Tag: life

Acceptances, Books, Essays, Lifelong learning, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, poetry, Short Stories, Speaking, What I Love, Writing

November 2025 Stats

In November, I wrote 16,268 words! Yay! Finally a good writing month after months and months of delays, trips, moving kids, etc. I’m so happy I finally got to sit down and just write. Of those words,

  • 409 were for this blog (2 short posts),
    2777 were for my journal,
  • 1234 were the essay for that anthology I talked about last month,
  • 2426 were answering questions to help make my essay for the anthology, many of which did not end up in the anthology because they were excised from the first draft to make way for words that did not sound like they were answering questions,
  • 0 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (I reused an old one for the Open Door Writing Group),
  • 1572 were on various social media accounts,
  • 3327 were poetry (16 poems – a new record!!),
  • and 1073 were in short stories (2 pieces of flash fiction).


There were only 12 days that I didn’t write anything, but that’s not bad because I wrote A LOT on the days that I did write. I did host part of Thanksgiving and a board games night at my house this month, as well as building shelves and moving my husband’s entire board game collection from The Living Room to The Library.

Another one of the books I beta read for came out this month, so once again I’m feeling that weird sense of accomplishment about that.

As for myself, I had one piece accepted for an anthology that will come out early next year (probably around graduation season, I’m guessing, since the topic of my essay was “advice I’d give a teenager who wants to become a volunteer coordinator for a non-profit organization”).


As for reading, I read parts of:

  • Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer(audiobook; non-fiction)
  • West of Yesterday, East of Summer by Paul Monette (e-book; poetry – I finally got it back on Libby!)
    Memory’s Daughters: The Material Culture of Remembrance in Eighteenth-Century America by Susan M. Stabile (hardcover; non-fiction – written by my Women’s Diaries professor at TAMU while I was taking her class)
  • How to Read Poetry Like a Professor: A Quippy and Sonorous Guide to Verse by Thomas C. Foster (e-book that I have AND trade paperback at my dad’s house; non-fiction)
  • Poetry’s Data: Digital Humanities and the History of Prosody by Meredith Martin (e-book; non-fiction)

…and I finished reading:

  • The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (audiobook; historical romance)
  • Poetry Magazine Jan/Feb 2025 by Poetry.org (paperback; poetry)
  • Let Loose the Dogs by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery)
  • The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (e-book; mystery)
  • The Comfort Book by Matt Haig (audiobook; self-help)
  • The Carrying by Ada Limon (e-book; poetry)
  • Stargazy Pie by Victoria Stoddard (e-book; cozy fantasy)

I really am trying to finish most of the unfinished books I started earlier in the year. I have finished 56 books so far this year (and read parts of another 12, again mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Acceptances, Books, Essays, I Am Traveling, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, poetry, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love, Writing

October 2025 Stats

In October, I wrote 3840 words, which is so little that I could cry. But I was busy! More about that later. Of those words,

  • 320 were for this blog (2 short posts),
  • 667 were for my journal,
  • 0 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (I reused an old one for the Open Door Writing Group),
  • 1204 were on various social media accounts,
  • 1652 were poetry (9 poems),
  • and 376 were in short stories (1 piece of flash fiction).


There were only 12 days that I didn’t write anything. I spent 10 days on vacation, traveling to, then staying in North Carolina, and driving home. I used every morning as a little writer’s retreat and wrote a lot while I was there. I’m still having trouble with my shoulders, so I spent several days either at the doctor, at the physical therapist’s office, or off getting X-rays and a couple of MRIs. I do have an essay that I found out about an anthology for on the last day of October that I’m going to start writing this week (but that counts for November). I still didn’t get any poems or short stories submitted anywhere.


As for reading, I read parts of:

  • Let Loose the Dogs by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery – I’m having trouble getting this book again through Libby, hence taking a break from it)
  • The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (audiobook; historical romance)
  • Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard (e-book; cozy fantasy)
  • The Man with Two Left Feet (e-book; I’m not sure the genre)

…and I finished reading:

  • The Honey Witch by Sydney Shields (trade paperback; cozy fantasy)


So I have finished 49 books so far this year (and read parts of another 18, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Around the House, Books, Everywhere But Home, Family Time, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Parenting, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love

September 2025 Stats

In September, I wrote 4097 words. It’s still a busy month, even if all of your kids are out of high school. Yeah.

Of those words,

  • 346 were for this blog (2 short posts),
  • 0 were for my journal,
  • 2024 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group),
  • 448 were on various social media accounts (which seems low, I know, but I’ve been trying to cut back on that and spend more time reading lately),
  • 1142 were poetry (3 short poems and 2 long),
  • and 137 were in short fiction (1 piece of flash fiction).

There were 19 days that I didn’t write anything. I spent a lot of the month either moving my eldest child to his new apartment or I was editing for Caro’s Quest. One of the books I beta read for came out this month, so I’m feeling that weird sense of accomplishment about that (you know, in that way where you walked alongside a friend going through something that you got to help with, so it’s like it’s partly yours just a little bit?). Meanwhile, I personally didn’t get any poems or short stories submitted anywhere.


As for reading, I read parts of:

  • The Comfort Book by Matthew Haig (audiobook; self-help)
  • The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (e-book; mystery)
  • Let Loose the Dogs by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery)
  • …and I finished reading:
    Nothing Romantic by Kennedy Hope (e-book; LGBTQ+ romance)
  • System Collapse by Martha Wells (e-book; science fiction)
  • Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery)
  • Poor Tom is Dead by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery)
  • Conversations in the Garden* by Chelsee BreAnn (manuscript; poetry )

So I have finished 48 books so far this year (and read parts of another 16, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

*The title of this book has changed since it was in beta. It’s permanent title is Honeysuckle Memories.

Around the House, Books, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, Writing

June 2025 Writing Stats

In June, I wrote 6604 words, which wasn’t that great, but I’m pretty sure I was burnt out most of the month after all the graduation nonsense. Of those words,

  • 320 were for this blog (2 short posts),
  • 1258 were for my journal,
  • 2854 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for East Texas Writers Guild and one for the Open Door Writing Group and one for the Tyler Public Library’s Try It Tuesday Class),
  • 1033 were on various social media accounts,
  • 35 were poetry (1 measly poem after last month’s record *sigh*),
  • and 1104 were in short stories (5 pieces of flash fiction).

There were only 8 days that I didn’t write anything, so it seems like my count should be higher for all that. I don’t know – I guess my brain was only thinking in super short form this month.

As for reading, I read parts of:

  • A Fire at the Exhibition by T. E. Kinsey (audiobook; mystery)

…and I finished reading:

  • Jack Glass by Adam Roberts (hardcover; science fiction – do NOT recommend unless you like unexpectedly gory books)
  • The Ghost of Marlowe House by Bobbi Holmes (audiobook; paranormal mystery)

So I have finished 29 books so far this year (and read parts of another 14, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Around the House, Books, Lifelong learning, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, poetry, Short Stories, Speaking, Writing

Happy 2025!

I know, I know…you almost forgot I worked here. I have the usual excuses, all tied up with string, sitting under a cat somewhere. Last year was a doozy of a year, filled with all manner of distractions, procrastinations, and other sundry explosions of my life.

I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about what my writing goals are for this year. One is to make my usual chart of what all I wrote last year, but that isn’t done yet because the transcribing isn’t done. So no numbers today. Maybe tomorrow. After I’ve written, of course.

I’m on the schedule with an editor for September, so my big goal is to finish the latest draft of my big epic fantasy novel and polish it up. This is the novel y’all have heard me refer to as Caro’s Quest in the past. I still need a better name for it, but that will come. 🙂

Smaller goals include finding homes for my poetry and short stories, finishing putting together my first poetry anthology, finishing my research on the best time to release it, and then publishing that anthology. I’m aiming for sending off at least one poem and one short story a week. We’ll see if that’s a manageable goal as time goes on and reassess after the first quarter is over.

I’m no longer on the board for the East Texas Writing Guild, nor my UU church board. Those were positive decisions for me, based on me needing more time to write. I’m continuing on as a moderator for the Open Door Writing Group at the Tyler Public Library for the foreseeable future, which means writing and giving a presentation for a monthly lesson about writing.

That’s about it, y’all. It’s my first day back at the writing desk. I’m planning on starting off all my weekdays from here on out at my writing desk, working on stories or poetry for the first half of every day before moving on to social media, lesson writing, and marketing in the afternoons.

Yay 2025! I hope this year will be so much better than the last. 🙂

Everywhere But Home, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, Uncategorized, What I Love, Writing

Playing catch-up

How is it already September? The summer went by so quickly and I’ve spent so much of it rushed off my feet with all the background, real-life stuff that is hard to cover in a blog post.

Here’s an update on my word counts from the last few months:

June: 8,880

July: 12,807

August: 22,434

Look at how I’ve improved! I’ve triple-checked that last one, but it is correct.

June’s improvement mainly came from writing more short stories. I stayed pretty busy with all the behind the scenes stuff from the other house, getting my eldest ready to go spend a month in China, teaching at both the ODWG writing groups, etc.

July’s word count bump came from not only more writing days in front of the computer on short story work, but also in the category I call “Lessons”, which I write for my local area writing groups. I was trying to get ahead for the busier times of the year when I’d have less time to prepare a lesson. It’s wild to me that I had any kind of improvement at all, really, because my spouse and I spent two weeks flat out with Covid.

August’s giant improvement came in the form of a road trip with my husband. For our anniversary last month, he surprised me with a trip to a little town in the middle of nowhere, which had a fantastic vibe, lots of fun things to tour, and quirky town oddities. Well, that tied in to the long-neglected Lake House Mystery in my brain. So I pulled out that old manuscript, updated a few bits here and there, and then started adding some fun stuff that popped into my head during the trip. After six days of adding little bits here, there, and everywhere, I had an extra 16,000-ish words added, all easy-peasy, which was amazing because that literally doubled the size of this manuscript.

I’m not done there, though. This mystery needs about 30,000 more words before it’ll be done. I’m wanting to finish that this month, while the mood is still is the air, so to speak. Crossing my fingers and hoping real hard.

-L

Around the House, Everywhere But Home, health, My Own Personal Weirdness, Parenting, What I Love

A New Year of Life and New Adventures

This month’s word count was even worse – only 5,562 words overall, nearly all of it journaling projects I was working on as homework from therapy. My Wednesday writing group started an offshoot nighttime group this month and I’m one half of the team leading it. So far we haven’t had quite the turnout we hoped for. So many people said they needed an evening group, but far fewer are showing up. ODWG also started work on an idea for an anthology, which should be fun. I prepared and taught one lesson on “How to Write For an Anthology” and one on “Character Reactions” for both the day and the night group. I wrote a few things about frogs for the anthology.

In real life, I got strep throat on top of all my other illnesses. My city was in the path of totality for the solar eclipse, so I got to enjoy that from my front yard. I lost electricity due to another storm for a couple of days. A tree fell in my kids’ yard, taking out nearly all of the patio furniture. My kids beloved band director unexpectedly resigned midyear and we have no idea what’s going on with that. My youngest kid bought another car, this time from his brother’s ex-girfriend, and sold us his old one.  It was also my birthday month, so I went out with the kids on my birthday, took my husband to the airport for a work trip, then had lunch and a fun afternoon with my BFF in DFW that day, then had a dinner with other friends later in the week.

Around the House, Books, Everywhere But Home, health, Lifelong learning, My Own Personal Weirdness, poetry, Speaking, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love, Writing

A totally wild month

This month, I managed 17,967, but 2/3 of it was lessons for the ODWG. I also tried to train a new membership chair for one of my local writing groups.

I wrote one really long poem about teeth. No, really. It started off about teeth and then it got weird. I also wrote a poem about grief that involved Pokemon. You know you want to read that one. (There were several other poems this month as well, but those were my favorites).

I also was the featured speaker of the month for my local writers guild. I spoke on “How to Get Back on Track After Life’s Disasters.”

In real life, I had to figure out how to do my local church’s annual certification because our board president’s life exploded that week. I attended the first of hopefully many delightful meetings of a local yarn group. I loom-knitted one sock and then tried to figure out how to regular knit it’s partner after my sock loom broke. I started a crocheted snowflake blanket.

I also spoke at two other groups, using the “How to Get Back on Track…” lesson as a starting point. Which was only funny because disasters kept making it so I almost didn’t get to speak at either group (first an epic hail storm and then a mass internet outage).

I also read The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammet.

Around the House, Books, Crafts, Everywhere But Home, Family Time, Lifelong learning, My Writing, Organizing, poetry, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love, Writing

January stats

This month, I eked out 8,749 words, but a lot of it was poetry, so when I think about it that way, that’s a LOT.

I prepared and presented two lessons at ODWG. I also worked some more on the Lake House Mystery and made a whole new system for tracking my poetry and short story submissions.

I also rearranged my entire writing studio again because it turned out that one of my bookshelves could not stand up without the support of the two on either side and books were everywhere.

In real life, one of my kids had an MRI for migraines and also sliced open his foot badly, all in one month. My dad visited for a long while. I started crocheting the Pineapple Peacock shawl, took it apart and restarted it twice more, then finally gave up. Knitted a scarf for my spouse instead.

We had a polar vortex hit and had several “ice days” I started reading “Barbara and Susan Talk About Empty Nests” once a week as a kind of devotional for therapy homework. I also read “Shadow and Bone” and “Lessons in Chemistry”.

Around the House, Organizing, Parenting

Painting and Moving and Painting, Oh My

My middle child graduated from high school last month. He’s starting out at the local community college five minutes down the road, which is known for its fantastic band program, with the intention of heading to an even bigger band program a couple hours down the road to get a music education degree and become a band director. In any case, he is moving this week.

For those of you new here, my father has a house around the corner from me, in addition to his main house in College Station. Our eldest son moved over there his second semester of college, just before Covid hit. We never got his room repainted, he eventually decided he liked a different room better, and he never completely unpacked in either room so now he has stuff in two different bedrooms.

What the room looked like when my eldest lived in this room.

So last week we started consolidating the eldest back into one room and prepping the walls in the other one for painting. My husband and youngest kid primed the deep maroon walls with Killz.

This week we (my husband, me, my younger two in pairs over three days) painted the room mint green. The midkid started packing up his room at this house, in between Freshman Orientation and working at Studio Movie Grill. So far, he’s entirely his mother’s child and has only packed books and stuffed animals.

So refreshing now! To be fair, we haven’t really moved anything in yet.

In the meantime, his little brother, who is taking over his room here, has been picking out paint for his new space. Just imagine the opposite of this happy light green. This kid wants to live in the depths of the evil forest. He’s already weeded through all his worldly goods and is halfway packed. Yesterday he stood by his brother most of the day and made him keep putting things in boxes. I love him so much.

halfway packed and has .

I’ll also be moving — all my office equipment, writing, and craft stuff over to the youngest’s old room — so I have been picking out paint samples of my own, buying decor, and trying to find some bookcases that don’t have to be built by me. I was sorely tempted by a color called Love Poem just to be silly, but I don’t think I should live in a color so lurid.

No writing has been done in the last couple of weeks, but I have touched nearly every book in the house at this point. Hahaha. It’s exciting around here, to say the least.