Jenn McKinlay: January is shaping up to be a wonderful month for new mystery releases and I am thrilled to share them with you! First up we have A Fatal Family Feast the sixth book in NYT bestselling author Lynn Cahoon's sixth Farm to Fork mystery series. Foodies, rejoice and welcome, Lynn!
Since it’s the beginning of the year and a lot of us are doing resolutions and annual goals, I thought I’d talk a bit about where I started, what has worked, and what was a total fail (for me.) As with all ideas and products, your results may differ.
My love of time management planners started when I worked as a trainer with Region IV. I’ve always been organized. I was the girl in my college class that had done all the assigned work for an ‘A’ in a self-directed class two weeks before the end of classes and ruined the chance for the curve for the rest of the class. When I worked for the state, I got a Franklin planner. In the leather case. I still have the planner and now it’s mostly my address book. Anyway, I read Covey’s First Thing’s First book and used it as my bible. When I started doing mystery shopping and running my own business, I used other planners as my record keepers.
When I became a published author in 2014, I had more dates and projects to keep track of. Keeping a schedule with big projects like writing a book or working a launch required more than just a note in a daily planner. I started using an Excel writing schedule which lists my contracted deadlines and what I’m writing, when I need to start, when I need to finish, and when the book will release. I’ve got plans through 2024.
I still use a handwritten overarching sheet with the things on my desk now – this blog, writing the current book (and words left), cover work, self-publishing to do’s, and upcoming edits. It lives on my clipboard along with a monthly schedule where I get to check off things as I do them and keeps track of writer events as well as total words written for a month. I really like checking things off.
The Asana system helps me plan out my future, just so I know what’s next on a project. 10K words a week means I can finish a book in around 7-10 weeks depending on if I hit my goals. It’s a big picture look at the writing life and has helped me be more realistic on what I can reasonably get done in a day/week/month/or year.
My Google calendar keeps track of author events, birthdays, dog grooming appointments, doctor appointments, and also serves as a reminder to do marketing. Monthly newsletters, social media posts, joint author events on group pages, etc.
Finally, I drill down to this week and today. I set three ‘goals’ for the week. One is usually – write 10K. Other goals could be writing blogs (like this one) or attending an author event. Or developmental edits.
I know what I have to do today, tomorrow and the rest of the week to meet these goals. Most of the larger goals, like copy edits, are broken down into bite size pieces using the Eat the Elephant model. Some are just phone calls or quick to dos that drop off my list quickly.
Things that haven’t worked?
A bullet journal. I’m not artistic enough to make planning fun. The blank page taunts me and I wind up just copying the same format I could buy in a cheap dated planner. And save a lot of time. I think having another blank page in my life (as an author, I always have blank pages in the writing process) makes me brain dead. I hate to use up my decision-making brain power on something that isn’t story.
Same with fun stickers and artsy stuff for my planner. One, I need room to write things because I always have something I need to write on a day. And two, I’m frugal. (Okay, cheap.) I hate to use a sticker when I might find a better use for it.
I also can’tjustdo a digital calendar. On the other hand, I can’t onlydo paper calendars. I review all three of my calendars (Google/work/written planner) for events monthly. If it’s only on my digital calendar and I’ve taken the day off my computer, things get missed. If it’s only on my paper planner, I can get lost in the digital world, and miss appointments that don’t have reminders set.
And we haven’t even talked about my annual plans that I keep on three different documents. I have my 2022 Goals, 2022 Schedule, and 2022 Writing plans. The goal sheet is things I want to do or be this year. The schedule is a month-by-month plan on what I can write/edit/author events/and real life plans. And finally, the writing plan is for all those I want to do someday plans. Like taking a class or writing in a new genre. Or writing a series that has been calling to me for years…
Of course, my amateur sleuths are also big planners. If there’s anything of me that shows up as one of my sleuths habits, it’s my love of planning.
Now that I’ve bared my love of planning/planners/and goal setting to the world, it’s your turn. What one planning tool do you use that keeps you in line?
Lynn
I’m giving away an e-copy of A FATAL FAMILY FEAST to one lucky commenter.
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A FATAL FAMILY FEAST.
Angie Turner’s Idaho restaurant, the County Seat, is the perfect site for a picturesque country wedding, but the party planning skids to a halt when the groom-to-be is implicated in a murder investigation…
When Angie’s best friend and business partner, Felicia Williams, picks the County Seat to host her upcoming nuptials, Angie wants it to feel like a family affair--especially since Felicia is set to marry the farm-to-fork restaurant’s talented sous chef, Estebe Blackstone. Unfortunately, the bride’s actual family is far less enthusiastic about the union. They’re pulling out all the stops to cancel the couple’s wedding, even arranging for a surprise visit from Felicia’s ex-fiancé (and her father’s current lackey). But when her ex is killed days before the ceremony and Estebe is framed for the crime, Angie and the County Seat crew must scramble to solve the murder and save the wedding . . .
Lynn Cahoon, author of A FATAL FAMILY FEAST, a farm-to-fork mystery, is a NYT and USA Today author of the best-selling Tourist Trap, Kitchen Witch, Cat Latimer, Farm-to-Fork, and soon to release, Survivors’ Book Club mystery series. No matter where the mystery is set, readers can expect a fun ride. Find out more at her website www.lynncahoon.com
Congratulations, Lynn, on your newest book . . . it does sound as if Angie really has her work cut out for her . . . .
ReplyDeleteI believe I am in awe of people who are able to plan for things in the way you’ve described. Unfortunately, I am the one who fails miserably at the whole planning process. I have a bound planner book each year and I do try to get things written in it as soon as they come up, but I’d be fooling myself if I said it was foolproof. Nevertheless, it’s the only thing I have that even remotely resembles a system [and it does leave me free for reading lots of books], so . . . .
Reading time is crucial. I've read two books since the New Year and I feel SO MUCH better since I'd had a dry spell for a few months. :)
DeleteLYNN: Congratulations on your newest Farm to Feast book!
ReplyDeleteI have also been a big planner most of my life, part of my anal, type A personality.
For most of my school/research work career at Environment Canada, I used a weekly/monthly hard copy calendar to keep track of multiple projects and deadlines that varied each month. But I had a big job change in the last 2 years of work. I was a corporate planner responsible for a division (120 staff) and/or a directorate (600 staff) that ran 24/7 so I had to switch to an electronic calendar (Outlook) where I could keep track of both short-term deadlines (meetings, conference calls, deliverables) every work-day hour as well as looking long-term (1, 3 6, 12 months ahead). I knew I was doing a good job when the director said I was the most organized person he had every worked with in his 35+ year career. High praise from him.
I have been retired from work for over 5 years so those hectic planning calendar days have ended. But I definitely needed to use my Google Calendar to keep track of the many one-time virtual events I attended during the past 20 months of the pandemic, as well as my new "regular" schedule.
Sounds like you found the perfect process for your busy corporate life. I like my Outlook, but I needed something else (Asana) to see the big picture on my projects. And of course, just the joy of paper planning. (Yes, I'm a geek.)
DeleteYes, good or bad, I can always access my Google calendar on my laptop or smartphone or tablet. They all remind me of upcoming events, appointments: both the regular weekly ones, and the 4-6 one-time virtual events that come up each week.
DeleteI also can't do the pretty, artsy calendars or bullet journals.
two of a kind here. :)
DeleteYay on a new book, Lynn!
ReplyDeleteI don't use any commercial planners. I have my homemade three-year calendar on the wall in front of my desk. It lists only due and release dates. I use three different coding systems in my Google calendar (or is that three different calendars?) - Personal, Book Stuff, and the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen blog shared calendar. I love that I can view it on my phone and either laptop.
I also have the paper calendar in my office and our shared one downstairs. My daily to-do list is next to my desk. The white board in my office has long-term projects. This system is working for me and I'm sticking to it!
My white board is really tiny (and has another calendar on it... Yes, I have one I didn't even talk about.) Nice to chat Edith!
DeleteOh, my goodness, Lynn, your description of keeping your schedules made me dizzy. I could never keep track of your planners, let alone what's written in them.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty good at organizing my articles-- queried, assigned, written and published-- back in the days of snail mail. And when I'm writing a book I can usually produce 50 pages of submittable copy per week week (I edit as I'm writing, so I almost never rewrite)-- but I couldn't possibly schedule all those things and actually write them down. In fact, that was what I hated about being in a law firm: keeping track of ALL my hours and minutes. I mark those that are billable, but never keep track of the rest.
As I've been going through storage left from my last move, I find I have stacks and stacks of planners that I kept up for a week or ten days, then set aside. They are all blank after February except the academic ones, which are blank by October. I used to keep a tiny purse calendar with actual appointments and court dates in it, but I haven't done even that in years.
The last time I kept time records in such detail was the summer my first dog was dying. She was on 11 different meds, all at different intervals. I used a chalk board in my kitchen to keep track of them. When I was in the hospital five years ago, the nurses used a large whiteboard for the same purpose, so I guess my invention was pretty standard.
But what do you do if a friend says, "Hey, wanna have lunch?" Or if a rainstorm blows up while your clothes are hanging on the line? Or if a poem pops into your head? Where's the room for spontaniety or serendipity? I think those things are what my life is all about.
Congratulations on your new book, but I couldn't live like that.
(PS-- What's Region IV? And what is a "self directed class"? And how does finishing early ruin the curve? What kind of college did you go to?)
Region IV was the state division of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare where I worked for eighteen years. I pretty much grew up there. LOL A self directed class (my description) was where the professor gave out the list of what you needed to do to get an certain grade (A,B,C) at the first of the semester. Since I hit the A level when everyone else said it was impossible, I stopped him from making the B level of tasks get an A. I'm a proud graduate of Boise State University - but this was just one class and the teacher's plan.
DeleteI know, my plan has a lot of moving parts, but there's always white out for the days that get changed. And it does get changed a lot. But I have a direction and it helps me stay focused when I have too much to do. Which is most of the time.
Never heard grades mentioned in college. Or a curve. You did the reading listed on the syllabus, and with five courses, if you had time to pee, you were lucky. The one time I did the reading ahead of schedule-- my course in the modern novel, which I couldn't resist-- I had to reread when things came up for discussion.
DeleteWhen I was writing the 3rd novel in my series, a totally different plot than what was contracted for was writing itself in the back of my head. Like characters who assert, "This is MY story, not hers," there are things beyond an author's control sometimes. And that's the fun of it, don't you think?
Congrats on the new book Lynn! Curious about whether social media is written someone in your planning tools? That's my downfall, sink hole....
ReplyDeleteYes, it is. I plan to do it Sunday's (with a touch each morning.) So I have an appointment at 11:30 every Sunday to do a list. Sometimes it even gets done. But the alert reminds me about the list. The list is in the appointment slot. I update it every so often. I fall down the rabbit hole too, doom scrolling down, especially when I'm tired.
DeleteCongratulations Lynn on the latest Farm to Table book. Cannot wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteI use two planners that I use to keep me on track. The first is Excel for my work. It details my work week out with what needs to be done each day and the time frame to do them in. My second planner is a wall calendar to help me keep track of when and where certain events are, Broadway plays and or festivals for example. As soon as I know when and where a particular event going to take place, I write it on my calendar so I won’t forget it.
I love that Broadway plays and festivals are on your wall calendar. I need to add those to mine (and find some of that fun.)
DeleteCongratulations on your new release!
ReplyDeleteI just added January deadlines and goals to my writing calendar, which is from the New Orleans bulldog rescue and features fabulous photos of bulldogs. Makes me smile every time.
Oh, that has to be cute! My planner of choice (since I'm cheap) the last two years has been flowered. I'm not a big flower person, but my planner is. LOL
DeleteCongratulations on your new book, Lynn!
ReplyDeleteI am a planner -- lists in paper notebooks; and meetings in my digital calendar, which has the bonus of alerting me in advance of the event scheduled. That's a great feature.
The only problem with the digital reminders is I have to have the program on. LOL But my watch tells me where to go all the time. LOL
DeleteCongratulations on the book, Lynn!
ReplyDeleteWe have a whiteboard calendar on the fridge for family events. My calendar on my phone, which I share with The Hubby (if it isn't on either of these, it doesn't exist). Trello for weekly to-do lists, and Airtable for long range or big event planning (book schedules, release events, etc.)
I tried Trello as well, but stuck with Asana for whatever reason. I think sometimes one thing just hits right, you know? Like Coke or Pepsi. I'm looking up Airtable now. Long term has been hard to plan the last couple years.
DeleteGiven your prodigious writing output, Lynn, you've clearly found what works for you! Congratulations on your latest Farm to Fork novel!
ReplyDeleteScrap paper with a penciled list for the day/week. That's always been my organizational method.
I do love my paper, still. Thanks Flora!
DeleteCongratulations on A Fatal Family Feast, Lynn !
ReplyDeleteI’ll check your series as I usually like to begin at book one.
While I was working in accounting, I had to be very organized and I was.
Now that I’m retired , I decided to live more freely. I have Rappels on my IPad for birthdays or special events through the year.
I also have a paper monthly planner for meetings and budget.
Otherwise, I use a piece of paper not to forget that something has to be done or I do it and forget it :)
First book is Who Moved my Goat Cheese. (I had this great plan to pun all the business books, but then, I didn't find any more to pun with green tomatoes.) I took last week off from the day job and just played author. It was such a more relaxed life. :)
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ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new book!
ReplyDeleteI was a huge Franklin planner fan back in the day, and it worked really well for me for many years. Once electronic calendars became such a big thing, I eventually transitioned to using ONLY my Outlook calendar for capturing commitments. (One of the biggest things I remember Covey teaching was to have ONLY ONE CALENDAR. For some reason, I really retained that tidbit.)
Along with it, I use a task list I just create in Word that gives me the pleasure of checking things off and also helps make sure those smaller task commitments don't get lost by the wayside. I convert the font to "strikethrough" as I finish things, and at the end of the month I save the list under a different name, remove everything except the strikethroughs, and return it to a normal font. That allows me to look back and see when I accomplished specific tasks and also to reassure myself I did, actually, get a lot done. Also -- and this one took a while to figure out -- to make up for the way notes were all captured right together in the Franklin planner, I have taken to buying lined journals and carrying them into every meeting, etc., so all my notes are in one place, in date order. Since I work for a non-profit rather than as a writer, my needs may be slightly different. But the concepts seem to be the same.
Susan: I agree with you about the value of archiving completed to-do lists. The to-do lists in my notebook are a great reminder/review of what I have accomplished, by date.
DeleteOh, absolutely! They are like little diaries. I treasure mine.
DeleteI really like this, but I can never find the 'current' journal. LOL I worked non-profit for several years so I get where you're coming from.
DeleteI used Franklin Planners for decades but they got too expensive and I was lucky to find one similar for about half the price. I tried using one on my ipad but it kept moving things around (which is not good when you are responsible for your elderly mother's health care) so I don't trust them anymore. I'm sticking with paper. It doesn't go wonky like phones and tablets.
ReplyDeleteTotally. Paper.
DeleteLynn, I passed out about halfway through the description of your system. I congratulate myself for being on top of things if I have a to-do list and don't miss a dental appointment.
ReplyDeletehahaha... Yeah, I'm a little intense on the planner process. And the different ones. Besides, if you're not missing things, you're good. I think it's a motivational thing - what works for you.
DeleteLynn, Congratulations on your latest - it sounds terrific!
ReplyDeleteWe must be sisters from different mothers. I keep a wall calendar with color codes for different types of appointments - my version of at a glance, A Quo Vadis Minister planning calendar that I can't live without that tracks my weekly goals and my accomplishments as well as my overall year goals, and a Focus Planner with quarterly goals that also tracks my daily and monthly progress. Oh, wait, I have an monthly goals chart in One Note. Did I mention to daily check the box to do list? Why so many - I find checking those boxes very motivating, and the entire system works well to keep me on tract. Like Liz, if it ain't on a calendar, it does not exist.
I tried One Note (and Evernote) but it didn't seem to click with me. Love the color coding. I should do that. So is that the Full Focus planner? I tried that one as well, and got overwhelmed a bit. I might have to try again.
DeleteI don't use a planner. I have a check list at work, but it's mostly mental. Maybe that's why I keep getting more stressed out - not having things written down in a planner.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I'm not sure I have the time to get things in a planner. Too much else to do!
It is an investment, but then it's all in one place. Well, kind of. LOL
DeleteI’m a planner girl! But I’m also a pile of post it’s girl and a large on the wall white board girl. It’s a wacky system but it’s mine! Congratulations on your latest, Lynn!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenn. My desk is covered with notes. The weird thing is I can usually find what I'm looking for when I go looking. I'm just trying to be more organized.
DeleteCongratulations on the new book, Lynn! Obviously, your system works well for you even if it made me a little dizzy! I do have a system, however. I keep a big whiteboard calendar in the kitchen with major appointments and events, and household stuff. I use Google calendar, and I have for years used a Quo Vadis Minister weekly planner. My life is in that planner!
ReplyDeleteMy life is in my planners as well. And now I'm adding in things for my MIL to make sure we get her to her appointments.
DeleteI LOVE planners! LOVE! I have my outlook, which is nice but I don't rely on it except for sometimes as a reminder. And for doctors appointments because I always lose those little cards. I have a day by day spiral calendar/to-do list/diary which I cannot live without. I have a month-by-month paper calendar to make sure there are no conflicts and so I can get a sense of my entire schedule and see if it is getting too full.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE them all, they all work together, and it takes away so much stress.
And like you, I love to cross things off. Sometimes I put things on that weren't on it that I have already done so I can cross them off.
Hurray for the new book! xxx
I do write things down to cross them off. LOL I like seeing the big picture, it calms me. I might not have as much to plan this year as I did pre-pandemic, but it's getting there. And I'm finding new things to fill my time with, like virtual visits.
DeleteI'm old school. I have a calendar on my desk at home where I write down appointments, dog pill day, people's comings and goings where the airport is involved, what day the lawn was mowed so I'll know how many times to pay for, online book club discussion dates, and so forth. And I would duplicate it on a small calendar like Hallmark used to hand out that I would keep in my purse. But this year was dry! I used to be inundated with calendars of all sizes from charities and I received a big fat zero this year. At the last moment I received a calendar for my desk from our financial advisor. No little calendar from anybody. I need to get one.
ReplyDeleteI got a free one that I'm putting up in the kitchen so we have one when we're talking and making dinner. But yeah, I think the free ones were hard to find this year.
DeleteMy husband got to take a Franklin Planner course at his office years ago. It was quite helpful in getting people to think about real priorities.
ReplyDeleteThe amusing thing they did was choose someone and posit the idea that they are on one side of a long tight rope and their small child is at the other end, in danger. The question was, how much money would motivate you to go across the rope? The group leader pointed out he had learned not to choose a parent of a teenager for this. They had motivation problems!!!
Hahaha... I love the exercises that Franklin has.
DeleteI don’t see any room for SPONTANEITY! Don’t you have any “to hell with the plans, I’m going (insert fun activity)…”
ReplyDeleteOh, that's what my husband is for. He's the free spirit. And yes, even with all the planning, some days I don't do anything. As an author, you always have 'homework'. And I was always the get your homework done first kind of kid.
DeleteNow that I am retired, I use a paper calendar in my kitchen as a quick visual reminder and the calendar app on my phone to keep me on track and prevent me from double-booking or over promising.
ReplyDeleteI have never been a huge one for schedules or goals. They are nice, but not big motivators for me, even when I was working. I did (and still do at times) use a checklist when I was bored and needed to feel like I was accomplishing something. Those checkmarks or items crossed off do help then.
So glad you have found what works for you...and it does work for you. I love your books, so thanks and keep writing!
Marcia, that's a good point. You have to work with YOUR motivators. I love checking things off. Even now. So planning and completing things are my motivators.
DeleteLynn, you put me to shame... Wow. No wonder you're so productive.
ReplyDeleteI swear by a paper datebook to keep my commitments sorted. They're small and when the year is out I retire the book to the stack and start a new one. I love that I can go back and see exactly what I was up to on any day in the last 10+ years. But really that would be a waste of time.
I also keep a to-do list for day to day. And the calendar in the kitchen for stuff like when to water the plants. And the minute I get back from the supermarket I start a new shopping list... Sounds like a lot but actually it's pretty minimal.
Hallie, I noticed when I started writing this, I kept saying - and this. And this. I didn't even think about the shopping list, but we do that too. My husband keeps the meal planning list. Some planners have meal planning and grocery shopping lists. I need the water the plants reminder. Sometimes my mind just goes wandering on it's own.
DeleteI use a wall calendar to keep track of my appointments and my family appointments. I also do a to do list as well as a grocery list that I keep track of online. My memory is not what it used to be so I need written reminders.
ReplyDeleteYou and me both!
Delete