Introducing Myself (Again)

Happy New Year

“Does such a thing as ‘the fatal flaw,’ that showy dark crack running down the middle of life, exist outside literature?”—Donna Tartt, The Secret History

Photo by Kristians Greckis on Unsplash

I suppose it says something about me that one of my favorite parts of the writing process is figuring out my protagonist’s fatal flaw. To me, it’s what characters are built on. Interesting characters, that is.

Conversely, if the fatal flaw exists in real life—and I think it does—sorting it out is one of my least favorite parts of being human. And yet, over thinker that I am, much of my time is spent analyzing myself, trying to understand what makes me tick and how I can overcome my limitations so that I can be my most authentic self.

Friends, did I just name it? Is my fatal flaw my compulsion to over think? Hold on a second, I need to think about that.

Whether you subscribed to this newsletter after I last posted in March 2025 or forgot this newsletter existed in the first place, the reflections above are as good an introduction to who I am as anything. To get a better idea of what this newsletter is about, visit the archive. Going forward, I’ll likely expand my topics depending on what I’m working on or what’s going on in my life.

My main work for January is to complete a short story due on February 1. I won’t be fully confident I’ll meet that deadline until I’m closer to being finished, but I don’t miss deadlines, so I suppose that’s as sure as I can be, for now.

I was just looking at my woefully neglected website, and it’s in need of some updates, too. The publisher of much of my work, Down & Out, closed its doors in 2025, and all of its titles were removed from distribution. I’m not happy about this at all, especially since many authors were owed royalties they were never paid. But for me, this means two things:

1. Updating my website to reflect the fact that a lot of my work, both writing and editing, is now out of print.

2. Moving on. Write more, submit more, and publish more. Use this as motivation to bulk up my writing resume, so to speak. For the first time in over a decade, I didn’t publish anything in 2025, and I don’t like how that feels.

When you feel adrift, revisit the things you loved to do as a kid.

Beyond writing, I have a few personal goals, most of which I won’t include here. But the most important one, the one that fuels nearly everything else, is to fill my creative well daily. And reading more is one of the primary ways I’ll do that.

When I was younger, I spent most of my time in my bedroom reading. It’s still my number one leisure time activity, although I sometimes forget that. I say I “read slow” because it sometimes takes me weeks to finish a book, but the truth is that most of my pleasure reading gets shoved between the time I get into bed and fall asleep. On a good night, that might be thirty minutes. Most nights? Less than ten. That’s not enough. This year, I’ll devote at least a half-hour a day (hopefully more) to non-bedtime reading.

Before I forget, I made a vision board for the first half of the year:

It was fun to make, and I like looking at it. Another example of filling my creative well.

Speaking of reading, Lori Rader-Day’s much-anticipated new novel, Wreck Your Heart, is out tomorrow!

I’ve been looking forward to reading it for a long time, so I’m glad the wait is almost over!

One last thing before I sign out: I am a political person. I keep up with as much news as I can stomach, and I talk about it a lot in my daily life. It probably won’t happen often, but I might discuss liberal politics here on rare occasions. It’s not the focus of this newsletter, but in case you’re a subscriber who doesn’t like it when artists talk about politics, I thought I’d mention it. I won’t be insulted if you choose to unsubscribe (for any reason, of course)!

I spent too much time wallowing in 2025, and this year, I’m committed to changing that. I don’t know what 2026 will bring, but whatever happens, I will face it head-on, although I might have a book in my hands while doing it.

Wishing you all the best things.

Hollyxx