Anyone notice any changes around the ol’ website? Please take a look around, click on the links and report any problems or issues. We tried to clean things up, simplify the busy-ness of the site but still have lots of info for you. Some of the pages are the same but content will be updated soon.

Kay

I did a favor for a friend yesterday and wound up being the one to benefit. Not only did I benefit from their company (which I simply don’t get enough of) but I had some time to sit and wait and being a writer, I took my iPad and portable keyboard and wound up getting quite a bit of work done as well, despite the curious stares of passersby. uter:

Anyway, I was thinking of my work schedule, time, kids, family, household chores etc and wondering if sitting down and actually marking off a time-lined calendar would increase my productivity. Granted, I’d have to stick as close to the time alloted as I could but… Hmm…. For those of you who work at home, have you tried this method before? Does it work for you? With school getting ready to start and me being able to have a normal routine again, I’m all up for trying to make the most of my time. Yesterday was proof I could write in a loud, distracting place. I should certainly be able to do it in a quiet one like my home.

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter for your chance to win two awesome books by two awesome authors! See below for titles.

Kay

A very sweet and dear friend of mine has a book on the shelves right now. It came out (officially) yesterday and is a fantastic read in the Love Finds You Series. Even if you’re not normally an inspirational or even a fan of Amish books, this is a great story and I hope you’ll check it out. You can find Serena’s website HERE and a purchase link HERE. Oh, and a note on the beautiful girl pictured on Serena’s website? That’s her daughter-in-law. How cool is it to be the model of your mother-in-law’s book?!

Are you a fan of Amish books?

Kay

The pre-conference madness has begun. I thought I had a few more days before I had to really kick into gear but things keep coming up. I need books for this event, postcards for that one. A certain outfit for another. Ack! :chair: LOL Writers are such introverts. Myself included. All the fuss makes me long for a beach chair. :sunny: I love going to the Romance Writers of America’s National Conference. It’s a blast–but exhausting. Keeping track of it all drives me a bit batty. :bat:

If you’re not on Facebook, I hope you’ll sign up and find my Kay Stockham Fan Page. I’ll be posting pics and conference goings-on from there. I have two Facebook pages now, a private, personal one and my professional author one. Be sure to pick the Fan Page (unless I know you personally).

My CP Serena Miller has a book getting ready to officially hit the shelves August 1. It’s an Amish romance in the Finding Love series titled SUGARCREEK OHIO. I’ll see if I can’t rustle up a cover for you and post it as well. Anyway, great read. And an absolutely fabulous person. Serena is one of a kind so I hope you’ll check it out.

What are you reading?

Kay

Someone recently recommended Scrivener (a Mac-oriented program) to me for writing. Being the organizationally-challenged person that I am, I immediately bought it. In a word–bliss. Whereas before I had multiple files open on my screen, I now have one. But that one file contains everything I need for my work-in-progress. I have a chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene outline on the left, notes (where I copy and paste my synopsis which holds more ‘voice’ and personality traits) on the right (oh, and you can color-code your chapter/scenes by POV), and in the middle is your working copy.

My one complaint (which simply be me not having figured out how to set the settings correctly) is that it goes by word count (great in and of itself) but not page count. I like to know how many pages my chapters are. (If you use Scrivener and know how to change the settings to show this, please let me know!)

For those of you aspiring writers out there, do you use a writing program to organize your work? What do you love/hate about it?

Kay