Hello everybody,
My latest short story, Girls Night In, is on Amazon.com. It’s about best friends, Jasmine and Sienna. Jasmine is Sienna’s first married friend with a child. Even though Jasmine isn’t as available as she used to be, Sienna misses her and plans a girl’s night in, but as the night progresses, Jasmine and Sienna realize they don’t always see eye to eye. So, what changed? More importantly, will Jasmine and Sienna find a way to salvage their friendship?
Hello everybody,
Many monumental things have altered the state of my life this past year. Those things have made me want to become more balanced and disciplined. As a result, I have kept my body, mind, and soul in balance. It has not been easy, but it has been necessary. That said, I have a few projects I need to finish.
I began my short story project a while ago but got sidetracked due to medical issues. However, I still intend to complete my project and add a bonus story bringing the total number of short stories to twenty. Every time I publish a new story, I will write about it on my blog, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter pages, so you will not miss a thing.
My latest short story, Weird Timing, is currently available on Amazon.com. It’s about a young woman named Yasmin, and it’s her first week of college. She just moved from the city to live in a small town where she shares a dorm room with her new roommate in the middle of central Illinois. She meets a guy with potential while navigating college life, but it gets complicated when she tries to seek shelter in the middle of a tornado warning. Yasmin is trying her best to get acclimated to her new life, but will she be able to figure it all out?
I hope you check it out and like it.
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
Happy reading,
Janina
Sometimes things pop up unexpectedly in life. These past two months have been one of those times. I have been ill. It wasn’t Covid. I believe it began with stress. As a result, I stopped everything to heal.
I am feeling much better now, but during this time, I could not complete my short story project by the end of 2020 as projected. I apologize, but I will make it up to you all. My new goal is to complete my short story project by March 8th, 2021.
Stay tuned. Thank you for your support!
These last couple of months have been surreal. My family and I have been trying to cope with this new way of life, but it’s been tough. We had so many plans, which have thus been canceled. We never imagined 2020 would be like this. It’s been a strange year, to say the least. Hang in there, folks.
One of the ways I’ve been coping has been to focus on my writing. As you know, I have a short story project where I’m publishing one short story a week until the end of 2020. I’ve recently released number five of nineteen. My latest story, This and That is about Brandon and Leslie. They’ve been married for ten years and have reached their boiling point. When Leslie finds an engraved lighter in Brandon’s pants, she plays detective, but will she like what she finds?
It’s available on Amazon now.
Yep, you read that right. I’m publishing one short story a week until the end of 2020. That’s nineteen short stories in all, but before I get into that, I want to talk about COVID. I know how difficult this time has been for all of us and I want to wish you and your families safety, love, and happiness.
So, how have you been keeping yourselves entertained? Have you been making daily trips to the grocery store? Are you binge-watching old TV shows? Are you reading? Ah, reading. I love reading. Reading is my thing and I have the perfect story for you to read. My new short story, Friendship Schmendship will definitely keep your mind off of COVID.
It’s about Jessie and Natalie, twenty-something roommates navigating their lives together in a small, two-bedroom apartment. Their world is filled with copious amounts of alcohol and selfishness, but not much money. Things take a turn for the worst when Jessie realizes she’s had enough of Natalie’s shenanigans. When Jessie confronts Natalie with the truth, Natalie hits Jessie with some painful truths of her own. Will this blowout strengthen their friendship or end it? You don’t want to miss this. It’s available on Amazon now.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get your read on!
See you next week with a new story!
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a pleasant holiday!
I wanted to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart – organization.
This past December, I was looking for some business information, but couldn’t find it. I tore my office apart and still couldn’t find what I needed. I spent so much time looking for this paperwork that I grew frustrated with myself. I knew I needed to get organized and vowed to go into 2018 clutter-free. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but I was up for the challenge!
I started by writing down what I wanted from this process. I wanted to be able to find the information I needed in minutes, I wanted to go paperless, and I wanted less physical clutter in my home. My main reason for getting ultra-organized was because I knew it would help me with writing.
How does being organized help me with writing? The less time I spend looking for items, the more time I can spend on writing. Also, I’ve noticed that when my home is clear, my mind is clear. This allows me to be more creative and focused.
I began this process of going clutter-free by gathering all of my business information and putting it in a clear bin. Then I moved onto the piles of paper in my home. I scanned each page using an app called Fast Scanner Pro. It is a genius app that everybody should have, which allows you to scan directly from your phone and e-mail it to yourself or save it on a site like Box.com.
You do know about Box.com, right? It’s a cloud content management service where you can upload, save, and share your files. You can even make custom folders on your account to house your scan’s by category and then by year, etc. It’s essential if you’re attempting to go paperless like me!
My next step was to purge. I started by placing items my family and I no longer needed into bags and then took those bags to the Salvation Army as a donation. I honestly feel a lot lighter.
Here are some techniques I use to keep my space clutter-free:
I know what you’re thinking. Can I really do this? Yes, you can. All you need to do is set aside some time and commit to the process. Once you do, you’ll have greater focus and creativity for your writing. You can do it!
When you’re done, send me your before and after photos! I would love to see them.
Recently, I visited The American Writers Museum in Chicago and brought my son along for the ride.
One of the first exhibits we saw was the Children’s Literature Gallery. There is a beautiful mural painted on one of the walls along with ample seating and a bookshelf filled with children’s books. There is also an area where you can listen to Langston Hughes’ poems.
There is also an area dedicated to L.M. Alcott’s, Little Women.
Across from the Children’s Gallery is a room filled with plants! This temporary exhibit is called Palm: All Awake in the Darkness. It is dedicated to the life and work of poet W.S. Merwin. At the end of the exhibit, there is a pile of blank, white paper and pencils with a sign urging each patron to write a note. These notes are to be sent to Merwin to be planted underneath newly planted palm trees in his Hawaiian garden. This made my son and I feel connected to both nature and Merwin’s work. We wondered if a palm tree would be grown from our words. We loved this exhibit.
Afterward, we entered a room with a long hallway. There were interactive, glowing, rectangle tiles aligned on a wall. This exhibit was called the Surprise Bookshelf. My son was immediately drawn to the wall and began turning the tiles. Some were filled with more information, while others smelled like food. It was very interesting.
On the opposite side, there were portraits of writers. When you turned the tile, one could read more information about each writer including an excerpt from their work. One could spend hours here.
Here is something that has crossed my mind more than once:
Most artists find process fascinating mainly because we all do it differently and writers are no different. This area of the museum is dedicated to the mind of a writer. It is genius.
It’s been a long time since I used a typewriter, but when I sat down, I remembered how to set the paper and the margins. My son was fascinated by these ancient typing machines. He even requested one! It’s true what they say, everything old becomes new again.
I love this quote:
I found The American Writers Museum both interesting and well-put-together, which is why I recently purchased a membership. I urge you to all check it out if you live in Chicago or are in the Chicago area. It is fantastic!
For Spring Break, my family and I made our way out of Chicago and down to Key West, Florida. The weather did not disappoint as it was gorgeous!
While there, we stopped at the famous Hemingway House, which quickly became my favorite author house after the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion in Salem, the home made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The House of the Seven Gables. You can check out more information about our visit here: https://jr-williams.com/blog/?p=659.
As we walked through the Hemingway house with our fantastic tour guide, I couldn’t help, but feel Hemingway’s energy. Everything from the furniture to the typewriters, to the chandeliers, to the porch, to the cats screamed beauty and excitement. Check out some of my photos below:
Hemingway’s second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer really loved the house and it was evident throughout each room and the grounds, but the pièce de résistance was Hemingway’s writing room. I wanted to rummage through his books, sit in his chair, and type a letter on his typewriter, but I wasn’t the only one because the entrance was closed off by wrought-iron doors.
All in all, I found Hemingway and Pauline Pfeiffer’s home incredible. It’s definitely worth touring if you make it down to Key West.
A few months ago, I stopped working on my novel. I was scared to finish it because I knew I’d have to tackle some painful childhood memories and I didn’t want to deal with them. I wanted to leave them in the past where they belonged.
I did everything to prevent myself from thinking about them including starting new projects, planning trips, and drawing, but it didn’t work. I had the urge to finish my novel, but I couldn’t. Not until I dealt with some issues.
I made the decision to stop pushing away the pain, even though the thought terrified me. And I knew a scratch of the surface wouldn’t do. I was going to have to sledgehammer that bad-boy open. I needed to feel every emotion. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was downright painful, but this is bleeding on the page. This is writing born from pain. This is the feel of writing.
I jumped in head-first and started off by interviewing my parents and then each one of my siblings. It forced me to look at the same situation from many different angles, which is a phenomenal gift, but difficult. Their truth was not my truth and vice versa. Since we’re all individuals with our own take on each situation, our perceptions were different. I had to come to the realization that this is okay. This is real.
Then I had my sister interview me. In the middle of the interview, I let everything go and shouted out my feelings. I wasn’t expecting that to happen. It shocked me, but it was also liberating.
I’m glad I decided to interview my family because it recharged my novel. I am now able to look at it with mature eyes.
The process of writing this novel has been incredible. It has broken me down mentally, built me up, and challenged everything I am and thought I was. I am emotionally drained, but enlightened in a way I never thought possible.
I didn’t want those memories to bleed into my current work, but the truth is, that wasn’t authentic. I needed to bust open the memories from my past to write what I am meant to write and I’m glad I did.
Now back to work.
I constantly bite off more than I can chew. I know I’m not the only one. What I want to know is, why do we do this?
Every year, from October thru February, my life is insane. I have no business taking on a new project, but like many people out there, I have a superhero complex, so I do. This past month I decided I was going to give Nanowrimo another go. After all, the last time I completed Nanowrimo was in 2005.
This year, I actually had a good idea and spent time creating a chapter by chapter outline. I even wrote a character analysis. I was ready to construct my amazingly, awesome, completely thought-out novel, but after writing 1,000 words I realized that I couldn’t devote the amount of time necessary. This of course, was in addition to the fact that I needed to finish up the other projects I have in the works.
I have no business starting anything new.
This is why I’ve decided to take this new novel bit by bit. I will finish it when it’s right for me to do so and it will be right when I have finished all of my looming projects. I desperately want to give this new project the respect it deserves.
On that note, there isn’t very much time left for Nanowrimo, so I’d like to wish all of the Nanowrimer’s out there much luck. Keep going! You can do it!
