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Story ideas seem to stalk me. They're EVERYWHERE. Some of them just open up like trap doors and I fall in. Others snatch at my ankles and trip me up when I'm trying to go to the grocery store. A few are responses to things I've seen or read or heard. The weirder ones just sort of drift in like a cloud and rain on me for a moment. Every idea I have calls up her cousins and invites them to the party, too. Sooooo many ideas.

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Read the rest on Balancing Act.

Over on Substack, I'm talking about Going Indie and how that journey is going for me. Month 3 is up now!

A to Z and IWSG: Going Indie: A is for Anticipation

Luckily for me, my theme for A to Z is writing related (Going Indie!), so I'm going to try to put these together.

(read the rest on Balancing Act)

There's been quite a variety of types of book launches in my writing life so far. Some were polished, some fell apart, and some just kind of happened when I wasn't looking.

When my first book, Going Through the Change, was published the first time in 2015, I arranged for a book launch party at a local indie book store and it was FABULOUS! Lots of family came in from out of town, everyone local in my writing life showed up, and I really felt like a feted celebrity.

February was a blur for me.

I had author events of one kind or another every weekend, trying to build my visibility and keep up connections, while still working my day job, doing my part in keeping our household afloat, keeping up with social media and marketing work, and progressing on the next book.

I did this to myself on purpose, but it was still quite a ride. I worry a little whether I have the stamina I’m going to need for this.

Read the rest on Substack or Balancing Act.

2026 is my year of living dangerously, by which I mean I’m becoming my own publisher. I did some foundational work for that in 2025, which I wrote about here, but the real push started with the beginning of the new year.

Now that we’ve flipped the first month of the calendar, I thought it was time for an update. I want to document this for myself and as a help to others.

Read the rest on my new Substack.

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the...

2025 in my writing life was in some ways a year of endings.

I finished my Menopausal Superheroes series, which has been my major focus as a writer for the past decade, bringing that vision to a close. The last novel (Change for the Better) came out nearly exactly ten years after the first novel (Going Through the Change), which had a nice feeling of perfect timing.

I've been on this roller coaster a long time, and while it's been a great ride, I'm excited about moving on to other projects and...

2025 was…not my favorite year. Even though it all came out surprisingly well in the end, it wasn't light and easy and a lot of it felt like windy trudge uphill in the snow.

Challenges to my personal life included a lot of caregiving demands as those near and dear to me went through health struggles and romantic misadventures as well as stress and worry related to the political landscape of my country. The hateful behavior and attitudes of people who ought to be working for a common good...

December 3 question - As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

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Winter Holidays, 2010. We had opened all the packages and were sitting there basking in the glow when my husband announced that there was one more gift. He left the room and came back with a little scroll, then handed it to me.

When I unrolled it, I found that Sweetman had bought me a writing retreat! I'd be going to Pelican House for a week of quiet and writing.

(...

I find this one difficult to answer. There are a LOT of holidays that have brought me joy, but most of them are also a ton of work and sometimes that doesn't balance out. Some of my best family times AREN'T on holidays at all, and I think that's because there's less pressure or expectations on the day and I can relax.

So, some thoughts on several holidays: (the full post is on Balancing Act as Bookbub sites don't yet support commenting on blog posts).

November 5 question - When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?

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I "began" writing several different times in my life.

(BookBub doesn't support comments, which I consider essential to a blog, so for now, my actual blog is still on Balancing Act. Read the post there.)

Until Bookbub opens up commenting for blogs here, I'll be leaving my blog at my old website: Balancing Act. Please check out my post there!

After a looooong time at Blogger, I'm finally making the move to a new website. You can still access all my old content at Balancing Act, but I'll be moving my blog posts here starting in November.