fall goal check
Another update on my 2025 goals
A warm welcome to the many new readers who subscribed this month! And thank you to everyone who keeps reading.
You all seem to enjoy posts where I discuss my ambitions and progress. As someone who adores goal-setting, this makes me feel so seen I could cry. I’m thinking of making quarterly check-ins an ongoing thing here, for both my accountability and your entertainment. Here we go.
Book 4
Here’s what I said in January:
I’m going to… as soon as I turn in book #4.
Here’s what I said in April:
For the past six weeks, I’ve been working on draft 2, which I turned in Wednesday.
Since then? I turned in a third draft, received more edits, and polished a fourth and final draft. Last week this book was officially cleared for copyedits, which means it’s definitely being published! I’ve successfully tricked a group of professionals into sharing my words with the world a fourth time (around Nov 2026)!
The book also underwent a title change. Its working title was THE SUBMISSION, courtesy of my friend and titling genius, Margarita Montimore. I still love the original and its double play on the word “submission”; the book is about an aspiring writer taking his book out on submission, AND said writer kidnaps the agent he wants, forcing her to submit to him. But one of my editors worried readers outside publishing wouldn’t know “submission” as an industry term, which is fair. Every time I told a non-industry friend the title, they stared blankly. The new title is more fun and accessible.
Like The Hitchcock Hotel, this book came together pretty painlessly. Maybe because it draws from my life as a writer—or maybe my process is finally smoothing out. Fingers crossed the momentum continues.
Screenwriting
Here’s what I said in January:
Last spring I wrote a pilot for a speculative TV show idea. I’m going to revise it as soon as I turn in book #4. Years ago I also wrote a feature-length biopic about a real woman with the most jaw-dropping life in the early 1900s, but then did nothing with it. Why?! I want to take another crack, then submit it to contests. The goal: land a TV/film manager or agent this year.
Here’s what I said in April:
I’ve made zero progress on screenwriting. But for good reason: while waiting on book 4 feedback, I began developing book 5 instead.
I spent August working on the GRANNY DEAREST screenplay, which I ultimately shelved. (More on that here.)
In September I wrote a first draft of a sitcom that’s been knocking around my head for years. I know—me? A sitcom? While my novels employ occasional dark humor, I used to write funny TV spots for brands like Capital One. (If you’ve ever seen the Jimmy Fallon commercials, I wrote some of them.) So I dusted off my comedy muscles and gave it a go. I think it might… actually… be funny? What if a humorist has been hiding inside my dark heart all along? This was the most fun I’ve had writing in a while.
Throughout October I’ve been deep in draft 3 of my biopic feature1. As of today, I’m 82 of 110ish pages in. I hope to finish revisions by the end of next week. I love this story and this protagonist so much.
The plan for November/December? Turn one of my novel rejects into an hourlong speculative drama pilot.
On the education front, 1) I compiled a list of favorite screenwriters and filmmakers, then looked up their reps on IMDBPro. 2) The subreddit r/screenwriting has been a good source for all kinds of info. 3) I’ve identified a handful of contests I’ll target in 2026.
My goal: end 2025 with three finished samples, so I can get feedback and polish them in the new year before querying managers. According to pros on Reddit, February is the best month in Q1 to reach out, so I’ll aim for that. It feels good to finally make tangible progress on a goal I’ve been crawling toward for half a decade.
Book 5
Here’s what I said in January:
I’m going to write a novel that isn’t a thriller. I’ve had one idea since—checks Google Doc—June 2023, and it’s been an irrepressible bee in my bonnet.
Here’s what I said in April:
The plan is to write the first four chapters, perfect the pitch, and share it with my agent.
So much has changed since April! The book I was referring to above was THE WICKED TEST. As you’ll know if you read last month’s post, I did indeed write those chapters, sharpen the pitch, and share it with my agent/editors. Then I dumped it, came up with a second idea, dropped that, and finally landed on a third idea I’ve been developing—sporadically—for months. I’ve written the jacket copy, first chapter, and synopsis. I’d like about fifty polished pages to share with my agent when she’s back from maternity leave in January—so, still a ways to go.
Short story
Here’s what I said in January:
I was invited to contribute to a literary magazine and decided to resurrect an old novel pitch my publishers deemed too much for the average reader.
Here’s what I said in April:
This project has stalled due to a reshuffling of creative priorities and suboptimal contract logistics. I’m leaning toward taking the risk anyway; I haven’t written a short story in eight years and want to see if I’ve improved.
Strangely, the editor… vanished. They stopped replying to my agent’s emails, so the opportunity’s officially kaput. I won’t include it in the end-of-year report.
Audio novella
In April I called this my “New miscellaneous project”:
My agent reached out about a cool invitation we received. This could be a chance to resurrect my drawer novel, LILITH, written in 2022 between This Might Hurt and The Hitchcock Hotel.
Like my publishers, the audiobook producer passed on LILITH2. I pivoted to GRANNY DEAREST, which we talked about last time, but ultimately paused on the whole endeavor. After three months of unpaid pitching and no shared vision, I decided to focus on screenwriting instead. If I’m going to work unpaid, I’d rather it be toward a long-term goal.
Onto the personal!
California homebody
Here’s what I said in January:
This year I want to stay home more. I want to get rooted in LA.
Here’s what I said in April:
I’m doing it! I’m making friends. I found a cozy bookshop (Sunny’s) and a great Mexican restaurant (Sol y Luna). I’m hiking, taking cheesy photos, watching ocean sunsets. I have no desire to travel. This is new for me.
I spent the summer outside of California—but for good reason. Our house was being renovated, so we stayed with my parents in Scottsdale, plus took trips to Georgia, London, New York, Seattle, and North Carolina. Seeing family and friends was lovely, but I’m thrilled to return to homebody mode.
Here’s what else I said in January:
I’ll spend much of this year renovating my townhouse, built in the 1980s and never updated.
Here’s what else I said in April:
We’ve picked floors, carpet, paint, stone, slabs, fabrics, sconces, faucets, and wallpaper. I chose one with unicorns, castles, and dragons for my office. Technically I’m an adult, but I dream up fictional worlds for a living. Why not let my workspace reflect that?
The renovations are finished! The house is dreamy. I never want to leave.
Finally, here’s the last bit of what I said in January:
I want to spend more of this year reading and watching.
It felt like I didn’t do much reading this summer, but Goodreads says otherwise. Maybe because I read in spurts instead of hourslong evenings like I prefer. Either way, very few stinkers. See the Art Picks section for highlights.
What I learned this month
At the Rare Books Festival in Union Station, I found an enormous leatherbound Shakespeare priced at $225,000. On the shelf above it? A first edition of Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone—selling for the same price. My flabber was gasted.
Art picks
Books: If you want gorgeous prose and memorable characters, try Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. For a dose of young-woman-trying-to-figure-her-shit-out, read Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan. For story research, I devoured The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness by Suzanne O’Sullivan, The Unit by Ninni Homlqvist, and Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates.
TV: I tore through The Hunting Wives, Season 2 of Platonic, and The Pitt. I bailed after The Pitt’s pilot—medical gore is not for me—but came back when it won all the Emmys. I’m glad I did. Whew, what a flawless first season.
Movies: Weapons is my new favorite horror flick. It starts and ends as horror, but leans thriller in the middle. The structure is fascinating: each segment resets from another character’s POV. I really want to structure a book like that someday. So obsessed am I with Weapons’ villain, Aunt Gladys, that I’m dressing up as her for Halloween. (How many times must I tell you high-functioning unhinged women are my type?) The final scene is so graphic it made me laugh out of shock. Unforgettable. Go watch.
Line of the month
In honor of spooky season, I offer this defense of us weirdos:
Those drawn to the macabre tend to be “people with dark minds but soft hearts.”
NYT review of Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away
Happy almost Halloween!
Feature = movie.
This is not the last you will hear of this story! Everyone thinks it’s too weird and niche, but I’m hellbent on revising it someday and bringing it into the world.