Whew! Blog Milestone: 150

Over 150 posts!

My blog has reached a milestone: over 150 posts!

When I started this blog, my purpose was to share my writing journey and speak to new writers at their most vulnerable--when they shared their creativity with other writers. Creativity is fragile, and I believe it's important to encourage and support others, which has the added benefit of strengthening my creative commitment, too.

My first book was a nonfiction work, THE WRITE GROUP, designed to help writers navigate the turbulent world of writing groups, from critique circles through accountability and sprinter groups to industry updates-focused teams. My intention was to help writers avoid confusion by providing information and tools so that they could identify the right support. I received messages from happy readers who said that many of the stories in the book resonated with their own experiences. They also said the book gave them the courage to experiment and make changes in their groups.

Buoyed by these sentiments, I followed up with a second nonfiction book, FROM DRAFT TO CRAFT: THE NEW WRITER'S GUIDE TO FEEDBACK. The feedback process—whether you're giving it or getting it—requires a lot of courage mixed with some reading and writing acumen. From my personal experience and the experiences new writer buddies have shared with me, many new writers flounder when it's time to give comments on works-in-progress and don't know how to handle feedback received. Too often new writers feel frustration and disappointment, which leads them to quit. My book laid out easy-to-follow approaches to giving and getting feedback that a new writer could apply immediately and, best of all, keep on writing.

While I was working on these books, I did a little coaching, led writing sprints, prepared articles for other blogs, and had a couple of short stories published. Most importantly, however, I explored different fiction genres, both as a writer and as a reader, and came to feel at home with mysterious romance stories with elements of gothic, horror, and paranormal.

During this phase, I wrote my debut fiction novel, BLOOD & WOLF, and reinvented my author persona and brand.. Throughout, I kept up my blog.

All of this brings me to today! I've expanded my connections to my readers and friendly writers through Romance at a Dark Wood's Edge on Substack, and I'm working on my latest project: a collection of wintry gothic stories, featuring mystery and elements of love, to be released later this year.

If you have been on this journey with me, THANK YOU! Your attention has motivated me to continue, and I'm so grateful. And if you're new here, I hope you'll browse and subscribe to updates.