eXciting Project Updates (with a little update on the book)- May 2026

Book Talk

Well here we go, my first writing update for the book that I have been working on quietly (and very slowly) for the last few years. This is a really exciting milestone for me. It has only been in the last few months that I have started to even mention that I am a writer working on my book. It seems really scary to admit out loud. But it also feels really good, like I get to share a big piece of my identity that I was keeping hidden. The truth is that I have always considered myself a writer, I just haven’t shared anything that I’ve written. I’ve always know that one day I would get a book published with my name on it, I was just waiting for the right time. Honestly, I figured it would be a retirement project. Something that I worked on once I no longer needed to care for my kids or work to help support the family. The thing is, why wait? I realized that it was very hard to tell my kids to have big dreams if I wasn’t pursing my own big scary dream. So it was time to start actively working on it. In my typical type A personality I went from writing occasionally when I had time to spending some time mapping out the schedule I would need to publish one book a year. While I don’t think that is necessarily going to happen, I feel like it is always better to dream big.

That is why we are here. If I am going to have a hope in hell of getting this book finished this year, I need the accountability. As terrifying as it is, I need people to ask me about my book. I need to know that people are waiting to read it and that I can’t just slink away or decide not to get off my butt and write, even when I don’t want to. This is personal, I want to share this story; whether you like it (I sure hope that you do) or don’t (I might cry but I can take it).

So where am I at? I’m currently sitting at over 65,000 words. A typical first book is between 80,000 - 100,000 words. That means I am pretty close to being finished. It is feeling close. I’ve got a bunch of wrapping up to do but I am currently writing what I hope is the exciting climax where our heroine comes in and saves the day, or will she? It is hard to tell you what I am writing without spoiling the book. So instead of sharing plot in these updates, I’m going to talk more about the writing process. How easy or hard it was to write this month, the things I have learned about the craft and myself, etc.

To say that this has been a learning curve would be an understatement. The writing part, for the most part I get that and so far (knock on wood) it has kind of taken on a life of its on and flows out. Mostly I think this has to do with the book being written in small periods of stolen time. It certainly doesn’t say anything about any talent I may have. My writing sessions are so short that I never get through what I wanted to write in any particular session and then by the time I write next, I have figured things out in my head. It is simply a matter of sitting down and getting it out on paper which never fully happens. And this process continues. So far this seems to be working. I sit down a number of times throughout the week and get out a few hundred words before going back to reality. My brain is always working on something and never has this been more helpful than with this novel.

What has been a learning curve is everything else related to being an author. This is new territory. I may be able to write a book but I have so many questions for what to do afterwards. Do I self publish or traditionally publish? If I do decide to traditionally publish what does that look like? Whereas if I self publish how do I do that? Every answer that I find leads to more questions and therefore more research.

Then there is the balancing act. When I have time to write, do I use the whole allotted time to write my book or do I use some of it towards the business of being an author (social media, newsletter, etc.)? Currently I am trying to do both. My book needs to be my priority so writing comes first but I do want an audience. But how do you get an audience when you currently don’t have anything to sell? I certainly don’t have any answers but I do have a lot of questions. Hopefully through the process of finishing the book, I can start getting some answers.

Anyway, we are plugging along with the book. I seem to be in a decent rhythm that will hopefully pick up as we move towards the summer when there is less going on in my personal life.

Everything Else

We have had our homeschool wrap up meeting and attended our yearend events so all the school paperwork part of homeschooling is complete. There is still a lot of learning that needs to happen but it always feels good to finish off the “required” pieces early in the year. Especially with the warmer weather. There is something so satisfying about moving meals outside and bringing activities into the shade of our yard to work on them rather than being cooped up in the house. Fingers are crossed we can spend a lot of time outside over the summer!

We recently had some medical issues come up for one of our guinea pigs (Cammie). Cancer, which isn’t great news. She is a spunky little thing so you would never know she is dealing with this if you didn’t know her. Currently she doesn’t seem to be in any pain and certainly hasn’t lost her appetite, so we are monitoring her closely and letting her live her life. It has been sad but we are grateful as it means we appreciate every single day we have with her (which will hopefully be a long time still). We are facing the reality that she won’t be with us as long as we had hoped so are now thinking about the future and how that will affect our other piggy (Bubbles). The family has come to the conclusion that it might be time to bring home another one. The bond between these two is incredible, we are certainly not trying to replace her, but we all agree that having another piggy when things go south might be a big comfort for everyone. We are currently keeping our eyes on the different rescues to see when a single female might show up.

Summer seems on the horizon so we are starting to think about beaches and camping and what our summer bucket list might look like. It always seems to fly by but hopefully we can fill it with lots of memories. My husband will likely be working throughout the summer so no big family vacation but we will make use of our weekends and maybe plan something for the fall. What I am hoping to do is take some time off so I can do a mini writing retreat. It seems exciting to spend my mornings (instead of my evenings) moving the story out of my head and onto the page. Oh and I think it goes without saying, I plan to spend a lot of my summer reading out in my backyard.

Now to get through June, which always ends up being so busy…..

I would love to hear, what are you hoping for this summer?