Better late than never
Getting back to routine
Right after my last January post, I rushed off to spend the last four weeks caring for my mother who took an unexpectedly bad turn in her health. While I used to be able to write anywhere and everywhere, in a wide variety of conditions, even exhausted, that was not the case this time. I was pretty much 24/7 on guard for more falls, and tending to my mother’s appointments, physical, and emotional needs. I missed committee meetings, and writing chats. I got in most of my writing sprints since they are at a super-early hour that my mother slept through. But I used the time to answer emails.
Once Mom was finally independent, I came home to find that my own house needed attention, and my spouse needed attention. So, while this week has been a work in progress getting back into normalcy, I only managed a short writing update — on a fanfiction that had an update mostly written, just sitting abandoned in a file. I finished the chapter, cleaned it up, and posted it: 2,222 words. The grand total of my creative output this past week. But yay, a win. (For those interested, it was a Once Upon a Time fanfic, A Ride on Horseback.)
When I could grab time to myself, I had client editing to do. I fell a bit behind on that, though I thankfully did not miss any deadlines.
More festivals, appearances
I missed going to Gulfport’s ReadOUT this year, but I did line up several other events to attend. Last month, I alerted you to several. Here’s a couple more:
Galentine’s Day Smutty Book Fest, Hourglass Brewing (Curry Ford Road location), Orlando, Florida, Feb. 13, 6-9 pm
Cocoa Village Book Fest, sponsored by Hello Again Books and the Cocoa Village Chamber of Commerce, April 18, 2026, 10-3 pm.
Spotlight - #lesficfri
This newsletter is coming out on a Friday, so I thought I’d share with you the excerpt I selected for this week’s theme word “delicate”. From Turning Point, here’s an early moment of connection between Cassidy and Brenna:
The hashtag “lesficfri” shows up on a wide variety of social media sites and is a great way to get a taste of sapphic stories that authors have written or are writing (since WIPs are welcome, too). So, search for it the next time you’re on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, etc.
~ Lara
