reading

82,000 Words Later

Guys, I finally finished the first draft of my first novel. You know, the one I started in 2016 😂

Book editing at Starbucks

If you haven’t been reading my blog that long, I started writing a novel for fun in 2016 and plugged away at it… until life got in the way. We brought home a puppy and worked on therapy dog training, then had a baby, then got another dog, I started an Etsy shop, and Jimmy became a co-owner of his family’s business. Lots of life changes since 2016, basically! The book was always in the back of my mind, though.

I recently had another story idea for a totally different book and wanted to start writing that out, but I just couldn’t begin until I finished my first one. So, I pulled up the document on my laptop and saw that the last time I had worked on it was April 2018, the spring before Sader Tot was born!

Coffee and Mac laptop Macbook

Working from my memory of the characters and plot, I decided to wrap it up and… suddenly it was done! 82,000+ words and a few years later!

Right now, I’m thinking of having it printed in book format (like a paperback) and having a few family members read it to see what they think. Jimmy literally had no idea what the book was about until a few days ago. I was always so shy about it 🙈

It’s funny, I think of the book idea and plot now and it feels like a lifetime ago. I literally feel like a different person wrote that book, if that makes sense? I am pretty different than I was in 2016–or at least my life is. I don’t know if I will pursue publishing it. I’ll have to read it from start to finish and see what I think 😆

Past posts about writing the book:
Sharing that I was starting to write a book
More info on my writing process
Working on staying dedicated
An Update on the book in 2018

Have you ever taken on a big project that took longer than you anticipated?

Winter-Themed Books for Babies and Toddlers

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of reading here in the Zottola household! I last shared our favorite Christmas-themed books, and now I’m sharing a few of our most-loved winter-themed books for babies and toddlers.

If you have any child (or adult!) books that center on the theme of winter, leave the title in the comments below. I would love to check them out!

Winter-themed books for babies and toddlers (more…)