Balancing Book Work And Vocal

I Often Describe My Life As My Circus Act

It's just a fact. I've got too much going on for it to be anything but a loud, chaotic, whirlwind of music, fire, and crazy people doing crazy things.

By crazy people, I mostly mean my young children being young children.

Some crazy and/or amazing things have happened in the last few weeks in my wonderful Circus:

1. My sister beat her cancer and is now cancer-free! This is probably the best news of my whole article. A lot of you know I was an end-of-life caretaker for my grandpa. I now find myself being my mothers end of life medical guardian - and I can't get her to move in with me. And for a while, I was part of a family-run team of caretakers to my Sissy. The whole family played their roles in keeping her spirits up, and helping her fight through it. But no one championed for her more than herself. She keeps getting healthier and healthier and stronger every day, and this has been the biggest, most amazing victory and blessing. Her 7-year battle with cancer had been the hardest thing she had ever faced.

We haven't sat on our victory laurels, though. Part of keeping her cancer-free is maintaining her health. She has been focusing on losing weight, building muscle. Eating healthier. She has been making a huge effort. I personally feel like God rewarded her because she didn't sit around, she declared WAR on her cancer and fought it by taking extra good care of herself during chemo.

She is officially one of the strongest people I know. She disagrees with me because she worries a lot. But she's entitled to be wrong if she wants to be. Just because a person is scared doesn't mean they are not brave. She doesn't feel brave, but I think that's what bravery is: Not the absence of fear, but being afraid and doing your best anyway.

For anyone struggling with health issues who needs to hear this: Don't give up. You're not alone. And even if you cry or feel defeated, it doesn't mean you are weak. You are still brave, you are still strong. And it's okay to cry when it hurts. It doesn't mean you're losing the battle. You are allowed to be human whenever you need to be human.

2. I have been recording an AUDIOBOOK. For the month of July, I was severely overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and STUFF it takes to put all 3 of your children in school. Luckily, two of the children will stay in the same school next year, if it goes well, so it'll be a bit less next year.. I hope. And I feel like it hasn't slowed down. I am still always busy even though the kids are in school. So every chance I get, I record a chapter of Memoirs of the In-Between. My goal is to release the audiobook by December 17th, on my mother's birthday. As it turns out, commitment is time-consuming, and so is recording an audiobook with like 13 different voices and accents that you're doing yourself.

3. I've started submitting my work to writing contests and anthologies instead of just keeping them only on vocal and medium. I've only recently started doing this. And as much as I feel like this is a brag, I am a little proud of myself. For a very long time, I wasn't confident enough to submit my work. But I am working on that. As it turns out, thinking of short stories is also time-consuming, which eats away at my vocal posts. But pssst! I might have some really good news on this in the very near future!!!

4. I signed a contract with a marketing/publishing company. It's a basic contract, and it's okay so far. When it's all done and over with in a couple of months, I will write an official, real review on them to hopefully help future authors to either be wary, or if they can count on this company to truly help them. I plan on learning a lot while I have their support, if I can, and if there's anything TRULY helpful, I will post it.

5. I started a Patreon! I wish I had known about Patreon sooner. But I'm on there. This is another thing that has cut into my time on Vocal and Medium. Obviously, Patreon isn't going to hold all of my articles like Vocal and Medium. The good news means that almost every article of mine you read on Patreon will be completely different than almost everything on Vocal. I am putting Memoirs on there, one chapter at a time like I am here on Vocal, but I am also dropping chapters of my Audiobook on there. I haven't decided if I will put all the chapters on there, or just a few. I could use advice on that decision if anyone has any!

That being said, with these new marketing adventures, I've posted on Vocal and Medium a lot less. Now that the kids are in school, I find myself able to focus on a project that I have wanted to complete for years. And once I am done recording the Memoirs, I will have a lot more time.

Fun Fact: It takes anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to record a chapter of my book. I have a variety of accents and voices. It took me two days to do the chapter where Claus, my sexy Santa character, with his sexy Scottish accent. I did nae know how hard it is to do accents! Especially Scottish ones.

Thanks for continuing to support me, Vocal Family!

Find my fictional fantasy book "Memoirs of the In-Between" on Amazon in paperback, eBook, and hardback.

You can also find it in the Apple Store.

Keep an eye out for my special discounts and sales on the Campfire Reading app.

And if you like pretty things - check out the author's merch store - where all money goes right back into advertising.

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