Setting writing goals and a progress report

Dear friends,

I don't usually do a whole "what did I accomplish last year?" thing, but I was prompted by that insanity over on Facebook, where they do a Timeline thing for you. And one of my playwriting groups posts numbers of items subbed and accepted. This is not meant as a brag; I hope it's encouraging for some of you who don't think you have time to write. :-)

Make your own list; you might be surprised. And it might spur you on to doing more in 2014.

I've been a bit down because it feels like I did nothing last year.  Well, other than remodeling the Old House from Hell, participating in the local Art Guild, and tending the garden, that is. I mean, WRITING stuff.  I'm VERY scattered and indecisive. I think I would have done better if I'd been focused. And maybe if I'd set some real goals--that's one thing I didn't really do.

Progress report: last year, I submitted 10 stories/plays/poems and had 3 accepted, including one new play that will be published (ongoing income).  One story is still out. I also had my first mystery story accepted to a "mystery" publication.

I published two novellas (illustrating one of them) and four short stories, launching my "Nameless, Texas" mystery story series. Both of the novellas started out as plays that were written a few years ago.

I finished another new play, it premiered and an older one had four productions.

I wrote over 65 blog posts/articles (most with original photos), thousands of e-mails and several blog interviews for other authors.

It just shows what you can accomplish when you just basically KEEP AT IT. Unfortunately, it also shows how much stuff you actually have to submit to get anywhere.  This doesn't include the bits and pieces of stories, plays and ongoing novels that aren't finished yet. And it doesn't include all the PR stuff.

This year, I'm setting goals, and we'll see if it gets me farther.

Onward, and Happy Trails!

bobbi c.

Now available for the Kindle! A new short story...

The first in my Nameless, Texas series of short stories...

Aunt Jewel and the Purloined Pork Loin

featuring Kendra Louise Harper

A Nameless, Texas Short story of 5,600 words.

With a Bonus Recipe for Aunt Jewel's Sweet 'n Tart Homemade Cranberry Sauce!

by Bobbi A. Chukran

Available NOW on Amazon.com for the Kindle, for only $1.49.

All Things Writing Interview Today!

Dear friends,

If you get the chance, please visit my friend Kaye George's All Things Writing blog today, where she interviewed ME!  I KNOW, exciting, right?

Kaye was a tough interviewer, but asked questions that really made me think about my work.  And that's a good thing.

http://allthingswriting.blogspot.com/2012/07/interview-of-bobbi-chukran.html

And while you're at it, check out Kaye's excellent mystery series.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

LONE STAR DEATH for the Nook!

Dear peeps,

After a lot of hair-pulling, cussin' and cursin', I finally got my new mystery novel, Lone Star Death, formatted correctly and uploaded to the Barnes & Noble website (in spite of hours of "technical difficulties" where I wasn't sure if it was something I did, or something really wrong with their system.  Yep, it was THEM. :-) )

Hopefully, within 24 to 72-hours, it will be published and available to buy there for the Nook.  Yay!

It's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but a milestone for me.  It's been years since any of my printed (on paper!) books have been for sale in the Barnes and Noble stores.  I'm just glad I'm able to make the book available for the folks who have Nooks AND Kindles.

And since I still love holding books in my hot little hands, AND love seeing my books on library shelves, I'll be signing up with CreateSpace to make that happen.  Soon, very soon.

Ginger Snap Ann says "You can't sit on an e-book, dagnabbit! Whassup with THAT?"

Baby steps, people, baby steps!

Happy trails from Texas--
bobbi c.
http://bobbichukran.com

Lone Star Death---new title!

My Texas historical murder mystery, LONE STAR STATE OF DEATH, published back in 2006,  has a new title, new cover, and a new author!  Well, not exactly a new author.  Same ol' author (me!), with a new name.

For some time now I've been pondering using a pseudonym on the updated Kindle e-book version of this book.  I finally decided on B. A. Neal, my maiden name, and a little more generic.  Also, easier to spell and pronounce.  :-)

Since the book is totally updated, I wanted a new title, something that would set it apart from the previous version and be a bit shorter.  I pondered many hours over this, and finally came up with LONE STAR DEATH.  Close enough to the old name to be found by Google, but different.

As for the cover, I've always loved that photo of the horse, but wanted something a bit more "western-ish" in design and color.  Luckily, I have an art, graphics and publishing background and was able to easily redesign it.  Using a little Photoshop Elements magic, here's the new cover I came up with:

The plot and characters are the same.  The new version takes care of some pesky typos and formatting errors that ended up in the original one.  I also fixed the problem of the doctor whose eye color changed from chapter to chapter!  LOL

To read a synopsis of the book, read about my inspiration for the book and a little background, check out the book's blog, here.


I'll post more news when the book is available for sale on Amazon.  Hopefully, that will be within the next week!

The book is now live, and available for purchase!

BUY LONE STAR DEATH

This book has been through an exciting adventure since I first wrote it sixteen years ago, and I'm happy to see it available once again, this time for the Kindle.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.