IWSG: March 2026

 

It's the first Wednesday in March and time for IWSG monthly blog hop. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh and all the iwsg admins for keeping this amazing group going for years and years. If you want to learn and share with a lot of amazing writers, find them all on this list.

Apologies for missing last month's hop. I'm not sure where my head was at the time. Really busy with the planning of the 2026 Pennwriters' conference but I still shouldn't have missed IWSG.

I'm going to skip the optional book launch question, but I'm going to take notes on all the other answers. It's been a while since I had a book launch but I'm hoping that changes in the next 12 months or so.

"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream." Author Unknown

Besides being busy working on the conference, I've still working on the second draft of my most recent WIP. I worked through a scene that was challenging me but need to do more work on it. Almost there because I hope to pitch it to an agent and an editor at the aforementioned conference.

I've been reading so many disturbing articles about AI and writing. I'm afraid of where this will go? But I'm going to keep on writing anyway.

"Life is like riding a bycycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving." Alber Einstein

In wonderful news, I found out that one of my five sons and my daughter are meeting on Facetime once a week to write together for an hour. My daughter has been writing for a long time but my son has just started. They're both so talented, I'm super excited.

And today, as you read this, our neck of the woods is supposed to finally get a break to this endless winter. After sleet and freezing rain yesterday, the temperature is supposed to climb to the fifties. Finally!

Except for all the not walking outside, all my other fun things are going great, crocheting, jigsaw puzzling, and writing, of course. I haven't made much of a dent over the winter in my TBR pile, actually added to it. But I've read so many great books.

So, what book launch advice are you giving? Are you worried about AI putting writers out of business? Is writing a family thing with you?

IWSG: November 2025

Welcome to the November version of IWSG. Thank you to our founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh and all the admins of IWSG. Please join the others on this list as we share all our current insecurities.  

Optional question:

When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?

Well, I expected success because I was naive and thought if I just worked hard enough I could conquer this career because that was how I'd pretty much gone thought life and career before. Wow, did I have a lot to learn and I'm still learning it. My success in on the low end of moderate, but I'm still working at it. 

One of the most rewarding part of writing for me is the need to keep learning though it is really difficult to keep up. And to add to the interesting part, there's always a new threat. I've been in the busiess long enough to remember the fears that e-books were going to close libraries. Then the big publishers and many of their authors spread the fear that small presses would ruin books and lower their quality. Than self-publishing would be the end of books.

Some threats have been constant, like book pirates. And now we have the AI threat, the first one I'm actually concerned about.

One thing I didn't expect in my writing career was how heavily I would get involved in a writing group. Pennwriters is amazing and running conferences for them is very fulfilling. But by next year at this time, I hope to have extricated myself from most of my responsibilities there and concentrate on my own writing. 

My husband and I are enjoying The Last Frontier on AppleTV and Slow Horses was its usual fun ride as the band of misfit spies saved the day again. Haven't started the new season of The Witcher yet. Still mourning the exit of Henry Cavill.

I'm finally going to get real glasses today instead of just the readers I use now. I've noticed road signs aren't readable as early as they used to be. I guess I should be glad to have gone over 60 years without needing them before now.

Fnished my 5,000 piece puzzle. It was pretty challenging because so much of it was similar colors. I have a 6,000 piece puzzle awaiting but I'm waiting until after Christmas to start. It takes up too much space and I need the room for family staying for the holidays. I did read a study that said jigsaw puzzles are major stress busters. I concur.

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and have many reasons to give thanks. Save travels if you're going elsewhere.

How has your writing journey progressed? Disappointing, amazing, or inbetween? Are you traveling for the holidays.

IWSG: August 2025

 

Another month has flown by shockingly fast. Time for our monthly blog hop to share our insecurities advice and sometimes, our successes. Thanks to the entire IWSG admin team and our intrepid founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh we've been at this for a while. Find the entire list of participants here.

This month's optional question:

What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

I'm not sure I would call it in the 'industry' but the illegal selling of ebooks has always been an issue. And now we have the illegal use of our books to train AI so that someday AI may learn to actually be creative in a really creepy way. Where will it go from here?

I'm looking forward to reading other answers to this question. I believe there are probably unethical things in most professions and some more horrible than what we face in writing.

I'm about a third of the way through my second draft of my WIP. I have a title for the book but not the series. It will come. As usual when I start a second draft, the first one isn't nearly as terrible as I thought it was.

If I didn't say it last month, I loved Murderbot on AppleTV. I've been reading the books since they came out and was thrilled they were doing a show. I was worried they wouldn't do it justice, but they did. I don't know if they'll do a second season, but I'm hoping.

Did some more planning for next year's Pennwriters Annual Conference. We selected our menu and it's one of the best we've ever had. The hotel updated their restaurant and selections. Chuck Wendig and Maria V. Snyder are going to be incredible keynote speakers.

My granddaughter is on a crafting binge so that is fun. I would enjoy it more if arthritis was n't destroying my thumbs right now. I had to give up crocheting and now needlepoint is becoming too painful. No sympathy needed. I earned all that damage with years of playing sports and other things that overworked and injured those joints. I feel grateful for all the phyical things I can still do like walking and swimming. And I always have my jigsaw puzzles. Working on my first 6,000 piece puzzle. It's wonderfully challenging.

Still enjoying the heat. We've had a few great days with temps in the high seventies and little humidity. We get about a dozen of those perfect days in PA so we appreciate them when they happen.

Hope your writing is going well. What nasty things have you discovered in the publishing industry? Do you enjoy any crafting? Have you read anything by Chuck Wendig or Maria V. Snyder?

IWSG: July 2026

 

Hello writerly friends. The year is half over already! Yikes. I want to thank the founder of IWSG, Alex J. Cavanaugh and all the admins who make this group the best place to share and work through your insecurities. Find the entire list here.

This month's optional question:

Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?

Excellent question. I really, really intend to dabble in poetry. I have a book and so many scraps of paper. But it never seems like I have to time to really put my mind to it. I will. Someday, I will.

My writing time now is all going toward the second draft of my current WIP. The name of the series and the books revealed themselves also. Not sure about the series name.

I've been good on my exercising. 10,000 steps on most days except when it rains, which unfortunately, is pretty often. I don't mind the heat dome, but rain keeps me inside. 

I'm also promoting the Chocolatetown Bookfest coming in October. It's the first year I've managed to secure a spot. Registration opens and fills up within two hours. It's crazy. 

I'm also busy planning the 2026 Pennwriters Annual Conference. We're extremely excited to have Chuck Wendig and Maria V. Snyder as our keynotes. We'll be in Lancaster, PA, next May. This month, we'll be settling the menu and collecting workshop proposals.

I enjoyed Dept Q on Netflix. The Accountant 2 was okay. Lots of funny stuff mixed in with the brutality. The Old Guard do is coming soon. I hope it's as good as the first one.

What genre do you want to try out? Are you okay in the summer heat? If it's summer where you are, that is. Anything entertaining you on the small or big screen?