January 7 question – Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn’t get done in 2025?
At the moment, I’m feeling rather discouraged about writing due to anemic reader response to my latest novel. Sales have been pathetic despite the wonderful support of this group. I wish reader response didn’t affect my motivation as much as it does, but that’s my reality.
I am enjoyinga break from writing includingthe freedom to travel, entertain, and catch up on streaming TV over the weekends.
First was a drive to Orlando to meet my friends’ poodle Franklin, then to Key Largo to join my bestie on her college swim team’s training trip, where we swam with manatees.
Then my sister, niece, and I traveled to nearby Charleston, SC to visit the aquarium.
Back home, I always have fun assembling breakfast for my niece!
Finally, I’ll host book club to discuss Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere, a story about female astronauts, and I found this hilarious Space Cats winefrom a book club guide:
Happy December, writers! Join our monthly Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop, where we vent and lift up. It’s a wonderful community started by author Alex Cavanaugh.
(this is a blog post, not a newsletter, but that reindeer is so dang cute that I had to feature her)
December 3 question – As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?
Gifts of support have made the greatest impact on me:
🎄The Insecure Writers Support Group! IWSG is a big factor in keeping me in the writing game, and it’s been a blessing getting to know cool writers like you.A special shout out to Ronel Janse van Vuuren (today’s co-host who invited me to discuss domestic violence on her blog), Natalie Aguirre (also a co-host today, thanks, Natalie!) Louise Barbour (wonderful post), and Alex Cavanaugh for spreading the word about my new release.
🎄My self-publishing team. I’m grateful for pub sisters like Nicki Elson (Bev), my critique partner extraordinaire. I also met editor Jessica Royer Ocken and book designer Coreen Montagna through the small publisher who released my first four novels. Working with a professional editor has definitely sharpened my writing skills.
🎄The gift of readers. That old adage, “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone”? Sadly, I’m living it! Sales for my new release, Low Water, have been deplorable. I’ve heard book sales are down for many authors, but JEEZ. I guess it doesn’t help that it’s been four years since I last published. Or maybe a book about recovering from trauma isn’t commercially appealing. But I have felt fortunate whenever readers have devoted their precious time to try one of my novels through the years.
Today’s question:When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?
I started on a lark with zero expectations about life as a “writer“. The word felt pretentious and unfamiliar to me. It was simply a delight to create fictional worlds shaped by my characters’ whims. The words poured out of me without much knowledge of structure or point-of-view.
Three years later, in 2010, when a small publisher took a chance on my debut novel, I experienced a mix of imposter syndrome along with incredible support from online friends, authors, and readers. I bounced from envisioning “best-seller” status to feeling like the heel of the shoe worn by those best-selling authors.
Surprises have ambushed me from quite a few corners, like:
Finding my own voice. I used to compare myself unfavorably to other authors, and sometimes I still do. But I heard somewhere that NOBODY writes like you do, and that sentiment has stuck with me. There aren’t many psychologists/ authors (psycho authors) out there, and probably none who share my obsession with swimming, volleyball, Pinterest food creations, and curse words!
I will survive if readers don’t like my books. Reading preferences are so subjective. I’ve found that writing is just like school, work, sports, and relationships in that I perform better by focusing on the process (writing what I want to write, learning the craft) instead of the outcome (reviews and sales).
I always knew I could persevere. Swimming thousands (millions?) of laps while staring at a black line on the pool bottom, as well as my neurotic need for achievement, strengthened my sense of grit. But I never predicted that I would publish ten novels!
Which brings me to my NEW RELEASE on 11/14/25: Low Water!
Cover by Coreen Montagna
Haunted by the past. Healing in the present. Hoping for a better future. And telling cringey dad jokes along the way.
I shared my blurb last month, and it’s available on Amazon as a pre-order.Have you ever felt hopeless about healing after tragic events? I used to. But then I learned a powerful treatment called cognitive processing therapy, and I want everyone with PTSD (real or fictional) to start the therapy, stat. CPT inspired me to return to writing after a three-year hiatus.
Two questions for you, writers:
Would you be willing to publicize Low Water around the time of release day (Friday 11/14/25) on your blog or social media?
If you’d like a special blog post about trauma (sudden death, domestic violence, etc.), cognitive processing therapy for PTSD, writing about sports, or a topic of your choice, please leave your email address in a comment or email me at jenniferlanebooks at gmail.
If you want to share a social media post, here are options:
Trauma survivors, there’s hope! Combine the thrill of competitive swimming with the power of cognitive processing therapy to heal PTSD. Pre-order “Low Water” by Jennifer Lane now and rediscover strength. https://www.amazon.com/Low-Water-Jennifer-Lane-ebook/dp/B0FYV32BV4
Trauma survivors, listen up! I’m Jennifer Lane, psychologist & author. My new ebook LOW WATER reveals how cognitive processing therapy can heal PTSD. Pre-order now and rediscover hope. https://tinyurl.com/2vbzx668
What are the pros/cons of publishing the ebook on KDP Select vs. wide? Ronel Janse van Vuuren helped me try to figure out Draft 2 Digital to publish wide my novella earlier this year, but I’m still unfamiliar with the site compared to Amazon. (I’m trying to publish the paperback on D2D and don’t know how to set the margins to 8.5 x 5.5 while using my own interior pdf, for example.) I’ve had all my books in KDP Select for years, which might make more sense for romance novels, but my new release has only a side element of romance.
I appreciate your encouragement last month, fellow writers! I was able to finish my 10th novel, Low Water, in the nick of time (I hope) to have print copies published before a book event on November 1. My critique partner, Nicki Elson, has provided wonderful support, as always. I sent the manuscript to my editor today, and my book designer is working on cover designs.
Research for the climactic action scene took me to Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island, where I snapped this photo (which might become part of the cover?)
Blurbs are always a challenge, ugh. Nicki helped me craft this one:
Two lives marked by trauma. One chance to rediscover hope.
In the sun-drenched Lowcountry of South Carolina, a swim coach haunted by tragedy and a psychologist devoted to healing cross paths just as their lives unravel.
He once believed Olympic-sized dreams and terrible dad jokes could get him through anything, but waves of grief threaten to pull him under. She has built a career navigating others through pain, yet she struggles to confront her own.
When their worlds collide, Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD forces the question: is it possible to dive into the past without drowning? Neither expects the other to become a lifeline. But with connection and courage, they search for a way forward—one stroke at a time.
Striving, tender, and surprisingly funny, this is a story about resilience and learning that the best way out of the deep end is together.
I’m hoping for a November release date.
What’s your favorite dad joke? Here’s one from my swim coach character, Jordan:
What does the buffalo tell his son in the morning?
Bye, son!
I look forward to reading about the favorite thing you’ve written.
Last Update for my Novel in Progress: Low Water 88,500 / ~87,000 words
July 2 question – Is there a genre you haven’t tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?
There are quite a few genres that intrigue me. I enjoy action movies, and it would be fun to write a novel about heroes facing crises like in Speed, Top Gun Maverick, Gladiator, or The Fugitive. (Though I have written novels in adjacent genres of romantic suspense and psychological thriller.) Speaking of movies, I would like to learn how to write a screenplay one day.
I’ve also considered writing a nonfiction book in my specialty of psychology. I’m excited about an upcoming psychologist work trip to Germany that will add to my knowledge base!
Unrelated question: For those of you with Mailchimp newsletters, have you seen any strange activity lately? I’ve been getting new subscribers daily, though I’m not soliciting them with giveaways or other marketing strategies. (Alas, my marketing has been non-existent.) A few of the email addresses (that I deleted) were suspicious, but most of them are gmail addresses. Any ideas what is going on?
Novel in Progress Update: Low Water 59,000 / ~85,000 words
May 7 question – Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?
To decrease the intensity of our fears, it’s important to talk about them and examine their likelihood. But I had to think about this question for a while. At first I thought I that I had no fears in writing since it’s a side hobby to my day job. As I delved deeper, though, I unmasked my biggest fear…
Rejection from traditional publishers.
I was fortunate to sign with a small publisher (Omnific) to edit and release my first four novels. Then I ventured out on my own to self-publish the next five books. I’ll likely self-publish my work in progress, Low Water. There are some advantages to self-publishing, including speed and creative control. I also have a wonderful editor and book designer to polish the manuscript.
But it would be way cool to sign with an agent and submit to traditional publishing houses. With the flood of self-published novels out there, a larger publisher has the potential to bring more attention to my little novel. I tell myself I don’t have enough patience for the Big Five route, which is true, and I also don’t have a clue for how to land an agent. But the more salient hurdle is fear. What if I put all that effort in, and I get rejected? I hear rejection is quite likely on the trad pub path. I know I could handle the rejection (I’ve handled worse in my life), but I doubt I’ll risk it.
Another fear I have is not improving. I started writing on a lark, and there was so much I didn’t know upon the release of my debut novel. I want to keep learning and growing as a writer, and it would be disappointing if I remained stagnant or got worse.
Novel in Progress Update: Low Water 50,000 / ~85,000 words
They’ve been alive forever. They’ve been bored for some time. And now they’re showing it.
Congratulations to Ronel Janse van Vuuren on the completion of her dark fantasy series, Irascible Immortals!
Smoke on the Water
Immortals + Boredom = Catastrophe
Something old and dangerous is awake and influencing the immortals to act in ways they’d only imagined.
First, small things like Odin, Anubis and Mab going on separate vacations and leaving their seats of power open for the taking. Then, Yue Lao, Cupid, Bast, Apollo and a Kitsune messing with the lives and memories of mortals. It grows to pandemonium when Pan and Poseidon upend the world, creating the Warp – and a free-for-all where it comes to the immortals’ wildest fantasies. Especially the twisted fantasies of Baba Yaga and her Nightmares, Morrígan and her love of War, and Isis who has no qualms unleashing hell on Earth to get Osiris back, plunging mortals even deeper into danger.
Thankfully, some immortals are older and wiser than others, catching on that everything isn’t as it seems… But damage control, trying to avoid the Apocalypse of all realms, and discovering who the ancient evil is, takes more magic, wit, and sacrifice than they could’ve dreamt possible. Can the unlikely grouping of Hel, Aphrodite, Set, Thor, Loki, Apollo, Freyja, Ra and Ammit save the realms?
Scroll up to buy now and enjoy the hilarity, disaster and more that ensues when bored immortals let loose.
When I heard that each book is a 30-minute read, I needed to learn more.
Let’s talk about your creation of the series. Did I read correctly that each book is a 30-minute read? If so, how did you choose that format? That sounds unique and interesting.
I was talking to my optometrist about reading whichever series I was bingeing at the time, and she said she had like five minutes a day to devote to reading which meant that long books and series just didn’t work for her. Which got me thinking about how much punch a short story can give in a limited amount of time…
I had already written “Breaking the Habit” and submitted it to an anthology. (The first three books are featured in the “Grumpy Old Gods” anthologies.) From there, it was easy to build the world and the characters that inhabit it. Going from various gods and immortals being bored and just having a bit too much fun messing with humans to bringing about destruction was just a case of indulging my inner psychopath. LOL. I was listening to a Nightwish album and “Symphony of Destruction” came up and it just clicked: Pan and Poseidon clean up their domains, cause havoc among humans, and whatever happens next isn’t their problem.
Various gods and goddesses vied for my attention, so I wrote about the ones I’ve always wanted to write about (like Isis reuniting with Osiris).
At first, it only built to no-one doing anything to fix the Warp (the result of Pan and Poseidon’s competition) and adding to the mayhem. But after a while, I realised that I didn’t like things hanging there without any conclusion. That’s when I wrote a couple of stories to end the series and published them all together in “Smoke on the Water”. I stuck with the short format (which I recently heard is called a “mosaic novel”) so even in the collected edition, each story can still be read on its own.
Going from mayhem to fixing it, meant finding an antagonist behind it all. It was fun finding someone that is even more powerful than ancient gods like Ra. It also worked well with foreshadowing I (unintentionally) added in the first book.
We live in a world with short attention spans, limited free time, and a lot of competition for said attention and time, so we need to work with what we have.
I used my warped sense of humour, the need to focus on fixing Climate Change, and remembering that we should live and not just exist, to add different layers to this series.
It was a fun experiment in length, character POV, and world-building.
Award-winning Dark Fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren writes about kick-ass heroines, the duality of being human and loves to use folklore to underscore her point.
She’s a Rottweiler pack leader, chicken wrangler and horse servant.
All of her books are available for purchase from major online retailers.
February 5 question – Is there a story or book you’ve written you want to/wish you could go back and change?
Oh, YES! I wrote my first two published novels in third person omniscient point-of-view. Though this POV provides a broad perspective to the characters and story, the downside is unfortunate head-hopping within the scenes. Cringe-worthy! I did seize the chance to edit my debut novel seven years after its initial release. To tighten the story, I chopped about 30K words, but changing the point-of-view would’ve been too extensive. My publisher released the edited ebook version but did not update the print copy.
Speaking of revising stories, I’m preparing to self-publish Behind the Catcher’s Mask, a short story that was part of the 2019 IWSG anthology, Masquerade: Oddly Suited. The theme of the anthology was young adult love featuring a mask of some sort, so naturally I turned to my favorite genre (sports romance) to pen a romance between a softball pitcher and a baseball catcher.
I hope to rekindle my writing and publishing mojo in 2025. I even signed up for a book event in Savannah, GA this fall!
Novel in Progress Update: Low Water 40,000 / ~85,000 words
Happy New Year, writers and readers! How is yours starting? I have a sinus infection that has turned me into a phlegm factory (sorry for oversharing). My 88-year-old father was in the hospital with heart problems, and I probably picked up a bug visiting him there. But he’s now in a great acute rehab facility, so I’m hoping he recaptures independent functioning soon.
January 8 question – Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?
I choose two men who I admired as a teenager: my Spanish teacher, Neil Frank, and my college swim coach, Jim Steen. I admire them just as much now as I did then.
Sr. Frank taught four years of high school Spanish to me and other lucky students in Cincinnati, Ohio. His hyper-kinetic approach was so loco that I became endeared with the beautiful language and various cultures of Spanish-speaking countries. I’ve created quite a few Latino characters in my stories. I also strive to add a spice of his mischief to teaching college classes, including “board relay races” in which two teams of students race to the board to scribble the correct answers. I dream about becoming fluent in Spanish, which would help my psychologist career. I recently downloaded Babel, but I haven’t spent much time with the app yet.
Another person I deeply admire is my Kenyon College swim coach. Coach Steen is the NCAA’s most-winning coach (though most don’t know about him since Kenyon is in the small-school Division III.) He innovates and inspires. Jim is so insightful about each swimmer’s psychology, and he balances a challenging yet lighthearted approach that helps unlock his swimmers’ potential. Now that I think about it, he’s rather hyper, too. I guess I admire high-energy male educators with an exuberant sense of humor!
I’ve come up with a tagline for my work-in-progress, Low Water: A swim coach and his psychologist team up to heal from trauma. I’ve written 35K out of about 85K words.
I hope you’re having a clear-sinus start to your New Year!
(I realize this image says “newsletter”, but it was too cute for me not to copy/paste! Hope the IWSG creator doesn’t mind. (Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay))
December 4 question – Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?
I have mixed reactions to cliffhangers. Mostly I feel robbed from a satisfying ending, but sometimes I think they’re brilliant. One of my novels ended in a major cliffhanger, and some readers were angry with me!
My book that sold the best is Blocked, a New Adult volleyball romance. I wanted to write an opposites-attract love story, so I chose a romance between the college-age children of US Democrat and Republican presidential candidates. (I wrote this in 2014 before the vitriol of partisan politics became even more incendiary.)
I strived to present an unbiased view of both political parties until the very end of the story, which featured the results of the presidential election. Therefore, it didn’t feel right to choose a winner, and my story ended, “The next president of the United States is…”
Some readers were furious, whoops!
I hadn’t intended to write a series, but I felt motivated by reader feedback (a mix of love/hate, haha). I eventually chose a winner for the rest of the trilogy, Aced and Spiked.
Jennifer Lane Books 