My bookish achievement of the day: I’d tagged an anticipated upcoming release on Libby and happened to be on my phone when the notification popped up. I was first on the holds list! (Clap for me, my husband isn’t sure why this is so exciting)

Feet pics on #caturday

My other cat was jealous he wasn’t featured for #caturday. I title this: No Cats On The Counter

A good #caturday for editing.

My cat is a fan of the fact that I’ve decided to indie publish because I’m back in front of my computer, editing before I send things off to my editor. (It’s like cleaning your house before the cleaners?) Unfortunately this is how she prefers to help me. #catsofbluesky #amediting

I’m diving into indie pub for some of my backlog of manuscripts and I’d initially thought it would be all a slog. I’m pleasantly surprised to find I’m having fun! Got my cover draft back today and I’m in love 😍 #indiepub #romance

I know my vocabulary is stellar yet I didn’t know today’s Wordle word.

There are few things I love more than videos of snow dogs who refuse to come in from the snow.

BUMPED, a spicy travel rom-com, is my latest completed manuscript inspired by last fall’s trip to Spain. When a global software glitch shuts down air travel, a pair of strangers find themselves unexpectedly free to explore new cities and discover new passions.

I’m in between projects and available to alpha/beta (for free) any rom coms you may need eyes on. #betareading #romcom

Ali Hazelwood, in all her STEM glory, decided to turn Mate into an experiment. Study question: can one scene feature too many orgasms? Though the question is inherently subjective, I would argue she found the upper limit. #amreading

I know things come in trends, but how did dementia affected loved ones become the trend in romance? I’m on my fourth in six months! (Say You’ll Remember Me, Sounds like Love, Tourist Season, People Watching).

So it’s no surprise that I hate AI in creative spaces, but I think I hate it most in cute cat videos. What do we NOT need AI to create? Cute cat videos! I have a hundred on my phone. I can make another one for free! Of a real goddamn cat. If I want fictional cat videos then I will watch animation.

They say “write the Next Thing”. But then you’re 30k words deep in the Next Thing when your agent sends you notes on the Last Thing and all you want to do is keep writing the Next Thing. #amwriting

The best part about having kids is they might grow up and do things you like to do. I didn’t marry a man who will go to musical theater with me or visit the renaissance faire, so instead I raised one. I just had to wait twelve years for him to get here.

My fear of outlines stemmed from my anxiety that it would stop all the creative twists that flowed from pantsing a novel. In reality, it just gives them more structure. They still happen, they’re just overlaid on a more cohesive narrative. #amwriting

Guys, I’ve failed. My 12 year old just asked me unironically “mom, what exactly happens at the end of Romeo and Juliet? Everyone dies by dragon or something?” Me: are you serious? Him: what, I know it’s a tragedy, right?

The Anti Second Chance romance outline is complete ✅ Don’t judge me if I wrote 12k words of the opening before I outlined… #amwriting

Ugh. I discovered the only downside to plotting. I just outlined a scene I am so excited to write, I’m mad it’s at the end of this novel. I want to write it right now! #amwriting

No one told me that today would be utterly consumed by watching phone recordings of Jesus Christ Superstar that have more entertainment value than they have any right to contain. If you need me, you know where to find me. #jcss

Revisions on Quasi Historical Romance are wrapped up and got 👍 from my agent, edits on Bumped are in process, and I’m resisting the urge to start something new before I’ve edited everything. I’m probably failing. #amediting

Welp. Seems like it’s time to write another happily ever after novel, since we’re forced to live in a dystopian reality. #booksky #amwriting

Rereading Emily Henry’s Book Lovers hits different after becoming an author/getting an agent. I feel like I’m in on the joke, now. #booksky

The life. #booksky

I just realized that I’m on my 8th second chance romance (entirely by coincidence) since March 29th on Libby. I’m so burnt out on them. Is there an anti second chance where the old flame comes groveling back but the new guy helps her realize how toxic he is for her? #booksky

The power TikTok/a mainstream popular author can have if she wants: 2 years ago I wrote a manuscript that had Aussie side characters who said the word cunt in casual speech. A reader told me “cunt will never be tolerated in big 5 romance”. 2 years later, Ali Hazelwood peppers it through her novel.

Fascinated by Cara Bastone’s Better Luck Next Time, which I went into blind. It’s not an audio book at all, but closer to a radio program. It fascinates me to imagine writing only with dialogue. #booksky

When a multinational software glitch shuts down airline computer systems, a pair of strangers volunteer to be bumped off the last flight out of Spain. They hope to discover all Madrid has to offer, but could never fathom what they’ll discover about each other. BUMPED, my spicy travel rom-com WIP.

Revisions on (Quasi) Historical Romance are off to my agent, and Bumped (my spicy travel rom com) is filtering back from betas, making me excited to tackle those edits. Now that I think about it, Bumped needs a mood board… #amediting

Ah! My Libby account dropped my holds number from 30 to 20! Almost everything on my list has a months long wait! 😖

Ah, the predictable post-Emily Henry crash. I went through three audiobooks on my commutes today before I finally settled on Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle because at least I still get Julia Whalen. #booksky

Spoiler: I read/edited the whole thing over and I chose. There was a pretty clear winner. Now if anyone wants to beta a spicy travel romcom, let me know! #amediting

Emily Henry never writes a book without a hug quote I feel the need to highlight. As a connoisseur of hugs, I clock them every time. And I have to wonder. Does she have it on a checklist of things she must include in her novels? This one’s on page 183, if you were wondering. #booksky

Did I buy Emily Henry’s new novel in Hardback and Audiobook? I did. Do I feel guilty about this over consumption? I do not.

Whoop! Alternate ending to my spicy rom com, complete ✅. I just hope I don’t have to be the one to choose. Now, onto revisions! #amwriting #amediting

I figured it out. Remember when that grandma accidentally texted a random kid a Thanksgiving invite and he then showed up to her family meal for the next several years? That’s what JD Vance and Pete Hegseth were hoping for. Random friends to show up to their bombing.

I wish an amaretto sour still tasted as good as it did when I was 25. In my memory, they are just so good. In real life, they are cloying and way too sweet.

Writing has transformed my thoughts on solo travel from annoyance and boredom to happiness at having so much uninterrupted time to write. #amwriting

Apparently I need something even lower angst/anxiety than a romance novel. I keep getting to the 80% mark where shit hits the fan and I start a new book. Why am I like this? I can write the drama. I love writing the drama, so why do I hate reading it? #booksky

As a writer, I take inspiration from this beast. I might have told him to get off the counter fifteen times in the last hour. I’ve physically removed him at least a dozen. But is he deterred? Does he let rejection get him down? Nope. He owns the kitchen island on pure stubbornness alone. #amwriting

One of the unexpected perks of this Homecare job is the number of audiobooks I’m churning through. #booksky

Applied my writing skills to the snarkiest medical equipment appeal letter I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing. Do not deny my letters of medical necessity twice, claiming I didn’t tell you the things I already wrote you word for word. F’ing insurance.

Hit 30k in my travel rom-com! #amwriting

Really hitting the swing of drafting my Spanish travel rom-com. Despite the fact that I actually outlined this one, it’s taking a surprisingly spicy turn that I don’t hate. #amwriting

Don’t be like Nutmeg. Don’t let giant orange blobs squish you out of your rightful place in the world. #cats #kittens

A perfectly circular specimen. #kitten #cat

Chapter four is drafted. These characters are incapable of anything besides dubious double entendres. #writingcommunity #amwriting

I just read the idiom “I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.” I’d never heard that phrase before, but I quite like it.

Second chance. I love a dual timeline but it’s been done so well (Love and Other Words and Carley Fortune) I’d want to find my own way to make it special. I do love the way idealized first love allows for built up tension in a later adult relationship.

Next rom com fully outlined, with three chapters drafted. I’d call that a productive weekend! #writingcommunity #gratuitouscatphoto