My Year in Three Pillars
Health, Heart, and Community
For 2025, I centered my planning around three pillars: Health & Family, Heart & Head, and Community.
Health & Family
This is the pillar where I delivered well. I wanted to prioritize my health and the well-being of my husband and our dogs.
I kept up with medical checkups, including a (happily negative) colonoscopy.
I stayed on schedule with routine doctor and dentist visits.
I supported my husband day-to-day—pills, meals, all the little things that matter.
And I made sure to spend extra time with Brody and Griffin: walks, playtime, affection.
This one feels like a win
Heart & Head
This pillar was about focusing my creative energy on books that speak to me and that I believe have a strong audience. My intention was to stay in my lane rather than chasing ideas outside my core readership.
I’ll be honest—I didn’t stick the landing here.
Blueprint for Passion
I wrote and released Blueprint for Passion, an MF romance with a Miami real estate backdrop. I loved writing it, and I hoped the “enemies to lovers” trope would boost it in the market. Instead, it sold just 47 copies, for about $19 in royalties.
After the Party
I also spent months researching and writing After the Party: A Jewish Teen’s Guide to Finding Your Path, because I truly believe Jewish teens need more support after bar/bat mitzvah. Even though Jews make up just 2% of the U.S. population, we are the people of the book—surely there was a niche here.
I invested heavily in the Kickstarter, hoping to reach new readers. While I hit my $500 goal, the campaign was far from profitable: the video alone cost $850, and after everything—editing, promotion, the cover—I sold 15 additional books, totaling $89.
These projects were labors of love, but commercially, they missed the mark.
Lesson learned: in 2026, I need to be both passionate and strategic.
Community
I wanted to get out of the house more and invest in relationships and real-world literary community. This was another goal I feel good about.
I scheduled more lunches and dinners with friends.
I attended readings and gave in-person talks.
And I showed up at three conferences: Malice Domestic, Space Coast Book Lovers, and Novelists Inc.
This pillar felt energizing and successful—and I’m realizing how much community fuels the rest of my creative life.
What’s Next?
I’ll share my finalized 2026 goals later this month once I sharpen them. If nothing else, 2025 taught me what works, what doesn’t, and where I want to be more intentional.
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