2025: The Year That Was

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 really wore me out. It was A LOT. 

Here at the waning of the year? Mostly, I feel tired.  

That's not to say there wasn't any joy. There absolutely was! The youngest Bryant graduated high school and started attending college as well as landing a good first job. 

Landmark birthdays for everyone but me this year

 

Our eldest is thriving in her chosen career, settling into the cutest house, and finding love. Sweetman and I are rock solid in our love (eyeballing that 20th anniversary in 2026 and wondering if we can swing that honeymoon we never took), and totally in this together every step of the way. The doggos are happy and healthy. Our grandsnake and grandcats are doing well, too. In fact, as I look back over the year, there's a lot to smile about. 

 It was a busy one for my writing life, too. I FINISHED MY SERIES! In July, Change for the Better, the fifth and final Menopausal Superheroes novel came out, bringing the work of the past ten years to a close. 

 

Three of my short horror stories made it into anthologies! Technically Dark Spores came out in December 2024, but all the events were in 2025, so I'm counting it. Behind the Shadows III and Dread Mondays were both just a couple of months ago. 

  

In a year with more firsts than you might expect at twelve years into this endeavor, I was invited to submit to an anthology. Though I've had my work included in many anthologies, I've always gotten in from cold call. It was really a boost to my ego to be specifically invited to submit to Disruptive Intent. The Kickstarter was successful and the book will be coming your way in 2026. 

 

If all that wasn't enough, I also made the leap into indie publishing. I set up my LLC, Dangerous When Bored, set up my new website (dangerouswhenbored.com) and put out my first book under the new imprint, a collection of weird suburban tales called Stories from Shadow Hill. 

 

I learned so much about the intricacies of indie publishing from this project, and I'm proud of the stories! In fact, in another first, one of them has been released as an audiobook! I'm collaborating with Charlotte Chiew to release several of them as mini-audiobooks and then promote them as a collection. Beware Cheap Houses is a cheeky bit of Lovecraftian horror, narrated by a cat named Punkin. 

 

Dangerous When Bored, LLC will bring you three romance novels this spring, so watch for news of Not Too Late, Acid Reign, and Ready or Not, my GenX romances! I've already got audiobook versions in the works, too!

So, 2025 might have been a tough year emotionally, but there's a lot to celebrate. Here's hoping 2026 brings all of us a step closer to exactly what we want out of life. Happy New Year! 

Winter weather, an open book blog hop post

 

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

Winter is coming to the northern part of the world. (It's here!). Do you have any plans, or do you prefer to hide from the cold?

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Currently I live in North Carolina, about halfway down the eastern seaboard of the United States, pretty much the northern part of what we call "the South." Since I grew up in the Midwest and spent my early adulthood in Alaska, I don't really find my current home truly cold most of the time (the mountains of NC do get "real" winter, but that's not where I am). 

In fact, I don't own a proper winter coat anymore. The two or three days a year I might need one, I wear a thick sweater beneath a heavy jacket. 

On the dark side of fifty now, I'm more sensitive to the cold than I used to be, especially where I have arthritis. But despite that, I like a nice snap in the air, at least for a little while. It's invigorating. And after I've gotten chilly, I have a great excuse to cozy up with a cuppa and a fire in the fireplace when I come back inside. Cozy heaven. 

 It's actually harder for me in the summer. I wilt in the heat. My favorite is that "cool enough for a sweater" weather in early spring and in the autumn.  

How about you? Do you relish winter? 

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The Best Gift, an IWSG post

(Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )

 

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 December 3 posting of the IWSG are Tara Tyler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, Liza, and Natalie Aguirre!

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. 

 It was quite a gift--not only in the dollar value of the retreat itself, but because it was also a promise to take on the extra labor to grant me the time. He'd be a single dad to our kids (they were nine and two at the time), take care of our house and dog, and leave me free to ignore my part of those responsibilities for a whole week and just focus on my writing!

 It was an amazing show of support.  

That week ended up being really important to my writing life. Not only did I make great progress on the book, but I made friends with a group of supportive women who boosted my confidence and helped me see the value in my work. It did a lot to fight my imposter syndrome and make me feel like this was something I could actually do. 

It's easier to find writing time now. Our kids are older. I changed jobs to something less stressful. I've got better at focusing under less-than-ideal conditions. But the writing space inside my head still looks a lot like the room at the top of the cupola at Pelican House.