It's Not Over Till It's Over

I used to be guilty of saying, oh well, the year’s almost over, why bother trying this or that or the other thing. But a couple of months ago, I heard about the 100 days countdown to the end of the year, and seeing that number made me realize, hey, there’s still a big chunk of time left! It’s not only 100 days, it’s still 100 days. 

As of the writing of this post, there are over 55 days left in the year. So, instead of giving up, let’s get going!

 

WRITING

I’m working on the story collection, a drabble and a flash fiction/short story. This story is a little different for me in that it’s heavy on dialogue, but since that’s how it came to me, I’m going with it.

 

READING

I’ve been on a reading roll lately! 

The Private Jet by Sarah Goodwin - an adventure/survival thriller that will have you turning pages so fast you’ll get paper cuts but that's nothing compared to what happens in the book!

Runner 13 by Amy McCulloch - another survival/adventure thriller that will make you feel like a slacker unless you, too, are an ultramarathon runner racing through the Sahara Desert.

 

The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens – will leave you second guessing that road trip you’re considering… 

59 Minutes by Holly Seddon – left me emotionally wrung out in the way only a really good read can. (I received an ARC in a giveaway. Expected publication date 11/18/2025.)

TORTOISES

The tortoises never fail to amuse me. At the vet for their check-up, their very different personalities were on display. They needed to have their beaks and nails trimmed, and while Larry wanted no part of it, Mrs. Larry acted like she was getting a facial and a manicure/pedicure. 

 

WATCHING

We’ve had some good luck lately with Netflix. Two movies – The Thursday Murder Club was enjoyable and The Woman in Cabin 10 was very suspenseful. A limited series – Hostage – was utterly gripping. 

 

*****

How are you approaching the end of 2025? Have you read or watched anything good lately? Do your pets amuse you?

Camp Draft Part II, or Attack of the Angry Mosquitos

Last month, I was at Camp Draft, where a number of writing projects were going to get done. Unfortunately, early that month, anxiety roared in like a swarm of angry mosquitos sending me cowering under my bunk, whimpering, with my arms over my head. But, thankfully, my protagonists are braver and smarter than I am, and they eventually lured the swarm away with some Key Lime Pie ice cream (I’m not sure this would work in real life but here, at Camp Draft, weirdness often works.) Coincidentally, this is also how my protagonists lured me out from under the bunk so we could get back to work.  

What got done:

The Longer Short Story – a solid rough draft! 

The Drabble – written, revised too many times to count and submitted!

 

What did not get done:

The Novella

 

So, I decided another session of Camp Draft was in order for August. This time around, we’re going to:

 

* Finish the nightmare road trip – aka The Longer Short Story – and revise it until it stops chanting “are we there yet?” so I can hopefully submit it. 

 

* Explore that cursed island where the Novella lives, and hang out with two of my protagonists and let them tell me all the secrets, or at least the ones they know about. This project will be about progress, and even though I’m not exactly sure what that looks like, I’ll know it when I see it.

 

Hopefully, August will be free of angry mosquitos. But I’m going to stock up on some of that Key Lime Pie ice cream, you know, um, just in case…. 

 

*****

How’s your summer going? Having fun? Getting projects done? Staying cool, calm and collected? Hiding from angry mosquitos?