Tag Archive | writing

Being Proud of Yourself

Feb5

I was out and about, getting ready to come home and really needed some coffee. I’d had to have a fasting blood test done, so…. Imperative mode activated. Thought of McDonald’s, but didn’t want the drive thru lane. Then I thought hey, what about Casey’s? Good coffee, GREAT breakfast sandwiches, and the podcast I listen to mentions them so often!

And then I thought…. Hey. How about you be proud of yourself, go home and make a pot of coffee and your own breakfast sandwich.

The thought stopped me. Tripped me up. Being Proud of myself. I don’t often think about it, about progress made, things I’m proud of. I’m just getting through the day.

At the end of 2025 I made a plan for 2026. Picked out a word of the year, even. It’s Live, for those who are wondering. I got too into hermit mode again, and need to get out more and do more

It  means I’m cooking again. I don’t enjoy cooking, but I cook once and eat for 3 days. Salads almost every day because I enjoy them. It means spending the night once a month with my sister. It means doing crafts while on a video call with my niece. And decluttering on video call with one of my besties.  It means doing easy, beginning workout so this summer I can walk to the parade route and not have to worry about parking. Just take my chair and go. 

I’m not writing as much, but nothing fiction wise stuck. I am writing letters. My Coffee Epiphany happened at the post office, where I had dropped off 6 letters with family photos and sent them where they belong. I’m writing the letters for care home residents, they’ll be ready to go tomorrow. I am writing, just not the way people feel I should. 

Mostly, I’m taking control. Instead of tucking in and reading a book, I’m crafting, writing letters, redecorating , de cluttering, getting healthier and and and…. And I’m still reading.

But if I hit 464 new books in a year again, I don’t know that my body will recover. And that total– that’s only the new books, not the re-reads. I’m still reading, just also living.

I’ll be back to Fast Fives soon.

What are your goals for this year?

Fast Five: Writing Goals

Oct25

Hello, My Lovelies! So it’s been a minute since I’ve done a Fast Five on my writing goals.

Embarrassed? Eh. Partially, but I am not currently a professional writer, or even trying to break in. Even when I send stuff in, it’s a 50/50 on whether it’s because I want to “Be Published” or just share my stories.

So here we go!

  1. I unfortunately missed my deadline for LoH for the first time. It doesn’t feel good. Yes, there were reasons, but a missing story is a missing story.
  2. Currently, I am writing poetry sideways. Not necessarily one a day, but when inspo strikes I am  writing it down.
  3. And instead of writing in a Word document, I am writing it out long hand. In a pretty pretty journal/notebook.
  4. I have entered the era of letters. Some are fan letters, some are actual letters. The actual letters are for a memory care home for patients with dementia. There’s less than 25 residents, and I’m trying to do one batch per quarter. The fan letters are to authors.
  5. Trying to have fun again. Did one of those fan letters where it was a poem/story that if you read the first letter of each line going down it is their name. Silly? Yes. Fun? Absolutely. Will I ever share or send? Ummmm debatable. HahHaha

I’ve started to wonder about what I’m trying to write. Especially as I’m uncomfortable with parts of it. I think I’m just going to continue playing with words for the rest of the year and see where I’m at on what my goals should be for 2026.

Fast Five Goal Catch Up

Sep29

Oh my goodness! It’s been a minute!  But summer is well and truly over, and it’s time to knuckle under again 😳 Heres a really quick update on the goals I had for this year:

  1. Reading goal has been crushed three months early according to Good Reads. I don’t know why this irritates me– but it does. I have days of re-reading old favorites, but I don’t count them. So I think the goal was appropriate, just… I feel let down that the goal was accomplished early instead of closer to the end time.
  2. ARCs are still a thing I love. I’m happy to report that I’ll have 2 upcoming for you. One, I’ve already read and am just collecting my thoughts. The other I’m awaiting with bated breath.
  3. Writing has been different (see below). I haven’t been writing as much, as my writing buddy and I seem to have taken the summer off. The poem a day is so far behind and I’m not sure if I want to resume it or not.
  4. I still doodle around with my fiction. I say I have several stories that I keep hopping around in, but they are all built in the same world so I’m not sure how good or bad that is. I’m having fun and that counts..
  5. I have been keeping up with writing for the Ladies of Horror Picture Prompt. You should go and read some of these amazing stories and poems! If you’re more of an audio type person, there are reading in YouTube done by the lovely Elaine Pascale, The Godmother of Horror here

Ta for now, my lovelies! Let me know if I got the links wrong and I’ll get them long form lol

Getting the word out

Jul28

Ari Wright’s Once Upon A Pack

Ari Wright is releasing the Audio Book for Once Upon a pack, and it has me wondering: what methods do you find work best for getting the word out on new releases (E-book, print or audio)?

As a baby writer (nothing huge published, mostly short stories and a couple of poems) I will send information to those I think might like the story. I use either email or text as I don’t post on social media.

As a consumer, I have 4 main ways of finding books.

  1. Recommendations. Friends, family or even KU. I actually found Ari Wright through a Based on your other books…. Recommendation. She’s one of my favorite authors and an auto read for me. Goodreads– i use it to log my books but don’t really get recs there.
  2. Newsletter. Author newsletters are awesome. I especially like the ones where they share this it’s of what’s going on with them. Maybe a photo of their work desk, or what they’ve been up to. And of course the new releases! As an author, you have to walk a line with the newsletters. Readers want to know about your upcoming and new releases, but not to be inundated by a sales pitch constantly.
  3. Social Media Ads. For me, mainly TikTok and Instagram as those are the two I scroll most. I will say as a reader I prefer Instagram as the link goes directly to the ebook link. I don’t know what’s going on with people, but the amount of TikTok ads for books that FORGET to give the title and/or  author name is ridiculous. I’m also not going to buy off the Tok shop.
  4. Social Media Groups. I belong to a few groups for readers of an author, but also some for specific types of romance. This is where you cannot only get a rec, but also find out what that book you read three months ago with this particular scene was. Life-saving! Or sanity saving.

So– how do you advertise for your writing? If you’re mostly a reader, how do you find the books you read?

Summer Check In: Fast Five

Jul14

Summer is here and the air is sticky! Life has been lifing. Some great, lots of ok and some terrible. But that’s life, right?

Here’s my Fast Five for July (so far)

  1. Writing has fallen off since about Fathers day. Not even a poem a day. I’ve written two in July. Working on getting back on track.
  2. Still reading! Currently I’m reading book #241 of the year. This doesn’t even include the re-reads I’ve done.
  3. I am still circling writing an Omegaverse romance. Part of the problem is that I’m so uncomfortable with writing traditional sex scenes. Almost all of the ones I’ve started and stopped all happen in the same “world”. The book I’m currently reading? #241 above? It’s in the same subgenre (Reverse Harem Omegaverse) and … It’s rated G. It’s building a relationship. I love it!!! I do think the author needs to promote her books as G/PG rated (a lot of her reviews center around that. But they still read it!)
  4. I love fireworks but not masses of people. I am happy to report that I can watch fireworks from my back porch. If I walk down to the back of my property, I can watch two different shows! One on the left (visible from porch) and one in the right (obscured by tree unless I walk down to the alley).
  5. Got the AC in my car fixed (Thank you T-Bo!!)  and went on a mini adventure with my sister! It was so awesome!  So many more that I want to go on. We went to a city about an hour, hour and a half away and visited 2 bookstores (one was a dud one was AH-MAZZING!) Had a wonderful lunch in a Cafe / bakery and LOTS of sister binding time!

That’s all from me for now. I’ve got 9 minutes left of my dedicated writing time, so I think I’m gonna Ng to go okay in my #fafo world.

What fun or interesting things have you done this summer?

No Kings

Jun14

A poem in progress

No Kings

Our military does not vow
To protect Kings nor Queens
Instead their vow belongs
To the Constitution
Which exists to blanket
(US) us in safety.

And should an enemy come
Forward and make complaint
Against the words,
The very page and ink, that
Forged a nation under God
Then shall they raise
Sword and shield to defend.

Lady Liberty will keep watch,
Her flame burning bright
Watching as her sons and daughters
Defend the rights
Laid down by our forefathers.

Remembering: Taking Chance

May26

Memorial Day in the US  is upon us, and last night I watched an old movie. From 2009, the film Taking Chance with Kevin Bacon was the perfect movie for this weekend

I buddy-watched the movie with my BFF in Cali, both of us bawling over the phone. The movie isn’t overly dramatic. It doesn’t feel like those feel good movie manipulative heart string plucking.

This was accomplished through good old fashioned story telling. In fact, I told my BFF that this movie, Taking Chance, does what a really good literary novel does. It tells the story almost flatly, but there’s so much going on underneath. Kevin Bacon does so much heavy lifting in this movie– it’s breathtaking and heart wrenching. And has held up since 2009.

Taking Chance shows what a great storyteller can do– whether writing the script or acting it out

10/10 Will watch again. May become a yearly Memorial Day activity.

Fast Stats

May23

Ah, we’ve almost made it to the midpoint of the year. Hooray! I’ve been doing pretty good with keeping up on my reading and writing goals.

Ready? Set? Here we go!

  1. Since changing up my prose writing away from trying to do a novel I’ve not only written but have also submitted a few short (flash) pieces. I think I’m up to 4 submissions, with 2 more in the wings. One I’m waiting to open up and the other I still need to write.
  2. I’m still (mostly) writing a poem a day. There’s maybe a  few days when that didn’t happen, but there are also days when I wrote more than 1. I’m pretty sure that it will even out in the end.
  3. On my reading goal, so far I’ve read 194 new books. This is not counting all the re-reads I do. I enjoy reading 😃. Most of the time, the television is background noise.
  4. This is just an odd stat: I’ve DNF’d almost as many books as I finished. 132 to be exact. I just thought it was funny.
  5. I have been participating in the Ladies of Horror flash challenge and loving it. My most recent submission can be found HERE

That’s it for today, my Lovelies! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Mays Fast Five Catch Up

May15

May, and spring, seems to be slipping through my fingers. Soon, summer will be here. Hopefully I can get over my anxiety about going places and have a few adventures.

Here’s my Fast Five for May

  1. I’m finding more markets to write for– calls for specific themes in drabble and flash form. One “novelette”, which being honest I might play around with but no guarantees I’ll get anywhere close to the word count.
  2. The AC went out on my car. Now out here, it’s in the 80’s, but I’m getting reacquainted with driving with the windows down. It’s an experience that I love. Arm hanging out the window, tunes blaring, wind whipping my ponytail.
  3. I’ve decided to stop buying physical books until I’ve read them. Either as a kindle book, nook or library. I don’t have the money to be wasting on books I won’t read (I’m a picky thing) and I don’t have room in my house to keep things that don’t bring me happiness.
  4. I haven’t been writing cards because it’s a pain getting them mailed. Either I have to drive up to the post office, grab the mailman, or once I taped a letter to the mailbox that I had outgoing mail. My mailbox sucks. I think, tho, for me it sucks more not to be mailing out cards. I miss sending out little bits of sunshine.
  5. I had a meltdown because the streaming app MAX took down the Holiday and Halloween Baking Champtas well as seasons 1-8 or the spring one! I use them as the background to my life! 😜 Can work quite nicely with them on in the background, popping up for my favorites. Jason! Damiano! Fluffy! I want them back! They’re my people!

So that’s the state of me right now lol. I’ve been slacking on the journaling but think I’m gonna get back into it. Perhaps tonight I’ll write some notes to send out and play in my journals

Ta for now my Lovelies!

What would your Fast 5 be for May?

Checking In: Fast FIVE

Apr10

Oohhhh here we go! This fast five has to do with me, Myself and I. Lol. Just a quick check-in on how the writerly and readerly things are going

  1. Still reading an absolute MONSTER amount of books. Instead of constantly adding to the books read total, these past few weeks I’ve been rereading old favorites. At 140 out of the 350 I put on the 2025 challenge– I think I’m gonna be ok.
  2. I am currently grooving on the Ladies of Horror flash project. You can find it HERE. It explores a darker side that I find I really like. It makes it easier to explore some things– whether social or emotional. You should go and read all the fabulous poems and stories that are over there!
  3. Still doing a poem a day and making it to my 4pm writing date with the absolutely fabulous Rie. She has a substack where she does many types of poetry things. Here is a link to her post about one of my favorite things to hoard– blank note books!
  4. I’m getting better… I’d had a brutal  case of bronchitis and am slowly getting everything back on track. I’d let a lot of things slide while sick: housework, writing, all the stuff.
  5. Including my OTHER creative outlet– the planner journals. At first I started writing it in a journal but then stopped that too. And I’m not starting back up because it seems like so much work to back plan a MONTH. Maybe though… Maybe I should do what I do with my writing. Give myself a little bit of grace and start where I’m at. I can always go back and do the other weeks with my journal…

So there’s my current Fast Five. What would your current Fast Five include?

Not gonna lie…. Almost did a 6 but there’s nothing sinful to put on the list!