For 2023 and 2024, I was finishing up writing a book at the end of the year. For 2023, the book was “The Resurrection Incident.” This year, I completed “Goddess Game.” It’s kinda cool that I have done that two years in a row, but I’m thinking I would prefer to use the last quarter of the year in future to outline and plan book projects for the upcoming year and maybe focus on direct sales. Might be a sweet experiment for next year!
Year-End Reflections & Routines
I know it’s cliché, but I do enjoy a fine rumination at the end of the year, reflecting on what worked and didn’t and making those glorious plans for the future. It’s a little dangerous and I can easily stay in the thrill of imagining all the things and forget to shift into the necessary doing.
I’ve learned a lot in 2024 about how I create, how to organize my time to get projects done, and the habits I can continue to tweak to help me achieve my goals consistently and with more energy to carry over to the next project.
2025: Superpowers Activated
For 2025, I feel like I am going into the new year with superpowers activated. I still have much to learn (and won’t I always?), but I have a confidence that I have not experienced before.
I’m focused on making life better and better and expressing that in the various ways that I enjoy: writing, drawing, crafting, music
It seems like in the past I didn’t think I could dare allow myself to feel capable if I wasn’t perfect at something. Now I know life is always an ongoing journey and I will get better at whatever I focus on. And that’s the same for all of us, which is so very cool.
In January, I’ll be releasing my fifth fiction book. I’m pretty proud of that. Typing it out is a bit surreal because there was a point where I wondered if I really could write book after book after book – which is sort of what you have to do if want to establish a career as a writer (this is still a work in progress, by the way).
The “Goddess Game” Season
I have been editing my upcoming novel, Goddess Game, for the past month. It has been a lot more work than I was expecting. Some threads in the story began to change, one disappeared. Some character personalities became a little more defined. More ideas popped up to include that I am trying to resist, but they may prove to be irresistible.
In short, I don’t feel like it is finished quite yet and I have a decent amount of work that I want to do on it.
But here’s the thing: I am not worried about it in the least because…
This is my fifth book, y’all! This is how it works for me.
I have uncovered my method, how I work, how the story rolls out.
The Process Reveals Itself
Each time I got to this point on my previous books, I had a moment where I wondered if I was going to be able to really get it all ready. And, every time, when I sat down to get it done, the words showed up, the stories grew into what they needed to be.
That’s where I am with Goddess Game. The story is in a final tweaking stage. I keep going through it chapter by chapter and it feels like it is becoming more of what it should be with each pass. In the next couple of passes, it should just need some beta reading for feedback. And proofreading, of course.
My Writing Method
I’m not a “pantser” when it comes to writing (tried it and it doesn’t work great for me).
I have an idea, I develop a theme and characters from that, and then I start outlining. It is a much longer process than that one sentence hints at, but having a system to get me that far helps me feel confident when I start writing.
And once I have that framework built up enough, the surprise ideas that my psyche has been holding out on me start to show up. I love that part.
I also love that I don’t feel stressed out around writing. The confidence is a little disconcerting because it is still newish, but because it is based on past experience I have no issue trusting in it and myself.
For the Writers Reading This
If you don’t do the work, you won’t get the experience you need to have this type of confidence. It’s okay if your work is not perfect. You’ll get better. Guaranteed.
If this speaks to you, let it sink in and take root in your creative soul…and then get to work. 😊
This morning I had the thought to start off with a little piano practice. I hadn’t thought about actively practicing in quite some time. I am fortunate, however, to have a full keyboard that I could hop over to and bang out some drills. This truly may be the new way I start my day.
My Musical Origin Story
My mom has a piano that was passed down from her father. I remember playing with it as a child and making some (probably) discordant note combinations. My mom had a collection of sheet music but I didn’t know how to read it at that time.
When I was in fourth grade my mom decided to pay for my older sister Marie to have piano lessons. I really, really, really wanted to take lessons, too, but my mom couldn’t afford to pay for both of us. She thought that if Marie learned, then she could teach me.
I was heartbroken that I would have to wait to learn but had to accept it. Not for terribly long, though. When my mom dropped Marie off for her lesson, I got to go, too. She had worked out something with the teacher for both of us to have lessons.
The Gift of a Great Teacher
Our piano teacher was an incredibly talented and patient college student who later became Miss South Carolina. I am grateful that I got to learn from her, but I wish I had had longer. When she stopped teaching (I think I was in ninth or tenth grade), she was just starting to guide us in writing our own music. I still have my manuscript notebook and some compositions and melodies I created.
Anyway, I loved playing the piano. I still love it, but the intensity was much more extreme when I was a kid and learning. I especially enjoyed playing fast songs and I essentially took over the piano. Marie learned as well, but I was on the piano daily.
I broke my left wrist in the sixth grade. Even with a cast limiting my wrist movement, I worked my way through the pain so that I could play. When I had the cast removed, I didn’t need therapy for that hand. I had already strengthened it back to normal.
Music as a Lifelong Thread
I once thought I might go to college for music. That changed somewhere in high school when I realized that I might like writing even more than piano.
I have played piano off and on over the years. I have performed for weddings, funerals, school events, church, etc. My first year of college, I played keyboard in the pit for our production of “Godspell.” Fun times.
When I moved out of my mom’s home in 1997, I found that I missed having a piano handy. I purchased my Roland ep-85 digital piano that year and started my own sheet music collection. I still have an anthology of alternative rock from that time. It’s awesome.
The Music Came With Me
When I left South Carolina in my early thirties, selling my belongings and only keeping what I could cram in my Honda Fit, my keyboard was something that I held onto. I could take apart the stand and I bought a case for it. I’ve had it all these years, diving back into playing at different times in my life.
A Return to Keys (of All Kinds)
Today seems to be the start of another cycle of getting back into it. Instead of starting the day at my computer keyboard, I made my way over to the piano, played through some drills, and then some songs I like. It was a lovely break in routine and a reminder of how much I still love music.
May we all continue to be called by our past, present, and future creative loves. 😊
