Check-in – Writing Wrongs

The respite of books and, oddly enough, Duolingo

Well, January was certainly the longest year.

It’s been a lot, I’m not going to lie. But I’ve managed to do some writing, and some reading, and I even made it to the first meeting of my book club.

We read If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin. We all agreed that, in its own way, the book was a timely read, even though it was published in 1974. The group was so welcoming to me, as a new member, and I’m excited for next month.

I’ve rearranged my schedule, so I write in the very early mornings, while it’s still dark out. Although, can it actually be morning if it’s still dark out?

When I can, I read. Another thing I’ve been doing? Duolingo. Really. Last year, I was using it to learn a little Italian before I left on my trip. Now, I’m revisiting German. Between the four years in high school and two in college, I figured that would be the easiest language to start with. Maybe it’s that familiarity, but it’s an oddly peaceful activity.

I’m also thinking of signing up for the slow read of Jane Eyre over at The Tattooed Governess (formerly Book (& Craft) Alchemy). At some point, I bought the audio version, and it’s oddly soothing in the moment, too.

Finally, if you’re looking to help Minnesota but don’t know where to donate, may I suggest ICA Food Shelf? They do tremendous work. Currently, they’re ramping up new support programs and would be grateful for any amount you can give.

In Minnesota

So, as I’m sure many (all?) of you know, it’s been a rough couple of weeks here in Minnesota. Except for some morning writing and work on The Marigold Miracle, I’ve been away from the computer.

I’ve been doing what I can to help my friends, my neighbors, and my community, and I’m going to keep doing that for as long as it takes.

I’m still hosting Booking Through Thursday. Fortunately, I scheduled several posts in advance, and I will respond and comment when I can.

Be well, everyone. Take care of each other. Keep creating and putting good things into this world.

Reading in 2026

So, I read 91 books in 2025. This is a good number, great even. Generally, I read between 85 and 100 books a year. (Although one year I logged 118.)

This might sound strange, but in 2026, I want to read more. Or perhaps differently. Most of my reading this year was recreational—which is awesome—but I need more variety if I’m going to write.

Odd thing: when I was commuting to the day job, I was getting that. The fastest I ever got to work (door to parking garage) was 45 minutes. Heading home? Oh. Don’t get me started on that, but easily an hour and a half. (Some days? In winter? A three-hour drive home.)

I was a captive audience; I had to listen to whatever I’d checked out from the library. Either that or drive-time radio and … no, thank you.

This, I realize, really fed my writing. The reading wasn’t necessarily research-related. It was more like fueling my brain for writing, filling the gas tank, if you will. (In CliftonStrengths terms, I’m a #2 Input; I need input.)

Despite how busy I was, I could get several hours of reading in each day.

What’s my problem now?

I’ve confined my reading to (mostly) the evenings. I’ve always read in the evenings, so this isn’t a surprise. What I need to do is add afternoon sessions.

This feels decadent. I feel like I should be doing something. (I blame the hustle/grind culture and toxic productivity for this.)

But isn’t reading doing something? I think it is. And it’s something I need to do if I’m going to write. So, one thing I want to do in 2026 is practice those afternoon reading sessions. And I have one planned for today.

Oh, have it

In The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff (essentially the sequel to 84, Charing Cross Road), Helene confides to Joyce Grenfell:

“I’ve been fighting a cold all weekend.”

She thought about this a moment and then leaned over and whispered back:

“Oh, have it.”

This is where I’m at. I’ve been fighting a cold all weekend, without the part about being in London and attending the theater with a celebrity. Honestly, I feel like I end up fighting a cold or virus every other week. I suspect this is a part of a post-pandemic world.

But for today, I’m having it. I’m in the softest of my soft pants. (The great thing about working from home: soft pants every day!) Snow is already falling, and we’re supposed to have blizzard conditions later, so clearly, I’m not leaving the house. Plus, I’m in the middle of (re)watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended version, of course).

This is one of our holiday traditions. My son mentioned that a lot of his friends’ families watch Harry Potter. For us, though, it’s always been Lord of the Rings. We’ll watch it at Thanksgiving and then again at Christmas.

And since I’m partway through The Two Towers, I have plenty of watching left. I have the fireplace going and hot chocolate I can brew (and leftovers, so I don’t have to cook).

I’m all set to have my cold.

Wishing you all a restful (and cold-free) last Sunday of the year.

If you build it, will they come?

This week’s admin focus was on author websites, which I already have. But it made for an excellent reason to do some maintenance. Most importantly, I needed to update my WordPress template.

As I mentioned in my housekeeping note, the old template had been retired. While it still received security updates, the old template didn’t support new features.

But I’m also considering what else I might do with my blog. One of the things I loved about blogging in the early aughts was the blogging and book community. One of my favorite blog memes was Booking Through Thursday (which started on Blogspot and migrated to WordPress).

Real life being what it is, BTT has been inactive for several years. So, I asked myself: what if I restarted it?

With permission, of course. Deb graciously gave her blessing. So here I am, wondering: if I relaunch BTT, will anyone show up?

The book blogging community is still very active, with plenty of weekly book memes. Do we need another? Maybe not. But I have the online real estate—no ads, nothing distracting.

According to WordPress, I can add a selected category to my blog subscription so people can sign up to receive the Booking Through Thursday posts via email, and not any of the others if they don’t want them. (This may take a few tries to iron out, but it’s possible.)

All this to say, I’m going to give the book meme thing a try. If people enjoy it? Hooray! If it falls flat, then it falls flat.

So, look for the relaunch of Booking Through Thursday on January 1^,2026.

Rhythm and Flow

This week, I experimented with increasing my manuscript time blocks. I increased the number by one, so instead of three, I was doing four time blocks.

By Thursday, though? Full-on brain and body revolt. I did a single time block, and then everything in my being noped out. I was done. This wasn’t garden-variety resistance. This was me, having outrun the story in my head.

So I closed the manuscript and switched to some admin tasks that needed to be done.

On Friday, I did three time blocks and—to quote Goldilocks—it felt just right.

I know, from past experience, that I’ll write more the closer I am to the end of the book, and revision has its own sort of rhythm.

This is also why I’ve noped out of listening to writing process advice. I’m never going to write 5,000 words an hour. More to the point, I actually don’t want to. That’s not how my stories happen.

My stories are slow-and-steady tortoise things. I can embrace that and be happy. Or, I can fight that and be miserable.

I’m choosing to be happy.

In admin/business focus tasks, this was the week to examine our social media accounts. (That sound you hear is me laughing.) The principle behind this is that readers often look to social media first to find an author rather than a website.

Interestingly enough, this week, Cal Newport had a take on what might happen to these social media platforms in an age where “everything” is becoming short-form video content. It’s an interesting blog post, as was the corresponding podcast.

I do have a notion of what I might do with my social media accounts. It is not, however, going to be a huge part of my business. In seasonal news, it’s cold. Those of us with any sense are hibernating.

When in Florence

So, my daughter is back in Italy, via Australia (!). She is completely jetlagged and found herself awake very early this morning. She decided to get up and go for a walk. And because she’s so jetlagged and has no idea what time it is anywhere in the world, she called me.

At 12:30 a.m.

By this point in her travels, I’m used to this, so my mom-panic was brief, especially since it was a video call and I could see Florence at sunrise behind her. Y’all, seriously:

It’s all I can do not to spend the day on the floor, sobbing with jealousy.

Kidding. Sort of.

I am so glad she has this sort of opportunity. And it has me thinking that the next time (fingers crossed) I visit Italy/Europe, I’d like to go in the fall/winter. Way fewer tourists, and I loved Germany during the holiday season and winter.

I’ll grant you, I did not enjoy the REFORGER exercise in January or Hohenfels in November. But otherwise? It was lovely.

This gift of Florence at sunrise was fortuitous, or maybe it was serendipity. I spent part of this week writing a scene set at sunrise in Florence. (Italy, not Wisconsin. If you know, you know.)

I also worked on consolidating all my author bios. That was a great exercise. Not only are they all in one place now, but I also made lists of publications I can use, depending on what I want to highlight.

Between that and the branding task, I realized that I’m not one author or “brand” and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be. I have thoughts (many, many thoughts) about branding, which I hope to share in the next few weeks.

But now? I have a date with the living room floor. If anyone needs me, I’ll be there sobbing with jealousy.

It’s a winter wonderland out there

And the dogs are having none of it. NONE. They do not appreciate the fact that I have shoveled a path for them or have loaded them up with fleecy dog beds and blankets.

In writing related things, I backed Ines Johnson’s Page Turner Planning Kickstarter. The system is a quarterly breakdown of writing, marketing, branding, and business tips that’s delivered on a week-by-week basis. Or rather, it’s a book that you read one section at a time.

While I don’t need much help with the writing—I’ve been doing that—I could stand to pay a little more attention to business and marketing.

I decided to start the system on December 1^st rather than January 1^st just to get a head start on 2026.

The system is probably geared more to newer writers. One of the first assignments is to write your author bio. Well, I have one of those. Actually? I probably have a dozen.

What I’m going to do with that task is to locate them all, get them into one document, and refine as needed.

When you’re just starting out with a handful of short stories or a single novel, one bio works just fine. After a while, though? I’ve found I need different lengths, anything from 50 to 100 words, or a different slant, such as one for short speculative fiction, one for young adult, and so on.

The other business task is to start looking at branding. I’m giving that a bit of a side-eye, but it’s something I can and should do.

I’ll let you know how it all goes next week.

When the turkeys come to you

So I was working at my desk and happened to glance out the window in time to see this:

So … is she visiting? Volunteering as tribute? I’m not sure, except she’s part of the gaggle that’s been wandering around the neighborhood and in and out of the woods this week. I suspect they sense what my weather app is currently predicting: cold rain, snow, and dropping temperatures.

I took what might be my last morning walk of the season this morning. I had to get at least one more in (and frankly, the afternoon is so lovely, I may take another).

In writing news, I get to visit the Giardino delle Rose in Florence this week!

Well, virtually, that is. I’m setting a couple of scenes there. This means scrolling through my Italy photos and creating a collage. The pain of it all!

I don’t suppose I actually need to do that, but I took pictures in part because I had a notion of setting at least one scene there.

In any event, it will be a nice counterpoint to the cold and snow coming my way.

Quiet Sunday

I’m happy to report that, a week later, kitty is so much better. I’m relieved. I’m also relieved that it’s the last day of antibiotics as well. Because, yes, there’s nothing like giving a cat some medicine.

So, I’m hoping for a much quieter Sunday. Knock on wood.

Some fun things from the past week (or so)

This last bloom of the year: