by Keri Rozansky | Dec 31, 2025 | Blog
If you’re the kind to make New Year’s resolutions, how do you decide what it will be? Is it something you wish you would have done over the last year, something you hope to continue, or maybe a brand-new endeavor you have planned?
For the past two years I’ve participated in a “Fresh Start” writing program – a full week of online workshops dedicated to gearing up for the next year. It mostly applies to writing, but the workshop leaders encourage improvement in more than just writing.
Looking back on my ambitions for 2025, I have achieved several goals, am still striving toward others, and although I may have ‘failed’ at achieving some of them, I have made bigger strides than ever before. My debut novel hit some bumps and road blocks through the year and will be pushed to a Q2 2026 release (I’ll keep you updated, of course). The book has gone to a professional editor – I worked on other projects including the next two upcoming books while waiting – but due to some life events my debut is still waiting for proofreading.
I had hoped that my second and third books would be drafted (book 2) and outlined (book 3) by the end of the year. Big life changes – including my son starting college and the whole family moving across the country – happened, along with a complete overhaul of book 2, which has put me behind. But I didn’t stop writing. I put work in on these tasks, as well as some other writing projects.
Another big change I made this year in just the last month or so was to ramp up my social media presence. If you follow my socials, you’ll notice an increase in the frequency/amount of posts. Memes, pictures, and ‘fun facts’ join my regular weekly blog post to keep you all updated and engaged.
This year was also a year of learning. I learned what it took to force myself to sit down and write, and how easy it was to make sure I wrote just a little each day. I learned to use new tools to make my writing live easier by scheduling and automating posts to avoid the need to write a blog post or remember to interact with you all on social media. Soon I’ll sit down with myself to decide the direction I’d like to take for 2026. I hope for bigger and better things to come!
And last but not least, thank you to you all who have followed this blog and my social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Substack). You help get me and my work ‘out there’ so it can be enjoyed.
Tell me about your 2025 – what did you achieve, big or small? What are you goals for 2026? Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 25, 2025 | Blog
From my family to yours – Merry Christmas! What are your Christmas Day traditions? Did you have a big meal with family and friends? Open gifts? Relax the day away? Or did you wake up bright and early for the local 5K race?
However you spend the holiday, I hope you enjoy yourself and those you celebrate with!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 24, 2025 | Blog
No, I’m not killing anyone in real life. But when writing about injuring or killing someone, there needs to be a level of realism. Experts in every field often subconsciously judge fiction – TV, movies, and books – for their realism. My dad is a former police officer and heavily scrutinizes police procedural fiction: ‘that wouldn’t happen’ or ‘it takes longer than a couple days to finish a murder investigation’ or some other detail that needs to be manipulated for the time (or page) constraints of piece of fiction.
Despite time and page constraints, accuracy does matter. There are ‘fast acting’ poisons where the effects can be felt in only a few hours while others take days. Some so long that the victim may not be able to associate the illness to the point in time at which the initial poisoning took place.
Why am I researching poisons you ask? A work in progress, of course! It is all still in research and drafting mode, so I won’t say much more. My detective character is in for some complex investigating when it comes to this.
Since this is by no means a ‘how to’ of any kind, I won’t be listing any of poisons or how my characters plan to use them. This particular line of inquiry has been interesting. I’ve learned of some ‘new’ (to me) poisons as well as various ways to use others I knew of already. I’m trying to create situations that aren’t so overdone that the reader will find it boring or typical and want to skip over things.
What is your favorite method of murder? Is there a poison or weapon that you think is overdone – or maybe not used enough? Tell me about it on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 24, 2025 | Blog
Merry Christmas Eve! Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions? Baking and leaving cookies for Santa, opening presents (even just one!)? Wearing Christmas-themed pajamas and curling up with Christmas movies, popcorn, and hot cocoa?
Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Dec 17, 2025 | Blog
Hi. I’m Emma. This is a really difficult post to write. My boyfriend Turner and his friend Jay got into some serious trouble last summer. They found that dead man by the creek, and…Jay died. He was wrecked. We all were. Then Turner disappeared. Not a single word. We’d fought at his and Jay’s birthday party, so maybe he thought we broke up. I don’t know. He lied to me about where they were going, and yes it upset me, but I’m glad he didn’t get hurt, too. I was waiting for him to come to me and say sorry, but instead he just disappeared.
No one knew where, or would tell me. I think there’s something going on with his family because his parents are gone a lot, and there’s been rumors that maybe they’re involved in something. I hate that his life has been shaken like this. I miss him. He’s a good person and doesn’t deserve it. I hope he’s doing okay wherever he’s at.
Yes, I broke up with him. He did call, eventually, and it was only to see if we were still together or not. How can we be? I don’t know where he even is. Like I said, too, he lied to me. Then got himself hurt. Like, how do I stay with him? I’m not even allowed to see him or know where he is. What kind of relationship is that? I hope he gets through all this and gets better.
There was my friend Angelina to think about, too. She liked Jay, and was trying to start a relationship with him when he died. She’s wrecked, too. I don’t know if they would have started anything if he were still alive. I needed to be there for her. With Turner gone, it’s what I did.
No, don’t feel bad for me. Turner’s still alive and well and safe. That’s what matters. And the town is getting back to being safe again. That’s what matters. That’s all that matters. Right? I need to think about something else for a while.
