Tris Talks! November Newsletter...
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the November newsletter!
Whether you’re receiving this via email or Patreon, the information is essentially the same except that Patrons at any paid level get the chance to see an additional post with snippets and other sneak peeks behind the scenes.
November in review…
I think that at this point the whole world knows that November is National Novel Writing Month. And if you’ve known me for any amount of time, you probably know that November is usually the month where I try to jump start my writing muse by participating.
Not this year.
This year has been very different from any other year since I started focusing on writing original work. I’ve been highly focused on editing, working to bring the Twinned trilogy (the first three books of Welcome to PHU) to print. Additionally, I’ve been working towards finalizing the draft, editing, and formatting the first Seven Lakes novel for print. As it turns out, editing is hard on the brain (or well, it’s hard on mine!) and I needed to change my perspective.
I’ve been realizing over the last several months, as I’ve been going to conventions and working hard to build a presence and brand, that I am behind the curve when it comes to establishing myself as a writer. I need more net presence, more physical things like business cards/bookmarks/etc., more… everything.
So I decided that instead of trying to generate 50k words in November, when my brain was already balking at the idea of writing, I would focus entirely on writing-related tasks.
This has been a good thing! By giving myself leave to work solely on the related tasks, I’ve been able to focus without guilt. My website is up to date! You can check it out at TrisLawrence.com. I have a newsletter and have done some advertising. I have business cards. I have a firm idea of what still needs to be done, and I’ve started trying to create a social media plan. Oh, and I have a TikTok, but it doesn’t have any posts yet. I am terrified of video but I do have a vague plan. And let me say, getting TikTok to recognize that I am a human who deserves to actually follow other TikTok people was a far more chaotic and difficult (and weirdly amusing) process than it should have been.
I’m also doing a lot of reading books for reviews. My general attitude is that as an author, I don’t want to post reviews of books I read for pleasure even if they are my opinions as a reader, not a writer. However, when I read books by folks who want/expect reviews, or if I’m reading an arc giveaway, then I’ll post a review. I have been reading some books I’m very very excited to talk about, too, so those should post in December.
Publications…
In November I started a new blog series: On Being a Neurodiverse Creative. Posts will not be produced on a regular schedule, but rather when I have inspiration, something to talk about, time, and well, feel like writing about it. It’s a topic I think about often, as I try to work through the challenges that being ADHD brings, particular as I age and my brain seems to squirrel that much more often.
You can find the first post—Introduction—on Pillowfort, Tumblr, or my website.
If you’re looking to shop small this holiday season, the second edition ebook of Commit to the Kick is available from Duck Prints Press, along with several short stories (of the spicy and non-spicy variety).
Thinking ahead to the future? The Twinned trilogy will be crowdfunding in Winter 2024. You can pick up one, two, or all three books through the Kickstarter, either in ebook or print editions, and some great merch. The Kickstarter page is already available; follow it now to be notified when it launches!
Upcoming appearances…
The next convention on my schedule will be Boskone, which is the weekend of February 9-11, 2024 at the Westin Boston Seaport District in Massachusetts. I have applied to be part of programming, but haven’t heard back yet; keep an eye out here for more information! I’m very excited about returning to Boskone. This was my childhood convention, but it has been a long time since I’ve been able to attend.
Until next month…
I’ll be back next month with another newsletter! Remember, if you want to see more information about my projects and some behind the scenes news, check out my Patreon.
You can find me on social media—please feel free to chit-chat, or quietly lurk to hear me natter on about life, writing, knitting, and fandom. My most used platforms are Bluesky, Mastodon, Pillowfort, Tumblr, and Dreamwidth. I’m tryslora everywhere!
Thank you for being here!
- Tris
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