The Summer of Salads, Stories and Sweat

For a lot of people summer is about relaxing and vacations, but for me, it’s usually when I pretty much hibernate in my air conditioned hidey-hole. This summer is all about:  

SALADS and lighter meals. It’s about getting healthier on the inside. You’d think as a vegetarian I’d have this down but, since pasta is my go-to pal, not so much. 

 

STORIES! Writing my own, of course, but reading and watching them, too. Stories are everywhere!

 

SWEAT. And I don’t mean by just sitting out on the lanai in the Florida summer. I mean the kind I get when I hang out with my old frenemy, the dreadmill . . .  

 

Now, of course, life happens and hurricanes howl through, so this is only a loose plan. But I’m giving it a go!

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WRITING

I finished and subbed a drabble. I made a little progress on the longer short story and a little more progress on the novella. 

READING

I’m behind on my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge. For some reason, I’m struggling with reading this year. But since part of this summer is all about stories, I hope to remedy that soon enough.  

WATCHING

TV – My husband and I are thoroughly enjoying My Best Friend’s An Animal [National Geographic, Hulu] So many amazing animals and people out there! (I’m always a little wary of animal shows because I don’t like when they show the gory side of nature. This one doesn’t.) 

 

Movies – We really liked Neighborhood Watch (with Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and The Drop was an entertaining way to spend an hour or so.

 

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What are your summer plans? Do you have any go-to (vegetarian!) lighter meals/salads? Or cookbooks, websites, etc. you like? Any favorite workouts or ways to make gym time go faster? Any suggestions for non-gory animal or nature shows? 

Quirks in the Night

I’m not particularly adept at using my phone – bad eyesight and fumble fingers - so when a character or a line of dialogue or a story idea strikes in the night, I don’t bother reaching for my glasses or my phone. (Besides, there’s a very good chance I’ll knock one or both of them off the nightstand anyway.) 

Instead, I nudge my husband and he’s got his phone in his hand, email open, ready to take dictation in the middle of the night. The next day, I open my email and voila! There are my thoughts, all nicely typed out and legible. (Of course, that doesn’t mean it makes sense, but that’s on me not my husband.) 

It's just one of the many, many . . . um, let’s call them, quirks . . . of mine that my husband puts up with. This month, we’ll be married 26 years, and while he is now, apparently, my personal assistant/secretary, he still is and always will be, my rock and my wings.  

WRITING

I’m playing with ideas for some upcoming themed submission opportunities, one for a drabble and one for a short story. Another short story idea is waiting patiently for its turn. 

 

Progress is being made on a longer story/novella. It’s slow going because I’m still fleshing out backstory and foundational stuff, trying to fill in as many plot holes as I can now so I don’t fall into them later. I’m considering doing my own version of NaNo later this summer to get down a first draft. 

READING

Loved the delightful and heartwarming middle grade novel Old School by Gordon Korman. Five stars and easily one of my favorite books of the year! And I also really liked Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5) by Suzanne Collins. It took me back to when I first read The Hunger Games.

 

WATCHING

TV – Thoroughly enjoyed A Man on the Inside (with Ted Danson, on Netflix)! Fun and funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming. Looking forward to Season Two! And, at pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum, is the dark but absolutely compelling, Adolescence (Netflix.) The acting blew my mind. 

 

Movie – My hopes for The Companion were that it would be solid, a pleasant enough way to be entertained for a couple of hours. Turned out to be way better than I thought! Dark and creepy, yes, but also a whole lot of fun in a weird twisted way. 

 

*****

Are you handy with your phone? Any tips for old Fumble Fingers here? Do you have someone in your life who encourages and supports your creativity? If you’ve done your own version of NaNo, how did you set it up and how did it go? Read or watched anything good lately?

Reigniting that Creative Spark

Recently, our neighborhood held an “art walk” where local artists and crafters could open up their homes, let people see their studios and maybe sell their work. It didn’t matter if the studio was an extra bedroom or a den, a converted garage or a tiny laundry room, wonderful work came out of them - jewelry, sea glass crafts, mosaics and art quilts, to name a few. But my favorite part of the experience was getting to chat with some of the artists and crafters.  

From the person who created fun and funky mosaic tables and tiles to the person who incorporated found objects, like ripped screen from a hurricane, into her work, the excitement and passion held by everyone was inspiring. Being around people like that never fails to reignite that spark in me. 

 

WRITING

A pretty decent draft of a longer short story is done and resting quietly. A couple of ideas are in the starting stages, which means lots of scribbled scraps of paper all over the house and messy thoughts typed up in a way that only makes sense to me.

 

Last month, I mentioned that my short story, Bad Candy, will be out in Inanimate Things Volume 2 on April 18th. The anthology is getting positive reviews over on Goodreads. 

READING

Lisa Genova’s More or Less Maddy is definitely one of my favorite books of 2025. The blurb says - “A breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.” I will absolutely attest to the breathless and riveting part of that statement! 

 

WATCHING

TV - We finished our re-watch of The West Wing. Once again, another show with some clunky seasons in the middle, but it finished pretty strong and we enjoyed it overall. We also re-watched the first season of The Night Agent, and it was just as good as we remembered. The second season? Not so much. I’m not sure what happened there.  

 

*****

What reignites that creative spark for you? Are there people in your life who are excited and passionate about something? Are YOU that person for others? What are you reading or watching lately? 

Bad Candy - Inanimate Things: Volume 2

Louise knew candy was bad for her. 

She just didn’t know how bad.

 

My short story, “Bad Candy” is included in the anthology, Inanimate Things: Volume 2 (Burial Books, April 2025.) This story is a bit of a departure for me in that it’s not flash or micro fiction but a full-blown short story at about 1,900 words. 

 

From the blurb – 

“Living Puppets, Animated Houses, Creepy Cars, Hard Candy, Stoned Scarecrows, Exterior Illumination, Cardboard Maniacs, and More Mannequins. These are a few of the things that will devour your soul and invade your dreams. Digest these tales and try to be kind to the things you see. Just because you don’t think they’re conscious, doesn’t mean they aren’t.

 

Stories by acclaimed horror authors Jason Fischer, John Gosham, Sandra Henriques, Patrick Herald, Michael Lawrence, Colin Adams-Toomey, Cory Brock, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Truman Ramsey, Mark Peters, Anne Wilkins, Carter Aldridge, Jimmy Pudge, Paul Lonardo, Ira Thackston II, Stuart Conover, Damon Nomad, Kay Hanifen, and Stephen Rhoades."

PRE-ORDER NOW ON AMAZON

Scheduled for release on April 18, 2025

Down But Not Out

Well, the first month of 2025 found the TSR household down for the count. My husband and I rarely get sick but when we do, it lingers. And the cold, damp, gray, rainy days did not help. In between bouts of chills and coughing and making sure the palm trees outside were not covered in snow, I’d sing “Tomorrow” from Annie, like some prayer of desperation. (And believe me, if I’m attempting to sing, it’s a desperate situation.)

 

So, pretty much all momentum was lost around here, but although we were down, we are not out! 

 

WRITING

My Write 25 in 25 helped me keep at writing, even with being sick. It’s mostly been sessions of 2-5 minutes since that was about all I could focus on.    

 

READING

I was in a bit of a reading slump, but then the fun, twisty thriller, Cross My Heart by Megan Collins pulled me in and wouldn’t let go.  

 

WATCHING

TV – We finished our re-watch of "LA Law"! We definitely enjoyed the first bunch of seasons, and even though it kind of fell apart after that, it was still fun. We’re now re-watching/watching "The West Wing." My husband and I both remember starting this series when it first came out but neither of us can remember if we ever finished it.

 

Movie – although it felt kind of long, we liked "Conclave." The acting was good. And, of course, we enjoyed the turtles. 

 

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How do you get your focus and/or momentum back after being sick? Have you read or watched anything that broke through a slump for you?

What Worked, What Didn't, and Going Forward

Here we go again! Another year full of opportunities to grow, improve and learn, to be grateful, breathe, and laugh long and loud and often. 

 

WRITING

 

How do you know when that small thing will become the last thing, sending a person right over the edge . . . and taking you down with them?

 

Not Very Neighbourly, a drabble, is available to read in Dark Moments, the online publication of Black Hare Press. It’s also included in their anthology, Year Six, which includes all their online nano tales published in 2024.  

 

Another pleasant surprise at the end of 2024 was the acceptance of a short story to be published in an anthology in spring 2025. 

 

READING

 

I slightly exceeded my 2024 Goodreads goal = reading 54/52 books.  I’m keeping the same goal – 52 books - for 2025. It gives me both direction and wiggle room. 

 

*****

 

“One Word” - I always want this concept to work better for me than it does. I don’t know if I’m choosing the wrong word or if it’s the wrong time for that word or if I’m not keeping it in mind enough. But I don’t see the harm in trying again! 

 

So, for 2025, I’m going with the word QUIET. I chose it for a number of reasons, but the biggest one is because I have a lot of “noise” inside of me – anxieties, fears, scattered thoughts, the list goes on and on. I hope to use the word as a sort of mantra. 

 

“The 24 in 24 List” – I basically scrapped this a few months into last year. Another concept I like, but I don’t think it works for me at this point in my life. 

“The Write 24 in 24 Challenge” – This worked so well for me that I’m continuing it for myself! So, hello, Write 25 in 25! 

 

“Habit Tracking/Don’t Break the Chain” – This also worked really well for me, for both the writing challenge and for a handful of healthy habits I set for myself. I’m definitely going to keep this up!

 

*****

 

Do you have any goals or plans for 2025? Any advice, lessons, systems for achieving them?

Happy Holidays!

This month’s post may be short on words, but it is definitely long on gratitude.

 

We here at TSR are so grateful for all of you who read this blog and the stories (micro, flash and otherwise!) We appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment -  encouraging and supporting, sharing information or something about yourselves. We hope you all keep coming back! 

 

Wishing you and yours 

a joyful holiday season 

and all the best 

in 2025 and always!