January 2026

Hello Friends, 

How is your January? Cold? Blustery? Feeling rudderless? I hope not. How are your New Year’s Resolutions? Holding firm? I sure hope so. I’m not a big resolution person, but I do like to set and meet goals. As part of my social media interactions, I do a fun book bingo project each quarter. When I first started, it was just random ideas like “book for middle-readers” or “female narrator.” Eventually, Lea and I started making themes (she also does all the amazing design of the bingo cards). Those themes have really pushed me to find books I would never have found before. When I did job bingo at the end of last year, I stumbled upon a book series about a tow truck driver who solves crimes while wearing red heels. Very niche, but still pretty solid and earnest. That was one of the last books I found and read for that quarter’s book bingo, and there was something satisfying about a job well done. 

This quarter, the theme is books that have been adapted into other visual art forms. Of course, we have movies and TV on there, but we also included plays and musicals. I could just go the easy route and do all the things you expect, but I want to make sure that I actually read or reread the books on the bingo card. I want to push myself to find some new things while revisiting some classics that have been reimagined in a new way. This has led me down some internet rabbit holes searching for books that have been adapted, and I must say, I am pleasantly surprised by what I found in that rabbit hole, besides Alice (in Wonderland), but I already knew she was down here. 

I knew that Louisa May Alcott’s American Masterpiece Little Women, had been turned into TV shows and movies, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a musical version. While I have not watched it yet, it is on the to-watch list. I am excited, but it does have some work to do because I already have a favorite adaptation. It is the 1994 film starring Winona Ryder as Jo March that reigns supreme. I think early-90s Ryder was just so perfectly positioned to play the role. She was coming off a string of hits where she played quirky, strong, and all-around cool characters in the late 80s and early 90s. So it made sense that she would play Jo, who is one of the coolest female leads in all of 19^th-century American literature. She wears pants (which was pretty scandalous at the time), she bosses boys around, and she makes money on her writing. She was, like Alcott herself, a free-thinking inspiration.

While I did think Ryder’s turn as Jo was inspired, I still have trouble with the ending of the movie, which is the same as the ending of the book (which I just finished re-reading earlier this week). (SPOILER ALERT) Jo gets married to a professor who is 15 years her senior and eventually has babies with him. 

I don’t like it. To be fair, the Greta Gerwig-helmed, 2019 version with Saoirse Ronan as Jo does try to have it both ways with some clever storytelling, but still, one version of Jo in her movie gets married. Boo. I’m not against marriage. I’m married. I love being married. I just don’t think Jo should get married for lots of reasons. Mostly, it is because she tells us she doesn’t want to. It isn’t some flight of fancy from a little girl. Jo knows her own mind, and she really, really doesn’t want to get married or be tied down or do anything anyone tells her to do, and then…for reasons that I suspect were all pushed on Alcott by some male publisher, she relents and gives everyone this ending that just bugs me. 

It bugs me that Alcott felt the pressure to make the change, even though she never married herself. It bugs me that Jo felt the pressure because she deserves better. It bugs me that anyone today feels the pressure to do what someone else tells them is the right thing instead of doing what they want to do. So, as we trudge our way through January, I want to remind you to hold strong to your resolutions, if you believe in those. If you feel windswept and rudderless, remember what Alcott tells us, “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my own ship.”

Notes from my headphones

I was playing my music collection using the random feature the other day, when I was pleasantly surprised to hear The Juliana Hatfield Three’s gem of an album from 1993 called Become What You Are. It felt serendipitous because the biggest hit from that album was a song called “My Sister.” Her voice is so great. Hatfield’s lyrics are so honest and true as she delves into the intricacies of family dynamics. She loves her sister. She hates her sister. Families are complicated. From Alcott to Hatfield to…anyone else, it will always be true. 

Notes from my bookshelf

I had a whole other commentary on Little Women planned before I sat down to write, and since it is obviously on my bookshelf this month, I will share it here. Buckle up. This may get rough. 

Amy March, the youngest March sister, who is the character who actually says that amazing line about not being afraid of storms, is a monster. I don’t mean that she turns into a wolf or anything (I would totally read a Little Women and Werewolves book, or maybe I should write it myself), I mean that she is a villain. She is the absolute worst.

She complains when her family sends her away, so she doesn’t get scarlet fever. She complains when the rich kids don’t pay attention to her. She complains when they do. She is jealous. She is petty. She is vain. Sure, maybe we could forgive her these trespasses as she is the youngest of four girls, and her oldest three sisters are, in descending order, Meg, the most beautiful person in town, Jo, the most clever person in all of New England, and Beth, the most wonderfully pleasant human being on Earth. Sure, she can’t compete, so she has to be the most terrible. Fine. I can concede that fact, but at the end of the day, when she gets that great line about sailing her own ship, she still sort of sucks. 

So maybe I could forgive some of that, but one thing I will never, ever, in the history of ever, forgive her for… at one point, when she was 12, and Jo was 16, in a fit of jealous rage, she burned Jo’s manuscript. Two years of handwritten work. The only copy, and because Jo didn’t manage to get her an extra seat for a play at the last minute, Amy burns Jo’s book. Nothing left. I mean…I. Can’t. Even. 

The thing is. If Alcott were not such a brilliant writer, I wouldn’t be so mad. If it has been a while since you’ve read this classic, I highly recommend giving it another read. If you’ve never read it, sorry for all the spoilers.

Notes from my keyboard

Over my holiday break, I managed to write 18K words in Haunting Northanger. It was a huge relief. I know what the end looks like, and I am maybe 20-25K words away from it. The draft isn’t due to the editors until April. I feel great.

ALSO, I got the notes back from the editor on Jane. Once again, reading my own book made me cry. I love my characters so much, and I miss them when I am done with them. I know, I know, I can visit them anytime, but this was a great visit with Jane Fairfax. 

In really, really exciting news, I have a short story in an upcoming collection curated and edited by Tonya Todd. You can preorder the book on any book platform or at your local bookstore, but if you get it through the publisher’s site, you can get a discount. My short story is called “Play it Again Junior.” It features Junior Price and two of her sisters from Welcome to Mansfield, as well as a flashback to their mother’s time at Mansfield College. The book is a collection of short stories about love, and mine is about the love between sisters and how the simple act of sending someone a note is an act of love. Plus, of course, they listen to music in the story as is implied in the title. You can listen to the playlist here. 

If you want to get the collection of stories now and you just can’t wait for your preorder to be delivered to your door on Valentine’s Day, you can pick up the book from Booksprout. This is a free digital ARC. All you have to do is submit a review online. Seems like a pretty great deal to me.