November 2022

Watching 2022 wind down to an end

Our post-Thanksgiving dinner position after hosting for fourteen additional people.

On the Journey

November was pretty low-key. While Jeff traveled to two Michigan games with both kids, I stayed home and enjoyed the quiet and got stuff done. There was no travel, but that didn’t mean we weren’t busy. Our son started basketball, our daughter had her fall play, and we started discussing plans for next summer already, including making our Memorial Day reservations. Our biggest event was the completion of our siding project, right before Thanksgiving. And no, we did not do this one on our own. This project was done professionally (and I’ll need to sell that book to pay for it.)

Before

After

Book Progress

After leaving my beta draft with my beta team for almost a month, I made revisions and prepped to print my third draft for a thorough read before making final edits to send off to an editor. I’m also working on sending a friend the items he needs for cover art. I will continue to write updates on progress as I go.

Soundtracks For the Journey 🎧📚

I consider the soundtrack for my journey to be everything that I’m reading and listening to that is giving me a boost. You can also follow me on Goodreads to see what I’m reading every month. So here are my recommendations for the end of November:

• Start With Hello: Shannon Martin’s book is the perfect encouragement for an introvert who has moved far too many times in her lifetime, but it is also a great read for anyone who is trying to figure out how to develop better relationships with the people around us. Plus, the fact that she lives in Indiana makes it feel like I’m listening to an actual neighbor as I read her book.

• Wakanda Forever: Our family loved the first Black Panther movie and going together as a family to watch this one was everything we wanted it to be and more. Even more importantly, the commentary on colonization and the role it has played in shaping our globe is something we need to be open to discussing more frequently.

Writing Outside of the Journey 💻

I continue to freelance for The Educator's Room. Here is my piece for this month.

• “Teachers and Students Need More Breaks”

I also continue writing for our podcast, Lit Think. In addition to our podcast episodes (which you should also check out) I wrote:

• “English Goes Green”

Time for Advent

A few weeks ago, I found this particular piece by

Culture Study

to be particularly relevant in the discussion of spreading holidays:

A Theory of Sprawling Holidays

That isn’t to say I don’t love the spread of holidays, but I’m glad that we are now officially in the season of Advent. For those of us who observe a Christian liturgical calendar, I’m thrilled to have this month to prepare for Christmas.

What Is Coming Up Next?

Since I am working on finishing my book in December, my Friday posts will be a little different. My first Friday post will be a guest post from

Sharon-St. Louis

of

RV Travel with the Gallivanter

. The next three weeks will be reposts from my old blog of the Christmas trip that we took two years ago. Throughout the month of December, I will continue to send updates about my book.

I’m continuing with making all posts available for all readers as I work to grow my readership. I’m not quitting a day job that I enjoy and I’m still doing this as a hobby, so if you feel moved to support me through paid membership, thank you so much! Support helps me justify my regular writing habit. And please consider following us at litthinkpodcast.substack.com. We’re putting together a lot of really great content in our current season.

I’ve also joined Beta for Post.News. My handle is @sarahstyfwriter. I know that there are a lot of people who are trying to figure out what to do with social media in general, and specifically with the communities they’ve built on Twitter. I’m hopeful that this might be a positive technology evolution, but we’ll see. I’m willing to give it a try.

That’s all for November! Keep following me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for additional updates.

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