2025 NEWSLETTERS

A moon dog (or paraselene) over the Coachella Valley. I've never seen one before. Apparently they occur as atmospheric events, but spiritually they represent good fortune and a mystical connection to the divine. The perfect portal to the new year.

I like to work. I like the sense of accomplishment. I like a paycheck — preferably a weekly one. I like helping. I like being of use. I like coworkers (sometimes). I especially like working from home. It's the end of 2025 and work wise, I've been unemployed a year. I don't like that. This is the longest I've been unemployed since college. 

While my bank account would tell me I didn't work at all in 2025, I beg to differ. I did work. I wrote my first novel, I just didn't make any money yet. I may never make any money from it. I'm okay with that. Money isn't why I wrote it. 

Writing helped me get through a very hard transition in life. No, not unemployment, but marriage. Boy, how I hated it. But I'm happy to report we just celebrated Year 2 and even bought ourselves new sheets to celebrate the Cotton Anniversary. We especially needed to celebrate because Year 1 (the Paper Year) was certifiably awful. Though my husband disagrees. 

For me — a naturally born independent woman — marriage felt like someone had strapped cement shoes on my feet and pushed me into a shallow river where I couldn't quite drown unless I stopped fighting to breathe. Brutal, eh? Well, we made it. I made it. But I wouldn't have gotten here unless I let myself be creatively free and wrote about marriage. The good, the bad, the really bad, and the awful: The unconditional love.

My novel centers around a fictionalized marriage — yes, it's based on a very real one but it's not autofiction, though there is truth in it. I needed a main character I could dump everything I was feeling into then turn up her problems to eleven (RIP Rob Reiner), because that's how I felt too. But more about the novel later. 

Going back to my bank account full of flies and void of dollars, I did work this year — a lot. I worked on me, I worked on my marriage, and I worked on my writing. I accomplished very hard things that I'm about to make all the harder by sharing them with the world. Talk about work! (Though some may call it social media.)

Currently my novel is with a line & development editor. I hired a book designer and now have the cover pretty much set. Be forewarned, the design is minimalist. But for those of you who have been with me for a while know that sometimes I'm a maximalist, sometimes I'm an introvert, and other times I'm neither. This is one of those times I've decided to be an extroverted minimalist. I do love a good oxymoron.

I can't wait to share my book with you come 2026. Until then, I'm still living my best introverted, married, unemployed life and hope you're out there living your best too!

Wishing you a fabulously maximalist 2026! Happy holidays!

- Natasha

1. THE UNTOLD STORY OF BOOKS — I heard about this book from the author himself. Michael Castleman was part of an Author's Guild panel speaking on the evolution of the publishing industry — or de-evolution rather, seeing how authors first paid to publish their own work. Now history is repeating itself once again as self-publishing has returned and changed the publishing game. Less gatekeepers means more access and variety of written work (mine included). Whether going it alone is a good, bad, profitable, or back-breaking endeavor (most likely all four), we will all find out together. 

2. THE WOMEN WHO RAISED ME — This was our 'Mixed Race Book Club' Book of the Month, and a very, very well-written one at that. This book explores the life of a Victoria Rowell, a former foster child who was shuttled between households as a ward of the State of Maine. Despite skin color, a lack of finances, and men, Victoria was poured into by strong, encouraging women which set her up for success. I was quite impressed by the author's writing and am curious to know who her editor is. Though the person who did the book's formatting I'd like to steer clear of. Both this book and Michael Castleman's remind me there is so much to learn in the world of publishing. This was too good of a story to be so awkwardly printed. 

3. BELONGING— This graphic novel memoir from Nora Krug explores her German heritage all while trying to reconcile her familial ties to the nazis. I'll admit, I had a tough time with this one. Not only because I lost many Jewish relatives in the Holocaust, nor because I struggle with generational trauma passed down from my father who was hidden as a child in France, but because — like many of the people Krug meets on her journey of reconciliation — when I hear, think, smell, meet, go, or do anything German, the first thing I think of is Hitler. Maybe that makes this book great. I'm just as guilty of sewing the Germans to evil as much as the Germans have their own generational trauma from being sewn to that same evil themselves. Though maybe this book is not that profound either. Like I said, I had a tough time with this. But it is making me think. For that, I can't help but recommend it.

I'm doing something a little different since I saw two of my all-time Top 6 favorite films this month. I know, who has a Top 6?? Well, I do because it's too hard for me to narrow down an all-time Top 5. 

DECEMBER TOP 5:

5. Christy - I saw this in November and liked it then, but the second go-round was even better. Ben Foster is horrifyingly terrific as Christy Martin's abusive husband. Her story is one that deserves to be seen. Even twice.

4. Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery - I was lucky enough to go to Lilith Fair when I was in college. The jokes surrounding this all-female music festival ranged from immature to crude to downright ignorant — just like the male music execs who thought women couldn't headline a concert. A definite must-watch. 

3. Blue Moon - Ethan Hawke plays a charming alcoholic and famous musical composer who's on the verge of losing his friends, his liver, his career, and his mind. Dialogue moves fast and has (thankfully) no musical numbers in this film that moves like a play. Which leads me to ...

2. A Few Good Men - I obviously have a thing for films that move like plays, which this fab courtroom drama most certainly does because it was a play. Written by slick screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Directed by fantastic Rob Reiner. RIP.

1. The Shining - I watch this film every winter. It's a tradition started by my friend Tommy from back when I lived in NYC. Whenever a bad snowstorm hit, we'd watch 'The Shining' then follow it up with 'The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror V' — The Shinning. (+ part 2)

BONUS: A Guest in My Country - I was at a party and thought I spied the actor who played the male antagonist in this film. I was highly disturbed by his presence and even surprisingly felt my anger rise. While it wasn't the same person (lucky for him), my unsettlement speaks to the power of this short film about the cruel treatment of immigrants and refugees.

PLAY ME

i do not receive payment for my reviews or recommendations

Watching the Dodgers win the World Series from my favorite place — a campsite!

Lord, give me strength and a Tito's martini straight-up with three olives on the side. I have exciting and grueling times up ahead. I recently left my agent and am not seeking another one. That means I'll be self-publishing my debut novel sometime in early spring. At least that's my hope. My book is now with an editor for developmental and line edits. I'm also working with a cover designer. There is still so much more to do. 

Self-publishing is taking me WAY outside my comfort zone. Aside from this newsletter, I'm pretty much one of the most private people you could meet. I'm not the best self-promoter. I don't have (and never will have) social media. I'm learning other ways to put myself out there. I have to. Self-publishing requires I thicken my thin, menopausal skin to more of an alligator callus.

Writing is a business of no's, but self-publishing is a whole new level of rejection for me to navigate. I've been super blessed because most of my publishing opportunities fell into my lap. I wrote my first book when I was Managing Editor of High Times — they asked me to write it. I got paid generously, too. This time I'm doing it all solo. No publisher, no paycheck, no representation. While I definitely feel self-publishing is the right move for my novel, boy is it scary. Have you ever done anything scared? How did it go?

I hope you had a November to remember. I'm forever thankful for you.

- Natasha

1. FAITH AND CONFESSION — I guess you can say I manifested this book since I found it on the dollar rack of Shoppers Drug Mart right after I had a conversation about manifestation. Faith and Confession is a manifesting technique based on Romans 10:17: Faith comes by hearing the word of God (NAMP - Natasha’s Amplified). For example, using the anchor scripture Philippians 4:19 — God will supply all my needs — if I confess aloud, "My self-published book is successful because God supplies all my needs," eventually I will believe it, then eventually I will see it. Because God is faithful (Deut. 7:9) and His word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11), by throwing God’s word back at Him, He must do what I confessed. 

2. THROWBACK — Speaking of throwing back, Throwback was the Mixed Race Book Club Book of the Month. This YA time travel romp was fun, smart, and touched on generational trauma, racial microaggressions, and all the low-key sexism the colorful '90s masked so well. Maureen Goo is an exceptional YA author. This was my first time reading her and I looking forward to reading more.

3.THE ODYSSEY — Before you get too impressed by me reading The Odyssey in only one month, this is a graphic novel — a quite impressive one. While the story is still dense, I wish I had Gareth Hinds’ adaptation back in college when I was tasked to read Homer’s original text. I'm not saying someone else should use this as Cliff Notes, but I sure would’ve. 

4.GOD SPARE THE GIRLS — I found this novel while researching books on purity culture for my own work. God Spare the Girls started out beautiful, but I found it painfully slow. I wasn’t sure where the story was going — or if there even was a story. It wasn’t until the end that I finally understood what Kelsey McKinney was trying to say. Keeping faith and finding forgiveness in the midst of betrayal is painfully hard. May my debut novel be as meaningful and quietly moving as this one. 

5. THE BOY FROM CLEARWATER – This graphic novel reminded me of the memoir I wrote for Chen Yu Mack who also grew up in Taiwan during the authoritarian years of White Terror from the REDACTED. THAT IS ALL. END TRANSMISSION. NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG. This true story of Tsai Kun-lin is scary stuff, especially for us readers. Tsai was imprisoned for ten years all for joining a book club. Today, history is repeating itself once again. Unite against book bans now! https://uniteagainstbookbans.org

1. Sirat - a desperate father vs. an unforgiving desert

2. The Running Man (both 1987 & 2025) - reason 4,721 why i hate television

3. If I Had Legs I'd Kick You - motherhood rage + anxiety + a lack of support = fun!

PLAY ME 

i do not receive payment for my reviews or recommendations