Hey, friends! It’s been a while since I’ve talked about what’s been going on in my corner of the world, so I thought I’d share a little (rambly) update today.

Do settle in with your beverage of choice (I have coffee, surprise, surprise), and let’s catch up!

Life + Learning

On the life-y side of things, there is nothing huge to report. Things have been fairly quiet, and yet feel busy at the same time? You know how life be.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting fall because summer heat and I don’t have the best relationship. At the same time, my word for 2023 is PRESENT and I’ve found the more we await the tomorrows, our todays slip by too fast and we miss out on the moments given to us now. So even though I will be quite happy once the cooler, crisper weather settles in, I don’t want to ignore this season so quickly that I miss out on the beautiful moments it has to offer.

And the first half of 2023 really has been full of beautiful, blessed moments.

In my ever-learning path of being more present, I’ve taken to letting things go and simplifying my tasks, and goodness has it been freeing. Though perhaps I’m not as active on social media and some of my writing projects take longer to accomplish than they used to, I truly do feel more present in the things I am doing because my attention isn’t so pulled in a dozen different directions. I’ve felt my rigidness loosen, my stubborn mentality that tasks on a to-do list take precedence over everything else, my inability to be spontaneous finally fading. Slowly, slowly I’m learning to just breathe and embrace each day as it comes.

I slip a lot. I’m still finding that balance. I think it’s something that can never be perfected. But each day is an opportunity to start fresh and grow. And as I look back at myself at the beginning of the year and myself now, I do see growth.

It’s little things. Gradual changes. Small shifts of mentality. But it builds up, day after day.

Coaching

One big venture for this year was back in April launching my writer coaching business!

It’s such a passion of mine to encourage writers to keep pursuing their dreams and to find the joy of it along the way via practical rhythms. And I also just really, really love talking about writing. And talking to people. And talking to people about writing and characters. So combining these things into a single, focused outlet is truly the greatest joy.

If you’re seeking aid in balancing your writing life atop everything else, I’d love to meet with you. You can read about my heart for this pursuit HERE or click the button below for all the important info. <3

Speaking of writer-related things…

Writing Life

Things have definitely been progressing on the writerly front!

This year has seen two FicFrenzy events, a spring and summer session, and both were a delightful time! It was such a joy gathering with my “FicFriends” again for the second ever FicFrenzy in the spring, and then the summer event had a bit of extra fun with the addition of Factions (which is basically like NaNo cabins and Hogwarts Houses combined).

I’m so, so grateful to all the participants for always making these month-long challenges a true blessing to host. I love my FicFrenzy crew so much! <3

It’s shocking to me that we’ve already had three events and are nearing its anniversary. The main fall FicFrenzy event launches on October 15th and will be the 1 year anniversary of this seasonal writing challenge!

If you’re looking for some good motivation to make progress on your WIP and/or an incredible Discord community of writers, FicFrenzy’s arms are wide open! Click the button below to learn more.

Though I didn’t make quite as much progress during the two events as I meant to, I have been slowly but steadily working my way through edits of one of my WIPs. I made a goal to work on it every single week this year until I got to the end, even if it was just one day out of the week. I found this system worked really well. When I was distracted or had other things going on, it gave me the freedom to chase other pursuits, but I always had at least one day of the week to work on that particular WIP. Obviously, I attempted to work on it more than one day of the week, but this goal kept me steadily sitting down with it even during the really busy weeks. Bit by bit, I saw progress. Even just one chapter a week adds up.

And, I’m very happy to report, by the beginning of July, I made it to the final chapter!

Said WIP is now in beta-readers’ hands, and it feels wonderful to have it done for now. This story is dear to me, but I feel as though I’ve been staring at it for too long. It will be great to have some fresh eyes look it over and give me some new perspectives on how to tackle it from here.

In the meantime, for this second half of the year, I have quite a lot of other projects vying for my attention. I’ve actually yet to settle on my exact focus. I have two I know I want to work on, another potential, and one randomly tugging on my hem asking for a little attention. So. I won’t be bored, that’s for certain. But I’m excited about it all, and with this one WIP done for now, it’s quite thrilling to have the freedom to pour my time into some other things for a bit.

Join the Newsletter!

I’m a little more hush-hush about my writing projects these days publicly, mainly because there is a lot of freedom in not announcing my current WIPs and, in turn, setting up expectations.

BUT.

I talk a lot more openly about what I’ve been working on (and even share the occasional snippet!) in my newsletter. I send one out near the beginning of every month and share about my current writing projects, stories/media I’m enjoying, what’s been going on in my life, and also offer a dose of encouragement for writers and just in life in general as I share my journey in seeking balance and growth.

I’d love to have you along!

Hiatus Notice

With my current WIP done for now, summer’s FicFrenzy finished, and summer itself about to come to a close, I think now is a great time to take a bit of a breath and recharge before I dive into new projects. Fall tends to be pretty busy, and it’s so important to allow ourselves recharge time in between projects so we’ll be in top form to tackle the next one.

SO.

I shall be stepping away from sharing social media content for the month of August and only dabbling in a little bit of writerly projects as I work toward figuring out what to focus on next. I hope to use August to take a breath and merely enjoy some for-fun writerly pursuits to see what sticks. Nothing like taking the pressure off to really spark the creativity again.

My inbox and DMs are still open! Responses may just be slower and I’ll be a little quieter around the internets. But I’m not dropping off the planet. Just taking a month to recharge and explore some creative outlets with a bit more freedom.

But come September, I should be back and ready to tackle things with a bit more structure again!

So that’s a little snippet of my life lately. All good things, but I am definitely looking forward to a good hiatus before diving into a busy fall.

Until then, I’m praying you all have a blessed rest of the summer, friends!

Before I depart, let’s catch up! What are some projects you’ve been working on? How has your summer been? How has the first half of 2023 treated you in general? I’d love to hear all about it!