Notebook

I get it. Writers have heroes. We think we have competition. At the end of the day, we’re all trying to find the right way to write our novels.

For the past five years, I’ve gone to perhaps the largest conference for self-published authors. I wanted to go in 2019, but I didn’t think I was ready. I went in 2021, and quickly learned that nobody is ever ready for their first conference. It was 20Books Vegas run by Craig Martelle, but Joe Solari took over in 2024 as Author Nations.

Why Sequences Beat Acts for Novels

November marked my return. Not just to writing, but to a version of myself I’d been waiting to meet.

How many truly pivotal moments are there in a life? By my calculation, I’m on my eighth in a few years over half a century. I’ve served the government in some capacity since I was 19. After 35 years, I’ve retired with just enough runway for me to take off in a different direction. 2025 is the year I taxied.

There’s a social media earworm: “What three words would you say to your 18-year-old self?” I laugh it off when I see it. But it came up again.

A fellow author I respect recently shared some insights on the economics of being a writer. The results were not as detailed as I like, so I opted to have Claude do deep diving. After reviewing 471 sources, it came back with some interesting findings.

I monitor a social media group where writers discuss using AI to produce their books. Most days it confirms what I already suspect. Some days it hands me a gift.