I'm documenting my publishing journey and giving people a sneak peek of Closer Than You Know before it hits shelves. If you'd like front-row seats on this journey, follow along at substack.com/@mindykinnaman.

Homework time. #WritingCommunity #PublishingJourney

Cats really know how to enjoy a cold day. #BlueskyCats

Who has two thumbs and a publishing contract? Full story on Substack. Link in my bio. #WritingCommunity

Feeling incredibly down right now, so im going to force myself to do something cheerful and let y’all know that tomorrow, I’ll be sharing some Darn Good News™️.

Funny how the word good stops looking normal when you're checking every single use of it in your novel to make sure you've used it properly. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity

♥️ #BlueskyCats

Happy #Halloween! www.sacurrent.com/arts/literat...

Only a hundred or so words today, but I did something huge writing-wise today. I’ll share more soon. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Mad she didn’t get extra treats for #NationalBlackCatDay.

Kept getting distracted by work. Wrote like 3 whole paragraphs, but I also plotted out the next scene, so that's a win. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

300 words today, and I finished the scene I've been working on all week. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Sent off a piece of flash to an online romance magazine. Wish me luck! #WritingCommunity

Been way too long. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Only managed 300 words today, but progress is progress. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

WHOOO!!!!!!!! SHE LOVED MY PITCH!~!!!!

Pitching to my dream publisher in 8 minutes. #WritingCommunity #AmQuerying

Coworker is extra cute today. #BlueskyCats

For reasons I do not understand, Louise is obsessed with nail files. #BlueskyCats

Finally finished rereading what I’ve written so far on A Secret to Die For to reimmerse myself back into that world. Managed to write two whole paragraphs today. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Sigh.

It is my birthday. #birthday.

2nd Place! #WritingCommunity #maggieawards #georgiaromancewriters #AmWriting #AmWritingRomanticSuspense

Proof that hard work can pay off. Tonight, I find out if I won. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Revise & resubmit sent off to editor. Wish me luck! #WritingCommunity #AmQuerying

Friends, this is why we proofread: Brian jogged down to Candy’s and purchased a travel garage of coffee... #WritingCommunity #AmEditing

Wow.

Bought a new pair of ankle boots that zip up the back. The zipper is so loud, it sounds like I’m wearing spurs.

The downfall of naming a character Tomoko is that it keeps autocorrecting to Tomato. #WritingCommunity #AmEditing

The revise & resubmit is nearly finished. Just got to finish reading a few more chapters to catch typos. So glad to nearly be at the finish line with this. #WritingCommunity #AmEditing

Wat iz cawfee? #BlueskyCats

The story's dark but damn good. theyardcrimeblog.com/2025/09/18/d...

I'm pitching Closer Than You Know at a conference next week. When I woke up this morning at 3:27 a.m., I lulled myself back to sleep by running through my pitch. So I ask you: what the heck is wrong with me? #WritingCommunity

I decided to enter MWA's 6 Word Mystery Contest. I don't really write short fiction (or in this case VERY short fiction), but I actually had a decent idea so figured why not. Wish me luck! #WritingCommunity

Something tells me this isn't the real Janet Evanovich following me.

Entering my edits into Scrivener is killing my soul. Definitely shouldn't have slept on taking a Scrivener training. I only have myself to blame.

In the last week, I've gotten 2 spam texts of someone who "won" the PowerBall and wants to split their winnings. And in the last week, I've wanted to reach through my phone and slap the jerk sending them. DO NOT TEASE ME WITH FREE MONEY!

Walked into work this morning, ear buds in, and listening to a creepy episode of The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings. Sit down at my desk, start to log into my computer, and BOOM. Blackness.

Spent nearly a month editing my manuscript in Word but I can’t just import the file without it messing out the layout significantly. So guess who’s typing in this mess in Scrivener from scratch. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity

It took about a month, but I’ve revised Closer Than You Know. I’ll give it one last read through to make sure I haven’t missed anything, and then it’s off to the editor to see if she’s interested in signing me. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity

Today’s soundtrack.

My editor would like a word. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity #MugOfTheDay

Back at it. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity #MugOfTheDay

Some good reads mentioned here: shortmystery.blogspot.com/2025/09/rece...

About halfway done with my revise and resubmit, and I just want it done and sent in and then good things come from it. I only need about a 36-hour long day to get it done. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity

Though their time with us isn’t long enough, every day with a cat is a day full of love. I miss Nevaeh more than I can express, but I have Bitteh and Louise to keep me company till I see Nevaeh again.

Still editing. But after today, I'm off till next Thursday. I'll be traveling to Kansas, but I'm hoping I'll also have time to finish editing my Word doc so I can add all the changes to Scrivener by the end of next week. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity

Been working slowly but surely on this revise & resubmit. Just under a third of the way done, but I think this version will be so much stronger. Can't wait for the editor to read it. #AmEditing #WritingCommunity

One of my alma maters is hosting a 5K the week of my birthday. I've decided to sign up for it as a way to keep exercising.