It’s officially the holiday season! This is my favorite time of year — pumpkins are still plentiful, the weather is crisp, and the holidays are before us. We’ve watched so many spooky movies and shows (The Fall of the House of Usher and Totally Killer were top notch), and for our fourth anniversary, we enjoyed our first Disney Cruise in October, a Halloween-themed extravaganza!
Now that we’ve entered the final ‘bers, I’m fully in my holiday era. To the surprise of no one, I’ve already gotten a big jump on my holiday shopping and am planning my schedule out to do as many fun holiday activities as I can. I’m a very Capricorn gal.
This time of year, I also make sure I take a decent amount of time for breaks from writing and anything I consider ‘work.’ Writing is in this odd space where it’s not quite work, but is definitely not just fun. It’s something I love dearly, my passion, and I put a LOT of effort into improving my writing and craft. I make sure to spend more of my holiday time relaxing and spending time with loved ones, versus focusing on deadlines.
That said, I have a few different writing goals for these final two months of the year. We’re preparing Project Midnight to go on submission to editors soon, and for the rest of November, I’m working on additional revisions for Project Treasure, which I can’t go into very much at the moment. In December, I’ll be outlining an entirely new story, codenamed Project Dice, which I’m very excited about. I’ll start drafting that one in January or February.
Project Drake is still in the mix as well, which I drafted in 18 days earlier this year. It depends on a few things for when I’ll dive back in for revisions, but my guess is February. Unless I get a book deal, which hey, I wouldn’t complain one bit! But that would mean a lot of my general timeline would change.
All of this said, I plan to take the week of Thanksgiving off from writing, as well as the last two weeks of December off. I’m a huge believer in finding balance, along with finding the method of writing (or anything) that works best for you. I find I work well with short deadlines, so outlining a book in two weeks works nicely for me. I stay motivated with shorter bursts of time, then take more time to rest and recharge.
Outside of writing, for this last portion of the year, I also want to indulge in all sorts of holiday fun! I love baking cookies and fudge during the holidays, and every year, I make a few batches of a chocolate recipe passed down from my Great Aunt Martha. I’m planning to make shower steamers–one of my new obsessions–and I have some new bookmarks and decorative daggers in the works. I’m also one of those people who genuinely enjoys wrapping gifts, so long as I’m not in a rush. Wrapping gifts and watching holiday movies or TV episodes with a big mug of cocoa? Sign me up.
I’ll be spending some time in New York City in December, and possibly in Los Angeles. I want to read all sorts of books, including a couple of cozy holiday rom coms. Most recently, I’ve been reading The Stardust Thief, Kill Joy, House of Salt and Sorrows, and The Bride Test. My goal is to read 50 books this year, and I have about 8 more to go!
This is also a great time for video game releases — my husband and I have been playing Spider-Man 2 and Final Fantasy XVI, while I’ve played Fae Farm and he’s lost himself to Cities Skylines 2. Cities is definitely the game for him while I’m writing!
Whatever I’m doing, I want to stay present (pun intended) as much as possible. It’s so easy for the holidays to become overwhelming, tiring, and stressful, and I want to enjoy it instead of unintentionally turning it into a grinch (BEFORE his third act). I hope you’re able to do the same with your holiday season, too!
Sending scarves and hot cider,
Valerie
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valerie c. norton 