Hi friends -
Welcome to 2024! 2025!
If you’re reading this, I’m glad you made it to another year, that you are experiencing this day, and that you are here, spending some of that time with me.
Thank you.
Since you’re spending the time, I hope it’s useful to you either as an aspiring writer, a future reader, or a fellow human making their way through the world. It’s all our first time on this rock (that we know of), and this is my small contribution to communal learning as I pursue the writing/publishing process.
To start, I’ll share a bit about myself and my writing journey thus far. At the end, I hope you’ll share about yourself, your goals, and what would be helpful for me to share or discuss in the future. Sound good?
Fated to be a writer: I suppose it was always in the cards for me to be a writer as my name comes from books. Brionni (Bri-ah-knee) from a romance novel my mother read while pregnant with me, and in defiance of the popular Brittany of my generation. My middle name is an ode to Miss Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables, complete with the requisite letter E. Both my parents are readers, and our house was packed with books growing up.
Spanning genres: I first started writing seriously in 2018 after years of toying with the idea. An elementary teacher by training, I started first in middle grade, hoping to write the books that my students would have liked. In the time since, I’ve also written in cozy mystery, thriller, upmarket fiction, and romance.
Keen on craft: Besides writing, I enjoy studying craft and improving my skill in writing. I’m in several writing groups and read at least one craft book a month. As I come across content, I’ll be sure to share it here in case you find it useful.
Some would say writing a book involves blood, sweat, and tears. For some (okay, most), it might. My husband would tell you there have been many tears. But as I’ve evolved as a writer, I would say the clarity of the goal, a strategic plan, and the best/appropriate tools can get you where you want to go. I can look at old projects and see the growth based on the time and effort I’ve put in. There’s no way I could have written the way I do now five years ago. It’s impossible because it took all that time, resources, study, and experience to help build the writer I am today. There’s also no telling what type of writer I’ll be in the future as I continue to learn, practice, and evolve.
Here’s a bit about my writing journey thus far:
2018: Read The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg, who mentioned Save the Cat by Blake Snyder as helpful for her plotting. I read the book and started my first middle-grade manuscript, centered on a boy discovering magic, my not-subtle comp to Harry Potter. It was abandoned, but it had served its purpose, helping me see the goal of publishing as real and revealing that I had a lot more to learn.
2019: Books went on the back burner as I began a cookie habit/hobby where I made custom cookies with royal icing. My biggest lesson of the cookie journey was learning what my time was worth. Also, happily, found out I was having a baby, so I had my hands full. During this time, I was reading some of the seminal books on writing, like On Writing by Stephen King and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
2020: Had baby#3 and experienced the pandemic along with the rest of the world. I suddenly had more space to write. I joined the Let’s Make Picture Books class in August and started a new story in September, based on the theme of mythical creatures. I came across the We Need Diverse Books Mentorship in September and knew it was my shot. The only problem was I needed a full manuscript done by October 31, 2020. I spent the next six weeks pounding out another magical middle grade based on the seven deadly sins and submitted.
2021: Selected for the WNDB’s mentorship and worked with Rajani LaRocca on a middle-grade manuscript for the year-long mentorship. Woohoo! Hands down one of my favorite writing experiences, both for feedback and mindset. I was introduced to Story Genius and worked to develop my writing skills. I also joined the Middle-Grade Hub and found one of my most important writing communities. (#OhMGs)
2022: Queried the project for eight full requests out of 24 sent, though none led to representation. (Great learning experience, though)
In the spring, I started another middle grade, centered on a boy and a beaver. For skills, I joined Jane Kalmes’s Simple Mystery class and began a middle-grade mystery based on a girl trying to save her family’s restaurant. I also worked on consistency this year and improving word count. I was proud to start my 100 prompts for 100 days projects, which built my belief and habits in my writing. I also joined the Women Fiction Writer’s Association, which was key to my productivity over 2023.
2023: This was the year of execution as I worked on systems and output. I finished drafting middle grade cozy, worked on my first upmarket adult manuscript, and am proceeding on the traditional publishing route. In the fall, I started my first adult cozy mystery with the intent of self-publishing.
2024: My women’s fiction title sold to Amazon! I spent the year doing revisions. My main role also ended in June 2024, so had the chance to experience writing full-time, which wasn’t a fit for me. I learned that I like to fit writing into blocks of my day, and I cannot emphasize enough how important a steady income is to the creative process. I also started the follow-up book. I really loved this book Writing Like an Author to help craft better sentences!
2025: The first half of the year was all copy edits and proofs of the book, along with the amazing news that The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter was selected as an Amazon First Reads Selection for November and has had really positive feedback. It also received a starred review from Booklist. I also started a novel on Grandmothers and another cozy mystery. My theme for the end of the year is finishing what I started, so I worked through many of my older stories and ideas with the intention of finishing/polishing them for submission in 2026.
2026: Fun announcement in January!
Now your turn. Tell me about yourself, your writing journey, and what content or information would be helpful for me to share.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Happy Writing -
Bri
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