An Interview with Jude Knight
March 28, 2023 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as historical romance, Jude Knight, Writing GoalsStretch Goals for Authors
Happy spring! Alina K. Field here, back with another Quarter Days’ post.
In the midst of a dry spell in my writing life, I was welcomed into a group of Historical Romance authors called The Bluestocking Belles. From medieval times to World War I, these ladies know their history. They also know how to use the historical milieu to shape compelling characters who will appeal to modern readers.
One of those authors is Jude Knight. Jude is a prolific author who features short historical romances in her newsletters, just the right length for a worktime lunch break, She also gives away made-to-order stories as prizes for winning readers at her Facebook parties.
A few years ago, Slice of Orange blogger, Tracy Reed, blogged about her 12 books in a year publishing challenge. I found her posts very inspiring–not of course that I’ve ever been able to match her accomplishments.
So in the hopes of perhaps inspiring authors reading this blog (and myself!) I’m sharing an interview today with New Zealand author Jude Knight, a founding member of the Bluestocking Belles. Jude is in the thick of a super ambitious publishing schedule!
So without further ado:
1. Jude, tell us about your 2023 projects.
I worked in 2022 to have enough books written that I could publish at least one a month from November 2022 to February 2024—so sixteen months of promotion, with at least eighteen books for keen readers to explore.
Yes, I know. It sounds a bit mad.
It’s not quite as epic as you might think. Last November’s and this January’s books were both collections of prepublished stories: one a set of short stories originally written for my newsletter, and the other the first four novels in my Golden Redepenning series. Two of the others have been out before in another guise—this month’s The Husband Gamble was in a multi-author box set, and July’s Grasp the Thorn is a rewrite of a novel for which I’ve just got the rights back.
That leaves ten novels and four novellas. Five of the novels are written. Three are between a quarter and a third done. The last two have a vague plot line and characters who are beginning to come into focus.
Of the novellas, two are written and two are still twinkles in the eyes of my plot elves.
But I have done the sums, and I need to write 265K words before the end of November. That’s nine and a half months, so 289 days. All I have to do is write 1000 words a day, and I’ll have 30K words a month. 31K most months.
In the past 12 months, with bathroom renovations, a garden makeover, family sickness, and all sorts of other chaos, I’ve averaged 35K a month, and still managed all the other work of running my own publishing imprint (I’ve been almost entirely a self publisher, but this year I’ve moved to hybrid, placing five books with Dragonblade Publishing).
Publishing at this scale is a bit like eating an elephant. But I’m just going to take it one bite at a time.
Here’s my list of what I’m working on:
Some of the dates may slide a week or so here or there. More may be added–if I can consistently write more than 30,000 words a month, while keeping up with editing, marketing, and all the other stuff that goes with being an author. Those with links in the list are on pre-order.
29 March 2023 The Flavour of Our Deeds, book 5 in The Golden Redepennings
26th April 2023 The Talons of a Lyon in The Lyon’s Den Series
11th May 2023 One Perfect Dance, book 2 in A Twist Upon a Regency Tale
15th June 2023 Chaos Come Again, book 1 in Lion’s Zoo
16th July 2023 Grasp the Thorn (House of Thorns revised and republished), book 2 in Lion’s Zoo
8th August 2023 Snowy and the Seven Blossoms, book 3 in A Twist Upon a Regency Tale
24th August 2023 a short story in the multi-author book Night of Lyons
16th September 2023 One Hour of Freedom, book 3 in Lion’s Zoo
10th October 2023 Love in its Season a novella in the Bluestocking Belles 2023 Harvest box set
10th November 2023 Perchance to Dream, book 4 in A Twist Upon a Regency Tale
15th December 2023 The Darkness Within, book 4 in Lion’s Zoo
16th January 2024 Concealed in Mist, book 2 in A Game of Mist and Shadows
23 July 2024 The Blossoming of the Wallflower, a book in the multi-author series The Revenge of the Wallflower
Job done. These are published and available now
14 November 2022 Chasing the Tale Volume II, in the Lunch Time Tales collection
15 December 2022 Belles & Beaux, a Bluestocking Belles collection
24 January 2022 The Golden Redepennings: Books 1 to 4
16 February 2023 Lady Beast’s Bridegroom, book 1 in A Twist Upon a Regency Tale
22 March 2023 The Husband Gamble, book 13 in The Wedding Wager (which is a multi-author series)
2. What made you decide on such an ambitious project?
I started a publishing and writing consultancy company in the late 1980s. For years, when people asked me why I decided to run my own business, I used to say that I’d gone to music festivals for five of my six children in a single fortnight, and my brain was numb.
That isn’t the explanation this time, but I suspect the real truth, both times, is that I like stretch goals. I always have. You’ve more chance of landing on the mountain tops if you aim at the moon rather than the foothills.
The other reason is the desire to be noticed. I have dozens of stories out in the market that are receiving good reviews and not all that many sales. In an overstuffed marketplace, especially when you’re an author that writes books that can’t easily be pigeon-holed, getting noticed is hard. Publishing at the rate I’m planning will at least mean that the retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble will have a new release in front of them all the time, and I’m hoping that will translate into them putting my book in front of their customers.
3. What has worked, and what hasn’t?
Dragonblade has worked. I’ve found them brilliant in the prepublication stages. My first book with them—Lady Beast’s Bridegroom, Book 1 of A Twist Upon a Regency Tale—came out four weeks ago, and I tripled my backlist sales for the rest of the month.
Having someone else do seven of the eighteen covers has also worked, as has hiring personal assistants to get me newsletter and Facebook Group placements, and to manage the contest I held for the launch of the new series.
I think the main negative I’m having to manage so far is psychological. I keep looking at that elephant and thinking, there’s no way! I’ll be fine as long as I don’t let that scare me off.
Perhaps the whole plan won’t work, but I’m just four and a half months and four published books into it. I’ll report back.
4. What’s been most challenging for you?
Writing every day, no matter what, no matter how little. I wrote 1000 words this week in the waiting room of a hospital while my daughter was having an operation. I wrote 150 words the day my personal romantic hero and I drove for seven and a half hours to be with my sister whose property had been flooded in a super storm, and enough words in dribbles that very busy week of cleanup to put 2000 words towards the month’s total.
When I don’t write every day, I stop writing. I lose all impetus, the plot elves sulk and refuse to talk to me, and I don’t like myself very much. But it happens. The challenge is to stop it from happening.
5. Do you have any advice for authors taking on this sort of goal?
Yes. Break your plan down into monthly goals. Be adaptable. Major commitments this week to throw your plan off track? Recalculate and keep going. And be kind to yourself. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Take a walk. Have a glass of wine. Do some gardening.
6. Why do you choose to write historical romance?
I write historical romance because I love history and because love stories with happy endings are a joy to read. The world has enough authors writing serious books that challenge and depress. I want to bring joy.
I made a decision in 2021 to spend 2022 concentrating on books for 2023, including a series for Dragonblade Publishing. The series is A Twist Upon a Regency Tale, and it’s coming out one book every three months 2023. The four novels plus a book in the Lyon’s Den series are all written, and the first was released in February.
I’m also writing some other books, and I think I’m on track to have books out (either sole-author publications or novellas in multi-author publications) every month from November 2022 through to January 2024.
~~~
Alina here: Jude’s new Dragonblade release, Lady Beast’s Bridegroom is a great read. In fact all of Jude’s stories are fascinating, but I especially like her Return of the Mountain King series about the heir to a duke who returns to England to take up his title with the children of his late Persian wife.
I hope Jude has offered you some inspiration!
Thanks for reading along this far. I’ll be back in June with another Quarter Days’ post!
About Jude Knight:
Jude Knight always wanted to be a novelist, but life got in the way for decades and she nearly lost the dream. She wrote a thousand beginnings, but it took a huge life event to shove her into writing an ending. That was in 2014. Eight novels and counting later, plus short stories and novellas galore, she’s living her dream: writing historical fiction with a large helping of romance, more than a dash of suspense, and a sprinkling of humor.
Learn more about Jude at:
Website and blog: http://judeknightauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudeKnightAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudeKnightBooks
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Jude-Knight/e/B00RG3SG7I
My Word for 2023 is Change
January 12, 2023 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Denise M. Colby, Word of the year, Writing GoalsMy word for 2023 is change.
Why change?
This year will be some big changes in our family. And I hope to make some changes of my own.
What type of change?
First our family changes. With our youngest in his senior year of high school, we will be done volunteering and being involved with high school activities come June. I will miss it. Supporting all the kids, cheering at choir, theater, and other events, and hanging out with other parents. Three kids and 10 years at the same school (for our 3 sons), it will be weird to say goodbye.
But with goodbye, is the opportunity to spend more time on my writing endeavors. To change my writing process, my manuscript, and my writing time. And hopefully do a little more travel and exploring with my hubby. I’m super excited about that.
Researching My 2023 Word Change
I like to explore and research my word, finding quotes and phrases that support why I chose the word I did. What I found encouraged me even more that this was the perfect word for me in 2023.
Change begins at the end of your comfort zone
Roy T. bennett
I’m at a place where I know I need to change things in my manuscript to take it to the next level. And I’m ready to do it. After a lot of work (my word in 2022), reviewing and evaluating the entire novel, I know what I need to work on. And embracing change instead of being fearful of it, is how it’s going to get done.
Here’s to a year of change!
Denise M. Colby loves to choose a new word each year and then share what she learns about it. She wrote about her 2022 word, work, in her latest blog post, and created a highlights page for her 2020 word of the year courage on her website.
LET’S NANO
November 5, 2020 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as Making time to write, NaNoWriMo, Prepping for Nano, Writing Goals
I did it. I officially jumped into the NANO pool.
I don’t know what it is about this year and the desire and excitement to participate in NANO. Maybe it’s the unusualness of 2020 or maybe it was just this was the year I was supposed to do it. I have attempted to participate in NANO in the past, but never followed through. Technically, I can say I did NANO in 2016 when I wrote and published a book a month, but I won’t because that was a different writing schedule. By that I mean, some of those books had been written over a period of months. The ones written in a month were less than fifty thousand words.
I am a proud pantser, but I am also a planner. I spend about an hour on Sunday or Monday planning my weekly schedule. NANO is the perfect opportunity for me to combine the two. I also research things I’m not familiar with or need direction on how to do.
Knowing I was going to do NANO I went to YouTube and a few AuthorTubers. The amount of information out there was overwhelming. I heard everything from stockpile your favorite snacks, stay hydrated, don’t forget the wine and coffee, meal prep, hire a housekeeper if a messy space is a pet peeve, post “do not disturb” or other threatening signs on your office door for annoying family, join a NANO community, exercise, have your favorite music and get plenty of rest. Oh yeah, and make a writing plan.
I thought my head was going to explode. I took a step back and reminded myself of one simple fact. I wrote a novelette in three days with about six hours of sleep, coffee and a couple of meals a day. I’m pretty sure I can handle fifty thousand words in a month.
How did I prep for NANO? I created a plan that was right for me.
Commit to NANO
Don’t just say you want to do it, but tell someone. When you give life to the task becomes a reality.
Join a group for accountability
This is one of the areas where I messed up in my previous NANO attempts. Having an accountability group encourages me to stick to my plan and make attainable goals. Thanks Charmed Writers.
Get snacks
I liked the suggestion to have snacks at the ready. However, prior to NANO, I was diagnosed as being wheat, soy, almond, cow’s milk and egg white sensitive. Some of my favorite snacks include those things. However, I found a couple of things that work, plus I have plenty of water, coffee and red wine.
Keep a journal
I decided to keep a journal of my daily progress. I also use it to keep notes about my book.
Set a daily word count
The other prep tip I liked was setting a realistic daily word count. I knew I wasn’t likely to write on Sundays, Thanksgiving and I needed a little flexibility for BFCM [Black Friday Cyber Monday] sales for my lingerie business. Exceeding my daily writing goal will allow me to skip a couple of days if I want to.
Figure out what to write
When I was toying with the idea of NANO, I had an idea of what I wanted to write…the follow up to my 2019 NANO book.
As I said, I’m a pantser so when it comes to writing, I plop my butt in the chair and let the characters tell their story. Last year I selected a book I wanted to write, but for some reason I never connected with the story. It was like the characters had gone silent. I switched books and the story practically wrote itself. I didn’t complete the book, but I did write fifty thousand words during NANO.
I completed my 2019 NANO book in February of this year and as of this post, it’s with my beta reader and headed to my editor this weekend.
I wanted to release the book earlier, but with the strangeness of 2020, I decided to push it back to February 2021. When I completed the book, I had no intention of continuing the series. But the characters said something different. I deleted the last chapter and made part of it the first chapter of book four, the book I’m writing during NANO. My plan is to release the books back to back next year.
I just completed NANO day four and I feel good about my progress. As of this post, I’m at 9002 words. My daily goal is 2084 words, but I’ve been exceeding it.
Here is the best advice I have for anyone wanting to do NANO…just write. Whether the words make it to the final draft, it doesn’t matter. The goal is write a book with at least fifty thousand words. It doesn’t have to be good, it just needs to be completed.
Happy NANO and Thanksgiving.
Finish Your Book by Kitty Bucholtz
October 10, 2020 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz tagged as Kitty Bucholtz, Master Class, Writing Goals
One of the things I’ve noticed about how the pandemic has affected writers is that many have lost their mojo. All the craziness in life has been filtered into a never-ending news stream that is sucking the joy, creativity, and peace from our days. I know a lot of people who haven’t been writing, or not nearly as much as they normally do.
On the other hand, I’ve also talked to quite a few people whose lives have been disrupted to the point that they’ve started thinking about finally writing that book they’ve been dreaming about. They’re just not sure where to start.
These friends and strangers have encouraged me to create a group coaching program to help writers finish their book. Over the course of eight weeks, I work with you to rebuild a foundation for making solid progress on your book. One client finished a book she’d been working on for over 20 years! Another wrote 2 1/2 times his goal during the program. It works. And I’d love to help you or someone you know.
I did a series of webinars last week to give folks some tips on getting back into it, and explaining the program. Check out the replay and let me know if I can help you. At the very least, I hope you get some ideas and energy from listening to me. I’m excited for you to finish your book! You never know, you could write a book and change the world!
0 0 Read moreFind Motivation to Accomplish Goals, and Hang On To It
July 12, 2020 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Denise M. Colby, Motivation, Writing GoalsThere are just some days I find it really hard to sit down and work on my manuscript. But, I have goals to reach. And somewhere, somehow, I have to find motivation to accomplish those goals. Otherwise I get frustrated and want to give up.
Writing a book is a longggg process. I’ve been working on mine for over seven years. Granted, I have a day job. I have a family. And I have volunteer requirements. And in the beginning I had no idea what I was doing and didn’t know what were realistic measurements or tasks I could expect myself to accomplish.
But I’ve learned a lot in the past seven years, including what works for me to keep moving forward.
Here’s how I motivate myself to accomplish goals:
Break up tasks into manageable chunks.
Choose to track word counts or time. Sometimes just spending 15 minutes (Flylady anyone?) is enough to move forward and keep my mind in my story. My planner I use has little images in the front of each month. If I touched my MS that day, I color in the image. Didn’t matter how long or what I did. It sure helps take away the feeling of being stagnant.
Write out specific tasks that can be checked off.
Back in March when all of sudden my home became work and school central for the four other people in my family, I had to get really specific with the tasks I wanted to accomplish each week. Part of that was to show my family what I was working on, and part of it was for me to stay on task when there was a lot going on around me.
I was editing my MS and wanted to get through four chapters a week. So on an index card, I wrote out each week’s dates and which chapter numbers were assigned that week, and then I stuck it to my little bulletin board, where I could see it.
I’ll tell you, being able to check off each week when I accomplished those chapters was so encouraging. Yes, I will need to go through my MS again. But I’m not focusing that far ahead. I would derail myself if I did. Instead I focused on what I needed to accomplish that day (one scene or two) for that week. This makes it way more manageable.
And for full disclosure, I had to change some of the dates. There were a few weeks where I just couldn’t get it done. The chapters needed more work, and we had family birthdays to celebrate. So I adjusted and kept going.
Figure out time blocks that work for you.
Are you a morning person or a night person? I’ve learned that editing in the afternoon right now doesn’t work for me. I get too caught up with work and everyone else is up and making noise, having conversations, and it’s challenging to focus uninterrupted. I enjoy the morning when it’s more quiet.
Although with 7 and 7:30am conference call meetings recently, I don’t get to start my day working on my MS, before I jump into work. I try, but realize that it’s not realistic five days a week. Instead, for now, I’ve adjusted my hours and try to work only 1/2 day on Friday and then work on my MS the rest of the day.
This has given me momentum heading into the weekend to still accomplish goals. Sometimes our family dynamics make it hard to work on things all weekend, but by telling my husband I need some time to work on my book, it’s helped set up the expectation.
Take a moment to catch your breath.
I find when life is crazy busy, I can’t slow down to focus on just one task. Too many things are screaming at me to get it all done, NOW. In my handy dayplanner each week, are two pages of daily inspiration. Some days I can only think of writing one word in the daily square – my word of the year. This year it’s courage and writing it out reminds me why I chose that word. Courage to keep going when it’s hard, courage to take risks, courage to trust God’s plan for my writing.
Other days I write other things in the daily spots, whether it’s a Bible verse, quote, thoughts, or recently I’ve been focusing on 5 things I’m grateful for each day. It’s amazing how taking a few minutes to slow down and pause helps my mental state and allows me to refocus my brain on the next task I’m preparing for. (And I’ll admit, some days it’s toward the end of the day and I hadn’t written anything down yet. I still pick it up then and recenter myself).
Sometimes I need to just create without thinking. With Washi tape I add color and design to my planner pages. Maybe not everyone is like this, but I find it really helps center me and I get to see something for my efforts.
Find something that causes excitement.
I’m teaching an online course this month through ACFW on SEO Marketing. I love this topic. And so many people have responded to participate. As I reply to each one and read their comments of what they wanted to learn and their answers, I’ve gotten really excited. I get to share this topic with other writers, help them, and make a difference. With each email, I’m more motivated to keep doing what I’m doing.
There’s something to be said about having little wins in your corner that can help motivate. Interacting, helping and teaching other writers seem to be one of mine.
I could keep going, but I’m off to participate in a virtual writing conference. It seems talking and sharing with other writers is another motivator for me.
I hope one of these ideas helps encourage you to accomplish goals in your writing. When I set out to decide on my topic for this month, this one came to mind. I wanted to capture the positive energy that I’m feeling right now, so in those times when I don’t feel it, I can remind myself of what I can do to help myself through the more challenging times.
If you have other ways to motivate yourself to accomplish goals, I’d love to hear it. Write it in the comments below. We can all use new ideas to help motivate us to accomplish our goals!
Blessings,
Denise
If you are interested in more, I wrote a post in January for this blog, that talked about staying on task. And over at my own blog, I post monthly on various topics related to encouragement, writing, and anything Disney
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