On the Road to Revision
Does everyone else have this happen? Is it common for the creative muse to take detours on the way to a finished manuscript?
Jul 1
The Progress of Goals for 2025 So Far…
We’re now half-way through 2025 and I thought it would be good to look at how my goals for the year are coming along. Some goals got away from me, but some I am trying my best to be consistent.
Jun 22
Jun 8
Video – My Thoughts on the Luke Bateman Book Deal
A few weeks ago, news broke that former Australian rugby player and popular BookTok creator Luke Bateman got a 2-book deal. Below are some of my thoughts about the situation.
News like this doesn’t really surprise me, but it is important to recognize that publishing is a business and learning how to navigate this business in your own career will save you a lot of time.
Enjoy!
Jun 1
Writing Plans – June 2025
A new month is here, and new writing goals appear. I had great plans to finish and submit two more stories, but fate intervened. However, three days and two plumbers later, my bathroom and kitchen are okay and I am ready to focus on writing again.
I have worked on one of the stories, but it is not done. I hope to get them finished by the end of this month, but I also have the looming rewrite of my novel. I don’t want to put that off too much longer.
I suppose it is common for people to overestimate how much they can get done. In some ways, I keep overloading myself and am happy when I get something done. Other times, I feel like I need to get real with myself and set realistic goals that are achievable. Problem is, I have ambition.
I do have some balance in my life. I make time for friends and family. I do have a day job that is completely different from writing. I try to have a few hobbies that have nothing to do with writing, or writing adjacent (I’m a big TV and movie junkie.)
I have big dreams for my writing. Last year did wonders for my writing self-esteem and I want to continue the momentum. But writing is such a solitary action and I find myself talking and thinking about writing more than actually writing.
I’m sure plenty are nodding their heads too. I think this is a much more common problem. My solution? I need to find a schedule that I can stick to. Ever since I had to go back into the office, my schedule has been in shambles. It doesn’t help that the days I’m in office rotate from week to week. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful I only go in two days a week, but I need to figure it out. Maybe an hour in the evening? We’ll see. My previous schedule was a morning write and that’s much harder now to do everyday.
Maybe the best idea is to not write those two days and focus on other aspects of the writing life. Work on these posts, create more images, and work on videos for my YouTube channel.
We’ll see. I do my best and figure something out.
In other news, I’m loving Murderbot on Apple+. I watched Andor and loved it too. I’m getting back into the Handmaid’s Tale. I watched the first season, but got busy and didn’t watch anymore. Now that it had the series finale, I can binge watch it. Spoilers don’t bother me at all. I’ve watched full recaps and still watched the show. I find that recappers don’t notice everything and always leave a few things out. Sometimes they are important. Sometimes they are trivial details.
Plus, as a writer, story is rarely unique. If you’ve read the books, you kinda know how things will end. If it is original, like Andor, I’m more interested in how the story is told, not what happens. (Although, with Andor, you know it is building towards Rogue One.) A lifetime of reading has taught me a lot about how stories unfold, so when it is done well, I become a fan.
On that note, I hope everyone is enjoying some good stories.
Happy Writing!
May 15
Mid-May Catch Up 2025
Not much movement from me since my last post. One thing about being a writer, the days tend to repeat themselves. I’m still getting used to my Return To Office (RTO) at my job. My new schedule has me getting up an hour earlier and going back to my hour and change commute. However, it’s only for two days a week (which I’m grateful) and I’ve been getting up at the same time to get my body used to the new work schedule.
One thing I have been doing is reading more. I’m still behind for the year, but I’m reading more than I did last year. One of my goals for 2025 was to read 2 books a month. So far, I’m only at 1 book a month (a total of five so far this year), but I’m glad I’m reading more. Last year, I think I read maybe 3 (?) books. Abysmal. So I need to step up my game. I definitely want to read James this year, now that it has won the Pulitzer. I knew it was a buzzed about book, and the prize is just one more reason to read it.
On the writing note: I did pull out my story that I worked on last December. Rereading it, I thought it was much better than I remember. There was one sticky area that I fixed and now it is off on submission. I’m really glad I got that out the door. One of my bad habits is to let my stories languish in rewriting hell. The story in question is one I wrote way back in 2018. So, it needs to be out the door.
I still have two more that need attention. I’m hoping to get them both finished this month and submitted. One is from early 2023 and the other is a story I started on January 2025. If I can get those done and out the door this month, I will feel accomplished.
Then I have to get started on my paid tier on Substack, which should only require me to spend an afternoon sitting my butt down in a chair and doing it. The stories are all written and I have the cover images. I just need to sit down and do it.
Finally, the last thing on my agenda is to start the rewrite of my novel. I feel a bit overwhelmed by it, but I have to remember to just take it one chapter at a time. I’m hoping all this rewriting of my stories, gears me up for this novel rewrite. Sometimes when I think about it, I am exhausted before I even start. Sometimes, I get really excited.
Ah the life of a writer. So boring on the outside. So exciting on the inside.
Hope everyone’s writing is going well.
Christina Keller's Blog 