A couple summers ago, when I was visiting my retired—and incredibly active and busy—aunt and uncle on the Cape, I looked at them and asked, “Do you sometimes wonder how you ever found time to work before you retired?” My aunt laughed and affirmed that yes, she did sometimes wonder how she’d managed that.
I am several (several…) years out from retirement, but already I find it very difficult to fit work into my schedule. I manage, somehow, because I like living in a house, driving a car, and eating food. I also like my job—just not as much as I like other things and perhaps for not as many hours a day as it requires (that whole finding time thing).
This past week, though, due to a winter storm that brought snow, sleet, and freezing rain (my yard is still an ice skating rink), I unexpectedly didn’t have to fit work in where I usually have to fit it in.
Here’s what took its place:
walks in the snow
naps
writing in all my journals (I currently keep six of them)
a Writers Guild workshop on designing and teaching writing workshops (see below for the exciting result of that experience)
the James River Writers writing show on harnessing writing community
a live James River Writers lunch and learn on writing a synopsis—instead of the recording
writing a synopsis of The Good Curse
phone calls to check on neighbors
extra time with Archie and The Littles—snuggling, playing in the yard, trimming Archie’s beak, and practicing our training
a little reading (though not as much as I’d like to have done)
happy hour with colleagues
lunch with friends
an attempt at ice skating in my backyard (which went really well. For about two seconds. So not all of my time was used entirely wisely).
Throughout February I’ll be participating in the James River Writers Nuts & Bolts Lunchtime Series, Essentials for Landing a Literary Agent, in support of my efforts to find an agent for The Good Curse. During the snow-cation discussed above, I attended the session on how to write a synopsis (because writing an 80,000-word manuscript is easier and more fun than writing a 500-word synopsis). A couple days later, I attempted to write a (very) rough draft of a synopsis for The Good Curse. I’ll seek help from my writing friends in Prose and Cons next month and revise accordingly.
The snow-cation also resulted in an idea for a new series of writing workshops. If you know me, you know I always want to take The Littles with me everywhere—so I designed a dog-friendly, dog-centric creative writing workshop for people just like me: people who love writing and love their dogs and don’t see why it’s necessary to separate these two loves. The first session of A Writer’s Best Friend: Nurturing Your Relationshio with Your Dogs through Writing will take place on four Tuesday evenings in March and April at Book People, a dog-friendly independent bookstore in Henrico, Virginia. Sound fun? (I mean, yes…! At least, I think so). Learn more and find a link to register here!
Still in development is a workshop on writing to heal from pet loss, which I hope to offer during the late spring or early summer months.
Dawn Deiman of Rising Dawn Yoga Studio and I barely squeezed in our first writing workshop together before a major winter storm (the one that gave rise to the workshop ideas described above) arrived in our area. The workshop focused on the sense of taste and was co-hosted by Eva, an eyeless Virginia opossum, at Possum-Bilities Gift Shop and Gallery in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia.
This was the first of five in a series. Our second workshop, which will focus on touch and feature reptiles, is scheduled for April 12. Registration is already open! We’d love for you to join us.
Here’s what one participant said about our first workshop:
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The meditation aspect was particularly valuable. I came away from the workshop more energized and productive. I want to jump back into my other writing now. In our daily lives, we're often moving too quickly to process what we're experiencing. Combining meditation with writing gave me permission to slow down, sit with my thoughts and examine them more carefully. —Joyce
Over the holidays, I was able to compile the winter issue of the Bay Quarter Shores newsletter, The Bay Quarter Bulletin, which was distributed January 1.
I was delighted to be asked to donate a signed copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Pets, Pets, Pets! to the Henrico Humane Society Pet Expo silent auction. I included a signed hardcover of my debut novel, An Expected End.
During the snow-cation I was able to attend the James River Writers January Writing Show, which focused on the importance of writing community.
Currently, I’m reading a friend’s historical fiction manuscript at a pace of roughly a chapter a day.
The next Prose and Cons meeting is slated for February 19. I’m looking forward to discussing my writing friends’ submissions—and getting their (much needed) help on my synopsis.
Yes, I’m still reading Brandon Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea. You would think with the snow-cation I keep talking about I would’ve found time to finish it, but instead I started designing dog-friendly writing workshops.
My most recent piece, “Walking in a Winter Wonderland: What to know and where to go for wintertime hiking,” appears as the cover story in the January/February issue of Cooperative Living Magazine.
“Welcome Home,” a story I wrote about Archie, appears in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Pets, Pets, Pets.
Archie supervises while I work on lesson plans from home during one of the recent snow days.
Soda, Nacho, Archie, and I cuddle on the couch during the recent winter storm.
Nacho huddles up on the heat vent.
Soda snuggles into the down comforter.
The Littles’ walks have been shorter due to the icy conditions and cold, but we’re still getting out there!
Thin lines of black ice curl into filigree on the wooden boards of our back deck.
The Littles’ tiny pawprints atop the ice-crusted snow
Copper-colored evening sunlight illumines a glazing of ice on the tree branches, as if thousands of brand new pennies shimmer where buds will appear come spring.
A Writer’s Best Friend: Nurturing Your Relationship with Your Dogs through Writing
March 10, 17, 24, and April 7 | 7pm-9pm | Book People, Henrico, VA
In this dog-friendly writing workshop, we will use creative writing to explore how we relate to our dogs, examine how our dogs relate to the world, and enhance our relationship with our dogs. Dogs are welcome to attend, and are in fact expected to be by your side throughout each session of this dog-centric writing workshop. Registration is $120/person (dogs are free).
Wild Senses: A Mindful Creative Writing Workshop
April 12, 2026 | 10am-12pm | Possumbilities, Fredericksburg, VA
This second class will focus on the sense of touch, with future workshops featuring each of the remaining three senses. Awesome Possumz will be in attendance with several of their Reptile Ambassadors. Registration is $30, plus an item for the rescue.
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