It’s been about a month since my last blog post. Hi! Wishing you all the words or time to think about your words, books that make you feel and warmth. Here’s a (non-exhaustive) recap from the last 30 days…
This past month, I spent a lot of my time (really, a LOT of my time) exchanging emails with Meta about my restricted Facebook Ads account. (your guess is as good as mine). My Facebook Ads account is now disabled. Read more about it in my Substack post, Dear Meta, It’s Not Me, It’s You…
I shared voice memos (and more) about my writing process on my FREE Patreon. If you’d like to listen to them and get early access and random musings and a CHAT (with a pickle), make sure you join…
I spent a bit less than two weeks in France–spending time with my family and enjoying walks and moments around the area where I grew up.
Rosoy…PierrefondsA CatDid you see the snail says “I’m beautiful”
Pictures from the plane… and the airport in Iceland…
The Chemical Engineer and I celebrated our engagement anniversary on St. Patrick’s Day 🙂
For years, I’ve been thinking about splitting my Elodie Nowodazkij fiction in two. And it’s time. Read more about it in Two Heat Levels, One Author Brain (And A Little Bit of Hopefully Organized Chaos) here.
For book club, I read Heartless and couldn’t put it down… so I read Rebel Witch right after…. Love, love, love that duet! Have you read it?
Also Kristen called Heartless Hunter her fuck-it book… and I’m going to share more about my Fuck-It book aka Nice Guys… very soon.
Heartless HunterRebel Witch
My newsletters this month (in case you missed them :-)) – the latest one had a question about your favorite cover (and an exclusive access to the first 1.5 part of Nice Guys…)
Hi, it’s me, the author of this blog, it’s me… My last post? Let’s just say it’s been a while. So, I thought I’d share with you a bit of a recap of what I’ve been working on, sharing, updating.
Also Plato The Dog says hi…
NEW AUDIOBOOKS ON YOUTUBE….Also I now have 219 subscribers (are you one of them? Super subtle hint to ask you if you already subscribe…)
LA PEUR DANS LE SANG est dispo en livre audio sur Spotify, Apple, B&N, Kobo,Google Play et plus encore et est aussi maintenant sur YouTube
UN ETE PAS COMME LES AUTRES lu par Maya Belgnaoui est dispo gratuitement en livre audio sur Spotify, Apple, B&N, Kobo, Google Play, Amazon, Audible et plus encore et est aussi maintenant sur YouTube
RECORDING AN AUDIOBOOK IN FRENCH (follow along on YouTube)
And yep I’m recording LA PEUR DANS LES YEUX in French…
REVISING NICE GUYS DON’T KISS LIKE THAT AT CHRISTMAS…And updating my progress on Patreon (yep, I have a FREEPatreon)
You can read several chapters already… including this one on my FREE Patreon
Certain chapters take me longer than others, especially in the revision process… and this one feels like it needs to balance the emotions with the humor. It is a romcom. It is Adam and Eve. It is SO MUCH. (….)
Chapter 15. XXX-ADAM
She’s still wrapped around me, breath shaky against my neck, and I don’t say anything yet. Just let her feel it. Let myself feel it. Our damp skin, the messy sheets around us, the air that smells like her, like me, like us.
Eve had cancer… and is living a romcom. Fuck it, why not?
When I was revising, there was a moment that didn’t feel right. Why did Eve ghost Adam? After everything they’d shared—after the way he made her feel—why wouldn’t she show up in Pittsburgh? Why did she feel like this couldn’t work?
I needed to really understand this to give them their second chance.
I started listening to Abbie Emmons’ Make Your Story Matter, and one question she mentioned authors should ask themselves is "Why does your story matter?" And that immediately got stuck in my head in a loop. In this Dear Raccoon Author Diary episode, I’m talking about writing and why and working through things, lots of things—what I want readers to feel, what I sometimes work through myself within the pages, and how all of that fits alongside the very practical business side of being an indie author.How I want to both look at my numbers without losing my "why". I talk about Genevieve and Theodore and revising "A New Year's Eve Like No Other", about grief and Margie Lawson's deep EDITS technique, duets versus standalones both in terms of craft and revenue, read-through and audiobook and translations costs and oh, Amazon deciding to mess-up with permafree books, including mine.Basically, it's a very Raccoon Author mix of craft, feelings (lots of them) and numbers.And underneath it all, I keep coming back to that question: Why does this matter to me, and hopefully, to the readers?Abbie Emmons — Make Your Story Matterhttps://benbellabooks.com/shop/make-your-story-matter/🦝 Join me on Patreon — Raccoon Author tier:https://www.patreon.com/c/elodieswritingnookPreorder Cancer Is Not My Brand https://books2read.com/cancerisnotmybrand/Margie Lawson:https://www.margielawson.com/And I’d love to hear from you: Why does your story matter? Elodie AT Elodienow.comHappy writing. And happy, happy reading. ❤️
Very excited about this pacing class by Ines Johnson…
I’ve backed this Kickstaster by Ines about pacing and more and I’m very much looking forward to it. While you can no longer back the project, Ines has a website with more information…I’ve taken her Writing Dirty class and I definitely think about it when I craft, um, certain scenes.
Celebrating Katy’s latest release which is a B&N Monthly Pick
I *am* planning to go to B&N next week to see this beauty in person… But I’m so so excited for Katy and her Lia and Beck and Isaiah to find their ways into your heart. EVERYTHING I PROMISED YOU…
In addition, I’ve been reading (the last one was House Of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen, which I could not put down), and watching XO, Kitty during my lunch break (because it makes me smile, not every episode, but still…) and making sure to stay informed (without spending hours scrolling, though, let’s be honest, I still scroll… but still).
There’s so much happening right now, impacting so many people. I’m about to call one of my representatives about how the NIH funding cuts could affect research on Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Past studies have shown that a significant portion of research funding for certain clinical trials comes from the NIH, and since Hodgkin’s is rare and not exactly the most profitable, these cuts could be devastating—especially for patients in smaller hospitals, not just the big ones. If you’d like to get informed about direct and indirect cuts, here are some articles:
And maybe you’re wondering why I’m bringing this up. Well, many reasons, but not to be dramatic, but I’m alive thanks to research. This is one of the topics I’ll bring up with my representatives when I talk to them.
Because writing is a creative process, and let me tell you, it’s much easier to write when I feel like I’ve done something. And, yes I’m going to keep wanting to bring joy and happiness and so much more through my books.
Thank you for reading <3
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