IWSG: Feeling Squirrely

Thank you Alex, for this monthly opportunity to share our woes and garner much encouragement.  Hey!  I haven't told you yet, Big Al, but I mentioned you and IWSG in my interview in Insatiable Magazine. :)

My post this month builds off something I read in an earlier IWSG post by Allison over at Geek Banter: Why I Like Scrivener. I'd not heard of Scrivener before and was intrigued by Allison's account of how the writing software eased organization and navigation through manuscripts and manuscript-related documents. I've downloaded the program and am finding it to be a delightful way to get organized for my impending book release.

With my first novel, I had no idea what I was doing marketing-wise. When it was released to the world I was like...I was going to say a deer in the headlights, but that's not quite right.  I was more like a squirrel who jumps impetuously into the middle of the road and upon realizing he's in over his head, darts back and forth trying to do everything at once while meanwhile accomplishing nothing. I've been feeling good that at least with this second book, I'll be more experienced and therefore better prepared for the scary world of marketing, but on Monday my publisher gave me a tentative release date for Divine Temptation...and I'm starting to feel squirrely again. Too many ideas hitting me all at once, threatening to send me into a fluffy-tailed scurry of anti-productivity.  Enter Scrivener...

There's something very soothing about the folders and files that I can not only jump easily between, jotting down ideas in the proper place as they hit me---I can assign each document a little post-it note thingy so that I can view an entire board of related ideas at once.  And I can move them around as need be. I can't wait to use this software for writing and reworking my next novel! If you're interested in checking it out, Scrivener offers a free trial of thirty days of actual use.

Scrivener has helped me organize my thoughts well enough to have come up with a plan for involving my blog friends in the book release. :)  I know time is our most precious commodity and we get hit left and right with various blog activities, so my plan is simple and flexible so you can tailor your involvement to whatever works best for you & your blog or other social networks. Please visit this page for a brief explanation and to give me your e-mail and first born (teasing, teasing). Thanks!