Sunday Morning Tea: Dec 4, 2022

Good Sunday morning and welcome to my front porch for Sunday Morning Tea!

For the uninitiated, Sunday Morning Tea is my virtual writing salon, where we talk about our writing goals and projects while sipping on a hot cuppa tea!

The holiday season has officially started, so today I’m drinking another Harney and Sons favorite, Turmeric Spice with Kava, from my Black Santa mug and praying that once I get to the bottom of the cup, I’ll be in the Christmas spirit…

I won’t make any promises, though. This was a tough year.

A few Sundays ago, I mentioned that I and a friend were feeling unaccomplished this year. I’ve spent most of this year daydreaming—because the life I was living in my head was so much more exciting than what was actually happening in the real world. A friend posted on Facebook back in January that 2022 is pronounced “2020 too,” and I think I might’ve taken that to heart because I checked out rather early in the year.

But it’s December, and I want to go into 2023 saying that “I did a thing” in 2022, so here’s my news…

Do you remember my Countdown to 31 Days of Holiday Hooligans? It was a serial story I posted a few years ago about a Christmas wedding. It’s one of my favorite serials I’ve written so far and one of three that I thought I could publish as a book one day.

You all agreed that you wanted to see me self-publish it as well, so I got started with editing and promised a delivery by the following Christmas. Well, that Christmas came and went. And then another Christmas. And another. And another, with still no update on the book.

The thing is, as much as I want to be published one day, the thought of it terrifies me. Maybe it’s the fear of failure…or the fear of success…or fear of what people might think…or fear of the whole complicated publishing process (whether self-publishing or traditional) that keeps me from taking that next big step.

I told a blogging buddy that the only way I can seem to finish a story is when I publish it as a serial, because publishing one chapter as soon as I finish writing it gives me more incentive to write and publish the next chapter and the next, until the story is complete, as opposed to writing it on my own without an audience already following it, when I’m more tempted to procrastinate or read one sentence, cringe, and delete the entire chapter and give up, because as I’ve said many times before, I’m way too critical of myself.

I realized that the problem I was having with my perpetual works in progress was the same problem I was having with Countdown: the only way I can seemingly edit it is if I publish it as I go.

So…drumroll please…

I’ve decided to publish it on Kindle Vella!

If you haven’t heard of Kindle Vella, it’s a relatively new platform on Amazon that allows authors to publish stories in serialized format! I learned about it when I saw a few bloggers I follow promoting their own stories. So I did some research, did a little happy dance when I saw how simple it was, and decided that this was just what I needed to force myself to finish my story!

[My dear friend A.C. Melody provides a great summary of Kindle Vella, as well as a rundown of the pros and cons, if you want to check that out!]

Like I did with Countdown, I’ll be publishing a new episode every day up until the BIG day, Christmas day! The first three episodes are available for free. After that, you can purchase tokens to unlock later episodes. As I mentioned previously, of all the serials I’ve written for this blog so far, this is the one I’m most proud of, and I remember it fondly every Christmas season. It only feels right that it would be the first one I “officially” publish. I’m so excited to have you guys read it (or read it again, for those of you who were following my blog when I first published it). I’ve made some changes since its initial publication, but the heart and soul of the story is still the same.

Description

Natasha and Mitchell have been in love since college, and finally they are ready to profess their love in front of all of their friends and family and God most of all on the most special day of the year, but will one hastened mistake derail the life they planned together before it even starts?

Bryan and Rita both have troublesome vices that Renee is desperate to have them overcome before the year ends. For Bryan, it’s cursing like a sailor. For Rita, it’s a lifetime of bad choices, usually involving the opposite sex. Will they finish the year in victory, or will the pressure to turn their lives around for the better be too great to handle?

Antonio is recently saved and struggles to come to terms with his new Christian life and the remnants of his past in the form of his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, who repeatedly finds ways to get under his skin. Will he find a peaceful balance, or will he backslide into despair before he discovers the exuberance of being a follower of Christ during the most wonderful time of the year?

All of these stories come to a head on THE day, the day when most people celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. Christmas Day.

Will it be worth the wait?

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Currently, Kindle Vella is only available for US-based authors. I’m not sure if the same goes for those who wish to read the story, but if you’re unable to access it, I do still plan on publishing it in book format one day in the future. I just have to get over this hurdle of editing it first.

One chapter at a time.

Until next Sunday!

—Nortina