Hello, Reader!

At the beginning of December, I realized that I was chronically online.

I'd be on my computer on almost every hour of the day. Why? Part of it was because I was writing and doing other remote work.

However, much of it was also because of one thing: Brainrot.

I got sucked into doomscrolling during the latter half of this year. I fretted about my existence, my "progress" in life, and the state of the rest of the world.
Scrolling through tons of meaningless (and often doom-and-gloom-themed) short-form content made me feel like I had to constantly rush through the rest of my work. This is extremely ironic, given the hopeful books that I write (especially Refilling The Well, my poetry chapbook about burnout recovery).

As Mary Oliver quotes in her book Upstream, "Attention is the beginning of devotion."

In this case, I devoted myself to a LOT of anxiety, doom, and gloom (both intentionally and unintentionally).

I'm glad to notice this, because this means that I have time before the end of the year to change things for the better.

You don't HAVE to wait until Jan. 1st to make positive changes for yourself, after all.

Think of what you want to change, maybe make a plan or two if you need one, and start today. It might not be a perfect attempt, but at least you can try.

I'm Judging Books For the 2025 Indie Ink Awards!

You may recall that I was trying to get my books nominated for the 2025 Indie Ink Awards this year. That unfortunately didn't happen.

However...I'll be a judge for the 2025 Indie Ink Awards! 🎉

I had such a fun time judging for the 2024 award season, and I'm incredibly grateful to have the chance to do so again.

Thank you to WriteHive for selecting me as one of the judges! I look forward to reading and judging the finalists' books.

Learn more about the Indie Ink Awards!

Treat Yourself With The Smashwords End Of Year Sale! 📚

All of my books are 25%-50% off exclusively on Smashwords RIGHT NOW!

Check out the sale!

Help your folks get some DISCOUNTED BOOKS by sharing this email! This way, everyone gets a chance to find their next favorite book!

Thank you for your help and support, and happy reading! 😄

What Am I Writing Lately?✍️

I finished writing the FINAL version of Sonnets of Winter! ❄️

I also finished writing the FINAL version of Sonnets of Autumn! 🍂

I've removed both works from the WIPs page on my website.

All of the Sonnets Of The Seasons books WILL reappear on another page on my website...sometime in 2026.

I'm debating between releasing these collections starting in late 2026 or waiting until late Winter or early Spring 2027. 🤔 Given that each poetry collection covers an entire season, I don't want to publish them years apart from each other like I did with the Harlow Mystery books. This likely means that I'll publish all of them over a 1-year or 1.5-year period of time. Details on that to come in the future!

I wasn't planning to work on any longform projects after I initially finished Draft #2 of The Secret Gardens We Grew Together at the beginning of December. I didn't want to start another huge project right before the end of the year.

Clearly, I changed my mind. I got so tired of not writing or editing any poetry that I just had to finish something.

Other Writing-Related Activities:

Submitted multiple short stories and poetry to lit mags. 📚 You never know if they'll be published or not immediately. However, it never hurts to take a shot!
Freewriting. ✍️I didn't put any pressure on myself to have them done by a specific deadline or make them into short stories or poetry to immediately sell elsewhere. Plus, with the upcoming holidays, I prioritized spending more time with family and friends.
Updated my author website! Check it out here. I'll probably update it AGAIN in 2026.

What Am I Reading Lately?

Decreasing doomscrolling gave me more time to read than I ever had in recent months! 😄

Cover of the book *Millie Of The Manor* by Karina Evans and Andrea Bell.

One of my favourite reads was Millie Of The Manor by Karina Evans and Andrea Bell. The book's heroine, Amy, has social anxiety and this results in her struggling to make friends. When one of her classmates, Raegan, invites her to a murder mystery party at her house. Amy is determined to stay within her party's assigned character ( a scientist named "Millie," hence the book's title!) to solve the case and stave off her anxiety.

I really loved this book because I also enjoy reading murder mysteries. After all, I wrote three books in this genre! I deeply related to Amy being so anxious about whether she would be judged by others about whether what she does is "socially acceptable" and if they would accept her with her anxiety.

Other books I read include: