Back in the Writing Saddle...and IWSG

Just when you think your life has changed...

Surprise! Haha! Try again. Back to the same old formula that brought you joy and misery in the same felled swoop.

We're working on a musical. All my time should be in a theater, editing music, designing sets and costumes and blocking and lighting...but no. 

Want to know where I'm at?

CREATING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS.

And even more shocking...

WRITING A BOOK.

Let's be fair, the first draft of this book was completed in 2005, but writers grow, and whew! Did you say passive voice? So I'm REWRITING the entire book while doing all the social media stuff and homeschooling my last two kiddoes.

It's not much. 

Oh yeah, and working with a marketing specialist for the first time and completely restructuring our efforts. Nothing, really. All good here.

The awesome co-hosts for IWSG this month are PJ Colando, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Natalie Aguirre!

Question - What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?

Haha! It has been three or four years since I launched a book, but it won't be the last time (obviously). We are in the middle of launching our MUSICAL (Immortal the Musical) and it's like launching a book times 850%. (Plus there's a book version that will come out one day.) Things that overlap: sharing snippets, interviews in your targeted readership (aka viewership), creating content (written, visual, video) that's easy to share, comment on, interact with. Building a direct mailing list is another aim, incentivized by contest, giveaways, etc. Then ads pushing content you've had proven engagement with...

I wonder at the effectiveness of blogtours these days. It feels like the climate has shifted to podcasts, TikTok/Instragram Reels, quirky graphics, and reposting rave reviews. A friend of mine started an Instagram series of "writer problems" in video where she has quirky issues we all face, and she's done quite well since her books are romcoms. The point is, she's built an audience there. Converting them to purchasing a book is an easy sale.

When prepping a launch, you really have to analyze your strengths, where your community of readers hangs out, and how to make those ends meet. You're not selling a book. Not really. You're selling you. The book will speak for itself in the aftermath.

What unexpected twist has your life taken recently? Book launch ideas? Tasted any really amazing cheeses?

Livin' on Love...and Hate

I hate waiting.

Do you hate waiting?

I'd rather drive the long way around -- even if it takes the same amount of time rather than sitting in traffic.

I'd rather be cleaning my house than sitting around until an appointment (and I don't like cleaning).

I'd rather run around the block fifteen times that sit in front of my computer for that one anticipated email.

Is there an elegant way to wait?

Or maybe like this?

Or this?

And yet that is so much of life -- especially lately. Too many things are out of our control, so how do you develop patience?

Me? I read books. Or write my books. Or play piano. Or build a puzzle. Legos. Balance Cheetos on my nose... (but only the Simply ones).

There are no easy paths to patience. It's only in practicing it that we gain it.

So this is me. Waiting. The next big thing is coming but who knows when or how. Not holding my breath.

Maybe I'll start a soccer club while waiting. (I wish that was a joke.)

And let's be clear, this isn't passive waiting. This is working my rear end off while hoping for the intended outcome.

The awesome co-hosts for IWSG this month are J Lenni Dorner, Victoria Marie Lees, and Sandra Cox!

Question - Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you?

I major cringe when I read most of my old old works. If it was only a decade ago, it's usually okay to "Hey, that was a really inspired turn of a phrase." If it was six months ago, I usually like what I wrote. It's funny how time changes your perspective, but my goal is to always be learning more, so it doesn't matter how much I like something I've written, I will have new thoughts to apply.

What about you. How do you feel about old projects you've completed? Are you waiting on something? How do you keep yourself busy while waiting?

2025 Hangover: Slapped by the New Year

Who is ready for 2026? 

Not me. 

Nonetheless, here we are.

Year in review (bucket list and BIG things only):

• Celebrated 25 years of marriage
• Did the sunrise/sunset challenge in Florida (one coast to the other in the same 24 hours)
• Taught weekly co-op classes
• Cast and recast and recast again for Immortal (15 cast members -- from across the country)
• Scheduled & ran 3 weeks of rehearsals (booking venues, tech, rearranging schedules due to sickness -- kill me now!)
• Produced a professional staged reading of IMMORTAL the Musical
• Took an EMERGENCY trip to England to pick up our daughter up from her mission -- who had wasted away due to health issues (a three-day whirlwind - Iceland, Ireland, Bristol England, London England, Columbia, and home)
• Discovered our daughter's two-hundred-fifty+ food intolerances, hypoglycemia, and worked to get her calorie and energy levels up while she completed a service mission locally
• Started treatment for my faulty hip
• Went on an unplanned 2 week road trip to see historical sites (and ran into my brother...surprise!)
• Planned and ran activities for 15-20 girls twice a month
• RETURNED TO BLOGGING (could you tell?)
• Welcomed our oldest and his wife back to Florida (after they both graduated with their degrees)
• My youngest got baptised
• Hypoglycemic daughter finished her service mission, got a near-impossible-to-land job and got into a near-impossible-to-land university
• Built a video recording studio and started a YouTube channel and major social media campaign with daily video content
• Bypassed one potential trail date for defaulty construction on our house (3 years in the works now) and began negotiations again (undergone mold treatment, structural engineer investigation, and had WAY to many people telling us our house is trashed)
• Led a choir & performed in so, so many venues
• Homeschooled the kids - including challenges like dysgraphia
• Read approximately 100 novels (this doesn't include children's books and study materials...of which there were many)

And so if you couldn't even read that whole list, imagine living it. 

Nonetheless, we will brave forward with 2026. 

Because we must. 

Because there is no other choice.

And while we're at it, we're going to have a good attitude -- because life just goes smoother when you see the bumps as growth opportunities.

To start this year right, I'm on a cruise (which was almost free so don't get too jealous). I'll be around next week to say "Hi" and share some virtual cheese.

Here's to an epic one! Wishing you the best 2026.

Thank you to our awesome co-hosts Shannon Lawrence, Olga Godim, Jean Davis, and Jacqui Murray!

What's the craziest thing you did this last year? What are you most looking forward to in 2026?

To Be or Not To Be Jolly: 5 Ways to Light Your Holiday Furnace

And I don't mean a literal furnace.

I grew up with cold winters. (Who's with me?) Snow on the ground, twinkling lights, indoor fires, mittens, moonboots... (That may be a bit too far...)

For the last 16 years, I've lived in a tropical climate -- so different from my upbringing. Our fist year in the south, I didn't know HOW to find my holiday spirit. 

• It was too warm
• Too sunny
• Too colorful (talking about the greens, blooming flowers, tropical birds)

In fact, it took a few years before I figured out how to feel the holidays when I couldn't feel the weather I'd associated with them. It revolved around

Our December traditions center on Christmas -- starting with the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday *gasp*) when we 

1. Put up decorations

We surround oursevles with things that say to the subconscious -- "This is special." Seeing those reminders daily, whether we consciously acknowledge them or not, establishes a different atmosphere, emphasizes the importance.

2. Foods!

Unless you hate eating (my daughter does -- too many food sensitivities), this is one of the quickest ways to remind the heart, mind, and tongue that it's time to be festive! Gingerbread is my go-to for this season, since I grew up mass producing gingerbread houses with my mom every Christmas -- one for Dad's work, one for our house, one for each kid's classroom (all 8 kids), one for our grandparents... 

3. Activities

We have so many traditions here -- advent calendars, gifts to Christ, movies, tree strolls, wrapping gifts, holiday performances, tree lighting, etc.

4. Music

Obviously, I'm a little biased, but music is the BIGGEST mood chaser I know. I love the traditional Chirstmas songs out there, but my favorite are the sacred songs, the ones that point at the heart and purpose of a celebration.

And if NONE of that is working, we break out the BIG GUNS:

5. Thinking outside ourselves 

Christmas presents, food donations for the poor, service to community or neighbors... A celebration becomes something more when it's not all about us, but we look for ways to share it with others (kids included). It makes it sweeter (cookie plates), brigher (Christmas lights), more joyful (caroling, singing in/listening to choirs). 

Whatever the case may be, I'm wishing you a wonderful Christmas & holiday season! 

AND as my gift to you, enjoy some music. These aren't holiday songs but ones you can listen to all year round. And they're free. And they cost to produce. So yeah, a true gift.

See All HERE

The awesome co-hosts are Tara Tyler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, Liza, and Natalie Aguirre!

The question for this month:

As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

It was probably my first book, completed in 3rd grade. We wrote an informative story, complete with a hardcover (wrapped in contact paper). It was the first time I saw something I'd written as a "finished" product -- and it wouldn't have happened without an incredible teacher who initiated, formed, and executed the projet.

What are your favorite holiday traditions? What are you doing this year to get in the spirit of the season?