A day in my boots.

Ever wonder how my day goes during the week, well wonder no more. Here's a little insight into my everyday routine being a stay at home mom and full time writer. (And thanks to my post's title the song 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin' by Loretta Lynn is stuck in my head. It fits perfectly.)

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Early Mornings

First of all, let me say that I am definitely not a morning person and neither are either of my daughters. It makes getting all of us up for school an ordeal unlike any other. There are alarms for other alarms. We even have an alarm to remind us it's time to leave. When we all do manage to get up it's a scramble to get dressed and get fed before we're rushing out the door. I swear that 8 o'clock leave time comes way too quickly.

As you can see my phone is full of alarms. Alarms to wake up. Alarms to get my butt moving, and alarms to leave. I know that if I leave at a certain time I'll get to my destination at the correct time. I pride myself on never being late to drop my girls off for school or when picking them up.

The Drive to School

While other moms are putting their kids on buses I drive mine to school. It's a twenty minute ride there and a twenty minute ride back home. The plus side is the beautiful scenery that we get to see along the way. Most of our rides to school are pretty quiet but my oldest loves to sing along with the radio. As you can see the four lane highway we travel is pretty empty. I hardly ever have to go any slower than the speed limit. I might have to watch out for crossing deer but after living in Chicago I realize how fortunate I am. I love not having to fight traffic. (My daughter took the pictures of  our drive to and from school over my shoulder since I despise using my phone while driving. We had a nice discussion about that both times. It's never too early to teach them to use technology safely.)

Coming back Home

Once I get back home my goats and chickens demand my attention. Like my goats literally yell at me as I exit the car. They're only happy and quiet once they're fed. These lovely pygmy goats are Bae-Bae, Buckie, Rayne, and May. Once I'm done outside with the chores that need done every morning I move back into the house. The second I'm inside all of the indoor pets demand my attention. Kitties get fed, puppy dogs get fed and let outside to go potty. The bunny gets fed, and fresh water is distributed to everyone.

Hot Chocolate Time

Who doesn't like a nice cup of hot chocolate?

Once everyone is happy I finally get to sit down, if only for a moment. I don't drink coffee but I do have a morning ritual of drinking a cup of hot chocolate mixed with a breakfast essentials pack. Since I skip breakfast this is the next best thing. Mind you, I don't usually get to sit down until around 9:30 or 10:00.

While drinking my hot chocolate I bring out my laptop and check stats for the day while sitting on the couch. I put together necessary posts and whatnot. Most days I'm terrible at this and I end up putting it off until later in the day.

My Desk

This is where some of the magic is made. I just got my desk early September so I've been spending a lot of time here. And yes, it's always this clean. I can't stand clutter. Everything has to have it's place or I get a bit crazy.

As you can see I'm never alone at my desk. The second I leave my chair someone is always stealing it. That little darling on my chair is my special kitty, Sweetie. She absolutely adores me and has to be near me at all times. She also leaps into my arms and loves to give hugs and kisses.She's got some of the most beautiful blue eyes. Unfortunately, you can't see them very well in this picture.

Work and Housework

As soon as my hot chocolate is gone I get back to it. I do what needs to be done around the house to keep it in order. In between tasks I sit down and write. Sometimes I get a few sentences and other times I get a chapter out. I try to do my best to schedule out housework so that I'm not overwhelming myself. There's a fine line that I walk to keep everything running smoothly. Some days I take this time to catch up on sleep. Since I stay up so late at night I need this time in order to function.

The Pickup

When it's time to pick up my kids from school I leave early. I bring my laptop and a pop along. If I get to school early I get a great spot in the line of cars waiting to pick up students. I've learned that if I don't get this great spot my kids believe I'm leaving them at school. The last time I was slightly late I had both of them crying as they exited the building. I felt terrible and vowed never to let that happen again. So, I get to school forty minutes before dismissal. During this forty minutes I sip on my pop and pull out my laptop to get some more work done. Usually, I can type out at least a page before I have to put my things away. Trust me it helps the time pass by quickly.

Home Again

The ride back home from school is always lively. I get stories about how their days went. We sing and tell jokes along the way. Sometimes we take the back roads home. It takes a few minutes longer to get home but the kids love seeing the horses, cows, and other critters along the way. Once we're home it's time to unpack book bags, time for a snack, and then time for homework. I found getting homework done sooner rather than later in the day is best. Of course when it comes to math papers those wait until daddy comes home. He's the math wiz in our house. I'm terrible with math. Don't get me started on the common core math, ugh.

(Again, my daughter took the picture. I think she did a fantastic job.)



A Moment to Breathe

Once everyone is finished with homework I get to sit down for a break again. I usually snack on something quickly before I'm back up getting dinner ready. I always try to time it just right for when the hubby gets home.

Dinner Time

These things are the best. I'm a great cook but let's be honest sometimes it's a pain to prepare meals. When I'm not feeling it I pop one of these baby's into the oven and walk away. Thankfully everyone in this house gets excited for these meals. Sometimes they even request them.

Things get easier after dinner. I relax with the hubby and kids for a little while before I begin getting things ready for the next day. I pack lunches for everyone and then help the girls pick out outfits for the next day.

Before long it's bed time. My husband puts the kids to bed every night and then sits with me for a little while before going to bed himself. He wakes up super early for work so he gets sleepy pretty quickly.

The Night Shift

This is how I spend most of my nights. I sit on my comfy couch while watching Netflix. Can anyone guess what I'm watching tonight? Here's an easy hint: (You have to sing it) ' Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead... '

Did you figure it out? It's Pretty Little Liars!!

I either spend my time watching some of my favorite shows while writing or I plug my headphones into my phone and listen to some music. It gets pretty quiet here at night while the hubby and kids are sleeping so between 10pm and 3am is when I get the bulk of my work done.

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So, there you have it. That's a typical day for me. Of course there's a lot that fills the space between but I doubt anyone wants to see pictures of me mopping floors and scrubbing toilets. Doing what I love is the best, even if it doesn't mean my life isn't as exciting as the characters in my books.

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Raven K. Asher

Monthly Update - November

Monthly Update

Wow, I didn't realize how far behind I've gotten. (My last update was for August.) There's been so much going on these last few months. Even though I haven't had much free time I've been working hard and I'm happy to say that I've finished a few projects that I have been working on.

One of my projects has been an ongoing one that I just couldn't get right. I've rewrote the story three times and I'm finally relieved to say that this rewrite was the charm. The story is exactly how I want it now. Plans for the release will be early next year.

And that brings me to my next little announcement. Since November is coming to an end and the holidays are going to be in full swing I won't be releasing anything until the new year. I'm hoping to have several releases set up and ready to go though. I'll post the list of expected releases for next year hopefully by the end of December.

For the time being I'm going to be working hard to get more books written. I have a few series that need to be wrapped up so I'll be working on those first.

Other than that I don't have much to report on. I'm making progress and that's what matters most.

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Happy Writing!!

Raven K. Asher

Monthly Update - August

Monthly Update

I've been working really hard the last few weeks and I'm happy to say that that hard work has payed off. I've been crossing things off of my to-do list pretty quickly.

So far, I've gotten the paperback versions that needed to be done completed. Hopefully, I'll be able to approve the proofs as soon as I get them this coming month. Chosen has it's cover ready along with the book three, Betrayed, in The Onyx Wolves series. I updated the rest of the paperback covers in The Onyx Wolves series  as well. They look amazing! I've even got my newest release paperback cover ready to go.

On top of getting those finished I edited one of the stories I had finished months ago. Crash is available now for purchase at Amazon. I skipped the pre-order period for it.

I still have one more story waiting to be edited and released but I'm going to wait a little longer to release it. My goal is to release it by October.

The story that I've been currently working on is nearly finished as well. Right now I'm three-fourths of the way through. I should be finished with it by the middle of September at the latest. I hope to have it released in the next few months too.

With both of my girls now in school I'm hoping to have more free time. I'm still trying to work out my schedule. Sleep has been rough to come by the last few days so that's going to be my biggest hurdle. I'm sure in the next few weeks I'll have it all worked out.

Even though this past two months have been hectic I've managed to push through it all. I'm really hoping for another productive month ahead in September.

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Have a productive month!!

Raven K. Asher

Monthly Update - July

Monthly Update

I know I'm really late getting this out but here it is. Here's my update for the month of July.

July didn't go quite as planned. A lot of unforeseen health issues came up with family and instead of getting work done I spent time with them. Those issues are thankfully getting better at a slow pace, but never the less they are improving.

The beginning of July did go as planned with my Goodreads Giveaway. That ended up way better than I had expected. It was a pleasant surprise. And instead of doing covers for paperbacks like I had planed to I only ended up refining the covers for The Story of Alexis Rose series. Other than that I didn't get much else done that I had originally planned for. 

I did however get some writing done. Not much but I did manage to get a third of the way through writing a story. Of course it's a story that I had previously written but the story hadn't gone as planned so I trashed it in order to rewrite it before even thinking about publishing it. I believe what I've got now is publish worthy though. It will be a while before I finish and get that out. 

Meanwhile I have two stories just waiting on the back burner to be edited and published. I have so much to do and so little time to manage right now. I will hopefully get it all done in time. It just might go slower than I'd like.

Even though it's nearly halfway through August I'm going to try and cross a few things off of my to-do list. The good news is that school for my little ones will be starting and having both in classes for the day will free up some writing time for me.

I'm going to keep at it and hopefully I'll make progress forward. No matter what comes my way I'll get through it.

August's monthly update will hopefully be on time unlike July's. I hope to have good news to share then also.

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Have a great and productive month.
Happy writing :)

Raven K. Asher

Monthly Update - June

Monthly Update

This month didn't go exactly as planned. I've been super busy and I wasn't able to reach many of the goals that I had set out for myself. The good news is that I did get a few goals accomplished and I'm slowly finishing up a few others. They might not get finished by the end of the month but I am making progress.

For the month of July I have lots going on. I will be having a countdown sale for Alone on Amazon, and a Goodreads Giveaway for Hidden.

While those are going on I will be finishing up my current project. Once that project is completed I will be placing my writing aside for a little while. Instead of writing I'll be editing the upcoming stories that I have finished and I'll be working on book covers. I am way behind on doing these two tasks so for the month of July that's what I'll be working on.

After I get all that necessary business out of the way I'm hoping to start on either the last book in the Angels Evermore series or the fourth book in the Onyx Wolves series. I would really love to get both of those books done by the end of this year.

Even though I have a lot on my plate once again I have faith that I'll continue moving forward. Fingers crossed that I get all of my goals completed this month.

Don't forget to keep an eye out for my Countdown on Amazon and my Goodreads Giveaway!! Links for those will be posted soon.

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Have a great and productive month.
Happy writing :)

Raven K. Asher

Monthly Update - May

Monthly Update

This month has flown by. I have gotten a lot accomplished but at the same time I kind of placed myself into a new hole of things to do. Not that it's a bad thing. Being busy is a very good thing, especially when writing. 

With school ending for my girls I'm going to have a little more free time during the night to write so that's a small plus side to this month ending.

So, for May I have gotten a lot done. I released Betrayed. I finished the project that I had been working on in secret. (Details for that will come in June. It's the start of a new series.) I also worked hard on another new story. I'm actually nearly halfway done writing the first draft.

This past week I claimed an author profile over at BookBub. If you'd like to check it out and follow me there just click on the following link. https://www.bookbub.com/authors/raven-k-asher.

The one thing that I set out to do and didn't get done in May is the paperback version of Betrayed. I had all intentions of doing it but never got the motivation. I'm going to set that as a major goal to complete for June.

Another goal will be to do edits for my secret project and to finish the story I'm currently working on right now. I'm really hoping to get them both released this year. My next goal is to start working on the third book for the Angels Evermore series. I've had trouble writing that series so I think it best to wrap it up with one final book.

In June I will also be having another Goodreads Giveaway. This month it will be for When Tomorrow Never Comes. Keep an eye out for links for that giveaway. It will begin on June 10th and will run through until June 17th.

This coming month is going to be a bit busy but I'm hoping to accomplish my goals. I would really love to go above and beyond them if possible.

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Have a great and productive month.
Happy writing :)

Raven K. Asher

Monthly Update - April

Monthly Update

For starters I have wonderful news. I accomplished my goals for this month. I finished the first draft for Betrayed, the 3rd book in The Onyx Wolves series. I also had another wonderful giveaway over at Goodreads, and I've even had time to spare to work diligently on another little project of mine.

This month has definitely been a great month for me and it has been a relief to see progress done. I love moving forward, don't you?

Anyway, I'll keep this update short and sweet. Next month I'm going to set a few small goals again. I really don't have anything pressing to do but I have a few things that need to be done in order for me to move another step forward.

First, once I'm finished with my newest project, (which shouldn't take too much longer since I nearly had it halfway finished months ago), I will return to the draft of Betrayed to do the much needed edits that need to be done before I decide on a release date.

Once that's done, I will work on getting it ready for paperback and I will be working on editing an older work of mine. It's the only one left that I haven't updated in a while.

Next, I will be having another Goodreads Giveaway. For May it will be Crash and Burn, Book One in the Eden One Series.

With those things on my plate for May I should be kept pretty busy. Of course I'll be working on another project in between these tasks too. I have a lot of great new ideas that I am working on for future series. I can't wait until it's time to share them, but for now they must remain a secret.

As with April I hope May will be filled with lots of success and finished goals.

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Have a great and productive month.
Happy writing :)

Raven K. Asher

Bad reviews? Don't let them get you down.

Bad reviews? Don't let them get you down.

That dreaded bad review. It's the one thing all of us authors hate to see but it's a part of being an author that you cannot escape.

It can be frustrating, it can be intimidating, and it might even make you take a moment to reflect on your life choices, but in the end you have to remind yourself that not everyone is going to come in with a glowing five star review. Not everyone is going to like what you wrote.

They might not even like how you wrote it.

To each their own.

One thing you can do though is learn from some of those reviews, especially if they state something specific that's wrong. If there's one thing I've learned it's that your always learning in this career. It never stops and if it does, then you're doing something wrong.

Now, I know a lot of authors refuse to read their reviews and to be honest I wish I was strong enough to resist, but I'm not. I end up reading every last one, even the ones that rip me apart inside.

I might have a good cry over them but in the end I read what they have to say and then I analyze everything that's said. I take what I can from those reviews and use it to make my future books better. Sometimes I even use that information to fix the issues wrong with the book in question.

Most times I rope my husband into reading my reviews with me. A second pair of eyes that aren't emotionally invested helps to pick out the good information a little bit better. And a lot of the times he helps me laugh some of the more silly things off. And when I cry he reminds me of why I love to write. (He's awesome like that and I'm lucky to have his support.)

If you're like me and you analyze every review it can get a little bit intimidating especially when you feel as if bad reviews and terrible star ratings are all you seem to get.

In fact, I got a bit overwhelmed recently so I made myself a chart. (I love making charts.) I wrote down every book I have written and then I went over every review and rating that I had accumulated over the sites where my work has been posted for sale, or otherwise.

Long story short, I was able to visually see how many five stars, four stars, and so on, that I had received. To my amazement and joy it helped me realize that my bad ratings and stars were just a pin-prick in the amount of ratings that I had. It turned out that I was doing way better than I had originally thought. (Yes, I did let it get to my head for a few moments.) It also showed me where I needed to work a bit harder too.

Once I realized that the world wasn't out to attack me I relaxed. I ended up having one of my best nights of writing that I had had in a very long time.

It was in those moments that I realized just how stressed out we get ourselves over reviews. We're always told that without reviews and ratings our books will fail. That's hammered into our heads from day one of hitting that publish button. It's just not true though and the sooner I came to realize that the easier things seemed to get.

Now that I'm armed with my lovely new chart I can combat this stress and remind myself of where I'm at and just how far I've come. Hopefully I'll continue to have good writing days again, and I believe I will as long as I keep reminding myself why I love to write.

It's simply really, I'm doing this for me.

"Writing is a journey, a rough one at times, but no journey is worth taking without the bumps and curves. A straight path just isn't the route for me." - Raven K. Asher

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Happy Writing!!

Raven K. Asher

Monthly Update - March

March Update

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend. It ended up being a beautiful Easter day here for me and my family.

Today is another story though. The temps have dropped and it's raining outside as I type.

This month has been a great one. I accomplished a lot of the things I've been wanting to do for the last few months.

(Drum roll, please) I finally got Home finished. I even worked hard to get it available for pre-order. Today I'm working on getting it into paperback form. As of right now I have everything ready to go except for the paperback cover.

As much as I had been wanting to finish this series it was also hard to see it come to an end. Now that it's finished though I can finally take a breather.

My plans for April are going to be simple once again. I have another book in a series that I want to get finished. I'm going to put my mind strictly on that book and nothing else. I'll be working on the third book, Betrayed, in The Onyx Wolves Series.

Also, since my last giveaway for Barely Alive went so well I am planning on doing another Goodreads giveaway for another on of my books around mid April. I've already prepared to do a giveaway each month for the next few months actually. It's been a great and fun way  to get my books out there in front of readers.

So, for the month of April I'll be doing a giveaway and working on the third book in The Onyx Wolves Series. It should be simple enough to handle.

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Have a great and productive month.
Happy writing :)

Raven K. Asher

What I want from Writing.

A few of my long term goals.

What do I want from writing? It's a simple question but at the same time it can be hard to answer. At first I thought that being on a bestsellers list would be awesome. I thought selling hundreds of stories would be the greatest accomplishment.

Those are great things but after two years at this I've come to find that I want something completely different from my writing career. My goals are simple enough but just like making a bestseller list and selling tons of books it takes a lot of hard work.

The biggest thing I want to gain from my writing is fans. I would give anything to be able to have an entire conversation about one of my stories with a fan. That is the ultimate goal for me. I think it would be epic to have someone want to pick my brain about the scenes and characters that I've created.

Right now I have my husband to run ideas by but he doesn't quite get involved in my stories as much as I would like. I get it though, reading isn't exactly his thing. Other than him I really don't have much in the way of support. For the first year I had my mother-in-law who had time to read my stories over but she's become swamped with work and doesn't have the time now.

So my biggest goal would be to have a group of fans that absolutely love to discuss my stories with me or among themselves. I would even take one really curious fan.

Another goal of mine is to refine my writing to the point where it's nearly perfect. As much I would love to reach this goal it's never going to happen. No one is perfect and writing isn't either. I might be able to perfect my style but there are always going to be mistakes. Near perfect is a reasonable goal to set at least. It gives plenty of room for errors.

One of my other goals was to have my books in paperback and with the help of CreateSpace that goal has already been met. It's an amazing feeling to hold my books in my own hands. There's nothing better than looking on my shelf and seeing my own work on display.

Just having my stories out there for anyone to read is fantastic. It's a dream come true so everything else is just icing on the top.

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Happy Writing!!

Raven K. Asher

Hands on or hands off?

To reply or not to. This is a huge debate between authors. Some like the hands on approach with readers and reviewers while others step back and allow things to happen with due time.

I'm a hands off author. I don't push for reviews and I never reply back to reviewers. The only exception I would ever make is if asked a direct question that I could easily answer and even then I'd be reluctant to reply.

There are plenty of ways to contact me if a reader desires to do so. I believe there are appropriate places to reply or to engage with readers and reviewers. For example, a website, through Facebook, twitter, and even Goodreads.

Trust me when I say I would love to reply back to reviews. I would love to be able to thank the ones who have left great reviews and trust me I'd love to reply to those that aren't so great, but that isn't very business-like in my opinion.

I'm grateful for each and every review I receive. They are a blessing in this business, good or bad. In my case they help me refine my writing. They help me become a better writer and they sometimes help me grow a thicker skin.

To learn from them is honestly all I believe you should take from reviews.

All too many times replies have gotten authors into worlds of trouble. Sometimes it's a sure way to ruin your name. But on the other hand I've seen it boost an author's reputation. For some it might work but not for all. It's like anything you do, it has it's fair share of risks.

Those risks aren't something I personally would like to take which again is why I steer clear of replying.

As for pushing for reviews I'm not so keen on that either. I know there are lots of bloggers out there that love to leave reviews but again it's a risk. No one likes someone who pushes too much. And lets be honest no one wants to receive bad reviews.

I allow my reviews to come as they come. I'm also terrified of pushing my work out there like that. I don't want to be like 'here read my book!', 'read it now!'. I want readers to stumble across my work. I want my readers to be so moved that they just have to leave a review. That's my goal.

For right now it doesn't bother me one bit that reviews trickle in. Each one makes my day when they show up. I understand that it can be nerve wracking for some though especially when it's pushed down our throats that the more reviews we have the more you'll sell. In my experience it's not true. I have books that have no reviews at all and they sell more than the ones that have plenty. I even have one that sells better than the rest and the star rating is low. It blows all of that talk about reviews equaling sells right out of the water.

I could argue these facts until my face was blue but I'm not going to. Like I stated before one path might work for some but not for all. Each path we take is going to be different.

No matter what comes your way it's always good to stay calm.

Another thing to remember is that in this business bad publicity is just that, it's bad. You don't want to end up on one of those author behaving badly lists.

Over the last two years I have learned a lot. I'm constantly learning still and as I continue on I will learn more. The best advice I can give to anyone starting out is to be cautious and be smart about what steps you take.

In the end make the choice that you believe is right for you and the path you want to go. And remember some things might work for some while some things only work for others.

Give it your all and hopefully you will succeed.

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Good Luck and Happy Writing :)

Raven K. Asher

Leap Year/ February Update

Leap Year/February Update

What does Leap Year mean? Well it means one extra day for work. That might be good or bad considering your line of work but for me, being a writer, it's a small blessing.

Even though I've fallen behind I'm still making forward progress. It might not be on the projects that I intended but I'm still moving forward. This extra day is going to help me out a bit. I'm going to buckle down and write all day.

My goal today is, at the least, 5,000 words.

Anyway, I'm adding my monthly update into this post to save myself a little bit of time. Plus, I'll be honest I don't have much to say about leap year.

As much as I would love to report that I made progress on Home I have not. Progress has actually come to a screeching halt. Again it's not because I don't know what to write it's just the flow. I can't seem to be able to get the words I want to come out correctly.

On the bright side I did get my Eden One books put into paperback this month like I had planned on. I was able to get them done early on. As of right now nearly all of my books are available in paperback form.

For March I'm going to keep things simple. I'm going to work on the project I'm on now. If I get motivated enough I'll try to work on Home. I really want to get it finished not just for the part of ending the series but because I mentally need to finish something.

I've been stressed and I believe part of the reason I'm struggling so much with my writing is because I haven't finished anything for a while. I need that accomplished feeling that comes from completing a story and ending a series.

So for March my hopes are to get progress done on Home and to continue working on the project I'm currently working on. I'm also going to work on getting the last few paperbacks that I need to get finished out.

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Have a great and productive month.
Happy writing :)

Raven K. Asher