Hello 2025!

We’re all older and hopefully wiser and there is always something to seek in the coming months. I’ve got a few stories coming out this year, including my story, “Locked in the Bedroom,” which comes out in the Parenting edition of The Bad day Book THIS MONTH!

But the more I age into my writing, the more I find encouragement from my previous work, as well as the prospect of new endeavors. So while I’m gearing up for new contests, submissions, and successes, I have to look at 2024 and go: Holy Moley!

I had 334 piece of writing published last year.

I don’t think that’s my record, but it’s still a lot. Knowing how many of my articles, essays, and books have gotten out there always astounds me.

When I’m doing the work, it’s definitely work, but I never really think about what that means or how it builds up. It’s like chopping wood. You go out and you swing the ax and pile up the bits and pieces you’ve chopped off, but it’s not until you finish the work that you step back and really see all that you’ve accomplished.

People often ask me how I’m able to write so much while also caring for five children, running a house, and pretending to be a farmer with our chickens and gardens. Honestly…It’s all about that focus. Focusing on doing the work and getting it where it needs to be. That’s it. You just do it and make sure it gets finished.

It was definitely a year full of excitement and frustration at times. I still don’t know just exactly where my place in publishing even is, but I know it’s there. And that’s all a writer needs.

So I hope each and every one of you knows you have a place, somewhere. Even if you don’t know just exactly where it is. You can do so much in life if you just get to it and see how it goes.