Cats, Creativity, and Commitment

Life has been busy with a lot of things going on, but before I get into everything, I would like to introduce you to our new cat, Fluffy. Fluffy, is about four years old, so about the same age as our cat Yaong. Fluffy came to us through Yena's friend, whose father could not take care of him. he is a very carefree and sweet cat, but Yaong doesn't like him at all. Sometimes Fluffy tries to chase her or wants to play, and Yaong just hisses and will even attack because she doesn't like him. Overall, it's okay as long as they aren't around each other or in close proximity too much, but this is getting a little better with time.

Next, my novel, The Zumba Class, which is on sale on Amazon has done okay since it is my first novel and is still only in eBook format. It has done modestly well and, even for about half a day, made it into the top 100 list in the category of LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction, which was exciting. I am waiting for my contact, who is a professor of visual communication design to get back to me about a cover design, so that I can start to offer my novel as a paperback. Many people are apparently waiting for me to offer it as a paperback and that is exciting to think that I will be able to hold in my own two hands a copy of my novel.

I truly believe that based on the feedback that has been given to me, if people give it a chance that they will like it. I acknowledge that it won't be everyone's cup of tea though as it covers topics such as domestic and sexual abuse, a gay relationship, and a lot of talk around sex and sexuality. I would like to think that the novel is much more than sex and sexuality, but these things are important to the characters and also it is real life.

I will say, though, that this process has been a bit hard. I am thankful that I accidentally bought my own novel and read it on my phone because I still found a lot of errors even after all the drafts, and other people have looked at it. And thanks to Amazon, I was able to revise and modify the content and it was updated rather quickly. I just hope that anyone who bought it within the first couple of days doesn't judge too harshly or that they are people who know me well.

Finally, trying to promote my own novel has seemed a bit exhausting and difficult. I feel like I have saturated Facebook with my posts about it enough that my friends are sick of seeing and hearing about. Although I will admit that Facebook has fallen a lot since its glory days. I have posted multiple posts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and even have joined Bluesky and trying to use hashtags. I am not sure how many people these things actually reach or if they make a difference, but then at the same time if I don't say anything then how will anyone know or how will my novel get discovered? I feel like I just need like one right person to read my novel and that could make a big difference!

This has not stopped me from already starting to prepare to put my second novel, Betty & Clark on Amazon at least as an eBook sometime next year. I have started typing my third novel that I finished writing this summer and hope to get that out to a few people to read for feedback sometime early next year as well.

Yes, I am keeping busy but continuing to look ahead even in the midst of uncertainty at times! However, I will continue looking forward by writing and working on my writing as it is a passion of mine. May the creative force continue to reign in my life!