Writing directly on my website again feels surprisingly natural.
Since February 2024, my weekly updates have lived on Substack. While I’ve appreciated many things about that platform, I realized I was giving up something valuable—search engine visibility for my own site. Substack was great for connection, but not so great for long-term discoverability.
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how creatively spread out I’ve felt. Between moving back home, shifting career rhythms, and trying new creative forms, it’s been a bit of a big bang—my artistic energy exploded in all directions.
But now? It’s time to bring everything back into orbit.
A Digital Homecoming
A couple of weeks ago, I consolidated my websites into one cozy creative home. (If you’re reading this—welcome! Feel free to explore.) I had some tech hiccups, but overall, I’m happy with the result. Seeing my writing, visual art, and products all living side by side feels…right.
Once that happened, Substack began to feel like an outlier. It no longer made sense to write about my creative process somewhere else when I now have a site that actually shows what I’ve been making.
So here I am. Home at last.
Plot Twists and Soap Suds
Funny enough, I didn’t intend to make progress on my next book this past weekend. But by Friday, I’d already hit my project goals for the week. Rather than dive into more screen time, I decided to get crafty and give my brain a break.
So, I made soap.
I’ve been making cold-process soap for nearly 20 years, but I wanted to try something new—hot-process soap. To my surprise, it was easier than expected, and the bars seem totally normal. I’ll know for sure in four weeks, once they’ve cured. (Soap patience is a thing.)
That small act of creative play unlocked something in me. A plot twist I’d been circling suddenly clicked into place. I was too excited not to sit down and hammer out the rest of the outline for The AI Anomaly—the sequel to The Resurrection Incident.
I’d originally planned to wait until winter to start drafting, in keeping with my seasonal creative flow idea. But… since I’ve already promised a 2025 release, I may need to shift my plan forward.
No official release date yet—I’m going to wait until I have a solid draft. I want to keep things joyful, not pressured.
I love the fact that my husband and I (and my father-in-law) were able to get so much accomplished over our staycation that I wrote about last week. It allowed me to get back into my workflow without all those unfinished projects lurking in the background (and being stacked in boxes in the living room). My creative motor has been revving with new perspective.
Nature Knows Best?
Last week I mentioned an idea that I had about allowing my creative life to mirror nature. This idea has apparently been on my mind a bit as I also came across it in a draft of a letter I was writing to a penpal. I realize that, not only is this a feasible idea, it takes a lot of pressure off having to do all the things all the time. If I allow everything to have a season and not try to figure out how to do a little of everything every day, then life makes more sense to me.
Anybody else feeling this way? Or, am I the last person to figure this out?
Structure Without the Strain
That doesn’t mean that I am giving up on consistent action or habits. It just means that I intend to maintain the daily ones that help me have the energy and clarity of mind I need to do what I want to do. The other actions that relate more to actually creating will shift throughout the year as priorities change.
I feel like I sound vague, here. So, this is what I have in mind:
Since we’re currently in May and will soon be moving into the summer months, I intend to use this time be more social, to make connections, finish up smaller projects, and gorge on reading and learning new things. I feel like summer is a time of abundance and doing the necessary things to propagate continued existence.
In Fall, I will begin outlining and planning books for the next year. It is also a time of clearing things out such as selling inventory.
Winter is the time of writing. I don’t like to be out and about in the cold, anyway. The idea of a lovely hibernation where I write and prepare for the new year seems lovely.
Spring is the time of releasing new books and then shifting back into summer mode.
I have a more detailed plan, of course, but that is the overall idea. I would love this to be the structure for my life. However, we’ll see how putting it into action actually works out. Wish me luck.
Does anyone else have a plan like this? How has it worked out?
Whew. April? Gone. Vanished. Vaporized into a cloud of productivity and (mildly itchy) yardwork.
Here’s a peek at what filled the days:
Spent hours upon hours in online classes
Revamped my website—consolidated, streamlined, and now everything’s in one place
Took a staycation with my husband where we tackled house projects like champs (my father-in-law flew in to help with his mighty expertise)
House Projects Completed
o Took down old, starting-to-rot back deck to reveal nice brick steps underneath.
o Replaced four light fixtures and a ceiling fan inside the house
o We had an electrician add an outside outlet at the back of the house (strangely, we didn’t have one – it is an older house, though). He also added some GFL outlets in the kitchen and bathroom. We feel so much safer now!
o We installed a new range hood. So shiny, so nice.
o We added handrails to the steps at our side door and back door.
o Our neighbors let us cut down a dead tree in their yard that looked like it was going to fall over our fence. It was covered in all the vines: poison ivy, Virginia creeper, greenbriers. Thankfully, I only got a little poison ivy on my forearm! It’s still a bit itchy…
o Did some other landscaping and yard cleanup.
o Cleaned out the dryer vent.
o Had the AC maintenance guy do the annual service.
o Added an 8-ft vinyl fence panel in the space between our chainlink fence and the house (it was originally where the edge of the deck was and we needed to close it off so our dog woudn’t take his crusade against squirrels out into the neighborhood.
o Replaced an old toilet seat
o Installed a pull-up bar
We also picked strawberries at a local farm, played games, went out to some local shops, and enjoyed making and eating good food together.
But…
In the midst of all this growing and improvement, I lost some of the structures I had in place to keep various writing and art projects moving along. I’ve neglected posting anything for weeks.
I suppose sometimes life is like that.
A Seasonal Rhythm?
I had a thought over the past few weeks that it would be cool to mirror my life and workload to nature.
Over winter, I could write and work on creative projects with the intent of bringing them into the world during the spring.
I could shift to light creative projects in summer and fall with a focus on making sales and preparing for the upcoming winter.
I would also use the spring and summer to read and learn as much as possible because I love how that feeds my brain and creativity.
I’m not sure how feasible this idea is, but it might be worth exploring.
Back to the Writing
For now, I’m reviewing my project list and making a new plan for the rest of the year. I’m also getting back into the writing groove.
I have been working out some plot points the past couple of months for the “The AI Anomaly.” I have also been struggling with how I want to tell this story. I think it has to maintain some similarity to “The Resurrection Incident,” but mayhap there is enough wiggle room to shift the format in a way that makes it fun for me to write and, hopefully, for the reader to read.
I still love the story and am excited to get it out in the world. Time to make it happen.
