We can't control every variable in our lives, no matter how much we plot and plan. And if you're like me, and prone to both fits of melancholy as well as fits of joy for the beauty in this world, the ups and downs are just a part of the life package.
Hello and welcome back to the blog (no one reads?), where I occasionally rant and talk about writing and life. Or more accurately, how I continue to make my way in the bookish world the hard way 😉
Hello friends, and welcome back to the blog that just won't quit - thirteen (thirteen???) years later. Yes, in the face of more popular social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Substack (probably ten others I'm too old to know about) — I am stubbornly plodding along.
It's still May 2025 and I'm frankly baffled that I have actual writing and publishing news to share with all of you today. After such a long hiatus where writing was a struggle, and words came out in trickles, I am now beyond stoked to report the floodgates have opened, y'all. Hallellujah and all that jazz!
To those of you who have been patiently waiting for the next in my Wylder Tales series, I wanted to thank you so much for your support, and to apologize for yet another delay. Because I had already been forced to push back my pre-order's release date on Amazon, I ran out of additional dates and had to take down my listing today. This doesn't mean I won't release Bound Beauty period, just that we're looking at a summer release instead of spring.
The past couple of decades have seen some great films and shows, no doubt. But it's also seen a rise in increasingly formulaic and quickly produced content. We're getting more and more of the same, and less and less variety and (in my opinion) creative freedom.
I wish I had all the answers for you, that this could be the fix you need to hear to help with your own struggles. But I hope you're at least encouraged in knowing you aren't alone. Many people, even more successful people than me, can't quite shake the whispers of "not enough." Instead of accepting and dwelling on that voice, I encourage you today to use those words as a challenge to yourself. Take the drive and the sense of "not enough" to do even better with your next project. Sometimes I wonder if that's not simply the voice all creative artists hear. That even the great masters of their craft are never fully satisfied, but that is what pushes them to keep creating.
I am surrounded daily by beautiful art. So I am constantly inspired to create in turn. I hope you, too, are inspired today!
Make the most of time, because time isn't going to slow down for you. Every moment is precious, and while creating and working is absolutely worth doing, you're only young-ish once. And your kids and the kids in your life won't stay little for long. Make good memories to cling to on darker days. Write down happy moments, to remind yourself what life can be, even if that isn't what always is. Find happiness in the little moments.
When I reached out to Nada Qamber about making a book trailer for the Borderlands Saga, I felt a little silly. After all, everyone knows book trailers are a thing of the past. Nobody makes them anymore and instead uses GIFs. But I wanted to find a unique way to market my box set, and I have worked so long on this series that I wanted to treat myself a little bit.
Jennifer Silverwood 