Dirty Laundry

Good morning/afternoon/evening! I had considered continuing on with last week's blog post and talking about showing vs. telling, but there are probably 3.7 million blogs and YouTube videos that can carry you through without the superfluous opinion of yours truly. Instead, I thought I'd air some dirty laundry. It's all fair game today. Strap in. …

Tell v. Show

I hope you all forgave my absence. Just a short run down of what has been happening in my life: Two weeks ago I received a text message from my mom that she'd had to call an ambulance for my dad. This is, sadly, something I am used to. He's had health problems for my …

Operation: Digital Declutter

Hi, I'm Aila. And I have a problem. Today's scheduled blog post was supposed to be about my other hobby: Weaving. You know, those big pretty things people sometimes hang on their wall? Yeah, I enjoy making them. But I'm home sick today (yesterday for you) and I don't feel like setting up the photography …

Posts Revisited: The Success Mindset for Introverts

Howdy, folks. I'm a little under the weather, and was so glad to see I'd scheduled today for revisiting an old post. Normally I might engage in some light banter here before we dive right in, but, I'm far more interested in getting back to some hot tea, so let's pretend I've been witty and …

Canva Tips, part two

Happy Monday, folks! Continuing on from last week's post, today I'm sharing a few more tips for Canva! Quick Tips 1.| Want to add a text box to your design? Sure, you could go the long route...or simply press the letter T! (Not while inside a current text box of course, silly.) And bingobango you've …

Self-Care Sunday: Five-Minute Miracles

Good afternoon, friends! I was posed a question at work the other day: Why do I write (even occasionally) about self-care? After all, I am an author. Shouldn't my blog be all about writing tips and information about self-publishing etc. etc. My response: A lot of authors, especially self-publishing authors, neglect themselves in some fashion. We work …

Canva Tips, part one

Good morning, folks! One of my sweet friends has recommended for some time now that I write a blog post about Canva, specifically my tips and tricks, so here goes: First, I am going to assume you know what Canva is because I only talk about it all the time. Second, this is not an affiliate post. …

DIY Cover Design, pt. 5

Guess what.... Today I have a video for you. YUP. You read that correctly. A VIDEO. (Let me preface this with an apology for my extremely nervous voice and small lapses in coherence...I was quite nervous.) Here's part five of the DIY Cover series. Assembling in Photoshop Thanks for watching! xoxo I know I'm not …

DIY Book Covers, Pt. 4

We're not far from wrapping up this series. If you're just joining us, check out Part One, Part Two, Part Two.Five, and Part Three. All right, it's time to turn over our book and concentrate on the back. There is a LOT of information you might choose to put on the back of your novel. …

DIY Book Cover Design, pt. 2.5

Happy Monday, folks! Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? If you haven't seen the first two posts in this series, please direct yourself to them first. Part One Part Two Now, I know last week I said we were going to move on to spines and back covers today...but I've had a few …