Hi Writing Group! November Progress
- J.H. Jones
- Nov 25
- 2 min read
Happy U.S. Thanksgiving! I think of you as a member of my big, bold, extended writing group, and when I planned my 2025 goals, I promised to share my monthly progress with you. Throughout this month, I've been steeped in the otherworld, editing my gothic horrormance plus writing more dark stories. I've selected a couple things to highlight about November:
DARKER STORIES
Telling spooky and scary stories during holiday time is a tradition rooted in the winter solstice, when the veil between the living and the spirit world was believed to be thin. That's why I've used some of my creative time this month to work on more dark stories to add to the Darker Stories page. Look for gothic-y tales to make a magical appearance in December!
But subscribers already received an advance copy of a free creepy holiday story earlier this month. I enjoyed writing it, and dear subscriber, I hope you enjoyed reading it. Send a message or use the comments to share your thoughts!
INSPIRATION & ORGANIZATION
This month I guest posted to the "On the Road to Reinvention" blog: My post, The Secret Ingredient to Finding Your Writing Voice (Hint: It's Not What You Think), is about my personal writing discovery. Experiments with buddies in one category of writing led me to a treasure trove of writing thrills in another genre. Have you experienced something similar? Please read the post and I'd love to hear about your journey of writing and reading self-discovery in the comments.
Speaking of guest posts: In November more guest authors shared heart-touching essays about their book projects, the joy of their writing buddies, and the power of sharing stories. Whether you're a writer or a reader, visit these posts for inspiration and to learn about new mystery books. (It's the holidays! Many of these books would make great gifts!) (BTW, you don't have to be a mystery writer to be a guest on my blog. If you've got a pitch for a guest post, Say Hello.)
Finally, writers might find this helpful: Earlier this month I shared a free 2026 goals worksheet. The template is simple and short. It helped me organize my thoughts about my goals for the coming year. Maybe it will be useful to you, too.
LET'S KEEP READING & WRITING!
In December I'll continue to focus on my gothic-y writing (both the novel and the dark short stories). Remember: Weird and wondrous tales will come your way soon!
In the meantime, what are your favorite supernatural holiday stories? Do you have a movie you watch at this time of year? Or an audio recording that you love to revisit? Enchant the comments button below!