May 19, 2023

Hopefuls, Monthly Author Check-In, Personal

Monthly Author Check-In: May 2023

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What I’m Writing: Hopefuls Christmas special novella
What I’m Reading: Dances by Nicole Cuffy and Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
What I’m Loving: Dorfromantik!! I’m playing so much I even play it in my dreams.

Oof, this spring has been something else.

I’m not going to get into details, but April and the beginning of May were… a lot. A few very stressy situations going on, lots of anxiety messing with my concentration, boatloads of uncertainty making it impossible to plan.

It’s basically settled out now, though, and in the end I even emerged victorious, a shiny new job clutched triumphantly in my grasp. But what an emotional roller coaster it was to get here.

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January 31, 2023

Monthly Author Check-In, Personal, The Beacon Campaigns

Monthly Author Check-In: January 2023

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What I’m Writing: The final Beacons books!
What I’m Reading: Destroyer by Meg Smitherman and The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
What I’m Loving: Lego City: Undercover on the Switch (I know it’s so old, but I just got it and its giving me LIFE)

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November 30, 2022

Hopefuls, Monthly Author Check-In, Personal

Monthly Author Check-In: November 2022

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What I’m Writing: A Hopefuls holiday special
What I’m Reading: Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
What I’m Loving: Still listening to Taylor Swift’s Midnights on a near-endless loop

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November 1, 2022

Personal, Writing Tips

Reflections on NaNoWriMo, 20 Years Later

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Twenty years ago today, I wrote the first 2,000 words of my first NaNoWriMo novel.

I participated in NaNo from 2002-2007, and then again in 2012, as well as several personal “off-season” NaNoWriMo-inspired writing marathons. And though I don’t technically join anymore, it was such an influential part of my early writing life that it felt wrong not to mark this occasion.

So today, let’s take a look at the biggest lessons I gained from the experience—and how it continues to shape me as a writer even now.

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January 12, 2022

Jenn Recommends, Personal, What I’m Reading

2021 Reading Year in Review

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It’s cliche but it’s true: if you want to be a writer, you need to first be a reader. More than just keeping up with current genre trends and studying craft, though, everything we consume as a creative gets woven into our minds and our souls—and you never know when part of that tapestry will work its way into your own work. So it’s nice, at these yearly transitions, to look back at all the things that influenced my own artistic sensibilities in the year 2021. Let’s get into it!

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