A day well-spent. Zander looks and sounds like he was a wonderful guide.

It’s been years since I read both, but I can state unequivocally that I never once thought they were badly written or contained questionable “adult” content. Difficult topics that elicit strong emotion? Sure. As good books do.

Oh no! Hope all gets sorted and healed as needed.

Woohoo! Congrats on finishing. 🍷

The haircut looks good.

Ah, yes, the oodles of time to read thing. It never works out that way…life lessons, there. Still, a TBR is a good thing to have for whenever one has downtime. Or needs a pick-me-up.

The editors looked intent.

Lesser-known holidays, writing, and other goings-on The quick catch-up from my writer's cave, saints included

Things that are keeping me busy lately.

Lesser-known holidays, writing, and other goings-on stories-by-tracey.beehiiv.com/p/lesser-kno...

The naysayers might wish to avail themselves of a broader pool of thinkers. Scout’s Progress and Local Custom were wonderfully done and deftly handled. And yes, subversive in keeping with the rest of the well-written SF out there.

Happy natal day, Rook!

After writing ~4,289 words, I’m ready for sleep.

A little over 36k words still needed to hit my goal for this book. Assuming the story doesn’t decide it needs more.

Quite.

Assembled my new office chair last night. So far today, it’s performed excellently. Comfortable, supportive, and keeps me cool while working.

Breakfast is whatever food you choose to eat at that time of day.

Another 930 words added to the WIP’s running total.

Time for sleep.

Another 4,303 words written between yesterday and today. Excluding front and back matter, this WIP now stands at 78,290.

Time to let the creative brain rest and return to exercising my editing brain.

Added 2,720 words to a WIP during an editing break. The story got talkative!

Now back to my regularly scheduled editing. Different genre, characters, and world. Switching keeps things interesting and sharpens my mind.

Genesis of a side story Better known as "the muse had an [insert adjective(s)] idea"

Side quests: They're not just for fictional characters.

stories-by-tracey.beehiiv.com/p/genesis-of...

#talesfromthewritingtrenches #writingcommunity #pantser

The muse ambushed me with 967 words in a short story I’m working on in connection with my fantasy WIP.

Still wrestling with whether the concept idea will work overall.

Oh, how I’ve missed being able to immerse myself in writing stories for large chunks of time. So needed today.

+/- 5,036 words added to one of the WIPs pining for me, bringing it to 72,402.

Now back to editing others’ books. 🖊️📚 And maybe a short nap. 😴

I did! It was wonderful.

So yes… Write. Create. Do something that resonates in your soul.

Happy New Year!

Cheers to a year filled with new adventures, fresh starts, and endless possibilities.

An image of an open red envelope with a message on the inner flap. Message reads, Happy Holidays. Let your days be merry, bright, and full of love.

On the downhill side of moving my household twice in 6 months. I "might" have time to catch up on socials sometime in Q1 2026.

I wish you a better holiday season than you expect with a happy, healthy, and fulfilling year to come.

Far too many to list, but among them are:
• The Hobbit+The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach)
• Dragonriders of Pern (Anne McCaffrey)
• Liaden universe (Sharon Lee/Steve Miller)
• Darkover (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
• Heralds of Valdemar (Mercedes Lackey)

Erm…what? <scratches head in befuddlement at the Concerned Reader’s opinion>

Tali looks regal in her nook.

This week brings fiber WiFi installation in my new residence, the chaos of a household move and many kinks in getting said move accomplished, and too many deadlines.

I both love and curse my muse.

Love: She gave me 2,080 new (good) words in a WIP today, not counting some setup notes I added.

Curse: She got vocal while I was working on an edit. AKA my livelihood.

Thankfully, I could make a split shift happen.

#writing #editing

Quite a tantalizing snippet! I look forward to seeing how that plays out.

Just Get It Done tends to backfire for me as well. The thing(s) might well *get* done, but I and other things will pay for it after the fact. Sigh. Life does love throw curveballs, doesn’t it?

Grumbling at life happened in my neck of the woods too.

Today’s news of any note: Vet visit for the two canines accomplished. Older dog is getting more persnickety about it. Young scaredy-dog did amazingly well.

Now to find the package the delivery people *swear* arrived today…

Speaking of potatoes, they’re a much-desired part of dinner tonight.

Happy to hear that the new writing schedule suits you. And thanks to Rookie for assisting with the selfie.

That seems an excellent continued use of a writer’s cave.

What have I been thinking about? Too many things, some of which are more stressful than I think they should be.

To alleviate that, today was “Wash the scaredy-dog day.” He did surprisingly well. Even made new friends at Tractor Supply!

I might have sung that title in my head. Good tune.

Hopefully the quiet after the siren ruckus turned conducive to writing. And that the new character divulges their name.