Five Things - March 24, 2024

Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

1. We’re still in Austin! After a quick trip to Dallas to get some work done on the RV, we decided to head right back. Ray had some business travel, and my bestie planned to join me while he was away, but our spot in Dallas didn’t give us the warm fuzzies. One of the perks of life on the road is changing your plans last minute, so because Austin is such a fun spot, and I feel more comfortable here, we opted to move things around a bit. When I asked Amy, literally the day before her flight, if she could change her ticket, she did so with enthusiasm. A high school friend of ours lives near Austin, so in addition to being in a cool spot, we knew we’d get bonus girl time together…

2. And girl time rocks! It totally feeds the soul.

3. Supernatural fans, you’ll appreciate this…Amy and I had pizza and beer and listened to the house band at the Family Business Beer Company, co-owned by Jensen Ackles of Supernatural fame. While there were no famous sightings, and no sign of Baby the Impala, I did get a really cool new hat!

4. Last week, the vernal equinox officially marked the beginning of spring on planet Earth. Even in these southern latitudes, I’ve felt the effects of winter’s shorter days, and I am very pleased to be on the other side of that. Unrelated to Earth’s tilted axis but still noteworthy, did you know I wrote a book titled Equinox? It’s actually the third book in my Horizon science fiction trilogy, so you might want to check out the others first. If you haven’t had a look, here’s a link: HORIZON TRILOGY

5. "Women's friendships are like a renewable source of power." - Jane Fonda

   "A good friend knows all your best stories, but a best friend has lived them with you." - Unknown

   "A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." - Bernard Meltzer

Our itinerary, subject to change:

March 10 - April 5: Austin, TX

April 5 - 12: Fredericksburg, TX

April 12 - 19: Hot Springs, AK

April 19 - 24: Ozarks, AK

April 24 - 28: Topeka, KS

April 24 - May 12: Kansas City, MO

May 8 - 23: Chicago, IL

May 23 -28: Wisconsin Dells, WI

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Monday Musings 12-30-19

It’s that odd week just before the New Year when I can’t keep track of the days, we’re still on vacation, and time seems to be moving in a strangely sluggish manner. I’m caught between reflection and planning anew.

It’s important that I make space to reflect. When I do, it feels like I’m taking a long, deep breath. By honestly evaluating the past year, I’m able to celebrate my successes, review my short-comings, and begin to form and solidify my intentions for the New Year. Certainly, the New Year is an arbitrary date on the calendar, and we can take stock, assess, and change our course if necessary at any time, but working with a particular habit life or personal rhythm has value for me.

So, here are my writerly reflections on 2019…

It’s particularly satisfying to complete a writing project, and this year, I released the final book in my Horizon series. As an author, this milestone feels pretty significant. I’ve also worked with an incredible voice actor to convert all the books to audio, traveled around the country to various Comic Cons and conferences for signings, sold two short stories to podcasts, wrote a consistent post for Monday Musings every week, continued my work as managing editor for Inkitt Writer’s Blog, and started drafting a new urban fantasy. I’ve also started a project under a pen name and completed three novel drafts for that series. More on that next week. All in all, I’m pretty pleased with my productivity in 2019.

Of course, there’s always more I wished I could have accomplished, but I feel like I was as productive as I could be, and at the end of the day (or year as the case may be), that’s really how I measure the success of my work life.

Last year, on my list of intentions, I stated I wanted to find a way to teach more because I missed being in the classroom. This year, I taught six weeks of Latin to middle-schoolers and loved every minute of it! I also moderated several panels at conferences and Cons, which feels similar to teaching in a lot of ways.

Where I fell short professionally was my work for Book Club Babble. As a partner and senior writer, I really should have produced more content. Luckily, this is a great team to work with. When one of us can’t focus on the site for whatever reason, the others pick up the slack. But, I need to make it a higher priority for 2020.

Five years ago, with my husband’s encouragement, I changed the course of my professional career and became a writer. I had no idea what that would mean, how it would look, or in what direction things would go. I was terrified to put my work out there, knowing that so much of this industry meant facing rejection. I stood at the very beginning of a path, understanding that my learning curve would be huge, and took a chance.

Now, at the end of the decade, a decade where I consciously turned the ship, so to speak, I’ve given myself permission to list all my writing accomplishments in one place. Here goes…

THE HORIZON SERIES (winner of seven independent book awards including the Writer’s Digest Grand Prize in 2016)

HORIZON

INFINITY

EQUINOX

SHORT FICTION AND PODCASTS:

Keeper of the Light from HOLDING ON BY OUR FINGERTIPS

Quest Nine - Starship Sofa

Goodbye, Charlie - Tales to Terrify (Episode 404 - last story of the hour)

Homecoming from SIRENS

NON-FICTION:

Inkitt Writer’s Blog

Book Club Babble

Project 3.8 - collected interviews of children and families dealing with pediatric cancer

If you’re reading this blog, you’ve chosen to engage with me and my creative work, and I am both humbled and grateful for your support. I write because the stories in my head are clamoring to get out, but I also write to share them with you, hoping you’ll find yourself lost in a tale or moved in some way. Reflecting on this year, and on my writing career as a whole, leaves me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am so grateful to be able to pursue this art, and I am so grateful to be able to share it with all of you.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year!

Monday Musings 4-22-19

It’s official! EQUINOX, book 3 in the HORIZON series, will release on May 7th. If you’re relatively local, I’d love to see you at the release party on Thursday, May 30th. You can find more details here: EQUINOX RELEASE PARTY.

Last week I got to read a sample chapter from EQUINOX for an interview. Generally, an author will read the first chapter from their book since the beginning should offer a tantalizing hook to lure readers in. But I like to share something about my writing process with my audience, something that shows how I solved a particular problem with plot, or how I was trying to develop a character or explore a theme. I guess it’s the teacher in me! For the podcast, I chose to read Chapter 33.

For those of you who’ve read the first two books in the HORIZON series, you know this is really Caeli’s story, even though her male counterpart, Derek, shares an equal amount of page-time. In fact, it’s actually easier for me to write Derek’s scenes. He’s often smack in the middle of a dogfight, fistfight, or undercover operation! I’m a visual person so I tend to choreograph the action in my mind, scene by scene, before translating it into the written word, making Derek’s scenes fun and easy for me to write.

Three quarters of the way through EQUINOX, I felt like I needed to shift the story back to Caeli, ramp up the tension for a dramatic finish, and somehow get Derek offstage completely for a little while. Working out how to do that took me a while, and I played with several scenarios until I finally hit on the right idea. That pivotal moment shows up in Chapter 33.

So, here’s Chapter 33 of EQUINOX . I hope it entices you to keep reading, and gives you a little insider insight into my writing process. Enjoy, and see you May 30th!

Monday Musings 2-25-19

Equinox is finished! It’s a strange feeling indeed to have completed the last book in this series, a series I’ve been working on for over six years. I’ve lived in this made-up world, fallen in love with the characters, put them through some tough stuff, and now it’s time to say goodbye. It’s bittersweet, but it’s time.

As I get older, I’ve experienced moving on in many areas of my life. From changing jobs, to moving houses, to watching kids go off to college, letting go is part of the deal, and sometimes knowing when to let go is the trick.

My style, with writing, with the other work I’ve done over the years, with my home life, is to fully invest. I throw my whole self into the experience. I’m all in. I make mistakes, I learn, I grow. But because I’ve given it my full attention, when it’s time to move on, I usually feel ready. I may be nostalgic, but generally, I don’t have regrets.

When I typed “the end” on the last page, it was with a little bit of sadness but also a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. I’ve worked hard to improve my craft over these last six years. I’ve learned a ton about the publishing industry. I’ve been invited to teach what I’ve learned. Most importantly, with these books, I think I’ve told a good story.

Equinox will release on May 7th. I hope you enjoy!

Monday Musings 2-18-19

I’ve been working on Equinox edits for a couple of weeks now, and if I want to make my release deadline, I have to keep my nose down and finish. For the last three days, I haven’t moved much from my spot on the couch. There are printed documents strewn everywhere, laundry piled on the kitchen table, and I’m wearing the same pajamas I had on three days ago.

It’s funny, but I don’t really mind. I know this state of suspended reality isn’t going to last. Eventually, the rest of my life will need to be tended to and I’ll be more than ready to get back to it. For now, though, my full focus is on finishing this story and I’ve enjoyed giving it my full attention for the home stretch.

This feeling of being so connected to something you’ve made, and realizing you’re almost ready to share it with the world, is a strange and wonderful part of the creative process. It’s also a time when I know most writers and artists feel pretty vulnerable. We’ve poured ourselves into our work and we have no idea how that work will be received. When I finished writing my first novel, Horizon, I wrote an entire blog post on this subject: Handle with Care. Here’s a little snippet that captures the sentiment:

Any artist in any field understands that to share our work is to be vulnerable. We’ve risked opening our hearts to strangers - with words, in images, with a paintbrush, on a stage. We’ve put something of our private selves out into the world. Even my stories, full of spaceships and evil villains, myths and magic, have some of the real “me” in them. People who know me well will recognize those pieces. But it’s worth it to tell the story. And I’m learning to make peace with the discomfort.

As I finish this last round of edits for the last book in this series, I’m more confident in myself as a writer and in my craft. My skin is definitely thicker when it comes to criticism, but there’s still a moment of hesitation, a bit of discomfort and fragility. What I’ve learned, though, is it’s a pretty universal feeling among us artsy types. When I’m feeling it, I have a whole community of people who encourage me. When I have a chance to offer that encouragement back, I do. And I really am learning to make peace with the discomfort.

Monday Musings 2-11-19

I am so excited to share the cover for Equinox, Book 3 in the Horizon series, coming May 2019!