and poetry to reviews and ad campaigns. She runs three other blogs. Graves Publications, Library of the Mystic Realms, and Collected Keepsakes. She also writes for a platform called Medium.com  where she runs several publications. 

I Think My Brain is Broken

 

I think my brain may be broken. I'm having a hard time forcing myself to write anything. I've been so busy with all the holiday stuff, my full-time job, and the grandbaby's stuff at school, I haven't had the motivation to do any real writing.

I've been working on making some homemade Christmas gift tags, and I've had a ball putting them together, but it's been more of an excuse not to write than anything else. I keep telling myself that I'm doing it to help bring in a little extra money, but the truth is that once I've made those tags, I don't do anything else with them. I keep saying I'm going to put them on my online store, but I don't. I just put them in bags and set them off to the side.

I will say that I've been more interactive with the outside world lately. That may sound strange but I could be a shut-in tomorrow. It wouldn't take much for me to crawl inside my own little world and never come out. I've been that way for a long time. I never used to be. Before my first marriage, I was the life of the party. Now, almost 40 years and two marriages later, I am the proverbial homebody.

As much as I hate to admit it, I actually enjoy being home alone. It's quiet, it's peaceful, and I don't have to share the TV remote. I'm raising a grandchild, but she has her own things going on between school and her circle of friends. Fortunately, I know most of their parents and the kids have a habit of talking to each other on speakerphone, so I can hear everything that's being said. 

I go through this every so often. I'll be writing away, then...nothing. Everything I write sounds and feels forced. If I have to force it, it's not worth it. On the bright side, I've gone through this enough times to know that I will come out of it eventually and start to write again. I just can't say when.

I'm hoping that once the holidays are over, I'll get back to work. I have a few things I want to try, but I have to have my head clear in order to do so. I've already written and published one 30-minute read on Amazon and am planning on doing more. I'm going to try several different angles to see which one works best. I read that if you're going to do something along these lines, it's best to use pen names for each genre. I don't see me doing that. I'll just use my real name and hope for the best. If it works, cool. If not, at least I tried.

Okay, I think I'm done with my rant. I'm so glad I revamped this blog so I'd have a place to just write whatever comes to mind. I don't have to worry about SEO, or keywords, or even making sense. This is just a space where I can let my hair down and be myself. It's very cleansing. Get all the clutter out of the attic and make room for some new ideas. 

Remember, my friends, make time for your family. Hang out with friends. Step away from the daily grind and make some memories. We're only given so much time on this Earth. Be sure to enjoy every day of it.

Until next time,
Miss Chris!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Christine Graves has been writing online for nearly 30 years. She has written everything from fiction and poetry to reviews and ad campaigns. She runs two blogs, Graves Publications and Collected Keepsakes. She currently writes for a platform called Medium.com and runs several publications through them. 

Christine is also an avid collector of vintage anything and an arts-and-crafts kinda gal. She is a sucker for a garage/yard sale, secondhand stores, and auctions. Because of this, she's opened her first real online shop called Prairied Treasures. 

Overcoming a Writing Roadblock

Image by Al Seeger from Pixabay

So, there I am. All set to take on the blogging world once more. Though it has been nearly 10 years since I was at this point, I felt like a kid in a candy store. I've gotten most of my older blogs updated, I have everything in place and I'm ready to really let the outside world inside my own. Then, the Universe threw me another curveball. 

One of my favorite blogs, Para-Mythic, seems to be missing the ability to allow comments. For me, that sucks. The one thing I'd really like to see my blogs do is to bring in real comments from real people. This site and Collected Keepsakes, my other 2 blogs, are both ready for comments. I haven't gotten any, but that's okay. At least I know it's there if it ever happens. 

I've tried changing the blog theme, removed all ads (still waiting for Google to approve the site, even though it used to have ads on it before I revamped it). I've never messed with the code behind scenes. I used to be able to build a whole site with HTML, but this new code just has me baffled.

I've left a question in the Blogger community forum, but haven't gotten any responses as of yet. I've tried to submit a request to Blogger itself, but keep being sent to the community forum. So now I have a dilemma. I have to overcome another writing roadblock.

I really enjoy researching and writing about ancient history, unsolved mysteries, and world mythologies. There's some weird stuff out there. But I'd really love to hear from those out there who actually take the time to read my work. So, do I:

A.) Just keep posting on that site even though I can't get comments?

OR

B.) Create a new blog and start fresh? Yes, I've already created one, but it's not live. I don't have anything on the site yet, but it's there if I need it. Name secured. LOL (that took me over 2 hours to do).

It's something I really have to think about but I would love some suggestions. Please feel free to leave them in the comments. That would just make my day. (Why yes, I would love some cheese with my whine. Thanks for asking)

Here's to the future!!!

Happy Writing

*~~*~~*~~*

© Christine Graves 2020

How Writing for Myself has Helped Me Grow

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

It's taken me several years to get to the point of writing I'm at right now. I'm not saying I'm a huge success (I'm not), but I have come a long way since 2012. The year I had to start over.

I've written a lot about the years I had to walk away from writing to revamp my personal life. I won't go into detail in this post, but it took me a long time to get over some personal issues. I owe what I'm doing now to 2 different places; In The Pantheon and Medium.com. If it wasn't for these 2 sites, I'd still be "trying" to find my voice once again.

At In The Pantheon, I wrote in the voice of the ancient goddess, Demeter. I found a way to let "her" voice control the story and I had a blast. Though I wasn't able to stay with this site, I wish the entire Pantheon all the success in the world. I wouldn't be writing this post if it wasn't for them.

At Medium.com, I got to write as a person. I could just be me, in all my opinionated states. I've never had the success on that site that some claim to have, but I'm okay with that. I wrote articles, opinion pieces, fiction, and a ton of poetry. I haven't shared my poetry in years and it felt good to have someone tell me that they liked my style. 

Now, I'm writing on my own sites. I'm still writing on Medium, but I'm spending a lot more time updating this and a couple of other blogs I've had for many years. Yes, I have ads on my site, but it's not to try and become rich. It's so that maybe at some point, I can pay off a few credit cards. 

By writing on my own blogs, I've found a whole new way to express myself. For years, I had it in my head that everything I wrote needed to sound as though written by a robot. I had it in my head that if my posts didn't sound like all the "big blogs", I wouldn't be successful. I had to change the way I viewed success. I stopped trying to be perfect and began writing as if talking to a room full of friends. My words began to flow and I was finding more ideas to write about.

Besides this site, I also run the blogs Para-Mythic and Collected Keepsakes. Each of these sites is a world away from the others, but that's what makes it interesting. Para-Mythic is about ancient histories, mysteries, and mythologies. This is a passion of mine. I've always loved ancient history and am always trying to learn more. The best part for me is in trying to figure out some of the mysteries that still perplex the experts today.

Collected Keepsakes is a place about being a collector. I collect a lot of things, and I love all those shows about finding collectibles in the most unlikely places. I get a kick out of it. The thing is that I almost let go of this site. I was having a heck of a time trying to come up with topics that would make Google's search list and I guess it freaked me out just enough that I couldn't write at all. Then, I began writing about what I enjoy about collecting and gave up on Google. It was just what I needed to do. 

My ultimate goal is to get back to making money with my writing, but for now, I'm just going to work on being a writer I'd like to read. I'm having fun writing again and I think that's worth more at this time. What about you? What are you doing to advance your writing? Let me know. And if you have a site, send me the link. I'd love to check it out.

Happy Writing!!!

© Christine Graves 2020