May 1, 2025

It's finally May!

Recovering from illness, I'm embracing intentional rest while celebrating writing milestones and creativity!

May 2025

Hey Friend!

Coming to you from the end of April and the final dregs of illness. Being sick is not my ministry and being down for so long (so far 5 days) has wreaked havoc on my productivity. As a person, I’m working on accepting when I have needs (or my body does) and taking the appropriate rest when I need it, without beating myself up about it.

I laughed with my therapist about this because I do a fantastic job of providing this advice to other people and helping them see the value of “intentional rest,” but it's hard for me to take it myself. Being sick is also a little different, but the point is the same. When you need rest, you should take it, for whatever reason. Why exactly?

Have you ever planned to do something and then not done it for one reason or another? Sometimes it’s a reason that you think of as legitimate (my family member died and I had to attend the funeral, I was deathly ill, etc.) and other times it will be for reasons that your mind might say are illegitimate (I’m a little more tired then usual and think illness is coming, I’m feeling blocked and unsure where to go next, etc.). Occasionally, both reasons still leave you feeling guilty and questioning yourself: “Am I a real writer if I’m not getting my daily/weekly/monthly goals done? Am I failure if I haven’t done the thing I said I would do?”

The answer is yes, you’re still a writer, and no, you’re not a failure. I promise.

Intentional rest might cure your problems because the weight of guilt doesn’t free up your brain to be creative. In fact, it holds creativity at knife point, and if you’ve met creativity, it does not like being threatened and will run for the hills at its first chance. So while you might think forcing yourself and guilt-tripping is helping, it's probably not.

Intentional rest lets your creativity rest without the guilt weighing you down, and eventually, creativity comes back to you all on its own. And they're happy to see you. They have thoughts and ideas. Maybe they bring you your favorite beverage. It’s great.

Next month, when I tell you I haven’t taken a break in a while, link me back here, huh?

Anyways, April was a busy month writing-wise, as you’ll see below, and a busy month for the day job. Suffice it to say I’m tired. So it may be time to look at the calendar and figure out when I can afford to take that intentional rest. If you’re planning some deliberate rest, let me know!

A busy month but… I finished WSMS! You all know I was extremely nervous that it was going to grow to 100k, but I landed right around 88k. I’m so happy that it’s done and that a lot of the moves and moments feel right for the narrative. Still improvements to be made, but that’s for future me. I’m finishing out the month writing a new short and working on edits to another short story— a busy month for sure but a happy one. I’m grateful to have finished this novel and feel one step closer to querying again and the possibility of getting an agent.

That’s the first part of my dream as an author hoping to be traditionally published. First comes an agent, then a book deal, then a published book. Hopefully, but the first step to that is a well-written book ready to enter the querying process. WSMS isn’t there yet, but it’s closer than it would have been if I’d never written it!

It’s still on my list to write two other new novels this year because I don’t want to sink all of my hopes in one basket. I did that before and it didn’t get me very far.

If you’re in the trenches like me, what are you hoping for? Self-publishing? Small press? Traditionally published? Where are you on your journey, and how do you keep going?

Goals Review:

• Write Shorts/Novelettes: 3/5

• Write novels: 0/2

• Edit shorts/Novelettes: 3/5

• Edit Novel: 1/1

• Beta Novel: 1/1

Had a great time at the Queer Writers Salon this month sharing a little bit of my knowledge about literary magazines. I gave a brief presentation about what they are, what they look for etc.

I don’t have any upcoming panels or speaking gigs at the moment!

If you know someone who’s looking for panelists, don’t forget my name ;)

Reading

	I put this on hold a while ago and it came up. You may have noticed I’ve been in a real horror reading phase and particularly focusing on Indigenous Horror. I really enjoyed this book particularly because it focused on grief and family trauma which is in my wheelhouse and there was so much culture in the story. Not that scary if you don’t like horror for that reason.
	I love these two little awkward sapphic cuties. This is the second in a series but with a POV shift to focus on Pleiti’s perspective instead of Mossa. Another mystery at the university brings them together and we get to see how Mossa and Pletiti are navigating their relationship. It was incredibly relatable!
	This was my first ever read of The Fellowship and I have to say it was a very relaxing audiobook. Long of course but Any Serkis did incredible work with the various voices and I loved all the detail. Reading this classic definitely helped me to see how the genre was shaped.

Also are you on StoryGraph? That’s where I’m doing all my tracking. Come find me.

Watching

	My people…Season 3 of The Wheel of Time has moved me in so many ways. I was low. I was high. I sobbed. I screamed. My heart was broken. I know Prime hasn’t renewed for a 4th season yet but I truly hope they do because it’s just so delicious!
	What have I said about Housewives? If there is Bravo content I am probably watching it. So of course I’m watching this new show. It’s hilarious to watch these cougars (and Ashley Darby) try to find themselves love. If you watch Housewives, its exactly what you’d expect!
	I love to watch Fain and Laura’s travel videos. They talk about the things I want to know about and are really doing things that feel attainable to me. If you like travel videos, try these!

Listening

Here is my Spring playlist. Loving the songs on this, some crossover from the last playlist and some new songs I found on TikTok which is where I get most of my new music.