Pass go! Collect $200! Go, go go!

I began 2024 hoping I would find my way back to writing and I now have TWO unfinished manuscripts. While I would prefer to have a complete first draft, I’m back on track and believe I’m heading in the right direction. And that direction is forward.

Taking a break in 2023 was both scary and necessary, and I’m glad I took my time easing back into writing, marketing, and everything else that comes along with being an indie author. I don’t post on social media every day and, even more importantly, I don’t feel guilty about it. I do wish I was better about engaging with others, but again, I’ve learned that there’s only so much I can do in a day.

To kick off 2025, I thought I’d share a few things I’m most excited about:

• Launching The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway on February 25
• Turning 50 on March 17
• Finally going to Europe at the end of April
• Submitting It’s Always Been You to my agent, and then publishers

And that’s just the first half of the year! I’ve also signed up for a bike race in April, two more triathlons, and we’re going to see Moulin Rouge the musical in a few weeks! The audio book for TQUEE is also in the works, and I’m beyond excited to finally have a book in that format. I’m also still thoroughly obsessed with mountain biking and the all-women team I joined in August.

Gah! Do you understand why I chose the word Go?

(While writing this post, I recalled that the first book I read by myself was Go, Dog, Go. This pleases me.)

As a writer and overall creative person, I’m a firm believer that it’s important to refill our creative well. The two best ways I do that is talking about writing with other writers — something I’m doing a lot more often since starting a monthly writers’ happy hour — and reading books. Sadly, I only read 13 books this year. Part of that is because I read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame (two ENORMOUSLY long books), but a lot of it is because I didn’t make the time to read.

Which leads me to the habits I’m hoping to ditch.

For years I’ve joked that I don’t know how to sit still and that relaxing is a foreign concept to me, so when I did have a few minutes to waste on silly mobile games, I told myself I earned that downtime. Unfortunately, those few minutes turned into hours, and while I do understand that every minute of the day doesn’t have to have an end result, reading makes me happy. It makes me a better writer. It fills my well in ways that Blockodu cannot.

And so, before I could overthink it, on the morning of January 1st I deleted the app.

Then I picked out a book to read and planned the next author meet-ups. Because while I can’t control how TQUEE’s launch will go, or which joint will fail the day after I turn 50, or if it rains on our Mediterranean cruise, I can control how I treat my brain. I recently switched from studying Spanish to Italian to prepare for our cruise, and I was gifted watercolor paints for Christmas. I’m embracing getting older because I continue to learn and challenge myself.

And I am ready to go!