APW Typerider Newsletter – April 2025

I’ve heard the word “authentic” bandied about the past decade, and in being authentic advice on the amount to share on social media.

Practical advice: If selling a book or class, the 80/20 rule applies. That is 20 percent sales, 40 percent behind the scenes of the book or class, and 40 percent fan and potential fan engagement.

For me, March was filled with the anticipation of a first grandbaby and the loss of a family member.

I was deep in the mists (pun intended) of writing a novel that began with a death and a life, but reality struck hard. My heart grew heavier than the novel I wanted to share with my readers, about a crone that lives in a forest in a house built on the legbones of a dragon and the pair of children that adopt her. Eyes tired from tears, I stepped back from my to-do list. I sought solace in time with my daughter, placed my hands on her belly, and told her son, “I can’t wait to meet you!” I called and had a wonderful conversation with a friend who I wished lived so much nearer than Michigan. I found mirth binge-watching “Nobody Wants This” on Netflix. I’ve kneaded bread dough, walked in the woods, and moved the island table in my office back about three inches – ah, breathing room … joy rediscovered in my one wild and precious life.

Those last four words belong to a quote by poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019)

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

This month, I will hold a grandson in my arms, write grants, finish designing the pages of a cookbook, swim, write the crone and those foundlings into the next scene, and the next, and the next.

In May I will stare at the Grand Canyon, laugh and soak in the sun from the deck of a pontoon, and celebrate being a wordsmith with professional writers.

How about you? Care to celebrate your gift?

Wishing you health and joy,

Read the rest of the newsletter to find out what is happening in each chapter. And it’s not too late to sign up for our State Conference to be held May 17.