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New Year Newsletter

Hope everyone’s having a relaxing holiday break!

First, an update about THE PEOPLE LIST, the book I’ve been working on for a while. The latest round of editorial suggestions has taken almost a year to implement, but I’m nearing the finish line of what has felt not like a sprint but a marathon. At just under 100,000 words, this is now the longest novel I’ve written. I’ve learned a lot in the process of writing this one, not the least of which is how important having an uninterrupted block of daily writing time is to my process — and its opposite, that’s it’s key to step away from the manuscript for a while, or I get lost in the trees. And, as I keep reminding myself, nothing in publishing happens fast, so this is par for the course.

Next, I’ve been lucky enough to get a dedicated writing space, a studio at a local arts/writing non-profit, ArtWorks. (Yay!) I can already tell that having the space and a community of creatives will be a great experience. If you’re in the mood to support a local haven for creatives, they take donations here.

If you live in the Twin Cities area and are looking to start 2020 by engaging your creative side, I’m co-hosting a workshop with poet and writer Denise Alden at Artworks on Saturday, January 11 from 9:00 a.m. to noon. This will be the first in a series of workshops featuring a different teaching artist each month, with themes tied to Art Works’ quarterly exhibits. You do not have to be a member to attend. Grab your notebook or laptop and come to network, enjoy a light breakfast, and get your creative juices flowing with writing prompts tied to the theme of the upcoming February-April exhibit, Raw Emotion. Everyone is welcome, from beginners to seasoned writers, as well as across genres. Registration details can be found here and the map to the Eagan location is here. Hope to see you there!

A couple of book suggestions to share – I recently finished reading Stuart Turton’s The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Elan Mastai’s All Our Wrong Todays and liked both very much. I’ve just started reading my signed copy of Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Calculating Stars and am enjoying it so far.

Finally, as ever, thank you for supporting my books, and may 2020 bring you many wonderful things!