Author newsletters need to be more honest. Writing's difficult and lonely. It's worth it when you read this newsletter.

This is the second Thursday in January '25 and a long while since my last newsletter was issued. I welcome myself back. I welcome you back. You'll want to read this one, click something. It'll make me feel good and you'll gain something for yourself along the way.

[Gads, 50 words spent already!]

I don't wrestle with many demons in my newsletter. I save most of that for journals, meditation, prayer, and just complaining. I am going to pause here, however damning this may be to novel marketing and audience building and all that, to acknowledge one particular pain point that is cursing and crushing me this season.

That was shared, if not created, by my friend Josh. He's addressing what many of us are battling, clinically known as seasonal depression. Maybe it's just "missing nice weather" for some. In his reply to my Facebook post he goes on to give a shout out to the sun and the returning of color and life, essentially suggesting we ride this out. Like the lyric in Annie, "The sun'll come out tomorrow!"

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And hey, there's only 69 days, 20 hours and 46 minutes until Spring has sprung here in the northern hemisphere. I can abide. I will admit it's played hell with my productivity, all this moping around and lamenting death of all things green. I was going to have a greenhouse to combat this, but we are moving. Maybe I'll buy another houseplant. Recommendations?

Writing

Take pain and pin it on paper.

I think that's valuable for people dealing with Big Issues. I do not know what fighting cancer feels like. I don't know what being bedfast does to one's spirit. I have never been fired. Hell, the only times I've felt bereft have been of my own doing.

To pin down those raw emotions, even if the words are not seen by many, can be valuable for the writer, too.

Just to bring this back around...I have photosynthetic characters in something I'm writing. I am sorrowful that the sun's not cooperating, but people who thrive on sunlight might experience amplified pain, redefining 'seasonal depression.' I can take all this pain I am feeling and pour it into my science fiction, giving my characters much greater depth.

How's my writing?

Fair to partly snowy. We've had impressive snow this year and between it and the move and my job and other excuses...I've not written much fiction. Lots of reflection. Lots of processing. Some angsty poetry...but not much in the world of Endless Tempest. You can still catch up with the 4 published novels out there by clicking the image below. Happy reading!

What Else?

​Thoughts on Things was first posted to Facebook, then my blog. I'd add to it here that I am well on my way to recovery now, that I am truly feeling my burdens lightened. We have even had talks about further simplifying and streamlining, having another deep cut garage sale in May...Now we're eager to tackle the 100 gallons of photos (strange measurement, but our storage tubs are in gallons). We need to digitize it all. We cannot afford a service, but we might buy a tool to help with this. Again...Recommendations?

MLJ RAW Why not experiment? Here's a video introducing a 'nugget' I'm employing in a novel, a perspective on sleeping dangerously. Check it out and give me some feedback, please.

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