2024: My Year of SLOW

Author

Erin Riha
January 16, 2024

RESOLUTIONS ARE FOR THE BIRDS

I don’t like New Years’ resolutions. I also don’t know anyone else who does. But I do like the idea of having a keystone word to lean into. This year, the word I’ve chosen to embrace is Slow.

A true icon.

At the end of 2023, I had (what I believe to be was) a stress-induced trigeminal neuralgia flare up. It was painful, and made me realize that I’d been doing a lot. (Hello, holiday stress!) But the thing is, nobody had actually asked me to do so much. I had put the burden on myself to create a “magical” holiday season.

I’m not the first woman to fall under this spell. I hate that it took a health scare for me to realize just how much my self-inflicted stress was impacting me. Now that I have, I want to take a step back and move slowly through the things that matter most to me: family, friends, and books. Which is so much harder than I ever expected. Even as I write this, two weeks into the year, I’m wondering how I’m going to make time for everything on my checklist AND going slow. Which might be part of the problem… If nothing else, it should be fun watching me try to slow down. 🙂 

Have you ever chosen a word for the year? If you’ve chosen words for this year, reply to this email and let me know how it went!

A SNEAK PEEK!

As you may know by now, Book 3 in the Embers in Wait series is called WHEN SPARKS IGNITE, and will release on March 5, 2024.

The real world has caught up with Arden Thatcher, and there are pictures to prove it. As she sails back to Nordania on the arm of Declan Levington, heir presumptive to Nordania, danger lurks around every corner. And not just in the form of her betrayer, Beck Hermeston, who spends his days in the brig below deck. Between state dinners and press conferences, Arden is searching for the mysterious embers, a group of institute graduates who hold the potential to turn Nordania on its head. But with every step closer to home—and to a very public wedding—Arden discovers those who would stop her are much closer and more powerful than she ever expected, putting everyone involved in her plan to end the benefactor system in question. Arden must decide how far she’s willing to go to ignite the spark of change.

And today, for YOU, I have a sneak preview of the opening pages! This is an early chance to find out (at LONG LAST) where Arden has landed after THAT ENDING in Of Wind and Tide.

Simply follow THIS LINK and use the password: TeamBeclan 

This link will only be available for a few short weeks, so don’t miss your opportunity to read!

COMPARISON makes a COMPAR of I and SON…

Comparison is a double-edged sword, amIright? At its best, it can ignite the fire you need to keep going. At its worst, well, it’s just the worst.

And in publishing, it’s SO HARD not to compare. It’s an industry that is based on comparison. Don’t believe me? Think of the last book you read. What did it most remind you of.

(See what I did there?)

I’m not going to suggest you stop comparing yourself/your writing/your career to everyone else. It’s impossible. But what I do suggest is finding some easy ways to counteract the comparison monster when it rears its fugly maw.

For example, when I hear that a writing partner has set a goal to write 1 chapter a day, my instinct is to try to keep up with or exceed that goal. But if I’m revising, that doesn’t actually make sense. So instead, I try to set a different goal. You all know I’m a fan of timers, so maybe I decide I’m going to set a goal of doing two 20-minute sprints a day. Then I can still be motivated by my critique partner, but it eliminates the direct comparison and keeps everything supportive.

It’s harder when it comes to comparing careers and contracts. Which is why I’m going to strongly suggest you DON’T DO IT. I know, I just told you I wouldn’t say that, but I changed my mind. When it comes to what publishers will/won’t/can/can’t do, it can feel like there’s no rhyme or reason. You know who else operates with no rhyme or reason? Toddlers. You wouldn’t compare your work to a toddler would you? (I swear this analogy makes sense. Let’s pretend it still does.)

All of that is to say, you are the only person who can do what you do. So it makes exactly zero sense to compare your work product/publishing path/life to anyone else.

BACKLIST BOOK CLUB

One of my first reads of the year is from 2019 (which was 5 years ago… ahem…) and it’s THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SWEETIE.

This YA romcom about a fat track star in an arranged relationship with a BMOC-type basketball star is straight up delightful. Sweetie is confident, clever, and has everything going for her, but her mother only sees her weight. Ashish is fresh from a crappy breakup and when he can’t get his parents off his case about how he’s never dated an Indian-American girl, he finally gives in. As Sweetie and Ashish get to know each other and spend more time together, their relationship is anything but straightforward. Expect major girl power moments, laugh out loud speedbumps, and squee-inducing cuteness.

I give this book 5/5 double shot mocha lattes.

Man, that went fast. Shoot, does that mean I’ve failed? Only time will tell.

Until next time…