No AI for me, thanks: IWSG September

 

 

      

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 September 3 posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Diedre Knight!

September 3 question - What are your thoughts on using AI, such as ChatGPT, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, storybible, or creating outlines/beats?

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No thanks. 

I've written about this on my blog before, and I'm honestly pretty tired of talking about it. It's a choice people make, and I choose not to. 

Here are my issues: 

1. Ethics. It's all over the news how AIs were trained on the backs of creators with no permission asked or granted, no payments made, etc. There are class action lawsuits in progress for breach of copyright and other types of theft or piracy committed to train these systems. 

Until they get this figured out and learn how to proceed ethically, I'm out. 

So far, the main use case seems to be exploitation or lazy seeking of shortcuts, at least with generative AI (assistive AI like Grammarly and ProWritingAid is another kettle of fish that doesn't stink nearly as badly). 

 2. Environment: The energy and water usage for AI processing is ridiculous. My brain works with way less fuel and does less damage to the planet. You can run a Samantha on coffee and curiosity for days. AI is much more expensive. 

 3. I don't see the appeal: I write because I enjoy writing. I even enjoy the parts that don't feel fun in the moment and get a real feeling of accomplishment from working my way through problems and figuring them out. 

I'm also enough of a control-freak and see enough stories about AI getting it wrong (how about those completely inaccurate search results, like citing books that don't exist? and the doubling down when called on it?) that I don't trust AI even in support roles because it hallucinates and then I'd have to redo the work anyway to make it useful. 

 So yeah, I'll stick to enjoying AI as a fictional concept. 

Some AI themed books I've recently enjoyed. 

How about you? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
 

 

It's All on Me, It's Scary, and I think I love it, an IWSG post

 

      

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 August 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Natalie Aguirre, Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen, and Olga Godim!

 August 6 question - What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry? 

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I'm ignoring the optional question this month because I want to talk about my adventures in indie publishing so far. See, though I've considered myself a professional writer for ten years now, I'm a complete newbie in indie publishing. All my previous work was trad-published by small publishers. 

My decision not to indie publish up till now was not about snobbery, or even need for validation, but about time. I looked around, saw what all I'd need to handle, got overwhelmed and decided to try for traditional publishing first, so that someone else could handle my editing, layout, cover, etc. 

That experience has bruised and buoyed me in turns. Some of it has been fantastic, and some of it felt like it might be fatal. But that's the way of a life in the arts, methinks.  

But a lot has changed in the past ten years. 

My children are both legal adults now if not fully launched yet. I left teaching, that abusive spouse of a job, for something less soul-swallowing that pays better. 

So I have more time and (a little) more money. 

I've spent ten years learning from the wonderful community of writers, editors, and publishers that surrounds me.  So, I've probably gone from "You know nothing, John Snow" to knowing just enough to be a danger to myself and others. 

So my next project is a trio of short romance novels, all featuring GenX characters, and I've decided to go all indie with this one.  

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As of this writing, I'm in process on all three of them. I've contracted an editor and cover artist for all three and I'm working towards spring 2026 for their release, bringing the first of the three out as a birthday gift to myself.  

So far, I've spent about $200 on editing of the first book (I got a friends and family rate--she's worth more than she's charging), $400 on the first book cover, and $250 buying ISBNs. So, $850 so far, and I anticipate at least $700 to get each of the other two books this far. That's no small change, at least not at my income level, but I feel strongly about hiring editing and a cover artist to ensure the best quality book I can produce. 

My intention is to "go wide" by which I mean publish the book through Ingram so that I am not tied to any one particular bookseller like Amazon, Kobo, B&N, etc. Amazon and I are going through a long and protracted divorce because of some of their business practices, so while I do want to make my books available there, I don't want to be trapped into exclusivity with them. Working with Ingram makes my book accessible to libraries and bookstores as well, and that's a serious boon. 

Being in process on all three books at the same time is a little scary, but also pretty exciting, because there's always something I can make progress on. 

I'm finishing drafting the third book, while the second book is out for beta reading and waiting its turn on the editor's desk. Meanwhile, I'm working with the cover artist on the cover for the first book and figuring out all the formatting stuff. There's always something I can move forward on and that's pretty amazing given how much traditional publishing is a waiting game of one kind or another.  

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All this doesn't mean that I won't traditionally publish anymore. Several of the publishers I've worked with are people I would happily work with again and if a big five publisher wanted to give me a shot, I'd take it. But at the same time, doing this all myself feels like a level-up and I'm really energized. 

This feels like the right time of my life to become a hybrid author. I've got more time than I've had previously, enough money for the initial investment, a good base of knowledge about what's actually required (I'm sure there will still be surprises), contacts and a support network when I need advice, and a little footprint out there already from my traditionally published work that might help my visibility.  

I guess we'll find out a few months from now how and if the books sell and how I feel about it all on the other side of things, but it seems a risk worth taking.  

Next, I need to figure out audiobook versions, but I don't think I'm quite ready for that part yet. 

If you're writing with intentions to publish, or already publishing, what route is yours? Why? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!  

 

 

 

 

New-to-me genres, an IWSG post

 

      

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 July 2 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Natalie Aguirre, Cathrina Constantine, and Louise Barbour!

This month's question:

July 2 question - Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?  

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I love trying out new genres, themes, styles, etc. For me, that's some of the joy of writing: going "I've never done that before, so let's go!" 

 

I'm in the middle of writing my first romances right now and it's a BLAST! After finishing my Menopausal Superhero series last year, I found that really wanted new project energy. So instead of returning to one of my back-burner projects, I decided I'd write romances featuring women in their 50s finding love: GenX romances. 

 

The first one is off for editing now and I'm nearly done prepping the second one for editing, then I'm back to finish drafting the third one. 

 

What will I do after that? I think I'll go back to the Gothic I started a couple of years back. 

 

Often, when I want to try out a new genre, I write a short story first. It lets me play with something new at a lower commitment (in time, energy, etc.) than taking on a novel. It's been fun, and it's really built my catalogue since I've gotten 24 of them published in anthologies over the past ten years.

 

 

 

There's a lot of horror in that list (I LOVE writing short horror), but there's also urban fantasy, literary fiction, women's fiction, alt-history, fantasy, science fiction, weird, ghost, romance, fable/fairytale, and dystopian in there, especially since crossover genre is a real thing and you can end up with a weird urban fantasy alt-history with romantic elements and have to ask yourself what genre it is. 

 

I haven't yet written any steampunk. Besides the Gothic, I've also got a historical women's fiction trilogy I'd like to get back to and finish, and well as a young adult fantasy. I've never written a thriller or a mystery. OOOOH, maybe a western would be fun. I love to read weird westerns, so writing one would probably be even more fun. 

 

So far, I don't have much interest in writing straight up realistic fiction or military scifi, but otherwise, there isn't much I'm not interested in trying. Trying on new genres is a delight. 

 

How about you? Are you a genre-hopper as a reader or writer? Or do you have favorite lanes to swim in?  

Foundational Books, an IWSG post

 

      

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 June 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Pat Garcia, Kim Lajevardi, Melisa Maygrove, and Jean Davis!

This month's question:

June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

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There's something special about books you read in childhood and young adulthood, isn't there? The root they take in your heart and mind is deeper and stronger than things you read in other phases of life (at least that's how it's gone for me). 

 

I've written about this before, in particular about revisiting those books as an adult--it can be fraught, because sometimes those works don't hit the same way when you read them with more experience under your belt, and you see unsavory things that sailed past you as a child. 

 

So a few books that have stayed important to me: 

 

Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I first read this when I was 12 or so years old, and it was a revelation. After years and years of "good" and "nice" girls, here was an unreliable, weird, and dangerous young woman narrator. Witchy and wild, and judgmental about the people in the town. 

As the story evolved and I learned more about her family history and her past actions, my heart started beating faster. It felt *transgressive*, like I was getting away with reading something subversive, and that has stayed a part of me every since, both in what I like to read and what I write. 

I still read at least part of this book nearly every October, and it still works for me every single time. If pressed to choose a "favorite book of all time," this is often my choice. 

I did also like fine, upstanding characters…not just the misfits and miscreants. In elementary school, (maybe 3rd or 4th grade?) I plowed through TONS of Nancy Drew books. Some of them had been my mother's and my grandmother's. Others came from the library (the bookmobile ladies would hide them under the seat for me so they'd still be available when they got to my stop). 

So, I saw a few different versions of Nancy--her looks and details changed across her reboots. One version of her had an eidetic memory, which I found almost as fascinating as ESP and really hoped I would develop. 

Nancy was independent and smart and kind, and her father trusted her to take care of herself, even in risky situations. She had wonderful and supportive friends, too. I LOVED that, and I'm still attracted to stories that give the characters agency and skill. 

I haven't read a Nancy Drew since childhood, but she still gets a piece of my heart. 

Another foundational mythology for me was Grimm's Fairy Tales. I had a lot of versions of these--the ones my German great-grandmother would tell me from memory, good old Disneyfications, and various tellings and retellings from illustrated volumes. 

I especially loved all the ones about clever girls escaping harm and rescuing those around them. "The Feather Bird," "The Old Woman in the Wood," "The Twelve Brothers," "The Robber Bridgeroom," and of course, "Hansel and Gretel" (honestly, Gretel's name should go first).  

Childhood can be a time of feeling helpless and small, even when you have a relatively safe, secure, and loving family. So, these stories of girls who were underestimated proving that they do indeed have what it takes? Yeah. That still works for me.

So, if you find me and my work subversive, feminist, and a little feral? Well, it's not my fault. Blame Merricat, Nancy, and Gretel. They helped make me who I am. 

I still LOVE reading, but now I'm a writer and a well-educated critically-thinking adult…so I analyze while I read in a different way than I did when I was only looking to lose myself in a story. That said, I feel like I'm developing a whole new set of foundational books as a writer. They feed and inspire me in entirely different ways. I may have to follow up with a post about those--the books that are making me now. 

How about you? What books made you who you are? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. 

 

What Writers Fear: an IWSG post

 

      

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 May 7 posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Janet Alcorn, Rebecca Douglass, Jemima Pett, and Pat Garcia!

This month's question:

May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

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This is an interesting question because I don't have a ready answer. 

 

Rejection? I'm not especially afraid of rejection--I find that the more I submit my work, the less an individual rejection hurts, and plenty of rejections have helped me by making me re-examine the work and improve it. (I have a goal this year of submitting my work 100 times in 2025 and I've already done 47, and collected 22 rejections and 2 sales so far).

 

Failure? Success? Failure and success are only partly up to me, and I've accepted that some of that is out of my control. I have hopes, but not really fears about this. I work to make my writing as strong and meaningful as it can be, and seek opportunities to get it in front of readers, but I don't drive myself crazy wondering if I'll ever make a million bucks or anything like that.

 

Lack of talent or ability? I believe in my own talent and ability, more often than I don't. (I read somewhere that a writer needs a mixture of humility and chutzpah to make it, and I always try to cultivate that balance). 

 

So what does scare me as a writer?

 

Maybe, running out of time? I have SO MANY ideas for stories, projects, series, poems, essays, books, etc. Some of them are started; others I've seen to fruition; and lots and lots of them are waiting for their moment in the sun when they become the "main project" and get my full focus. 

 

I just had a birthday--number 54, if you're wondering--and if I follow the pattern of women in my family, that gives me about 35 more years on this side of the soil. I can only take care of myself and hope that I get all 35 years and that I get them in sound mind and body that lets me continue to create. (so there's a second sub-fear: losing my cognitive or physical abilities and being unable to write).

 

That makes me a little driven. Unwilling to "waste" time. Sometimes it makes me resentful of other responsibilities (like the day job) because those are hours that could be spent developing all these ideas. 

 

So far as fears go, it's not debilitating. Just sort of …motivating. How about you? Do fears hold you back in your creative life? I'd love to hear about in the comments.  

 

 

 

 

Fantasy Friends: Xiala of Between Earth & Sky, an IWSG post AND AtoZ challenge!

 

      

This is quite the Wednesday! Not only is it the first Wednesday of the month (time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop), it's also April 2nd, which means it's time for letter B in the AtoZ blogging challenge. I couldn't figure out how to meld the two of these, so you get them both: 

Insecure Writer's Support Group:

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the April 2 posting of the IWSG are Jennifer Lane, L Diane Wolfe, Jenni Enzor, and Natalie Aguirre!

This month's question:

 

April 2 question - What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of wine with?

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I'm going to pick a recent favorite for all three: Tiala of Rebecca Roanhorse's Between Earth & Sky trilogy: 

 

 

 

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This is a pretty new series. Black Sun was a finalist for all the big specfic awards in 2020 and Mirrored Heavens just came out last year. It's an epic fantasy story that pulls from Native American mythologies in the world-building. The main two characters are Serapio, the Crow God incarnate, and Xiala (pronounced SHE-ah-lah), a Teek woman. 

 

The Teek in this series are a matriarchal society renowned for their song, which can be used to magically influence and control others. The Teek put me in mind of Sirens, Mermaids, and Banshees, among other dangerous song-women of world mythologies, with a touch of Amazons, too. 

 

Throughout the book, we learn a lot about the people and what other kinds of people believe about them. I won't spoil it for you by giving too much detail here, but it's fascinating! In fact, the world-building alone is well worth the price of admission in this series.

 

If I recall correctly, Xiala is in jail when we meet her at the beginning of book one because she assaulted a husband who walked in on her and his wife when they were "getting busy." She's a hard-drinking foul-mouthed, "live life to the fullest" woman, exiled from her people for reasons you don't learn until later. She's magical, and on a journey of self-discovery through a life of piracy, debauchery, and alcoholism. 

 

Here's some images of her as imagined by Peri Celeste:  

 

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I probably couldn't keep up with her at the bar, but maybe I could get away with sipping my whiskey slowly while she pounds it back and listen with rapt fascination to her stories, both the true ones and the exaggerations. And if I had to go on a quest, she'd make a powerful ally. As for fighting her? No way. I value my life higher than that. 

 

Now, would she want to hang out with me? I dunno. Maybe if I promised to immortalize her in story and song, she'd put up with a physically week, lightweight drinker for a while. One can dream!

 

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge:  

B is for Bidi Bidi Bom Bom

 

So, if you tuned in yesterday for my Songs of my Heart post, you heard Aha Me a Riddle I Day, by Laura Love. I swear not all the songs I picked have a seemingly nonsense phrase for the title. It's just a coincidence of the alphabet that these two are in a row.    

For others visiting my blog, this is a fun challenge, where we all post 26 times in April, one time for each letter of the alphabet, often on a theme. I hope you'll check out some of the other participating blogs!

 

(if my embedded video doesn't work, listen here)

 

Selena Quintanilla Perez was the Queen of Tejano music in the early 1990s, right as I was moving into adulthood and becoming a Spanish teacher. As a person who didn't grow up speaking Spanish, but learned it in classrooms, music was often really hard for me to understand--definitely harder than spoken Spanish. But I could do pretty well with Selena. And it didn't hurt that she recorded some serious bops!

I still remember dancing to this one in my classroom with my students in Nome, Alaska and laughing until we cried. 

If Selena had not died tragically young (she was killed by the president of her fan club), she and I would be of an age, so she's special to me for that reason, too.  

Lyrics in Spanish from azlyrics and in English from lyricstranslate. (Bidi bidi bom bom doesn't exactly mean anything--it's just sort of sounds, representing the heartbeat, so it's the same in both versions)

Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Cada vez, cada vez que lo veo pasar Mi corazon se enloquece Y me empieza a palpitar Y se emociona, ya no razona No lo puedo controlar Y se emociona, ya no razona Y me empieza a cantar Me canta asi Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Cada vez, cada vez que lo oigo hablar Me tiemblan hasta las piernas Y el corazon igual Bidi bidi bom bom Y se emociona, ya no razona No lo puedo controlar Y se emociona, ya no razona Y me empieza a cantar Me canta asi Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Cuando escucho esta canción Mi corazon quiere cantar así Me canta así, me canta a ti Cada vez que lo veo pasar Mi corazon se enloquece Cada vez que lo veo pasar Y me empieza a palpitar Así, así Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Me canta asi, me canta a ti Cada vez que lo veo pasar Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom

Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Every time, Every time I see him pass My heart goes crazy And it starts to beat And it get excited, It doesn't reason anymore I can't control it And it get excited,It doesn't reason anymore and it starts to sing to me It sings to me like this Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Every time, Every time I hear him speak My legs tremble And my heart too Bidi bidi bom bom And it get excited, It doesn't reason anymore I can't control it And it get excited,It doesn't reason anymore and it starts to sing to me It sings to me like this Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom When I hear this song My heart wants to sing like this It sings to me like this, I sing to you Every time, Every time I see him pass My heart goes crazy Every time I see him pass And it starts to beat Like this, like this Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom   Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom It sings to me like this, I sing to you Every time I see him pass   Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom Bidi bidi bidi bidi bidi bom bom

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
a-to-zchallenge.com

If I could be anything or anyone…an IWSG post

 

      

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 March 5 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse Van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Liza @ Middle Passages!

This month's question:

March 5 question - If for one day you could be anyone or *thing* in the world, what would it be? Describe, tell why, and any themes, goals, or values they/it inspire in you.

__________________________________________

 

What a fun question this month! So many possibilities. 

 

Should I be a dog? A bird? A whale? I've often wondered what it would be like to be any number of animals. To be able to fly, or swim, or leap with their abilities. I wonder if it would be like Selkie stories, though, where there's some danger I'll forget who I used to be and just remain forever in my animal form. Then again, maybe that could be amazing. 

 

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It could be cool to be a man for a minute. To see what all this business is like from that point of view. Maybe it would help me understand what's going on with some of the males in my life…or maybe it would be more like trying to drive an unfamiliar vehicle. Maybe I'd need more than one day to try this one out. 

 

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Is one day long enough to wreak havoc in the life of one of the bigwigs in my country? How quickly could I dismantle a financial empire and turn the money to uses I believe in instead? Avoiding names, but could I take over RichDude's life for a day and fund every GoFundMe out there, give scholarships galore, spoil scientists and librarians with resources, and fund every food scarcity charity in the country for the foreseeable future? I bet my signing hand would hurt by then end of day, and boy howdy, would RichDude be in for a surprise when he took his life back over. 

 

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Yeah, I think I'll go with that third one. If you see some RichDude out there seeming like he had an Ebeneezer Scrooge experience? That was me :-)

Looking Backward, an IWSG post

 

      

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 February 5 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Louise Barbour, and Tyrean Martinson!

This month's question:

February 5 question - Is there a story or book you've written you want to/wish you could go back and change?

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 Short answer: no. 

Longer answer: 

I'm always growing and learning, as a writer, and as a human. And, at least from my own biased perspective, my writing is getting better the longer I focus on it and work on it. 

But, all those poems, essays, stories, and books in my past can stay just the way they are. 

 

Sure, if I was to write the same thing now, I might be able to improve upon the craft or come up with a more original take on the theme--but past Samantha wrote those and I'm just not her anymore. Present Samantha has her own stories she's passionate about telling and future Samantha will have her own, too.

 

 

So, no time travel for me, at least not down my own timeline. I'll just take what I've learned along the way and use it to make the next thing even better. 

How about you? Do you/would you go back and change some of your past creations? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Free to Write Anything, so What's Next?, an IWSG post

 

      

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 January 8 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Beth Camp, Liza @ Middle Passages, and Natalie @ Literary Rambles!

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I turned in the final novel in the Menopausal Superheroes series in 2024, for publication in 2025!

 

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Of course, I'm completely jazzed about that and I can't wait for readers to finish this journey with me (balloons, confetti, shouting in the streets!). 

 

Going Through the Change came out in 2015, so that means I'm starting 2025 with no writing deadlines to meet for the first time in ten years.

 

Okay, I'll still have editing deadlines to meet, but so far as the new projects I take on and the new words I create? They could be …anything! Which is wonderful and a little terrifying. 

 

See before I landed that first book contract, my big struggle as a writer was discipline--staying focused on a single project and seeing it to fruition without wandering off to explore the new shiny idea poking at my subconscious. But I respond very well to external deadlines. That little bit of external pressure calms the brain weasels. They take "no" for an answer when that "no" came from someone else, like John, my publisher. 

 

I mean, he does look kind of intimidating, doesn't he?

 

 

So, I worried that, once I didn't have a deadline hanging over my head, I'd founder. 

But, guess what? I haven't!

Since I turned in that novel, I've written a novella and a half of an intended set of three novellas that I plan to publish as my first all-indie project. In fact, I've been energized with that "new project energy" and creating at a faster pace than I have in years (ask John about all that deadline renegotiation we've gone through over the past couple of years). 

 

These are a whole new genre for me. My published work so far is the Menopausal Superheroes series, and a lot of dark-leaning short fiction. In fact, my author banner for events currently says: Samantha Bryant, Half-Hero, Half-Horror. 

 

Me selling my books at Splatterflix at the Carolina Theatre in Durham

 

These new novellas, though? Romance! 

A friend of mine from Women's Fiction Writers Association, Stella Fosse, wrote a how-to book about writing and publishing romances featuring older characters. I read and blurbed it for her--the connections to my own work with Menopausal Superheroes seemed obvious!

While I was reading, I had an idea…actually I had three ideas. And now, I'm off exploring an new-to-me genre and having a great time. My working titles: Not Too Late, a second chance Gen-X romance about a woman returning to her hometown and reconnecting with a boy she knew in high school; Acid Reign, a one-night-stand turns to love about an 80s punk star finding love with a local politician; and Skinny Jeans for Fat Girls, the idea for which is still just a nugget, so we'll see. But all three will feature women in their 50s finding love.

 

So that's what next for me! After that? Well, I've got several back burner projects I'd like to get back to, and a collection of short stories I never finished putting together, so there's a world of possibility out there. 

How about you? What's on the horizon for you in 2025? What are you excited about? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.