Maximum Effort blog post

Maximum Effort – Geek Chic – the November issue

November 1, 2021 by Kai

Welcome to the first in a series of newsletters I’m sending out again.
I know the sign says bi-weekly. I kinda got off track a bit. BUUUUT….we’re baaaaaack….

This. Is. NANO!

Yeah, it’s Nanowrimo. My 19th year.
After everything collapsed (in August/September), I got kinda…a lot discouraged. I took a step back and while I was a step back or so, I just… paused.
There’s a lot to be said about standing your ground, instead of just giving in entirely. Resting, instead of retreating. Or a strategic retreat. But, the one thing I didn’t want to do was give in entirely. I’ll be honest though, I’m kinda suprised at how long it took for me to get there. But i’m here.
I’m doing a vision board. It’s a huge Whiteboard in my office, so I’ve got plenty of scope.
And I even know what’s happening for Nanowrimo. Elliot is back, and wants his ‘Hate Crime’ Trilogy. Which is cool. I’m sure other projects will be added as we go, but I’ll talk more about them as he tells me.
Yup. I’m winging it. Utterly.

Next up!

We’ve got several books coming from KushkaPress. This site and KushkaPress however are in redesign, so there are no specific book announcements.

Ludosport…. for the win

So, one of the things I’ve promised myself is to plan better, to use my office space more and to actually take time out to exercise. OK. That’s three, I know. For the exercising properly, my partner told me a while back about Ludosport. I do have my own lightsabre, and I am really quite happy messing around with it, but we went for tryouts, and quite honestly, I’m hooked. I LOVED IT! My knees knew about it for the next few days too, but I’m sure I’ll get over that with work.

This is my lightsaber. This is the way! Seriously though, if you’ve got a chance to try it, do. Local to me, we have a wonderful group in Bristol, running taster sessions. I had a blast, but yeah, it’s quite the workout. And I’m going back. Plus, we’ve got a fairer way to solve arguments now. (no, really)

A Nanowrimo Love Story

Later tonight, I’ll be writing up my Nanowrimo ‘love story’. It’s both how I met Tempus, my life parner, my soulmate, my everything. But it’s all about Nanowrimo. My first book. Well, not my first book, but the first book that really took me and led me to lots of things.
You can read

Over to you guys

This month, I’ve only got one book to share (as this is an all ages newsletter). My friend Valerie released something really HOT though late last month, if you check her website and mythological RH is right up your street, she’s got a great book over there (along with others in most genres!) I’ve also got this one for you!

Blade of the Faithful by RG Long

Disgraced or deserved, a journey begins.

Beaten and left for dead, Kyne is a quiet but skilled warrior. Lost on an island beset with pirate attacks and a mysterious sickness, there’s little hope for his future. Though his wounds may heal, his fate is unsure. Eileen is a wild but confident healer. Ostracized for her deadly skill as a potion maker, the very bravest seek her out for her restorative balms. After saving Kyne from bloodthirsty pirates, she becomes entangled in a journey of fate. Together, they set out to recover the one thing that may rid the land of plague. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the precious cure. The pirates who seek to plunder and pillage have nefarious plans of their own. Will Kyne seek out his own good and leave the island behind, or will he aid those in desperate need? Grab your copy today!

Finally, some recommendations

I’ve got some tool recommendations, and reviews I’ll be offering in the future. Some are free, some are affiliate linked (marked with *). If they’re marked with *, I’ll earn something or get points or similar from them. If I can, I donate to charity, or give away what I earn, but if I can’t, I offset it instead.
Enjoy! K-Lytics - while many of my readers are, well, readers, some of you are authors, and I’ve found some really neat information in their reports. The latest one is sci-fi and fantasy, and it’s absolutely amazing. Their research and analysis is really interesting, and there are always nuggets in there that are really crucial to a great head start with planning books, either written to market or improving your writing. Evernote – Evernote is proving to be critical to my work, for more reason than one. It used to have a referral plan, it’s currently suspended, so I’m just recommending it

I use this for organising study and storage. Scrivener – Might have an affiliate scheme, can’t find it, highly recommended regardless. I’ll always complain I can’t use it on Dex (Android, specifically my Samsung tablet) but it’s a minor annoyance for what I do. Remember, Nanowrimo participants get vouchers for participating sometimes, so if you’re looking to take part and do those projects, there’s always that option.

Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - text by Kai

Maximum Effort – Geek Chic – the May Newsletter

May 25, 2021 by Kai

Lifting, lifting…

In the UK, lockdown is mostly lifted – non-essential shops have opened, and we’re a year on from our first lockdown plus a few weeks. The weather is nicer, and while I can’t say ‘all’s well in the world’, things are feeling a lot more bearable, knowing that I can go back to the library, that we could do what we did yesterday and grab essentials and continue organising. Books too are starting to come together, and though I still really miss my gran, life has to go on. So, we’re going home and spending a bit of time with family, then I’ll be doing a lot of working on stuff.

The ‘little thoughts’ blog…

WHile I was away, I realised that one of the things I used to do quite a bit, just for an internal group of us, was to share my ‘little thoughts’ for the day. They usually weren’t actually that little but gave people a jumping off point to … reason through some of the stuff they’ve been feeling. A few of those little thoughts grew up into big books. And I’ll be focussing on bringing the little thoughts and the books to the fore in the coming weeks.

How I’m doing that…

Gotta be honest, there’s no one way I’m doing it. I sat down while at my MIL’s (she’s got a very peaceful house, and a very boisterous puppy which is the best combination to

Planning books, making goals and more. I’ve tried out several planners, and am trying this one. I’m not sure I’ll like it, but it’s looking ok so far. I’m not entirely certain of how I’ll use it, but balancing publishing, work, Uni, promo and family needs a legendary system. This might be it, and it was on offer, so win-win.
(You can get it on Amazon*).

Over to you guys

I do really want to start featuring reads – of my blog and my newsletter – so it’s over to you. My next newsletter is 1st June and you can apply by getting in touch on my form, and I do mini ones on Twitter between Friday and Sunday, so, if you’d like to talk to me about exchanging project mentions, please get in touch! I have a few rules about it, which is why my exchange page explains a few things. If those rules aren’t to your liking, we just don’t exchange. I can’t bend these rules – having done so in the past, I’ve found that people take it too far. And while I don’t like to think some of it is deliberate, sometimes it totally is, so thank the people that didn’t follow through last time if you’re not able to swap with me because there’s a boundary you don’t meet. The option is always there though, and I always make room to pay forward.

Finally, some recommendations

Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - text by Kai

Maximum Effort – Geek Chic – the April Newsletter

April 21, 2021 by Kai

(please note, this is one of those one day evolving documents, because it’s going to cross link with my newsletter, a new toy I’m playing with on Twitter, and here. if the links don’t quite work yet, I apologise – the important thing is the book links DO, even if the rest isn’t all linked up at the start. :)) So. It’s April. Already. I’ve still got a wierd relationship with time, I guess, after the year most of us may kinda wish never was, and felt like decades. But, as it was the last year with some of my family, and we’ve survived and some good came of it (which feels really wierd to say, but it’s true – my daughter came home from boarding school permanently, graduated college. My son came through his kidney woes not only just fine, but ‘textbook’ for the operation. We lost people too soon too, and continue to do so.

Lifting, lifting…

In the UK, lockdown is mostly lifted – non-essential shops have opened, and we’re a year on from our first lockdown plus a few weeks. The weather is nicer, and while I can’t say ‘all’s well in the world’, things are feeling a lot more bearable, knowing that I can go back to the library, that we could do what we did yesterday and grab essentials and continue organising. Books too, are starting to come together, and though I still really miss my gran, life has to go on.

Enjoy some books!

Before I get to my books and some release updates, I’m going to tell you guys about some really neat giveaways. All are through StoryOrigin (review coming, as they’ve come out of Beta, and if you upgrade before the 25th April (if you’re an author), there’s discounts in the offing. But for now, I thought I’d share these group projects and invite you to enjoy.

Then, there’s my books

So, the original plan for this month was to set up and release a set of books for giveaway, and then to talk about the books coming next. So I’ll refer you back to the post talking about my books

I’m running behind, but I’m still moving forward, which is important. A lot of it is actually to do with redesigning my whole workflow, since I inherited, of all things, a case for my Galaxy Tab, and suddenly, I can actually choose to feel like I can’t make it downstairs to work, so, I can write here. In theory, it should be ….

In practice? Scrivener is where I write on every other device, so I’m having to alter my workflow to let me work on my Samsung (Android), and, all that really means is that I find an editor that plays nice with everything, doesn’t annoy Scrivener on both my Mac and PC, and lets me write. And there’s also the fact that I’ve got all of my books in two dropboxes, and I need to make sure there’s nothing that’s lost in the merge, which, over 500 Scrivener files is a headache. It’s all – really – procrastination, but important too. I will write up exactly how I sort it all out because I think it’s important – and hey, being a bit of a platform hopping techie, if I can help others like me, then that’s great. For now though, I feel as harried as that gif looks.

Over to you guys

I do really want to start featuring reads – of my blog and my newsletter – so it’s over to you. My next newsletter is 1st May and you can apply by getting in touch on my form, and I do mini ones on Twitter between Friday and Sunday, so, if you’d like to talk to me about exchanging project mentions, please get in touch! I have a few rules about it, which is why my exchange page explains a few things. If those rules aren’t to your liking, we just don’t exchange. I can’t bend these rules – having done so in the past, I’ve found that people take it too far. And while I don’t like to think some of it is deliberate, sometimes it totally is, so thank the people that didn’t follow through last time if you’re not able to swap with me because there’s a boundary you don’t meet. The option is always there though, and I always make room to pay forward.

Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - text by Kai