What does Stephen King say about Talent?
And how we're going to survive the worst months of the year
From the Writing Desk: Happy January! You’ll notice we’re coming at you from somewhere new—we’ve moved from Mailchimp to Substack! I’m excited about how this will streamline things in the future.
How are you all dealing with January? To be honest, it’s my least favorite month, and February is my other least favorite, so let’s help each other get through the next 28 days, yeah?
For the last few months I’ve been focused on getting a foot in several different genres. I’ve got a synopsis for Middle Grade book #4 with my editor, a picture book with my agent, a chapter book I just got back from some critique partners, and a YA idea I just spent Saturday brainstorming with some very smart writing friends. This is all stuff I’ve been slowly working on over a long time, so hopefully it will all start coming together this year. I’ve also started taking some drawing classes and teaching myself the ukulele, and that’s been a blast!
What are you working on?
What I’m Reading: I just finished Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Earnshaw and it was a very quick and fun read! I enjoyed getting back to Halloween Town immensely.
What I’m Watching: I’m going through this list of the top movies from each decade, and it has been so much fun! I’m not watching each movie, but picking at least a few from each decade. It’s been like a self-guided film history class!
January Ghosts:
Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.
-Stephen King
Writing Opportunity: Interested in funny things? Interested in poetry? How about funny poetry? The 1-70 Review has announced the Bill Hickock Humor Award for poetry, and its due Feb. 28. The winner gets 1000 dollars! Check it out!
Teacher or Librarian? I would love to do a free virtual Q&A with your class or book group! I’ve also got free resources to accompany each book, and you can find those here. You guys are rock stars!
Thanks for coming along everyone! I’d be honored if you forwarded this to anyone you thought might find it useful. Onward!
-Sarah