Writing Progress Letter

Hello Friends! Fall is in its glory in Green Bay right now. Well, on my street anyway. My sole tree is tiny and is holding onto its green leaves for as long as it can, but the maple trees in the yards around mine are an explosion of color—red, yellow, orange, with a little green thrown in for spice. I enjoy crunching through the leaves when I take a walk around the block. I try to go every day but don’t always make it. Sometimes I’m too busy writing.

Writing went well in October. My week at The Clearing was great. I worked my way through the Manuscript Analysis suggestions I got from ProWritingAid and took some but ignored others. After all, I am the author, and what I say goes. Until I reread it and change my mind, that is. We had perfect early fall weather that week, which made walking to class from the cabins or to meals all that much more enjoyable. And the food made all the walking worthwhile.

Once I got home from The Clearing, I spent most of my writing time completing and polishing short stories to post on Substack in October. I post every Wednesday at 7am. They aren’t all one genre; they’re all over the place—happy, sad, silly, you name it, I’ve probably written it.

In October, I learned that National Novel Writing Month, the company, went out of business. I was crushed. Almost all of my first drafts were written during NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo challenged you to write a 50,000-word manuscript in the month of November. That’s 1,667 words a day for 30 days. How was I supposed to write my next manuscript if they went out of business? I know I could just do it myself. But I’ve found Novel November, sponsored by ProWritingAid, which has the same framework and the same expectations as NaNoWriMo. Ah, familiar territory.

A lot of you have subscribed to this newsletter by taking advantage of a free book promo through BookFunnel. Thank you! I hope you enjoy The Seaview. I promise not to overload you with posts. Just one on the first of every month.

I’m in another free book promo that runs until the end of November. Island Dreams, the story of a young couple who leave their jobs and families in Wisconsin to open a dive shop on a Caribbean island, is available free for signing up for my newsletter. The Seaview is included in this free book promo too, so if someone missed the opportunity to get it in October, they can nab a copy in November.

Here’s the link: https://books.bookfunnel.com/freshstartswomensfiction25/mqksa06al5

I have a vendor fair scheduled for every Saturday all through November. Yesterday I was at Cedar Creek Event Center in DePere (5 miles south of Green Bay) and sold the most books I ever have in a day. I’m hoping it’s a trend.

Visit my website: https://barbara-writes.com/ on the News & Events tab for dates and locations.

Have a great November and Happy Thanksgiving!

Take care and stay safe,

Barbara

My titles are available online in eBook, paperback, and audiobook formats and in select independent bookstores.

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