Let’s get down to business…

Today, I started preparing for summer. I packed up our spring decorations, made plans for toddler summer camps and soccer practice, and played in the backyard with our garden hose and water table. We’ve spent the last few days indoors thanks to an onslaught of rain, but today, we were surprised with soft pockets of sunlight!

Summer is the most challenging season for me when it comes to writing. Part of me thinks it’s because I’m outside more, physically away from my laptop. It’s pretty much guaranteed that you can’t even daydream about a story when you’re making sure your toddler isn’t grabbing fistfuls of anthills, eating unknown berries, or running through your next door neighbor’s sprinklers. But I think another reason it’s difficult for me is that so many of my settings are dark, dreary, and set in mid-fall or winter. I live in SC, not too far from the beach, so the sunshine and humidity are bursting down our front door and fogging up the windows by at least April. So by this time of year, I’ve already donned my shorts, sandals, and tank tops. It’s a weird disconnect for me to sit and write a story about a haunted manor in late autumn, or a dark academia monster during a snowstorm.

I’m happy to say, however, that I’m hopeful this summer will be different. I’m returning to a project with renewed motivation and adjusted goal posts and am so excited about it. You know that stage when you’re working on a new project and you’re completely and utterly consumed by it to the point that you’re obsessed? That’s where I’m at right now, and I’m riding this wave for as long as I can.

I’ve already shared very very vague snippets and pieces of this story in my Instagram stories, but this one has very specific lush, gothic vibes and a distorted reality that has the MC questioning themselves and everyone around them.

(shout out to any fellow KH fans out there)

Anyway, I know spring isn’t over yet but I am always getting ahead of myself: prepping for the next season, planning my next project, living in the future. At this point, I think it’s entirely possible that I am incapable of taking things one step at a time. While writing is usually a good way to slow down and b r e a t h e, I’ll just say I’m still working on that.

April Wrap Up

I want to try a new segment where I share what I’ve been up to lately, from books and shows to plans for my writing and newsletters!

📚 Books: I haven’t been reading much since the baby, so naturally I decided to tackle three books at once. I’m currently reading Scorpion Deep by CG Drews (coming Sept. 2026), An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole, and Lovelorn by Alysha Everwood. I’ve also added way too many books to my TBR recently, but some notable additions are The Sea Hides Its Dead (Megan Bontrager), Motherthing (Ainslie Hogarth), The Last Daughter of Usher Isle (Amelie West), and Narcissus (Adam Godfrey).

📺 TV/Movies: My husband and I recently finished watching Severance (obsessed, consumed, infatuated) and since then have been watching Ted Lasso on the nights when we’re both fried from parenting and just need something light. I still very much want to see Wuthering Heights despite the awful reviews I’ve seen and have been craving a rewatch of Nosferatu for some reason?! (I think I’m just always in the mood for vampires, to be honest.) I’m also very fixated on Adam Scott at the moment (thank you, Severance) and cannot wait to see Hokum. I may have to break away from the kiddos to make it to the theaters to be honest. Also, I can’t write a paragraph about TV shows without a mention of how ecstatic I am about the upcoming season of The White Lotus – so here it is.

🎶 Music: I wish I could leave some cool, witty thoughts about Noah Kahan’s latest and greatest but my playlist as of late has consisted of Mickey’s Laugh Shack. I do try to treat myself on occasion and will loop “I’ll Make a Man Out Of You” from Mulan when I can (does my intro make sense now?).

✍️ Writing/Miscellaneous: I don’t know where else to put these thoughts, so I guess this will work!

1. Ghosts in Literature – this was a series I teased on Instagram for awhile, and I started it only to pull back. I decided that I don’t have the time, or honestly interest, anymore. My free time is so limited that I only want to focus on the things that are bringing me either happiness or creative productivity and this is not one of them. Maybe in the future I’ll revisit it!
2. Substack – I’ve been having some technical challenges with my newsletter recently, and after learning that there are some known issues with reading WordPress newsletters (even with my subscribers) I’ve secured a Substack account. I haven’t posted anything over there just yet, but I will likely be making the switch soon. So keep an eye out for the official post where I let you know (if you want to continue reading & supporting my work, that is!)

As always, thank you for reading – and May the Fourth be with you!

Liz