by Keri Rozansky | Dec 31, 2024 | Blog
Happy New Year’s Eve! It’s the evening before the beginning of 2025. How was your 2024? Did you achieve some or all of your goals? If not, that’s okay. I started some things just to see if I could do them, without the aim of becoming an expert. I started things to see if they’d actually have some sort of effect on my life. Planning is not my strong suit, but I’ve put my nose to the grindstone this year to try to get things done. I’ve tried to at least plan my grocery trips to get the things I’ll need for a couple weeks’ worth of dinners. There are very few instances of running out for an important ingredient before I can start preparing the meal. Planning specific meals on specific days doesn’t always go the way I planned – except for Tuesday night Pizza Night. That’s a mainstay of our week, no matter what else may be on the menu.
I also made plans and executed them to take my debut novel further than it’s ever been. Keep a lookout for it in Q1 of 2025! I’ve tried to dive into the outline and first draft of the next book, and I’m still pushing myself on that. There may be a third book in the works that wants to take over.
What other plans do I have for 2025? Of course carrying on with meal planning and writing, but there are some other plans I’ve made, too. I don’t like the word “resolution.” It always seems like something that has to be done or else the day or week or other time constraint is a failure. The “fresh start” course I took with one of my writing groups before the dawn of 2024 was amazing for my motivation. It went very in-depth about planning out goals for the year, breaking them up into manageable chunks all the way down to daily tasks. Some plans that will change what you all are seeing here:
– A goal of blogging once a week. New blogs will be released every Tuesday. I’ll have some special blogs for holidays or other occasions, too, to celebrate things big and small. Success! My schedule forced me to move blog releases to Wednesday, and on the special holidays, but it gets done. Also, I’m working smarter, not harder. While a blog pops up every Wednesday, the blog that shows up in the middle of the month was likely written at the beginning of the month. I brainstorm ideas, write them, and then schedule a release date. It relieves the stress of doing it every week, and frees me up for other things, like finishing my novel and moving on to a new one.
– A renewed dedication to my short story writing. You all may have noticed I’d started some paranormal short stories on Kindle Vella. I’ll be continuing with these, and I’ll be posting when new episodes are released. I worked on this for quite a while. Until Kindle decided to change things. Short-short stories like the ones I was publishing, were no longer being monetized. My stories were an average of six episodes, sometimes a little more. Unfortunately, Kindle wasn’t monetizing anything past the first ten episodes rather than the first three. They had their reasons, but it was no longer worth my time.
Some plans will allow me to reach for my dreams more than ever before:
– A renewed dedication to my novel. When it’s not my full time job, it’s not something that gets prioritized. This class has shown me how to make sure my writing gets the attention it deserves while also being able to accomplish the many other things I need to accomplish. The renewed dedication has paid off. While some of the goalpost deadlines had to be moved for various reasons, my debut novel will be ready for publication in early 2025.
What are some of your goal – not resolutions – for 2025?
Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 25, 2024 | Blog
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your day is filled with fun, friends, family, and beautiful holiday memories.
If you have any memories or traditions to share, I’d love to hear about them on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 24, 2024 | Blog
Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Do you have any special traditions for the night? One of the best bookworm-focused traditions of the time I’ve heard of is in Iceland. They exchange books and spend the night curled up reading. It’s known as Jolabokaflod, or “Christmas Book Flood.”
It’s so ingrained in their culture that most of Iceland’s book-buying happens between September and December, in preparation for the Christmas tradition.
Much like days gone by where (at least in the US) the Sears Catalog or the Toys R Us Big Toy Book were long-anticipated publications each year, most households in Iceland receive an annual free book catalog of new publications called the Bokatidindi. They’ll pore over the new releases and choose which ones they want to buy in anticipation of the holiday tradition – and maybe some for themselves.
According to data from the BBC, the small Nordic island with a population of only around 329,000, is an extraordinarily literary place. They love to read and write, and have more writers, more books published, and more books read per capita than anywhere else in the world.
It sounds like I have a lot of reading and writing to do!
What is your favorite book? Or favorite genre? Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 18, 2024 | Blog
I don’t talk about him much here, and when I do I try not to use his name, because I respect his privacy. Eighteen years ago today, my life got bigger, fuller, and happier. My son was born. There are bad days and good days. I choose not to focus on the bad, but on the good. He’s grown into such a wonderful and caring young man. While some young people just go through the motions and activities of becoming an Eagle Scout, my son truly lives those values every day.
He has found some true passions in life. While some may scorn his ‘addiction’ to video games, tech, and YouTube like any other Zoomer, it seems as though it is becoming his path in life. He recently got accepted to a prestigious tech college with the aim of becoming a game designer. He has achieved so much in his short 18 years, it blows my mind sometimes.
Throughout his years, he’s been mistaken for both older than his age – he’s very mature when compared to some of his peers – to younger than his age, because he’s always been a small guy and is only a bit taller than my 5’8”. He’s grown in so many other ways, and it’s how he has become a “stand up guy” as many of the kids at his school say.
Not only is it his 18th birthday, but it’s his Golden Birthday. It’s nothing special other than turning 18 on the 18th.
Happy 18th Birthday my golden boy!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 11, 2024 | Blog
Writing reports is part of my job, writing blog posts – not so much. I can’t even talk about this case much, since it’s still under investigation. I really don’t want to just give you my personal and professional profile though. You probably know some of it already.
I bet you’re thinking I’m just going to take out all my frustrations, worries, and concerns right here. I can’t even really talk about the case in general terms, or you’ll know who and what I’m talking about before you can even finish the book. The author won’t like that.
I don’t know why I’m here. Others involved in the case have told me I should, and that they’ve had fun and a little catharsis from doing it. It’s been their opportunity to get their side of the story told since the author isn’t always giving them the opportunity to tell their truth.
This is my case, and I’m the one looking for the truth. I’ve lined up the players and have been evaluating each until I’ve found no reason to suspect them any longer. I’ve been assigned to this case due to the unique witness involved. This witness is even more unique, given their age and attitude toward the case. This witness would rather be left alone, not pulled in to help, and it’s making things difficult. Without this witness around to help, I can’t do what needs doing, or verify certain things only the witness may be able to confirm.
I’m used to working with witnesses the exact opposite of this witness, and this witness is giving me a run for my money. It’s frustrating. And I wish I could talk about it depth more, because I know that’s the only way I’ll truly find peace and relaxation again.
By the way, my name is Ignatius Ellison, but you can call me Ellison or Ell. There are a select few people who call me Iggy, but I’m not a fan of that. Professionally, some people just refer to me as Detective. I’m okay with that. I’ve been with the Glass Police Department for about 20 years, working all sorts of cases, but specializing in those with child witnesses and/or victims. I was a child witness myself, and it’s been my way of giving back to those who helped me when I was young.
You can learn more about me, I think, in the book about me and my current case. I think it’s due out some time early next year. For now, just head to the author’s Facebook page where she’s been telling people more about what’s going on.
