I decided to write a month in review post starting this month as a way to let my blog readers learn a bit more about meĀ as a person and a writer, and as a way for me to easily review how the year has gone once Dec 31st arrives.
Something I've been wanting to do for a long time is hire an assistant. You may have seen her name in some of my groups or posts. Introducing Shadi!
Shadi has been a literal God-send, in that I've been praying for someone to keep me from drowningĀ in the business aspect of my work. She has a degree in psychology, is super smart and intuitive, and is very capable and competent (and also my eldest son's girlfriend – he's a lucky guy, right?) She is the face behind the email admin@leestraussbooks.com. Those of you who are part of my review crew have already met her as my co-admin there. Feel free to chat with her when you see her online.
Can you tell I'm excited to have her on board? š
Now that I have an assistant, more time is freeing up for me to actually write books! I've started the first intro novella (the book I'm going to giveaway as an introduction) to my new cozy historical mystery series. This has me busy reading Agatha Christie's writings from the 1920s, researching poisons, British history, 1920s fashion and lingo, and ship crossings from Boston to Liverpool. I'm excited about this new series and the lead character and will tell you more about it and her in the near future.
One thing Shadi and I have worked on isĀ a blogging schedule.Ā Blog posts will go up every Friday on this rotation: Free book offer (usually from another author), Interests (mine to share with you), Facebook Contest (A $20 Gift Card will be given away every month), and the month in review. Once a month or so I'll post an Author Tips Tuesday tip for those of you who are also writers. You can find past posts by searching categories or archives.
I've also started studying Spanish. Why? Because inĀ February I'll be going on vacation with my husband and daughter to Mexico. I don't expect to carry on any conversations after one month of study, but I want to make sure I'm not completely in the dark either. I'm currently using the online program Duolingo.com and the book Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish.
According to Duolingo I'm 16% fluent – whoot!!
It'll be a working vacation for me but I do plan on spending a good amount of time around the pool and on the beach, and drinking fruity drinks.
Onward and upwards!
Lee
PS: How's your month been? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.
My month has been like life itself. Some highs and lows.. One thing I’ve done is really started to enjoy audio books a lot more since I can then be “reading” walking, driving, or sitting . The only thing I’m still having problems with is I miss imagining the characters more. Somehow when you hear someone narrating-no matter how good a narrator- some of my imagination is taken away.. The same reason I won’t read a book if I’ve seen the movie. I will see the movie if I’ve already read the book and see how they compare. I love reading Jack Reacher and then seeing the movies. Ok, enough of my babbling… Have a wonderful weekend.
Hey Shadi, great to “meet” you! š