Hi All,

I have a lot of updates to share with you so I am just going to get right into it. I’ve been busy planting my vegetable garden, clearing out flower beds, and working on illustrations for my second book. Also (BIG NEWS) my husband is building me a chicken coop!!! That’s right. I am finally getting chickens! Here is the progress on the coop so far:

I will post a final reveal when it’s all done!

In other news, (and maybe I should have lead with this) is I have made the decision to pursue traditional publishing. I realize this is a long shot, but I have to at least try.  My initial thought about writing and publishing a book was that I was doing it for fun, and I just wanted my book “out there.” While this statement mostly still holds true, it was really hard to see some really good momentum building for the book and then have it stall completely. Now, my book rank is 1,597,296. So, while my book is “out there” it’s also buried. People who self-publish face numerous hurdles along the way. Aside from all of the research,  finding an illustrator, putting together a polished and professional product on limited funds, formatting, and finding a printer, one of the biggest hurdles is to get the word out and keep the momentum going. Traditional publishers have professionals who help you with all of this. So, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and see what happens.

I still plan to proceed with illustrating and formatting my second book as if I was going to self-publish. In the meantime, I am also going to seek to acquire an interested literary agent or publisher. Wish me luck!

Moving right along, If you follow my cooking blog, alifelessbordinary.wordpress.com, you are already aware that I am going to post here exclusively from now on. I feel like I can share a little bit of everything here, and really just need to focus on one project at a time (for a change). I still plan to maintain the alifelessbordinary Facebook Page and Instagram profile. While they both were initially created for the sole purpose of sharing my cooking, they will evolve now to include author, craft, life and chicken updates as well.

Lastly, I’ve received feedback from libraries stating that they do not accept paperback children’s books. Therefore, I have decided to release a hardcover version of ‘Sam Likes Jam’ through Ingram Spark. I will let you know when that becomes available.

Anyway, that is all for now! Thank you to all who are sharing my journey.

Until Next Time,

-Niki