In the beginning, my to-do list as a writer was clear. Write an entire novel. Edit, revise, polish. Meanwhile, I began to establish an online presence. I started this blog and other social media outlets, and began to network.

Later came more writing and polishing, as well as querying. Networking came very naturally to me, and although it grew by leaps and bounds, it took a lot of energy to maintain.

I’m in the process of breaking the “aspiring author” mold and embracing the “professional author” identity. I’m updating the website, and changing up my usual to-do list.

An author’s to-do list is an amorphous thing. If it was nothing but actual-writing, or even writing and revising, it would be simple. But there are a thousand little tasks that should be done, things that contribute to the whole even though, taken individually, they don’t seem like much.

While updating the website, I realized that my cover image is underwhelming. It’s a moon image, which is appropriate to what has been my current project for a couple of years now. But it doesn’t exactly say either SciFi or Romance. I decided that a new cover photo would be a good idea, as well as a few new headshots that are more fun.

But there was one problem…looking in the mirror, my cute tagline of “A redhead by choice” wasn’t exactly true! The color had faded. Taking headshots while I don’t appear as I represent myself isn’t a good idea.

So today, I colored my hair.

Not writing. Not exactly writing-related either. Maybe writing-related thrice removed.

I haven’t been as good with my ROW80 goals this week. I can honestly say that I’ve worked every day toward my greater long-term goals, but the actual writing is only fitting in about half the time. I need to be better about that. Even if it only happens five days a week, that’s progress. And actual-writing needs to remain a primary concern, not an afterthought.

Wonderful News!

I’m a runner-up in the Futurescapes Writing Contest! More about that later…