on doing your best
december 2025 edition
Well, well, well, if it isn’t the end of another month! And with it, the end of the year!
But before we get into a full year wrap-up and goals for 2026 (in January), I want to discuss December and all I did this month before we speed into 2026.
It isn’t particularly cold where I am at the moment, but I still have a dog to warm my feet and another to nudge my arm and create typos. So, snuggle up wherever you are (physically or spiritually) and let’s catch up!
WRITING LATELY
My writing life in December was one of ups and downs. I tried to boil it down to simply write, write, write, but life has a way of throwing curveballs at you and skewing even the best-laid plans.
I had very grand plans to somehow write 60,000 words in one of the busiest months of the year. As of writing this, I have written 31,000 in December. Half of what I needed, half of what I wanted.
The first half of the month was perfectly on track. And if this weren’t the holiday season and the weather in Pennsylvania wasn’t temperamental and a few other factors hadn’t been at play, I definitely would’ve hit my personal deadline of finishing the F1 book before the end of the year. But, alas, all of those things slowed my progress and contributed to what this month’s author life essay is about. So, yes, Christmas, migraines, and a few professional hiccups played a large part in why the F1 book isn’t done.
I won’t lie, when I first started to feel things slipping out of my hands, I was incredibly frustrated and annoyed that I couldn’t just power through. But the truth is, writing a book in two months is hard. But I’d done it before, and so in my hubris, I thought I could do it again. Under other circumstances, I probably could’ve done it.
But around December 12th, I hit a wall. I’d finally written myself into the third act, and I could see the end of the book. I had gotten through the fun and games, the building of the relationship, and explored who the characters were, and now I had to get to the end. Which means unraveling the insecurities I’d carefully laid, digging into the meat of their internal conflicts, and breaking the characters before they could be remade into better versions of themselves. And while this is fun, it’s fun in a much different way. And there was still so much more to write. I could see the end, but I couldn’t get there in a day or even a couple of days.
My progress slowed, I started to feel sluggish, and my writing became more clunky. Not burnt out, but definitely struggling with everything on my plate. Because I couldn’t just disappear into the void to write, the holidays were right around the corner, and then a migraine stole four days from me.
And I couldn’t just plunge ahead at full speed as soon as I was well. I had reached the muddiest part of the middle, still trying to plod along and weave together a story that made sense. And even as fast as I was writing this book, there were still threads that I couldn’t quite grasp quick enough. Because at the end of the day, I can’t write a perfect first draft. I can’t keep everything in my head, and even if I could for one day, I would be thinking too much about everything I had to incorporate that I would just be slowly writing and still not hitting the necessary word count goals to finish. And I’m not the type of writer who skips around or puts brackets; I have to get through the emotional beats to feel like the book is complete. I have a chapter list, a scene list, and elements I have to write in order for the book to feel done.
So, I won’t be finishing this book this month. I’ve accepted that, and as long as I put in good work and get closer to the end every day, I’ll be moving ahead. I took a lot of days off for Christmas, and now I’m locked in and ready to dive back in.
THE PROJECTS
THE F1 ROMANCE SERIES
BOOK ONE
Let’s talk about the progress I did make this month! I’m at 72,500 words total, and I have 14 chapters left to write.
Before I started writing this book, I wrote myself a synopsis of everything that would happen in the book. It details the plot lines, the character development, and how all of the pieces fall together. So, luckily, I’ve been able to follow it through a natural progression. But there have still been surprises along the way and certain moments where I have meandered away from what I thought I’d be writing.
But those tangents, while they may get cut later, have helped me understand who Darcy and Jasper are, how they interact, and they’ve become more fully formed on the page, as opposed to just in my head. But there are definitely plot threads and ideas that I’ve dropped the ball on. And when I was lamenting about this to a few of my fellow writers, my friend, Malin, suggested I make a document entitled First Aid and make note of all the things I need to sort out when I go into revisions. I love the name, and I love the intention behind this. If I acknowledge what I need to do, I can let it go for now, instead of letting it fester and bother me. And calling it something cutesy and a little silly makes it even more fun.
I still do not have a title for this book, but I did come up with “ship names” for the characters, which amused me for about fifteen minutes while I was standing in line at the pharmacy.
The two main characters of book one are Jasper Sorensen and Darcy Douglas, so I present for contention:
Sorenlas
Dougsen
Jascy
Darsper
I’ll be honest, none of them are particularly good, but I had fun thinking about it.
In terms of snippets this month, it is slightly difficult to find ones that aren’t spoilery or don’t need a lot of context or aren’t just outright explicit, but I’ve gathered a few for you to enjoy.
It is fairly on brand for me at this point to have characters with Daddy Issues™️ but it’s so common among athletes! I’m just staying true to real life!
They’re just so ridiculous, truly, and I’m having such fun writing them wriggle beneath each other’s skin.
—
BOOK TWO & THREE
I’ve been very focused on book one, so not a whole lot of work for the other books. However, I have reached the part of writing a book where the fantasy of starting a new one is very alluring. So, I have been thinking about book two of the F1 series.
It’s very different than Jasper & Darcy’s book. The trust gained between the two main characters is built on amusement and humor. There is tension and chemistry, but their conflict doesn’t come from being in F1. They have mutual goals to make the team as good as they can. And while this book isn’t devoid of sex or sexuality, the characters don’t actually have any sexual physical intimacy until quite late. This is in direct contrast to Darcy and Jasper’s relationship, because they build emotional intimacy through physicality.
But for Kit, he’s been through a lot and is not the type of guy to have a “situationship” or “friends-with-benefits” relationship. And he usually has a boundary of not getting into relationships with other racers. Which has been interesting to contrast to his love interest, Mateo, who believes he’s all about the physical and he sees his body as a tool to be used, with his emotional life is purposefully disconnected from his physical.
Anyway, I could ramble on and on about how I’ve been building these two characters into more than just their archetypes, but I think for now, just know I am very excited to work on their book, but I also know I will have to write with restraint because I do love writing smut.
(There is a slight whisper in the back of my mind that compared to book one, this is too different, but it’s not written yet, so not to worry about now!)
(I also made a little TikTok about this, and I do post on TikTok more as a “spam” account, so if you want any additional silly katie content lol)
And then my beloved book three. My toxic yuri girls. I’ve been indulging in sprinkling in little moments, little hints at what is going on behind the scenes. Hints of their tumultuous relationship and strange dynamic.
This piece is a bit more about Darcy and Jasper’s relationship at this point in the book, but of course, there are little glimpses. (And a little moment of Kit & Mateo’s relationship. Kit is in this scene with Darcy & Chelsea too.)
And this month, I wrote down an intriguing angle for Ava that I’m excited to dig into.
(This is not the interesting angle I thought of, it’s too spoilery to share, but here is a little bit of Chelsea and Ava as characters, within Chelsea’s head as opposed to the very biased one of Darcy and Jasper.)
(Context: they’re at a Formula 1 Academy race during this discussion. In real life, F1 Academy is an women-only single-seater series like F4. It was brought about to develop and prepare young women for higher levels of competition and give them opportunities to advance.)
So, work is being done around the edges of these books, peeling back bit by bit until the time that I can properly open them.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LOVING
MUSIC
I did make a December playlist, but I’ll be honest, it is not getting a lot of use this month. I’ve been mostly just listening to Darcy & Jasper’s playlist, and when I’m not writing, I’m listening to an evergrowing playlist I call rainy r&b. It’s six hours of my favorite R&B songs, and it’s pretty typical for me around this time to gravitate toward the familiar and soothing. Which is always what this playlist is.
I don’t share book playlists usually until they’re done, since they’re constantly evolving and changing with the characters, but here are a few off Darcy & Jasper’s playlist that I think will stick:
dear god by Tate McRae - the perfect song as I enter the endgame stages of this book. They’re both trying to get each other out of their heads, trying to erase the feelings they have, and it’s such a fun beat with the repetition that really scratches my brain.
Stateside + Zara Larsson by PinkPantheress & Zara Larsson - I am not immune to the lure of the TikTok algorithm, and while I really only like Zara Larsson’s verse, it’s such a catchy song that it gets in my head. And in terms of why it’s on the playlist, it just feels like such a Darcy song. In feelings on a plane? Check. Schedule not loose? Check. Kissing a Danish boy over FaceTime? Check. (The actual lyric is Swedish, but for my purposes, I do sing it differently because I’m a dork.)
Howl by Florence + the Machine - I’ve loved this song for years. Is it only recently that I realized this is a song about sex? Yes. And with that in mind, I did listen to this for like 4 hours straight while I wrote a very specific sequence of scenes in the book, and it really set the mood. I’ll let you make of that what you may. But Florence + the Machine wiggling into my contemporary romance playlist was not on my 2025 bingo card! I typically reserve my favorite songs for when I’m in my fantasy era, so it’s nice to have her in my headphones again!
READING
I’ll admit, I’m in an abysmal reading slump. It’s likely because I’m deep in writing right now. I have a personal deadline for the F1 book and another actual deadline in January, so I really won’t be prioritizing reading for a while. The only books that have been holding my attention are nonfiction. I find I can really sink into it and not have to worry about someone else’s style affecting my own.
I just finished Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, which is part essays on how to be a writer and part memoir of Anne Lamott’s life.
This was recommended to me by my best friend, Stig (@authorstigdyrdal on IG!), because he did a live stream talking about it with our best friend, Davaisha, and everything they shared made me curious. I think I enjoyed this book so much because it felt like looking into a mirror. This is not a prescriptive book by any means; it doesn’t teach you how to plot or how to make characters in any concrete way. It more muses upon the lifestyle of being a writer. And what that means and how being a writer affects your personal and professional life. She doesn’t specifically touch on this, but I have spent the last few months reflecting (it’s the season for it, after all) on how I think I’m good at being a writer because I’m kinda bad at being other things. This isn’t about seeking pity, but rather an acknowledgment that I work a certain way and I might not be the greatest every day daughter, sister, friend, adult. Knowing this and working with the grain will likely help me. And understanding who I am as a writer will not only make me a better writer, but perhaps better at knowing where my weaknesses are and trying to improve.
All of this to say, Bird by Bird is one of my favorite reads of the year, but perhaps that is because I relate heavily to her. So your mileage may vary with it.
ANIMAL CROSSING
Unlike the rest of the world, I never really understood Animal Crossing. That is, until I started watching lilsimsie start a new save on her YouTube channel, and then it hit me why it never connected.
I am absolutely a binger. With TV shows, books, games, hell, even writing! I like to consume all in one chunk and then move on. Which is really not how Animal Crossing is meant to be played, and so that’s how I tried to play it back in 2021 when I got the game for Christmas.
But (spoiler alert) my word of the year for 2026 is consistency. I’ll get into my reasons for picking in my next newsletter, but essentially, Animal Crossing fits into those reasons perfectly. It’s a game I can play for ten-twenty minutes a day, around the time I go to bed to unwind, and then put it down and not lose entire swaths of time to it. So, I’ve spent the last week or so enjoying playing it before I drift off to sleep, and it’s just as lovely as everyone told me it would be.
So, that’s December done! Onto 2026! Stay tuned for more author essays, announcements, and general ramblings about my writing next year. So, business as usual! I hope you have a lovely New Year’s Eve and start to 2026! See you very soon for a yearly wrap-up and my 2026 goals!
And we did dress the dogs up for our Christmas card, so enjoy the Canva-designed final product and a few of the funnier outtakes!
