Thursday, December 12, 2024

2025 Goals: Part 1

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If you read my post yesterday, you may have noticed that I said I had things that I want to share with you. Well, welcome to day 1 of those things! As 2024 winds down, a lot of us are turning our attention to the new year. I don't really do resolutions, but I do like to have a plan and a theme. The theme for 2025 is going to be ....

Education and Advancement!

As a writer, editor, and streamer, there is a lot that I can learn to improve on all of those areas. I truly believe that if I start investing in myself and in those areas, I can change the situation that my family finds itself in. I can get us out of a bad housing situation and into something that is truly ours. I can stop worrying that we're going to be homeless. That's one of my personal goals for 2025 that will be supported by my business goals. 

You may have noticed that I broke the business goals into three areas: writing, editing, and streaming. I'm also going to split this into three posts, starting with my writing goals!

My overall goal? Two books. I want to do one more toy store book and possibly wrap that series. That or figure out a better way to market it. I think I need to talk to Phoebe about keywords on Amazon. She’s much better in that area than I am. She offered before, but we just never got around to it. Okay, so let’s break this down in more of a list format.

-            Keywords with Phoebe

o   See how much she’d charge to go over all 6 current books

-            Write 2 more books by December 2025

o   Bongo’s Buddies

o   Holidays at the Toy Store Part 2 (obviously working title there)

-            Merch

o   This is a cross-pollination kind of thing with streaming.

o   Build up the fourthwall store.

§  Character shirts

§  Logo shirts

§  Hats

·       Baseball

·       Beanie

§  Mugs

§  Notebooks

§  Tote bag

o   Talk to Will about getting designs from him

o   Talk to Maxx about some new designs

o   Talk to Eric about using the book covers in some fashion

-            Shows

o   Alma - March

o   Lansing - July

o   Grand Rapids - November

o   St Catherine’s - November

* Midland (?)

-            Craft Shows

o   Middleville

o   Hastings

o   Lake Odessa (Christmas)?

*  Hastings - Jingle Mingle (Library)

-            Show Stock

o   My books

o   Coloring book

o   Snow Paw

o   Cthulhu books

o   Mittens (?)

o   Stickers (?)

o   Pins (?)

o   Prints (?)

-            Library readings

-            Bookstore signings

-            Holiday Bundles

-            Look into ALLi (see Russell email 11/27)

-            Set up a mailing list


As you can see, I've put a lot of thought into this. It's that important to me. This is just part of a three page document that I wrote out. Come back soon for Part 2: Editing. 






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Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Career Opportunities

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I have so many things that I want to share with you, but something has come up that I want to talk about first thing before anything else. 

Last night, I was having a rough night. It had just been a perfect storm of an emotional rollercoaster. Then, out of nowhere, a friend reached out to me and offered me a ticket to what I consider an exclusive event: Writer MBA

Every person that I know who has attended this conference has told me that it's career changing. It's run by someone who I have looked up to in business ever since I met them and we started working together. He has probably forgotten more about writing as a business than I know. I spoke to him last night about attending and he wants me there. 

Honestly, I'm kind of in shock. The people who attend this conference are...elite. These are people who are know what they're doing. Even though I've published 5 books, I still feel incredibly clueless. Maybe I put on a good face...lol. Nah, Russell would see right through that. We've also worked together for years now and he knows me well. If Russell thinks I'm ready for this and Phoebe (who will be speaking there) thinks I'm ready for this, I must be ready for this.

So, I'm going to do something incredibly brave of me. For those that know me, you know I don't often make big moves and almost never for me. This time though, I'm going to do everything I can to attend this event. Not only could it very much advance my career as a writer, but it's also full of networking opportunities. Both of these could very much help my family in 2025 and beyond. 

The problem? You guys were waiting for this part, right? It's not an inexpensive trip to take. In fact, I did a breakdown of the costs earlier today and here's what I came up with:

Amtrak : $350 (This is cheaper than flying and something I've always wanted to do.)
Hotel : $1250-1500 (This is the host hotel. I checked with a travel agent friend and for that time, any money I'd save at another hotel would be taken up in Ubers, etc.)
Uber: $25 (Amtrak station to hotel and then back for on the way home.)
Food: $500 (It would be 8 days and I'm willing to take a bag of bagels for breakfast if this is low.)

Total: $2375

Now, I'm hoping that there's a chance I can share a room with someone. If not though, I need to be prepared to pay the whole amount. $2375 is a lot of money, especially when your budget for something like this is $0. However, an opportunity like this doesn't come around every day and I truly feel as if I need to do this...for me and for my family. I've said 2025 is all about education and advancement and if this doesn't fall under these categories, I don't know what will. 

If you've read all of this, thank you. Your support of me as a writer and an editor means the world to me. If you feel led to try to help out, there are a few ways that you can do that.

* Recommend me to anyone who is looking for an editor or proofreader. 
* Donate via PayPal : Katrina@KatScratchPress.com - Mark as for New Orleans
* Donate via Ko-fi : https://ko-fi.com/katrinaroets
* Donate via Throne: https://throne.com/katieroets
* Purchase a book bundle on Fourthwall: https://katieroets-shop.fourthwall.com/

Again, thank you so much for your continued support! The new year approaches quickly so watch for my 2025 goals post to come very soon!







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Monday, December 2, 2024

Crockpot Monday: Spaghetti Sauce

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Spaghetti Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 12.5 ounce can Italian flavored diced tomatoes.
16 ounces fresh mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 pound super lean ground turkey or hamburger

Directions:

Add the thawed (or fresh) meat to the crockpot. Dump in all the cans of tomatoes and break the ground meat up with a large spoon. Stir in the spices and mushrooms.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. When done cooking, break up the ground meat a bit more and season to taste. 


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Monday, November 25, 2024

Crockpot Monday: Pizza Fondue

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Pizza Fondue:

Ingredients:

1 cup pasta sauce
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
10 pieces pepperoni, diced
1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

Put the pasta sauce into your Little Dipper, and plug it in. Add the Italian seasoning and diced pepperoni. Shove in the cup of shredded cheese. Cover and leave plugged in (there are no heat settings on a Little Dipper) for 45 minutes. 

Stir well and serve with tortilla chips, bread sticks, or crostini.


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Monday, November 18, 2024

Crockpot Monday: Cranberry Sauce

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Cranberry Sauce:

Ingredients:

12 ounces cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Use a 2- quart crockpot. If you only have a huge crockpot, you can put an oven-safe dish into it to create a smaller cooking vessel.

Rinse off the cranberries and put them into your crockpot. Add the orange juice and water. Add the sugar and the cinnamon. Stir. There will be a lot of liquid and the cranberries will float.

Cover and cook on high. It will take about 3 hours.

Stir every hour or so. When the skin from the cranberries has softened, the cranberries will "pop" when pushed with a spoon up against the side of the crock. Smoosh all of the cranberries. Stir well.

Heat enough for it to be warm throughout. Take the lid off and heat on high for another 30 to 45 minutes. 


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Monday, November 11, 2024

Crockpot Monday: Cream Cheese and Rotel Dip

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Cream Cheese & Rotel Dip:

Ingredients:

8 ounces block of cream cheese
1 can tomatoes and green chilies (Rotel), drained
1 pound breakfast sausage, browned and drained

Directions:

This is perfect for the 1.5 quart crockpot.

Brown the sausage on the stove, and drain on paper towels. Unwrap the cream cheese, and put it into your crockpot. Chop up the sausage and add on top. Drain the Rotel and then add that.

Cover and cook on low for about 90 minutes, or on high for 45. Stir well and eat with tortilla chips. 


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Monday, November 4, 2024

Crockpot Monday: Falafel

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Falafel:

Ingredients:

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans 

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon dried parsley

2 cloves minced garlic

1 egg

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 juice from 1 lemon 

1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs 

2 Tablespoons olive oil 

Directions:

Drain garbanzo beans. Pour them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork. Set aside.

Get out your blender or food processor. Blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic, the egg, and the lemon juice.  Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork to mix together, and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture is wet and sticky but can be formed into balls nicely.

Pour 2 T of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot.

Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip each side into the olive oil and then add into your crockpot. It's okay if they overlap or are on top of each other.

Cook on high for 2-5 hours. You will know that the falafels are done when they turn brownish-golden.

Serve with yogurt sauce or mayonnaise. 


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