Wintersβ Day In
Spilling the tea since 2006. Wanna cuppa?
Conversations on life, faith, stories, and creativity from author and songwriter (and aspiring mermaid) Talena Winters.
New Leaf, New Pattern, and New Story
My mission to get my weight under control and the books that inspired me to do so, plus the release of the Just Plain Gloves Knitting Pattern and an announcement about some short fiction.
Embrace It
No matter your age, itβs not too late to chase your dream. Maybe youβre already doing it, which is awesome. Or maybe we are closing out another year where you have still been making excuses about why you didnβt go for the longing of your heart.
Life is long, but itβs also short. Do you really want to spend a minute of it not living up to your potential?
7 Favourite Fall Things
Sweaters on Pinterest and other knitting geekery, books, writing, simple comforts, and other joys of autumn. Hereβs whatβs been inspiring me.
New Title & Cover Reveal for my WIP!
Iβm so excited to share my new cover and title with you! It blows me away! :-)
Work Afraid
Hereβs a secret: Weβre all afraid. Every person who succeeds at something has had to confront fear at some point to get to where they are. The trick is to start anyway.
The Benefits of βEscapist Fictionβ
Humans are made of stories. And, no matter the "world" that a story may be set in, at the heart of every good story is a character who is overcoming difficult situations that must be relatable to the reader in some way, or the story would not resonate with us. In this post, I talk about some ways that fantasy and other genres of fiction have benefited me, and why I think everyone should read or watch it.
I Saw This Going Differently in my Head
Iβve always had a semi-structured writing style, but recently discovered that Iβd been running my business like a writing pantser. (As in, βflying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.β) But times, they are a-changing. How a little βplotsingβ will (hopefully) make a big difference.
Adventures in Authoring
Being an author, I have discovered, is nothing like anyone ever expects it to be. And today, I made a decision to go down a road in my career that surprised even me.
How to Make Yummy Homemade Ketchup
Whenever we have guests over for a cookout, they always ask me for my ketchup recipe. Here it isβ5 ingredients, 5 minutes, and no fuss is all it takes.
Making Love Work
My 7 βNo-Duhβ tips for creating a happy, healthy relationship with your partner.
Healing from Loss, One Bite at a Time
There is an old joke that goes, "How do you eat an elephant?"
"I don't know, how do you?"
"One bite at a time."
The not-so-hidden truth in here can be applied to so many thingsβprojects, goals, ginormous meals. But today, I'm going to talk about how I have found this true when tackling emotional hardship.*
*No elephants were harmed in the making of this blog post.
Through the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific Northwest
Photo recap of a whirlwind weekend road trip to Seattle, Washington, with a ton of natural beauty along the way.
Insanely Optimistic
Some days, writing fiction for a living feels like walking through sludge in a mudstorm. I'm going to be honestβI spend a little bit of every day wondering if I'm actually going to be able to pull this off. But no risk, no reward. Right?