Five Things - February 16, 2026

Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. For photos of my books, kids, pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things, starting with the quote of the week…

1. "Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained." - Helen Keller

2. Last weekend, I attended the Superstars Writing Conference in Colorado Springs with some of my classmates. While I had a great experience there last year, this year everything seemed to land better. I think it’s because graduation is around the corner, and I’m already turning a good bit of my attention back to my writing career. I’ve created so much content over the last two years that now it’s time to send it out into the world. This conference had a heavy focus on the business side of writing, and it was great to hear about the latest trends in publishing, check out the newest tools of the trade, and to network with industry professionals. My mind is spinning, in a good way, and I’m still processing all of it!

3. I am nearly finished editing my 112k word fantasy novel, which is also my graduate thesis project. It’s been wonderful to work with my fantastic mentor, who was part editor, part cheerleader, and part brainstorming buddy. I think the fact that we spent so much time developing the story along the way and course correcting on the spot is the reason that the edits are going so smoothly. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m aiming to be finished by the end of February.

4. Good lighting makes such a difference in a home. The electrician just left, and our new dining room chandelier is up. It replaces the strange, futuristic light fixture that came with the place. I kept hoping it would beam something down from the mother ship because at least that would have made it interesting! Anyway, my new favorite person also adjusted all the recessed bulbs, and now the kitchen doesn’t look like an operating room anymore, lol.

5. Ray is out of town this week, so this will be the first night I’ve spent alone here. Well, not exactly alone. My fur babies will be with me, but it still feels a little strange since I haven’t totally gotten used to the indoor and outdoor sounds yet. I will, however, take advantage of having the television all to myself by binging some of my favorite ‘guilty pleasure’ shows!

Five Things - February 2, 2025

Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. For photos of my books, kids, pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things, starting with the quote of the week…

1. "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." — Benjamin Franklin

2. It’s official – we are nomads no more! We’ve been sleeping in our new place for just over a week now. Although the furniture situation is still a little sparse, we’ve been working at our kitchen counter and sleeping in our new comfy bed. The living room chairs have arrived, along with our gorgeous dining room table, but we’re still waiting on the kitchen chairs and sofa. Little by little, it’s coming together. Saying goodbye to our RV home for the last three years was bittersweet for sure, but we already feel like we are building a new home here.

3. There’s a lot to love about city living. My favorite things include walking the dog in the morning in Pasadena Central Park, walking to my yoga classes, and walking a few blocks to dinner when we’re too tired to cook. It’s especially great being here in SoCal, where we can hang out with our boys and their significant others as they now all live under an hour away. Our daughter is up in Portland, but at least we’re all in the same time zone now!

4. It’s been great to have some space again, and also a little overwhelming. I’m trying to break down my sorting and organizing projects into manageable chunks, but there’s a lot to do. I also haven’t really settled into daily routines and habits, which help keep me from spinning out. Every aspect of my life feels a little ungrounded at the moment, but I know this feeling often accompanies big changes, and I’m doing my best to stay centered.

5. This week, I’m attending a writing conference in Colorado Springs. Several of my classmates will be there, and I’m so excited to hang out with them in person. They have been a steady source of support and encouragement, and I feel so lucky to be part of this incredibly talented, thoughtful group.

Five Things - February 17, 2025

Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. 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, starting with the quote of the week…

1. “Everybody matters or nobody matters. “ - Harry Bosch

2. In celebration of Black History Month, I want to call out an author whose work I admire and enjoy. Angie Thomas’s #1 New York Times bestseller The Hate U Give left its mark on the young adult literary world for sure, and she’s now ventured into writing middle grade fantasy. Our class just finished reading her latest novel Nic Blake and the Remarkables, a fun, fast-paced adventure featuring an adorable hell-hound puppy, an array of magical beings, a group of kids seeking justice, and a dragon, of course. Pass this one along to the young readers in your life!

3. I returned from the amazing Superstars Writer’s Conference in Colorado Springs with a to-do list about a mile long! Conferences like this fill my well, so to speak, from both a creative and a business perspective. I’ve tried to immediately implement some of the best marketing and promo tips into my overall plan, I’ve pitched one of my books to a cool publishing house, and I’ve been inspired to finish my fantasy novel ASAP and perhaps consider a Kickstarter campaign for it. The conversations and connections, new and old, were invaluable, and as a bonus, about half my classmates were there!

4. Unfortunately, I returned home with a particularly nasty strain of ‘con crud,’ which knocked me out of commision for a few days. Needless to say, between the weekend away and the recovery time, I’m feeling a little behind. We’re about to start workshops in class again, though, and I’m really excited. Instead of creating a new short fiction piece, we had the option to use the first few chapters of a fantasy or science fiction work-in-progress. I have just such a project underway, so I’m looking forward to getting some solid, early feedback on my new fantasy manuscript.

5. Our trip back was delayed slightly while I battled the con crud, but we’re back in the desert now, and I have to say, the sunshine is doing wonders for my overall recovery. The east coast is inundated with snow, and the west coast was pretty wet and rainy while were there, so 70 degrees and sunny is looking pretty good right now!

Five Things - February 3, 2025

Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. 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, starting with the quote of the week…

1. “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” - Mary Oliver

2. As things around us feel like they’re on fire, I am reminded that art is resistance. The world needs its storytellers, singers, actors, dancers, sculptors, musicians, painters, (and anyone else I forgot to mention) to remind us of our humanity. Artists hold a mirror up to society. We question and dig. We bring injustice into sharp relief. We invite laughter. We provide entertainment, respite, relief. We provoke change. We ask our audience to look at the world from a different perspective. Art is resistance.

3. In honor of Black History Month, I’m highlighting an author I heard speak several years ago at a writers conference in NYC. Jacqueline Woodson’s resume includes the National Book Award, the Newbery Honor, and the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. She’s been on the NYT best-selling list, served as the Young People’s Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017, was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress for 2018–19, and named a MacArthur Fellow. Her writing is hauntingly beautiful and heartbreakingly real. If you have an opportunity to read her stories, watch one of her TED talks, or introduce her books to the young people in your life, I highly recommend it.

4. I’m heading to Colorado Springs this week for a writer’s conference. I am so excited because more than half my cohort from grad school will be there. We’ve been online with each other several times a week since September, but we haven’t been together in person since July. Events like this one help to fill my creative well. There’s nothing like spending a few days with fellow creative types to stay motivated, and with my aggressive writing schedule this year, I really need the motivational support! Next post, I’ll share my favorite highlights from the conference.

5. Birthday season is underway, and last night we celebrated Noah’s 27th. This kid of ours is smart, creative, driven, and kind. Last summer, for one of my first school assignments, I had write about my ‘creative hero.’ This is an edited version of that post, which I think is a fitting tribute to the birthday boy!

   All the kids are creative types, but our second son is a writer. He wrote his first ‘novel’ as an eighth-grade project, before I had the whiff of a first draft for my first novel in mind. His mentor, a traditionally published author, sang his praises for both completing the daunting project and for his fresh take on the story. He had the ‘chops’ she’d said. When he finished the draft, he said something like, “I’m not attached to that manuscript anymore. I used the project to learn about process, and my next book will be better.” I was like, “Dude, you’re thirteen. How do you have such perspective?”

   He kept on writing. He went to film school, became a screenwriter and stand-up comedian. He writes more in a month than I do in a year, and he has an amazing attitude. Rarely is he discouraged. He loves to collaborate. He’s willing to pitch something, and then the next thing, and then the next. He has a wild imagination, he works hard, and he is now an extremely skilled writer. In fact, he’s top of my list of people to call when I’m stuck on a plot point, or I’ve written myself into a corner, or I can’t quite make a character land.

   This kid had the courage to do at thirteen something that took me four decades to try! Bravo, Noah, for recognizing that sharing art with the world makes us vulnerable and doing it anyway.