So here we are in December with the end of the year upon us. Thanksgiving was quiet. I was happy to be content that we were safe.

The first Sunday in Advent marks the beginning of my Christmas preparations. This year, it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. So I made sure I was ready. I put up the tree, got out my Advent candles and sent out the cards.

So what’s going on for the beginning of December? Well I missed my writing chapter meetings in November because of my church conference. I’ve been going for about ten years now.

I thought about the differences in attending all these years. The first few years when I lived locally, I just drove over or went with someone. When I was no longer living locally, I needed a full weekend just to attend this Saturday conference. I’d arrive on Friday, stay at my favorite b&b and then return on Sunday.

This time around? What was the commute like? A mere five minutes to boot up on the computer! At the close of the conference, the organizers asked us what we thought. They asked whether we would want to attend a virtual conference again. I assured them that I would want to, just to avoid the hassle. Yes, it’s always great to see everyone in person, but online is unquestionably better.

So today was our last writing chapter meetings before the end of the year–American Christian Fiction Writers as well as my local Romance Writers chapter, and I’m excited. Not only are some new characters starting to talk to me, but they are starting to tell me about their stories, and that’s been great.

This will be an interesting approach to writing, I think. Getting critique group input as I’m writing as compared to afterwards. I typically wrote, revised and then sent to an editor. Or this time around, writing the full complete draft then meeting with the critique group. But I should finish soon with the group regarding the latest work in progress, Helena’s book. Austin has been to the editors. He needs to see the proofreader.

So it’s time to start thinking about new projects. Character studies, research and working outlines are on my mind now as I am starting to write: plotting and writing as things come to me, as my characters talk to me.

What about my reading? I finally managed to read the Pat Simmons inspirational romance novel I was curious about: link. In addition, I found this great book about Viet Nam war era wives who fought for their husbands’ release from Viet Cong prisoner of war camps. It was a great story about courage and hope: link. I’m reading now about the rise of Christianity in the ancient world: link.

Merry Christmas!

Copyright Barbara James. All rights reserved.