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Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

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New Year

A post about the constancy of life and New Years

December 31, 2014 by L. Darby Gibbs

Blossoms to hold onto.

It is that time of year again when everybody is writing
either their New Year resolutions or their accomplishments for the past year.
My thought is more along the lines of what is still present, still ongoing. So
here is my New Year list post.

  • My Labrador companion Cagney it turns out is not
    turning ten years old in a few months but in fact is going to be nine for
    another year. She and I are quite pleased about this turn of events now that
    she is over me aging her faster than she needs to. 
  • Cagney is still an excellent backwards tap dancer
    and gives a show every night when I measure out her evening meal. 
  •  I am still working on Book 4 of the Students of
    Jump series, which appears each day, (though I keep writing more scenes) to still
    have another 6K of words to get to the end. My book apparently has some Dr.
    Who Tardis qualities: the inside is larger than one would expect. 
  •  I am still disappointed with the movie version
    of The Hobbit. Where in heck did this
    white orc come from and since when was a dwarf the main character of a book
    titled The Hobbit? 
  •  Don’t get me started on Ender’s Game. But I still feel the same. Good news: no white orc.
  •  When building a house, everything takes longer
    than expected, still. Yet the roof is on, windows are in, garage doors are
    going in as I write and siding is going up. I remind myself daily that I could
    still be smoothing the concrete in the garage, and suddenly I feel as if we
    have been moving along quite swimmingly. 
  •  I am still getting older and expect to continue
    aging in the future 
  •  Teaching has been, is and will continue to be
    very hard work. Fortunately, students still have the capacity to learn despite
    their nearly all out effort to avoid this. I get updates a year or two after
    graduation that show that these kernels of learning take root and remain
    exponentially active for many years. As of this year, I began teaching my first
    grand-student. He is a much better student than his mother. Appears kernels
    imbed themselves in the genes. Who knew? 
  • Creativity still begets creativity. I am testing
    a theory: One can never run out of creativity. I’ll let you know the results,
    but you have to hang around. I won’t make the post until shortly before the
    end, and I plan to live a very long time. 
  •  There are in fact motor homes that one can be
    comfortable in. You just might not want to bring along two Labradors and two
    family members to test the comfort level. 
  •  You should still floss the teeth you want to
    keep. 
  •  Teenage girls notice teenage boys faster than
    the speed of light. Boys might be a little bit faster noting girls. Research is
    still coming in. 
  •  Having to pay bills teaches responsibility.
    Politeness, consideration, appreciation, timeliness, good work habits and
    sympathy are also benefits of this experience. Earning grades through one’s own
    personal effort teaches the same lessons. 
  •  A kind word still makes a difference worth
    noting and is therefore worth giving. 
  •  Still keeping company with the best of writer
    friends, Marcy Peska and L. A. Hilden. 
  •  Another year with the best man in my life and he
    assures me he is looking forward to another. 
  • The finest of daughters continues to grow into a
    woman who will one day also be my best friend. Though I don’t look forward to
    letting go of her girlhood, I am already reaching for her adult hand. 
  •  My daughter’s Labrador is still terrified of
    white floors of any material. She treats them like ice and skates on her curled
    black nails in a comic lack of control that promises to end with all four legs
    spread out like Bambi but never happens. It seems an appropriate phobia
    considering the time of year. 
  •  I expect to continue blogging for another year,
    and probably longer. 
  •  Based on my current writing projects, I see
    several years of writing ahead. Theory on creativity appears well supported.

#NewYears
#Creativity

Filed Under: Writing Meditations Tagged With: 2014, building, creativity, Labradors, New Year, Writing

My Doubling Plan for the Year.

January 2, 2013 by L. Darby Gibbs

Scheherazade’s rice doubling

So last year I reviewed my efforts to publish my first book on Smashwords (first book anywhere, to qualify that), and I viewed a simple download of a sample of my work and the 151 times my blog had been sampled as a positive step forward to being a writer. I talked about my plans to publish my second book in my series Students of Jump, and I wanted to double the number of times my blog had been viewed.  So how did I do and am I still looking forward positively when I still remain undiscovered by a reading public?

  • I unpublished In Times Passed this past September to revamp and reedit as I felt it was incomplete.  I intend to republish before this month is out, and it is now complete and just in need of some review editing.
  • No-Time Like the Present, the second in the series, is not published yet, but is on its last redraft and close to a full-blown edit and first reader run.   It suffered a delay when I pulled book 1 off the line for a revamp and reedit.  I can say book 2 is two to four months away from publication.
  • I did publish an anthology of short stories called Gardens in the Cracks & Other Stories last July.  I chose to hit my publish date for book 2 with this anthology as I hated missing a self-imposed publishing day.  I follow the philosophy that backing down from a promise is just a habit in the making. So this was my way of keeping my promise but not putting a book out before it was ready.  These shorts stories felt ready.
  • So I wanted to double my 151 blogger visits.  That would mean I had to have at least 302 hits for 2012.  I have had 1,726 hits.  Guess I hit that goal a few times.  Sure, I know that is not much when looked at in popular blog numbers, but here I am with a plan to double it again.  So I am off to break 3,456 by next year.
  • I started a Twitter account (@LDarbyGibbs) and had quite a run with it until school started and I had to put my valuable time elsewhere.  I met some great writers, learned to get my point across in 140 spaces or less and found Hootsuite a hoot better than a hollar.  I still visit Twitter every couple of weeks and wish I could do more.  Second semester has always been the easier part of the school year for me, so perhaps I’ll be on more in the coming year.
  • I slipped off Goodreads once September came, same excuse applies.  But I read five books in the last week and half while on Christmas break.  So I do have something to talk about.  I might get back on as the new semester gets settled.
  • Book 3 of the Students of Jump is drafted, titled (Time on my Hands), and waiting in the wings.
  • I am still publishing on Smashwords, which is really publishing everywhere else I want to be anyway.  I’ve sold a total of 18 books which is 18 more than I started with.  I can say I doubled my numbers since last year.  Okay, try not to snigger too loud.  Remember what happened when Scheherazade told the story of doubling the grains of rice just a few times.  I have a tried and true plan here.
  • New goals besides what is stated above:  keep writing, keep reading, keep loving my family and being worthy of their love, make more writer friends, and grow a little wiser in the effort.

So what is your plan for the year 2013 in the making?

Filed Under: Writing Meditations Tagged With: 2012, 2013, double, New Year, sales, Smashwords, time, Writing

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