Why Write Reviews?

Monday before last, I talked about having the goal of reading and writing reviews for two books before the end of June. Why am I doing that?

There are several reasons behind this decision.

Implementing Quarterly Goals

I've spent the last several years looking for a way to increase focus and productivity in my everyday and work life. I've tried daily, weekly, or monthly goals and gotten overwhelmed. On the other side of things, I tried making yearly goals and forgot about them. I'm going to shoot for a "happy medium" and try implementing quarterly goals.

I mean. I get some stuff done, but I need to do more!

Starting now, since April is the beginning of the second sales quarter of the year, I will post several goals to be met over the following three months. Then I'll come back at the start of the next quarter, reveal how I did, and list my goals for the following quarter. Y'all will keep me accountable, right?

Getting Back on Schedule

Between a two day cold following the Expo on the 19th, a migraine that set in Tuesday afternoon and lasted into Wednesday, and just a lot of fatigue and pain the rest of the week, not much got done during our spring break. I'd planned to take care of the post event inventory and write last week's Flash Fiction Friday on Sunday. I was going to inventory my supplies and place a restock order as well as catch up on housework and write on Icarus Monday. I was supposed to write a blog post and another few hundred on Icarus come Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was slated to be our gardening day, and then Friday and Saturday were supposed to be the same as usual. Instead I was in bed much of the week.

Leaving Room for Flexibility

Last Tuesday, I was still dragging after the time change. We got a late start, and the girls and I never managed to catch back up. Then I realized I'd made a big mistake in my business model while we were eating lunch. I still needed to get a bunch of household chores done and writing time was supposed to start an hour and a half later. But I know myself well enough to know I'd forget if I didn't handle the issue right then.

So I rearranged the "time chunks" in my schedule to make room for this task, and I got to work. I still have my schedule, and I kept to my work day. I just left enough flexibility in my schedule to be able to adjust when I need an hour or two to handle issues that come up unexpectedly. If you run a small business, it's something you need. If you keep things too rigid, you'll drive yourself bonkers.

What a "Little Guy" Can Learn from Forbes

This past week I saw a Forbes articles from last May going around Facebook. It's titled "11 Things Ultra-Productive People Do Differently." Feeling like I've been nowhere near as productive as I need to be of late, I decided to click on the link.

Judging by the website where it was published, I wasn't sure how many of the "things" would be applicable to my life and small business. I was surprised to find I was already doing a few of those things, and I did take away a few good ideas.

So what can a "little guy" learn from Forbes?

Improving Weaknesses

So last week I talked about how I stink at keeping up with the books, a.k.a. the not so fun part of running a business. Today I'm coming back to talk about the steps I'm taking to try and improve on that.

First off, I finally got started putting all of last year's information together and compiling it. While I was at it, I started one for 2016 as well. We're only six weeks in, so there's not much yet. I plan to keep chipping away at the 2015 records fifteen to thirty minutes a day, a rate at which I should finish by the weekend. I'll continue to add to the new 2016 file as I go when there's pertinent information.

Going forward, I'm going to add updating the books and inventory/sales files to my daily schedule at the same time every day. Adding it to my phone's calendar that is, not the written to do list. As annoying as they can be from time to time, phone reminder notifications are such a boon for those of us who are absent minded or who get hyper focused on certain tasks.

How are you working to improve weaknesses in your business or personal productivity habits?

The Not Fun Part of Running a Business

We all have things we aren't good at, and for me, that's keeping up with my bookkeeping. You'd think I would have learned to keep on top of my accounting throughout the year by now, having worked freelance off and on for nearly a decade and running a small business since January 2011. But I'm that stubborn, or lazy as the case may be.

Our booth at Yomu_Con 2015 in Tuscaloosa, AL.

I'm good on the fun parts of the job, and even a few of the not so fun bits. I churn out a fair bit of high quality creative material. I handle customer service and what little bit of marketing we do. I schedule events and keep the store updated. But no matter how determined I am to do better at the start of every year, I invariably fall behind with entering all the store's sales and expenses in the ledger. Then I end up having to spend a good week or two come tax season combing through a huge bag of receipts, emails, balance sheets, sales records, etc. 

What is Productivity?

With the job search going poorly, Hubby and I have made the decision to switch focus to growing the store. We lost a lot of momentum when I went to work on site full time in late 2013, and it is going to take a lot of work to get back to the point we were at then and keep growing. Experience and research has taught us what needs to be done, but knowing what to do and remembering to do it when you're years out of practice are two different things.

That's why I spent almost the entire morning yesterday planning. I found several conventions in the area we've never attended and reached out to them about obtaining a table or booth. I set up reminders about our scheduled and tentative shows, days I need to start making, release, and remove seasonal and holiday items, sales dates, writing and editing deadlines, and any other task I must remember to complete by specific days for the next eighteen months.

Event Recap: Con Kasterborous 2015

This year's Con Kasterborous was this past weekend, and it was bigger than ever this year!

My Con Kasterborous setup for 2015.

July in Alabama is always hot, and this weekend was no exception. How all the cosplayers managed it in so many layers when outside the cooler confines of the hotel, I have no idea, but let me tell you, they were there and just as magnificent as always. Sadly, I'm kind of a chicken when it comes to asking folks for photos, and my camera gave up the ghost after overheating sometime last spring. So the only photo I have is the kinda sad set up shot above, which is the best my phone camera can muster.

Opening ceremonies was as fun and entertaining as ever. The guests were great this year and all seemed kind and charming. Unfortunately, thanks to it still being the middle of summer semester for Chris' students and his taking over the school's website and social media maintenance for the upcoming year, he was busy with grading and communicating with parents most of the weekend. So as much as both of us would have liked to take turns attending what we heard were wonderful panels, we really only got to see and hear as much as went on in the dealer's room.

We did get the chance to catch up with friends we haven't gotten to see in a long while and meet a bunch of new folks. We got a kick out of seeing all the beautiful cosplays as well as seeing Dalek Braun and R2-D2 rolling around the lobby.

There were a couple of disappointed mentions of lotions missing from our table this year. We've discontinued those and the guest sets from our usual line up. Unfortunately, the smallest possible batch of lotion makes four bottles, and the majority of the time only one or two would sell within the ten months before they became too close to their expiration dates to sell. If someone wants to order a minimum of two or three bottles, I can make a custom order for them, but otherwise the lotions just seem wasteful.

Also, discontinuing the lotions and guest sets has allowed us to keep more fragrances this year than we would have been able otherwise. My inventory closet is just a teeny tiny linen closet, so space is at a premium. The trim down freed up an entire shelf for new fragrances, meaning only one old scent had to be discontinued this year and room is still left for seasonal items and next year's line.

There is one thing I love about the new Westin location. The tables are large and sturdy, and the tablecloths provided are amazing. They don't slide around on the tables, and they provide enough friction to keep stuff from wobbling. We missed being as near the action as we were last year, but the new dealer's room was large enough that they could scoot the tables farther away from the wall than we've ever been able to before. Between that and having a parred down selection, it was a lot easier to manage the busiest times because Chris and I could slide by one another without tripping over chairs and open the cash box without knocking a shelf over.

All in all, Con Kasterborous 2015 was yet another good year, and we're looking forward to going back June 25 and 26 next year.

Long Term Plans... Well, Maybe Goals is More Accurate

Last week I told you about the patio garden we started after a couple of years slowly building up the supplies. It wasn't completely finished, but we made a decent start on it. It still isn't done, but we're a couple steps closer to finishing our establishing goal for this year.

Here's our patio garden as of Sunday morning.

We found some Italian oregano, lavender, more rosemary and basil, lemon balm, marigolds, alliums, and geraniums this past Saturday, and those got planted super early Sunday morning. Our seed packets arrived on Friday, but we're still working on digging out and edging the chamomile garden. I'm hoping I can get it done today, so the seeds can be scattered before rain blows in tomorrow and sets in for the next week.

Finding Balance Yet Again

There's been a lot of chatter in women's blogs and magazines about establishing a work/life balance over the past several years. Funny how most of those articles and discussions make it seem like something you set up and that just keeps on going on its own. Yet it always seems I'm having to take stock of what's going on in our lives and striving to find a way to "balance" it out every few months. Am I alone in this?

We've come a long way since 2012!

Perhaps it's simply a matter of the type of jobs Hubby and I have. Upheaval's to be expected for a teacher without tenure, owning a small business, and a failed attempt at career change. Somehow I doubt that's it though. Even when Hubby stuck with the same school for several years in a row and I was simply staying home and schooling our then preschoolers, this was going on.

Annual Christmas Sale

If you missed the annual Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale, don't feel bad. There are still some great deals to be found in my annual Christmas sale.

Set up for the open house Friday.

Yes, the discounts might not be as high on some items, but everything in the store is still anywhere from 10-75% off now through December 12. I always end the sale on that date to ensure everyone who orders receives their packages before the holiday.

Fragrance Introduction: Eclectic and Intuitive

I don't normally introduce new fragrances this time of year, but I'm going to make an exception for these two. Once again, I've had the wonderful opportunity of working with an author to create fragrances and soaps inspired by their characters. In this instance, two characters from Ellie Collin's upcoming Empire Valley series.

First up is Intuitive, a light, fresh, and slightly sweet blend of abalone, sea, coffee, coconut, lavender, and chocolate. It was inspired by the main protagonist, Sophia.

Intuitive Glycerin Soaps

Fall Show Review

These past couple of weeks have been busy ones. The last two-thirds of our fall show season happened back-to-back, so there wasn't time really to comment on each of them in turn.

First we had Rocket City NerdCon in Huntsville on October 24-25. It was a first year event, so we weren't sure what exactly to expect. However, we thought chances were good it might be a fairly laid back affair, so we decided it would be a good convention to be the girls' first.

The girls were proud of their homemade costumes.

Both girls wanted to cosplay, especially since it was the week before Halloween. I, of course, waited far too long to get started on their costumes. I'd never made a full costume before, let alone two, so I was probably procrastinating out of subconscious fear. Anyway, with two full days of intensive sewing, their Batgirl and Supergirl costumes got done about 9:30 Thursday night.

Friday was eventful and interesting because neither Hubby nor I were able to get the day off work, and the convention started just half an hour after I usually get off work. Thankfully, the Huntsville City Library is just a block or so from the station and basically across the road from where Hubby works. We got set up just in time to catch our breath before attendees started coming in.

Saturday was also a learning experience. As I said before, we'd never carried our girls to a convention before, so we ended up overestimating how engaged they would be by it all. Although they liked seeing the costumes and looking at everything, they got bored fairly quickly. It probably didn't help that between the excitement of spending the night at Granny D's and knowing they were going to get to go somewhere special the next day, neither girl slept much the night before. So, we had two sleepy girls on our hands well before lunch.

Still, we all enjoyed the show overall, and it went well for a first year event.

This past weekend was our third year at Hilltop Arts Festival.

A cold front came through the night before, so it was bitterly cold and windy early Saturday morning when we were setting up. Still, the girls had gotten a good night's sleep, or so I thought, and I'd gotten everyone hats and gloves the night before. So, we thought nothing of taking the girls with us.

We got there and began setting up. The girls ran up and down a small hill behind where we were setting up our tent to keep warm and busy. Hubby and I got the tent up with a lot less fuss than the year before, which considering we only use the thing once a year, is pretty good. We probably should have taken it as a sign to just take it back down when it tried to blow away three times in the process of trying to get it weighted down.

Anyway, we got the tent set up, and I was setting up the tables when the girls really started complaining about being cold. So Hubby took them home to get some blankets while I finished setting up the tables. I was done and had made a partial round to see the other venders when they returned. They got cuddled up under their blankets, and things seemed fine for a bit until the wind started picking up as the air warmed a few degrees. It was strong enough that Hubby and I were still obliged to hold onto the tent, even with center blocks weighting the tent down. This frightened Boo Bear so badly, she began crying in a panic.

Eventually we ended up calling Granny D to come get the girls, and then Hubby and I took the tent down once the wind died down enough for us to attempt it. That made things feel a tad warmer with access to direct sun, and we didn't have to sprint to grab the tent every few minutes.

Like NerdCon the week before, business was slow but steady throughout the day. We heard some great music, ate some good food, and met some very nice people.

I'm not entirely sure if we will be vending at Hilltop again next year, but I'm sure we'll go. It has nothing to do with the show itself. It's a wonderful event. But, the weather seems to be getting colder earlier each year these past three or four years, and other festivals in the area make moving the event date impractical.

I discovered Saturday night and in through Sunday evening, that I can't handle being in the cold for that long. A soak in hot water and some "Ow, My Aching Everything," relieved much of the aches and pains from the day, but the bones themselves in my hips, legs, and feet ached throughout the night. And those are areas I usually don't feel RA related pain!

Of course, this may change with continued treatment. It's possible my rheumatoid disease isn't as in remission as I thought, and it's just going to take longer adhering to the anti-inflammatory diet, exercise, and judicious use of medicines when needed to heal. I don't want to make any firm decisions until I know more.

Upcoming Products: Formulating a Therapeutic Ointment

Back in late August and early September I had yet another flair up of carpal tunnel and what I now know to be the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis. I tried the usual over-the-counter creams and found them lacking. They helped, sure, but they burned, produced an exceedingly weird "cold burn" sensation, and left the skin feeling dried out and sticky.

Virtually all of them used menthol or capsasin as their active ingredients. Menthol is an anti-inflammatory agent found in members of the mint family such as wintergreen, spearmint, eucalyptus, and peppermint just to name a few. Capsasin is found in peppers and more of less just overrides the pain by producing a burning sensation. Knowing this, I decided to try and make a better anti-inflammatory cream.

Hubby demonstrating the texture of our lotion formula once we'd perfected it.

I studied up on different essential oils. I found several which are known to be powerful anti-inflammatories and then began experimenting with them. The first attempt worked, but the smell was like someone doused you in lemon Pledge. Plus the ointment left a greasy film behind, which I wasn't happy with either. Still, after three days of applying the ointment three times a day, my hands were back to their normal size and functionality. Since then, that first batch proved effective at relieving strained muscles, inflamed tendons, tension headaches, migraine, and dampening sinus pain long enough for decongestants to kick in.

Fall Season Kickoff: The Geek Gathering

Our fall event season got started this past weekend with The Geek Gathering in Sheffield, Alabama.

All in all, it was a good convention. Turnout was high, and the costumes were amazing. They had some good guests, especially considering they are a young convention. Oh, and Hubby finally got his picture taken with the TARDIS. There were so many other photos we wanted to take, but idiot me forgot to pack the camera.

Hubby posed with the TARDIS and baby Adipose.

Working Behind the Scenes

I know it looks like nothing has been going on since Con Kasterborous the last weekend in June, but there has been a lot happening "behind the scenes" so to speak.

Hubby and I both came down with con crud, and both girls had a bad case of hay fever that weekend. So the whole first week of July, we were all miserable. I'm thankful Hubby and the girls are back to feeling at 100%. I've had a cough and sinus issues that refuse to go away, and I woke up on July 4th almost completely deaf in one ear. Because of this, I have avoided any and all crafting, but that doesn't mean I've been idle.

My booth at last year's Homespun.

Right of Succession is Available!

Long time readers will know I've spent more than half my life working on my first full novel. I've written other things in the past nineteen and a half years, but I kept going back to Right of Succession.

Well, it's finally been finished and published!

It is available on Kindle and in paperback form. In fact, you can snag an electronic copy free from Amazon if you head over and download a copy by Tuesday, June 24.

For local folks, I'll be at Con Kasterborous this weekend, and I should have about twelve paperback copies available for purchase at my booth. (If they arrive when my publisher says they will, that is.)

Personalized, signed copies will be available through contentedcomfort.com along with all bath and body, knit, and crocheted items come mid to late July when I finish integrating my storefront with the main website. My Etsy store will stay up as a means to accept inquiries from existing customers and to direct returning customers to the main website.

If you read and enjoy, please help a new novelist out and leave a review. And as always, thanks for your support!

It's been a busy few weeks.

It's a bit later than I wanted, but today's Right of Succession update is all the better for it. I've made a lot of progress in the past week!

Contented Comfort's Getting Another Makeover

As the third birthday of Contented Comfort approaches, I've been contemplating the store's future.

I decided to try blending original fragrances inspired by my love of science fiction and fantasy right about the time the store turned a year old, and I've never been happier about a business move. Two years later, it's become obvious the future of Contented Comfort is in geek culture. This means the original logo and look no longer fits, so contentedcomfort.com and the Etsy storefront will both be undergoing another makeover this year.