Tuned IN II. IWSG April 2026

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to this month’s co-hosts, Melissa Maygrove, Cathrina Constantine, Kate Larkinsdale, and Rebecca Douglass. For links to all contributors, click here.

Optional April question: If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?

I’m not in the habit of playing music when writing, but once, ages ago, when my subject matter had Irish connections, I turned to a Celtic playlist while drafting. Inspired by the result. I wrote a Middle Passages post about that magical experience here.  Other than adding a few commas, I’m not sure I could write it better today.

That said (or read), after that expressive time, I went back to writing in silence. For me, concentration requires quiet, but as I discovered recently, apparently silence during cooking isn’t as important. I had some interior house painting done a few months back. At the end of the day, one of the painters mentioned my voice.

Huh?

It turns out the painters, father and son, perform in a band and had been listening to me singing away in the kitchen while they worked in the living room. I wasn’t aware I’d opened my mouth. I guess that goes to show that while I prefer to write in quiet, music is a part of me.

Anyway, back to today’s topic. Intrigued by that post I wrote so many years ago, and in the spirit of IWSG participation, I turned on some tunes while drafting what you’re reading right now. You never know. Maybe I’d grasp a shadow of that long ago Celtic muse. Instead, the first song blasted me back to a party in a linoleum-floored college dorm room where a group of us belted out the chorus. Back to the present. This time I was aware and it was probably good there was no one in my house,  because I employed my high school chorus instructor’s lessons to sing from my diaphragm. That is to say, loudly.

So much for writing.

Next thing I knew, I’d spent long minutes replaying the details of that particular college evening [insert youthful drama here], thinking how back then, every joy lit our insides like skyrockets, every hurt plunged us into arctic oceans. We had yet to experience the depth of the ways in which life would have its way with us. I wanted to reach back to that naïve girl singing her heart out, and say, “You think today is a big deal? Brace yourself, honey. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Let’s just say the music-generated nostalgia didn’t help me get this blog post written.

Or did it?

What kind of music do you listen to when you write? What songs catapult you back to the past?

Climbing Out - IWSG March 2026

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh.

I’m writing this post mid-February and pre-posting as I won’t be available closer to the March IWSG deadline. With no monthly question to answer, I’m going rogue. That said, as always, thank you to this month’s co-hosts and to Alex. To read March posts from other IWSG contributors, click here.  

I’ve just completed a class called; You’ve Written a Book—Now What? It covered one line pitches, queries, publishing perspectives and marketing plans.

Some history. I started querying my last novel late last summer and after quick rejections, stopped to ponder what to do to improve my chances. When the opportunity to take the course came up, it seemed like a smart way to force myself forward. The class met on Saturdays, with a homework assignment in between, and after our second class, the task was to write (or in my case, re-write) our queries.

The following Monday morning I sat down to work on the main paragraph of the query, something like 200 words. I had plans for three hours later and usually put an alarm on my phone as a reminder, but since there was plenty of time, I didn’t bother.

Oops! I had to bolt out of my chair to make it to my destination in time, arriving there sans wallet and phone. I’d looked forward to the activity, but once there couldn’t focus. Half of my brain sat back in front of my laptop, tweaking word-by-word. Then, once I arrived home again, I discovered I’d been so distracted I’d left a folder of information behind.

Really?

It was a query letter--theoretically, not “fun” writing at all. But it reminded me that any writing has always brought joy, even in my vintage HR days when I’d get lost creating a training document or a relocation piece, only to look up and realize I’d almost missed a staff meeting. As far back as Miss Markey's sixth grade creative writing class when I wrote five extra pages for an assignment just because I was having fun.

The following day I drove twenty minutes to retrieve the folder I’d left behind, thinking that while I love when writing swallows down a deep hole, sometimes climbing out can be a challenge.

Tell me about a time that you got lost in your writing.

Building the Supports - IWSG February 2026

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to co-hosts for the February posting of the IWSG are J Lenni Dorner, Victoria Marie Lees, and Sandra Cox! For links to all contributors, click here.

Optional February question - Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you?

My favorite part of re-reading old pieces is recognizing the improvement in my writing. I’d only written non-fiction and poetry when I attempted my first piece of fiction. A blogger I followed offered a contest in which she provided the first and last sentence of a short story. Contestants had to fill in the middle with a specific maximum word count. I gave it a go and ended up astonished. Who knew I could write a story? Of course I didn’t win. There were all sorts of structure problems. But who cares? It started something. Another blog offered daily writing prompts and I used them to challenge myself. Eventually, a few more contests brought a mention or two, enough to keep me going. A scene storming exercise led to my first novel attempt, a bomb, but ten years later I got back to it. Now it’s a fully realized manuscript.

The gist is, a lot of my early work is emphatically cringeworthy, but so what? Writing is like everything else. The longer we practice the better we get. Those early words are the pilings beneath the pier. They support what’s built on top of it.

How do you feel about your early writing?

It's a Hard Wall - IWSG January 2026

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to co-hosts for this month: Shannon Lawrence, Olga Godim, Jean Davis, and Jacqui Murray! For links to all contributors, click here.

Confession. While I’m good at putting appointment reminders in my phone, I rely on the email prompt administrators typically send out a week before our monthly IWSG posting date. This morning I walked three miles, ate breakfast and started reading the news before realizing today is the first Wednesday of the month. I checked my email and found the reminder that arrived yesterday afternoon. Oops. So what you are getting here is a totally off-the-cuff post, published prior to noon, instead of my typical 6:00 am.

This month’s optional IWSG question: Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn't get done in 2025?

As it happens, I’ve known for two months about a class focused on creating novel submission packages. It’s going to be offered once in 2026, for five weeks during January and February and the deadline was December 31. To bring you up to date, I started querying my novel last summer, got my first round of rejections and decided to rewrite my query. I got no further than that.

The objective me thought this might be a good time to take the class.

But the subjective me (read that as, the chicken **** me) kept finding excuses not to act. It’s by Zoom and I hate online classes. There will be a follow-up class offered in March and I’m going to be away. Money isn’t really an issue, but I wondered if it was a good time to spend it right after the holidays.  

But here’s my real reason for delaying.

I’m scared. Taking it will mean I’d have to follow through and I’m afraid to find out my query stinks, or worse, that my book, the fourth one I’ve written, stinks more. Yes, I’ve had readers and editors, but still, I suffer from a mega case of imposter syndrome, posting like a writer here on IWSG for so many years. The truth is, I’m terrible at marketing myself, great at giving up, and suspect I may be a half-good writer who’ll never publish a novel. Chances are this fourth novel is my last.

Say that ten times fast. Chances are this fourth novel is my last.

Thankfully, that particular phrase circled in my brain as I sat down at my laptop on New Year’s Eve and remembered the deadline for signing up for the course.  

Nothing like backing up against a proverbial wall. 

I made it with a few hours to spare. 

Class starts Saturday.

Wishing you all a happy and successful 2026.

The Gift that Keeps Giving - IWSG December 2025

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. 

I am delighted to co-host IWSG this month with Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, Tara Tyler, and Natalie Aguirre! For links to all contributors, click here.

December’s optional question - As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

Not all gifts are material, and the one for which I feel most grateful is the gift of awareness.

It began when I started this blog and challenged myself to write a post five days a week. That could have become boring, or at the very least a struggle, so in trying to furnish myself with subject matter I spent a lot of time walking with a camera, noticing things I’d never had time to appreciate before. Pretty soon I had images—storm clouds reflecting off a still harbor, herons and egrets stick-walking through the marsh grass, lobster boats laboring in with their catch. After a while, it didn't matter if I took a photo. I learned that winter sunsets are stunning, but it's the subtle color that displays in the east just as the sun goes down that touches the soul. I drank in views of the city across the bay from a park I’d never walked before, visited secret gardens and strolled a World War II munitions depot the state turned into walking paths. I discovered a lighthouse on a spit of land where, if timed right, it's possible to watch the sunrise and turn around and to watch the moon set in the same minute. My walks took me through museums, graveyards, antique stores and old homesteads. Each of these things delivered a sense of uniqueness and wonder as well as a profound feeling of good fortune for the beauty and history that surrounds me.

The habit of noticing stays strong in me. Even now as I walk the same route most mornings, things are  different than the day before. Beauty is ever changing, ever evolving. How lucky am I that awareness arrived with a two-for-one bonus gift of ongoing appreciation.

As a writer, what has been your favorite gift?

AWOL - IWSG November 2025

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to November  cohosts, Jennifer Lane, Jenni Enzor, Renee Scattergood, Rebecca Douglass, Lynn Bradshaw, and Melissa Maygrove. For links to all contributors, click here.

November’s optional question - When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?

I knew I’d be away and unavailable when the email announcing this month’s IWSG post arrived. I pre-wrote my post, unaware of the optional question. Happily, I came close enough!

Sixteen years ago when I created Middle Passages, I was besotted. Every word I wrote felt as rewarding as that electrifying, innocent joy of first love. But as we all know, dazzling first loves don’t always remain for the long haul. It’s like that with writing too. Many submissions and rejections followed those initial earnest blog posts, which taught me that real writing takes hard work, patience and time. I get it, but I’d be a liar to say I don’t miss that period when everything was fresh and exhilarating.

These days, writing feels more like living with a trusted partner. We know we belong together and have enough confidence in our relationship that sometimes we do things apart.

Occasionally though we experience a lapse in communication, which happened this past April when my writing brain forgot to tell me it planned to take off to parts unknown the same day I retired. I trust it to return, but patience is key. While it's been away, I've been reading, walking a couple of miles a day, taking yoga and Zumba classes and learning Mahjong. I want to tell you my days are full, but they aren't, really. I have plenty of time to write, but zero inspiration. So, to keep myself going, I’ve been playing around with my old blog posts, cutting and pasting them into a Word document, then editing the heck out of them. 

You know how when you love your own words, your proofreading eyes fail to find mistakes? Now I see them all. Mostly though, I find ways to tighten the essays to make them more compelling. It's fun. Re-reading the early-writing me feels like visiting with an old friend I haven’t seen in years. It's a little like receiving postcards from afar. It helps me stay in touch with my imagination while it's off galivanting.

What do you do when inspiration takes a holiday?

Choosing My Children - IWSG October 2025

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to October  cohosts, Beth Camp, Crystal Collier, and Cathrina Constantine! For links to all contributors, click here.

This month’s optional question: What is the favorite thing you’ve written, published or not? And why?

I wonder if asking this question of a writer is similar to asking a parent to identify their favorite child. They’re all my favorites! But if I had to choose, would it be the poem I wrote in high school that my English teacher submitted to the literary magazine without telling me? The one that when my friend congratulated me, I said, “Huh?”

Or would it be the piece I wrote off the top of my head before work one day and submitted to an online writing magazine before thinking about it? A few weeks later an editor called telling me I’d won $500 for my essay and I'd almost forgotten writing it.

Perhaps my favorite is the first piece I had published in an actual print magazine about living through the stages of life as an older mother of an only child. The essay was called “Middle Passages” and yes, it inspired the name for this blog. That particular essay put the bug in my head about beginning a regular writing practice.

But how can I forget the pieces I wrote for local magazines when I was freelancing? I had a blast writing them. Well, mostly. I was assigned a feature highlighting the best restaurants in which to dine on oysters. At the time I didn’t eat them, and every chef I talked to wanted me to sample their dishes. Gulp. (Now, I love them fried!) Then there’s the story I wrote about a neighbor’s yard, three acres filled with gardens, cairns, a labyrinth plus a three-tiered tree house. He was so delighted with the piece he had the photographer who took the accompanying pictures come back and take more after which this neighbor made them up into his own book. My copy has pride of place on my book shelf.

Another time I wrote an article about an encaustic artist, who painted with wax. Not only was I clueless about the medium prior to interviewing the artist, but my GPS was clueless too. It kept trying to send me north of the city when I needed to go south. But during the ensuing stop-and-start trip, I dead-ended at a pier on a river I’d noticed for years while speeding by on the highway. I’d always wanted to find it. Check that off the bucket list.

Of course I can’t leave out the four unpublished books I have under my belt which have taken years upon years of effort. I do, actually, have a favorite there, but I’m not confessing. I wouldn’t want the others to feel bad, especially the one I am currently querying.

In the end, they're all my children and there’s no way I can  choose. After all, there are sixteen years of essays I’ve published here at Middle Passages. Let's just say if I had to rank them, my “Church of the Jetty” posts would land close to the top because I cherish the memory of visiting our harbor breakwater with my husband on summer Sunday mornings. I miss it still.

But then there are my "Festival on the Common" posts. They're pretty good too...

https://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2009/03/practice.html

https://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-blessings.html

https://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2013/08/church-of-jetty-take-three.html

https://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2014/07/church-of-jetty-2014.html

https://middlepassages-lcs.blogspot.com/2015/08/church-of-jetty-2015.html