this week in brooke's life

Well, this has been an interesting week. I started watching my four month old goddaughter, who is the most adorable thing ever. The amount of attention she needs has cut into my writing time, but I am still making progress on The Chroniker Legacy. Once I get into the swing of things, I’m sure I’ll get back to my old productivity, but until I get the balance of napping, feeding, and playing figured out, it’s going to take a while for my mind to adjust. I’m even writing my blog posts the night before they’re supposed to go live in order to give myself maximum writing time during the day. As it stands, I get about two to three hours of writing time while she’s napping throughout the day; it’s just hard being productive in forty-five minute bursts. I don’t know how you parents do it.

January sales for The Clockwork Giant have been rather slow. I had my first refund on the Kindle, which was a bit depressing, but then I got two more sales in the same day, so I think it balanced out nicely. The trickle of sales is about what I expected, though I hoped for more. Also, my book is available for Kobo (see sidebar link), and it should be available on iBooks in the next few days.

I have been working on my Renaissance Faire costume too. I’ll be going as a bow huntress (archer implies tournament archery in my mind). So far, I’ve completed the shirt and belt combo, complete with a rabbit pelt. I plan on finishing the quiver this weekend and maybe a coin purse. I still need to find pants, and if possible, boots, but I’m willing to alter some shoes I already have if I can’t find something suitable. I will be buying the bow in a few weeks with the money from babysitting my goddaughter (since I won’t see royalties until March!). Hopefully, I have the costume finished well ahead of time. Last year, I sewed the majority of my costume the night before. That was exhausting. Not doing that again. This year, my husband is going to dress up, but he hasn’t decided what he’s going as yet. Either a blacksmith or an innkeeper, so he tells me. I’m pushing for something a little more regal, but I digress. The family we’re going with is dressing up too, possibly as a wizard, governess, and baby princess. We’ll be an interesting group for sure.

In other news, I had a guest post go up earlier this week over at Rach Writes about my writing process beginning to end. It’s a short post, but there is a chance to win a copy of The Clockwork Giant! I love giveaways. They’re perhaps my favorite promotional tool.

I also conducted an interview with Sharon Barber, a purse designer based out of the area I grew up. I worked for her for a short time during high school, and she’s been a huge supporter of my writing. You can read that interview at her website (and while you’re there, you should check out her purses, especially the ones for kids… I helped come up with the animal designs). The questions she asked were really thoughtful, so there will be things in that interview you haven’t seen elsewhere. Here’s a link.

And finally, friend and fellow blogger, Marieke Nijkamp, is cohosting a kid lit auction to support Donna's Dream House, a charity to help terminally ill children during the holidays in the United Kingdom. The House has hosted and helped almost 380 families since its establishment. Last month, the building where Donna's Dream House suffered a fire, causing an estimated $125,000 in damages. In response, the Write Dreams auction was born.

They're auctioning off several books to help Donna's Dream House rebuild: the complete Afterlife series by Tamsyn Murray (UK only), a signed ARC of Counting Backwards by Laura Lascarso, a signed copy of Artichoke Hearts and Jasmine Skies by Sita Brahmachari, a signed copy of Clarity by Kim Harrington, the complete Immortals series by Alyson Noel (three of which are signed), and several more.

To learn more about Write Dreams and Donna's Dream House, visit the Write Dreams website, and bid on one of these fantastic books, and other prizes! And please, if you're unable to bid, spread the word about the auction. It’s a great cause.

I believe that’s it for this week. I hope to get a good chunk of writing done today, maybe 1500 words. I managed 500 on Wednesday and 1000 yesterday, so I think it’s doable. I think I’ll definitely start being more productive during the little bit of time I have to write, rather than piddling around on City of Wonder on Google+ (guilty pleasure). Plans for this weekend: a few household projects, working on Renaissance Faire costume, reading (I really need to catch up on my reading), and maybe I can talk the husband into a movie or a trip to the mall tomorrow. We’ll see.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!