STATS: Week 11 Total Word Count: 17,113 Week 11 Total Average: 2,445 Can You Spell Werewolf? Draft 2 Chapters Written/Worked On: 23 Month Total: 29,872 Total Days Without a Zero Day So Far: 27 A Speller's Genesis Chapters Released: 1 A Speller's Genesis New Chapters Written: 0 To Go: Month: 83,334 Minimum Goal: 53,462 100K Stretch Goal: 76,649 200K Insane Stretch Goal: 170,132…

FLYNN BARNES When Flynn woke up the next day, he felt like he was not just going to experience another day. It was the beginning of a journey. A journey that he was not going to let his mom in on just yet. He smiled. But that smile disappeared when he heard the zipping of a bag being opened. He sat up almost immediately and watched as his mom was folding clothes.

STATS: Average Word Count for Week 10: 1,123 Total Week 10 Word Count: 7,863 Words to Go: Month: Minimum: 70,575 Stretch Goal: 87,241 Insane Stretch Goal: 187,241 Year: 934,340 Week 10! I have entered the double digits in terms of week numbers for this challenge, and I am so excited! Without a doubt, this was an improvement over the previous week of January that also marked quite a few milestones in my writing life!

FLYNN BARNES The next morning, Mr. Warren stopped Flynn after the end of first period. "Hey, Flynn," he said gently. "Is everything OK? You seem a little distracted." Flynn shrugged. "I'm fine." "Are you?" Mr. Warren asked. "But it seems like you're carrying a lot. And quietly. Which from my experience, doesn't end well." Flynn didn't respond, not wanting to tell Mister Warren anything that was not necessary.

FLYNN BARNES Flynn's mom looked at the letter again, as if she didn't believe what she read the first time and then put her hands to her hips. "Flynn Barnes, I asked you a question. Why would this letter say this?" Flynn swallowed before answering. "Not everyone's friendly at Mayville Junior High. A couple of kids have been giving me a hard time.

FLYNN BARNES Flynn frowned. "What does that mean?" "It means this letter could have come from literally anywhere. The manager told me someone had just dropped it at the motel a couple of minutes ago, and he doesn't know who," Flynn's mom replied. Flynn raised his eyebrows. Which stranger wanted to talk to me? How did they find us? he thought.

Week 9 of Milwordy is up — the first recap of 2026. 4,896 words, daily writing consistency, and the launch of A Speller’s Genesis. The pace isn’t perfect yet, but the momentum is real. Progress > pressure.

FLYNN BARNES Flynn noticed the signup sheet for the spelling bee posted on the library door when he was on the way to lunch. After the harrowing announcement, the rest of the day had been relatively easy. He had tried his best to act like he didn't care about the thing. But seeing the actual paper made it so hard to keep the resolve.

FLYNN BARNES It was just another first day at another school, and the Mayville Junior High cafeteria buzzed with noise. Flynn sat alone, balancing his journal on his lap But then he saw trouble across the room. A boy—tall, broad-shouldered, with a cruel grin—snatched a notebook out of a girl’s hand. A notebook that looked like his own, now that Flynn thought about it.

ANGELA BARNES November 2018 Angela Barnes would have loved nothing more for it to be just another evening in the Barnes household. Unfortunately, it wasn't. She was stuffing her things and her 7-year-old son Flynn's things into bags, the dark stormy wind outside mocking her, her hands trembling. But Angela looked up the minute she heard her husband Bruce's boots behind her.

Welcome back to my blog! Yesterday, I posted a reflection and recap of December, but in this post, I'm going to say goodbye to 2025 one last time. One year ago, I wasn't even posting on this website because I had this insane plan that I was going to take a hiatus from posting all to atone from a financial mistake that I made in a moment of anger and vulnerability.

December was mostly rough in the first half in terms of output, but I bounced back in the second half, just like November, but even bigger this time.

Week 7 was the lowest-output week of Milwordy so far—travel, family, and being out of my normal environment shaped it. But I didn’t quit, I kept tracking, and the December rebound starts now.

Welcome to my 4-days late post that is a Week 6 Recap, Week 7 Mid-Week and a reflection of the first half of December overall. How December Has Felt So Far I feel like December so far has been a season of transition: from the end of the first publishing decade to the beginning of the second and getting through my finals to close my semester.

Week 5 of Milwordy...what a beautiful, momentous, FRUSTRATING week. Ended a decade of publishing and started a new one.

Post #1 of my 10th author anniversary celebration focused on the past. Post #2, a poem, focused on the present. But it's finally time to focus on the FUTURE and answer this question: Where do I want to be in the next ten years as an author?

A poem using Holly Jahagnri's Scala Decima form that I wrote for my 10th author anniversary today.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the day I have been waiting for: DECEMBER 2ND, 2025, MY 10TH AUTHOR ANNIVERSARY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! Ten years ago, I published my very first book, the first edition of October Johnson and the Secret of the Old Factory, when I was in 4th grade, all by myself, without telling my parents until after I had finished.

The final week of November was a creative return to form for me in more ways than one. Read more in today's blog post!

First full movie review on my website for a movie I didn't initially for months before I watched it, but I am so glad that I did.

STATS: Average Daily Wordcount: 1,298 Week Total: 9,086 Words to Go: Month: 62,309 (Stretch Goal) Year: 978,975 Well, if I was doing a Quarter Milwordy, I would hit and passed my monthly goal early. This week was the week where academic writing dominated the week. I had two research papers that I wanted to get done before the end of the week, two article discussions, and a presentation and a Spanish writing assignment to prepare for!

If you're reading this, you're probably curious on the context of the video you just watched. So let me give you some. Over the first half of November, I have been working hard on Version 2.0 of Draft Two of my first ever YA urban fantasy novel and series starter, Can You Spell Werewolf? I even mentioned in my last post that my goal for that day that I posted was to write the rest or most of the rest of Act 2A ON THAT VERY SAME DAY.

This week was busier, messier, and definitely not my healthiest… but I still wrote more than Week 1, finished Act 1 of Can You Spell Werewolf?, hit a 10-day streak, and learned my biggest lesson yet: Sometimes you need to say no so you can say yes to your well-being.

Week One of Milwordy is done! I may be 14K words behind, but I made creative progress, met author Chloe Gong, and set new goals for Week Two.

Hello everyone! It's been 6 months since I've done an individual round up post of a single moment in my journey, but thought now would be a good time as any. But one month ago, I did a roundup post of the middle six months in my journey from April to September. And in that post I set out a vision for how I wanted the last three months of 2025 to look like.