Lisa Holcomb

Around the House, Books, Lifelong learning, My Writing, poetry, What I Love, Writing

July 2026 Stats

In July 2026, I wrote 4018 words. Of those words,

223 were for this blog (1 short post),
1207 were for my journal,
777 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group),
833 were on various social media accounts,
751 were poetry (6 short poems and 2 long),
and 450 were in short stories (3 pieces of flash fiction).

This month was chock full of things, like Independence Day and my dad visiting for a solid week, two different days of flash flooding in my area where the power went out and the streets were insane, an online poetry conference with the Poetry Society of Texas, learning how to play Mahjong for the first time and then teaching like three other people my limited knowledge, adopting an orange cat from O’Malley’s Cat Rescue Lounge, preparing for my dad to visit and then he didn’t, keeping one of the other cats from killing the new one, and trying to write poems in new forms I’d never heard of before. There were only 12 days that I didn’t write anything new. I spent nearly all my waking moments this month selecting and revising poems for the Poetry Society of Texas Annual Contest. I had two poems published and got four poems submitted to other places as well. It was a really good month as a working writer.

As for reading, I read parts of:

The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray by Anna Bradley (e-book; historical romance)
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (e-book; fantasy)
The Hurting Kind by Ada Limon (e-book; poetry)
Writing Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd (e-book; non-fiction)

…and I finished reading:

Poetry Society of Texas: Student Award Winners 2025 (trade paperback; poetry)
A Sense of Stars by Cade Huie (trade paperback; poetry)
Barren Years by Amanda Russell (trade paperback; poetry)
The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O’Brien (e-book; historical fiction)

So I have finished 49 books so far this year (and read parts of another 12, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Uncategorized

June Stats

In June 2026, I wrote 3367 words. Of those words,

520 were for this blog (2 short posts),
188 were for my journal,
597 were for handouts for Wildflower Poetry Society
1164 were on various social media accounts,
602 were poetry (1 short poem and 2 long ones),
and 95 were in a short story (1 piece of flash fiction).

There were sixteen days that I didn’t write anything as I had a lot of doctor’s appointments, an ultrasound, an MRI, and exploratory surgery this month. They’d told me it was a two-day recovery for the surgery, but as a Chronic Illness Girly, I knew it’d be much longer than that. It’s amazing that I got anything done at all!

As for reading, I finished reading:

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (e-book; fantasy)
The Best American Poetry 2025, edited by David Lehman (trade paperback; poetry)
Playlist for the Apocalypse by Rita Dove (trade paperback; poetry)
Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman (trade paperback; mystery)
Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England (trade paperback; cozy fantasy)
Mr. & Mrs. Dixon Hide a Body by Jennifer Holdich (trade paperback; thriller)

So I have finished 45 books so far this year (and read parts of another 7, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Books, Everywhere But Home, I Am Traveling, My Writing, poetry, Speaking, What I Love, Writing

May 2026 Stats

In May 2026, I wrote 5312 words. Of those words,

607 were for this blog (3 short posts),
410 were non-fiction essays
776 were for my journal,
2439 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group),
359 were on various social media accounts,
46 were poetry (1 short poem),
and 675 were in short stories (3 pieces of flash fiction).

There were only 14 days that I didn’t write anything. As you saw in a my last post, I was super busy this last month. I won’t rehash all of that. My eyes improved a lot, but I was out of town a lot, so I didn’t spend as much time at my desk as I’d like. In the end, I performed 5 poems on stage this month and got one poem and one short story out the door for submitting to literary journals.

As for reading, I read parts of:

Attention Seeker by Darcy Michaels (audiobook; memoir)
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (e-book; fantasy)

…and I finished reading…

Imprudence by Gail Carriger (e-book; fantasy)
Competence by Gail Carriger (e-book; fantasy)
Reticence by Gail Carriger (e-book; fantasy)
Romancing the Werewolf by Gail Carriger (e-book; fantasy)
How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger (e-book; fantasy)
The Lions of 5th Avenue (e-book; historical fiction)
The Little Shop of Found Things (e-book; fantasy)
The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (e-book; fantasy)

So I have finished 39 books so far this year (and read parts of another 8, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Everywhere But Home, Friend Time, Lifelong learning, My Writing, poetry, Speaking, Writing

Speaking While Out & About Last Week

It’s been such a busy week! On Thursday, May 28th, I was one of the named headliners (along with my friends Janet Tyner, Carol Thompson, and Ilenya Marrin) for the Winnsboro Spoken Word Open Mic Night for the Winnsboro Center of the Arts. We drove the hour over to Winnsboro once again and had a grand old time with MC Mike Guinn, JDarrell Kirkley, and others.

(Then I went to my niece’s wedding on Friday, which should have a post of its own.)

On Saturday, Janet, Carol, and I got up super early, drove to Grapevine, Texas and performed for the Quicksilver Poetry Festival’s Open Mic as well. I don’t have any photos from that yet, but I will share them once I get copies. We had a fabulous time there as well. We got to visit with all our Ft. Worth Poetry Society comrades, hear some wonderful speakers (including the Arkansas Poet Laureate), listen to other wonderful poets, and see Shakespeare Dallas perform for us.

While I’m sad it took me so long to get into there, I really love our Texas poetry community now that I know where to find them. 🙂

Books, My Writing, Pre-Orders, Writing

Book on disability that I contributed to is available for pre-order!

Picture of the cover of the book "Beloved As We Are: Building a Congregational Culture of Disability Inclusion"

Beloved As We Are, the book on disability in congregations that I contributed to, is now available for pre-order! As you well know, it has been several years in the making. We’re so glad it is finally out!

Here’s the link to the UUA Bookstore’s listing:

Beloved as We Are

It is also listed on Amazon.com.

Everywhere But Home, Lifelong learning, poetry, What I Love

New Role Incoming – Poetry Society of Texas

I am delighted to announce that I will be serving as Director on the 2026-2027 board of the Poetry Society of Texas. I’ll spend the year shadowing Barbara Blanks, with an eye towards picking up some of her duties in the next couple of years as she moves onward.

Around the House, Books, Everywhere But Home, Family Time, Friend Time, health, My Own Personal Weirdness, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, Writing

April 2026 Stats

In April 2026, I wrote 4052 words. Of those words,

520 were for this blog (1 short post),
449 were non-fiction essays
1101 were for my journal,
556 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group),
1277 were on various social media accounts,
471 were poetry (7 short poems),
and 121 were in a short story (1 piece of flash fiction).

There were seventeen days that I didn’t write anything. I spent April Fools day offline, as always, but this year with breakfast out with Ree, writing group shenanigans midday, and NTBMO family dinner for a nice ending to the day. I spent half a day at the car dealership with my youngest child as his Emotional Support Human while he bought his new car (he’s never bought from a dealership before and wanted some help with contract parsing).

My spouse and I went to DFW that Friday to do some paperwork for a new fun thing and visited the Mustang Museum and wandered the mini Riverwalk in Irving along the way. Saturday we sat around waiting for tornadoes all day, which kept my dad from being able to drive up for Easter, alas. Sunday dawned a bright, beautiful day. All three kids made it over for crepes (a combined Larson/Holcomb/DoUB tradition) and egg hunting and bunny business were done by some family members while others hid from the camera (*cough eldestchild cough*), though I did sneak a picture of my spouse later. I went to my second Poetry Society of Texas meeting on Zoom and that was nifty! I was inducted as Corresponding Secretary of Rusk County Poetry Society at their April meeting. Also that week, my youngest went off to the WGI World Championships and I watched it all from afar. Then I finally got my new prism lenses. They are so lightweight and yet manage to make everything regularly-3D again without the double vision I’d been experiencing. It’s going to take a little getting used to. So while I could start working on the computer and doing up close work again, it has taken longer than I’d hoped it would.

Fortunately, the birthday celebrations started – first my son’s, then mine with family, then mine with friends (a craft night!). And at the end of the month I led the Open Door Writing Group in playing word and story games. I was so very busy, I didn’t get any poems or short stories submitted anywhere. So, I didn’t get any poems or short stories submitted anywhere.

As for reading, I read parts of:

Imprudence by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Book By Book (hardcover; non-fiction)

…and I finished reading:

Defy or Defend by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Ambush or Adore by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Soulless by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Blameless by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Changeless by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Blameless by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Heartless by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Timeless by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)
Prudence by Gail Carriger (audiobook; fantasy)

So I have finished 31 books so far this year (and read parts of another 6, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Speaking, What I Love, Writing

Upcoming Speaking Engagement – May 6, 2026

This Wednesday, I’m speaking to the Open Door Writing Group about Characters and Body Language.

Crafts, Essays, Everywhere But Home, Family Time, Friend Time, health, I Am Traveling, Lifelong learning, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing

March 2026 Stats

In March, I wrote 6037 words. Of those words,

416 were for this blog (2 short posts),
2474 were for my journal,
0 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons
2744 were on various social media accounts,
168 were poetry (2 short poems),
and 651 were in short stories (4 pieces of flash fiction).

There were only 9 days that I didn’t write anything, but my word count was low due to several things. It was a whirlwind of a month. I participated in both my first Trivia Night and a BYOC Night (Bring Your Own Craft) with local friends. I have a new favorite Ice Cream/Coffee Shop. Our family had two car accidents, and while we are all unharmed from them, our poor cars were, and so we played musical cars for several weeks. We also had time with family and friends and soon-to-be family. One week we had a special brunch/lunch/dinner/activity out every single day of the week. I saw nearly all of my specialty doctors, got to watch The Nugget once (and saw her another day), took a bookbinding class, and got addicted to playing Pokopia. We also traveled some more, this time to San Antonio for our youngest son’s WGI competition. We made it my birthday trip (a month early) and splurged out on touring the San Antonio Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, and eating at a Food Network highly rated burger joint. It was all fun and delicious and I even managed to go to a marvelous bookshop that is now in my Top 5 of Bookstores Ever. Comment below if you want the name and location of any of those things. 🙂

As for reading, I read parts of:

Defy or Defend by Gail Carriger (audiobook; Fantasy)

…and I finished reading:

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (audiobook; YA Fantasy)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robyn Kimmerer Walls (audiobook; Non-Fiction)
Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger (audiobook; Fantasy)
Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger (audiobook; Fantasy)
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (audiobook; Fantasy)
The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn’t by Gail Carriger (e-book; Fantasy)
Meat Cute by Gail Carriger (e-book; Fantasy)
Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger (audiobook; Fantasy)

As you can see, mostly audiobooks. I started having trouble with my eyes months and months ago, but they were getting worse, fast, and I was waiting out my next eye doctor appointment. Once there, I was pretty quickly diagnosed with Binocular Vision Dysfunction (I was sitting there minding my own business and the eye doctor said “OOoooh…do that thing with your eyes again.” Me: “What thing?” She paused and while she waited, my eyes did the thing again, so there was a bunch more testing than usual.) In any case, I have new glasses on order that have special prism lenses in them and hopefully these terrible migraines and eye strain feelings will go away soon. 🙂 (Also, can I say how excessively lovely the Gail Carriger books are in audiobook form? I love the voices and the music and of course, all the steampunky weirdness and adventures!)

So I have finished 22 books so far this year (and read parts of another 5, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Okay, I think that’s it. It was a super fun month! 🙂