My Unexpected Journey continues...
Wow, it’s been a minute! As you know, I’ve been traveling the trail of discovery as I navigate my journey with my newly-published book, Little House Life Hacks.
This has certainly taken up my time and attention in the best of ways, but I wanted to touch base with those of you who have hung in there with me–thank you!–and give you the latest!
Pioneering
People often ask my co-author and me, “How is your book doing?” And to this I answer, “I have no idea!” Our publishing company doesn’t really tell us how many books are sold at any given moment. I think this is something they will calculate after the holidays.
That said, it has been sheer delight seeing it on shelves with its worthy neighbors in various book stores, making appearances, and–drum-roll, please–recording an audiobook! Yes, our incredible publishing team at Running Press actually trusted us to do the honors of reading our own book for the listening masses! (I’m thinking positively, here.) I can’t even begin to describe how magical the entire process was–what an experience!
And now here comes my shameless plug: this book really is a great holiday gift for the “I used to love that show!” or prairi-lovin’ GenX TV watchin’ cottagecore-embracer in your life. It’s such a beautiful book; our illustrator and designers did such an incredible job!
We have no other out-and-about plans with the book as of now, but I promise to be better at keeping you posted
Calendering
Both of my desk calendars are in full swing–they have been awaiting their moment for months now. I’ve seen them gracing the shelves and piles in RL and virtual bookstores and I swear I’ve heard them screaming, “Pick me, pick me!!”
More than likely, you’ve seen my home page or writing page with them pictured, but as a reminder, I have the Horror Trivia calendar and also Whimsical Witch available. Perfect for the horror fan and the exploratory Witch (or witch-curious!) friend, family member, and yourself! Who doesn’t love waking up to a fun trivia question or cool fact every day?
These babies were a lot of work, but very fun and satisfying! I’m proud of these silly little things! Go get one! (that wasn’t a shameless plug; that was a pushy demand. Sorry not sorry,)
Writing
Although I never have enough time to do so, I’m still plugging away at my fantasy novel! When people ask me how far I am, I seriously have no clue how to answer that. For my first fiction book ever, I decided that I’m going to write it from a handful of characters’ perspectives, of course, adding to the challenge of the entire experience. (sigh.) The process that works for me is deciding which character I want to hang out with for the day and write more of their story. Then I will weave them all together and pray is ends up cohesive and fun to read.
This has been daunting, frustrating, overwhelming, and one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. Because right now, (write now??) it’s only for ME. I love being in that world, and I WILL finish it one of these days so that you can experience it, too!
Substacking
Another reason I haven’t been writing as much here, is I’m taking a lot of what I want to talk about over to Substack, the online community for writers. Here you will find articles, posts, blogs– however you want to think of them– more than likely about any topic you can think of.
If you subscribe to someone’s newsletter there, you receive them in your mailbox just like when you subscribe here. I’ve taken my tarot love over there in a newsletter called Pen & Tarot. What I used to call Amplify Tarot, posts I made weekly about a card you can focus on, I’ve continued as Touchstone Tarot there. I talk more about how you can use it, and share teaching moments I’ve had.
As always, my ideas and methods are for any person with any interest in the tarot. You can know all about it, or nothing. You can own 30 decks or none. You can be a tarot/woo-woo skeptic and are more than welcome. As a certified life coach, I’ve always loved the tarot as a self-development tool, and that’s how I roll with it on Substack.
As of now, you can subscribe for FREE! I’m not sure if or when I may change it to a paid subscription, but if you have been wanting to delve into this incredible timeless modality that speaks of philosophy, archetypes, and the hero’s journey, please join me! If I offer any tarot workshops, events, or special offers, you’ll find them here. Here’s the link.
Continuing the Conversation
So, if you were following The Knitty Gritty Podcast I had with Melissa Gilbert, you know that we stepped away to take a break and focus more on the Modern Prairie app.
I have my own group/page that lives there called Continue the Conversation, hoping to bring that podcast vibe down into the community. It’s been fun going Live with topics that make me go HMMM, and bringing other people in to chat with.
What’s really cool is that 2024 will be transforming into a more regular schedule that will be Live with the community every other week! I’m kicking it off with a workshop event Modern Prairie called Finding Your Word of the Year in the Word Garden. I’m teaming up with author Sandy Peckinpah to talk about how a word is so much more powerful than resolutions, how to find your own, and some great journaling ideas and prompts to get the most out of it.
Your Unexpected Journey of the Year (of course it’s called that) will be our theme in my group starting on January 11th, and we will have a blast digging deeper into the word so that you can use it as your compass and navigating your own journey of rediscovery, discovery, and exploration so that it will lead you where YOU want to go. What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning? Let’s find out together!
You are invited to both attend the workshop, and embark on this journey with me! The event is free–reserve your place by clicking the button below!– and so is joining and being a part of the app. As a reminder, Modern Prairie is the brainchild of Melissa and her incredible partner Nicole Haase–they’ve created a safe and fun haven for us midlife gals who don’t want to grow old gracefully–only gratefully and with fire!–it’s a fabulous community
Happy Season and all That Jazz
So there it is! I’ve had an incredible year and I want to thank everyone that has followed along with me here and on the socials! No writer (that wants to publish, anyway) wants to only write for themselves, and whether you are reading my book, my calendars, my blog posts, my Substack newsletters, or simply my silly posts, I appreciate you so much!
I hope you are all enjoying a peaceful and fulfilling holiday season, even (especially) if it’s a tough one for you. Please remember that, even though it may seem so, no one’s life is Currier and Ives. It’s a hard world and we are all doing our best to enjoy the days as we can. May each one of yours be filled with lights–of a tree, a menorah, a fire, a candle, and/or the love of friends and family around you.
