Ally Aldridge Blogging, Diary, Personal, Writing

How was your 2020?

I think we can all agree that this year has been unexpected. I started the year with concerns over a new flu virus threatening to sweep the world and feeling a bit silly for being so worried about it. But, by the end of February, the rest of the country had caught up with my fears, and we were on lockdown.

2020 PPE a face mask and a tin foil hat

Conspiracy Theories

As a result, it has made me more open to conspiracy theories. The things I saw at the start of the year that caused my concerns were of people being chained in their homes to prevent the spread, Wuhan the hospitals being overwhelmed, and people dropping dead in the streets. Thankfully, we’ve not had it that severe here. In fact, I suspect those early videos weren’t real. Luckily we don’t know anyone personally that has had Covid. I’m over being worried.

I’m following a few Court Cases: Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard, Ghislaine Maxwell (and Epstein) vs the trafficked girls (and boys, if any come forward), and Trump vs Election Fraud.

I actually quite like the New Normal

Adapting to the new normal

My husband and I are now predominantly working from home. We even had a short spell of home schooling our son – which was quite challenging but we did it. My little girl has adapted to having us both home. It has brought us closer together as we get to spend more time together as a family.

All this staying home has been great for the environment. I hope when we come out of this, people do think more about whether they need to travel.

We’ve missed spending time with family and friends.

What we’ve missed

Play groups is something I feel I’ve missed the most. Aria was enjoying playing with other kids and using different toys, and I appreciated meeting up with other mums. Noah has just hit that age where he wants to play at his friend’s homes, and found not having a party for his birthday tough. My hubby has missed the freedom of going out, like having the option to just visit someone.

We missed days out. Even when the lockdown relaxed we didn’t go out like we used to. For example, this summer, the local beach was heaving with people so we avoided it. We also didn’t go to the local farms. We did manage to go to the zoo and had a lovely day out.

It’s not all been bad.

What I’m thankful for

Mostly, I’ve been in the minority that has enjoyed lockdown. I like not having the commute to work, there’s no wear and tear on my car, or cost of car parking, and petrol. I enjoy not having any social pressures to go out, meet up, dress nice, or attend any special occasions.

I liked my stay at home birthday, minimum fuss, and collection dinner from the Dooley (local pub). I’m looking forward to a quiet cosy Christmas with just my husband and kids. It feels like life has slowed down so we can enjoy moments and value what is important.

Something we’ve all come to value is out health and wellbeing. We will continue to take care of ourselves and each other.

Really proud of myself :)

Achievements

I am so chuffed I hit my goal of publishing Ocean Heart. Originally I wanted to publish it in May but it was a lot more work than I anticipated and I ended up putting the date back to 1 Dec.

The launch was another big achievement. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and did things I would never have done before. I started a YouTube channel, and did a few live streams, including my launch party. I did two press release interviews, and I did a radio interview that was played live twice. And, I managed to arrange a book signing in a pandemic!

What a way to end the year! I must admit, I do feel exhausted, but I am eager to get writing that next book.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas

Thank you for be part of my 2020. I have been blown away by the support of so many this year which has been a real highlight. I want to wish you a Happy Christmas – however, you chose to celebrate the holidays.

I hope you are able to find things to be thankful for, and are surrounded by loved ones. I hope you have a good book to help you escape the madness this year has been.

And a Happy New Year

Wishing you all the best for 2021

My next post won’t be until 2021 as I am spending the rest of this year setting my goals and developing a plan to achieve them.

On that note, I wish you a happy new year too, and I hope 2021 is full of joy.

[kofi]

If you have enjoyed this, you will like…

Book Reviews

NaNoWriMo Ouctome – November 2020

Writing Progress – May 2020

My Debut Novel Releases Tomorrow (1 Dec)

Ally Aldridge Diary, Goals, My Books, Novel, Sky Heart, The Soul Heart Series, Writing

NaNoWriMo Outcome

Spoiler alter! I didn’t reach 50k. I knew I wouldn’t because November is a busy month, mainly with birthdays galore, but add to that everything that goes with launching a book and it’s pretty impressive I wrote anything.

Maybe I should have passed this year’s NaNo but I just can’t help myself. I love the NaNo community.

Planning

The goal for NaNoWriMo is to write 50k words in 30 days. This works out to roughly 1,667 words per day.

But, what if you can’t write every day. What if you know on certain days it will be near impossible to write? And, 30 days is a long month if never allow yourself a single break.

I made a calendar in Excel and put Y or N depending on if I could write or not. I think counted the Y, and worked out I could write on 18 days of the month. This meant on my writing days, I needed to achieve 2778 words.

How It Went…

Week 1, went well. I had planned for a day off for for going live with Holly but joined a World Indie Warriors writing sprint afterwards. I also planned a day off for my birthday but decided to celebrate by writing This put me ahead of target. I needed to hit 13,890 words and had 16,306 words.

Week 2, I allowed one day off for my son’s birthday so it didn’t impact my goal. But, I also skipped two planned writing days, and that put me behind. I needed to hit 30,558, but I only had 26,725. This is why in my mid point check in I said I was behind, even though I had more words than NaNo participants that were on target, because I knew I had less days than them to write.

Week 3, was not good. I had planned a day off for going live with Nicola. But, I agreed to an unplanned live with Lyndell. Then, I decided to sell my house and had to tidy up (everywhere) for the Estate Agent (and then we decided not to sell). Then our boiler broke and spent a whole evening trying to create a bath warm & deep enough to bathe. This resulted in my not writing on four days I planned to – not good. I needed to hit 47,226 words, and I had only reached 31,473 words.

Week 4, was getting close to my release date and I wanted to give it my full attention. I only planned to write on one day and I did. This week involved pre-recording a radio interview. I also attempted to migrate my website myself from one server to another, and transfer my domain to the new location. It wasn’t smooth sailing. I also attended a full online writing festival, Indie Fire. I needed to reach 50,000 words but only had 38,643. I could have written some evenings but I didn’t want to burn out.

Week 5, is just the last two days of the month.

Was It A Success?

I didn’t get 50k words, so I failed NaNoWriMo. But…

My big goal for this year was to publish Ocean Heart, and I wasn’t going to let NaNo ruin that. If NaNo had distracted me from my launch then it would have been an epic fail.

When I set out to do NaNo this year, I just wanted to get back into Sky Heart. I achieved that. To me, personally, that makes this NaNo a success.

What’s Next?

I’m going to enjoy my book release week as I need to recharge and revel in this long awaited moment.

I will continuing working on finishing Sky Heart, book 2 in The Soul Heart Series. I’m hoping the first draft will be ready for Betas by the end of January.

Book 2 in The Soul Heart Series

I’ve created a work in progress cover, to visualise achieving my goal. Do you like it?

I’m also working on two Novellas. I’m hoping with these being shorter they’ll be quicker to get out & help with the wait for Sky Heart. I’ll announce those once I have a title.

All Author Cover Contest

Ocean Heart is currently entered in the All Author December 2020 Cover Contest. If you like the cover of Ocean Heart please vote for it.

Vote for ocean heart

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this, you will like:

Behind the Character: Kiely
My NaNoWriMo Project
NaNoWriMo Mid Point Check in – Nov 2020
Ally Aldridge Author Tube, Book Tube, Diary, Writing

Technical Difficulties

I was all prepared for it all to go wrong during my first attempt but it went surprisingly well. My first vids have areas for improvement but everyone has to start somewhere.

It must have been beginners luck…

I was all set to make my September videos. I got Aria down for her nap, set up a tidy space and hit record. I nattered the whole way through and then hit playback…

Silence…

My lips were moving, my face was animated but there was no sound.

I tried other recording apps on the iPad, I checked various settings but nothing would bring my audio to life. Yet, previous videos played fine.

I attempted a test recording.

No sound!

I switched to my mobile. Hit record. Hit Playback. I could hear my voice… And, I could hear Aria was up from her nap.

I’d wasted my full hour of free time on accomplishing nothing. To make matters worse, that was Aria’s last nap. We even had a few nights where she decided she didn’t even need sleep at all!

Evening Recordings

This leaves me no choice but to record in the evenings. I know this means the lighting won’t be good but it’s the only time I have, and I won’t be beat by a baby that won’t sleep.

I figured out how to set my mobile up to record – without a proper stand. I recorded my video. I hit playback and…. Yes, I had sound. Things are looking good.

I wanted to edit on the iPad as it has a bigger screen. I uploaded the video to my G-Drive but it wouldn’t let me download it. Apparently, my 5 minute recording is too big.

So, I emailed myself from my mobile, and opened the email & attachment on the iPad. It saved.

Oh, you’d think that was it but no, I got a brand new problem…

My video was pitch black! No sound & no picture! It was getting worse!

Aghhh!

I had no choice but to edit on my mobile. It took me longer and was more fiddly, but I was pleased with the end result.

The next nightmare was uploading it to YouTube. The upload button had gone in the app! I opened YT Studio in my browser which wasn’t mobile friendly. If I zoomed in, I couldn’t zoom out. I used the site in teeny-tiny-writing mode

I wrote my description and scheduled it for 7pm Tuesday evening and went to bed.

Video Cancelled

I checked it over in the morning & was proud of myself. I showed my hubby my creation.

He found it cringeworthy.

He wasn’t criticising me but… He hates being recorded; photo, video, sound, anything. And, in the background you can hear him chatting.

He begged me not to post the video and assured me I can make a better one. So, I cancelled it. The things you’ll do for love – right?

I was going to record in my lunch break, but my appointment over ran. Then, I was going to record after work, but my hubby needed a break. Then, I was going to record once the kids were in bed, but guess who doesn’t want to sleep tonight?

Oh, and did I mention, I still can’t figure out how to change my channel cover art…?

Oh well, there’s always tomorrow…

I will succeed! I will make my videos! And, it’s suppose to get easier… I mean – It WILL get easier.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the IT Crowd clips in this post. It has to be done when talking about IT issues. It was that or “Computer Says No”, from Little Britain…

If you’ve enjoyed this, you will like:

YouTube: A Bookish Surprise

YouTube: I’m Her Biggest Fan

Making his YouTube dream come true…

How I did my book foot stack photo