(Better late than never? I’m not sure what went wrong with WP this time, but I’m really fed up with it. It either won’t publish scheduled posts, or it won’t publish at all–which was the case this month. I may revert to Blogger to make my life a bit easier. Anyway, here’s the post that should have gone live yesterday.)
The last Lunar Year was all about Tigers and big changes. 2023, the Year of the Rabbit, is going to give us a change of pace. In these coming months thoughtful action is going to be rewarded, and big risks, not so much. Think peace and patience!
I’m all for that! I’d love a little peace, and I really crave patience…I need it.
This is going to be year to check-in with our emotions, connect with our feelings and embrace them.
Right now, my emotions are set to high anxiety. I’m dealing with a lot of storm damage and clean up. Each time I think I’ve got everything under control…guess what? Something else happens that puts me back to square one. Patience required!
Are you a rabbit? Quick, but sweet in nature? I hope your year is a great one for you.
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the February 1 posting of the IWSG are
Pat Garcia, Jacqui Murray, Gwen Gardner
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
Remember, the question is optional!
If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover?
I’m in both camps, and I have a different story about cover selection for every publication, so instead of going through all of my publishing experiences, let me just say that each book offers me a chance to go through the process as if it were my first. In other words, to get it “right.”
When I do it traditionally, I usually have input into my covers. The publisher will offer me some options and I can weigh in. Most of the time, I really like what the artist comes up with.
The three Indie books that I have out, I contracted with a cover artist, and I was totally impressed by what he came up with. After only a couple of tweaks, I had the covers I liked. Below is one of my Indie books.
| Quote of the Month: “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” — Oprah Winfrey |
Kim Elliott says
I was born in the year of the Tiger. I once asked my Chinese mother-in-law if that meant tiger years were lucky for me. She said no - the year of your animal is actually UNlucky. I don’t remember anything particularly bad during tiger years though. According to my lunar horoscope, my husband’s animal is compatible with mine, so that’s encouraging…
Interesting that your animal year is not lucky for you. Kind of the reverse of what you’d like. Glad you chose the compatible guy. Thanks for the visit. Hope you’ll stop in again.
I understand the need for patience. I’ve got a couple issue here that never quite get fixed because it pushes to another issues. 😠
I’m year of the horse but I think that’s three animals away still.
I love the Chinese horoscope. The animals in it are more exciting than the western one.
Sorry to hear about your posting issues. I too could use a year of peace. Thanks for the great quote.
Hope we both get that kind of year.
Hi Lee - yes a lot going on for you … but one thing at a time - life’s like that and as you say patience while life sorts itself out. It’ll be easier in a few weeks … cheers and enjoy what you can in amongst the angst … with thoughts - cheers Hilary
Indeed, Hilary. Some force much superior to me has to set things onto a straight path.
I don’t know if Blogger would be better. We’ve been dealing with our own glitches, such as the mess in the commenting. I guess blogging isn’t as popular as it was before, so companies are no longer spending the time and effort on their blogging platforms.
Good point, Liz. That issue of “is blogging dead” keeps popping up, but I still enjoy it. It’s the one social media platform that I DO enjoy. Neanderthal that I am.
I’m always slow and calculated, so Year of the Rabbit fits me well.
This didn’t go live on Wednesday and it just now showed up in my Feedly reader on Saturday. Something is messed up!
I don’t know what happened, but this post would not publish. I had to go back into my saved files and redo the whole thing. Pain in the arse!
I’m with you on wanting some peace and patience. I think we could all use it.
Absolutely!
You have been hit with a lot. Hang in there!
I’m definitely more rabbit than tiger. Maybe it will be my lucky year.
Well, I hope this year brings you health and peace, Elizabeth.
The year of the rabbit, eh? Does that also mean a year in the briar patch (where rabbits find solace)? I’m sorry you are dealing with so much storm damage, but glad to see you have WP working (I’m also having problems, because some of my post are not being seen and others are having problems posting on the posts that are seen).
WP is very challenging. I regret ever switching from Blogger to it because I spend more time trying to work out kinks than I do anything creative. I hear exactly what you’re saying.
Hi, Cheryl-Lee!
I’m happy that you overcame your WP gremlins and got your Wednesday post up and running. Everybody likes a good mystery, but when you are trying to author a blog, you don’t like mysteries of this kind, posts that do not get published on schedule. Creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky, this was surely a Wednesday ADDAMS post!
Yessum, I’ve been thinking about you getting hammered relentlessly by storms in these early weeks of 2023. Frankly, I don’t know how you can concentrate on creative endeavors while dealing with a prolonged series of storm related hassles.
Rabbit traits do not seem to fit me very well. I looked up my birth year. I was born in a Year of the Ox. I read the following: “the Ox is a symbol of diligence, strength, honesty, down-to-earth persistence, and wealth.” That article had me pegged perfectly until it mentioned “wealth.” Of course, wealth can be measured in various ways. With that in mind, perhaps all of those characteristics describe me after all.
The Question of the Month does not apply to me. With compelling covers as calling cards, your books practically sell themselves, thanks to your instincts, judgement and input. This holds true whether you are providing feedback to a traditional publisher or taking a hands on DIY approach and working with an artist of your choice. To tag out on Oprah’s quote, you, Cheryl-Lee, are clearly getting it right.
Thanks for visiting me at Shady’s Place this week. Have a safe, happy and prosperous month, dear friend!
The Ox sounds like the kind of person one needs in their life, and you’re so right about the concept of wealth. Money has never been a big motivator in my life, but good health and good people really have. So glad you’re part of my online community, Shady. You make it much brighter out here.
Thank you!
Helen Mathey-Horn says
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who can’t seem to remember to do IWSG on time, lol. Thanks for you input on the two major ways to do a cover. 🙂
Nope….didn’t forget. It was that darned WP that let me down in several ways: it didn’t publish my scheduled post, then it play havoc with my landing page and destroyed the graphics. A day later, I had it sorted, but I was more than mad. Thanks for the visit. Great to meet you.