It’s winter and the holidays are over. Who needs a little pick-me-up? If you started the Morus Chronicles and never finished, this is a great opportunity to get any/all of the books on Kindle. They are on sale for a limited time! Happy reading. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086R2Y6YZ?binding=kindle_edition
What a year! I’ve referred to myself as a Dad-Taxi before, but 2025 hit a new level. I’ve been trying to rekindle/awaken my writing groove for a while now and found some glimmers of success over the past few months. I experienced the magic of early morning writing sessions and found a book, Save the Cat Writes Horror, which generated some breakthroughs on my current WIP. Sometime in the summer of 2025, I also asked myself why? What’s the point in doing this work?
Reminding myself of my why for writing was a really important moment this year and it was twofold. First, because it makes me feel whole. I feel better, like myself, when I’m writing regularly. I also remembered myself as a young adult. I didn’t enjoy reading until I discovered Harry Potter and from there, I became a life-long reader and eventually a writer. I am writing for myself when I was thirteen years old, books that would have inspired a love for reading had I never set foot in Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. So what now? The new year presents a great opportunity for letting go of what hasn’t worked and reimagining what my life as a writer could be based on where I am right now, not where I was a decade ago when my kids were in bed before 8 pm and writing past midnight was the norm.
So what am I working on? Well, it feels like something old (the first draft was finished in 2012), but based on the changes I’ve made, it is essentially a new project. I can’t give up on it until I have given it my all, and this rewrite will be just that. Wish me luck! I’m focusing on the NOW with this project. The only time that really exists is right now. Goals help us determine which direction to travel, but each step happens on a moment by moment basis. My motto for writing this year is: Get on with it.
If you are reading this, thank you! I wish you peace during this holiday season and inspiration for the year to come. Live now, not in a past you cannot change, or a future that doesn’t exist yet. Whatever you’ve wanted to do, just get started. Get on with it.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis
We are experiencing a false fall here in Michigan and I am loving it. It will be back to summer weather next weekend, but this cool weather has provided a nice reprieve after a scorching summer. I absolutely love fall in Michigan. Warm flannel, changing leaves, and crockpots full of chili all speak my love language. Getting settled into another school year also provides the structure and scheduled focus for me to plan and look forward to my writing time.
If you know me personally or have become a fan of my work, you know that I have not had a new novel published in years. As time has gone on, I’ve wondered if there is something wrong with me. Why can’t I get another book across the finish line? It felt like I’d release a novel a year for the rest of my life when I was writing the Morus Chronicles. But since the series finished, I have written three full manuscripts that all felt off in some way. Until now.
FINALLY I am working on a rewrite and the story has some real potential. For better or worse, I believe that you are only as good as your next one, and as a result I have a standard for my work that has kept me in a writing limbo. I can’t make any promises or timelines, but it feels good to be excited about a project again. I look forward to sharing progress updates and I hope you are all well. I am grateful for you. Thank you for reading this blog and my work.
The Kindle box set of the Morus Chronicles is on sale for a limited time. Only $0.99! Enjoy!
My favorite illustrator, Luke Spooner, has rendered me a wizard. New actual headshots are not an option at the moment, so I asked Luke to make me one. And I LOVE it. Luke illustrated all of my book covers and I have long been one of his biggest fans. You can check out more of his work at Carrion House and order his art at Artwork 500. You can also follow him for updates on his work. It is hard to believe we are a few days from February. The year is off to a fast start and I have been hard at work on Magic of the Five. It has some editing to go, but this will be the year it joins the bookshelf. Cheers and best wishes to all of you.
I’m not sure what to make of my writing in 2023. I had many days and weeks with no progress and then others with unusually productive hours. I woke at 5 AM for three weeks straight during the early fall (I have never been a morning writer but I aspire to be) and hand wrote thousands of words. And then I just couldn’t. I firmly believe in the power of writing every day, but it has been many years since I came close to that ideal and 2023 was no exception. But, it is dangerous driving forward while looking in the rearview mirror. It is a great way to crash and destroy the future. So, let’s get on with it. After a few highlights of course.
I got to spend a lot of time with my favorite person on the planet this year (my wonderful wife), so I can’t be anything but grateful. I also had the privilege of watching my kids try and succeed at old and new endeavors and grow in many ways. They are growing too fast!
I had two short stories published this year, which provided a great boost for me as a writer. The first story, Communal Fire, was published by Every Day Fiction and is a short ghost story. The second story, The Wicker Demon, was published by Eastern Iowa Review and was my first fantasy story published for the adult market.
My current project continues to progress and I am hopeful to share it with you sometime in 2024. I had hoped to have the final edit done before writing this post, but I am not quite there yet. Cheers to a new year and I hope we can all block out the noise 2024 is sure to bring and focus on the things we can control and the people we are blessed to have in our lives.
Happy New Year!
I’m excited to share a short story recently released by Eastern Iowa Review in Issue 14 (Those Elves: The Collection). This story was based on an origin story, so my story is a riff on the original characters and world created in Widdershins to Magic by H.A. Titus. I hope you enjoy The Wicker Demon!
I’m proud to present Communal Fire published by Every Day Fiction. I enjoyed writing this story and I hope you enjoy reading it.
It’s difficult to believe that 2022 is coming to a close. This was the year of many activities and full schedules, a product of my kids growing older and the post-pandemic reopening of the world–a new season of life as a parent. I didn’t cross off many of my goals for 2022, but I did fully enjoy my time watching others grow and flourish. Here’s to another year of wonderful life in 2023 and hopefully a few more goals met during the next 365 days.
A few highlights from 2022:
Writing and Publishing: My story, The Wicker Demon, was accepted by Eastern Iowa Review for Issue 14: The Elven Collection (I will post when it goes live). I also finished the first draft of a whimsical middle grade novel and submitted a finished project throughout the year.
Mushroom Hunting: My wife and I took a foraging and mushroom identification class and it was one of my favorite activities of the year. We will continue to learn and pursue this passion as a couple.
Books: My favorite book this year was Stop Fixing Yourself by Anthony De Mello. There is a lot of wisdom in this man’s writings. I also loved Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty.
Podcasts: I continue to get the most value out of The Minimalist podcast. I subscribed to the private podcast and they added TK Coleman as a regular, both of which have enhanced my experience.
Movies and TV: My wife a I finally sat down and watched Stranger Things. We absolutely loved it (oh the 80s nostalgia) and binged all four seasons during the months of October and November.
On to 2023! This year I will let go of the things that get in the way of time spent loving my family and working on projects that bring me joy. When there is space, creativity can flourish. Clearing away the physical clutter, emotional clutter, digital clutter, etc. can create a calming environment where I will either be more productive, or even better, at peace.
Thank you for reading. May you be in a calm place in 2023, full of possibility and creativity. Best wishes and big hugs.
My story Boys on the Couch, a memoir bite, was included in Simple Things: Stories, Poems, and Essays of Isolated Gratitude. The call for submissions on this one was enough to inspire some reflection on the great shut down of 2020. A portion of all sales for this anthology go to support the World Literacy Foundation. I was grateful to write the story and now I am grateful to be included in this fine collection.
Author J.R. Roper 